Kokoro (A Shourtney/Shartney Fanfic)

Seventeen

I arrived at the office Monday morning and immediately located Damien. Much to my surprise, he was sitting with Saige laughing about something with her.

"Uh, hey, Damien?" I stuffed my hands in my pockets as the duo turned to face me. "Mind if we talk for a sec?"

"Oh, sure, man," he stood up and the two of us walked out of the room. Once I knew we were alone I sighed and scratched the back of my neck. "What's with the sudden nerves? You're not going to confess to me, are you?"

"No, no, nothing like that," I chuckled. "Though it's sorta in a similar ballpark."

"Okay, go for it."

"So, um, I've got some news that only you can know, alright? See, I went to take Courtney home the other night and ended up staying the night with her. Before you ask, no nothing like that happened."

"Can't stop me from assuming," he shrugged playfully.

"Though...while we were sitting together, I got to thinking about everything we'd been through and...I think I like her," I glanced up at Damien's face but he didn't seem at all surprised. "What?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was waiting on you to tell me news," he said.

"What're you...?"

"Took you long enough, dude!" He suddenly shouted. "I know you've been in love with her, I was just kinda waiting on you to say it."

"Whatever, man," I shook my head and sighed. "Look, I don't know what to do. This is big. I mean, how would you feel if you had realized that you've fallen for your best friend?"

"I thought I was your best friend."

"Well, okay, but you know what I mean."

"I know how you must feel, man, I get it. I think the best thing for you to do is to tell her how you feel. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Uh, she could hear me." I said. "Besides, our friendship is on the line too. What if I tell her how I feel and things become awkward between us? What if we can't even talk to each other? I don't think I could risk that..."

"Feelings happen all the time, nothing you can do about it. She'd understand but, to be fair, I doubt you have much to worry about there. She one-hundred percent feels the same way. Can't you see it?"

"Uh, no."

"Oh, right. I forgot you're oblivious," he mumbled, just loud enough for me to audibly hear it. "Trust me, you just gotta give it a shot."

"I don't know..."

"Think about it," he placed a hand on my shoulder and lightly shook it. "You trust me, don't you?"

"I..."

"Hey, you guys," Courtney walked up to us and crossed her arms. "What are you doing? We have to film in a few minutes. Let's go!"

"Right, sorry, we just got caught up in our conversation," Damien said. "Come on, Shayne."

"Right behind you," I told him. He walked off and Courtney glanced back at me.

"Something wrong, Shania?" She asked. I hadn't realized that I spaced out until her voice found its way into my mind. "You seem kinda...out of it today."

"Sorry, just...waking up still," I lied. "I had a long night, you know?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Something you want to talk about?" Concern washed over her face. "I'm here if you want to."

"I...can I ask you something?" I asked. She seemed to get nervous at my request and started to fidget with her hands.

"U-uh...yeah, go for it."

"Let's just say...hypothetically, of course...that you fell in love with your best friend. What would you do?"

"I...um...well, I guess you could say I've been in a...similar experience," she seemed to nervously trail off. "I'm still...I-I mean I wasn't sure what to do but I was...I considered telling, um, them how I felt."

"You'd really do that?" I asked, my hand on my chin as I thought about my options. "Damien said something similar when I asked him. Maybe it's the right thing to do. Thanks, Court."

"N-no problem," she sighed. She seemed really upset but I can't really tell why she'd feel that way. "Let's...go..."

She quickly walked off. I watched as she walked away and sighed.

"I should tell her...but how can I?"

During the entire day, Courtney seemed distant from me. She was different from the way she was on camera and off camera. When the cameras were off, she seemed distant and sad. I tried talking to her but she didn't seem to want to listen.

"Hey, Shayne," Ian approached me from behind and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm gathering everyone in the conference room. Come on."

"Okay, sure," I shrugged. He led me into the room and everyone else was already there. He stood at the edge of the table as I sat down in the only empty chair left. I glanced over at Courtney who quickly looked away from me as soon as we locked eyes. What am I going to do?

"So, I've got an idea I'd like to propose to all of you," Ian said.

"Aw, you're proposing to us??" Damien asked with a smile. He acted like he had actually been proposed to.

"Yes, I'd like to marry each and every one of you," he said with a chuckle. "No, but seriously, I have a great idea I think you all will like. We've been working really hard over the past couple of months and I think we could use a break, don't you? So, what do you say to a little get together?"

"Don't we 'get together' all the time?" Noah asked.

"No, this is different. Hear me out, a Smosh Prom. Eh?" He smiled at all of us, his mouth open like he was going to say something else.

"A Smosh Prom, huh?" Damien asked. "Where'd this idea come from?"

"Well, the other day, I heard you talking to Saige about not finishing high school and not going to prom. And I know some of you never got to experience it either like Shayne who didn't go to high school at all. So, what do you guys think?"

"I think that's a cool idea," Jackie nodded her head happily. "I'm totally down with that idea."

"Yeah, me too," Keith said. "So, are we getting drunk too?"

"I was thinking that would be an option," Ian shrugged. "So, we all game on the Smosh Prom thing?"

Everyone agreed to the idea and Ian seemed excited about it. He admitted to not going into too much detail about the plans and, now that we were all on board, we could work on it together. After the meeting, I was stopped by Damien.

"Hey, man. Now's your chance," he said to me.

"Chance? For what?" I asked.

"To ask Courtney out! I know you didn't go to prom but usually you go with a date. You don't want to be the lonely guy in the corner, do you?"

"I...I guess you have a point," I shrugged. "Would it be such a good idea though? I mean, what if she turns me down?"

"Trust me. There's no way she's turning you down."

He seems so confident. It's...kinda weird honestly.