M 𐙚🧸ྀི

Alexandria had gone quiet again. Not completely. It never really was anymore. There were always things happening; the scrape of boots against dirt as people moved supplies, the distant hammering of someone repairing a damaged wall, the murmur of voices as everyone checked on each other. But compared to what it had been only hours before, compared to the noise and panic and fear that had filled the streets, it felt almost unnatural.

You stood near one of the houses, watching people move around with the same exhausted expressions they always wore after surviving something that should have killed them.

It was becoming a pattern. A horrible, exhausting pattern.

Someone would threaten them. Someone would take something from them. Someone would convince them they were stronger than they really were. And every single time, somehow, they survived.

But surviving never meant walking away untouched. That was the part nobody talked about. Everyone made it back, but everyone carried something home.

A new scar. A new memory. A new reason to wake up in the middle of the night and stare at the ceiling, wondering how much longer they could keep doing this.

Carl was no different. Maybe that was what scared you most.

Because when you first met him, when he was still just Rick Grimes’ son running around with a hat too big for his head and too much curiosity for his own good, there had still been something openly young about him. Even after everything—the farm, the prison, the road—there had always been moments where you could see the kid underneath it all.

Season after season, loss after loss, the world had slowly taken pieces of that kid away.

But it had never taken all of him.

People looked at him and saw everything he’d lost. They saw the eye patch, the scars, the way he watched every doorway and every person who walked too close. They saw someone who had grown up too fast.

But you saw the things that remained. The way he still checked on Judith when he thought nobody was paying attention, the way he still tried to believe people could be better, even after meeting some of the worst humanity had to offer, the way he still looked at the world like there was something worth saving.

Even when he was tired, when he was angry, when he was scared. Especially then.

You found him exactly where you expected. Not inside, or resting. Carl had never been good at resting. He was sitting on the steps outside one of the houses, elbows resting on his knees, staring out at Alexandria’s walls. His hat was missing, his curls falling messily around his face, and the bandage over his missing eye was slightly stained from the dirt and smoke of the day.

For a moment, you didn’t say anything. You just stood there. Because you knew that sometimes Carl didn’t need someone asking if he was okay. Sometimes he needed someone to sit beside him and let him decide when he was ready to speak.

After a few seconds, his voice broke the silence.

“You should be inside.”

You almost smiled.

“That’s funny. I was going to say the same thing.”

He glanced at you, and for the smallest moment, there was the hint of a smile. Not a big one. Carl rarely did big ones anymore. But enough that you knew he was still there.

“You got hurt," he muttered slowly.

“So did you.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Carl.”

He stopped.

That was another thing about him. He could argue with almost anyone. Negan. Rick. Daryl. Anyone. But with you, not as easily.

You sat beside him, close enough that your shoulder brushed his.

For a while, neither of you spoke.

The sun was beginning to set behind the walls, painting everything in soft orange light. It almost looked normal. Almost.

Carl watched the horizon.

“I thought I was gonna die today.”

The honesty of it made your chest tighten. He didn’t say things like that often. Not because he didn’t think about death. Everyone thought about death now. But Carl had always been careful about admitting when something scared him.

You looked at him.

“Yeah.”

His jaw tightened slightly.

“I mean… I knew we could lose. I knew it was possible," He paused. “But I kept thinking about what would happen if we did.”

The wind moved through the trees beyond the walls.

“I kept thinking about Judith. I kept thinking about Dad. About Michonne. About everyone.”

His fingers curled slightly against his knees.

“And then I thought about you.”

Carl looked down. “I don’t know...” He shook his head quietly. “I just…”

He stopped, frustrated with himself. That was Carl too. He always knew what he felt. He just didn’t always know how to put it into words.

“I don’t want to keep waiting.”

You turned toward him.

“What do you mean?”

For once, Carl looked nervous. Actually nervous.

You had seen him face walkers without hesitation. You had seen him stand in front of people who wanted to hurt him. You had seen him challenge people much older and more powerful than him.

Right now, sitting beside you on the steps of a damaged house, he looked like he had no idea what he was doing.

“I had this whole thing planned.”

Your eyebrows lifted. ”You did?”

“Yeah.”

A pause.

“It was better in my head.”

You couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped. His expression softened slightly.

“I figured.” You still reassured him, even if you were oblivious to what he was even talking about.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

He looked away, rubbing his thumb against his palm. “I was gonna say something good.”

“Something good?”

“Yeah.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know,” He exhaled. “That’s the problem.”

Another silence.

Then, quietly:

“I just know that every time something happens, every time I think we might not make it, you’re the person I look for.”

Your expression softened.

“Carl…”

“I know it’s not exactly…” He gestured vaguely, clearly annoyed that the words weren’t coming out the way he wanted. “It’s not some big thing. I don’t have a ring. I don’t have anything.”

He looked at his hands.

“But I don’t think any of that matters.”

And then he looked at you. Really looked at you. At your beautiful hair, tangled and a mess from all the trouble they'd been through for days, at your eyes that still remained as bright as diamonds as if you had no worries hidden underneath, at your soft hands that held one to many weapons in this life, at those lips he felt he could kiss every second of the day and never get bored.

“I want to marry you.”

For a second, the world seemed to stop. Not because there were fireworks, not because it was dramatic, because it was him. And because you knew exactly how much it must have taken for him to say it.

His face immediately changed when you didn’t answer. Not an expression of regret, but of worry.

“You don’t have to say yes.”

You blinked. “What?”

