Smosh One Shots and Short Stories

Never go to meetings alone (Ianthony friendship)

"You good?", Anthony tried to ask Ian by just looking at him a certain way. His friend just tried to smile and got back to the conversation. They sat in the office of some dude who was responsible for negotiating a contract with them about some placement. It was all a bit odd since normally Ian and Anthony would not necessarily do that themselves. Or at least not alone. Also, they sat in this office in front of an old desk with just two other people in the room. Most of the time, these types of meetings were held with more people and sometimes online. Originally, they weren't supposed to go alone but since pretty much half of the crew was home sick with some cold, they had to manage this themselves.

Ian obviously didn't feel comfortable in the situation at all and Anthony just tried his best to help him out by talking for him whenever he could. He also tried to make it a quick meeting but that didn't really work too well. "You guys want to take a quick break? I could need another coffee", one of the men suggested. "Yeah, why not. Ten minutes?", the other one agreed. Anthony nodded at that. He could go to use the bathroom but for some reason, he felt like leaving Ian alone wasn't a good idea. So he gestured for him to come with him and they both went to the closest bathroom.

"Are you okay?", he asked Ian as soon as they were alone. "I... I will manage. Just... yeah, just don't leave me alone in there and try to make it quick", he answered honestly and looked down a little embarrassed. "Sure. You wanna talk later?", Anthony suggested carefully. "Not really", Ian mumbled and his friend dropped it for now. This wasn't the time to make it a big deal. So they hurried to get back in time and continued the meeting. Ian had a hard time not spacing out every few minutes. The whole situation with this desk in front of him and the older man on the other side of it reminded him of something he hated to think about and pictures started to pop up in his head constantly.

Anthony continued to hurry a bit through the meeting. At some point, he recognized Ian's leg bouncing up and down and his hands almost shaking a bit. He decided to take his hand underneath the table to try to calm him down a bit. Ian looked at him surprised for a second but it did help him. "Yeah, so we would take the contract with us and go over it with a few people", Anthony said knowing that they were close to the end of this meeting. "Sure! I hope we hear from you soon!", the guy in front of them said before they finally said their goodbyes and left.

"Thanks", Ian mumbled on the way back to the car. "Are you feeling better?", Anthony just asked getting a nod from his friend who did feel better but still had a lot on his mind. "Could you drive?", Ian asked and took out his car keys. "You... you sure, you're okay?", his friend immediately wanted to know because Ian normally didn't let anyone drive his car. At least not this one. "Let's just get back", he replied not answering the question, and got in the car. Anthony followed and made himself comfortable in the driver's seat. "Anything I need to know?", he asked about the car before starting it. "No", Ian laughed a bit. He knew he was overly careful with his car which made him appreciate the question.

On the drive back to the Smosh office, the two weren't talking much. Ian still struggled a bit fighting the pictures in his head and Anthony was concentrated on the street while thinking about how to find out what was going on with his friend. He was okay before the meeting but since they sat down in front of the old desk something was off. Someone mentioned a few days ago that Ian wouldn't go to meetings alone and now it made sense. It seemed like something happened before, when he was alone at some meeting.

"This is why you don't go to meetings alone, isn't it?", Anthony asked when they were back in the parking lot of Smosh. Ian just nodded. He really didn't want to talk about it. He had never told anyone what happened and he wasn't willing to change that. "Well, it's good to know I guess", Anthony sighed a bit frustrated. He couldn't stand to see his friend like that and that he wasn't talking didn't make it better. "Have you talked to anyone before?", he wanted to know and again got a silent answer by Ian shaking his head. "I'm okay. I just don't like to go to meetings alone", he then said annoyed by the questions and overall uncomfortable. Before Anthony could say anything else, Ian took the key out of the now parked car and got out. "You coming?", he asked. So Anthony followed his friend inside a bit hurt by the way he shut him out.

