Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Your eyes slowly wander to the bottom right corner of your screen, checking the time with a loud sigh. 2:56 AM. Surely, you could go to sleep, but you just feel like you can't yet. It's not like you've been doing anything too significant. Just scrolling through the last few comments of your new video. It did surprisingly well, better than usual, and got a lot of positive feedback. Your hard work slowly seemed to pay off, although you have always been grateful for even having a following at all. The quietness of the room was soothed by the electrical buzzing of all your appliances, such as your pc-setup and a little lamp in the corner. The quiet music in your ears also helped create a little backround noise.
You heard a familiar sound, opening discord with confusion, because you usually didn't have anyone messaging you that late, besides your best friend, who had already gone to sleep a few hours ago. You saw a message from somebody you didn't know yet. 3fs ? You had heard about him before, he posted similar content to yours, but had a way larger audience. You opened his message warily, not knowing what to expect.

3fs: hey, im max
3fs: sorry for texting so late but I just saw your channel on yt and i really enjoyed your content
3fs: I make similar stuff, my channel name is the same as here on yt if you wanna look it up and I was wondering if you'd maybe wanna collab sometime?

You blink at your screen, which was one of the few things illuminating the room, clearly being caught off guard. You could feel waves of heat rushing from your neck to your face, getting nervous. Not to mention this also being the first time someone really asked for a collab with you. Your fingers hovered over the buttons of your keyboard, but failed to press at least one of them. You were clearly overwhelmed with the incredible offer in front of you.

3fs: also again, sorry for texting so late, I couldn't sleep and stumbled across your videos while doomscrolling..

> its fine !!

That was your best shot? Disappointed, you let your head fall onto your desk, sighing. What was wrong with you ? This could be a really great opportunity for you and your work and that was all you could text back? The notification sound rang again, you slowly raising your head, being scared of what was to come.

3fs: also, your username is really cool, that's what actually caught my eye first

You look at your username with furrowed brows, wanting to read it again for yourself and see if he was right . FinalGirlFiles. That's what you came up with when you created your channel a few years back and you grew to like it yourself. You gave yourself a few minutes to process and react, trying to finally text something useful back this time.

>dw, its all good !! yes, id be down to collab !! do you have something in mind ?
>also ty !! I've been working hard on my channel recently, so it's nice to hear some nice words from someone like you !!

This, you could live with. Wasn't too bad. You did quite well actually. Cockily, you smiled to yourself, leaning back in your chair and crossing your arms in front of your chest. You did that. Another message popped up and you quickly leaned forward, squinted your eyes while reading.

3fs: nicee, I was thinking of maybe gaming? like playing a co op game together ?
3fs: your welcome btw, I could tell you put a lot of work into your channel

You could feel your cheeks getting a bit hot because of the praise you got. You tried to ignore it, brushing to off and clearing your throat.

> Sure, lets do it !!

3fs: okay, great haha
3fs: well, its getting pretty late, you wanna talk more tmrw ?

Talk more ? He surely meant about the collab.

> yes, alright !!
> good night !!

3fs: you also have a gn
3fs: :)

Your eyes were stuck to the smiley he sent. He meant talking more about the collab, right ?

Chapter Text

It was around 8 PM. You just finished filming a new video and made yourself something to eat before starting to edit. You decided to watch a 3fs video on Youtube. Ever since he texted you, you became terribly curious about him. So, naturally, you went through his channel and played one of the first videos you stumbled upon. Your eyes widened, you quickly trying to brush over the fact that you thought he was really good-looking, trying to watch the video in a career and business manner. He was playing a FNAF fan game. You watched with amusement. His screams and jokes were really entertaining, as well as his gameplay. You were impressed about how passionate he was. A lot of time and effort clearly went into his content and you were unsure if you'd ever be able to do the same. It's not like you weren't serious about your career, but he surely must be a very busy man. You decided to go click on the instagram link he had in his caption, wanting to gather more information. Cautiously, in order to not accidentally like something and draw attention, you went through his posts. ,,God damn...", you mumbled grinningly at the content you were seeing, which was mostly silly and unserious. Some gym pictures caught your eye and you raised your eyebrows, being clearly impressed.
The notification sound of discord rang through your headphones and jolted a bit, feeling like you got caught snooping around. Which you were, obviously, but no one had to know about that. You circled back, deciding where to put those pictures that ran through your mind now, but deluding yourself came in clutch and you convinced yourself you clearly were just interested in his content. In fact, you never even intended to look at those pictures that long. Anyways, you shook your head, closing the window with the gym picture you denied to even have looked at and quickly opened discord. A new message from him. Perfect timing. You quickly answered and you both slipping into some basic smalltalk. Nothing too serious and it was mostly just about the collab. He suggested a few games that you guys could play together and you both decided on playing ,Granny', which he seemed really excited about.

3fs: you wanna have a test round?
3fs: only if you can and want to ofc

> sure !! im in !!

You texted back. You knew you still had to edit your video, but actually talking to him seemed way more interesting. Not because you were attracted to him ,obviously. Work purposes. Because that's all what it was.

3fs: ight, give me a few mins and imma call you

> alright :)

You stare at the smiley you sent and wondered why you did. But it seemed like the right thing to do. You sat there, waiting for the call to come in. The heat rising, you noticed yourself getting nervous again, being intimidated somehow. Maybe it was cause he was much more famous or because you really seemed to have respect for him and his work. Maybe it was also because you were talking to a guy for the first time in a long time. You knew it was only talking about collaborating, but still, you were unsure of how to act or what to say or what the vibe was going to be. Should you talk more proper or just be chill about it. A thousand questions ran through your mind, but before you could even answer a single one, the sound of the call interrupted you thoughts and your mind went blank. You moved the cursor up to the accept button and clicked it with a last big exhale to calm your nerves.

,,Does it work? Can you hear me?" his deep voice talked into her ears. Even if it was just through the headphones you were wearing, you couldn't help but blush at least a bit.

,,Hey! Yes, I can hear you !" you answered a bit quiet and reserved, which even surprised yourself.

,,Nice, alright. How you doin' ?" he asked in a rather relaxed manner. You tried to match it and just answered like you normally would to a friend. You guys had a little talk and he started talking about the game you guys were about to play. You explained that you've played it before, but you didn't know that much about it. He started bursting out some infos about it and dropping some lore while he was at it. You could tell he really liked the game and that he was trying hard not to blurt out too much at once. You guys decided it was time to play and started out. He was explaining and guiding you through the game, even though you died the first few times. After the 6th time, you slowly started to get frustrated, your anxiety growing out of fear he'll think you're stupid or really bad at playing games, which would be fairly embarrassing .

,,It's all good, its okay! Now, don't worry about it. Let's take it slow." he suggested playfully with a higher pitch. You couldn't help but be swayed a bit by his sweetness, even if that was just him being nice. You guys tried again, your character dying shortly after, once again.

,,Okay, so, there's clearly something wrong with the game. I'm usually not that bad." you tried to save the situation and play it off by making a joke somehow.

,,I know... I-I mean I saw in the very few videos I watched..of yours. You're not bad at all." he stuttered a bit and you caught yourself smiling a bit. You immediately fought it off when you noticed, trying to stay focused. Dont let your thoughts stray, you told yourself as some sort of mantra. You guys kept playing and slowly but surely, it all came together and you were able to actually to play the game. It was fun. A lot of fun. You guys were having a good time, laughing, making jokes and getting along pretty well. It went on for quite some time and you guys succeeded having a full playthrough together.

,,That was frickin' great. See, I told you, a little patience is all it takes.". You could hear his smile in his voice.

