Instagram wasn't necessarily the place that Joey Graceffa ever thought he'd find love.
Sure, every now and again, he'd see some picture of a shirtless man, pause, think to himself 'the thirst is real,' and then go on with his business. But, he couldn't possibly try to start a relationship with any of those guys. It would probably be so awkward, he convinced himself, having to send a picture to whatever shirtless male chest he was obsessing over, and then trying to come up with something to say that didn't sound completely stupid. What could he possibly say?
"Hi, I noticed, while stalking your Instagram profile, that you are incredibly attractive. Would you like to meet me sometime? Sincerely, your Instagram stalker."
That probably wouldn't work out. So, Joey had promised himself that he would never pursue a relationship on any social media platform.
It was on a regular day in the summer, when Daniel Preda came along and ruined that.
***
Joey was bored. That was something that didn't happen too often, but when it did, it was incredibly frustrating.
At first, he'd tried setting up his camera to film something, anything, but the ideas weren't coming to him like they usually did. He contacted every single one of his friends, but they were all off, living their own lives, without him. There was absolutely nothing on TV.
It was like the world was on a mission to make his life as boring as possible on that day.
Joey gave a defeated, and probably over dramatic sigh as he plopped himself down onto the sofa, taking out his phone and opening Instagram. He scrolled through his feed, mindlessly, finding that it was, of course, nothing but boring.
He made his way to the 'Explore Posts' section, and looked at that for a few moments. His eyes came to rest on a picture of a guy and a girl.
Damn, Joey thought to himself, tapping the photo to see it a little better. The guy was the single most beautiful thing Joey'd ever seen, and apparently, Joey found out, after doing a bit of digging, his name was Daniel.
Joey spent a solid thirty minutes, scrolling through the Instagram profile of Daniel Christopher Preda. The blonde girl Daniel was with in the first picture Joey had seen seemed to be one of Daniel's best friends.
Joey knew it was stupid, but he slowly got to be a little bit jealous of her.
After awhile of his Instagram stalking, he knew what was going to happen next.
He was going to break the social media dating rule.
***
Joey knew he couldn't bring himself to try and direct message Daniel on Instagram. He'd have to send a photo with it, and that was just too weird for someone Joey had never even talked to. The closest he came to communicating with Daniel was following him on Instagram.
Joey did, however, realize that Daniel had his Twitter username in his Instagram bio, and that it could be the answer to his problems. He quickly closed Instagram, and opened Twitter, typing in Daniel's Twitter username. The same gorgeous dark-haired man was in the profile picture. Joey smiled, like he'd just won the lottery or something. He followed Daniel's Twitter, as well, hoping he didn't come off as creepy, and praying that Daniel would notice him.
Joey silently rejoiced when he got a message, opening it to see what MisterPreda had to say.
"Hey! :) I looked at your Twitter a little bit, you're from LA, too? I just moved here, I haven't really met many people from here yet, hahah."
Joey melted. Well, not really, but that's what it felt like. He took far too long typing up a reply. He ultimately decided on: "Oh, yeah, I've lived here for awhile. If you ever need anyone to show you around, I'm always up for being a tour guide. :D."
He wasn't sure if that was the right thing to say or not. He spent the next minute and a half critiquing every part of his reply to Daniel, wishing he could take it all back and start again.
Daniel: "That sounds fun! Maybe we could meet up sometime for coffee? Like, business coffee."
Joey: "Great! Yeah, that sounds really good, when are you free?"
Daniel: "I'm busy most weekdays, but this Saturday, maybe?"
Joey: "That sounds good to me! :)"
Daniel: "I'll see you on Saturday, Joey Graceffa. :)"
***
Joey and Daniel talked a little more over the course of the week, learning a little more about each other (including the fact that they were both from Massachusetts), and negotiating a time for their coffee date. Daniel was a definite morning person, who wanted to meet at the coffee shop at 8 AM, but Joey managed to convince him to push it to somewhere around 11 instead. No way Joey was getting out of bed that early on a Saturday, even if it was to go meet the world's cutest boy.
Joey had just gotten back from a night out with Meghan, the night before the coffee date was scheduled to happen, when he got a text.
Daniel: "Hey, I know we scheduled to meet up tomorrow morning, but would you be opposed to meeting up tonight instead?"
Joey: "Hm, I don't know, I just got back from a pretty long day with Meghan, I'm kinda tired.."
Daniel: "You sure? It's gonna be fun. :("
Joey: "Maybe just for a little bit."
Joey was hesitant to meet Daniel at a bar, of all places. He hadn't had time to emotionally prepare himself for it or anything. He got to the bar about twenty minutes after Daniel had originally texted him, and walked inside. He looked around for a moment before immediately going to get some alcohol in his system to try and calm his nerves. It didn't help anything.
He ended up walking around in circles for awhile, finally figuring out that there was another room toward the back of the bar where Daniel was.
Joey walked into the room, immediately locking eyes with the face from the pictures he'd been looking at all week. Joey didn't like romantic cliches, but Daniel took his breath away. Daniel looked absolutely ridiculous, in the world's tightest pants and some cowboy boots, but Joey knew that this was the kind of loser he needed in his life.
"Hi," Joey murmured once he was close enough to reach out and touch Daniel.
"Hey," Daniel replied, simply, giving Joey a small grin that made Joey feel like he was going to explode. "Do you want to go for a walk?"
***
"My mom's doing a bit better now, but I still worry about her, you know?" Joey sighed, nodding over at Daniel as they walked. They'd been talking about their life stories, and were on the topic of each of their struggles with alcoholic parents.
"Yeah, I understand that feeling," Daniel responded, looking over at Joey as well. They'd been talking for what felt like forever, about anything they could think of, and they'd really bonded over their parents' similar issues. "It's a constant worry. But, it's good that your mom is getting better. Hopefully she keeps getting better."
They walked the rest of the way to the bar in silence, their hands brushing each other every now and then.
"I've got to get going," Daniel finally broke the silence when they got back. "I have a lot of drunken idiots to drive home."
Joey flashed him a smile, wrapping his arms around Daniel and giving him a three second hug. "I'll see you later. It was nice to meet you."
After Joey and Daniel had parted ways, at about two in the morning, Joey's phone buzzed, with another text from Daniel.
Daniel: "I was so nervous tonight, oh my God. It was so nice to meet you.. When can I see you again?"
