It cannot be undone

Chapter 2

You're still talking to Corpse almost every day, through Twitter and Instagram DMs and the occasional Discord message, and by now you're friendship is truly solid. He's still calling you Sweets, despite knowing your actual name, though it's more of a pet name than anything else at this stage, and it's not like you want him to stop.

He messages you once, a few months into your friendship, without warning, halfway through a Stardew Valley stream.

[just wanted to see your reaction live]

It takes a few moments. You read it, then read it again. Surprise blooms across your face as you're looking at your phone, live, in front of your audience, and apparently Corpse. Quickly, you pause the game, and look directly into the camera, schooling your expression into something that at least looks less flustered than you feel.

"That's how you tell me you're watching my stream?" You ask out loud, addressing him without saying as much, much to the confusion of chat. Somehow, you know he's probably laughing.

[its relaxing as fuck 😂 but i feel like i know too much about a game ive never played]

"Hey, sorry guys," you say, smiling sweetly into the camera, trying to preserve your composure with you phone held tight in your grip, "a thing has come up, just give me a few minutes and I'll be back." And with that, you mute your mic, turning up the low-fi playlist that had been running in the background so you could leave the stream running and move out of frame.

[dude how long have you been watching? and more importantly WHY]
[i watch a lot of streams when im editing]
[yours are chill as hell tho, like asmr or smth]
[good background noise]
[why'd you message mid stream??]
[idk im taking a break from editing just been watching u fish for eels]
[you're a menace]
[i can turn it off if you want, p sure ze and chilled are also live]
[they're rowdy tho. its why im watching u]
[i just can't believe u messaged mid stream 😂😂😂]
[sorry sweets 😂🖤]

Part of you really wants to scream in frustration. How is he so oblivious to the effect his words have on you?

[if you wanna chill in my stream, feel free 😘]
[if u ever play the game i will happily come to ur farm and water your crops and silently judge your plant choices]
[you're too kind haha. i might consider it]

After taking a deep breath, you feel like you can return to your stream. The moment you're back he sends into chat 'hey sweets. hey sweets chat'. Neither your name, nor your channel name is anything close to Sweets, but something about him sticking by the habit, by the pet name, warms your heart. Not that anyone's allowed to know that.

"Corpse Husband," in a tone that implies that you're addressing him by his full name, yet still somehow as sweet and kind as you've ever been, as his name pops up on your screen, along with the little animation for new subscribers, "you are a menace." You tell him, almost comically deadpan, though right before you sit back, you stop holding back your little smile as the rest of the chat is losing it's collective mind.

The first fanfic appears on tumblr two days later.

Menace (Corpse_Husband x Y/N)

No matter how intrigued you are, you tell yourself you're not going to read it. Something about it feels like an invasion of privacy, like someone else has picked up on your feelings and is doing their best to craft a fantasy for you, without them even realising. It feels too... personal, to see how someone interprets your relationship with the person you're actually harboring secret feelings for.