Solby | Give Me Love

16. Leave a Light On

we all love a short, nameless (not anymore lel) and barely proofread chapter bc it's the middle of the night and i forgot how to think amirite

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   The picture is all over the internet, much to the boys' dismay.

Their DM's are blowing up. The two fans who have met them have already told everyone what they know : basically nothing. People keep spamming those poor teenagers as if they knew everything about the boys' situation, when in reality, all that happened was that they ran into them in a parking lot, took a picture and left. But apparently most people don't seem to understand that.

At first Colby didn't see the actual picture, only tweet after tweet of people saying how worried they are about him. Which is understandable, after seeing the bags under his eyes and his pale skin. Whoever seeing the picture would've thought he was sick, but for the fans, who are used to see him as a tan, energetic goofball, it feels even worse. It's like they don't even recognize him anymore. Then Colby saw the picture and his heart dropped, because he didn't recognize himself either. He knows it's stupid, obviously he still catches a glimpse of his reflection in a mirror now and then and it's probably just a bad picture - everyone has those - but he can't help thinking about it. He feels like he's letting their supporters down, he's aware of how some rely on him and maybe also Sam to help them feel better, that one video of his can turn someone's horrible day into a bearable one, and the fact that he hasn't posted anything in the past weeks makes him feel guilty. He loves making people smile, even if it's only for a few minutes, especially when it's the people that helped him get where he is today. The people who give him endless love and support, whether they've been here since the vine days or just since a month ago.

They gave him everything, and that's how he's thanking them ? With silence ? Absolutely no explanation ?

If only he could give them some piece of content, even just a few words, but he wouldn't know what to say. He doesn't want to leave his fans in the dark but he also doesn't want to tell the world about what's happening. That would mean being vulnerable in front a large group of people and he's never been a fan of showing his emotions.

He has to say something though. The number of tweets keeps growing and it's becoming hard to read. Of course, he could just turn off his phone and ignore it all, but he would just feel like he's betraying his supporters, the group of his people he loves to call a family. They deserve something.

So he taps the feather icon in the top right corner of his screen and starts typing, writing a whole paragraph before erasing it and starting over again. This goes on for a few minutes before he finally settles for something and tweets it before he can overthink it too much.

@/ColbyBrock
life hasn't been easy lately, guys.
i may not be okay at the moment but i will be soon. thanks for your concern, i love you guys with all my heart 💙

Short. Simple. But still enough.

As soon as he sends it, his phone starts buzzing with so many notifications he ends up putting his phone in silent mode. He'll check the replies later.

   And when he does a half hour later, it doesn't fail to bring a smile to his face. The response is so positive it's almost overwhelming, and at this moment he feels so lucky to have the 'family' he basically created. He also notices a familiar name with a little blue check mark next to it.

@/SamGolbach
always by your side, b. you're not alone.

His smile grows wider and sudden energy rushes through his body. He trows his legs over the edge of his bed and rises on his feet, exiting his room and pushing the door opposite his open. Sam's sitting on his bed, back leaning on the headboard, phone in hands and eyebrows furrowed as he's focused on his screen. As soon as he hears Colby step in his room, the blonde looks up and his face lights up.

"I'm glad they know." Colby blurts out before his best friend can say anything.

Sam chuckles, extending his arms towards the brunette and the other boy quickly takes the hint, walking over to the bed and crawling on it until he's contently resting his head on Sam's chest.

"You're sure you wanted to do it, right ?" Sam asks softly, running his fingers through Colby's soft brown hair.

The boy nods his head slowly, and Sam grins.

"Life hasn't been easy lately." The blonde whispers, recalling his best friend's tweet. "Yet you stuck around. And for that, I'm proud of you."

He rests his free hand on Colby's hip and places a kiss on the top of the boy's head, pressing his cheek on it afterwards.

"I love you and I'll never let you forget that."