*high key forgot to post this whoops*
"See, bats are better weapons in the apocalypse," Sohinki said matter-of-factly when David showed up the next day brandishing Jacob's old bat.
Wes sighed and buried his face in his hands. "If I had a knife right now I could easily kill you, though."
"Try me, let's go right n-"
"Boys, break it up," Taylor interjected with a teasing smile. "I don't even know how you made it this long." She took her boyfriend's hand and kissed his cheek. She had in fact chosen to stay behind with Kate.
There was a knock at the door, which had everyone confused. The house was already cramped with everyone from the day prior. Gazes turned to Joven, since he had been behind the last mystery guest, but he just shrugged. David was heading to the door before anyone else, and peered through the little peephole of the door. With a sharp inhale, he called for Joven to join him, who simply looked confused.
"Open the door," was the instructions given.
"Why can't you?" Joven questioned.
"Because he looks like he's going to pass out and I'd rather not let him fall."
While Joven wanted to ask who, he figured that it would be better just to get through this and make smart choices later.
As David guessed, the person's knees gave out as soon as the door opened and he fell forward into the arms of David, who caught him with a grunt;
Ian had his eyes tightly shut and was breathing deeply. Wes, having heard the commotion, came to help (probably for the best since he was the strongest there). As much as the group wanted to yell and ask questions, they just helped Ian to the couch and let him recover. It appeared as though he had been running intensely on moments before.
Jacob met David in the kitchen, where he was getting water for his friend.
"What do you think happened?" The teen asked, concern evident in his voice.
"No clue. He should be ok, though," David muttered in return as Taylor came to take the cup from him with a small smile.
Tyler had been exploring the house, but had been brought back by the sound of commotion. Per usual, he immediately went to his father.
"Daddy?" He asked quietly, holding on to the pant-leg closest to him. "Is that Mr. Ian?"
Now, normally Tyler would call anyone of the Smosh family his 'aunt' or 'uncle', since that is what David referred to them as for Tyler. But to the kid, his father and Ian hadn't been that close of friends because he rarely heard about him.
"Yeah, buddy. That's him," David confirmed. "I'm gonna go talk to him, ok? Can you stay with Jacob?"
He got a nod in response and walked quietly over and began to pay attention to what Ian was rambling on about as the others comforted him.
"....so I went to David's house and he wasn't there, and honestly I couldn't think of anywhere else he'd be so I got scared and ran- I almost got infected a few times I think- I instinctively went to Anthony but it hurt too much to see him... and then I went to check on Pam and, she's doing fine by the way, she let me stay with her these last months. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
David was surprised to hear himself being referred to as anything but Lasercorn from Ian, but he guessed that using a weird nickname for someone you thought was dead would've felt wrong.
It was when multiple gazes looked back at him with uncertainty that Ian noticed David for the first time. "Wait-"
"Hey Ian," the shorter man greeted. "Surprise, I'm alive!" He sucked in a breath before continuing. "Sabrina, not so much, but I got people here for support. Now that this whole mess is over, we're going to make sure you're ok too, alright?"
Ian looked upon his friend in shock, before slightly nodding his head and pushing himself off the couch. He soon had David wrapped in a hug, which was returned. Their friends around them were giving each other looks, trying to decide what to make of the situation.
"I'm sorry-" Ian started as he pulled away.
"Not your fault," David interrupted. "Just so you know, we," he gestured to everyone gathered around them, "were planning on going to the old Smosh office today. Just to see what the situation was there."
Kate spoke up now. "Taylor and I are staying behind with Tyler, so if you still feel under the weather, you're welcome to stay."
"But you can also join us," Joven finished her thought.
Ian looked around at his friends that he hadn't seen in months, breathing in the reality that things could be ok. "I'll go with you. I was the Smosh president, of course I'm sticking with you and going back."
For the first time that day since Pam had wished him luck on his journey back, Ian cracked a smile.