Mr. Brightside | Munchingbrotato/ Tyler Christie

Chapter Twenty Two

|Hope's POV|

"Guys, I honestly have no idea what you're talking about." I continue to bite my nails and look around the cafe.

"Hope, just stop lying." Tyler says. I stare in disbelief. My jaw is dropped.

"You're seriously defending them instead of me, you're roommate!?" I question him.

"That's exactly why I'm taking their side, because I am your roommate!" he throws his hands in the air. "I'm the only one who hears you sleep talking in the middle of the night. Don't you think that I'd be even a little bit curious about what you were talking about?"

I cross my arms and say, "I s-sleep talk?" Tyler nods his head and I shake mine. "God damn."

"It's obvious you're hiding something Hope, so just spill it."

I turn my head towards the person who just spoke those words. "Jason? You too?"

"You might as well come clean or else we're all walking out on you right now. You can go back to your Dad or move in with Soda and Alaska for all we care at the moment."

This was what I was afraid of. And at that moment as I shed a single tear, I knew this was the right time to tell them everything.

"Fine." I wipe my eyes and puff out some air. "I do know what Minecraft is. In fact, I'm a Youtuber."

Ty laughs beside me. "That's what you were worried about? Keeping your Youtube from us?"

I eye him. "Then I'm guessing you must know who GamingforHope is."

"Are you kidding? She's like, the most famous YouTuber in the world! You know, before she disappeared." Adam says.

"I would watch her videos all the time. They were my favorite." Mitch said sadly.

I spoke up this time. "Me too. I was very close with her in fact. We were a lot alike. It's like we were the same person."

Jason raises an eyebrow and Tyler says, "She was hot." This causes me to blush.

"You idiots, it is me!"

Silence. Nothing but silence.

"Well what I said before is still true." Tyler says and I slap him.

"This is serious! Listen," I take another deep breath with the things I was about to tell them. "It's not just about Minecraft and YouTube. I didn't grow up with the perfect life. I found comfort through Minecraft. In fact, I grew up watching your accounts. Mostly Adam's. You were hella funny. My family struggled, but we still got by. I managed to live a happy life. I figured that while we were struggling, there were still people who were having even worse times than us. So, I wanted to help."

"That's so kind of you. Is that why your account is called GamingforHope?" I nod at Jerome's comment.

"I get it! It's play on words 'cause you're name's Hope!" Mitch bursts.

Jason face palms. "You're a little slow, Mitch."

"My old account name was Endless_Eclipse. That's why I told you Jason that I was so interested in the galaxy and everything. I still am! And Tyler, that's why those people kept commenting those things on your video with me." I glance around at the guys at the mention of Tyler and me in a video together. "Anyway," I say. "That's why I made my account. I could try to make people happy and hopeful. I never would've thought that I'd become so popular on the internet."

"Seriously? You are like The YouTuber. Everyone and anyone knows who you are." Jason says and I blush.

"Just when I was at the peak of my career, things started to fall apart." I sniff. "My life along with my fans seemed so great, that I couldn't see how much my own parents were struggling. Well, more like my mom... Dad would come home with a new slut every night, leaving Mom to do nothing about it or else she knew what the price would be."

"I'm so sorry, Hope." Ty says. I smile half-heartedly.

"My viewers kept hearing things in the background of my videos. They questioned me about it and I just ignored it. I got so distracted. During a recording of one of my videos, I captured my mom being slapped by Dad on tape. Stupid me forgot to edit that part out, the whole world got to see it. I got so much hate saying things like 'She can't even help her own family. This girl doesn't deserve all this fame. She's just doing it for the attention.' That's when I broke."

"No," Tyler whispers under his breath.

I nod. "That was the end of the line for me. I gradually stopped making videos. The world probably thinks I'm dead. I wouldn't be surprised. I was left with my dad for a few years after Mom left us. And now I'm here."

The first one by my side was Tyler, who kissed my temple. Not in a loving way, but in a comforting, helpful kind of way. And I appreciated it. I liked it.

"I'm sorry I pushed you to tell us this stuff. I shouldn't have said-"

"Sh, you shouldn't be the one saying sorry. I'm the one who let my fans down. I let them all down and did nothing! They lost lost their Hope and so did I!" My voice was gradually rising. "I forgot who I was."

"Hope, stop. You didn't let them down. You're the one who gave them hope. And we know who you are now. And we accept you."

"And that's why I'm so angry! I should be happy now that I actually have people who care about me and I almost threw it all away over a silly mistake! I should be happy but I'm not!" I slam my fists on the table earning some stares.

"Who are you angry with then?" Mitch asks?

"I-I don't know." I admit.

"You're fans?" Jason suggests.

"You're dad?" Adam says.

"Us?" Ty adds last.

"I'm angry with myself!" I scream, unleashing all of my pain and anger with me. Letting it escape my body until there's nothing left but to stare at the body's in front of me.

"Hope, we love and care about you. We will never leave you. You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened." Jerome calms me.

"That was in the past. Focus on what's happening now. Focus on who you truly care about." I look to Tyler and he's already looking at me. I blush
violently, and Jason's face flushes.

"Welp, I think that's enough emotion for one day." Mitch laughs, and for once, I join.

"We have school again tomorrow, so we should get some rest." Adam groans and we all nod. Getting up to leave the cafe for what seemed like the entire day, we all file out to our dorms. While we are all leaving together, a hand pulls me behind allowing the others to walk ahead.

"Hi Tyler." I smile.

"Hi." He smiles back and rubs his neck. "I just wanted to say that uh, that was really brave of you. And I am a huge fan."

I chuckle at his adorableness. "As am I. I'm glad that you think I'm hot." I smirk and raises my eyebrows.

He laughs nervously. "I didn't know it was you! But anyways, it would be an honor if I could be in a video of yours. I'd love to help you start up your account again."

"I think I would love that. Thank you." I pull him into a hug, and we enter our dorm side by side without a single care or worry in the world.