,,Yes, it was great. And I don't know what you're talking about, I wasn't doubting myself at all. Easiest game ever.", You gave back, playing into his bubbly and unserious personality.

,,Oh yea ? Seems like I have to find a harder game next time." he gave back and you could feel a jump of excitement in your stomach. What was that?

,,Next time?" left you in a surprised tone ,without really noticing. You quickly went quiet afterwards, being convinced you gave everything away somehow. Embarrassed, you tried to hide your face behind your hands, even if it didn't change a single thing at all.

,,I-I mean, only if you want to. W-We don't have to. I was just saying, you know, this- this is nice and-", he fought the words out of him, adding more awkwardness to the conversation.

,,Y-Yea, let's do it. Sure.", you answered, trying to stay as nonchalant as you could, considering the fact that he admitted to this being nice. He went quiet for a second.

,,Cool, cool, whatever. I'll search for a game then."

Chapter Text

Days passed on and you guys found yourself playing together almost every night. It was something you started to look forward to, actually. He told you about his videos and what bigger projects he had planned in the future and how he wants to execute them. You told him about your upcoming work and he have you some advice. The games you played were pretty basic, but the playing part, which was the actual reason you guys were having these calls, slowly slipped into the background and faded until you guys were both opening the game, but then just talking for some time. It was like you both were also actively ignoring the point of the actual filming process while you were playing and actually getting the collab over with.

,,Listen, I have a different idea. I don't know if you'd be down to do it though." he said one time when you were calling and your attention was quickly caught. Was it a new game he wanted to introduce you to? Or did he finally want to start filming ?

,,Go on." you told him expectantly. You could hear him shifting in his chair and sitting more proper.

,,Okay, so. First of all, where are you from?" he asked and you furrowed your eyebrows. Was it really happening? Was he asking to meet up? Why would he ? You thought playing a game together would be your collab ? Your heart started pounding faster as you told him the area where you lived. The next seconds felt like torture as you saw he was answering a little slower than usual.

,,What? Really? That's like an hour drive from here. That's crazy.", he reacted positively surprised and you could hear him shift more.

,,So, this is something I haven't done myself before, so I don't know if it will work. But hear me out, what if our collab is going to be a vlog? But, listen, listen. Not just any vlog. What if we go to like, I don't know, like an abandoned place ? Like a haunted place ?".

,,You wanna go Ghost-Hunting?", you asked, caught off guard but still laughing.

,,Yes! And no, like more so just explore the place. I mean, I don't really have any real equipment or whatever. I'm just saying, I think it's a cool idea. It's different content for the both of us, but it could go really well. Besides, I feel like it would be way more fun than just playing games, where we are basically doing the same stuff, you know? So why not do it in real life? You know what I mean?". He was saying a lot and you needed some time to comprehend his suggestion and reasoning. It really was something entirely new and you personally had never done something like that before. But him also asking you to meet up in an abandoned place made you laugh, cause he probably didn't even think about how weird that actually was. But for some reason, you weren't any less interested because of that.

,,You know, I'm not opposed. It sure sounds fun and interesting.", you told him back, sounding pretty convinced already.

,,Right? Right?", he got excited, his voice getting higher.

,,So you're in ?", he added, waiting for an answer.

,,As long as we make it out alive, I guessss.", your sarcastic tone stretched the words and he began to laugh.

,,You scared already ?", he teased you. You rolled your eyes in annoyance, but still blushed a bit at his playfulness.

,,No. I'm just saying. I mean, I've never done something like that before or whatever. I don't know what to expect, what if there's like a murderer or something?", you said, trying to make jokes about it. But actually, yes, you were a bit scared.

,,Pft. I'll be there, so you got nothing to worry about."

Chapter Text

You were really nervous. The past few days have mostly been you guys organizing the whole thing. One evening, he was searching for some buildings near you guys and he found an abandoned Factory. After looking into it more, he found out that it was closed in the 19 Hundreds due to a brutal fire. He told you no article actually says someone died there, but there had been ghost sightings and scary stories about the place in the past. So yes, it definitely didn't help your already existing anxiety about meeting him for the first time. You sat in the car, a backpack with some flashlights, a bottle with water, some camera equipment and some snacks on the backseat . You were unsure of what else to bring, so you rather decided to overpack. Of course you were really early, wanting to make a good impression, though it gave you time to check the area out. While you were in the car of course. You said to yourself you wouldn't go out there all alone in the middle of the woods, parked next to a lonely, scary factory. You weren't that dumb. Rather be safe than sorry. You took a look in your car mirror, reapplying your lipliner a bit. Why did you want to look that nice ? It's not like it was going to be a date or anything like that. You were just filming a collab, right ? You looked down at yourself, sighing. You definetly thought you were somewhat overdressed for this and that he will get the wrong idea quickly. You thought about changing, maybe taking the black blouse you were wearing off, but then you'd just be down to a thin-strapped top. Even worse. Was ist the tights under the shorts you were wearing? Before you had any time to make any changes at all, a car started pulling up, parking a few spots away from you. You could faintly recognise him in the car and shook your head. You had to concentrate. Right. Concentrated. That's all you should be.
You opened your car door, grabbing your backpack from the backseat before slamming the door shut again. You also heard his car doors open and shut. You tried to be as chill as you could about it, even though you could feel your heart beating out of your chest out of nervousness and excitement. Trying to stay cool, you walked up from behind the car and saw him standing there, leaned against his. You made your way to him and it felt like you were walking straight into a trap. He was attractive. Really attractive. Fuck, what have you gotten yourself into? How are you supposed to live through this? You saw him before in his videos, and those pictures you still claim to yourself you haven't looked at, but they clearly didn't live up to reality. His light brown hair messily hung onto his forehead. He was wearing a darker shirt with some black shorts. You couldn't help but blush terribly, being really grateful that you decided to wear some foundation today.

,,Hey!", his deep voice talked to you. But this time it was real and not just through some headphones. You physically were not able to look him straight in the eye, that's how bad you were swooning over him.

,,Heyy.", you gave back as chill as possible, trying not to freak out. 

,,How you doing?" he asked casually, you making the mistake of giving him a short glance, looking into his brown, droopy eyes. Holy fuck, what was his problem looking at you like that? No. You have to focus. You must stay focused. Don't look at him too much anymore. 

,,I-Im good. What about you ?", you give him back rather reserved and he clapped his hands, rubbing them together afterwards.

,,I'm really excited. And frickin' ready. I've been waiting for this.", he smiled and kneeled down to open his backpack, starting to take some of his equipment out.

,,Mhm-mh.", was all you really could do. His head shot up, looking at you with a worried expression. You couldn't help but lose a quick look at his puppy eyes looking up at you and gulped. Whatever, you were done anyways. 

,,Are you okay?", he asked, sounding a bit concerned. You nodded quickly and he closed his backpack and stood up, swinging it easily over his shoulder in the process.

,,You excited ?", he wanted to know, raising his eyebrows.

,,Yea, I actually am. Just a bit nervous.. you know, meeting for the first time and trying something new together.", you said and realized afterwards that it sounded a bit wrong.

,,Yea? Now don't get too excited, we're just exploring the factory.", he winked teasingly, to which you answered by lightly rolling your eyes and trying not to smile. 

,,You know that's not what I meant.", you sighed and looked at the building beside you.

,,It's gonna be great. And no need to be scared. We'll be fine.", You lost another glance at him and saw his grin, shaking your head. 

,,I'll be fine, Max.", you said bluffing, adjusting your backpack.

