120 Heartbeats [ThePack/ Sidemen]

Ch. 7 - [16] Caged - Eingesperrt

Music tip:
One Republic - Let's Hurt Tonight
(look at the beginning of the chapter!)

120 Heartbeats

Chapter 7:
16. Caged

Pairing: Vitch (Vik & Mitch)
Genre: Romance, Drama
Words: 1918

Their first mistake had been to get too comfortable, to believe that they would be safe in the secluded house near London.
The Sidemen finally knew, everything had been alright, they had been so happy...

So happy that Vik decides to give his boyfriend a proper goodbye, since Simon is driving him to the airport in his stead. He stands in the doorway and throws a last and longing glance at Mitch's retreating form, before he stops him on the stairs and pulls him around to give him a quick kiss.
It turns out longer than anticipated, Mitch is stretching his neck to keep their last kiss going for as long as possible, since Vik is standing above him thanks to the stairs. It's an advantage he gladly takes and so he pulls Mitch close to his chest when they finally part. Simon is snickering in the background, but he couldn't care less right now.

"Come with me to Florida," the Canadian bundle in his arms mutters and presses his face into the hoodie he's wearing. With a smile he answers equally as quiet, "When your office is ready you'll never get rid of me."
A sigh leaves Mitch's throat, but it doesn't sound as glum as his pointless request before, so Vik takes it as a good moment to part and presses a loving kiss onto Mitch's shining hair and then they are off far too quickly.

Daily life goes on as usual and it's only 24 hours later that the consequences of their careless actions hit them with full force.

At first it starts on Twitter.
A random hashtack he doesn't pay much attention to, a lot of mentions-
It's the usual really, isn't it?

That is until Simon barges into his room with an unusual pale face and Vik finally takes a closer look.
They know. The secret is out and Vik nearly faints then and there.

Someone has taken pictures of Mitch and him the day before, entangled in each other's arms, Vik pressing a tender kiss onto his head, then on the Canadian's lips.
Hours later, after he has thrown his phone desperately against the wall, talked to a hysteric Mitch and made sure that Jerome and Alex will have an eye on him, he finds out that it is so, so much worse than anticipated.
As if the awkward talk to his family and his friends from the Pack wasn't enough already.

The pictures were not made by a fan but a professional photographer for some local rag.
A paparazzi.
Apparently one of the most popular British Youtubers surprisingly coming out is spectacular enough for them to ruin Mitch's and his life, because one thing is leading to another and suddenly the whole world wants to know about those two 'internet stars being an inspiring example for tolerance and acceptance' or something like that. It's not as good as it sounds though, the unwanted fame kicks something else off, suddenly Youtubers in general are the center of discussions and news and in the middle of it - Mitch and him.

Vik has always cherished their special type of fame, not too crazy and life-consuming but obvious enough to let him know that it's all worth it.
It has always been different from the type of fame stars have to deal with on a daily basis, since those are on everyone's mind all of the time and Vik has been endlessly thankful for that.

Then the pictures happened.

After the first week reporters are camping in front of their house to get a picture of the guy who everyone wants to know all of a sudden. And boy, do they know everything. None of his friends or family members slipped up, no one even dared to talk to the press, but somehow they know all of it. His time at school, his grades, his slip-ups, his whole YouTube career from square one, his relationships he always kept to himself and not once in his life talked about as Vikkstar.
He is close to a mental breakdown and would have succumbed to it already, if it weren't for the Sidemen who are quite literally by his side every second of every day to protect him from the paparazzi and himself. And if it weren't for Mitch, who's off so much worse.
While the Europeans' screams for some kind of respected privacy get louder and louder - they are still so damn young after all - the Americans are on a whole different level. No one seems to care, no one seems to be bothered. On the third day Mitch stopped going out of his house and when they started to take pictures of him in the kitchen from his own backyard, he packed his bags and flew to his parents' cottage up in Canada, while Jerome furiously called the cops. The videos of him screaming at the eager paparazzi went viral a day later.