She does the cutest little things. The cutest by far was falling asleep on my shoulder. I tried to nudge her awake, but apparently the lack of sleep from two nights ago was still killing her. My phone vibrated; Mark asking me where I was. Rather than face his barrage of questions about my "feelings" I decided it would be better to go home immediately. I picked up y/n and carried her to her room. In her sleep, she lightly hung her arms around my neck and muttered something about a noble moose. My laughs weren't easily suppressed.
I carefully set her down on her bed and tucked her in. It wasn't an easy endeavor since her comforters and blankets were thrown everywhere, including the floor, her desk chair, and even one hanging from her closet door. After a little bit, she was more or less tucked in. I quietly closed her door and left her apartment, making sure that her front door was locked. I knew that in the last place she lived she had gotten robbed and always made sure her door was locked so it didn't happen again.
My car was parked a few blocks over, so I had a little walk. To my surprise (and hers), I ran into a fan on the sidewalk. We took a few selfies, she squealed a little bit, gave me a cute piece of hand drawn fanart, told me how big of a fan she was, then we were both on our way. Without my knowledge, a goofy looking smile spread over my features the whole drive home. I loved meeting fans; it reminded me that I was doing something many people enjoyed.
Mark was standing out on the porch when I arrived home. He looked like a very angry parent, with his fluffy bathrobe on over his pajamas, a pair of bunny slippers, and Chica sitting next to him. It brought me back to the high school years, when I'd come back after curfew and get caught. Mark narrowed his eyes as he took a sip from his mug. I pulled up to the curb and parked. I approached Mark with my eyebrows raised.
"What? Did I stay out too late?"
"No," he said in a quizzical tone, "but no one takes that long to get ice cream. You were gone for hours."
"Lots of ice cream." He took another sip.
"Almost too much."
"Nah. There's never too much ice cream." I said as I pushed past him to get inside. He closed the door behind us and followed me upstairs. I sat down on my bed, and Mark leaned on my doorframe.
"Were there any girls there?"
"Uh, no." I said a little too quickly.
"Ethan Nestor, don't lie."
"Okay, mom. Maybe there was."
"Was it y/n." He asked while suppressing a giggle.
"Mark."
"Oh my god it totally was! Did you two kiss?"
"Mark!"
"Just a question!"
"No, no we did not."
"Too bad. While you were gone I found a bunch of fanart and fanfiction shipping you guys. The fandom has really taken a liking."
"Seriously?"
"What?"
"You searched it?"
"No! I was tagged in a bunch after you guys posted your collab."
"What?!"
"Yeah! Your fandom is crazy." He broke out into a fit of laughter. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and opened my twitter. Everything I had been tagged in today was something relating to our relationship.
"Fucking hell!" I said in a high pitched voice, a small voice crack in the middle. "And Mark, you tagged me in this one!"
"I thought it was very accurate."
"We have a three way with a fucking alien!"
"Very accurate." I shut off my phone.
"I'm going back downstairs to get some water." I stormed halfway down the stairs before Mark called after me.
"C'mon, Ethan. Don't take it so hard! It's just some teenage girls having a good time!" I turned around to face him.
"I really like her, Mark! Now, any relationship we might have is a joke!" Mark's eyes widened.
"You like her?!"
"Of course, you fucking idiot!"
"Awe, little Ethan's in love!"
"Shut up. It's not like anything's going to happen."
"I wouldn't be so sure." He was trying very hard to hide his smile, but it wasn't working.
"Mark," I said while coming back up the stairs. "What do you know that I don't?" He covered his mouth as he exploded into giggles.
"She thinks you're hot!" My face flushed. "She likes the sixpack!"
"Wait, seriously?"
"Fuck yes!"
"So I have a chance?!" Both of us were growing more excited by the second.
"More than a chance!"
"Should I ask her out?" I asked, suddenly serious.
"Yes! Yes! Do it! Do it now!"
"Well, it's almost midnight now and when I left she was still asleep..."
"You were at her house?!"
"Not what's important right now, Fischbach! When do I ask her?"
"The second you see her again!"
"Shouldn't I do something? Like a cute gesture?" Mark gasped and covered his mouth.
"Yes!" He squeaked. "This is gonna be so cute!" Then, everything went wrong at once. I went to give him a light, joking push, but when I moved forward my phone fell out of my pocket. For some reason, it turned on as it fell. I saw it in slow motion, frame by frame as it fell to the ground.
"Shit!" I screamed. Luckily, it had landed on the carpet, so it hadn't cracked. "Close one." I picked it up only to find the twitter app had been open.The fall had caused a new picture to be posted onto my feed. "Fuck!"
"What?"
"The floor reposted some very pornographic fanart onto my dash! Fucking shit balls!"
"Fuck! Delete it! Delete it now!" I tried to reach for the button, but just as I was about to touch it my phone froze up and died.
"Mother fucker!" I screeched.
"Get your computer!" I sprinted to my room and powered on my computer, only to find that our wifi router was out.
"God fucking dammit! Why does the world fucking hate me?!" Mark was freaking out just as much as I was, if not more.
"What do we do?"
"I don't know, but we have to stop y/n from seeing it!"
"Can't we charge up your phone and delete it?"