,,Yes you will be. I'll make sure of it.", he kept on teasing and you just started ignoring his cockiness, in disbelief at how he was just talking to you like that. In a positive way, though. Was kinda hot or whatever. Anyways. 

,,So, you ready? Got everything ?". You nodded and you guys made your way into the Factory. It was hard to get in, you guys needing to search for an entrance for a few minutes. You stopped by an old iron door which seemed to be blocked somehow from the other side. He took a step back and gave it a shove with his shoulder, the door flinging open with a loud bang.

,,Playing horror games really seems to pay off.", he said and moved to the side, so you could step in. You did, thanking him on your way.  It was dark inside, only a few rays of sunshine making their way through some cracks and holes in the ceiling. Everything was broke, rotten or fell apart, but in a peaceful way. Plants everywhere, overgrowing the old scraps of metal and the concrete walls. He closed the door behind him, standing next to you, joining your observation.

,,Damn, this place really is huge.", he said, looking around in amazement. You turned on your flashlight, warily pointing towards the darker spots of the hall.

,,This is insane.", you mumbled and watched him take a few steps more into the room, getting a better look around. 

,,You wanna film the intro here ?", he asked and tried to prop his camera up on a little stone platform that poked out of the wall. You walked towards him, checking your surroundings again before turning your back to them. You were a bit afraid, to be quite honest. But you did this for a living. Not going to haunted locations, but horror and getting scared. This should be easy. Max finished setting his camera up and you started the intro, both doing a great job and working well together. He started reading stories from his phone that he found online about the place. Of, course, he was dramatic and unserious while reading them. 

,,You wanna read one too?", he asked and you turned your head to him with big eyes.

,,Sure, why not.", you nodded and he took a step closer and leaned down, your shoulders brushing together. You tried to stay cool and look at what he was trying to show you on his phone. You bit down on your tongue to focus and actually listen to what he was saying. But his scent hit you like a soft summer breeze and absorbing any information became impossible. 

,,Got it?" he asked, pulling you back into reality. Luckily, you could catch a glimpse of which story he meant before he pulled his finger away. 

,,Y-yes yes. Alright. Got it.", you nodded quickly. He took a step back, returning to his previous spot and you could feel the left side of your body getting cold, missing the warmth his gave you a few seconds ago. Concentrate. You started reading the story to the camera and he listened attentively, nodding. You finished reading the story and gave him the phone back, when all of a sudden you guys heard a small crack somewhere, like someone stepping on something from the distance. Your eyes searched for his in panic.

,,What in the world-", you were ready to start praying, when you saw him cheekily smiling at you for jumping a bit. You gave him a bump on his shoulder with your fist.

,,Ow, what was that for?", he laughed, holding his arm dramatically in shock.

,,Stop smiling at me like that, stupid.", you turned back to the camera.

,,Just let me know if you're too scared and wanna leave.", he whispered and you tilted your head at him, daringly. He held his laughter back and cleared his throat. You guys continued and then decided to exlpore the place some more. You made your way through the Factory with your cameras, trying to capture the actually pretty scenery. Everything looked very interesting, it seemed cozy and scary at the same time. The thing that made you feel uneasy though, was the dead air in here. No wind passed by and it smelled sort of foul, like something had gone bad. Max talked some more to the camera, trying to also make conversation with you, which, to be fair, helped a lot. He was so casual about all this, but even if it was just an act to hide he was scared too, he played his part pretty good. They got to an office area and he spotted another floor. The stairs were nonexistent and it was just tall enough for him to peek into it. 

,,Woah, it looks crazy up there. You wanna go ?", he said in amazement and turned to you. He looked down, towering you and realizing that you might need some help to get up. You were still intrigued by his scent, that hit you again mixed with the light perfume he was wearing. You only heard a few words and innocently blinked up at him. 

,,Hm?", you asked a bit confused. 

,,You wanna head to the second floor?", he repeated, his brown eyes digging into yours. You looked away quickly, feeling your cheeks blushing because of the sudden nearness between you.

,,Yea, let's go. Where is it?", you asked and he pointed to the tall wall in front of you. You could just see a bit of the roof, which seemed pretty intact. But there was no way you'd be able to make it up there by yourself. 

,,Come here.", he said, standing close to the wall. You walked up to him, a bit shy and not knowing what to expect, when he suddenly stepped behind you, leaned down and put his hands on your waist. You let out a gasp and he looked at you over your shoulder in surprise, freezing in his movement. What the fuck ? You tried to stay calm, feeling his fingers digging lightly into your skin through the thin fabric of your shirt. A heat rush shot through your body.

,,I-I'm sorry, I should've said what I was planning on doin'. I-I didn't wanna just t-touch you like that...I-Is this okay? Are you alright ?", he apologized hastily but quietly, his big hands still on your waist, ready to pick you up at any time. The sound of his voice speaking right into your ear made your knees a bit weak, you getting embarrassedly thrilled.

,,Yes, all good. I'm sorry. I was just didn't... expect it.", you told him quickly, gulping and turning your head away and down. 

,,We're good, we're good. I will lift you up now and sit you on my shoulder, alright ?", he told you any you nodded, letting out a squeak at him wasting no time and picking you up. He groaned, letting you sit down on his right shoulder. He did that with ease, tossing you around like it was nothing. He walked over to the second level, putting his hands under your thighs and pushing you up more, making you sit on the edge and leaving you a blushing mess. 

,,Whoo..", you exhaled and looked down at him, laughing a bit. He looked up, furrowing his brows, but joining your smiling. 

,,You good?", he asked and you nodded, still laughing at the silly fact of being manhandled like that. You tried not to make it obvious that you were totally and entirely smitten with what just happened, but you also gave yourself the excuse of not being treated like that before. But still, you tried to maintain your professionalism, which you terribly failed at when you remembered the grip he had on your waist. 

,,Yea.. damn..", you still laughed to yourself a bit and got up, struggling a bit to stand on your feet. 

,,Yea?", he asked, slowly feeling a bit uncertain about why you were laughing like that, his face getting a rather confused expression. 

,,You did that...so easy. Have you been working out or something, holy frick.", you mumbled grinningly, more to yourself than actually speaking to him, fixing your backpack and trying to still stay sane. His eyes widened, clearly unprepared by the half-answer he got from you.

,,O-Okay, whatever, whatever.", he tried to hide himself getting red and shy, laughing it off. This was the first time you openly kind of flirted with him and he seemed to be reacting positively. So you asked yourself again, was this just for work?

,,Will you make space already ,so I can join you too?", he asked, clearly still thinking about the compliment, and stepping back a bit. You step aside and watch him run and jump towards the wall, his hands laying on the floor and him pulling the rest of his body up. He also sat on the edge for a second and you rolled your eyes. 

,,God damn. ", you mumbled, still grinning, turning your back trying no not stare too much at him and suddenly realizing where you were. It was pitch dark in front of you. You quickly tried to grab your flashlight. 

,,I don't like this..", you said, turning your flashlight on and shining it across the hallway in front of you. There were some doors on the sides, paperwork laying on the tile floor. You heard Max shift and get up.

,,This is freaking me out. Why does it not look abandoned ?",he said and you followed his glances, seeing that he was right. The hallway seemed to be in great shape. Max started walking trough it, filming his surroundings carefully. You followed closely behind him, which obviously, he had to stop, address and capture on camera real quick before continuing to film the actual abandoned place you were at. You brushed it off with a scoff, just focusing on what was going on, when suddenly, a loud bang halled through the corridor. You both stopped and froze, not daring to move a single inch. You found your hand automatically, but slowly searching for his arm. His breath shivered at the touch of your cold fingertips burning on his warm skin. You both didn't dare to move much more. 

