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Chapter Text

.°•+ April 2024 +•°.

So it turns out the comments from fans and his friends had a bigger impact on Damien than he thought.

Ever since Shayne and Courtney asked if something was going on between him and Angela, he's been thinking a lot about the subject. The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes how much he cares about her. By now, he's fully accepted that he likes Angela.

They are paired up for the newest Culinary Crimes and doing all Italian food. Angela had requested Damien to be in a Culinary Crimes with her, specifically for this episode. She told Emily that it only makes sense for the two Italians of Smosh to eat Italian food together.

Damien walks to his seat and waits for Courtney and Angela to show up. He goes on his phone until Marcus comes by to put down the officer badges and a Sharpie. While he thinks of a funny name to put on his badge, Courtney and Angela show up, talking up a storm. "Hey, Court. Hey Angela," he says as he writes down his name. "Hey," they both say.

Noticing that he wrote a name on the badge, Angela asks him, "What did you put down?" "I'm Officer Fettuccine, Shits and Giggles Department," he replies. "Ohh! Interesting..." she slyly says.

He isn't sure what she means by that, but gets distracted when Courtney starts a conversation. He talks to them until Marcus says that they're ready to start filming. Courtney gets into her detective persona and goes to the lamp as Damien and Angela sit in their seats. Marcus starts counting down: "Rolling in 5, 4, 3, 2..."

Courtney turns on the lamp and starts doing the intro. They mess up a couple of times, so they have to restart; Angela starts giggling, which makes Damien giggle. Once they get through the intro, they say, "Today's theme is Italian food, and with me are my two Italian officers. Introduce yourselves." They look at Angela, but she says, "I want him to start." "Uh, okay," he says, 'I'm Officer Fettuccine and I'm from the Shits and Giggles Department." "And I'm Officer Alfredo from the Giggles and Shits Department," Angela says, trying to stifle a laugh.

Courtney laughs at what she did, while Damien is surprised. He didn't expect her to copy his bit. He asks her, "Angula, did you choose Alfredo because I did Fettuccine?" "Yeah, I wanted us to be matching," she replies. His heart beats out of his chest. If she keeps doing things like this, he'll die from cuteness overload. He smiles at her and says, "That's so funny," as he gives her a high-five.

"Okay okay, enough chit-chat!" Courtney says in character. "We've got crimes to solve." "Aye aye, captain!" Damien responds with a salute. Angela copies him and salutes her as well. "Let's get started," Courtney says to the camera.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first dish is risotto; Angela is excited. "Sounds simple enough," Courtney says after reading the ingredients. "It's actually famous for how intimidating it is to cook it," Angela says while Damien nods. "Intimidating?! How?" "It's a very time-consuming and labor-intensive dish. There's constant stirring and you need to have all your attention on it. Also, you have to achieve the perfect texture; the rice needs to be both creamy and firm," Damien explains.

Angela is impressed that he knows so much about making risotto, (Well, she shouldn't be that surprised; they are both Italian.) She says as much and he blushes as he responds, "Thanks. It's just something my mom taught me." "Aww!" both Courtney and Angela say.

They learn that the suspect is on trial for three counts of culinary crimes. They replaced the Arborio rice, unsalted butter, and dry vermouth. When the food arrives, Angela inspects the dish. She sees the rice and makes a guess. "I think this is either jasmine or basmati rice," she says, "It's a long-grain rice, while Arborio rice is a short-grain. Long-grain rice releases less starch, so this isn't going to be creamy. It's going to be dry as hell." "Yeah, I think you're right," Courtney says. "Well let's try it," Damien says, already lifting a spoonful. "Okay, cheers."

They all take a bite. Angela immediately knows: "It's jasmine rice. It doesn't have the aroma that basmati has." "Yup, you're right," Damien says, "It's like drinking chicken stock and rice was just thrown in there." Angela laughs; she then starts thinking of the other ingredient swaps. "I feel like the butter alternative is margarine; that seems like a common swap. But what about the vermouth?" She tries the rice again.

She tastes something sweet, then something clicks. "Maybe it's a sweet wine?" "Ooh, that's good! Like, 'they're both white wines' kind of thing?" Courtney asks. "Exactly," Angela says, then turns to Damien, asking, "What do you think?" "You can take the lead on this," he responds, "I know nothing about wine." "Okay, so what are you?" she asks, looking at her spoonful of rice.

She takes another bite; she tastes a hint of grape. "Moscato. It's Moscato," she says confidently. "Whoa, are you sure?" Damien asks. "Yeah. Let's bring in the verdict." "Hey, that's my line!" Courtney jokingly pouts. Angela laughs and says, "My bad, Court."

They get to the verdict; Courtney is given the envelope. They take out the paper with a flourish and read the results: "'I didn't have Arborio rice, so I used jasmine rice. I also used margarine instead of butter and Moscato (!) instead of dry vermouth.' Wow, Angela! Right on the money!"

Damien is surprised and starts to slow clap. The crew and Courtney join in on clapping for Angela. She blushes at the attention she's getting. "WOW. That was incredible! Really impressive, Angela," Damien says. She blushes even more at the compliments he just gave her. "Thanks, Damien!" she says, giggling. She catches herself and thinks, 'Why am I giggling? He didn't say anything that special.'

They were thrilled to get the real thing when it arrived. "Mm! It's so good! This is such a comfort dish for me," Angela says. The others murmur in agreement. "So what's the sentencing?" Courtney asks. "I think Angela should come up with the sentencing," Damien says, "She deserves it after that impressive detective work."

Angela blushes again and hooks her hair behind her ear. "Thanks Damien," she says; she then turns to Courtney and says, "I think that they should be in a classroom where the teacher drones on and on about the different types of rice. And they have to take a test on it and can't leave until they get it all correct." "Done! Next case!" Courtney says.

The other two cases flew by in a breeze. They ate ravioli that replaced the ricotta with cottage cheese and tiramisu that used hot chocolate instead of espresso coffee. They say their goodbyes and wrap the episode. Angela takes off her mic pack and leaves the Pit set when she hears someone call her name. She turns around and sees Damien walking towards her.

