Smosh One Shots and Short Stories

The first dinner in years (Ianthony)

"Y'know who texted me yesterday?", Ian said while sitting at lunch with Shayne and Amanda. Angela sat with them before, but she got back to work already because she wanted to leave early. „Who?", Shayne asked taking another bite and looking up. „Anthony", Ian explained. Everyone at his table looked at him a bit confused. „Padilla?", Amanda wanted to know not sure if she was connecting the wrong dots. „Yeah", Ian laughed a bit at their faces. „We texted for a while actually and he asked if we wanted to meet", he added. „Oh, well... cool. What did you answer?", Shayne asked. „I wanted to ask you before. We thought it might be cool to not sit in awkward silence alone, so... if you'd like to come", Ian explained the plan looking at his two friends. He didn't really know why he asked Shayne and Amanda specifically, but he felt like this was the right choice.

„I mean... I'd like to meet him, but... isn't it a bit weird if I don't even know him and already am the buffer between you guys?", Amanda asked carefully. Ian knew what she meant. „I don't think so. Also, he's bringing his editor too and I don't know him either", he explained. „Okay. I'm in. When and where?", Amanda wanted to know already taking out her phone to note the following information. Ian told her the address of the restaurant they picked as a neutral spot. There hasn't been bad blood between them ever, but they both thought it might be better to not meet up alone after not really speaking in five years. „Can you come?", Ian asked Shayne who had stayed silent for a while before. „Yeah, I'll be there", he said. Ian almost saw him thinking, but he wasn't sure if he even wanted to know what his friend was thinking about.

Ian informed Anthony about Amanda and Shayne coming with him and faster than they both thought, the day they had scheduled their dinner was there. Ian was pretty nervous the whole day. He didn't even know why, but he felt like he was going to meet an ex after all these years and it was really messing with his head. So many questions came up he wanted to ask Anthony and so many things he wanted to tell him. But the first dinner wouldn't be the right time to do that. They would just see how they felt about each other and how they were working together and maybe they would meet up again to talk more privately.

Shayne was a bit nervous too. He would lie if he'd say, he wasn't suspicious about Anthony's sudden reconnect. He never noticed before, but he was a bit mad at him. Shayne has seen Ian in pretty much every state of mind he has ever gone through. And even though it wasn't Anthony's fault, it did feel like it was at least to some degree. Shayne didn't want Ian to know about his thoughts which is why he tried to avoid him since he got invited to this evening. Amanda did notice that but she felt like she wasn't in the position to ask questions. She didn't know much about the whole Ian and Anthony thing. Not more than the public and a few internal jokes and rumors she never got.

When it was time, the three of them met walking out of the Smosh office. "Should I drive? I'm passing by here later, so I could drop you off", Amanda suggested. Ian and Shayne agreed, so they got in Amanda's car and left the parking lot. "How are you?", she asked Ian who sat next to her. Ian laughed a bit. He was pretty sure his nervousness was visible. "I'm kinda nervous", he admitted. "But I think it's gonna be good", he added after a few seconds. Shayne rolled his eyes. "In case it won't, we'll just leave early and get ourselves some drinks", Amanda joked and made the two laugh a bit. They knew she was kind of serious about it and especially Ian felt like it was a good idea having her with him.

"Hi!", Anthony greeted the three coming up to him inside the restaurant. He and his editor arrived early and now they all welcomed each other with polite hugs. Ian felt a slight shiver hugging his old friend for a second. He didn't even know how much he missed him. Anthony seemed like it got to him too but he pretended it wouldn't and they all sat down. Anthony and his editor on one side of the table, Ian and Shayne on the other side. Amanda sat at the head of the table. They started with small talk and looking for what to drink. "Would you bring me home later? It's kind of on your way", Ian asked Amanda silently while thinking about some alcohol to calm his nerves. She giggled a bit but nodded at him. If it would help, then he should get a drink.

And it did help. Anthony did the same and by the time their food came, they were talking more freely. Not about the deepest shit, but it was a good conversation. They were laughing and listening to each other. But it wasn't just Ian and Anthony. Everyone was pretty involved in all this and the time flew by. Shayne tried his best to step back mentally every now and then to look at everything from the outside. He was still worried a bit. Worried about Ian being hurt again. He looked so happy when his eyes met Anthony's and so did Anthony. Shayne took a deep breath. They were not the same people as they were five years ago. They could make this into a happy ending.

This story contains four chapters and the last two got more romantic than I was expecting😂