It had been a week since Kenny had been in contact with Sharky, and he felt horrible. Niko had let the rest of the group know that he was okay after he ran out of movie night, but it was unusual for the two not to talk. They texted or communicated practically every day, recently even more than usual.
Although he had finally acknowledged his feelings for Sharky, he was scared. As soon as Niko left last week he shut down, and was rarely talking to anybody. He thought he would be able to bring himself to talk to Sharky, but he quickly discovered that he was wrong.
It was stupid. One minute he was joking and laughing with Niko about how Sharky was all his, and as soon as he was left alone he self destructed, like always.
Kenny woke up, rubbing his eyes and letting out a groan. The group was scheduled to film a new video today, and he couldn't weasel his way out of it any longer. He sighed, and forced himself to get up, checking the time on his phone and making his way to the bathroom.
He stepped into the shower, turning the heat all the way up as the hot spray almost burned. He couldn't stop thinking about the messages that Sharky had been sending all week, and Kenny had replied to none.
Naturally, Sharky was a big overthinker. He had sent so many texts asking if he had done something wrong, said something wrong.
Oh love, Kenny thought, it's the complete fucking opposite.
The steaming hot water stung his knuckles, which he had split open while he was training. He trained extra hard, punching with no gloves and a little too intensely to the point where his knuckles bled. He may or may not have punched a wall, but he knew he deserved it.
Kenny eventually stepped out of the shower, drying himself off. His skin was red raw from the hot water and his knuckles were killing him, but he carried on like it was nothing. He quickly changed and threw on a durag, picking up his phone and keys.
He felt worse than ever, bags under his eyes and so many thoughts spinning around his head. He quickly ate a slice of toast and checked the last few messages he had received from Sharky.
sharks
21:56
sharks 💓: idk what i've done wrong
sharks 💓: like genuinely i don't understand at all
sharks 💓: im really fucking trying here kenny can you please answer me
00:32
sharks 💓: ignoring ur best friend yeah? cold. i tried to understand what was wrong w u but if u don't wanna answer me i'm done. act like shits normal in the vid tmr and then u can go back to not talking to me.
Kenny clicked into his other messages from the past week with shaky hands, he hadn't checked anything other than Sharky's for days.
chunkzhino
Wednesday
15.03
chunkzhino: what are u doing bro you have sharks in bits
chunkzhino: he's at my place saying you've not responded to him since the movie and niko wont say why u ain't talking to him so tell me
16.47
chunkzhino:
so now you're ghosting everyone? idk if ur going thru smthing but text him back he's proper freaking out. love u brother this isn't like u.
He felt nauseous. He had hurt Sharky, his Sharky. He decided he wouldn't let himself get upset, and tried to distract himself by facing the fact he was going to have to see everybody today.
Kenny checked the time and realising he had to leave, stood up abruptly from his table and left his house. The winter air stung his face and his split knuckles. He got into his car and reluctantly drove to the shoot.
He arrived, stopping the engine and sitting in his car. He sat there for a minute, reminding himself to breathe and after getting his shit together, he hesitantly opened the car door, walking in to the set.
It was funny how not speaking to one person seemed to affect people. Kenny didn't really think of himself as something special, not to most people anyway. He didn't believe that his presence had a real effect on other people. But Jesus christ, Sharky looked rough.
He was usually full of life, brightening up every place he walked into, but curled up on a couch in the corner, he almost looked small.
Sharky's eyes were red-rimmed, with bags underneath them. It was clear that he hadn't slept well in days. He was biting at the skin around his fingernail while scrolling through his phone. It was like the light had gone from his eyes.
Kenny watched, frozen on the spot as Sharky turned off his phone like whatever he was looking at was pointless and curled his knees into his chest, resting his head in his hands. Kenny cursed at the sight, pinching himself.
He heard a door open across the room and turned to find Aj staring at him in the doorframe. The smaller man didn't say anything and walked over to Sharky, who still hadn't seen Kenny. Aj whispered something in Sharky's ear and his head whipped up.
Fuck.
The two locked eyes and time seemed to stop. Kenny was frozen, standing still like he had seen a ghost. And oh, Sharky looked so fucking upset it was unbearable. Sadness and confusion clouded over his features for a millisecond and then he almost switched off, like he didn't want Kenny to know he was affected.
Kenny couldn't bring himself to move, and Sharky stood up from where he was sat on the couch and stormed into the hallway. "Sharks-" Aj called pointlessly after him, waving a hand in the air. Kenny finally copped himself on, and started following Sharky but was stopped in his tracks before he could get anywhere.
"Kenny, stop."
He turned around, Chunkz and Niko looking back at him. "Fuck Amin I'm sor-" Before he could get a word in, he was being pulled into a hug from the other man. "It's alright brother, I wouldn't be mad at you bro you're family."
"But Sha-" "Give him time" Chunkz said firmly.
"You're gonna have to act like everything's normal today and he knows it too, sort shit out when we're done shooting."
Kenny nodded, thankful that Chunkz didn't bombard him with questions. But Aj wasn't so patient. He stormed over to Kenny, crossing his arms.
"What are you playing at, ignoring Sharks like that. He's a fucking mess and it's all thanks to-"
"Aje." Niko stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder, and Aj stopped talking immediately, but rolling his eyes in the process.
Chunkz opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a voice on the intercom.
"All Beta Squad to set in 15 minutes, Sharky to hair and makeup please. Thank you."
The group prepared themselves and left to the room where they were filming. Kenny was shaking like a leaf, unable to control himself knowing that Sharky was mad at him.
It was extremely rare that Sharky got angry at his friends, and even rarer that it was Kenny. He was too sweet to ever be mean to anybody really, it had always made Kenny smile. God, he really had been whipped from the start.
The group walked on to set and waited on Sharky to arrive before they could film. Kenny bounced his leg anxiously and picked at the scabs on his knuckles before being snapped out of it by the sound of a door opening.
He snapped his head up and-
Oh.
Sharky stood in the doorframe, the bags under his eyes gone. He had obviously been fixed up by the makeup team and he looked just as normal. Better than normal.
Kenny hadn't seen the man a week, and he almost forgot how otherworldly fucking beautiful he really was. Kenny could still tell he wasn't happy, but Sharky just carried on like Kenny wasn't there, getting himself miked up and then walking the the opposite end of the table where the boys were sat.
Kenny couldn't keep his eyes off of him, not until Niko snapped his fingers in front of his face and whispered in his ear. "How you didn't realise you fancied him before baffles me. Staring at him like that is mental." Kenny swatted his arm jokingly and and ignored the blush he felt on his face.
He still couldn't get Sharky to even look at him, and soon enough the time came where they had to start filming. Production counted down and it was like a switch was flipped. Sharky smiled warmly, walking over to Kenny and whispering in his ear, that stupid smile plastered on his face. "You can ignore me all you want after this, but we're being normal on camera." Kenny opened his mouth to reply, a feeling of dread washing over him but he was too late. Sharky slung an arm around his shoulder like everything was normal and spoke out loudly.
"Today on Beta Squad!"
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1522 words
guys that actually took so long to come out i'm sosososo sorry 😭😭
anyway how do we feel... 🥰😇
i hate this chap i think it's so messy but i'll fix shit dw. predictions for next chapter??
ANYWAY LOVE U LOT THANK U FOR THE SUPPORT AND THAT LOVES 💓💓
SEE U NEXT TIME XO