#SOFT DAYA MOMENT LOOK AWAY I MISS MY BOYFRIEND DAYA REALLY BAD

[urmomsfavelesbian]

currently yearning really really really reallyyh hard for my boyfriend

[sweetnestor]

12 Days | Chapter 6.2

Two guys that lowkey hate each other are forced to walk in each other’s shoes in order to learn a lesson.

***in collaboration with @themarkiplierexperience

lmao soz its not actually x reader we’re just desperate for attention haaaa

previous

Tom’s eyes bolted open from the sharp movements next to him. He had fallen asleep on his side, facing away from Bella, only to be awoken by her. He turned around and looked at her; She was twitching in her sleep. She hummed and turned, sounding distressed. It was very bizarre.

Hesitating at first, Tom gently shook her shoulder. It didn't wake her up, but it did stop her twitching. He sighed in relief and turned back around, curling up under the sheets. However, his drooping eyes opened again at the feeling of an arm going around his waist.

“You're sleeping weird,” mumbled the soft, sleepy voice.

The hell does that mean? Whatever, Tom assumed the position anyway. He turned so he was facing Bella and he wrapped his arms around her. She nuzzled into his chest and relaxed into him, like sleeping with the love of her life was all she needed to recover from that dream she was having.

Was it bad that he kind of wished her was holding her as himself? Not that he had suddenly developed feelings for Bella after knowing her for 2 days; It wasn’t really her that was the issue. When was the last time any girl wanted to sleep in Tom’s arms? When was the last time he was innocently in bed with a girl? Those late nights with Zendaya hardly ended up like this, and that was usually his fault. Usually they were in his car or her’s as well, so there was no room for cuddling.

Not only that, Tom was just reluctant to have any physical contact that wasn't sexual. He wasn't sure why. Zendaya was honestly perfect. She had never done anything wrong in any aspect. She complied with his stupid “rules” despite that it wasn't what she wanted. Now, Tom was feeling guilty for it. Maybe he was just afraid of the public backlash. Maybe he wanted to save at least one thing from being put under the public microscope and just went about it the wrong way. Maybe when he was back in his own body, Tom could try to fix things with her. In the meantime, he had to date this pink haired girl who twitched and groaned in her sleep like she was possessed. Maybe he could learn from this relationship.

A lightbulb went off in Tom’s head. Was this the reason for the switch? Did he have to properly learn about a healthy relationship? He tried to imagine what Sonji the psychic would say about that. She would probably be super vague and hit him with a dab. Or she would actually hit him with a pack of tarot cards.

Eventually, Tom fell asleep and dreamt about switching back with Ethan. It went horribly wrong, and their faces morphed into something straight out of a horror movie. Melty skin, multiple limbs, voices crying out for death. He could hear Sonji laughing obnoxiously in the background. It was a weird dream.

He was pleased to find that he awoke naturally. No obnoxious alarms. Olivia wasn’t here to rapidly knock on his door and yell at him to get up. Harrison wasn’t here to literally pull him out of bed. There wasn’t a demanding schedule to follow. Tom shifted in the sheets and stretched his arms above his head, feeling strangely relaxed. That is, until he remembered where he was, and what exactly he had to do today.

Bella was nowhere to be seen. Tom immediately sat up, looking around the room. He heard voices coming from the living room, which only prompted him to grab his phone and check in with Ethan. For once, he wasn't left in the dark, and was pleased to find a string of messages. The first five were sent the night before.

“Got yelled at by Olivia but it seems like the schedule wasn’t completely fucked so that’s good I guess.”

“Harrison somehow knew about Zendaya already so I just kinda rolled with it”

“I might have made things worse for you with zendaya but I got her off my back for the time being. She’s all yours when we switch back.”

“Also yes i am aware that my gf is the best gn dude.”

“Don’t forget to try to edit some stuff tomorrow we’re not all made of money like you 🙃”

Tom sighed in relief, despite that that last passive aggressive text caused a wave of anxiety to surge in his stomach. Today, he was a YouTuber. Judging by what he had observed from the three other YouTubers he's been spending time with, it involved a lot of things he knew nothing about. As long as he kept a confident and positive mindset, this should be a breeze. Tom kept reading.  There were two more messages, sent earlier that morning. The words Tom read made his stomach knot up.