,,What was that?", you whispered, barely audible.

,,I don't know.", he gave back, his eyes fixated on the door the noise came from.

,,Should we check it out?", he whispered, waiting for an answer from you.

,,I'm not sure. What's if there is someone?", you answered and stepped closer, needing to be more nearness in order to not freak out. Another loud bang could be heard, coming from the same room.You both flinched, becoming more and more warily.

,,Max, I don't know about this.", you whispered, your voice cracking while telling him.

,,We're gonna check it out, just- just stay behind me.", he mumbled, slowly walking up to the door with cautious steps. With every step, your fingertips dug more and more into his skin, being scared for your life. He stopped in front of the door, carefully laying his hand on the doorknob and looking back at you.

,,I'm gonna open the door now.", he announced, counting down silently and turning the doorknob slowly. He cautiously pushed the door open with a loud creak, just like in the movies. You both stood there, waiting for something to happen. It just seemed like a big room, kind of like a meeting room or something. It all looked in good shape too, so what was causing the bangs? You guys slowly headed forward as he peeked into the room and looked around.

,,What is it?", you whispered, your heart beating out of your chest.

,,Nothing. There's absolutely nothing going on in-". He was interrupted by a shadow passing by you, moving with the speed of light across the room.You both screamed in fear, backing away into the corridor. You fell down onto the cold ground, freezing at what you just witnessed. Loud panting left you, not being able to process anything going on. Was your mind playing tricks on you ? The loud bang was heard again and shortly after, the door flung shut right in front of your eyes. You screamed in horror.

,,What the frick.", Max shrieked, grabbing your arms and making you get up. You weren't really moving at all, just following his arms and hands guiding you, your eyes being glued to the door, which flung open again with a lot of force, hitting the wall with a loud thud. You squealed, your flight response finally kicking in and you starting to run as fast as you could.

,,What was that? What was that? What was that?", was all you could repeat in panic over and over again, hoping to find any answer. Max was way quicker, already making it down to the first level again, while you worried how you were going to make it, slowing down at the edge.

,,Jump!", Max yelled out, holding his arms open beneath you. You gave yourself just a quarter second to hesitate before you heard more noise behind you and quickly bend down, letting yourself fall off of the edge. He caught you, your body's slamming together. His arms wrapped around you tightly and setting you safely on the floor before grabbing your wrist and dragging you off with him.

,,Hurry, hurry!", he told you, wanting to guide you guys outside, but suddenly, a loud bang was also heard from the direction you came from.

,,Oh, what the frick.", left him in desperation and he changed the direction to an area you hadn't explored yet. The banging behind you got louder and louder. He guided you into some type of production hall with lots of old machines and pipes. It was gloomy and smelled kind of wet and old. Your flashlight travelled to every corner that was too dark for you. The banging made you so frightened, your feet staring to avoid the floor more and more in fear you wouldn't be moving quick enough. And then you quickly got pulled into an even darker room. There was just enough light seeping through some tiny cracks in the roof to see his face a bit. He hastily turned his camera off, putting it aside and turning both your flashlights off, you watching him worriedly.

,,What are you-", you blurted out in panic, when he hastily put his hand over your mouth.

,,Be quiet.", he shut you up. You gave in, letting it happen and looking at him with fear. He stared back at you, you both concentrating on locating the sound of the banging. You could feel the warmth of his body on yours, enjoying the feeling of some sort of safety right now. He was so close, you could feel his shivering breath on your face. The banging noise got louder and louder, almost like it was following you. You wanted to leave before it got to you, your frightened words tried to make it through his hand, creating a muffled sound. Your hands tried to remove his covering your mouth, frantically grabbing his wrist and fingers, trying to pull them away. He stepped closer swiftly, leaning his other hand against the wall behind you ,easily overpowering you. He shook his head with an 'nh-hn' sound. His eyes pierced through yours, trying to make you stop. Your glance twitched all over his face in fear, you hesitantly surrendering.  

,,Wait, wait.", he whispered in suspense and a loud bang was heard not far from them. You squeezed your eyes shut, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did. The banging stopped. You opened your eyes again, meeting his. They both froze for some time, until they were certain it was really gone. He let go of your mouth, slowly removing his hand. You both panted loudly, hearts beating for everyone to hear from everything that just happened. 

,,Did I hurt you ?" he asked, trying to catch his breath and you shook your head, sweat dripping down your face. After a minute, you gulped and laid your head against the wall behind you.

,,What was that?", you said in shock, still fighting to get the words out between breaths.

,,I don't know...", he answered, also still trying to calm down.

Chapter Text

You both sat there in silence, eating your food and staring into the abyss. The both of you were too freaked out and still processing what happened. You couldn't say a single word. You shared looks of uncertainty, but decided to stay quiet for a bit longer. It has been roughly about an hour and a half since you talked to each other and left the factory grounds as fast as you could. You felt anxiety when you thought about how you guys just took his car and left yours, clearly not thinking straight in the moment. But you knew you would have to go back and get it. The question was just when. But to be fair, your head was filled with other thoughts. Maybe thoughts about how the god damn door moved by itself? Or the bangs following them into different areas of the factory? There were just so many questions unanswered. You kept replaying everything over and over again, suddenly giggling to yourself. He got startled, looking up at you. He even stopped chewing his food.

,,W-What?", he asked, warily, looking around. 

,,You screamed like a little girl.", you chuckled, stuffing fries into your mouth with a wide grin. 

,,Oh my god, that's what you're thinking about?", he got red and tried not to laugh. 

,,I'm sorry, I just remembered. Thought it was funny or whatever.", you sighed and backed away from your plate, looking at him with your eyes squinted, trying to still find answers.

,,How did you know what to do?", you wondered, inspecting his response. 

,,I-I don't really know. I was just doing anything. I almost shat my frickin' pants.", he told her and rubbed his face. The way he was saying the silliest words in the most unserious way, but totally meaning what he said, made you smile a bit. 

,,I think my survival instict just kicked in hard to be honest.", he went for another fry, giving your again blank face a short glance. 

,,I'm sorry about.. putting my hand over your mouth like that.. a-and not taking it away, when you were clearly trying to fight it. I didn't know what else to do, to be honest.", he apologised, obviously seeming shameful and not happy about it. You, on the other hand, were reminded of it again and tried not to blush. You were thinking back, when his hand laid over your mouth and his other hand was leaning against the wall behind you, his dark eyes staring into yours, forcing you to yield. Now, you claimed to be a feminist. But you were way too freaked out about that to call yourself one confidently after that. It was his way of being in control and giving you no other choice but to accept it. You were convinced you were crazy for thinking about that moment in that way, entirely ignoring the rampaging whatever it was that was going on at the same time back then. There surely must be something wrong with you. 

,,I understand if that, you know, was too much for you. I don't wanna hurt or harass the people around me, especially this being our first meetup and everything and-", he stammered around, deeply worried about it, when in reality, you were losing your mind over it. You decided to finally calm his nerves. 

,,Max, I'm totally fine. Don't worry about it.", you shrugged it off in a way too chill way, fighting a grin. Your reaction made his eyes go puppy-mode, being clearly confused. You sighed.

,,I'm fine. I was scared in that moment, yes. And I tried to fight it, but only because I thought running away immediately was our only option, which it obviously wasn't in the end. But I didn't mind...your hand over my mouth and stuff.", you admitted, realizing that you've said way more than you should've. Your eyes cautiously searched for his and he just blinked, his cheeks turning into a light shade of pink while looking at you in disbelief. You coughed out of embarrassment, clearing your throat quickly and trying to fill the silence by eating more fries. 

