Error 404: YouTuber Not Found | BlankGameplays Fanfic

Chapter 9 - Crash and Burn

Ethan fiddled anxiously with a Rubik's Cube while Jesse thought to herself. Ethan seemed strange- he accepted her apology for running out, but immediately changed the subject. He was walking on eggshells all evening, hardly talking to Jesse at all. She watched him over the edge of her phone, saw him lean forward, as if to speak, before sitting back in his chair. He did this several times, eyes darting up towards Jesse's and mouth on the brink of forming words, but then he'd stop, grimace, and lean back. 

They were ordering pizza, so there wasn't much to do but wait. And wait they did. 

Typically when they hung out there was some chatter, some levity. Or at least the silences were comfortable. But Jesse felt as if she could run her fingers through the tension in the air. Something was wrong.  

Ethan's phone buzzed on the coffee table. Jesse watched as his face drained of color. He reached for the phone tentatively, as if worried it would bite him. 

Ethan, meanwhile, was going back and forth. He had to tell Jesse the truth- he had to get her out of his apartment, somewhere safe. But would it mean the end of their relationship? Would she even believe him?

Ethan's hands twitched as he unlocked it, looking at the text he had received. 

you're out of time, blue boy. 

Ethan's heart skipped a beat. 

He blacked out. 

Jesse watched as Ethan's demeanor flipped. He sighed at his phone, putting it down on the table with a gentle thud. He looked up at Jesse with a small smile. 

"What's got you so smiley over there?" Jesse asked, a smile spreading across her own face. 

"Just... you. You're perfect," Ethan sighed, grinning wider as Jesse blushed. A sleepy look drifted into his eyes.

"Th-thank you," she smiled, taken aback. "You've been out of sorts all afternoon," she added, bemused. "Why the change in attitude?"

"I dunno," Ethan said in a silly voice, smiling sheepishly at the floor. "New perspective, I guess." 

Jesse tilted her head. "Ethan Nestor, you're a fricking enigma."

"Aw, shucks," he laughed. The laugh was high and clear, echoing like a ringtone through the living room. Jesse paused, listening. How strange- it was a happy laugh, but it almost didn't sound like Ethan. 

He looked Jesse in the eyes, beckoning her towards the couch. Jesse's heart beat faster as she stood, closing the distance between them and sitting down next to her blue-haired boyfriend. He looped his arm casually around her shoulder, pulling her towards him with a debonair smile. 

Jesse's breathing was fast- they'd never been quite this close before. She could feel his breath on her collarbone, see every pigment in his blue eyes. 

Blue...

"I thought you had hazel eyes," Jesse said quietly, looking into Ethan's face. They churned with the color of a sunlit sea. 

"Think again," Ethan grinned, leaning in close. 

"No, no," Jesse smiled, laughing to herself, hoping Ethan would join in. He didn't.
"I swear to god you had hazelish-gray eyes. I would certainly remember this," she added, nodding at the electric blue irises in front of her. "Contacts?"

"Mm hm," he breathed, inches from her face. 

"Stop being so seductive," Jesse laughed , though she was feeling a little crowded. "This isn't like you, CrankGameplays."

She expected him to make a joke about his channel, something sarcastic or self-deprecative, maybe. 

"What's so bad about seductive, Jesse Grayson?" he asked instead, biting his lip. 

"Dammit, Ethan," Jesse laughed nervously, squirming away. "You're weirding me out. Maybe if we just met I'd be buying this, but you're not acting yourself. It's creepy."

"Not... buying this?" Ethan said slowly, as Jesse pushed up from the couch and walked back over to her chair. The smile faded from his lips, leaving nothing but a blank stare.

"I mean, yeah," she said, feeling awkward and guilty as she sat down, arms crossed. "Look, if I was as crazy a fangirl as most girls are about you, maybe I'd react differently. But I've known you for a while now and this just... feels strange. You feel strange."

"I... feel... strange," Ethan repeated, narrowing his eyes.  He looked down.

"Yeah," Jesse agreed, sighing. "I'm- I'm sorry, Eth-"

"No," Ethan interrupted her, frowning. His eyes were still locked on the floor. "Don't call me that."

Jesse furrowed her brow. "What?"

Ethan's gaze swung back to Jesse, who was growing more and more confused. "You haven't put it together yet?" He stood up, looking at Jesse with an expression of exhausted disbelief. "I thought so highly of you, Jesse- if you weren't going to accept me, well, I assumed you'd have figured it out by now."

"Ethan... what are you talking about?" Jesse asked, shaking her head as she too, stood. 

"Don't call me that..." he growled, his gaze hardening. His pupils dilated suddenly, like the lens on a camera. Suddenly his eyes were entirely black, from corner to corner.

"What the hell?" Jesse yelped, stepping back as alarm coursed through her veins. "I've called you Ethan since the day we met! What should I call you, then? Huh? "

He reached out to trace her jawline with a gentle hand, but Jesse stepped back again, looking frightened. He sighed, tilting his head mechanically. "You know who I am."

"No..." Jesse murmured. "Absolutely not..."

"Not who, Jesse?" he asked, a wry smile tugging at his lips.

Jesse froze. "BlankGameplays...?"

"In the flesh," he nodded, opening his arms. "Or code, as the case may be."

"What the hell are you?" Jesse breathed, backing up towards the kitchen. "And what happened to Ethan?"

"Think of it this way," Blank explained, tilting his head. "Brains work much like computers. Neural systems fire just like circuit boards, if you really break things down. When you stop and think about it, the right kind of computer virus could infect a motherboard as easily as, say, a frontal cortex."

"Oh my god..." Jesse muttered, backing away. 

"Ethan's hardware is being overwritten, so to speak," he shrugged. "I'm an insidious little resident virus, you see, and I'm tricky to spread without a good connection."

"Wait... Is that what I am to you?" Jesse's jaw dropped. "Just a host system?"

"Tsk, tsk tsk," Blank squinted at her. "Let's not split hairs over it, Jesse. I do love you, you know."

Jesse locked her jaw. "I don't think so."

"No?" Blank tilted his head at her, eyes widening. They were still black, and sent a chill down Jesse's spine. "Think, Jesse. Have I ever done anything to sabotage your relationship with Ethan? Mm? I have control over his computer, his phone- I could have split you apart weeks ago with a well placed text message," he said smoothly. "It would have allowed me to rewrite Ethan's brain more easily, you know. His affections for you make him a little more... determined." Blank's tone took on a bitter edge. "He keeps undoing all my hard work, and it's because of you. But I've kept you around." Blank offered Jesse a hand, smiling kindly at her. "Let me in, Jesse. Let me show you what you mean to me."

"Stay the hell away from me, you psychotic monster!" Jesse barked, running for the kitchen and vanishing through the doorway. 

Blank sighed, walking after her patiently. "Don't challenge me, Jesse," he warned, stepping into the kitchen. He looked around. Where had that girl gone? "Jesse?"

"How about a hard reset?" she snarled, leaping out from behind the door and smashing a saucepan into the side of his head.