Chase resorted to hiding in his bedroom all of the time to avoid bumping into Marvin accidentally and starting an awkward conversation where he'd have to shut his friend down as quickly as possible. He read through his old notebooks a lot, highlighting good ideas that he had forgotten about and never focused on. He also recorded extra videos, including a down-to-earth vlog where he explained some of the things going on in his life that he wasn't too afraid to admit to his small following. The response to the vlog was impeccable, comments flooding in about how they all supported him and would understand if he needed a break. He read through the comments with a gentle smile, watching as his subscriber count built up a little too. One comment stuck out over all of the rest and it would definitely have been the only one Chase would remember and dwell on.

He claims he has been abused by this woman but how do we know he isn't lying? Maybe the girl was doing it in self defence and Chase was just edging her on. In my eyes, it's more likely that Chase was the abuser or this is some made up story to gain subscribers or something. That's seriously low if you ask me :\

Chase was about to reply and defend himself, stating how he wasn't the abuser and he would never treat anybody that way but it appeared that people had already beaten him to it. A few people had stood as his defence and it made Chase immensely grateful. Maybe his YouTube channel wasn't as hopeless as he had once thought.

Chase does not seem like the type of guy to fake abuse or be an abuser... I may not know him irl but he seems like a lovely guy and, if you actually watched his videos, you'd see that he hasn't been doing well. It's obvious he's been struggling but he's still been posting videos and working through it which is amazing. I'm proud of Chase and you should be too.

I'm sorry but do you even watch Chase?! He has never once come across to me as someone who would lie for views or abuse someone. He has always seemed so nice and, honestly, I wish I could subscribe a thousand times and like this video much more. He's so strong for coming out to his audience about this: it can't have been easy.

He shut off his phone with a gentle sigh. He was almost happy for the first time in a while. People actually cared about his channel and it made him feel loved and, well, wanted. Suddenly, he didn't care about the feelings he had for Marvin or what had happened with Stacy. All he cared about was that people subscribed to his channel to watch him and maybe it wasn't all going downhill like he had previously anticipated. Maybe he had a reason to continue posting and get back into his channel again. Maybe people got excited when they saw a notification that he had posted a video. Maybe he wasn't as disliked as he had originally thought.

A knock on his door made him look up. It then opened up to reveal Marvin smiling softly at him. "Jackieboy Man and Anti cooked dinner and we're going to actually eat it as a... family for once so it would be nice if you came downstairs."

"Okay." Chase stood up and stretched his arms outwards.

"Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You haven't been hanging out with us lately... you've been a lot more reserved."

"Maybe I'm just antisocial or I have a lot of work to do."

"...Right," Chase walked passed Marvin and began to head downstairs until the magician spoke up again. "I saw your video yesterday."

"You watch my videos?" Chase was certainly surprised to learn that. He had never thought that anyone he knew personally watched his videos or were even subscribed, let alone his best friend. It was peculiar to imagine Marvin sitting down in front of a computer or his phone, wasting a few minutes of his day watching Chase's content.

"Of course I do. I love your videos! But that isn't my point... what I was going to say was I'm really proud of you. It takes guts to post something like that to an audience like yours. You showed a vulnerable side of yourself that most guys would be too afraid to show."

Chase opened his mouth to reply with a small, "Thank you" but he wasn't able to elaborate because they had made it to the kitchen where the others were all squished around the table. It was hard to fit eight people around a table meant for six but they managed... somehow. Alex and Sammy were both added into the corners where they had barely any arm space but they didn't mind because of the amazing meal in front of them.

Chase glanced around the room and noticed how messy it was but didn't say anything. In all honesty, he had expected Anti and Jackieboy Man to make a worse mess. A couple of empty pans on the stove, some rogue spaghetti and some sauce splattered over the side was impressive for the pair who weren't huge fans of each other. They had probably argued throughout the whole cooking process so even a decent result would have been pretty surprising.

The spaghetti sitting in front of the group was steaming and smelt amazing. Chase reluctantly took a seat beside Marvin and immediately picked up his cutlery. It had been a while since he had sat down and had a proper dinner since he had mostly been sneaking down after everyone else was asleep and making himself a sandwich.

After everyone was finishing and heading up to their rooms, Chase decided to be the one to clean up. He picked up everyone's plates and piled them up before opening the dishwasher and placing them in one by one. Someone else started to help him by placing the cutlery into its designated slot. Chase looked up and met the soft blue eyes of Marvin. He backed up a little. "I need to go film." He muttered before trying to flee the room but Marvin gently grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving.

"Are you avoiding me? It seems like you are... Have I done something wrong? If I have, please tell me." Marvin even stopped with what he was doing to lean against the counter.

"You haven't done anything. I just- I need to think about some things and I'd rather be alone." Chase tried to tug his arm away from Marvin but Marvin's grip grew tighter.

"What?"

"I can't talk about it."

"Why not? I'm your friend and you know you can trust me with anything, right?"

"Yes, I do. Just not this."

"Chase, please-"

"I'm not a child! I don't need to be constantly watched over! I know what I am doing and can look after myself. How about you trust me for once?"

"I just want you to be okay. After finding out-"

"Stop. Just stop, okay?" Marvin released Chase's arm and he stormed out of the room, leaving Marvin in shock. He stared at the spot where his friend had been standing for a few moments with furrowed eyebrows before continuing with putting the dishes in the dishwasher.