,,Yo.. you're-", he seemed speechless and you tried to hide your own red face somehow.

,,C-Can we not address this right now? Just forget what I said.", you tried to fix the situation. Flirting was one thing, but admitting that you liked how he was manhandling you, especially when he forced his hand over your mouth, was just wrong entirely. 

,,You were into that ?!", he exclaimed loudly, in doubt, his face lighting up surprised. You held your hands in front of you, hoping they would help you somehow.

,,Max, can we just-", you tried to save what was left, which was barely anything to be fair.

,,How-.. How the frick can I just forget that?", he rubbed his face with his hands, leaning his elbows on the table and staying like that for a moment, before leaning back in the booth with a grin and looking at you quietly. 

,,Stop ittt, you freak.", you hid your embarrassment behind your arms by burying your face into them. 

,,And now you're-you're calling me a freak? Nah, thats crazy.", he laughed, still shocked. 

,,Max, can you shut up. Oh my gooooddd....", you were crumbling into a ball, wanting to disappear. No better, evaporate. Just poof and gone. You felt the booth shifting next to you and a big arm wrapped about your shoulders.

,,Naaawww, don't get all shy with me now after telling me something like that.", he said in an unserious high voice, patting your head. 

,,You're way too thrilled about all that.", you sighed, still squirming and laughing out of awkwardness, feeling his arms wrapping around you more tightly. 

,,Yea? Were you also thrilled like that when I put my hand over your mouth ?", he whispered into your ear somehow and you backed away, staring at him in disbelief over how lightheaded just him talking to you like that made you feel already. You were simply not expecting him to have such an effect on you and you surely were not expecting him to utilize it and tease you like that about it. 

,,Stop talking into my ear like that.", you said dramatically and he grinned, moving closer again, holding you tight. 

,,Why? Are you thrilled about that too? When I talk to you like this?", he kept on whispering and teasing you to the fullest. Of course you were turned on when he's doing all that. You fought him off of you, being as red as ever. You crossed your arms, looking out the window next to you. 

,,Whatever, you're frickin' stupid, do you know that?", left you as a defense, trying to calm down again even though your body was aching for more. 

,,Heard that a few times, yes.", he answered, relaxed again, his arm still resting on your shoulders. You guys sat there for a few minutes, just existing. You really realized how much a silly and stupid conversation like the one you just had was needed after what happened. It got your minds off of that disturbing visit in the factory. At least for a few minutes. You guys decided to head out, sitting in his car in the parking lot. 

,,What do you want to do?", he asked, turning his head to look at you. Now was the time to decide if you wanted to get your car. It was dark outside now and just the thought of going back there at all made your stomach flip. 

,,You- you know, you could also.. stay at my place for the night or something like that.", he offered a bit shyly, scratching his neck a bit awkward. You turned your head in surprise. 

,,You know, we could do that and maybe meet up with some of my friends tomorrow, to review the footage, you know. Maybe they have an explanation, somehow.", he added and gulped, looking out of the window, not daring to look at you while suggesting something like that.

,,Sure.", you answered sheepishly and his head turned quickly. 

,,Yea? I mean, I'm just saying..", his voice cracked a bit, him trying to overplay it by saying the rest in his deep usual voice. You rolled your eyes. 

,,I literally have no intention of going back to the factory, especially not right now.", you nodded. 

Chapter Text

You feel the car stop and look around. You've absolutely been disassociating these past 40 minutes. You just didn't know if it was because of what happened today or will happen today. You and Max got along well, really well and he obviously knows now how you react to him. And now he asked you to stay over at his place. Disregarding the circumstances, this was going better than any date you ever had. Besides the fact that it totally wasn't. At least not a declared one. You brushed that thought off when Max's voice spoke to you. 

,,We need to be quiet, I think- I think everyone might be asleep already.", he mumbled and turned the car off. You nodded, quietly getting your backpack from the backseat and getting out. You tried to close the car door as quietly as you could and noticed his tense manner as he fumbled around with the keys in front of the entrance of the house. It seemed like a quiet and unsuspecting neighbourhood. Definitely where you wanted to be after such a long day. You shifted your weight, waiting for Max to open the door. He looked back at you, raising his index finger to his mouth and reminding her once again to be quiet. He peeked inside, silently entering and letting you pass as well. You looked around in the dark hallway, taking your shoes off immediately after seeing the light carpet you stood on. He closed the door silently, also taking his shoes off hastily. He tip-toed around the house and up the stairs, you following him without any noise. Walking past some other rooms, he opened a door, turning the light on and stepping inside. You also stepped in, him closing the door behind you again. You were in his room. It was surprisingly neat and cozy. Curiously, you took the opportunity and started wandering off and looking around, analyzing his belongings. 

,,What are you doing?", he mumbled, following you. You turned to him, furrowing your brows. 

,,Calm down, I'm just looking. What's is your problem?", you asked as he still followed you around. 

,,Problem? I don't have a problem, I'm just-", he realized how he was acting a bit pushy, backing away a few steps.

,,Just be quiet.", he added trying to be chill about it.

,,Or what? You'll get annihilated by the people in this house ?", you make a joke and he raised his brows.

,,No, its just- you know, I just- I don't want them to get the wrong idea or anything if they see..you.", he admitted and you nodded, smilingly.

,,Like what ?. The hand over my mouth idea ?", you asked teasingly and he almost tripped across his room and trying to play it off by quickly sitting on his bed, covering his mouth with his hand in order not to laugh. You stared him down for a second.

,,Got it.", you rolled your eyes at his silliness and turned back to his belongings. It was all very ordinary but still cool. He kept really random stuff, which you were sure was somehow special to him in a way. He got up, opening some drawers while you were still busy looking at his stuff. He laid some clothes on the bed and walked up to you. 

,,I-If you'd like to change into something more- more comfortable, I put out some clothes for you here. Only - you know- if you feel like you want to.", he tried to play it cool and stammered across the room. 

,,Okay, thank you. Where's your bathroom?", you asked and walked toward the pile of clothes he neatly prepared, picking it up from the bed. He pointed to a door in the right corner. You made your way into his bathroom and closing the door behind you. Looking at yourself in the mirror, you noticed your makeup looked pretty okay. You decided to keep it on for now and just change into the clothes he gave you. You unfolded them and held them to your body, realizing they were clearly his. Can this get any less professional ? Not that you were judging or opposed, but you were seriously starting to wonder what kind of meetup was actually happening. You took your clothes off, folding them and placing them on the tiny shelf in the corner. You put his clothes on, a dark shirt and some grey joggers. Skeptically, you glanced in the mirror, noticing you were swimming in those clothes. Just how frickin' tall was that guy? A bit shy all of a sudden after becoming aware of his scent rushing to your nose because of his clothes you were wearing, you made your way out of the bathroom again. Seeing him sitting on the bed, already changed too and waiting for you to come out was mind-wrecking. What was going to happen? He chuckled, turning his head away at the sight of you wearing his stuff. 

,,That's insane.", he smiled and you rolled your eyes. 

,,Leave me alone.", you tried to fight his teasing and walked to the bed too. 

,,I'm not saying anything!", he held his hands up in defense but couldn't stop smiling. You sat down, though his response was immediately getting up and turning the big light off, letting the room be dimly light up by the small lamp in the corner of the room. He sat back down on the bed and you grinned cheekily. 

,,Why are you setting the mood?", you picked on him a bit, his face getting surprised. 

,,Yo, I was just-", you laughed in success, him trying to shake it off and smile it away.