"She's still doing her horror games at night thing! She has an alarm for midnight and checks her twitter first thing!"
"Shit! We don't have time for that!" When we both looked back at this moment, we agree that the fatigue as well as the excitement was getting to us. We totally had enough time to just charge my phone, along with many other alternatives. The next thing I came up with was quite possibly the worst solution.
"If we can get her phone, we can report the post and it'll disappear from her dash! That'll keep her from seeing it on her dash and when we get home we can charge my phone and delete it!"
"Yep! That'll work! Car!" We both ran out to the car, practically tripping over each other like a pair of blind idiots. I turned on the ignition and floored it to her apartment. I slammed on the brakes once outside of the building and shifted the car into park.
"We need a plan of entry!"
"How heavy of a sleeper is she?"
"Pretty heavy."
"Okay. Is her door locked?"
"She always locks it. She was robbed a year ago."
"Balcony doors?"
"I didn't lock them. Shit, if she finds out she'll kill me-"
"Focus, Ethan, focus! Can we climb it?"
"Uh, it's second floor, but there is a fire escape!"
"Let's do it. Take this beanie." He handed me a black knit cap. "Your hair is very bright."
"Alright. Let's do this." We stepped out of the car and climbed up the fire escape. Her balcony was still covered in puddles, empty buckets and half full water bottles thrown all around. Mark didn't question it. I twisted the doorknob as slowly as I could, hoping that it wouldn't make a noise. The door clicked, and I guided it open. It still made no sounds. Excellent.
Once it opened fully, Mark and I both entered, walking on the balls of our feet. We were both barely breathing so as to avoid any noise whatsoever. I pointed down the hallway. He nodded and pointed at the ground. He was going to stay where he was while I completed the mission. I approached her room, stopping with every little creak the floor made. I opened her door the same as I had opened the balcony doors and crept inside. She was sleeping soundly, not having moved since I tucked her in. Her phone was on the nightstand. I grabbed it swiftly and silently. Now my next challenge awaited me. The password.
I thought for a second, about what she liked, when a sudden and random idea popped into my head. She was alway talking about a Very Potter Musical, and alway quoted the part where they were talking about Hufflepuffs and how they were particularly good finders. I shrugged and typed in the word 'find'. The phone accepted it and I was in.
Find find, mother fuckers. I thought to myself, a smirk making its way onto my lips. I resisted the urge to celebrate aloud. I could do that later when I wasn't trying sneakily break into my crush's house and delete something from her twitter feed. I opened the app and went into her dash. The first thing on there was the picture. I pressed the 'report' button. Then it was gone. My smirk changed into a giddy smile as I quit out of the app and set her phone back down. When it hit the desk, the screen lit up, the time reading 11:59. I mouthed the word 'fuck' and tiptoed out of the room as fast as I could. I gestured for Mark to go as soon as he could see me. We made dead eye contact for a second, then he took off. Before I took another step, he was already climbing down the fire escape. I followed quickly and was almost out of her line of sight in the doorframe when my luck flipped again. The alarm went off.
I panicked and stopped dead in my tracks. I heard y/n sit up and felt her gaze on my back. She let out a small scream and I heard a crash. I turned to find her sheet thrown over the far end of her bed, she herself gone from view. I assumed she had rolled off to the far side of the bed.
"Y/n! Are you okay?" I called.
"Ethan! What the fuck?! Why are you in my house?! Still?!"
"Uh, I left something!" Without missing a beat, she yelled back.
"I heard you leave! How'd you get back in?!"
"Balcony." I muttered. She shot up from the side of the bed and glared at me.
"Cranky, you couldn't have waited?" She rubbed her head. "You had to break in?"
"Yeah..." She laughed lightly.
"You know, you don't have to break into my house to spend more time with me." That took me by surprise.
"What?" She shook her head.
"Nevermind. Could you just help me up? I have too many comforters wrapped around me to get up." I walked over to her and picked her up off of the floor. Her legs were completely encased in the blankets.
"What did you do?" I asked with a chuckle.
"I became a mermaid. Carry me to my recording studio." I pulled her in closer and walked to her recording room down the hall. "Set me in the big chair." She pointed at a huge and comfy looking office chair. I dropped her down.
"Which game are you playing tonight?"
"Amnesia."
"Oh god, that one's freaky."
"Yep. Wowie, this campaign was the best idea I've ever come up with." She laughed sarcastically and groaned as she pushed her hair back. "And I get anxiety with loud noises." I pulled up a chair she had sitting in the corner of the room.
"I can stay." Her eyes widened and sparkled a bit as a smile danced across her lips.
"Yeah." Her light smile transformed into a playful smirk. "Come a little closer then." I moved the chair so it was right next to her but not in the camera. Just close enough to hold her if she got scared.
"Right here."
"Good. Just don't come into frame because I don't want my fans getting any more ideas."
"Easy peasy. Don't feed the rabid dogs, comfort the cute girl." I was too tired to sensor myself. A soft pink spread over her cheeks.
"Alright. Filming time!" She flipped on the camera and enthusiastically started off her video. I watched her the whole time with my head resting on her hands. A few times she screamed and I laughed a bit and gave her an encouraging nod. By the time she had finished all of her playthroughs, the sun was beginning to rise.