Talk to Me

(2) Chapter 3

    It's been a couple months of Ian trying to keep smosh afloat by himself. Forest wakes up to a mass text from her boss saying, "Everyone meet at my house I have news."

    Forest sits up in her bed with panic coursing through her body at the text. Last time they had a text like this, they all got fired. Forest quickly gets ready, putting on a lazy outfit and throwing her hair up in a ponytail. She feeds her cat before hurrying out the door.

    She drives a bit faster than she normally would, just wanting to get there to hear whatever news she has to. Once she gets to Ian's house she takes a deep breath before slowly opening her car door. She walks up to the door knocking lightly.

    Ian quickly opens the door, his face quickly relieving some of Forest stress. He quickly welcomes her in as she's one of the first to arrive. She sits on Ian's couch scrolling through her phone as they wait for everyone else to arrive. Her knee was bouncing from anxiety.

    Damien arrives shortly after Forest and quickly walks over to her. He sits down on the couch next to her before leaning over to whisper "Do you know what's going on?" He says, the nervousness is still evident in his voice.

    Forest matches his whisper looking at him slightly as she talks "No, but Ian's face says it's probably not horrible news." Forest says with a nervous laugh trying to comfort his nerves.

    Damien's body relaxes a bit as he realizes Forest is right. Ian wouldn't be so happy if Smosh was going under. Damien nods his head slightly before scrolling on his phone Forest doing the same.

    As they are sitting together Forest realizes Damien could move further if he wanted to. The whole couch was empty but still their shoulders were brushing. Not that Forest is mad at it, in fact she's actually happy to have some sort of comfort in this.

    After everyone shows up, Ian clears his throat attempting to get everyone's attention. Everyone sets down their phones, looking over at Ian. Thoughts are running through everyone's head trying to figure out if this was going to be good or bad news.

     Ian, being who he is, decides to play with them a bit. He hangs his head in defeat pausing before he looks back up. "So" He pauses again, building up the suspense. "I don't own smosh anymore." He says in a sad tone.

    Everyone looks around at each other confused. Some people hold their heads in their hands thinking they just lost the best job of their life. Forest looks at Damien for some sort of confirmation that she heard that correctly. Damien leans a bit closer to Forest almost as if to comfort both of them.

     As everyone thinks they lost their jobs, Ian starts laughing slightly. Everyone looks at him confused. Why the hell is he laughing if we all just lost our jobs? Ian settles his laughter before speaking again excitedly "Man I got you guys good." He paused to laugh again "I don't own Smosh... because Mythical bought it! Smosh is alive!" He almost yells out excited for the news.

    A beat of confusion flies through everyone before everyone starts yelling with excitment. Forest quickly hugs Damien, happy to have a stable job back. Damien is a bit shocked at first but soon hugs her back. Ian pops open a bottle of champagne starting the party.

    The group hung out for hours sharing memories and drinking. They are all more than relieved that their job is saved. After a few hours, people start slowly heading home. Forest got a bit out of hand, she doesn't normally drink, but all the stress finally fading away made her want to celebrate.

    She was in no shape to drive home. Most people had gotten a ride home or ordered an uber. As Forest was talking to Ian making sure it was ok if she leaves her car here before she orders an uber, Damien walks up. Ian confirms that it's ok if Forest leaves her car and she can pick it up in the morning.

    As Forest starts to order an uber Damien takes her phone. Forest looks at him confused, "Why did you just take my phone?" Her speech is a bit slurred due to her being drunk.

    Damien pockets her phone before looking at her again, stepping a bit closer to her. "I'm gonna drive you home if that's ok" He says wanting to make sure Forest gets home safe.

    Forest stumbles a bit while trying to step closer to him, Damien holds out his hands ready to catch her if she falls. Forest was going to deny his request, but she really didn't want to get in a random person's car while drunk so she simply nodded her head.

     Damien never drinks so he was in perfect condition to drive. He grabs Forest's bag for her before telling Ian goodbye quickly. Forest drunkingly waves at Ian before stumbling towards the door.
  
    Damien quickly catches up to her gently grabbing her hand and elbow to guide her out of the door. He guides her down the steps and towards his car. He opens the passenger side door for her gently guiding her inside. Once Forest is settled inside he closes the door and walks around to the driver's side.

     The drive home is relatively silent other than the soft music playing through the radio and Forest giving him direction. Even drunk she knows where to turn as she's taken this drive multiple times. They pull into Forest house. Forest tries to get out by herself before Damien quickly stops her. He hops out of the car, walking around to the passenger side where she was.

    Damien opens the door for her before offering his hand to help her out. Forest grabs his hand, pulling herself out of the car. As they walk together to her house, Forest leans most of her weight on Damien. He doesn't mind at all, some of the reason he doesn't drink is so he can take care of his friends when he's needed.

    Forest hands Damien her keys so that he can unlock her door for them. Damien helps Forest to her bed, laying her down softly. He wants to help her but he doesn't want to over step. "Do you want me to take your shoes off?"

    Forest simply nods before laying her head back down. Damien gently slips her shoes off sitting them by her bedroom door. Damien looks at his friend once more before reaching for the door.

    It might be her drunken state, or maybe her true feelings coming though, but she doesn't want Damien to leave. She quickly sits up in her bed making herself a bit dizzy for a second. "Wait!" She reaches her hand out as if she could reach him. "Please, don't leave." She says a bit quieter.

    Damien looks at her not sure how to respond for a second, but truly Damien doesn't want to leave either. He nods slightly, "Yeah, ok. I'll stay... I'll sleep on the couch." He says heading for the bedroom door again.

    Before he reaches it Forest stops him again. "The couch is so uncomfortable though" She says her speech is still a bit slurred.

    Damien understands that she's implying he lays down with her but she's drunk. She doesn't really know what she's saying... Does she? Damien shakes his head a bit walking closer to the bed. He pats Forest's shoulder gently laying her back down in her bed. "I'll be ok, and I'll be here when you wake up."

    Forest nods her head slightly, laying it down on the pillow and closing her eyes. Damien stands there for a second looking at how peaceful... and beautiful she looks. After a couple seconds Damien walks out of the room not being stopped this time.

    Damien lays down on Forest's couch, Binx quickly curling up on him. Damien pets the cat thinking about everything that just happened. They've been friends for years and yeah she's always been beautiful, and kind, and she was always there for him. He finally drifts off to sleep after laying there for about an hour just thinking.