,,Yea whatever. You can freak off too.", he mumbled, looking around the room. It was awkward for a bit. Until you couldn't take it anymore and let your upper body fall back on the bed, exhaling loudly. He started fidgeting with his hands, still trying to figure out how to explain the sleep situation without it sounding wrong. He definitely didn't want to come across as too pushy and aggressive. So, he just did what felt most natural and also let himself fall back onto his bed, next to you. Your shoulders were pushed against each other and for some minutes, everything was just good as it was. 

,,That was really scary today.", his voice quietly told you. Calmly, you turned your head to look at him. 

,,For a second, I really thought something bad was going to happen.", he added, looking back at you in all seriousness. 

,,But why does it still seem kind of cool to me? Like yea, I was frickin' poopin' my pants. But I'm not opposed to the idea of doing it again.", he explained with a puzzled expression, you nodding.

,,Me too... I was also really scared, but it was also kind of exciting to witness something like that.", you told him and he agreed softly, staring back at the ceiling. 

,,It's crazy to actually be in a game for once.", Max said, speaking out loud what their obvious fascination was about, regarding the accident at the factory. 

Chapter Text

You blinked, rubbing your eyes sleepily and readjusting to keep sleeping comfortably. You had no intention of getting up, especially not after yesterday. Yesterday. Right. A crazy day, as you were still trying to make up your mind about it. You shifted a bit, feeling some restrainment around you. You also felt two arms wrapped tightly around you, holding you close to the body they were attached to, which just so happened to be Max. You could feel his hot breath hit the nape of your neck suddenly, goosebumps infiltrating your skin. His body was pressed to yours, him spooning you entirely, making you two melt together. It felt very cozy and warm, peaceful somehow. That peace didn't last for long. Your attention was quickly elsewhere, with his hips shifting right behind yours, readjusting his sleeping position. Your eyes widened. If hell was real, this surely must've been it. There was no way. This was too crazy to be true. You tried to move or find a subtle way out of that situation, but feared you had to wake him up to escape this evil torture method.

,,Max?", left your mouth quietly and you waited patiently. No reaction. So you patiently tried again, louder this time. He buried his face more into the back of your head. Still asleep. You say his name again, even louder this time. But instead of any words or a helpful response, you got his hands travelling over your body. You gasp, not expecting his hand to slide under the shirt you're wearing and resting on the bare skin of your hips, pulling you closer. What in the world-? Your body tensed up, becoming sensitive to every single sensation that was happening. This was a thousand times worse than before and you genuinely started to panic, whether it was because of him unknowingly doing all that in his sleep or you getting more and more turned on by the second. 

,,M-Max.", you urged out helplessly. 

,,Mh...". Finally. 

,,Max, could you maybe.. move a bit.", you told him a bit nervous, never in your life thinking that you would even be in that situation and trying to keep your cool. 

,,I can't...", he mumbled quietly, not moving an inch. 

,,What?", you smiled in horror, wondering if this was some nightmare you ended up in. Was he was just too sleepy to notice what was going on or did he just not mind? Maybe he liked it. No, no way. 

,,I'm already on the edge..", he mumbled back and you turned your head around more to analyze what he was talking about. But he was right. It was you who moved all the way to him, the left side of the bed being entirely empty. You just laid there in disbelief. Loud knocking suddenly came from his door. You both abruptly sat up, freezing. 

,,Max? You up?", a female voice appeared on the other side of the door. Max blinked, still a bit sleepy, clearing his throat hastily. 

,,Y-Yes I am, what's up?", he gave back, slowly pulling his hand away from under your shirt. You closed your eyes, a long and desperate exhale leaving through your nose by the feeling of his fingers sliding over your bare skin.  

,,Okay. You wanna come down to eat breakfast?", the female voice asked, still on the other side of the door. You were honestly expecting it to open any second now. 

,,No, I'm good for now. Thank you.", Max tried to say as casual as he could and waited patiently for the sound of footsteps leaving. 

,,Alright. Is your friend with the dirty shoes also good in there?". You both quickly turned your head, looking at each other with big eyes. Busted. Even though nothing even happened. So you didn't exactly know what to actually worry about. But you figured this didn't happen very often, him having female guests. Or maybe he hid it well before and wasn't used to being confronted about it. But one simple look at him and his helplessness and visible distress told you that option one was probably more accurate. 

,,Y-Yes, mum.", he simply said back, his cheeks already on fire. The footsteps finally left. He gulped, his fingers brushing through his hair and letting himself fall back on the bed. 

,,The frickin' shoes...I forgot about them.", he humbled to himself, staring at the ceiling. You quickly used the chance to back away from him, subtly moving to the other side of the bed and soothing your nerves. 

,,You talk in your sleep.", he mumbled and you quickly turned your head, wondering what he meant about. His eyes shifted to you, sitting slightly up and propping his arm behind his head. 

,,W-What do you mean?". You were almost too scared of the answer that you struggled to ask.

,,I don't really remember that well... It was about the factory, I think.". Were you possessed now or something like that? You were genuinely stressing out, turning your body to face him. 

,,What..", you whispered. 

,,Yea.. I think you said something about...how you got too excited about.. us in that dark room-?", a dramatic smug expression appeared on his face,  just waiting for your reaction. You bluffed in disbelief, getting up immediately, being done with his bullshit. 

,,You're such a frickin' idiot. Oh my god.". You couldn't believe he got you like that. He laughed loudly, being proud of his foolery. 

,,Just you wait.", you nodded confidently, already pondering about what you could do to get him back. 

Chapter Text

You guys gathered your stuff together, getting ready to head out. You put on your clothes from yesterday, not wanting to meet some stranger in their son's clothes. It would make the situation more uncomfortable as it already was. Quietly, he opened his bedroom door, hoping to stay unnoticed by anyone for as long as possible. He sneaked around the corner, his backpack on his back, ready to put on his shoes and head straight out. You did your best by following him silently. He tiptoed towards the stairs, taking each step of them with caution. You both got to the end of the stairs, him looking around and hurrying to the entrance area, putting on his shoes quickly. You did so as well, but froze when you saw a woman in their 40s stand in the kitchen, staring at you. It was clearly his mother. You gulped, slowly raising your hand and waving. This was uncomfortable for sure.

,,G-Good morning.", left you timidly and you saw Max's head turning rapidly to you, his eyes growing big. 

,,No, what are you-", he whisper-screamed but suddenly stopping, hearing the footsteps walking towards you and looking around the corner, only to see his mother standing in front of you. 

,,Good Morning as well.", she smiled a bit, obviously feeling a bit excited about catching you both.

,,Good Morning too you to, Max.", she moved a bit to properly see him behind the wall he was trying to hide behind. He shyly moved forward and didn't dare to look at her, his face being bright red.  

,,Good Morning, mum.", he said and scratched the back of his neck. The woman in front of them scanned you quickly and held a grin back. 

,,This is new. You know, and I was already wondering about those shoes. I knew they weren't Jacob's!", she exclaimed proudly and he nodded, clearing his throat. You just stood there, letting whatever was happening happen and just hoping to get out of that situation without having to say anything else.

,,W-Well mum, we're actually.. kind of heading out right now. So, you know, kind if in a hurry.", he explained as nicely and dismissing as he could. She smiled at him.

,,Alright, Alright, I'll let you go. Just, could you please take your shoes off before you come in next time, dear?", the woman said to you, still being very friendly. You raised your head, furrowing your brows. 

,,N-Next time?", you repeated nervously and looked to Max for help, who already opened the door hastily. 

,,Alright mum, we're heading out! We're very busy, so..", he walked up behind you, laying his hands gently on your shoulders and guiding you to the door before you could even react.