“I mean it,” His voice became quieter. “I know this is sudden. And I know we’re young, and I know everything is…” He looked around at the broken world surrounding you. “Like this.” His expression softened. “But I meant it.”

A small smile touched your face. “Carl.”

He waited.

“I wasn’t going to say no.”

For the first time all evening, you saw him completely relax. Not entirely, though. Carl didn’t really do that anymore. But his shoulders dropped. He let out a breath he had probably been holding since the moment he asked.

“Okay.”

You laughed softly. “Okay?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s all you have?”

He looked almost embarrassed. “I had a better response.”

“You lost it?”

“Yeah.”

“You planned this for how long?”

“A while.”

“And you lost the words immediately?”

He looked down. “Yeah.”

You smiled. “Very romantic.”

“I know.”

A pause.

Then, almost shyly: “I’ll do better.”

For the first few days after Carl asked, almost nothing changed. Somehow that was what made it feel so strange. There was no sudden transformation where the world became brighter or easier, no magical moment where the walls of Alexandria stopped looking damaged and the scars everyone carried suddenly disappeared. Walkers still wandered beyond the gates. People still woke up every morning wondering what new problem would find them before sunset. There were still repairs to make, supplies to count, patrols to organize, and a thousand small responsibilities that never seemed to end.

But underneath all of that, something had shifted.

Not loudly. Carl would never allow anything involving him to become loud if he could help it.

He wasn’t the kind of person who would walk through Alexandria announcing the news with a grin on his face, accepting congratulations from everyone who passed by. That would have been almost impossible to imagine. Carl Grimes, who had spent years learning how to disappear into the background, suddenly becoming the center of attention? It would have felt terrifying.

Instead, he carried the knowledge quietly. The same way he carried almost everything. You noticed it in the little things.

The way his hand would occasionally find yours when nobody was looking, almost like he needed the reminder that the conversation on those steps had actually happened. The way he would sometimes look at you for a second longer than usual, like he was still trying to understand how someone could hear everything he had to say, the fear, the uncertainty, the fact that he didn’t know what the future looked like, and still choose him anyway.

Carl had spent so much of his life preparing himself for people to leave. It was something you understood about him better than most.

He didn’t expect happiness, he hoped for it. Hope was something Carl had always held onto. Even after the prison, even after losing people he loved, even after seeing what humans could become when they were desperate enough, there was still a part of him that believed things could be better.

But expecting happiness? That was harder. Because expectations were dangerous. Expecting something meant giving the world another thing it could take away.

And yet here he was. Planning a wedding. The thought still seemed to surprise him.

You caught him staring at the small piece of wire he had managed to shape into something resembling a ring one evening while everyone else was finishing dinner. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t smooth like the rings people used to buy before the world ended. It had small imperfections from where he had carefully worked it into shape, and if someone else had found it lying around, they probably wouldn’t have thought twice about it.

But Carl had made it. So that was all that mattered.

“You know you’re staring at it, right?”

Carl immediately closed his hand around it. “No, I’m not.”

You looked at him.

He sighed.

“I just think I could touch it up a little.”

A small smile tugged at your lips. “You’ve been doing that for ten minutes.”

“I have not.”

“Carl.”

He glanced down.

“…Maybe five.”

You laughed quietly.

For a second, he looked younger. Not like the child everyone remembered, like the boy with the sheriff’s hat. Like someone who had finally been given permission to want something.

“I don’t know if it’s good enough.”

The change in his voice made you look at him more carefully.

There it was. The part he didn’t say. The fear underneath. Not fear that you would say no. You had already answered him. This was something else.

Carl Grimes could fight for survival. He could make impossible choices. He could put himself between danger and the people he loved without hesitation.

But making something beautiful was harder. Because beautiful things were fragile. And Carl knew better than anyone what happened to fragile things in their world.

You reached for his hand.

“It’s not supposed to be perfect.”

His fingers relaxed slightly.

“I know.”

“But?”

He looked at the ring again. “I just wanted to give you something.”

The simplicity of the sentence hurt more than anything dramatic could have.

After everything he had lost, after living in a world where people took and took and took until there was nothing left, he still wanted to give.

You squeezed his hand. “You did.”

Telling Rick was probably the hardest part.

Not since Carl thought his father would be angry.

He knew Rick wouldn’t.

That almost made it worse.

Rick’s opinion mattered more than Carl liked admitting. No matter how much he had grown, no matter how many times he had disagreed with him, no matter how often he insisted he could handle himself, there was still a part of Carl that wanted his father to look at him and say he was doing okay. That he was becoming someone good. That he hadn’t lost himself.

The conversation happened outside, near the edge of Alexandria, where Rick was checking one of the damaged sections of the wall.

Carl stood there for almost a full minute before speaking.

Rick noticed. Of course he noticed.

“You got something to say?”

Carl looked away. “Yeah.”

A pause.

Then another.

Rick raised an eyebrow.

“So?”

“I’m getting married.”

The silence afterward was painfully awkward. Carl immediately looked like he regretted how he said it. Not the decision, just the delivery.

Rick stared. Then he blinked.

“You’re what?”

Carl rubbed the back of his neck. “I know.”

“You know?”

“I know it’s sudden.”

Rick looked at him for a long moment. And then the shock softened. Not completely. His son had just told him he was getting married during the apocalypse, after all.

But underneath the surprise was something else. Something almost impossible to hide.

Pride.

“You sure?”

Carl nodded.

