Alex had been scrolling through TokTok for them to do a new one. "We need a group one, we've got a lot of duo/trio/relationship centered stuff on here."

"But people love our relationships!"

It was true. They hadn't expected it, but there was a significant amount of time and talent that seemed to go directly to the fans' borderline obsession with how their relationships worked. It was in fact, a pretty even division.

The Conniverse crew were heavily romanticized idealists. They loved that Connie and Steven just worked, and the duo couldn't even count on two hands even if each finger counted as 100 how many edits and superclips there were of them being together. They'd even brought attention to something Steven didn't even know he was doing. He couldn't remember when it started, but Steven was always on her right. And it wasn't just most of the time, he genuinely was on her right consistently without fail. On camera at least he was. He was sure there must've been times where he'd been anywhere else but it seemed like he was truly her right hand man and their fans loved it. Steven was hyper affectionate, so there were tons of compliations of him pulling Connie into a kiss around paparazzi just because he could, and her becoming a blushing mess as she playfully swatted at him. And their honorary eighth Stevonnie? No one could say anything negative about them without getting absolutely reamed in the comments. Their fans were dramatic, and they certainly weren't mean, but they could sure tear someone ten new ones for messing with any of the band members, let alone Stevonnie.

The Trouple Trouble fans were largely LGBTQIA, which frankly, was exactly the kind of community a lot of their music was released to and geared toward. With Hazel now identifying as Bisexual, they were an idol to every kind of unorthodox relationship there was. Not only that, but their personalities were so different. They teased and flirted and shoved at each other like hyena siblings. With Anna being the bright, sunny fun one, Adam being the brooding goth boy; and Hazel being perfect jock material it also had changed the way people were interacting with each other. They loved their unconditional acceptance of each other and there were an almost concerning amount of theorists who broke down the way that they worked as a polycule and had gotten uncomfortably close to the truth.

Olfasmins were a bit of a... different crowd. The only phrase that could truly generalize them all as a shipping community was over analyzers. The first time Jacob had been scrolling through TokTok a few months after their first interviews and concerts, he'd come across an edit of every time a camera caught him pining for Jasmin's attention while she wasn't looking. It had caused an entire day of him going missing without word, causing the band and Jasmin especially, to fly into a complete panic. He hadn't come back till the next day at lunch, where he'd appeared in the kitchen casually making a sandwich and giving them a cheerful, "Well, hi there!" as if he'd never left. After that, it was Jasmin who started getting heavy focus because of how she would grab Jacob's hand. She'd always go for it fast, almost like she was afraid he might leave again.

"You love us too, Pookie Bear." Jacob pinched Alex's thigh and received a tongue lashing immediately.

Alex went on and on about boundaries and personal space and rude, egotistical males and their ridiculous behavior while strewn over almost the entire bands laps on the couch.

They snickered to each other but tried to keep a straight face so the twink would shut the hell up.

"You sick fucks and your lack of boundaries are atrocious! Ugh, fucking whatever. Anyways, I think what we need is some drama."

"Oh good god, Alex. What the hell do you mean by drama? Like a publicity stunt?" Hazel grunted and adjusted himself under Alex's butt.

Jacob shrugged and tugged on the jean loop of Alex's pants just to see what would happen. When he didn't get a response he sighed. "If anyone's going to punch me in the face, I vote it to be not Steven."

They burst into chortles while Steven grimaced uncomfortably. "I couldn't hurt you if I tried. I hate fighting."

"He's my soft himbo husband. My trophy wife. Can't let him get his freshly manicured nails chipped." Connie caught him in a loving nuzzle that he returned with an enamored grin-blush combo.

"You do realize himbos are all brawn, no brain right? She's actually insulting you. Maybe you should fight her," Adam pointed out with an antagonistic smile.

Alex turned over on his side, now effectively using them as the couch. "Now THAT people would pay to see."

Steven sat on that for a moment, making a series of goofy thinking faces before carefully answering, "I think she's the brains and the brawn."

Hazel poked Alex's side brashly and received a vicious hiss. "Who's the beauty?"

They glanced at each other. "Stevonnie."

"I mean, I'm the charisma and second place pageant beauty. But Connie? She's one of the only people that has successfully beat me in a fight."

