Breaking the Barriers // l.s.

o n e

"Do you think you'll like it?" Harry asked, hip against the counter.

"Don't know. I haven't had it in years," Liza laughed as she continued to look around the room, "Honestly, your kitchen is so much nicer in person, I wanna cry."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's so white and bright. This is my Instagram aesthetic to a T. We need to take a picture in here before I leave, man. I don't think I'll be anywhere this white again. Just kidding, I'm seeing my friends later." Liza laughed loudly at her own joke.

Harry laughed too, a genuine one which caught him by surprise, "Yeah, yeah. Of course."

The timer on Harry's phone dinged which meant his food was done cooking. He quickly took it out the oven before turning his camera back on. He put on his "camera smile", as his friends call it, which was obnoxiously big as well as his "camera voice", which was preppier than normal.

"The meatloaf is done baking and now I'll have Liza, my designated American friend--"

"--and little brown girl," Liza cut him off.

Harry laughed, "--and little brown girl, judge my American delicacy." Harry styled the meatloaf on the plate. He also made mashed potatoes and corn on the cob to go with the dish. It honestly looked like a pretty American dish in his eyes. He placed the plate in front of Liza and anxiously awaited her reaction.

He's never had a guest give a negative critique on his food, at least not out right negative comments. Sometimes to change things up, Harry will tell his guest to make some critiques on his food and be brutally honest. But usually, his guests compliment him on his food, or they'll pretend to like it for the camera, but at the end of the day, it's up to the guest on what they say about the food. Plus, this is his first time doing a series like this - making food from a different country and then having someone from that country try it. Most of the food he makes are either foods he's made hundreds of times or foods he, nor his guest, has ever tried before. He's never had a guest try a dish he's made, that they've eaten hundreds of times but he's never cooked a day in his life.

Liza took the first bite of her meatloaf. She paused for a moment before saying, "I have to say, this is better than the meatloaf the lunch ladies used to make."

Harry couldn't help but smile, "You like it?"

"I love it! I never actually liked meatloaf but this actually really good," Liza took another bite before letting out a moan of happiness, "I'm genuinely surprised."

Harry grabbed a fork from the cabinet, "Can I try a piece?" Liza nodded and pushed the plate over. Harry took a bite and he had to admit, it was actually pretty good. The two continued to eat the food Harry had made. He learned that, apparently, Liza doesn't like potatoes. She let him have them and, in return, Harry let her have the corn on the cob.

"Ready to do the outro?" Harry asked once they finished eating.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Harry turned the camera back on, "Hey guys! Thanks for watching! Don't forget to like and subscribe! Also, don't forget to check out Liza's channel if you haven't already! It'll be linked in the description below! Anything to add Liza?"

"Aye!" Liza pointed a knowing finger at him.

"Wait - what?" Harry turned to her in confusion. What just happened?

"Oh! You didn't do that on purpose?" Liza laughed, "That's what my boyfriend, David, used to say to me in his outros."

"I didn't know that," Harry laughed.

Liza turned back to the camera and waved. She let out a long, "Byeee," before moving out of frame. Harry attempted to do the same thing, but it didn't come off as smooth as Liza's.

After filming the outro, they filmed a video for Liza's channel. Liza made a mystery dish for Harry using the ingredients in his cabinet and Harry had to try and guess what was used. He actually did pretty well and was able to guess nine out of the sixteen things she used.

Liza left around two o'clock. Harry made sure to give her a list of all the places she should visit in England before she left. They hugged and made a promise to collab again in the future, which Harry was excited about. He liked Liza, she was very positive and energetic. Plus, she has one of the highest subscriber counts of all his guests which will help with the growth of his channel.

Harry spent the rest of the day cleaning. His kitchen was a wreck after filming both their videos, but in general his house needed a bit of work.

He was cleaning his tub when he received a message from Liam, his manager, telling him that he was at his door. Harry went to the door to let Liam in, and he quickly began talking.

"You know what 10 million subscribers means Harry?" Liam asked, but he didn't wait for an answer, "It means influence. You'll have influence and the power to invite guests on the show, who aren't just Youtubers. We can start small, with actors and actresses who are well known but aren't really acting right now. Then we can go bigger - like Beyonce or something."

Harry was barely processing what Liam was saying, "What are you talking about? I don't even have 10 million subscribers yet."

"You're at 9.9. Your video with Liza should bring you over to 10 million. You're not there now, but we need to be prepared for it."

"Why can't we just stick with Youtubers? It's so much easier. Plus, I'm already friends with the lot of them."

"Harry, mate, you need to look at this from a marketing perspective. You've been doing Youtube full time for how long now? A year, maybe more? We're doing good, but we can do better. Having Liza, or Zoella or Alfie on your channel is good. They have nice subscriber counts and bring over a substantial amount of people. But they also share a lot of subscribers so we're not getting as big of a reach as you may think. But if we get someone like Daniel Radcliffe - we're not actually gonna get him but imagine - we'll get people watching your videos who didn't even know you existed just because you have Daniel Radcliffe in the thumbnail." Liam paused to take a breath, "Very soon, you're going to have the kind of influence to invite guests who aren't Youtubers and the ability to attract a wider audience. I just think you should think about it."

Liam walked over to sit on his couch. He grabbed his Xbox remote from off the coffee table, "Let's play a game, yeah?"

**********

i love liza koshy so i put her in here. fight me.

also i don't know if british people eat meatloaf i just assumed they don't. if you're british and you eat meatloaf, you can replace the meatloaf with nachos or something else that's generically american if that helps make the story more realistic for you lmao