BLAU, FOOLISH, and Ellum walked through the front door of the apartment. At this point every single one of them had been in a relationship that their friends knew enough about. It wasn't much of a shock, but then again... they were them and their girlfriends were them.

Regardless, Blau turned, making his way towards the steps, but Rae, who'd been sitting in the living room with Leslie, Tina, Miyoung, and Pokimane, turned.

"She's not here."

Blau turned back. "What?"

"She's not here." She repeated. "She left this morning. Haven't seen her since."

That's was odd... Meena hadn't mentioned going anywhere with anyone or just going out of the house. She didn't even mention it to Rae, she just so happened to see Meena leaving that morning, assuming that she was going to the gym... but that was hours ago.

Blau's brow furrowed. "She didn't say anything to me. Did she say where she was going?"

Rae shrugged. "Nothing. Just up and left."

Blau's stomach sank, and his hand instinctively reached for his phone. As soon as the phone was placed in his hands, a notification went off.

Ding! Meens 🌙 just made a post!

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meenapatels i'm live right now to talk about it all :) but if case you miss it im very very happy
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     "OH MY God," Poki muttered, leaning over the couch to get a better look at Rae's phone.

"No way!" Tina gasped, clutching at Leslie's arm.

"I knew it," Leslie said, her jaw practically on the floor. "I mean, we all knew it, but now it's official."

Rae quickly grabbed the remote from the armrest and opened Twitch on the TV, the group sitting on the couch or around it as Meena waved towards her chat.

"Hello, hello." She smiled.

Meena sat in her parents' LA home, the setup familiar to her viewers but subtly different from her usual streaming space. Her lighting was warm, the background soft and inviting. But what stood out most was the look on her face—vulnerable, nervous, but determined.

She giggled to herself as she used her hands to cover her mouth. "You guys don't understand how nervous I am."

username: is she playing the sims?
username: can we talk about her caption please because j might do something drastic
Sykkuno: this is definitely news to me

"Um, I don't really know to start." She began. "Um, if it isn't obvious from my Instagram post, yes, I am dating Nathan and I'm very happy. We've been dating for a few months and I feel like..." She paused. She hadn't planned on posting the photos at all. She woke up that morning and decided why not? "I'm on top of the world sometimes and it's a feeling I haven't felt in long time."

Meena ran a gentle hand through her hair as she pulled her microphone closer. Her viewer count had never been higher as she watched the number climb.

"I know you guys may have questions and I'll try and answer the ones that I see. But obviously I have so much to say." She gently sighed. "I guess I wanna start off by saying that I'm sorry to not only you guys but to Nathan as well for not saying anything sooner because that's not fair to him or even myself but there's... what feels like a million reason why I didn't say anything sooner."

Meena paused, watching her chat fly by, barely being able to catch a message properly.

"When I started streaming I knew I wanted to be as open and honest as I could be whether it was about college, my career plans, my life, um friendships, even with the things I struggled with. Which I think I did well enough, but relationships was just... not my best friend." She chuckled, trying to find light in what she would talk about next. "My last relationship was public and I even went back to watch videos with him in them and I could see the decline in my happiness but the time, which pains me to say, I... didn't know how bad it was going until I was in my current relationship which is horrible."

Meena could feel her eyes watering. She wasn't use to sharing this side of her and she knew her friends and family were watching, she knew parts of this would be clipped and put onto Twitter, she knew that her Dexerto article was being written as she spoke.

"I don't wanna go into too many details, but my ex wasn't very good to me. He made me feel small, like my dreams and passions weren't good enough. He told me that streaming over doing something with my degrees was pointless and that my degrees were pointless. He, over all, just made me feel like shit all the time and because I was with him for so long I thought it was normal which is weird to say because at the time I thought I loved him and maybe at one point I did, but after I got out of that relationship I sat with the idea that I was hard to love and that I wasn't worth the love that I've seen with other people like my parents."

Meena wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She watch the chat fly by, not able to catch a message as she pulled her hood over her head.

She chuckled softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to cry or anything but I haven't thought about being in love or loved in so long that it's hitting me hard that I have someone who does care for me and loves without saying a word." Meena swallowed. "Because of my past relationship I was scared. Scared of putting myself out there, scared to what people may say."

Her smiled soften as she pulled her chair closer to her desk. "But then there's Nathan and... he's so different. He's kind, patient, and he looks at me like the I've seen my dad look at my mom and that's all I've ever wanted."

Meena let her tears all. They were sad tears, not anymore. She was happy, the happiest she's ever been.

Through her tears she chuckled. "I realized that keeping this secret wasn't fair to him or to me." She smiled. "I'm happy, chat. I'm so fucking happy and don't wanna hide that anymore."

Back at the apartment, the group watching Meena's livestream was silent, their attention glued to the screen. Rae sat cross-legged on the couch, her arms folded tightly across her chest, her face a mix of admiration and sympathy. Leslie sniffled quietly, dabbing at her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie.

"Damn," Foolish muttered, leaning forward on the edge of the couch, his usual playful demeanor replaced with a rare seriousness. "I didn't know she was going through all that."

"She didn't really talk about it," Tina said softly, her eyes misty. "I knew parts of it, but not... not like this."

Meena leaned her elbow on the desk, her fingers brushing away stray tears as she let out a shaky laugh. "I know I'm crying a lot, but honestly, chat, these aren't sad tears anymore. It's just... overwhelming, you know? Realizing how far I've come."

She smiled, her eyes scanning the chat, catching a few kind words here and there. "I didn't expect to be this emotional, but I think it's because I'm finally allowing myself to feel... safe. Nathan—Blau—is the safest place I've ever been. And I know he's probably watching this right now, so... hi."

Meena sat back in her chair, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "I know this has been a lot, and I really appreciate you guys for sticking with me through it. I'm so lucky to have a community like this, and I promise to keep being as open and honest as I can moving forward."

Her chat filled with hearts, and she smiled, her hand resting on her chest. "Thank you, chat. For everything."

As she ended her stream, Meena leaned back in her chair, exhaling deeply. For the first time in a long time, she felt lighter—like a weight she hadn't realized she was carrying had finally been lifted.

"Go to her," Leslie said suddenly, nudging Blau's arm.

Blau looked at her, startled. "What?"

"Go," she repeated, more firmly. "She needs you right now. Don't just sit here—be there for her."

THOUGH SHE'D dropped the bomb, she still felt the weight of what she had just done on her shoulders. She sat at her desk for a moment before turning and standing up. She didn't know what to do now, some part of her felt a little lost.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Meena didn't hesitate. Her heart pounded in her chest as she rushed downstairs, wiping her damp eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie.

When she opened the door, Blau stood there, his posture tense but his expression soft. Before he could even speak, Meena launched herself into his arms, wrapping hers tightly around his neck.

Blau stumbled slightly at the sudden hug but immediately steadied himself, his arms coming around her waist.

They stood there for a while, wrapped in each other's arms, the weight of the day slowly melting away. For the first time in what felt like forever, Meena felt like she could finally breathe. She wasn't hiding anymore—she was free. And she wasn't doing it alone.

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valkyrae she was mine first

maryjanebrooks 🫶
↳ meenapatels ilyilyily

meenapatels 💙💙💙
↳ blaustoise im speechless no words

— lucy has something to say !!

i completely scrapped a chapter and just decided to this... i was gonna have them reveal their relationship in a different way but... obviously not now

bye :))))