"Anger sex doesn't count as fighting." Anna smirked and untied Alex's shoe. Then thinking better, the other one.

"It counts if you lose," Steven grumbled.

"And you always do." Connie pressed a kiss to his cheek before carefully tying Alex's laces together. Steven choked back a laugh at her maleficence.

"I think we need to make a new song for our next one by the way. Isn't your birthday coming up in a couple of months?"

Steven rolled his eyes bitterly. "You mean the day Rose Quartz died and I materialized out of thin air? There was no being born, only being robbed."

"Of what?"

"Childhood and the last sliver of my sanity, that's what." He summoned a thin, long needle like object and threaded it through one of Alex's pockets' threads. The very bottom of the pocket unraveled, separating the pocket from the actual jeans. His eyes widened gleefully and he looked to see if Alex had noticed, which he somehow hadn't. "Talk like that makes me want to become a smoker."

"You are a smoker."

"Not weed, dippy. Crack. It makes me wanna smoke crack." They were all dead serious with minor horror before he started laughing at his own supposedly apparent joke.

"Oooo~ what have we here?" Alex turned the phone to them and they watched a very intense little clip. "Before anyone says anything, I think that we can also make it a couple thing. But it's going to look a bit less... cheerful."

They were grateful for the eye for dark messages their friend had as he set up his cameras in front of the throuple bedroom door. "You know how to cry on command, right?"

Hazel stilled and shook his head. "No. But I can get really fucking mad on cue." He laughed uncomfortably while his partners gave him unamused looks.

Alex snapped his fingers and readjusted the angle a bit lower. "Yes! Perfect! I just scrapped my last plan. We're doing familiar behavior now."

"I can cry on cue," Adam offered.

"Good, because I was just about to ask you to. You'll be sitting against the door, your head tipped back against it. I'm going to need you to flinch, really put your experience into it." He pushed past the boys and checked on Anna. "Take off the star glasses. I know they're your favorite, but we're going for angst here."

"Fine." She pouted and tucked them into the front of her iconic rainbow dress. "You think this'll turn out well?"

"It'll turn out something."

"See? Even Hazel and Adam agree with me. Now, you are scared because your big scary boyfriend is pounding on the door furious and out of control to the point where he's not... himself. On the other side of that, you have your other, incredibly overprotective boyfriend demanding you come out and face them. He's not going to be banging on the door, but it won't matter. We're looking for genuine panic because, and I cannot stress this enough; Hazel can get through that door and Adam will not stop him. You remember Spring Formal, right? Channel that."

Anna went through several invisible responses to that, mainly surprise because how has Alex known? Still this scenario while a bit over saturated sat about an inch too close to home. More like an inch from home.

He put the camera in front of her and clicked his tongue. "We need it a bit higher. Take off your heels."

She sighed but happily took them off. They were super cute, but more often than not cute meant uncomfortable. That was definitely something she was learning from stardom: being uncomfortable. Like right now, with her boyfriend's looking guilty and her probably looking anxious. "Better?"

"Perfect."

He traipsed back out to them and shut their door. "Now, we're looking at unhinged angry boyfriend number you. The first word is not a shout, it's a desperate scream. I'm gonna need to see it on your face. Act."

"I act like I like you all the time. Pretty sure I've got this." He reached out to pat Alex on the head as he dipped to peer through his camera again.

"Awesome. Channel that." He picked up his phone and held it near the camera.

"Beautiful. I'm so fucking talented. You're all buying me dinner tonight."

"Careful, Alex. Your ego can't take anymore feeding or it'll pop," Adam teased weakly as he sat on the floor against the barrier between him and their Anna. He passively hated the callback to his unfortunate trait but he'd keep his mouth shut about it.

"Alright in 3,"

Two more blips and Hazel pounded his fist against the door, clutching the handle as hard as he could while Adam seemingly truly flinched away for a moment. "VERONIKA, open the, open the door please." His arm lifted to lean against the door frame while he rattled the knob again, a bit gentler.

Adam grimaced and tears pooled in his eyes. It wasn't what he was looking for, but it matched perfect. "Veronica! Open the door."

"Aaand cut. Beautiful. Good... job..." Alex watched as Adam scrubbed real tears off his face.

Hazel flexed his fist woefully. "You okay, Anna?"

