Couple for Hire [Shourtney]

12. The One Where They Become Viral

Hey, you guys! How are you all doing?

Classes have resumed for me, but of course I gotta keep writing. Hope you're enjoying this so far, and let me know what you guys think. We have eight chapters to go!

Also, happy birthday to everyone's favorite, Damien Haas! Our Smosh Boi is 30 years old now. Time really does fly by when he stays unproblematic and adorable. Love you, Dames! <3

Anyway, let's get started with Courtney's POV and see ya!

-/-/-

"Don't answer that," I immediately tell Shayne, who was just about to pick up his phone. "That's Ian, isn't it?"

"Yep," he mumbles, looking at the Caller ID. "Alright, so... what do we do now?"

Honestly I didn't have an answer for that. Sure, I was the one doing so much organizing for the crew, but now that we were at an uncertain point, I had no idea on what to do. In fact, I felt like I wasn't ready to do anything at all. I just wanted to curl up in a ball, wear sweats and a hoodie, and watch some movies while eating day-old fries on my couch. But life isn't like that anymore, and I can't keep avoiding my problems in hopes that they'll fix themselves. Looking at Shayne, I know that's not gonna happen. After all, I've been hiding from this problem of falling in love with him for a long time, and I had decided to wait it out instead of solving it.

We eventually arrive at our first event of the day, and with zero time to spare, we tread on. Damien was obviously confused by what was happening, Tommy was apologizing for telling us to Matty and James which we didn't mind at all, and Spencer was still working on the site's bugs. Everything was ruckus and crazy and I felt like I needed a breather from it all. Gods get scared sometimes of what they've created, and monarchs mask themselves either as a hero or a villain instead of showing their pain. Right now, I'm in their exact same spot, trying to act cool when everything's falling apart.

"We're so screwed," Shayne tells me as we get seated. "This article has over seven million reads. No wonder Ian's calling us."

"Well, if he found out earlier than we did, it would have saved us this week's trouble."

"But not this week's money."

"Good point," I mumble, sighing. "Dude, I have no idea what to do. This is crazy, and we obviously can't avoid it forever."

"You feeling alright?" he asks me, patting my back. "If you need some meds, I got some. Just being my Girl Scout kinda thing. All I lack are cookies."

"I'm fine, but I do need a big break from all this," I tell him. "How about you? You feeling okay?"

"No, but hey, it happens."

We sigh in unison, chuckling when it happens. "So Gerald Benson was the creepy guest at Matty and James's wedding. He's from BuzzFeed, but how come I don't think I've heard of him before?"

"Maybe his genre of articles are the ones you don't read, and I don't either," Shayne answers, scrolling through his phone. "I'm a bit surprised that this article has gotten over so many reads already, and that's probably from a single day, since requests started flooding in on Monday."

"Yeah, all the articles I read are those ones with titles like '38 Products That Will Grant Your Soul Salvation' or something," I reply, peering on his phone. "But we really need to schedule a meeting with this guy, and BuzzFeed. First off, this is a totally unsolicited article. Second, totally freakin' unsolicited. And third, out of all the pictures on my Instagram—" I point at the picture introducing me — "they chose a Brianna Boho picture of me?"

"That's your biggest concern?" he asks me. "I think you look nice there."

"Sure, but now everyone thinks that this is my get-up to all the parties we go to," I answer, chuckling a little because of his comment. "I wore this wig one time for a party. Remember that all-blondes party we went to?"