“Yeah.”

Rick studied him.

“You’ve thought about this?”

“Yeah.”

“How long?”

“A while,” Carl hesitated.

Rick let out a quiet breath. He looked older in that moment. He wasn't unhappy. He was remembering.

Remembering the little boy who used to follow him everywhere, the little boy who once needed help tying his shoes, who had somehow grown into someone standing in front of him talking about building a future.

“I just didn’t think…” Rick started.

He stopped.

Carl waited.

Rick smiled faintly.

“I guess I didn’t think we’d get here.”

Carl’s expression softened. Rick stepped forward and pulled his son into a hug.

He wasn’t used to being hugged anymore. Life had trained him to expect everything else first.

Then, slowly, he hugged him back.

“You better take care of them.”

Carl almost smiled.

“I will.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.”

“And if you don’t—”

“Dad.”

Rick laughed quietly. “I’m serious.”

Carl shook his head. “I know.”

But he was smiling.

The wedding plans began quietly.

Just like everything else.

Nobody made announcements. Nobody treated it like some huge event. There was no reason to.

Michonne helped gather flowers from areas they knew were safe, choosing ones that would survive being moved and arranged without much difficulty. She never said much about it, but you could tell the moment meant something to her. She had always understood Carl’s need for something more than survival. She had seen him grow from a child into someone who carried too much responsibility.

Daryl contributed in the only way Daryl knew how: by making sure the location was safe before anyone else arrived.

When you thanked him, he simply shrugged.

“Wasn’t gonna let some dead guy ruin it.”

You smiled.

“That’s your version of being sentimental?”

“Shut up.”

Carol helped with the small details nobody else thought about. She found fabric that could be cleaned and used as decoration. She fixed things that didn’t need fixing because that was how she showed she cared.

Maggie smiled when she heard. A smile from someone who knew exactly what it meant to choose love when the world kept trying to convince you there was no point.

Carl was overwhelmed not only by the wedding itself, but by everyone caring. He understood fighting together. He understood surviving together. But celebrating? Letting people be happy for him? That was harder.

The morning of the wedding arrived without announcing itself.

There was no dramatic sunrise, no sudden change in the weather, no indication from the world around Alexandria that anything particularly important was about to happen. The sun simply came up the way it always did, pale light gradually finding its way through the trees and across the rooftops, illuminating the damage that still hadn’t been repaired and the dirt that had been tracked through the streets the night before. Somewhere beyond the walls, birds had started calling to one another, and for a few minutes, before people began moving around and voices carried through the settlement, the entire place seemed almost peaceful.

You woke to that quiet and stayed still for a little while, staring at the ceiling and trying to comprehend the fact that today, somehow, was the day. You were getting married. The sentence still felt strange when you thought it, almost too ordinary for the world you lived in and simultaneously too enormous to fit inside your head. There had been a time when the idea of a wedding belonged to a completely different life, one involving churches, dresses bought specifically for the occasion, invitations sent through the mail, family members traveling from different states, music chosen months in advance, and some expensive venue decorated with flowers that would only be used once.

That life was gone. Everyone knew it. Nobody pretended otherwise anymore. And yet, standing there in the quiet of Alexandria with sunlight slowly creeping across the floor, you didn’t feel like you were missing anything. Not really. Maybe because the things you had now mattered more than the things you used to imagine having. Maybe because when you pictured the ceremony, you didn’t picture a church or a crowd or a perfectly decorated room. You pictured trees. You pictured the people who had survived beside you. You pictured Carl, probably looking more nervous than he’d ever admit, standing beneath the branches with that familiar expression he wore whenever he was trying very hard to pretend something didn’t matter as much as it did. And that thought alone made you smile.

Carl, meanwhile, was handling the morning exactly as you might have expected him to: by pretending it wasn’t a big deal.

He had been awake for hours. He’d gone on a short walk before breakfast, checked the perimeter even though Daryl had already done it twice, helped Rick move some supplies that didn’t actually need moving, and spent an unnecessary amount of time making sure Judith had eaten. She was already a preteen, but he'd grown too deep into the habit of staying at the table until she'd finished her food.

When Michonne eventually found him standing outside with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket, she took one look at him and knew immediately. “You’re nervous,” she said, and Carl’s first response was an immediate, flat, “No, I’m not.”

Michonne didn’t argue. She simply stood beside him and looked toward the trees. After a few moments, Carl sighed. “Maybe a little.” She smiled faintly, and there was something almost maternal in the way she looked at him, something that made Carl glance away because he still wasn’t entirely comfortable being looked at like someone worth being proud of.

“You don’t have to be perfect,” she told him. Carl’s brow furrowed slightly. “I know.” “Then why do you look like you’re preparing for a fight?” He looked down at his boots, nudging a small stone with the toe. “Because fights are easier now.” Michonne laughed quietly, and Carl finally smiled too. It was a small moment, almost insignificant compared to everything else happening around them, but it stayed with him. Because she was right. He didn’t need to be perfect. He didn’t need to know what came next. He only needed to stand there and tell the truth. That was harder than fighting, but he could do hard things.

By the time everyone began making their way toward the clearing, the forest looked almost unfamiliar in the early afternoon light. The place had been visited before, of course, but never like this. Usually, the woods meant patrols, searching for supplies, tracking walkers, finding shelter, looking for threats. Today there were no weapons raised, no one moving cautiously with their backs against trees, no one scanning the horizon every few seconds.