She opened the door and took in their faces. "You guys don't have to cry about it. That shits in the past." She enveloped them in her arms and Adam clumsily stood to return it to both.

"Guess I just didn't expect to–,"

"To be personally attacked?" Hazel finished quietly. "Yeah, me neither."

Next up was Jacob and Jasmin, who happened to be waiting for him in the kitchen. "What's up, girlfriend?" Jacob tossed an apple slice his way and he caught it, shoving it in his mouth as he motioned for them to follow.

"Mmph-kay, sho," He swallowed and put Jasmin in the bedroom and Jacob in the hall. "For you, we're going for the hopeless marriage angle. You're exhausted, you're hurt, you just had an argument and she's locked you out of the bedroom."

Jacob blanched and sucked in a breath. "Did you go as personal with everyone else?"

"Mhm, adds to the fire. Jasmin!"

"What?!"

"On your side, we're looking at the conflicted and hopeless wife. Do you really want to let him in after what he just said to you? The answer is yes, but you know you can't."

"Jesus Christ. Do you need a self abortion too? Anything else incredibly disturbing?" She asked sarcastically. "You need me to cry?"

"Nope. Connie and Steven are the perfect criers for this one. You two are portrayed as so exhausted and beaten down you can't even bother to cry anymore! Isn't that fun?" He forced cheerfully.

Jasmin poked her head out the door to join Jacob's menacing glare.

"Beautiful! Exactly what we need. Now turn whiny bitch into past you!" They looked highly upset already so he got his voice to become gentle with the care he held back at almost all costs. He wasn't trying to be an asshole, but as their promotion manager he only wanted the very best for them. "You've come so far, it's time to revisit it in a genuine way. You'll be surprised how much better you feel after you see the result of how far you've come comparatively."

"Well, if everyone's else is about personal relationship trauma, I'll be fine." Jacob straightened back up a bit and Jasmin puckered her lips for a lingering kiss. "I love you."

"We're not monsters anymore. We're just acting like them," She assured him with a longing kiss on his cheek. "We're ready."

Jacob paused for a moment, and Alex recognized that face as his brooding face. At least he was going to be a bit in character, even if he felt bad going for angles like this. He'd left a few flickering candles on Jasmin's side to dance across her likely haunted expression. It would look beautiful in the end, especially with the second floor window showing the late evening dimming of the sky behind Jacob, almost making a silhouette of him.

"Counting you in 3... 2... 1."

Jacob fell to his knees, holding the knob and resting his face in between and below his arms. "Veronica, can we not fight anymore please?" He lifted his head with an expression that made Alex cringe. He'd seen that face and recognized it too. "Can we not fight anymore?"

"Finished. That's it." Alex hugged Jacob awkwardly, but it made him half smile so it was barely okay.

"The door opens," Jacob smiled a bit bigger as it did just that, and Jasmin pulled him into her waist to run her fingers through his hair. "I'm not worried about it not doing that anymore." He turned his head to the side and sighed blissfully. "Oddly enough, I do kinda feel better in a worse way."

"I don't."

"We can work on that."

Alex barely kept the tears from springing to his eyes as he gathered his shit. "Keep it in your pants."

"You're lucky we didn't tie your shoes together again."

"We love you too, Alex."

"Yechk. Gross."

He was unsurprised to see Connie pressed against a wall with her hands pinned behind her back. He was more surprised he hadn't caught them mid-fuck actually. He'd never met two people with libidos that high. Then again, he'd never met two people quite as traumatized as they were so what did he know?

"I will always be stronger than you, Ni. There is no way you can catch me so off-guard that I can't get you in any position I like," Steven told her proudly.

She squirmed against him and growled. "Cocky son of a bitch. I'll get you one of these times."

He tipped his head and pressed into her harder, growling in a way Alex had only heard him do to get Lion to behave. "Am I interrupting something?" He asked dryly.

"Nah." Steven let Connie go and laughed at her pout. "Well shit, maybe."

"Let's get it over with," Connie whined. "I'm hungry and horny. Let's have lasagna tonight."

Alex shook his head quickly. "I, uh... I don't think we'll be eating together tonight."

They furrowed their eyebrows in concern.

"Why not?"

