sdmn one sh~i~ts

Cinder(fucking)ella /minishaw

words: 5065
warnings: nothing potentially triggering but fuck, this is painfully sad lmao⚠️

Harry watched Tobi turn to his attention from the camera, to him with a radiant smile. He heard the question following right after, heard it loud and clear. So did everyone else.

A question directed at him.

Answer, he ordered himself. But that was the problem.

The correct terms sat somewhere in his brain, but they wouldn't resurface. Even though the question was so easy to answer.

'What's your favourite part about being on YouTube, Harry?'

He knew the answer of course, but he couldn't form the words. He'd been asked this question so many times before, so he had an answer. The fans, seeing their elated faces when he took a selfie with them, their beaming smiles, that was his favourite part- but his brain was suddenly a useless, muddy swamp. Why the fuck couldn't he speak?

Without really being aware of it, an embarrassingly long time had already passed. The boys were seated around him on both sides, tentatively chewing on their lips and looking at him. He could decode their faces easily. They were weighing back and forth, ready to help him out but hesitant to do so. Because they knew he wanted to do it himself.

He was desperate to. But he couldn't, and all that exited his mouth was hacking and stuttering and absolutely nothing of use.

All the attention was on him, and he wanted to sink through the floor. Right now.

The panic set in, in the form of puddles of cold sweat gathering on his forehead and neck, but Simon's warm palm settled on him in the next moment. An then, he took care of it. Just like he had done so many times before, and all Harry could do was sit there, blushing dumbly while his friend saved him again.

"Making his fans happy is his favourite part," Simon explained, in a perfectly understandable manner.

Tobi's slightly tensed features unflurled, and something churned within Harry. Something nauseating and unidentifiable he couldn't quite pinpoint.

Irrational jealousy? Yep. That must have been it.

"Ah, decent, that's mine too. And don't worry, Boggo, we'll cut that out of the video." Tobi attempted to smooth things over. And Harry nodded stiffly, paying attention to the tone of his voice. He might be delusional, but it sounded almost... motherly to him.

Motherly and patronising.

He kept his mouth shut for the remainder of the video. He refused to utter a single word, not when Simon tried to engage him with soft pats to his knee, and not when Josh quietly mouthed an 'it's okay' from where he sat. Not even then.

When it was finally over, Harry all but ripped the door open to escape the stuffy studio as fast as he could.

***

"That definitely wasn't our best video," Ethan stated once they were trudging towards the exit, and Jj seemed to agree fully.

"Oh, yeah. I mean Tobes, why did you ask me how many times a week I go to the gym? Such vital information for a host to know." He chuckled, thinking back to the moment.

"Maybe it was just a sneaky way of trying to get me to flash my abs." He smirked creepily, causing Tobi to fake gag.

"Abs? What abs?" He mocked, poking his stomach as they walked.