Daryl had insisted that everyone remain alert anyway, because Daryl would probably remain alert during the apocalypse even if the apocalypse ended, but even he seemed to understand that this was different.

The clearing itself wasn’t large. That was part of why you had chosen it. A collection of tall trees surrounded it on nearly every side, their branches stretching overhead and allowing pieces of sunlight to filter through in shifting patches. Someone had gathered wildflowers from the surrounding area and placed them along the fallen log where people would sit, and pieces of fabric had been tied loosely around a few nearby branches. Nothing matched. Nothing was symmetrical. Some of the flowers were already beginning to wilt, and one of the pieces of fabric had come loose and was hanging sideways. It was beautiful precisely because it wasn’t trying to be. It was something made by people who had almost nothing and had decided that what they had was enough.

Carl arrived before you did.

He stood near the center of the clearing, hands shoved into his pockets, his shoulders slightly tense. He had cleaned up as much as he could without making himself look like someone he wasn’t. His clothes were simple, but clean, and his hair had been brushed back more carefully than usual even though several curls had already fallen loose again. The handmade ring sat safely in his pocket. He had checked it at least three times that morning to make sure it was still there. When Rick approached him, Carl immediately looked over, and his father gave him a small nod.

“You ready?”

Carl looked toward the trees. “Yeah.”

Rick studied him for a second. “You don’t have to be.”

Carl frowned. “I know.”

“Just saying.”

Carl looked back toward the clearing. “I’m ready.”

Rick smiled, reached over, and gave his son’s shoulder a brief squeeze before walking away. Carl watched him go, then took a slow breath. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with his hands. He wasn’t sure where to look. He wasn’t sure whether he should smile. Every few seconds he glanced toward the path, waiting for you to appear, and each time you weren’t there yet, he looked away again as though he hadn’t been waiting at all.

Daryl noticed. Of course he did.

“You’re gonna wear a hole through the trees,” he muttered.

Carl looked at him.

“I’m not doing anything.”

“Sure.”

Daryl leaned against one of the trees, arms crossed. “Relax.”

Carl almost laughed. “You’re telling me to relax?” Daryl shrugged. “Yeah.”

“That’s probably the worst advice I’ve ever heard.”

“Didn’t say I was good at it.”

Carl shook his head, but the tension in his shoulders eased slightly.

Then you appeared.

For a second, Carl forgot what everyone else was doing.

It wasn’t because you looked dramatically different. You hadn’t been transformed into someone unrecognizable. There was no elaborate dress, no expensive jewelry, no perfect hair. Everything about you was simple, practical, and unmistakably yours. That was what made his chest tighten. You looked like yourself. The person he’d walked beside through ruined streets and dark forests. The person he’d shared food with when there wasn’t enough. The person whose hand he’d reached for without thinking during nightmares and gunfire and quiet mornings. The person he’d chosen in all the little ways long before he’d ever asked the question.

Carl’s expression softened before he could stop it, and for once he didn’t seem concerned about anyone noticing.

You smiled when you saw him, and he smiled back, small and almost shy. As you walked closer, he stepped forward to meet you, and for a moment neither of you said anything. His eyes moved over you once, not in a way that made you self-conscious, but in the way someone looks at something they are trying to memorize. “You look…” He stopped.

You raised an eyebrow. “I look what?”

Carl swallowed.

“Good.”

You smiled. “Just good?”

He glanced down, embarrassed. “Really good.”

That earned him a quiet laugh. He reached for your hand, his fingers slipping naturally between yours.

“You look good too,” you told him. “really good.“

“I know.”

You stared at him.

Carl’s mouth twitched. “I’m kidding.”

“That was almost confident.”

“Don’t get used to it.”

And there he was again, the Carl you knew. Quiet. Dry. A little awkward. Still capable of teasing you when he felt safe enough.

The ceremony itself was almost embarrassingly simple.

There were no chairs except the fallen log and a few crates someone had brought from Alexandria. There was no music because nobody had thought to find an instrument. Judith had scattered several flowers around the clearing, Rick stood near the front with Michonne beside him, Daryl remained slightly to the side, arms folded, pretending that he was only there because somebody had asked him to be. Maggie and Carol sat together, and a few others stood behind them. It wasn’t a crowd. It wasn’t supposed to be. It was simply the people who mattered. The people who had made it through enough together that nobody needed an invitation to understand why being there mattered.

When you and Carl finally stood facing one another beneath the trees, the forest seemed to quiet around you. Carl’s thumb moved nervously against the side of your hand. You could feel the slight tension in his fingers. He was trying to keep his expression neutral, but you knew him too well. He was terrified.

Rick looked between the two of you and cleared his throat. “I don’t really know how this is supposed to work.” A quiet laugh moved through the group. Rick smiled faintly. “Guess none of us do anymore.”

He looked at Carl. Then at you. “But I think that’s okay.” Carl’s eyes lowered for a moment. Rick continued, his voice softer now. “You don’t need a church. You don’t need a big ceremony. You don’t need any of the things people used to think made something official. You just need to choose each other.” He paused. “And keep choosing each other.”

Carl looked at you. His expression changed slightly. The words seemed to settle somewhere deep inside him. Rick nodded once. “So… that’s what we’re here for.”

Carl was supposed to speak next. He had prepared. He had thought about it for days. He had even practiced once, alone, quietly enough that nobody could hear him.

None of that helped.

He stared at you, then looked down, then laughed under his breath. “I forgot everything.” A few people smiled, and you squeezed his hand.

