The Final Smosh (Their Last Goodbye)

Ian was at the dining room table, waiting. He got up to check for about the 30th time if everything was clean and perfect, despite the fact that most of the day would be spent out of the house, but he just couldn’t help it.

Today was the most difficult day he’d ever had to face in his life.

Today was the last day of Smosh.

It was 10 a.m. when he finally heard the all too familiar sound of the garage door opening and jumped up, his heart beating from how anticipated he was. He saw the door open and he walked in.

Anthony Padilla.

The taller of the two with the little emo flap hair that always fell over his eye when he looked down.

The boy who always stuck by his side ever since the sixth grade, making amateur lip-synch videos with him, sneaking out at night to drink and be reckless.

He was the only person who understood his humor and laughed along with everything, even if it was at his own expense. The only person who stood by his side the entire time when they first got recognition just for being two silly teenage delinquents filming themselves out of sheer boredom and becoming two of the world’s most recognized faces on YouTube.

The only person he truly loved.

But that was all in the past now.

They had been filming Smosh for over 10 years now, much longer than they had originally thought they would last.

But here they were at the end.

Grown up.

No longer stuffing themselves with pizza and powdered donuts, or filming themselves wearing silly costumes out of cardboard or dressing up like video game characters.

No longer would they be cheerfully opening fan mail on his living room floor, or going out to eat fast food every Thursday and filming it.

He felt himself tremble slightly, but was somehow able to form a smile when he approached.

“Hey Ian,” Anthony smiled warmly, raising his arms for a hug.

Ian tried to hold the smile using all the energy he could muster, but when he fell into Anthony’s arms and their bodies pressed together for the emotionally tight embrace, he involuntarily broke down into tears on the taller man’s shoulder.

“No, Ian...” Anthony said nimbly. He felt his blue-eyed best friend whimper. “Please don’t make this harder than it already is…” Anthony whispered as his soon-to-be former video partner wept into his shoulder. He expected a “That’s what she said,” joke but instead Ian clutched him tighter.

“I… I can’t help it. I’m sorry,” Ian cried, moistening Anthony’s shirt collar with his tears.

Anthony patted and tenderly rubbed his back in sympathy.

“We both knew it had to end someday,” Anthony whispered softly, but he knew in his heart that if he told himself this three years ago, he would refuse to believe it. He knew Ian wouldn’t either.

“I just can’t believe today’s our last day together as Smosh,” Ian sniffled.

Anthony felt himself choking up slightly at Ian’s words but he fought it back.

“Dude, don’t say that! Smosh is forever! Plus we’ll visit each other every chance we get! Come on, I’ll only be a few… thousand… miles…”

He trailed off at the realization of his own words. Despite all the money they made through all their YouTube channels and the website, he knew he could probably afford to visit often, but he would have new responsibilities to handle now, so time was a key factor in the issue.