"Hey," he says as they walk to their desks. "Great job today! The risotto guessing was so cool to witness." "Oh, that was nothing. I just got lucky," she says. "No, that was awesome! It was really impressive," he tells her. "Impressive," she says in the Chosen voice. He laughs and does it back to her. "But no seriously, you did great. It was amazing." She smiles and looks down, saying, "Thank you. I appreciate it." "No problem, you're always incredible."

Angela blushes at that comment. So does Damien. Panicking, he rambles, "...On camera! You're incredible on camera... Not that you're not incredible off camera! You're an all-around incredible... person. Sorry, I'm gonna go now. I'll see you later." He turns around and walks away, leaving her speechless. She walks the rest of the way to her desk. She sits down and contemplates what just happened.

Blushing cheeks? Check. Racing heartbeat? Check. Butterflies in her stomach? Check. She knows what that means: she has a crush on Damien.

Chapter Text

.°•+ July 2024 +•°.

The Smosh cast and crew are throwing a Fourth of July party. Damien and Angela are talking in a private corner, away from everyone else. They're having a playful debate over whether peanut butter is best crunchy or smooth.

"Look, I grew up getting creamy peanut butter more. When I think of peanut butter, it's smooth. Crunchy is weird to me," Angela says. Damien responds, "But doesn't it feel manufactured? Crunchy peanut butter tastes like you're eating something handmade." "You can get handmade creamy peanut butter and manufactured crunchy peanut butter." "... I like living in denial."

She laughs and continues: "Well when I'm eating a PB & J, I don't want to be crunching on anything." "That's the best part!" he responds, "A piece of toast with warm crunchy peanut butter? Hits EVERY time." "Okay, so we're not gonna get anywhere with this conversation. Agree to disagree?" she asks, holding out a hand. "Sure thing," he replies.

They shake on it and look out into the crowd. It's a comfortable silence. Damien looks at her and smiles. He's wanted to ask her something for a while, so now's as perfect a time as any. When she isn't looking, he takes a deep breath and does his best to casually ask: "So, random question. Would you ever date a coworker?"

Angela freezes on the spot. "I don't know," she says, "Why are you asking?" He's unsure what her initial reaction means so he quickly says, "I'm just curious. I experienced it myself so I know what it's like." "Oh, you dated a coworker before?" she asks. He shrugs and says, "Yeah, she was a part of Smosh for a little under two years. We were together for about a year and a half."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angela's head is racing with a million different thoughts: 'He dated a coworker before? Would he be willing to date a coworker again? Wait, do I want a workplace relationship? Why didn't I think about that before? I've liked him for a while now. Would it be worth it? What if it doesn't work out? Would we be able to work together if we broke up? Oh my God, what if we break up? Would we still be friends? I don't want to lose him as a frien-'

"Angela? Are you okay?" Damien's voice cuts through her thoughts. "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about your question," she says. After thinking some more, she makes a decision: "I wouldn't." His face falls, but she's looking at the ground, so she doesn't notice. She explains, "I'm scared of what would happen if it doesn't work out. Even if I really liked someone, I still wouldn't. I don't want either of us to leave because of a breakup." She points to both of them as she says the last line.

She looks up at him; he looks confused. "What?" she asks. He awkwardly says, "Sorry, it's just... Did you mean 'either of us' as in general 'us' or us 'us'?"

FUCK. She didn't realize that she had made a Freudian slip. (Well, in gesture form, but still.) She looks away from him and takes a sip from her drink. She internally panics and tries to collect her thoughts. She knows it'll be easier to just say it was the general 'us', but she can't get herself to say it.

"Angela, do you like me?"

FUUUUUCK. She doesn't know what to do. She could just say no and her friendship would stay the same. But she can't lie to him. The guilt would just eat her up. She sighs and shyly nods. She's too scared to look at him. She just stares at the ground, letting the reveal sink in. She tries to think of an excuse to leave when he says: "I like you too, Angela."

She perks up and looks at him. 'Wait, it's reciprocated? He likes me too? But wait, would he take the risk and date a coworke-'

"And I would date a coworker again."

Oh. Now they're at a standstill. Damien takes a breath and says, "I used to think I wouldn't do it again, but you changed my mind. I understand the fear of breaking up and working together, but I don't want to miss out on a chance to be with you based on the possibility of it not working out. And even if we do end things, we can talk about what we want to do moving forward. But we don't need to think about that now. I really like you, Angela. You like me too. Why don't we give this a try?" He puts out a hand for her to hold.

She looks at his hand, then at him. He looks hopeful. She looks back at his hand. 'He does make really good points,' she thinks. She lifts her hand from her side and contemplates putting it in his. She does like him; maybe it'll be worth it... 'But what about the risks?' She stops in her tracks.

"I can't, I'm sorry," she blurts. She puts down her hand; he does the same a little bit later. "It's not that I don't like you enough - I really do! It's just too big a risk for me to take. I'm really sorry, Damien." He looks disappointed and Angela feels a tear fall down her cheek; she wipes it away.

"There you are, Angela! Hey Damien!" Chanse says from behind her. She jumps out of her skin at the sudden disruption. "Hey Chanse. What's up?" "Sorry, was I interrupting something?" he asks. Damien answers for both of them: "No, you're good." "Oh, okay," he says, then turns to Angela and asks, "We're going to play beer pong if you want to join us?" "Oh... Yeah, sure," she replies.

Chanse turns to leave as Angela follows; before she does, she turns around and waves goodbye to Damien. He waves back and she goes to catch up with Chanse. She can't believe that she turned down Damien. But she did the right thing, right? It would be too risky. What she needs right now is a distraction. Yeah, beer pong's a good distraction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damien is overstimulated. He needs to leave NOW. He slips through the crowd and quietly heads out the door. He doesn't bother to say goodbye to anyone; his only goal is to get to his car. Once he's seated in the driver's seat, he lets out a sigh of relief. Then he lets out the tears.

