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“Eric, god dammit, I already told you! We’re not doing your dumb video!” Bradey slammed his hand against the table. “It’s called IndominusBradey500, not IndominusEric!”
Eric toyed with his fidget spinner. All he wanted was to finally be featured in Bradey’s videos… he had felt his cold shoulder for far too long.
“Just tell me: how hard would it be?” asked Eric, defeated.
Bradey rolled his eyes “That’s not the point! The point is, is that I don’t want to!”
Eric was on the verge of tears “Why?”
“It’s stupid!”
Eric sighed, and sat down. Why wouldn’t Bradey just listen to him? Didn’t he care for him? It took all his energy to not start crying.
“It’s not stupid, Bradey. It’s me.”
Bradey sighed “Eric, stop taking this so personally.”
“Well, how am I supposed to not? You never let me on your videos! Do you know how much I work on your videos? For once in my life, I’d just like for you to appreciate me.”
Bradey paused “I do, Eric. I do appreciate you.”
Eric shook his head “I don’t think you do.”
He had had quite enough of this. He got up to leave, leaving Bradey alone and cold. Bradey’s mouth hung open, and he had tears in his eyes. What would he ever do without his partner?
“Eric, Eric, no! Don’t leave me! What am I supposed to do without you!” Bradey cried out.
“That’s your fucking problem, Bradey,” Eric sighed.
While leaving the house, Eric saw a picture of him and Bradey. It was from 8th grade, they were in his backyard. Bradey held his arm around Eric, and there were big smiles all around. Eric remembered, Bradey had just gotten his new camera that day, and decided to break it in with a picture of him and his best friend. So much that title meant, Eric thought, with a scoff. He took the frame and smashed it on the floor, rubbing it into the floor with his foot.
“Eric, No!”
But there was nothing he could say. Eric was gone, and all he had left was a torn up photo. Bradey began to sob, knowing that he just lost his best friend, who had been there for him through everything…. How could he do such a thing?
Bradey began to clean up the pieces of his broken frame, tediously pulling the glass from the carpet. He knew he had to do something to get his man back… But how?
As he threw away the glass, it came to him. Of course! It was so obvious! He ran to his computer and got to work.
- -
Why couldn’t he stop crying? Bradey was the biggest jerk on the planet, he was lucky to be rid of him. But Eric didn’t feel lucky. He felt as if someone had given him the world and taken it away. The tears flowed from him like the whiskey into his glass.
Everything reminded him of Bradey. The Dragon Ball Z poster, his dinosaur plushie, his Skrillex CD… there was no escape. Bradey haunted him like a ghost. He could still see his stupid little face, making his big eyes. He always thought it was so funny, and Eric thought it was just so cute. There was no man like him.
He tried and he tried, but he just couldn’t stop himself. He just had check Bradey’s channel, he him so. If he couldn’t have him in real life, at least he could have his virtual presence. The moment he saw his face, his heart lit up. He smiled and scrolled through all his videos, and he remembered making them all. He saw his favorite edit, Jurassic World set to Monster. He remembered making that…
“You know, you can’t go wrong with Monster, Bradey” Eric advised.
Bradey smiled “You know, you’re right Eric. You’re always right.”
Erics sobbing became all the louder. Where had the happy days gone? He still loved Bradey, he did. It just wasn’t as simple as it used to be, and Eric longed for those days.Nothing was easy anymore.
He scrolled back up, when he noticed something.
“For my best friend, Eric?”
There was a thumbnail, of the picture he had smashed. On it, Bradey had scribbled the words, “Best Friends”. Eric clicked on it, not knowing what to expect.
Bradey appeared on the screen
“Hello, YouTubers! Now, I’m guessing you all know my best friend Eric. But what you don’t know is that we had a bit of a fight the other day, and I need to make it up to him. So, just for you Eric, is a video,”
Eric’s eyes began to well up. Did Bradey really care this much for him?
It was their song, “Monster” by Skrillex, and a slideshow of their pictures and videos together. Going to the beach, Valleyfair, first day of high school, trick-or-treating, and most importantly, working on their videos together.
Eric quietly sobbed “I love you too, Bradey.”
Bradey came back onto the screen “So please, Eric, will you take me back? I need you, I can’t do this without you, you’re my best friend in the whole world. And from now on, we’ll use your ideas too.”
“Oh Bradey, I don’t even care. I don’t need the fame, the fortune. All I need is you. We’ll work at gamestop, live together, and make videos for the rest of our days. From now until the end of time Bradey, we will be together. I can’t live without you.”
The video had ended, and Eric sobbed once more for he was no longer able to hear his friend. He had only one option left: he grabbed his car keys, and sped his way to Bradey’s place, and never again would he leave.