Alex made busywork of setting up Stevens camera much higher than the others' so he didn't have to make eye contact as he mumbled, "I didn't realize it would reopen wounds... It's... I had a different plan and then Hazel gave me a better idea. But... Yeah. I'm not sure anyone is going to feel up to anything after this."

Steven put a protective arm over Connie's shoulder. "What's ours?"

It conveniently became very clear to Alex just then that Steven had started working out a bit more. He'd always be soft and baby-faced but he couldn't help but notice the slight toning of his biceps in this shadowy light. He swallowed and tried to look nonchalant about the whole affair. "Well, your line Steven is 'Veronica, I know you're scared. I've been there, I can set you free.' and the last line I haven't figured out yet but it'll be all the guys. It's..."

Steven dropped his arm from Connie's shoulder, both wearing matching frowns as he turned away to walk down the hall.

"Christ, Alex. That's really direct."

He almost called it off at Connie's heartbroken tone but Steven took a deep breath, so he used that time to prepare to die instead.

"I can do it. But I need you to know you won't be actually afraid of me." He cupped his wife's cheeks imploringly. "I want you to promise."

"You're a cinnamon roll. I'm not afraid of you," She sniffled irritatedly. "I hate how easily I cry now. It's stupid."

"It's perfect actually. I'm looking for tears, heartbreak, angst. I know of all the daters, you guys are the most passionate. We need to see that here, even if it feels like taking a step backwards." He tried to smile but it came out tight.

Steven nodded, staying quiet before he squared his shoulders. "Sometimes you've gotta take 10 steps back to make 11 forward. Let's just not drag it out."

"Of course. Connie, your role is a bit harder than the others. I think you, Jasmin and Hazel took the brunt of the most complicated roles. This is going to sting, but if you can remember a time when things felt completely out of control–,"

She held up a hand. "Got it. Don't bother."

More guilt poured into him but he motioned for her to shut the door. "Okay, you good Steven?"

"Peachy."

"Then let's get this bread." He cued him in limply, quietly berating himself for putting them all through this. But in his mind, he felt they needed another dimension to the group. Of course everyone loved to see happy couples, but no one could handle perpetually happy couples. They had to have cracks somewhere.

He almost ruined the entire video by gasping when Steven pulled an incredibly rare feat of his horns poking through the top of his head and glowing a bright, unhappy pink he recognized from panic attacks and depressive spells. The second it started he slammed his hand against the door with such force it shook. "Veronika! Sure, you're scared," Tears were already running down his cheeks in giant volumes, enough that the camera caught a glint of light in one. He clutched the knob one handedly so hard he witnessed it dent a bit under the pressure of his hand and break enough to cut it open. He didn't know what he expected his blood to look like, but he didn't expect it to be red when he was pink. He put the bloody hand on the door and rested his head next to it. " I've been there. I can set you free–."

"Cut."

Steven blew out a heavy breath and surveyed the damage on his hand disinterestedly. "That was unpleasant. But. It was way harder to tap into... him than I thought it would be."

The door swung open and Connie threw her arms around him. It was kind of beautiful the way he tensed before surrounding her with his as his horns and glow faded.

"I'll see you guys later, yeah?"

They pulled away and tugged him into the hug too. "We love you, Alex."

Later that night he sat alone in the commons dining room eating buttered toast while he edited. His passion for cinematography flared as he went through each clip and felt a small pang in his heart. It was raw and painful and beautiful. If this wouldn't get them on everyone's For You pages, nothing would.

"Hey, room for two more?"

He turned behind him to see Jacob and Jasmin a bit disheveled, but oddly cheerful. "Uh yeah, it's just m–,"

"We brought lasagna!" Connie practically kicked the door off its hinges which made Steven and Jacob gasp.

"That's it!"

"Whats what?" Alex was pretty sure Adam's sweatshirt was on backwards, but there wasn't much light in the commons since no one had hit a switch.

"If Steven and I are on the same page, I know what we can do for the last shot of the TokTok. But it's... really try hard."

"You guys aren't try hards when it comes to the band usually, but you're try hards on everything else. Maybe you could–,"

"Channel that?" They all mocked in their best impressions of him, all of which were terrible enough to make them giggle and surround him in an unavoidable group hug.

"This better work, Tsun-Tsun."