He's bummed about getting rejected, sure, but he's more upset about getting rejected by someone who likes him back. He understands where she's coming from, but it still hurts. Once he feels better, he starts the car and leaves the parking lot. As he drives, one thought replays in his mind: he needs to get over Angela.

Chapter Text

.°•+ October 2024 +•°.

Angela's been missing Damien. Ever since she turned him down, she's barely seen or talked to him. He's also been busy working on several voiceover projects and conventions. But she can't help but think that he's also been avoiding her. Coincidence? She thinks not.

But the less she sees him, the deeper her feelings get for him. She realized a couple weeks ago that she wants to take the risk and be in a relationship with him. She took some time to really think about it and made the conclusion that she wants him. She knows Damien's here today so she decides to talk to him about it after work.

She waits outside of the studio and when she sees him walking by, she seizes her chance. "Okay, let's do this," she mutters under her breath. "Damien!" she calls out. He turns around and says, "Oh, hey Angela."

'God he's so cute,' she thinks distractedly. She shifts her focus back to the task at hand: asking him out. "So, you know the saying, 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder'?" "Yeah..." "Well, that sorta happened to me. The less time I spent with you, the more I wanted you. I changed my mind; I want to take that risk. Do you want to go out with me?"

There was a pause from Damien before he says, "Gosh, I'm really flattered. Thank you, but I can't. I just got into a relationship a week ago."

Her heart sinks when she hears that. 'A relationship? Already? It's only been three months..." She pulls herself together before saying, "Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know." "Yeah, I'm really sorry Angela." "It's fine, don't worry about it. I guess I'll see you next shoot week," she says. "Yeah, I'll see you next shoot week."

She turns around and briskly walks to her car. She fumbles with the keys as she gets inside. She puts her head on the steering wheel and starts to cry. "God damn it! I'm too late... I guess three months isn't that short of a timespan." She continues to cry until she feels comfortable enough to drive home.

~.*+ 1 week later +*.~

Courtney invites the Smosh cast to a karaoke bar and Damien is there. Angela tries to ignore him throughout the night by sitting in between Amanda & Chanse and going to the bathroom when he sings a song. She is enjoying herself despite her fresh rejection. Until... she isn't.

It starts when a young man sings the acoustic version of Katy Perry's "The One That Got Away".

In another life

I would be your girl

We'd keep all our promises

Be us against the world

In another life

I would make you stay

So I don't have to say you were

The one that got away

The one that got away

Maybe she is a little tipsy, but she cheers louder for him than anyone else so far. "Relatable, relatable..." she mumbles under her breath. She doesn't even care that Amanda and Chanse were looking at her.

Next up is a pair of twins that sing "Collapsed" by Aly and AJ. She isn't familiar with this song so she looks at the lyrics behind them. Big mistake.

Why did I let you go?

You're too good to be true

I messed it up, and now I don't know what to do

We ran in circles and wasted time

From right to wrong

From right to wrong

If I knew that you were mine

I wouldn't have wasted time

I wish I could erase the past

Now it's all collapsed in my lap

She starts to get a little teary-eyed but quickly wipes her tears away. She finds it interesting that people sang songs about a missed opportunity twice in a row. 'There's no way there'll be another song like it,' she thinks.

And yet she was wrong. The next woman does a powerful rendition of "Someone Like You" by Adele and it hits Angela a little too close to home.

I heard that you're settled down

That you found a girl and you're married now

I heard that your dreams came true

Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you

Old friend, why are you so shy?

Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light

I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it

I had hoped you'd see my face

And that you'd be reminded that for me, it isn't over

She couldn't even get through the entire song without crying. "Sweetie, are you alright?" Amanda asks. "Yeah, I'm okay. I just need some fresh air, I guess," she says as she rushes to the exit. She can hear Amanda tell Chanse, "Just leave her be. She'll tell us when she's ready."

Once she's safely outside, she sits on a bench and bursts into tears. Normally she wouldn't cry in public, but she'll make an exception this time. She doesn't care if people are staring; she just needs to let the emotions out.

"Angela?" she hears someone call her. She turns around and sees it's none other than Damien, the one person she doesn't want to see. "What?" she utters as she wipes away her tears. "Is everything alright?" he asks her gently. All she wants to say is, "I'm fine, now go away," but something keeps preventing her from saying those words.

After a bit of struggling, all she could muster was: "No..." and went back to crying. A few seconds pass before he asks, "Is it because of me?" She slowly nods and says in between sniffles, "I'm upset because I want you but I waited too long to decide that." "Yeah, I'm so sorry for the bad timing, but there's nothing I can do about it," he explains. She responds, "I know but it doesn't hurt any less."

"Can I hug you?" he asks. She nods and he envelops her; it's warm and comforting. If only she could be the one to receive these hugs forever. "You'll always be special and a good friend to me," he tells her. "...thanks," she mutters. "Do you want me to stay out here with you until you feel better? Or would you prefer if I went back inside?" he asks. "You can go back in. I'm gonna stay out here a little longer," she replies. He nods and reenters the bar.

As soon as she calms down, she goes back inside and heads straight to the bathroom to fix her makeup. Once she comes out she walks over to Chanse and Amanda to tell them that she needs their help with a song. She then puts her song in the queue and waits. When she gets called up, she drags her best friends to the stage with her. They get on stage and Chanse starts the song:

Alright, alright. That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Now everyone give it up for the maid of honor: Angelica Schuyler!

Angela takes a deep breath and starts to sing (with Chanse and Amanda):

A toast to the groom!

(To the groom! To the groom! To the groom!)

To the bride!

(To the bride! To the bride! To the bride!)

From your sister

(Angelica! Angelica! Angelica!)

Who is always by your side

(By your side! By your side!)

To your union

(To the union! To the revolution!)

And the hope that you provide

(You provide! You provide!)