“It’s okay.”

Carl shook his head.

“No, I had something.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, visibly frustrated. “It sounded better before.”

You smiled. “Then don’t say what sounded better.”

He looked at you. “What?”

“Just say what you mean.”

For a moment, Carl was quiet. Then he nodded.

“I don’t know what tomorrow’s gonna look like.”

His voice was low, almost hesitant, but everyone in the clearing could hear him.

“I don’t know where we’re gonna be. I don’t know what’s gonna happen to us. I don’t know if things are ever gonna be normal again.”

He paused.

“And I don’t think they will.”

There was no sadness in the statement, just honesty.

“But I know that every time something happens, you’re the person I look for.”

Your eyes stung.

Carl’s thumb brushed against your hand.

“I know I don’t always say stuff. I know I’m not…” He hesitated, searching for the word. “Good at it.”

You smiled faintly.

“But I love you,” He looked directly at you. “And I want you with me. Whatever happens.”

Then he reached into his pocket. His fingers shook slightly as he pulled out the small handmade ring.

You looked down at it.

“It’s not really…”

He stopped, clearly unsure how to explain it.

“It’s not perfect.”

You smiled.

“I like it.”

Carl’s shoulders relaxed.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He carefully slipped it onto your finger.

It obviously wasn’t polished nor expensive. It wasn’t anything that would have impressed someone from the old world. But Carl had made it with his own hands, so that made it priceless.

When it was your turn to speak, you found yourself struggling too. Maybe that was the strange thing about the world you lived in. You could talk about surviving. You could talk about walkers and food and weapons and patrols without hesitation. But standing beneath the trees with Carl looking at you like you were the one thing in the world he trusted completely made every carefully prepared sentence disappear.

So you did what he had done.

You told him the truth.

You told him that you didn’t know what tomorrow would bring either. You told him that you couldn’t promise everything would be easy, because neither of you were foolish enough to believe that. But you could promise that when things became difficult, you wouldn’t run simply because they were difficult. You promised to keep finding him, just as he had promised to keep looking for you. You promised to choose him in the small ways, the ordinary ways, the ways that mattered more than words.

Carl listened without looking away.

When you finished, his eyes were wet. He blinked quickly.

You smiled.

“You okay?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

He looked down for a second. Then back at you.

“Yeah.”

And when Rick finally told you that you were married, there was no applause loud enough to feel strange in the quiet forest. There were smiles, a few quiet laughs, Judith immediately asking whether that meant there was going to be cake, and Daryl muttering something about how there wasn’t any cake. But Carl didn’t seem to hear much of it.

He was looking at you.

His hand was still holding yours.

Then he let go of it, his palms lifting up to cup your cheeks, bringing your faces together in a way that defied every little bit of nervousness and romantic cowardice he stored.

Angela immediately perked up a little, sitting up from where she had slouched on the couch after the last story and tucked her legs up under her and leaned into Amanda, ready to give her full attention to this story, eyes briefly flashing to look at you before they went back to Shayne, “Oh my god, this is goinna be good.”

Amanda laughed beside her and nodded in agreement, “Oh yeah, [Y/N] has shown me some of her favourite stories before, I’m excited for this.” Shayne let out a little laugh and nodded with them. 

“This story comes from r/Relationship_Advice and is from 2020 and is titled ‘I’m in love with my best friend and roommate’”

Amanda and Angela both let out a little aww at the title but Amanda was quick to say “As much as I love a good friends to lovers story, let’s hold off on that because these other stories have been insane, let wait until we hear the whole story.” 

“Yeah, yeah. You’re right, let’s lock in.” Angela quickly steeled her face and you let out a small chuckle from where you sat behind the camera, already knowing what story was coming and as Shayne started a reading, a small content smile made its way to your face.

“Obligatory, this is a throwaway account. I (f 28) am in love with my (m 29) best friend and roommate who we will call Charlie for anonymity. In 2016, I moved to a new city for work and was invited to a party by a friend, where I met Charlie and we hit it off right away. We have very similar tastes in music, videos and games and we spent around 70% of the party talking to each other and swapped numbers and we quickly became close, going out to new movies, finding the most obscure indie movies to watch together and having many game nights at one of our apartments. It was these game nights where our friendship really blossomed, we would talk about anything and everything and conversation would be so easy because we would never run out of anything to talk about and even in moments of silence, it was soft and comfortable. Working in the entertainment industry, I sometimes feel like I’m having to perform when I’m in the office to match the energy of those around me but with Charlie there was no performance needed. We could simply exist in a shared space and enjoy each other's presence, there was no need to perform or entertain, we could just be ourselves.”

Amanda and Angela both melted a little on the couch, sweet smiles tracing their lips and you couldn’t help but smile as well. The early days of your friendship with Spencer were quite englightning, in previous friendships you had always given away parts of yourself, energy and time, but had never gotten anything in return. You were the person people turned to when they needed a shoulder to cry on, someone to vent to or even just someone to stave away the boredom, but when you needed that your friends never had the time and it took you a very long time to learn that it wasn’t healthy. That relationships, even friendships, are a give and a take and you were always giving and giving and giving until it ran you dry. 

But it was never like that with Spencer, if you needed him he was there. Even if he was a country away, the second you text him that something was wrong he was on the phone to talk you through it and support you. He reached out to you as much as you reached out to him, you were the first person he would text in the morning and at night and even if he didn’t have much time he would still take the time to send a silly meme or a funny picture captioned ‘you’ because he knew it made your day just a little bit better. He included you in plans and events outside of your weekly game or movie nights, inviting you as his plus one for things Smosh was involved in and always bringing you to the holiday parties at the office and introducing you to people as his best friend with the widest grin on his face. 

