hiraeth ; harry lewis

iii. home sweet home

"You were amazing, Val!" Vik exclaimed as the Sidemen burst onto the main area of the set. He rushed over to her side immediately, clapping a hand to her shoulder.

"Honestly, where've you been hiding this bird this whole time, Vik?" JJ asked, shooting her a playful grin. "She fits in perfectly."

She could feel her cheeks redden. "Thanks, you guys," she said, rising from her chair. "I really appreciate this opportunity, and it was lots of fun."

"I can't believe you and Bog didn't use the cards at all," Ethan exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"Bog?" she asked, glancing at the seven boys (+ Kon in the background) and frowning. "Who's Bog?"

"Me," Harry mumbled, shifting his feet. His eyes were glued to his shoes. "It's a stupid nickname they've given me."

"Bog, huh?" She tested it out on her tongue, tilting her head. "That's cute."

Harry's head shot up, and his face flushed pink. "Thanks?" It came out more questioning than he probably intended, complete with a voice crack in the middle of the word. She couldn't help the giggle that bubbled up and escaped her lips, joined by a cacophony of laughter as his friends jumped to poke fun at his unstoppable awkwardness.

Vik's face lit up suddenly, and he gestured the boys to the side, where they leaned their heads in together and engaged in a short whispered conversation. When they grouped around her once more, Vik cleared his throat. "Say, Val," he began, "are you free tonight?"

She bit her lip, glancing from side to side at their hopeful expressions. "I'm not sure yet," she hedged, twisting her fingers together. "I, uh, there's this work thing I might have to go to." Usually, she would have stopped it there, but her gaze paused on Harry's face, eyes slightly widened and bottom lip protruding, and she found herself adding, "I can ask?"

"Awesome," Vik said. "I'll text you the details, just let me know if you can come or not."

"Hopefully you can," Tobi said, flashing her a smile. "It'll be nice to get to know you outside of this setup."

"Yeah, me too," she replied. It was only slightly a lie; she did want to get to know them more, separate from their YouTube personas, but she just...didn't do nights out. "Well, it was so nice to see you all." She gave everyone a quick, tight hug. "And maybe see you tonight." Don't count on it, she added in her head.

With a chorus of farewells following her, she strode out of the set.

---

"You're going." There was no room in Florence Huang's tone for argument. She stood with her hands on her hips, her dark eyes hard as she stared at her. Val inched back against the sofa on instinct.

"Flo..." she started.

The other girl steamrolled over her. "It wasn't a suggestion. You're going."

"I feel like I deserve some say, since this is my life," she pointed out.

"Too bad," Flo said, shrugging her pale shoulders. She had pounced as soon as she had mentioned the boys' invitation; in fact, she had been prodding her about going out for months now, starting ever since they'd got their flat together in July. Val had been fending her off with excuses, but Flo was well aware of the empty space in her schedule that night, and she couldn't think of anything else to use to get out of it.

She had nothing against the Sidemen or the rest of their YouTuber friends. The idea of a night out just made her nervous.

But Vik would be there, and so would Harry, and the other boys. They had all been lovely during the shoot. And it would be nice to see them again and become proper friends.