May you always... (Always)

Be satisfied

The audience is enjoying the performance. During the "rewinds", Chanse and Amanda start interpretive dancing in the back, which erupts into laughter. Angela laughs too and goes back to singing:

I remember that night, I just might

Regret that night for the rest of my days

I remember those soldier boys

Tripping over themselves to win our praise

I remember that dreamlike candlelight

Like a dream that you can’t quite place

But Alexander, I’ll never forget the first

Time I saw your face

I have never been the same

Intelligent eyes in a hunger-pang frame

And when you said “Hi,” I forgot my dang name

Set my heart aflame, ev’ry part aflame

This is not a game…

Chanse sings Hamilton's parts as Angela continues to sing Angelica's. She does her best with the rap portion of the song:

So so so—

So this is what it feels like to match wits

With someone at your level! What the hell is the catch? It’s

The feeling of freedom, of seein’ the light

It’s Ben Franklin with a key and a kite! You see it, right?

The conversation lasted two minutes, maybe three minutes

Ev’rything we said in total agreement, it’s

A dream and it’s a bit of a dance

A bit of a posture, it’s a bit of a stance.

She's doing surprisingly well on the rap; maybe it's the adrenaline she's currently feeling. Eventually Amanda comes in to sing Eliza's part. Angela keeps singing the rest of the song. She catches Damien's eyes and gets a bit choked up as she sings:

But when I fantasize at night

It’s Alexander’s eyes

As I romanticize what might

Have been if I hadn’t sized him

Up so quickly

At least my dear Eliza’s his wife;

At least I keep his eyes in my life…

But she keeps it together throughout the rest of the song. By the end, she sees Damien leave; Amanda and Chanse both wave to him. She waves as well as she sings the final lyrics:

And I know

She'll be happy as his bride

And I know

He will never be satisfied

I will never be satisfied

Chapter Text

.°•+ November 2024 +•°.

"Hey sweetie, you want some water?" A woman's voice calls out. "Yeah, thanks love," Damien replies. The woman gets two glasses of water and hands one to him. "You're the best, Mia," he says with a kiss. She kisses him back as she sits down on the couch next to him.

He met Mia through a dating app a couple months ago. They went on a date two months after Angela rejected him; he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go out with someone just to get over her, but he ended up having a good time with Mia.

As their first date went along, he realized that they have a lot in common. They have a similar sense of humor, love DnD, and are both neurodivergent. They went on a few more dates before he asked if she wanted to make it official. She said yes and the rest is history. (Then a week later Angela asked him out... What awful timing...)

Damien's happy. He truly is. He has a girlfriend that treats him well and he's having so many amazing opportunities with his voiceover work. But there's a small part of him that can't seem to forget about Angela. 'Why am I still thinking about her? We were never together,' he thinks.

He tries to brush it off and focus on watching the show that's on. They're watching "Delicious in Dungeon", as per Mia's request. Ever since she learned that he voices Laios, she's been dying to watch it with him. He doesn't mind; he's more than happy to show his girlfriend a project he worked on.

They're cuddling on her couch and she's asking him questions about the voiceover experience. "How many times did you have to make that sound?" "When your character screams, how close are you to the microphone?" "Since you're dubbing, are you getting the fully animated scenes or are they still animatics?" Damien answers all of her questions.

He's happy that she's curious about the animation process and wants to know more, but his mind goes back to wandering over Angela. 'Why does this keep happening?' he thinks. 'Could it be that I'm hoping I'll get the same feeling with Mia as I felt with Angela?' No, NO. He CAN'T be thinking that.

He quickly looks at Mia and sees that she's focused on the TV. He smiles and hooks her hair behind her ear. Hoping this would distract him from his terrible thoughts, he says to her, "God, you're so pretty." "Aww, sweetie!" she says as she leans in. He leans in closer until they kiss. The kiss becomes passionate as the show continues to play in the background.

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Meanwhile, Angela is getting ready to go to a bar with Chanse and Amanda. This is the first time in weeks where she has the desire to socialize. She's still sad that Damien has a partner now, but she at least has the energy to hang out with her friends.

She hasn't told either of them about her crush on him; she's too embarrassed to admit that she has feelings for someone that she can't be with. She's sure they would understand, but her pride is getting the best of her.

She finishes up her makeup when she hears the doorbell ring. She opens the door and sees Chanse and Amanda arrive together. "Hey honey! We carpooled," Amanda says. "Oh, cool! Well, come in. I just need to finish up my hair and I'll be ready," Angela responds.

"Wait, before you do that, I want to ask," Chanse cautiously says, "Is everything okay? You've been a bit distant recently." Angela freezes on the spot. She's conflicted on whether to tell them or not. She knows she'll feel better if she talks about it. But her pride... (Also she just put on makeup...)

"I'm okay," she says, "Everything's fine." She chokes up a little bit at the very end. "Are you sure? You know you can tell us anything, right?" Amanda says. Angela sighs and says, "It's fine. Besides, I'm going to cry if I start talking about it. And I just finished my makeup." "You can always fix it," Chanse replies. 'That's true...' she thinks, and after some debating, she gives in.

"Okay... I'm going to try to say this without crying," Angela says, "Back in April, I realized that I have feelings for Damien. Then at the Fourth of July party, he kinda-sorta asked me out, but I turned him down since I didn't want a workplace relationship. But I changed my mind last month because I realized that I do want to be with him. I asked him out but he said that he's in a relationship."

She starts tearing up as she says, "Then when we were at the karaoke bar there were three songs in a row that were about missed chances, and I got so emotional that I had to leave the room. But Damien had to show up, and for some reason, I blabbed about how hurt I was. He comforted me and apologized for the bad timing, but I'm still really sad about this whole thing."

She wipes away her tears and says, "So I'm hoping that I can get over him tonight by going out, drinking, and possibly hooking up with a stranger." Amanda walks up to her and gives her a big hug. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry. You must be hurting so much." That makes Angela cry even more. She nods as she gets patted on the back by Chanse.

Once she stops crying, she says, "Sorry I just dumped all this information on you two now." "No, it's okay. That's what we're here for," Chanse says, "Would you rather we go to a club instead? You're way more likely to find a stranger to hook up with there." Angela considers it, but says, "No, I'm good. I'm not in the mood for clubbing."