And you would do the same for him, picking up the phone when he needed you and rushing to his place with snacks and shitty movie recommendations that you could laugh at when he had a bad day, supporting him through many late night editing nightmares with corrupted files and bad audio, texting him things that reminded him of you. And when you couldn’t be there in person, you were sending him memes and videos throughout the day, post mating him coffee and kickstarts and sending little reminders to drink water and get up and walk when you knew he would be stuck at the editing bay for hours. Taking him out to cool food spots you found, little unknown family ran businesses that had the best vibes and great customer services, bringing him to movie events and press events for projects you were working on and proudly introducing him to your family as your favourite person when they came to visit you.

One of you never took more than the other, or gave more. It was a mutual comfortable companionship where you never demanded more than what the other could give. It was the foundation of every part of your relationship, platonic and romantic. As Shayne moved on in the story, you tuned back in despite knowing every word by heart.

“Then in 2018, I started workin for the same digital media company Charlie and our mutual friend worked at, as an editor and production assistant. My desk was right next to his, and on my first day he left my favourite snack and monster flavour (despite the many playful arguments we had over monster vs kickstart) alongside a note of encouragement, which I thought was really sweet”

“That’s so cute.” Amanda had raised her hand to her heart and looked like she was starting to tear up a little at the words, Angela nodded her head in agreement and let out a little chuckle as well as she voiced her thoughts.

“I honestly thought that Spencer was the only person who drinks Mountain Dew Kickstart.”

Laughter boomed throughout the room, all of the cast and crew laughing at the comment, including you. Spencers love for the energy drink was a well known thing and a recurring joking argument in your relationship was if monster or kickstart was the superior energy drink. Once Shayne’s laughter had quietened down, he continued with the story.

“The notes became a recurring thing, if I had a long day full of meetings and preparations for videos I would find a note on my computer screen with either a joke or encouraging words and it always perked me right up if I was feeling down. Charlie also worked as an editor at the time and during long days that stretched into nights of editing we fell into a comfortable pattern of sharing snacks and jokes like they were sacred texts that only existed in the space of the editing bay and only existed for us to know about. We would talk and laugh and help the other when it was needed but somewhere along the way it turned into something more. Our chairs would end up closer together, his hand would find mine to rub soothing circles against the skin to ground me when I got frustrated, mine would be on the base of his neck rubbing at the muscles to relieve the tension and aches in it from sitting slouched most of the day. Casual touching became our normal and what had started in the quiet space of our editing sprees spread outside of it, his hand on my knee when driving, holding my hand when walking through a crowd, my head in his lap when watching movies and his hands in my hair.”

Amandas eyes narrowed slightly, suspicion starting to worm its way into her brain as her eyes scanned the room and landed on your. She wasn’t with Smosh when you started working with them, but you were sure you had heard the stories of how much you and Spencer acted like a couple before you were actually a couple. She let out a little “okay” before turning back to Shayne, but she still looked a little suspicious. 

“I think those were the earliest moments I remember being like ‘oh shit, i like him as more than a friend’ but I truly tried to push it down and push it away because I didn’t think he felt the same and I didn’t want to ruin what we had and risk losing him. So I ignored the feelings, pushed them to the side and just stayed being the best friend I could be. Recently however, I’ve been finding it hard to ignore it. Just before the lockdown started, we moved in together. Don’t get me wrong, I love living with Charlie. He’s a great roommate but being in such close proximity with him, almost 24/7, has made ignoring my feelings difficult”

You remember moving in with Spencer, it was a necessity at the time but one you wouldn’t change for the world. The panic around the pandemic was rising and when the whispers of a lockdown started both of your previous roommates took the chance to go back to their homes while they could, which you fully understood, so not being able to afford rent on your apartments by yourselves, you and Spencer moved in together. It was simultaneously one of the best decisions of your life and one of the most stressful. 

Spencer was a good roommate, more than that he was a fantastic roommate. He took care of his own mess and laundry, was happy to help with chores and understood boundaries and when you needed your own space. He never once complained when you asked him to do something and was always quick to help when you needed a hand, very quickly the two of you moved with a quiet domesticity that was natural and almost seemed inevitable. 

And then the quiet, casual intimacy that was born in the editing bay evolved into something more again. His hand on your waist as he reached into a cupboard above you, how his hand always reached for yours across the couch on movie night only to pull you closer to lay against his body, your legs thrown over his while you worked on scripts and ideas for lockdown appropriate videos and he played games on the tv, how casually he would pull you to sit on to his lap when he wanted you to check something on the video he was editing. 

The most daming one of all that sent you spiraling and triggered the original reddit post was how he looked at you like there was something reverant about you. You hhad been helping him edit a games video, your focus on the screen in front of you and then when you turned to Spencer to tell him it all looked good you caught him staring. Your breath had hitched and your heart pounded hard against your chest, almost to the point of pain and you were convinced Spencer could hear it. The look he had given you was so intimate and vulnerable. It was as if he was seeing deep into the very being of your soul and had seen every part of it, all the good, the bad, the pure and the broken and he had decided that there was something sacred and beautiful about it. Something worth loving in it. And it terrified you. 