,,Alright, dear! Goodbye ! Tell your friend it was nice meeting her!", she yelled after you guys and Max closed the door behind you quickly and guiding you to the car, you both getting in without any more words. You threw your backpack on the backseat and tried to hold back a grin. 

,,Holy frick.", he took a deep breath, putting his hands on the steering wheel tightly.

,,Well, at least she was nice about it tho.", you tried to make it better and he started the engine of the car, looking back to the road to pull out. A hissing sound made it through his teeth, followed by his a little head shake.

,,I know, it'll be fine. I just know she will bring it up every second she gets.", He bluffed, already annoyed by the fact that his mother had something to embarrass him with. To be honest, you would also do the same thing. The way he got so shy and nervous when being confronted about you staying the night over made you smirk a bit. He back out the driveway, making his way out of his neighbourhood.

Chapter Text

The silence was awkwardly painful as you both waited for someone to open the door. You lost a quick glance at Max, seeing him fidget a bit with his hands. You wondered if you would even upload the video to any channel, regarding what happened. Did he even want to see you again? Sure, you guys got along, but this happening the first time you meet up with someone was kind of already discouraging. And the way everything has escalated already made clear that this was not just a career thing. The tension between you guys was almost unbearable, neither of you even being able to address the cuddling situation this morning. Just thinking about it made your heart skip a beat and heat rise to your head. Finally, the door opened and a guy with brown curly hair stood before you, smiling friendly.

,,Heyy, what's up!", he welcomed them, giving Max a quick handshake. The guy stepped aside, smiling at you as you walked past him to get inside.

,,Hey to you too, I'm Jacob.", he introduced himself to you. You gave him a small smile back, introducing yourself too. He closed the door, giving you both time to take your shoes off and then leading you to a sort of basement area.

,,Max! There you are! Dude I'm so frickin' hyped for that damn footage. I'm a hundred percent serious right now.", another guy said with round glasses, giving Max also a handshake and a pat on the back. His eyes shifted to you and he waved a little at you. You waved back and he continued his feverish rant about the video material. Jacob stood next to you.

,,That's Ethan. He wouldn't shut up, so we told him he could only keep talking about it when you guys arrive. And Plenty is also somewhere around.", he told you in a rather calm manner and you noticed he was who Max's mum was talking about earlier. They must be really good friends. Another guy walked in, Plenty as you learned, his arms full with snacks.

,,Max, look what I brought.", he yelled, setting all the stuff carefully on the coffee table, taking a seat on the couch, talking over Max and Ethan, trying to join in. Jacob walked over, taking Max's backpack and searching for the equipment he needed. Max helped him, they both setting everything up to watch on the big tv. You just watched them, feeling kind of out of place and not knowing what to do. They all seemed pretty friendly and genuine, but you didn't know them. Shyly, you watched them slowly assemble on the couch. Max noticed you, trying to get your attention by tilting his head in your direction and nodding you his way, intending for you to join too. You walked up with small steps, setting your backpack down on the ground, next to the couch. You looked around, trying to find some place to sit. 

,,Wait, we'll scoot a bit.", Plenty said quickly, them all making some room for you to sit. You squished between Max and the armrest, which was a pretty tight fit, your body being pressed next to each other. You shortly looked at each other for a second, quickly turning your heads away again, you both getting startled over the little space between you that was pretty much non-existent by now. Just stay calm. Everything was good, you were just watching the footage. 

,,Everyone ready ?", Jacob asked and pressing the button on the remote to start the video. It was quiet the first few seconds, the camera shifting a bit around and Max adjusting it. You could hear your voice. vaguely in the background. And then you also appeared on the screen. He filmed you as you looked around the place when you first got inside, zooming in a bit on you.  You could feel him getting slightly embarrassed about filming you like that. His glance away from the screen gave that away pretty easily. The camera zoomed back out, him actually filming the place now. 

,,Yo what the...That already looks so spooky.", Ethan mumbled, his eyes glued to the screen. Everyone watched attentively and it got to the part where you started the intro. He started reading the stories to the camera out loud in a dramatic manner. The guys were talking about the stories, making up possible scenarios and theories. It got to the part where Max asked you if you wanted to read a story too. You could immediately see your nervousness in your shy glances at him and your mind blanking out entirely, being too inthralled by him. Oh what the fuck were you actually doing? It was pissing you off how easily you were distracted because of such simple stuff. You couldn't look at it and subtly turned your head away, dying over the fact that everyone else was watching it. Especially Max was focused, seemingly wanting to pick up every single detail what was happening on the screen right now. This was hell. You could hear your own voice reading the story and dared to watch again. Your face got red when you noticed the way Max was looking at you while you were reading, his droopy eyes stuck on you, following your every move. 

,,O-Okay, why dont we- Jacob, gimme the remote real quick.", Max suddenly blurted out, reaching out for the remote and Jacob handing it to him with a smug expression, clearly catching on to the embarrassment you both felt. Max , trying to fast forward, started pressing some buttons and succeeding after a few seconds. He skipped to the part where you guys were walking across the second level hallway, catching the moment where you had been hiding behind him. He gave the remote back to Jacob, who gave him a small nod. They were all watching and the loud bang could be heard.

,,What the frick.", Plenty whispered, looking to Max for confirmation that it was real. The camera was shaking, you guys whispering quietly in the background if you should check it out.

,,Dude, this is..", Ethan mumbled, hiding a bit behind his hands and scrunching his face up in anticipation. You also tried to hide a bit, turning your head away, being scared of what the camera may have picked up that you guys missed. The screen showed you slowly walking to the door and Max opening the door cautiously. The camera showed him panning across the room. And then the shadow passed by.

,,No what was that?", Plenty yelled in utter disbelief. And then it was just straight chaos, you guys screaming and the camera shaking so hard that it was almost impossible to see what was going on. There were a few frames of the door shutting by itself and you sitting on the floor, frozen. It showed him running to you, making you get up quickly and then you guys running. The screaming of you two was loud and straining the speakers of the tv, creating a loud mess. It got to the part where you were standing on the edge of the floor again, Max looking up at you and telling you to jump. 

,,Pause that! Pause that!", Ethan yelled and Jacob quickly stopping the video. There you stood, face full of fear, hesitating shortly to jump. And In the corner behind you was the dark shadow from before, barely noticeable, but definitely there. You gasped and felt goosebumps spread all over your body. max also gave you a shocked look, leaning forward to get a better look. 

,,Oh what is that ?!", Jacob exclaimed, squinting his eyes with an open mouth. 

,,So it was following us?", you squirmed, being scared about the possibility of it still having followed you here. Max noticed, quickly shaking his head.

,,No, no. There's no way. There is absolutely no way.", he said calmly, trying to soothe you, his eyes twitching over your face to make sure you were somewhat alright. Jacob let the video roll again, it just mostly being the banging sound and you two panicking and running. It was too shaky to see anything besides a few rays of light coming from your flashlights. The video stopped with your shaky voice, asking him what he was doing. 

,,Wait, but how did you guys get out of there?", Ethan wanted to know any your mind wandering over to that other situation. You had a short second of eye contact with Max, him clearing his throat.

,,W-Well.. we hid. In a darker corner and w-waited in silence. Till it stopped. And eventually it frickin' did. And then took the quickest way out, a hole in the wall on the other side of that building or something.", he explained, feeling more confident again with having surpassed the other part successfully. 

,,Wait, so it was like noise sensitive or something?", Jacob asked and you blinked at him. 

,,Now that you mention it... it kind of seems that way.". Nodding, you kind of could really see his theory being accurate. 