They went to their desks and started working a bit. But they both didn't get much done. In their minds, thoughts were chasing each other. Ian still had images popping up from what happened years ago and it got harder to fight them every time. He never was confronted with a situation that close to what happened. Simply the constellation of the desk in front of him and the man behind it while another one kind of sitting to the side brought him back. Anthony was really the only thing that did prevent him from panicking. His friend picked up on the way Ian was struggling and he didn't know what to do. He obviously didn't want to talk, so how could he help him?

"You wanna go get some air?", Anthony finally suggested when Ian was spacing out once more. Minutes later they sat on an old bench in front of the building looking at the parking lot. It wasn't too nice of a place but that didn't matter. "Can you please talk to someone? You don't have to tell me but it's not good to hold stuff back", Anthony asked his friend truly concerned. "It's not that easy", Ian replied. "I didn't think that", Anthony immediately said. "It just all reminded me of something that happened years ago. It's ridiculous that I'm still thinking about it", Ian tried to make it look less bad. "I'm sure it's not ridiculous. You have your reasons", Anthony wanted to make him feel better.

Warning: Harassment/Abuse mentioned

Minutes of silence passed by and they both couldn't think of something to say. Ian felt himself getting closer to just telling him and it scared him. But he knew Anthony was right and holding it back wouldn't make it go away. "He... he tried to... he tried to make me touch him", Ian finally stuttered so silently that he wasn't even sure if Anthony heard him. But he did and looked at Ian in disbelief. "He... what?", Anthony asked but Ian just looked away embarrassed. He couldn't say it again. "Someone tried to make you touch them?", Anthony repeated and still didn't get a reaction. "How... when... when did this happen? How long ago?", he wanted to know. "I was... You had left already", Ian just said. It made him feel worse to think about how old he was then and that he should've been able to speak up for himself.

But that didn't matter to Anthony. He just pulled his friend into a hug. "I'm sorry that happened to you", he said into his ear. "How did you... I mean... you got out of it, didn't you?", he continued to ask when they let go of the hug. "Yeah... I... I guess, I just got up and ran", he explained. "I know, I should've defended myself or something but...", he added and got stopped by Anthony. "It doesn't matter. I doubt you could've made him realize how stupid he was. I'm just glad you made it out of there, okay?", he reassured Ian that he didn't do anything wrong. "We didn't get the contract though", Ian said without really knowing why. That seemed kind of obvious anyway. "I hope so. Wait... did he pressure you with getting this contract?", Anthony put it together and wasn't too far off with that. "They... yeah", Ian just admitted. "They?", Anthony got more mad at whoever Ian was even talking about. "I... yeah. Two dudes like today", he said. "That's why this was so hard for you today! The situation was just so similar", Anthony finally understood the whole thing.

The description is over here

"Man, I'm so sorry. You could've said something. We could've just left", he added. "And not get the contract because of my stupid trauma?", Ian replied. "I could've done it alone", Anthony thought out loud. "No! No, I'm not doing meetings alone and no one else in this company does", he immediately got shut down. Ian looked at his friend. This was important to him and this rule existed since it happened. Anthony just agreed. Maybe Ian was right. There was no point in putting someone in a situation like that.

"Thank you for telling me", Anthony then said when he calmed his anger at those men down a bit. "Thanks for listening, I guess", Ian replied. "You never tried to make them have consequences, did you?", Anthony figured. He knew there wasn't really a point in trying when Ian was alone with these two dudes. And he got the shaking head he was expecting as an answer. "Man, I'm this close to asking you who that was and then finding them", he admitted. "Anthony", Ian just said to make his friend look at him again. "It's long ago. It doesn't matter anymore. I'm okay now, as long as I'm not alone in a meeting", he said to calm Anthony's anger. "I won't ever let you alone in a meeting", Anthony immediately promised. Ian just smiled at him and pulled him into a hug again. It felt good to have it off his chest now.

I feel like these things should be told in stories and movies because it's reality. It's important to talk about it.
How do you feel about mentioning those kinds of things in stories and so on?