Preston's P.O.V.
Even from the beginning I struggled to understand how Lachlan was supposed to make a career from YouTube if he didn't speak. Well, he did speak, but not to any of us. He was able to record alone, speaking freely and normally on camera and that was what first built him up, but he simply wasn't able to record with anyone else. The thing was, he had selective mutism and didn't speak to any of us.
From what I understood he did talk to his parents and siblings, but that was about it. There wasn't really a reason for his silence, it was simply something that had been apart of his life for as long as anyone could remember. His parents had tried to get him treatment, therapists and such, as a child before it got too bad, but nothing ever changed. He still didn't speak outside selected environments even as a young adult and despite pressure from everyone, nothing changed. He didn't speak, in fact, I had never heard him utter a word outside videos. He had never spoken to me or any of the other boys, ever.
We tried to include the youngest of our group in everything we could, videos that he didn't need to talk in, trips to ski resorts or other countries, discord calls where he could just type in the chat. I knew he appreciated it because he didn't seem to have many friends at home and he was bubbly and bright despite the crippling anxiety that gave him the extreme phobia of talking. Lachlan was still a great friend though and we all loved him despite everything.
"Lachlan!" I whined, hitting my desk perhaps a little too roughly. "Asshole! You blew me up!"
I saw his massive smile on the camera, cheeky grin as he tilted his head and continued to spam his keyboard, chasing after me again. He had already won but insisted on trying to kill me again, just to rub it in. Rob snickered in the background, long having lost.
"Not his fault Preston!" He laughed. "That's yours!"
"I will blame you for this as well!" I groaned, completely giving up as he killed me again. "And that's the end of this video!"
I finished the outro, shut down the game and then leaned back in my chair, sighing a little. I was tired now, it was almost 11pm, but we still had more to discuss.
"You've got flights, yeah Preston?" Rob asked, yawning. I nodded.
"Yup, for like 9 o'clock tomorrow. I land around 6am Aussie time." Lachlan nodded, following along. Rob continued.
"I land like... an hour and a half later I think. I'll have to check." He said, scrolling. Lachlan began typing in the chat, waving his hand to make sure he had our attention.
I've got your flights sorted, I'll be there to pick you up. It'll tell me if there's a delay too.
"That's awesome, thank Lachy." I smiled. "But seriously, I need to pack cause I haven't even started yet and I really need to."
The others nodded, we- Rob and I, Lachlan typed- goodbye, and I turned around to face the mess that was my bedroom. This was going to take forever.
----------------------------------------------
Lachlan was exactly as I remembered him when I saw him 6 months earlier, tall, happy and completely silent. He was smiling and hugged me tightly, letting out what was almost a laugh but it was noiseless, before going back in to hug me again. We had to wait for Rob to land before we could go home so for an hour and a half we wandered the airport, me pointing things out and Lachlan typing out anything he wanted to say.
This was exactly how it had always been, me, chattering away and Lachlan, silent. I was used to it and if I was honest, although it would be nice if he could talk, I really didn't mind.