,,Wait, yes. Wait, the louder we got, with the screaming, the more the louder the banging was.", Max agreed. 

Chapter Text

A few days had passed. You were back at home, alone. Your screen was glowing onto your face as you sipped on the straw of your choco milk pack. You were doing some research online about a new game that you thought of playing for your upcoming video. Just as you bought it and put it on your desktop to give it a test run, you got a message from discord. Your eyes darted to the bottom of your screen. Your froze shortly, not because you were shocked, more so because you were hesitant to open it. Ultimately, you still opened it and read it. It was Max. 

3fs: hey, just lettin you know the vid is online now 

You started growing a bit anxious. Not only because of the video, which you both decided on posting to his channel prior, but because of Max. Everything that happened felt like a fever dream. After going to his friend's place, you guys pretty much left not too long after the reviewing of the footage. They talked for a bit longer about it, sharing ideas and theories and connecting the stuff that happened to things they already knew from horror games, but still couldn't figure out what was going on. You and Max left, more so in silence and awkwardness. After seeing yourselves on the screen together and noticing that there was obviously something going on between you, the vibes kind of became a bit strange. That paired with neither of you acknowledging the cuddling that very morning and the confrontation with his mum seemed to have made things complicated in a way. You weren't sure either. You guys straight headed to get your car after leaving Jacob's, which was also not very eventful. And in the end, it wasn't like you knew each other very well. There wasn't much to talk about it. You gave each other a friendly but distanced goodbye and on the way home, you were basically just disassociating. You couldn't believe what happened. Neither the scary rampage in the factory or the teasing and flirting with Max. It was like riding a long big high together filled with adrenaline and anticipation, but it all not being worth much due to you guys not knowing much about each other. And over the last few days, you also were barely talking to each other, more so not even at all. When you thought back, you just kept on getting embarrassed and started to cringe.

3fs: :)

He added after his last message after you left him on read while being lost in your thoughts. You stared at it again. Was he just being friendly or professional ? Or did he still want to be friends ? Maybe possibly more.. ? No. Never. You embarrassed yourself too much for that. You probably seemed like an obsessed undercover fan or something after giving him heart-eyes like that and being flustered over envy single thing happening . Ugh, how humiliating.  

>I'll check it out !!

You just texted back and switching to YouTube. ,THIS ABANDONED FACTORY MADE ME POOP MY PANTS ft. FinalGirlFiles' . Of course his title was going to be that. The video popped up immediately and your eyes widened after seeing the views. 100k already ?? Wasn't it just posted a few minutes ago ?? This was insane. You started watching it, seeing that there was only very little editing. Cautiously, you scrolled down to the comments, scared of what they might be about and what the reactions of them collaborating were.

-AHH MY TWO FAVOURITES GHOST-HUNTING TOGETHER !!!! it looks so scary ngl-

That comment calmed you a bit, even putting a small smile on your face. You decided to keep reading, feeling good about it.

-can we appreciate for a second how respectful he is with her?? 3fs going gentleman-mode is giving me life rn-

You scrunched your face a bit. 

-why is she staring at him like that lmfao-

Oh god. They noticed too ? 

-YOU GUYS ARE SO CUTE im gnna cry!! - 

-3fs x fgf before gta 6 is crazy, they r defo dating- 

-omg i shiiiiipppp. you can feel the tension trough the screen wtffff- 

,,What...", left your mouth quietly as you covered it, trying to hide your tomato red face behind it after reading those comments. This couldn't be. You refreshed the page, seeing the views and comments flooding in. And they were all saying the same. Your head was empty as you just sat there in despair, wanting to disappear from the internet entirely. Everyone knew. You couldn't hide it anymore. This was the first time you were confronted with any sort of drama involving you, but you would've never thought it was because of dating rumours. Especially not with Max. All of a sudden, your phone started vibrating, messages coming in from there too about the video. And to make things even more overwhelming, you heard the discord call sound go off. You switched back to it, seeing it was Max. You quickly picked up, not knowing what else to do. 

,,Heyy!! Can you hear me?", he asked and you gulped, hearing his voice again after a while. 

,,Y-Yea, I can.", you gave back and suddenly heard a loud clap. 

,,Did you see the frickin' views on that video? We're almost at half a mil'. This is insane!"; he excitedly talked into the phone, speaking to her like he did the day they met. 

,,I saw.. yes.", you mumbled, trying not to sound too concerned. He went silent, just the sound of static from the call in her ear. 

,,Let's do it again. ", he said, back to his usual voice. You looked around the room, not sure if you caught that right. 

,,What?"

,,You heard me."

Chapter Text

-this is the scariest thing ive ever seen fr- 

-3fs girlfriend reveal??????-

-oml so cute-

-premium content as always-

-does final girl have an of?-

All you had been doing for the past two days was reading comments. They still came in frequently, so you refreshed the page every few minutes and read some new ones. It was crazy what people had to say. It was especially crazy what people said about other people they didn't know. Still, these were not the worst ones you've red. There were some that were just straight-up brutal. But for the most part, the video was doing extremely great. It had been on the trending page since it was posted pretty much, which was insane for a video you were also in. Not to mention your subscriber count going up almost 90k, which made you surpass your 200k. You thought about Max's proposal. He was being dead serious when he asked you, which you were so not prepared for. Him even wanting to see you again was surprising. But him wanting to do another video was just crazy. And you also weren't sure if you wanted to put yourself in a situation like that again. You were scared for your life back at the factory. But you and Max had also talked about how fun it kind of was. You just were so unsure that you couldn't give him an answer and asked for some time to think about it. But deep inside you knew your mind was already made up. Of course you wanted to go. Just thinking about seeing him again made your mind feel a bit hazy. You just were not really ready to admit it yet. But you also didn't want to make him think you were totally opposed. So you decided to text him, opening your discord and squinting at the smiley for a second he sent you yesterday. Hm. 

>Heyy Max :)

You texted, rolling your eyes at yourself for how stupid you sounded. It didn't take long for him to answer but it felt like an eternity. 

3fs: heyyy how you doing ?

Okay, everything was fine. Just be casual. 

>im good !! wbu ?

3fs: yea same :)

>so, i was wondering..

>about what you said the other day!!

3fs: yea whats up ?

Your eyes swayed over the screen, feeling a bit timid. You gathered your courage. 

>do you already have anything in mind for it ?? 

His answers appeared quick. 

3fs: I guess yea

3fs: I saw there's like an abandoned hospital

3fs: its like a two hour drive tho 

3fs: and i gotta say it looks scary ngl

3fs: just letting you know already 

You could feel how giddy he was that you were even asking and you also knew he probably had it almost entirely planned out already. You sighed at his mention of it looking scary. 

>you really wanna do it again ? 

3fs: sure, it was scary but fun tho 

3fs: also I think we made a pretty good team 

Your stomach dropped at him saying that. You couldn't wrap your mind around it. How was you swooning over him and him having to basically guide and guard you a good team ? Unless... No. But what if.. You had to stop yourself here wondering about that stuff. This was another collab, not a date. It's like your mind forgot for a second that people can just be friendly with each other. You could just be friendly back. There was nothing more to it. 

>yea, I thought so too :)

Was the smiley too friendly?

3fs: so thats a yes ?

You were already biting the inside of your cheeks in nervousness and it only got worse when you had to give him a final answer. 

>it is !!

3fs: niiiiiceeee 

3fs. im hyped 

3fs: you wanna give me your number? 

You stopped breathing for a second. Your number ???????!!!!??? 

3fs: i js think its more comfy than planning over discord

Ah yes, obviously that was the reason you totally could've thought of yourself if you weren't acting like a hormonal teenager.