Somewhere Else [Damien Haas]

Author's Note and Prologue

Why, hello there, you!

My name's Amy, and I'm an 18-year-old communications student from the Philippines! I have not much to do right now because of quarantine, and since February, I've been writing Smosh fan fictions. You may know me from some of them:

1. A Wrench in the Gears [Damien Haas]
- Damien Haas falls in love with reporter Jade Greene whom he meets in a stuck elevator, only to discover they'll be working together on a collaborative project. Somehow, destiny works perfectly for them.
- Damien x OC (Jade Greene)
- 2200+ words per chapter
- 25 chapters, 2 author's notes, 1 prologue

2. See You at Seven [Shayne Topp]
- After dying and arriving at the purgatory called the Middle, Shayne Topp teams up with renegade lawyer Alex McConnell to save the afterlife and falls in love with her in the process.
- Shayne x OC (Alex McConnell)
- 2200-3200+ words per chapter
- 15 chapters, 2 author's notes, 1 prologue

3. The Three Laws of Motion [Damien Haas, Shayne Topp, and Ian Hecox]
- Three Smosh boys with fifteen different short stories of falling in love with the reader.
- Damien x Reader, Shayne x Reader, Ian x Reader
- 2200+ words per chapter
- 15 chapters, 2 author's notes, 1 prologue

4. Almost, But Not Quite [Damien Haas]
- By using an app of 90s style communication, Damien Haas falls in love with his neighbor Jade Greene, who happens to be on the other side of the screen. Both of them have no idea they're talking to one another.
- Damien x OC (Jade Greene)
- 3000+ words per chapter
- 20 chapters, 2 author's notes, 1 prologue, 1 epilogue

5. Here's To Us [Shayne Topp and Courtney Miller]
- Shayne Topp and Courtney Miller get married drunk and spend an entire year fixing their mistake, not knowing they would fall in love with each other in the process.
- Shayne x Courtney (Shourtney)
- 2200+ words per chapter
- 20 chapters, 2 author's notes, 1 prologue, 1 epilogue

6. When The Clock Ticks [Shayne Topp and Courtney Miller]
- Given their death dates, Shayne Topp and Courtney Miller spend their last few months on Earth making every moment count and realizing the important truths and ideals of life and death.
- Shayne x Courtney (Shourtney)
- 2200+ words per chapter
- 12 chapters, 2 author's notes, 1 prologue, 1 epilogue

You may also know me as @/shourtney.longknee on Instagram! If you do, then heyo! If you don't, give me a follow. I just post a bunch of Shourtney memes there and also TNTL Characters x Zodiac Signs! Right now though, because of online classes, I'm inactive and I haven't posted anything since the Damien x Zodiac one. It's hard to be a busy bee. :(

So this is Somewhere Else! Since my first and fourth stories here on Wattpad were both Damien Haas x OC's, I decided to make another one because I really enjoy writing them. Some people say I should write for x Readers, but I'm really not good at them, so OCs are what I settle for. My bad! I've also written this throughout my online classes, but I never really published them until now, so it isn't much of a hassle for me. Here are some reminders for this fan fiction:

- This book has 14 chapters with 2 author's notes, 1 prologue, and 1 epilogue.
- Each chapter shall have 2200+ words.
- Points of view shall alternate between Damien and Jade. However, both the prologue and the first chapter shall have Damien's point of view, while the last chapter and the epilogue will have Jade's point of view.
- Timeline of this is end of February, 2021 until start of April, 2021.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! Again, all the chapters have been published for you to enjoy, so... Damien's POV, and see ya!

-/-/-

Avoid eye contact. Just avoid eye contact with him, Damien, and he'll forget whatever it is that happened. Don't rub that coffee stain on your shirt. He'll notice it too.

Oh, stop rubbing it now.

"Damien, you just have to tell me how you ended up asleep in the set and not once did you budge to wake up and realize you weren't in your apartment."

I sigh, rubbing my eyes as Ian crosses his arms in front of me. "Look, I was really, really tired, and the set was really cold, so I wanted to take a nap there until time-out because I had nothing else to do," I try to explain to him, treading carefully. "I didn't know all the coffee for the past few days would kick me in the butt and make me fall asleep for twelve hours."

"I'm just concerned for your well-being," he tells me. "You've been working non-stop lately, and we've all seen Hamilton in quarantine. You know what happens to Hamilton when he doesn't stop working?"

"... he did a no-no."

"Exactly, he did a no-no," he echoes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You just have to explain to me, why are you working non-stop lately? I know it's nice to do our best all the time, but you've been pushing yourself a little too hard now."

I scratch the back of my neck. "I wouldn't say too hard," I retort, laughing nervously, but his expression barely changes. "Fine, okay... I kinda feel really bad that everyone is always really great. I take pride in what I do, but sometimes... I just don't feel enough, you know."

"Oh, this has happened with Shayne," Ian remarks, nodding. "Remember when I sent him off to a one-week vacation in Colorado a few months ago? It's all he needed. You should take a break too."

"No, I don't really wanna take a break, man, I swear," I tell him, surprised. "It's all cool, really. I think I just need to, um, I dunno... find my element and do just better!"

"Your kindness won't ensnare me today, Dames," he says, standing up as he gets something from his printer and signs it. "As your friend and your boss... here is a boss-prescribed one-week vacation to wherever you wanna go. Of course, the expense isn't on me, but if it'll take me a gajillion dollars to send you to somewhere else, I might as well demand Jeff Bezos to stop being a tycoon."

"You... can do that?"

"I wish I could," he replies, drinking some coffee as he slides the paper to me. "Take a break. You need it. You have to re-center yourself so that you don't push yourself to the limits to be a good person. Your goodness is already innate anyway, it just needs a bit of, um... repositioning. And besides, you need a change of pace! Find yourself again, and maybe a girlfriend."

"Ha, I don't need a girlfriend in these trying times, dude," I assure him, standing up as I take his paper. "Fine, I'll take a one-week vacation. Maybe I have been overworking."

"Maybe," he scoffs. "I'll see you in a week, Damien."

Or so we all thought. When I went home that Friday evening, I was not prepared for the fates I was destined to face. I had just been working a little too hard to deserve this, but when I booked that five-day trip to Japan, neither of us knew that we weren't going to see each other for a long time.

-/-/-

NOTE: ALL 14 chapters as well as the epilogue have been published! Because of that, I won't be putting out author's notes at the beginning of every chapter. Now, go have fun and read!