"Okay, well you should get ready. You said you still need to do your hair," Chanse says. "Oh yeah! I also need to fix my makeup now," Angela recalls. Before she leaves for the bathroom, she hugs them tightly. "Thanks, you guys. Love you both," "Love you too!" Amanda says. Angela rushes to the bathroom to finish getting ready.

~.*+ 3 hours later +*.~

Angela, Chanse, and Amanda are at a bar having a good time. Angela is pacing herself to make sure she doesn't get too drunk. She doesn't want a hangover tomorrow. Amanda's talking about a funny thing she experienced with her husband when Angela decides to go to the bathroom. "I'll be back," she says and leaves the table.

She's washing her hands when she sees out of the corner of her eye a blonde woman looking at her. She turns around and smiles at her as she gets a paper towel to dry her hands. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry for staring. You're just really pretty, I couldn't help myself." Angela blushes at the compliment. Taking a closer look, she's a slender woman with an eyebrow slit; she finds her attractive as well. "Thank you, so are you," Angela says.

The woman smiles, looks around, and whispers to her, "Girl in red?" Angela blushes again and whispers back, "Sweater Weather." She understands and leans in closer to say, "I'm Alice." "Angela," she replies. They shake hands and continue to flirt with each other. Eventually Alice says, "Listen, I just got dumped and I'm looking for someone to hook up with, no strings attached. Are you interested in that?"

Angela is surprised and says, "No way, I'm trying to get over someone too! I'd love to be that person for you tonight." "That's great, thank you so much! Did you come here by yourself?" Alice asks. Angela replies, "No, I carpooled with my friends. Are you here by yourself?" "Yeah. Do you want to come over to my place or I go to yours?" Angela thinks on it for a bit before deciding: "I can go over to your place." "Cool, thanks."

Just then, the door to the bathroom opens and they get quiet as a woman walks inside. They giggle over their sudden awkwardness and gesture to leave the bathroom. Angela brings Alice to her table and introduces her to her friends. They sit together for the rest of the night.

When it's time to leave, Angela tells her friends that she's going to leave with Alice. She says bye to Chanse and Amanda and they head towards the Uber she ordered. They continue to chat & Alice starts caressing Angela's thigh until they arrive at her place. They thank the driver and walk up to her apartment.

Right after Alice locks the door, she turns around and walks toward Angela. She touches Angela's waist and pulls her in. She lifts Angela's chin and leans in for a kiss. She leans towards Alice and kisses her back; for the first time in a while, Angela feels secure. Once they break the kiss, Alice leads Angela towards her bedroom for a night of care-free fun.

Chapter Text

.°•+ January 2025 +•°.

"Final challenge: Bread Eating Relay!" Shayne says to the camera. "Okay, let's cut and start setting up for the relay," Bailey says. While Art Team sets up the next game for Challenge Pit, the cast sits backstage and waits. Damien's talking to Shayne. He looks over and sees Angela leaning on Arasha, laughing at something she said. 'Thank goodness she seems happier now,' he thinks as he returns to the conversation.

A few minutes later, Bailey announces that they're ready to start filming again. The cast goes back on set as Art Team leaves. "Is everyone ready to continue?" Bailey asks the cast and crew. They say they are so she counts down: "Rolling in 5, 4, 3, 2..."

"So this next challenge is a popular game from Japan," says Shayne, "Basically, you have to catch the piece of bread with your mouth and run to the finish line without dropping it or touching it with your hands. We're starting from the right side of the stage and running towards the left side, which has the bread hanging on by a string and a clothespin. Then we run back and tag our relay partner. The first to the finish line without getting disqualified wins."

The teams are as follows: Angela, Olivia, and Shayne vs Arasha, Damien, and Tommy. Angela and Arasha get in position as Bailey counts down: "3, 2, 1, go!" The two cast members run to the edge of the stage where the bread is hung from a bar. The string the bread is attached to is of different lengths, so they would all have a fair chance at getting the bread.

Once they reach the bread, they do their best to grab it with their mouths. The plastic bag the bread is in is slippery and they all struggle with biting it. The bread is also swaying in the air, which adds to the difficulty.

Arasha eventually gets it and runs to her teammates. Angela quickly follows. She runs to her team members as Damien gets to the bread. Surprising everyone, Olivia bites the bread on the first try and runs back to her team, tagging Shayne. Angela shrieks in excitement as Olivia hugs her. Damien gets the bread and rushes to Tommy.

While waiting for them to come back, Angela starts to trash-talk. "We're gonna beat your asses so hard, you're gonna wish you didn't get up this morning." Without missing a beat, Damien responds: "Well I got up on the right side of the bed today, so I know we got this in the bag." She shifts her focus solely on him and continues: "Oh yeah, Mr. Insomnia totally woke up well today." "Hell yeah I did, you're so going down!"

She laughs as she says, "That's, like, the oldest trash-talking insult in the book!" "It's a classic for a reason!" "Doesn't matter, 'cause Shayne's gonna get the bread and we'll win this challenge." "So confident for someone who isn't even watching him play." "You're not either!" "I'm not gonna look away from someone that's trash-talking me." "Whatever Haas! I'm in your head!" "You-"

"Hey!" Shayne raises his voice, cutting off Angela and Damien's concentration. "What's up?" Damien asks. The rest of the cast members are giggling. "We're done. We finished the challenge, like, five insults ago," Tommy tells them. A blush forms on both of their faces. "Oh," Angela says, "So... Who won?" "We did," Arasha says, pointing to her team. "Ha! SUCK IT!" Damien gloats to Angela.

He was caught up in the moment when he said that. The others laugh but Angela is taken aback. Seeing her reaction, he immediately course-corrects and apologizes: "I'm so sorry, I took it too far. Are you okay?" She nods and shyly tells him, "Yeah, I'm okay." She quickly walks to the rest of the group, who are all ready to do the outro. He follows her lead and stands on the other side of the huddle.