So much so that when he reached a hand out to cup your cheek, you quickly made an excuse about needing to finish something for your meeting the next day and practically ran out of the room and into your own where you proceeded to spiral and spill your guts to reddit.  

“Every day it gets harder and harder not to tell him how I feel. We could be doing the most mundane thing like washing dishes together or cooking and I look over at him and I just become so overwhelmed with feelings and emotions that I want to blurt out that I love him. Just tonight, I was helping him edit something and when I turned to tell him that it looked good I froze. He was looking at me like he loved me too and my heart felt like it was going to explode but I didn’t say anything, instead I ran out of the room with the excuse of having work to do and came to reddit instead because I needed to get this out of my system. I have never had anyone look at me the way he did, like they loved every single part of me and they he had already planned our future together in their mind. So reddit, any advice?”

Shaynes voice was soft as he finished the story and you smiled softly to yourself as every emotion you were feeling that night came back with the memories. Angela and Amanda both had tears in their eyes and they were snuggled up together on the couch with Angelas head on Amandas shoulders. There was silence for a few seconds as the pair gathered their thoughts and feelings about this story. Amanda was the first to speak, her throat clearing before she did so she didn’t sound choked up, “Okay, well first of all. Girl, go get your man.” 

Angela and Shayne laughed at Amandas comment and she continued, “You also better tell me there's an update to this one.” She glared slightly and pointed at Sahyne, trying her best to look intimidating and scary and Shayne only laughed but he nodded his head.

“There is an update but let's get some comments and thoughts from you guys first.”

Amanda just replied with a “Good” as her gaze softened again, there was still a little look of suspicion in her eyes as she pieced together timelines and the story but she didn’t voice it and when she looked at you, you just smiled. 

“I can see why it’s one of [Y/N]’s favourites, she's a sucker for friends to lovers. I agree with Amanda, go get him OP. Tell him how you feel! If I can tell through this reddit post just how down bad for you that man is, then OP needs to tell him.” 

Shayne nodded along to what Angela had said and rubbed a hand against his jaw, “Yeah, like it definitely seems from what OPs saying that Charlie also has feelings for them as well but as always with reddit stories we’re not getting the full picture,”

Amanda and Angela nodded and agreed but Amanda was quick to jump in with, “Yeah, I get that but I don’t know…Theres something about this post that is so uniquely vulnerable that I can’t help but feel like we’ve got a pretty good look at whats happening. I mean, its a little cliche and like a hallmark movie but we’ve seen things like this play out in real life. Like friends and coworkers who start dating and fall in love, its is a very real possibility” 

“Yeah, it's a very real possibility. I mean we saw it play out with Shayne and Courtney and even though we weren’t here for it, Spencer and [Y/N] as well. They were friends who happened to fall in love and they’re each other's perfect matches.” Shayne nodded along to Angela’s words and quickly glanced at you out of the corner of his eyes.  

Shayne moves on to reading some of the comments, all of them supportive and encouraging you to tell ‘Charlie’ how to feel and reiterating the same thoughts as Amanda and Angela that he was obviously in love with you too. 

As the studio door opens, you smile and scooch over on the sofa, Spencer carefully sneaks behind the cameras and joins you on the sofa his arm automatically wrapping around your shoulders and pulling you against his chest. “Have they got to it yet?”

His whispers into your ear gently and you grin up at him and shake your head, “They’ve just done comments and they’re moving onto the update now.” A wide grin stretches across Spencers face, matching your own and he places a kiss on your forehead before turning back to watch Shayne reading the next part of your story. 

“Okay, so the update was posted literally this morning. 5 years after the original post.” Shaynes eyes scan down the update as he speaks and you and Spencer can’t help but laugh as his eyes widen in shock and he so so slowly moved around to look at the two of you on the couch, the camera following his line of sight and showing you almost doubled over in laughter as Spencer clutches his stomach. Amanda and Angela look between the two of you and Shayne with questioning looks on their face and Angela starts to almost shout, “What is happening right now? Shayne what is going on?”

Shayne shakes his head and turns back to Amanda and Angela who are looking at him with raised eye brows, “Okay, okay lets get into this update. You guys aren’t ready for this”

Despite still being confused about what is happened, Amanda and Angela settle back into the sofa and give their full attention as Shayne starts.

“Hi guys, I know its been 5 years since the last post on this account but I got a little overwhelmed with everything that happened and got swept up into my life with my boyfriend ‘Charlie’. For thos who are new here, back in 202 in the middle of the lockdown I posted about how I was in love with my best friend and roommate Charlie and I received a lot of positive comments encouraging me to tell Charlie how I felt. It has been 5 years since that post but there's been some big developments in the last few months that I thought an update was deserved.”

“Oh my god they're married!” Angela practically jumped out of her seat as she shouted and Amanda placed a hand on her shoulder while laughing at her antics as Shayne laughed along, “Settle down babe” 

“Okay first of all, after posting my story I stayed up until 2am reading the comments on my original post and crying at all the support everyone had shown me, I can’t thank you all enough for the words of encouragement because without it, I think I would have sat and spiralled about how I destroyed any chance of a relationship with the most amazing man alive. Secondly, after reading all the comments I put on my big girl pants and went to see if Charlie was still awake, thankfully he’s a night owl and frequently stays up late playing games or watching movies and I found him in the living room with a movie on in the background. I asked him if we could talk and he said yes. I’m not going to go into the details of our conversation because it got very personal and very vulnerable.” 