“Why are all your friends so much cooler than you?” it read. “Let Everyone™ try the suit one,.  direcotr didn’t seem to mind tho.”

“Oh man,” Tom whispered to himself. The mental image of tall and lanky Harrison trying on the Spidey suit did give him a right laugh, but also a small wave of anxiety. Had the executives not taken back the costume? And Tom wasn’t there to witness it?

Shaking it off, he replied to Ethan.

“Worked things out with Bella, should be fine until we switch back,” he wrote. “Thanks for talking to Daya. Oh, and Harrison knows everything that goes on with me. Have fun with that!”

Suddenly, the bedroom door opened. Tom jumped, nearly losing grasp of his phone. His heart racing, he looked over at Bella, who was mildly startled by Tom’s sudden move. Her eyes scanned over his body, the way he looked like a deer in headlights, the way he was clutching his phone like a lifeline.

“Morning, love,” Tom greeted, his voice embarrassingly higher than normal.

“Morning… didn't mean to spook you,” Bella replied with a nervous chuckle. “How long have you been up?”

“Uh, I've only just woken up.” He climbed out of bed and scanned the ground for his jeans. “Have you seen my trous- uh, pants?”

Bella gave him a look, but she went over to the bureau and opened up a drawer, pulling out a fresh pair of black jeans. She threw them over to Tom wordlessly. “Don't be an outfit repeater, chulo. Get ready, we're gonna go have lunch and then we're gonna take Jack and Signe to the airport.”

“Oh, they're leaving today?” Tom asked.

“I know, I wish they could stay longer. I miss having Jack as a roommate. The apartment feels so quiet and empty since he moved out.” She sighed as she left the room.

Tom raised an eyebrow at that statement. After putting his pants on, he shot another text to Ethan.

“So what's the deal with Bella and that Sean guy? Is he someone I need to keep an eye on?”

~

It was one miracle to survive a night with three strangers in an unknown apartment. It was another miracle that Tom survived lunch in a public restaurant with these three strangers. At the last moment, however, he remembered Ethan's nut allergy and made sure to stay away from anything that involved peanuts. Part of him feared he would forget about that particular detail and accidentally kill himself. Or, Ethan's body. Could he, Tom, die in this body?

Best not to think about it.

Anyway, he made it through midday. Later on, Bella was leading the way to the airport. Tom offered to drive, so as to seem like a decent boyfriend, but it only made Bella and Jack laugh. At least Tom wasn't the only one left in the dark about that; Signe seemed just as mildly confused as well.

The car pulled up to the front of one of the entrances. At least LAX was something Tom was familiar with. To think Ethan was here earlier… Thinking about him made Tom check his phone again. Nothing yet.

The four got out of the car. Sean and Signe retrieved their luggage from the trunk before saying their goodbyes. It was weird. They kept looking at Tom like they truly knew him, like he was actually their friend. But he's not Ethan Nestor. You've got the wrong guy, sorry.

“Thanks for everything, Baller,” Sean said as he hugged the pink haired girl. Again, Tom couldn't help but feel suspicious of their actions, despite that Bella hugged Signe next.

“You know you guys are welcome at any time,” Bella said. “Whether it's for uni, or whenever you guys feel like, I'll always have that extra room for you!”

“Ethan!” Sean exclaimed as he opened his arms. “My little stinky boy!”

Tom returned the gesture and hugged him. “It was good seeing you again, mate. Have a safe flight.”

“Alright, mate,” he replied in a mock British accent.

“My turn!” Signe piped up as she came in between the two boys. “Bye, Ethan!” She stood on her toes to hug him around his shoulders.

After that, the couple ventured into the building, their luggage in tow. Bella and Tom watched them as they leaned against the side of the car. Bella lied her head on his shoulder for a moment.

"Ya los extraño,” she sighed.

“Yeah,” Tom replied even though he had no idea what she said. Then, he changed the subject. “Hey, can you take me home? I gotta start editing.”

Her hand went into his, squeezing tightly. She didn't say anything at first, which was a little off putting. But she agreed, let go of his hand, and went to the driver's side. Before starting the car, she turned to him.