After they wrap and put away the mic packs, Damien runs up to Angela, who's already walking towards the exit. "Angela!" he calls to her. She stops for a second before turning around to face him. "Yeah?" she asks. "Again, I'm really sorry for my behavior back there. I know it was in the heat of the moment, but I shouldn't have said 'suck it' to you. Are we good?" She quickly responds, "Yeah we're good. Sorry, I need to go to the bathroom, so is that all?" "Oh yeah, that's all. Go ahead, show that toilet who's boss!" he lamely jokes. She does a light chuckle and rushes to the bathroom.

He turns around and heads to the kitchen to grab a snack. He overanalyzes his last interaction with her. 'Are we actually good? Was she really in a rush for the bathroom or was it to get out of the conversation? We haven't talked much since that night at the karaoke bar. Should I not have said anything? Also, I shouldn't have said that joke; it was lame as hell.'

He tries to clear his head of those thoughts, but one is still lingering. It's what he was going to say in response to her "I'm in your head" comment. No, he can't be having these thoughts; he's with Mia now. He's over Angela. But that didn't stop him from thinking about what would've slipped out of his mouth had Shayne not stopped them.

"You already are."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angela is planning on going to the bathroom. The crying bathroom, that is. She swiftly walks to her salvation without any more interruptions. As soon as she is safely inside with the door locked, she crumples to the ground, quietly letting out her emotions.

She really thought that she was over Damien. It's been three months since he rejected her. She hooked up with Alice - twice! She should have moved on by now. So why isn't she?

That's why she decided to trash-talk. She thought that she was at a place where they could banter again, like they used to. But when she saw him so happy saying "suck it", it weirdly struck a chord in her. It wasn't out of offense - far from it. It tugged at her heartstrings. Seeing him happy while bantering with her gave her joy, but then a wave of sadness immediately came crashing in when she was reminded that she couldn't be with him.

This just solidifies that she's not over him. She cries as she comes to terms with this information. She didn't want it to come to this, but she has no choice: she needs to ask the casting directors not to cast her and Damien together in videos. That would also mean she needs to explain why she doesn't want to be in videos with him. That's going to be an awkward conversation she's going to have to deal with. But it's only until she knows she's over him.

She's determined. She WILL get over him. No matter how long it takes.

Chapter Text

.°•+ Late March 2025 +•°.

Mia is over at Damien's place to spend the night and she's relatively quiet. He doesn't notice it for a while, but when he asks her what she wants to do before bed and she responds with an unenthusiastic, "Yeah, whatever you want," he sees something's bothering her.

"Hey love, what's going on?" he asks her. She sighs and says, "Nothing, everything's fine." Now he definitely knows something's wrong. "Love, talk to me. Please, let me help you," he says. "I don't think this is something you can help me with." "What do you mean?" After a second of silence, she blurts out: "Because it's about you."

"Huh?" He doesn't understand. He can't recall a time that he said or did something to hurt her. He has no choice but to ask: "Love, what did I do? Or say? Please tell me so I can make it up to you." Tears start rolling down her cheeks as she says, "I just... Feel like you're not as invested in this relationship as I am."

He's more confused than ever. "Wha- what do you mean by that? I am invested in us." "Oh really? What about Angela?" she asks. "What about Angela?" "From what I've seen on Smosh videos, it looks like you two are really close." "Well, we're close friends," he says. "Well do 'close friends' stare at each other longer than necessary? What about the entirety of Todd? And 'guns down, pants down, let's fuck' from the Super Fight video?"

Oh. OH. She brings up some moments that make him look really bad. But he can salvage this, he has to. "Well, first off, the edits make it look like we look at each other a lot more than we really do. I promise we don't stare at each other that much. And when I do it's because I like seeing her reactions. That's it.

"Second, I volunteered to do the flirting-" "You VOLUNTEERED?!" "ONLY because the 'straight guy flirting' is the furthest thing from me in real life. Third, the 'guns down' thing was a joke. I'm sorry I made you feel uncomfortable with all that," he says, going in for a hug. But she moves away from him and says, "Well what's your reason for mentioning her in videos she’s not in unprompted?"

That stumps him. He has a good reason - he knows he does - but it's not coming to him. All he can muster is: "She just stands out to me. I guess I never realized that I talked about her that much. I'm sorry, I promise I won't do it again." He scooches in closer to her, holding her hand. She doesn't move away from him, which is a good sign.

"Okay, just answer one last thing," Mia says. "Anything," he replies. She takes a breather before asking: "Did you like her before?"

FUCK. He stammers for a bit; before he has the chance to say anything, she lets go of his hand and says, "Proves my point." She gets up and cries; he follows her and says, "Love, I'm over her. I'm with you now. I love you." He holds and comforts her. He tries his hardest not to cry, but a single tear falls down his cheek. “Just because you’re with me doesn’t mean that you’re not over her,” she argues. “Love, I swear to you that I’m over her.”

"Well, I'm sorry. I think you still have feelings for her. This isn't working for me. I think we should break up." 'What?!' he thinks. This is not how he envisioned this night to go. And he certainly doesn’t want it to end that way. "No, please," Damien pleads, "We can't end things, especially like this. Can't we please just talk about this in the morning? I promise you that I'm over Angela." She thinks for a few seconds before saying, "Okay."

It's getting late so they decide to go to sleep. They shower and brush their teeth before crawling into his bed. "Hey, I love you," Damien tells her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "...I love you too," Mia says back without turning around. His hand lingers on her shoulder for a little bit longer until he takes it off. He has trouble falling asleep during the night.

~.*+ 8 hours later +*.~

When he wakes up, he remembers last night's events. He feels scared about losing her, so he mentally prepares to do whatever it takes to keep her in his life. He turns around and his heart sinks. He didn't prepare for her to be gone. He leaves his room and looks for Mia. When he doesn't find her, he goes back to his bed and cries.

After a few minutes, he gets up and picks up his phone. He sees that there's a text from Mia. He unlocks his phone and opens the messaging app. He clicks on the unread message and reads:

Mia (6:15 am): Damien, I already made up my mind. I'm sorry. Thank you for the past few months that we spent together; I'll cherish every minute of it. Please send over my things to my apartment. I hope you have a wonderful life.