Spencers squeezed your shoulder gently and started rubbing soft circles into the fabric of yours (his) jumper, that conversation was hard to have. Vulnerability was always a little foreign to you, showing feelings and weaknesses, something you feared because it had been turned against you time and time again, but with Spencer it was different. 

That night you laid your soul bare to him, every heartache that led you to be who you were today. Every little thing that was said and done to you that made you fear not only being in love, but being loved by another person so wholly and completely. Every insecurity you had and reason you felt you didn’t deserve to be loved tumbled out of you like a tidal wave that just couldn’t be stopped once you had started. You cried, Spencer cried but still he held you in his arms and rubbed your back as he promised you he loved you. You were never too much and never would be too much. He loved how much you cared and how you loved with not just your entire heart but your whole being. He loved everything about you, not despite but regardless. 

That night your living room changed from simply a shared living space to a sacred sanctuary where the first chapter of your love story was etched into your bones and souls and the cosmos as you promised to show up for each other and love each other through the hardest moments of life. 

“But we did talk and realised we had both been harbouring feelings for each other for a while and we began dating. The last 5 years have been absolutely incredible. I won't lie and say that it's been all sunshine and rainbows and that it's been easy the whole time, because it hasn’t. Like any couple we’ve had fights and arguments and stressful situations but one of the things we both value in a relationship is open and honest communication so we’ve always been able to work through these things even if it does take a few days to actually sit down and talk. Because that's what love is, it’s showing up and trying even when things are hard. Now onto the real meat of the update and the reason I decided to post an update, don’t worry its a good thing. Charlie and I recently got engaged!”

Amanda and Angela both smile widely as Shayne reads and lets out a “yay!”, clapping their hands together while Shayne side eyes you and Spencer on the couch before he continues, “It wasn’t a big surprise or out in public, but quiet and intimate and perfect. I had been cooking dinner for us with some music playing in the background when he got home from work (I had left earlier because of a doctor's appointment) and he came into the kitchen, kissed me and started a normal conversation, I was none the wiser. Once the food was done and I removed it from the heat he pulled me back into his chest and started swaying me gently to the music and we danced like that for a few minutes just enjoying the feeling of being in each other's arms. Charlie then spins me and when I turn to face him, there he is down on one knee with a beautiful ring. Through tears, I said yes and now we are happily engaged. It was perfect. Thank you reddit so much for your advice and support, I wouldn’t be here without you and yes I will post a picture of the ring.”

As Shaye finished the story, anxiety shot through you because you knew Amanda and Angela would want to see the ring, it was the whole point of this story being in the video but still you couldn’t help the nerves that bubbled up inside you for your friend's reaction to your engagement. Amanda and Angela wipe small tears from their eyes as they immediately ask Shayne for the iPad to see the photo and you brace yourself. Posted at the bottom your reddit story is a photo of you and Spencer one of his arms wrapped around your chest while he places a kiss to your check and your left hand on his bicep, showing off your engagement ring. 

The response is immediate shouting of “what the fuck!” from both Angela and Amanda, followed by both their heads winging round to you and Spencer on the couch. Your anxiety slowly being replaced with happiness and you both laugh at their outburst, they look to the iPad and then back to you and then the iPad and back to you multiple times as the shock settles, the cameras following their movements. “I can’t believe it!” “You gotta be kidding me??” 

They both start shouting over each other, questions of how, what, when and where all flying at once and your’re still laughing, tears forming in your eyes, when Angela barrels across the room in what seems like rage but it actually pure joy as she tears you up from the sofa and engulfs you in a tight hug that has the air leaving your lungs. 

“Oh my god you guys. This is incredible. Congratulations!” She lets you go and hugs Spencer in the same way as Shayne and Amanda make their way over and hug you too, offering their own congratulations. Though Amanda whispers in your ear, jokingly, about how sneaky that was and she was suspicious that it was you from the first story while also saying how happy she was. After a few minutes of hugs and congratulations, Bailey calls them back onto the set to finish off the video and as everyone settles in again your shout to Shayne “There’s another photo!” 

He looks confused for a second before scrolling on the iPad again and coming across the final photo, his jaw dropping open completely as he turns it to Amanda and Angela. This one he doesn’t share with the audience, immediately dropping back into his host persona as he does the outro for the video while Amanda and Angela freak out on the other couch. 

“Thank you for watching and let us know how you feel about the bomb that just dropped”

As soon as the cameras are cut, Amanda and Angela aren’t even bothering to get their mic’s off as they run up to you with the iPad and shove it in your face almost accusingly, the photo of the ultrasound staring back at your face and making you smile, both shouting at the same time “ARE YOU PREGNANT?”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Relationship or Relation-No | Reading reddit stories

@ userone: always knew [Y/N] was a reddittor ↳ @ usertwo: they're with spencer, are we sure they're a redditor by choice? @ userthree: YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT! WHAT WAS THE OTHER PHOTO ↳ @ userfour: no literally. that was just...evil @ userfive: the look on shayne's face as he read ahead on the update absolutely sent me ↳ @ usersix: i was in tears, he has the best facial expressions

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

yourusername

yourusername forever grateful to the universe (and court) for bringing me to you (p.s scroll to the end to see what the second photo was 👀)

liked by spennser and others

co_mill forever grateful for you my love ‪‪❤︎‬ and i can't wait to meet smoshs newest member!

userone another smosh baby has hit the timeline

↳ usertwo and its a baby chosen 😭

angelagiovanagiarratana still not over you telling us in a REDDIT VIDEO