“You don't wanna see Helena?” she asked, a concerned look on her face. “After what happened the other day, and after what you told me yesterday?”

Who the everloving fuck is Helena?

“No, I'm fine,” Tom said as he checked his phone yet again. “It's fine.”

“You sure? I have an appointment with her, but you can take it if you really need to,” Bella gently pressed.

He shook his head. “Really, I'm good. I just really need to work on some videos.”

She watched him for a second, but then turned the engine over. “Well, you are starting to sound like yourself again.”

Thank god.

Traveling twenty miles took a lot longer than it should have, given the amount of traffic. Bella handled it like a pro, not getting irritated or annoyed at the other drivers, whereas Tom wanted to take control and navigate the whole ride out of sheer irritation. He knew better now, though. Apparently, Ethan wasn't allowed to drive.

Tom enjoyed Bella’s singing too, even if she was singing depressing songs. He stared out the window and listened to the pretty voice, reflecting on his life and his choices, missing Zendaya, missing his own fans. Missing people he hadn't thought about in ages…

And then an upbeat song started playing, sending Tom back to reality. He looked down at his phone again and unlocked it. Curious, he opened up the Twitter app. The feed wasn't anything special; Just stuff about gaming, various celebrities, and other YouTubers. Then, feeling a little bold, he decided to type out a new tweet.

“Had to say goodbye to Sean and Signe. So good spending time with those smelly boys again. I miss em’ already”

Replies started coming in almost immediately. It was much like Tom’s own feed. He didn’t realize Ethan had fans of his own. He chuckled in disbelief, which caught his girlfriend's attention.

“What is it?” she asked.

Shit. Tom scrolled and tapped a random tweet, quickly skimming it.

“I put an apostrophe in the wrong place and everyone's attacking me,” he told her as he replied to another person.

“That's the Internet for you,” Bella said in response.

After a few more minutes, she finally pulled up in front of Ethan's apartment building. Tom took off his seat belt and grabbed the door handle before Bella put her hand on his shoulder.

“Are you sure you don't wanna see Helena?” she asked him seriously.

“Positive,” he said, giving her a reassuring smile. “I'll call you later, okay?”

“Text me,” she corrected. “Oh, and don't forget about tomorrow!”

He nodded like he knew exactly what was going on. He was a good boyfriend who would consult with the actual boyfriend about tomorrow's date. Finally, Tom kissed her goodbye and got out of the car.

~

If any of Ethan’s friends saw his current Internet history, he probably would have gotten fired. No, not because he was searching every bit of freaky porn ever, but because each link was to a guide on how to use Adobe Premiere. How to edit YouTube videos. How to put a facecam on gameplay. How to do literally anything that had to do with YouTube.

Ethan hadn’t made it any easier on Tom, either. Any video file he had on his hard drive were titled different variations of “alkdfhkj.” Oh, and they were all either Photoshopped pictures of Ethan in different video games, or already completed videos that were on his YouTube channel. Where was the “pile of unedited footage” he had talked about? Tom inspected the camera behind one of the monitors and took out the SD card. On there, he found a video of Ethan talking about a game called Flix and Chill 2: Millennials. Great, now he had to find the actual gameplay.

It took more hours that what was probably necessary, given that he ended up with an eleven minute video. It was mostly a bunch of tedious work, removing bits and pieces where Ethan fumbled on his words and things that dragged on too long. Tom was by no means an expert on what could and couldn’t stay in the video, but he did his best. He wondered who would be watching this, and if they’ll be able to tell if it was different from what Ethan normally did.

Nevertheless, Tom put it up on Ethan’s channel. Since it was already late in the day, he scheduled it to go up the next morning. Managing the actual YouTube account was much easier than just about anything else involved in this “career.” Well, it wasn’t difficult as much as it was boring. Tom liked to think that he would be more comfortable actually recording videos rather than editing them. Mark’s got his own editors, why doesn’t Ethan?

Speaking of, Tom pulled out his phone again, sending what was probably the third or fourth message in a row to the guy. “Finished editing a video! You can tell me how amazing it is tomorrow morning when it goes up :P”

One down, several more to go.

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tag list: @marie-is-in-the-dark @beardedsteveslut  @ohsnapitzmoony

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