Love, Mia

Chapter Text

.°•+ April 2025 +•°.

Angela is drinking at home and is a bit tipsy. She just finished watching some new reality show that she already forgot the name of. She turns off the TV and cleans up; she stumbles her way into the kitchen and washes the dishes. Once she’s done, she goes back to her couch and lays down.

She starts thinking about Damien and how she missed her chance. ‘How. How could he have gotten together with someone when he wanted me just three months prior? I thought he wouldn’t get over me so easily. I guess he didn’t want to wait for me to change my mind. Or he just wanted to move on. I wish I had the realization that it would be worth the risk when I had the opportunity to be with him. God. I fucked up.’

To get her mind off of the situation, she decides to go on Instagram; she’s scrolling through the app, laughing at a video Chanse posted. She continues to scroll when she comes across a post of Damien's. Since she has nothing better to do (and she wants to see what he’s up to), she chooses to Instagram stalk him.

She scrolls through and sees photos and videos of Damien with different hairstyles from over the years. She sighs at how attractive he is. As she scrolls further and further down, she accidentally likes an old post. "Whoops," she mutters, "Oh well."

In her drunken state, she decides to text him. She goes through her contacts until she finds Damien's number. She starts to type out a message:

Angela (10:02 PM): Heyyy I liked a old post of yours you look so cute in that shirt that's it byeeee

She's about to hit send when she gets a moment of clarity and realizes that she shouldn't drunk text him. She deletes the message before she embarrasses herself and decides that she needs to go to bed. She gets off the couch and heads to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She takes a shower and crawls into bed.

Once her head hits the pillow, she is overcome with sadness. She wishes that he was someone she could drunk text without regret. Tears start pouring down her face as she cries herself to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damien has just come back from a long voiceover session. He lazily pets Zelda and Freyja as he trudges to their water bowl. He sees that it’s almost empty so he fills it up. He's too tired to cook so he takes out a microwave dinner from the freezer. He tries to keep himself busy while waiting for it to heat up (he knows that he’ll fall asleep if he sits on the couch). When it's ready, he plates it and starts to eat.

He goes on his phone while eating when he sees a notification saying that Angela liked a post of his. He quickly opens Instagram and is surprised to see that it's a post from 2022. He assumes that it's a mistake and closes the app.

He’s trying to focus on reading his emails, but his mind keeps going back to the Instagram post. 'But why was she scrolling all the way to 2022?' he thinks. He tries to think of a reason that she would go that far on his Instagram. 'Could it be that she was looking for a specific post? No, that can't be it. Why would she do that?' he thinks. 'Could Spork have gotten a hold of it and… That’s ridiculous. Maybe she misses me the way I miss her?'

... Wait.

'Did I just... Yeah I did.' He can't believe he's realizing this now, but Mia was right: he's not over Angela. He never was. He looks over to the other side of the table and wishes that she is sitting there with him. He wishes that he could go back in time and tell his past self to be patient and wait for her to ask him out instead of forcing himself to move on and be with Mia. He doesn’t regret ever dating her, but he wishes it could’ve been different.

He quickly finishes his food and gets ready to go to bed. He takes a shower and thinks about her laugh that he hasn't heard in a while. He brushes his teeth and thinks about how beautiful she looked during the holiday party. He crawls into bed and turns off the bedside lamp.

He's still thinking about her.

Chapter Text

.°•+ Early May 2025 +•°.

Angela checks her face in the car mirror while sitting in the parking lot at the Smosh office. She fixes her makeup then gets out of the car. It's the beginning of a new week and she's looking forward to filming. She's about to reach for the door handle when she sees another hand reach for it. She looks up and sees that it's Damien. 'Well, this is awkward,' she thinks.

"Hey," she quietly says. "Hey," he says back. They awkwardly stand in front of the door, insisting the other person go in first. Finally, Damien decides to open the door and let her in. She smiles and thanks him as she heads inside, with him following after.

"So... How was your weekend?" he asks her as they walk to their desks. "It was good; I did a show on Saturday, which was fun." "Nice! You're booked and busy." "Yeah, how about you?" she asks. "It was nice. I took a much needed mental health break." "Oh, good for you. Take that break!" He laughs as he gets to his desk. "I'll see you later?" "Yeah, see you," she says as she walks to her desk.

'Huh, that went well,' Angela thinks. She didn't think she'd be able to make small talk with him after her meltdown a few months ago, but here she is. She hasn't completely let go of her feelings for him yet, but maybe she can get over him and they can talk to each other again like they used to.

~.*+ 3 hours later +*.~

Chanse takes everyone to the Hootenanny as they play Mario Party 2 with Angela, Trevor, and Arasha. “God damn it, Chanse! I was so close to the Bowser Space!” Trevor complains as the others laugh at his misery. Trevor jokingly pouts as Angela and Arasha do a little dance and shout “Hootenanny!”

They go back to the game once everyone is settled. Angela is feeling pretty good about playing the game; she doesn’t have any stars yet and she has the least amount of coins. Of course, that could all change in an instant. But for now she’s feeling the high of winning at losing.

“Damn, Angela’s doing pretty well!” Arasha says. “I guess all the Don’t Wins I’ve been playing have been helping me,” Angela smugly says. “Bitch, you’re just lucky. You better keep that cockiness down if you don’t want to get a star,” Chanse claps back.

The mini game chosen next was “Move to the Music” and Arasha is the dance master. This reminds Angela of something: “Chanse, remember when Damien was the dance master and he didn’t move at all, making him win?”

WOAH. She hasn’t mentioned Damien unprompted in a shoot in months. She doesn’t even hear Chanse’s response since she is preoccupied with this thought: she definitely isn’t over Damien.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~.*+ 2 hours later +*.~

Damien is alone in the kitchen, fixing himself a snack. He's humming to a song in his head when he hears a voice say, "What'cha humming?" He jumps a little and lets out a sigh of relief when he sees that it's Angela. "'The Last of the Real Ones' by Fall Out Boy," he answers. "Ooh! I love that song!" she says.

There's a bit of silence between them until she asks, "Are you going to Arasha's party later this month?" "Yeah, I am," he says. "Okay, cool! I'll see you then," she says. She's about to leave when she turns back around and asks, "So how've you been? I haven't talked to you in a while." "Yeah, it's been a minute," he says with a chuckle.

"I've been doing okay. Busy with VO work, got dumped by my girlfriend, the cats are doing well-" "Wait, you got dumped? I'm so sorry," she says. "Thanks, it's fine, really. Especially since I realized that I was never over you."

GOD DAMN IT. He didn't mean to say the last part out loud; he can't believe he just let it slip out. He awkwardly looks at Angela, who blushes a bit before saying, "Well, whenever you're ready, you know where to find me." She winks at him and leaves.

He's confused at first, but then he gets it: she's saying that she's open to being with him once he's in a good place to be in a relationship again. He's giddy to hear that she still wants him and is willing to give him space. She truly is the one he’s been looking for. Soon, they'll have that conversation. But for now, he'll just be happy that he's wanted.

Chapter Text

.°•+ Late May 2025 +•°.

Damien's talking to Shayne and Courtney at Arasha's party. They talk about a funny memory from their So Random! days when a doorbell rings. Arasha opens the door and greets Angela. She enters the house and catches Damien's eyes. Just looking at her makes his heart race. It feels like they're the only two people in the room.

His trance breaks when she waves to him. He waves back and walks towards her. "Hi," he says. "Hi," she sweetly says back. "Hey~!" Courtney says from behind him. Next thing he knows, there's a group of people greeting Angela. He wants to talk to her privately, but he sees that he's going to have to wait.

~.*+ 3 hours later +*.~

Damien finds Angela talking to Chanse. As he walks up to them, he sees Chanse get a grin on his face. "Hey you two," Damien says to them. "Hey," they both respond. Damien turns to Angela and asks, "How've you been?" "I've been good. You?" she asks. "I'm doing good," he says.

They look at each other until Chanse says, "In the words of Angelica Schuyler: 'I'll leave you to it!'" He leaves and goes to talk to Amanda. "So, do you want to go outside to talk?" Damien asks her. "Yeah, let's do that," she replies.

They continue to chat as they walk to the front door. “You look really nice today,” he whispers in her ear. She blushes and says, “Oh, stop.” “Never,” he replies. She playfully pokes him and he pokes her back; they giggle at their flirting. He opens the door and lets her walk out first.

Now that they're safely outside, Angela starts the conversation: “So what are we here to talk about?” Damien is confused; he thought that it was abundantly clear. “Oh, I was hoping we could talk about this thing between us.” Her expression quickly changes: “Oh yeah, I know. I was just messing with you.” “Oh, ok,” he says with a laugh. She laughs too as she admits, "In case it wasn't obvious, I still have feelings for you." "Yeah, I'm still into you as well," he says. "I'm really sorry for turning you down last time because of my fears." "It's fine, I completely understand. I'm sorry for not waiting longer and dating someone else instead." "It's okay, I don't blame you," she says.

Now that the apologies are out of the way, they aren't sure how to move forward. "So... What happens next?" Angela thinks for a moment before asking, "Do you still want to go out with me?" "Yeah, I'd love to," he says. "Cool, thanks," she says. She blushes and he thinks, 'God, she's so cute.' He leans in closer and hooks her hair behind her ear. She turns to him and leans in until their lips touch. Her lips are soft and warm. Everything about this feels right.

In between kisses, he asks, "Do you want to come over to my apartment?" "Yeah, I'd love to," she answers breathlessly. "Ok, what time do you want to come over?" He asks her. She checks her phone for the time; it's 9:15 PM. "Hmm... Maybe 10:30?" she asks. "Perfect." They kiss one more time and head inside.

They enjoy the rest of the party separately, as not to raise suspicion. She goes to talk to Olivia and Arasha while he talks to Trevor and Spencer. At 9:45 PM he decides to make his rounds and say goodbye to everyone. He gives an extra long hug to Angela and heads out. Once he gets into his car, he texts her his address and drives home. He's excited to finally spend one-on-one time with Angela.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~.*+ 30 minutes later +*.~

It's 10:15 PM and Angela starts getting ready to leave. She makes the excuse that she ordered herself some pasta as she says goodbye. As soon as she leaves Arasha's place, she rushes to her Uber. She can't wait to be alone with Damien.

She arrives at 10:32 PM; she thanks the driver and texts him that she's here. She sees a door open and Damien waving to her. She waves back to him and heads up to his apartment. He meets her halfway; she's greeted by a smiling Damien. "Angela! You made it!" he says. They hug as she responds, "Of course I would! This is all I could think about for the last hour." He laughs as he escorts her to his place. Once they reach his apartment, he unlocks the door and lets her in.

As soon as he locks it, she grabs his wrist and pulls him closer to her. "Hi," she seductively says as she moves her hands over his chest and wraps them around his neck. "Hi," he breathlessly says as he holds her waist with one hand and lifts her chin with the other. They passionately kiss as he picks her up and moves to his couch.

They make out for a few minutes before Angela asks, "Hey Damien?" "Yeah?" he says. "Thanks for not getting over me, despite me breaking your heart in the past," she shyly says, tracing his tattoos. He smiles and brings her in closer, saying, "Of course, thanks for still liking me, even though I was with somebody else." She kisses his cheek and says, "The pining was worth it."

They go back to kissing when Zelda starts to scratch at the couch. "Hey, no Zelda! You have a post, go scratch that!" he says to his cat. Angela giggles as he struggles to grab Zelda and put her on the cat tree. "Sorry about that," he says as he returns to the couch. "No worries," she says, He then asks, "Do you want to move this to the bedroom, instead?"

He puts out a hand for her to hold and looks at her. She smiles and grabs his hand: "Yeah, let's go in there." They hold hands as he takes her to his bedroom. Once he closes the door, they go right back to kissing. This will become a night that they'll never forget.