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Children, sleeping. Snow is softly falling.
Steven was still unsure about this Christmas in Canada he was planning. Sure, it was a fun concept, but Steven knew something was missing. It was an out of the blue idea; he didn't even have Canadian citizenship like the Steven he hasn't talked to in so long. Even so, the idea of Canada appealed to him for some odd reason. It was an idea that brewed in the back of his head for no particular reason at all. And so Steven found himself in a Canadian hotel a couple of days before Christmas searching for unfound happiness.
Steven watched the kids outside building their snowmen and having snowball fights. He observed how simple their lives were. They laughed together with their parents in the distance having some drinks and having a good time. The view reminded Steven of his loneliness during this holiday season. His family were on some fancy Europe tour that only he didn't have the money to go to as his parent's anniversary gift. His girlfriend had long since left him, which left him with basically no one else, since his girlfriend somehow convinced all of his friends that he's some incarnation of Satan. Life had been interesting since Steven made the move to quit YouTube for good. He had a meh job, the one girl he had a deep commitment to stabbed him in the back, and his days were lonely.
Dreams are calling like bells in the distance.
John sat down on the sidelines, his muscles still aching from his previous match. John didn't mind the aching; he loved his career as a wrestler. Sure, it was stressful at times, but it was the life he had always wanted to live. He received good money that would allow him a comfortable life, and he was living his dream. He was happy with his current life and beautiful fiancé Marissa. She was a constant encouragement in life and helped him through everything. The wedding planning was definitely a surreal experience, knowing that the marriage is coming up soon.
This wrestling match was an important victory for John. It meant that other wrestlers would actually take him seriously. His opponent was famed for being quite an excellent wrestler, and almost no one predicted John to win. The audience was in an uproar when the event was over and done. Because of his victory, John knew he would have to train harder than he had been to keep up, but it would all be worth it. His career was starting to launch into the big leagues, and John would do his best to keep winning and secure a title for himself before his career would come to an end.
We were dreamers not so long ago.
Anthony stopped his recording and sighed in relief. Finally, his long recording hours were over. He wanted to keep his schedule open for Christmas just in case Jess wanted to do something special. Even if she wanted to stay here, Anthony wanted to spend time with her. All he had to do was a power editing session, which Jess agreed to help with, and then he would have his Christmas break set. Jess was a blessing to his life. He couldn't believe that he had an amazing wife supporting him in everything. When the ad revenue for YouTube was rough, she would work extra hours to make up the difference and make everything work.
The content on Anthony’s channel had really changed. Since finding people to collaborate with was a true challenge, he uploaded a lot more solo content. He could occasionally get content with Adam and his crew, but they had all gone full-time to Twitch with the exception of Sark, so collabs were much more difficult. The rest of the Derp Crew had all quit YouTube, so that ended all collaborations with them. He could sometimes gets collabs with acquaintances and other gamer channels, but those were few and far between. Despite this, many people on his channel stayed for Anthony's personality and still enjoyed his Shellshock videos and other content he would make.
But one by one, we all had to grow up.
Tom looked around at the unusually empty room. The wife and kids had gone on some vacation without him because of Tom's job, so Tom had stayed home and worked until yesterday when his Christmas break began. He had a couple of days by himself with nothing to do, which was a bit upsetting, but he understood that his family needed the money. Raising his kids and supporting his stay home wife was all worth it in the end, even though Tom wished his wife would get a job to help with the finances.
As much as Tom hated admitting it to himself, marriage wasn't everything he ever dreamed of. Tom had thought their relationship was slow enough for he and his wife to get to know each other, but Tom was quick to fall out of love. But divorce has never been mentioned before and Tom loves his kids. And it wasn't like he married someone horrible. She was a good friend to Tom, and that was important in raising children, but not so much for being lovers. Tom had promised himself to never being up separation until either his wife brought it up or when the kids are all moved out of the house. He didn't want the kids to suffer because of his selfish attitude.
When it seems the magic slipped away…
Things were not looking up for the Anthony who quit YouTube, the one who continued to live in Texas despite everything. He never thought about moving until there was no chance of leaving Texas. He never truly got over his economic problems, despite what those closest to him thought. Even though he managed to get a well paying job that could support the bills, he hated every second of it. He had become a master at hiding his depression due to the stresses of life that only strengthened as time went on.
He fantasized about quitting his current job, but he knew how rough the job market was. It would be near impossible to find a well paying job like the one he had, much less another job at all. He had no desire to move to another state because he could not be sure that he would get a job unless it was the same company transferring him to another workplace. Basically, he was alone most of the time and his life was absolute hell. It made him wonder why he quit YouTube in the first place. Life had been a bit stressful then, but at least it was all bearable and mostly fun.
We find it all again on Christmas Day.
Steven loved his job in Silicon Valley. He did not have to move far, just to another location in California. The benefits for working for Google were absolutely phenomenal, and he laughed at the fact that current youtubers, including his old friend Anthony, were cursing at the changes to YouTube that he had coded and put into place. He was trying to give input on the changes that needed to be made, but the system for doing so was tough and would take up more time than Steven had. As a result, Steven was a lot more forgiving towards the people who had designed YouTube before him, because the process and the servers take a lot of work and money to manage.
It's funny how Steven had quit YouTube to move on with getting a steady job, and this new job included making improvements and running YouTube. No matter which path he had chosen way back then, YouTube would be a part of his life. He had kept his new job a secret from the people he used to record with, mostly because he didn't want to be bombarded with requests to make certain changes to YouTube mechanics. Of course YouTube was not the only part of Google Steven helped with, but the YouTube part was definitely his favorite. Overall, life for Steven was fantastic.
Believe in what your heart is saying,
Tom went on the computer out of boredom, looking for something to entertain himself while his wife and kids were away. He knew being alone would be boring, so maybe something could inspire him so he’d have something to do. He surfed the Internet when he saw a link to an article about “The Most Recent Youtuber to Hit 10 Million Subscribers.” Tom’s heart went through so many emotions when he clicked the highly clickbait link to find out who that youtuber was.
Steven watched his television from his house, not wanting to go outside despite the winter weather being decent in California. He was flipping through the channels, looking for something interesting to watch. He wasn't interested in any of the shows currently going on and the basketball wasn't too appealing either. He was about to skip over the wrestling channel where they talked about the most recent match until he saw that the winner of the big match was someone that he knew all too well.
It was in the span of one hour that Tom and Steven looked at a screen to find out about Anthony’s and John’s successes. It was a bittersweet moment for both of them; they missed their old friends deeply. But everyone had moved on from the decline. Or so they thought.
Hear the melody that's playing.
It was actually Anthony, the one who quit YouTube, who sent the first tentative message. A group message to everyone he used to hang out with online. It was one simple Discord message to “The Derp Crew” that Anthony hoped at least one of his previous friends would read. Anthony wasn't sure what he would accomplish; maybe he wanted a distraction from the droll of his work and monotonous life. Perhaps a cry for help for the depression he had kept locked up for so long.
The other Anthony was quick to respond; as a youtuber, he checked Discord often to see if anyone wanted to schedule recordings and whatnot. Both Stevens saw a Discord notification on their phones; both of them had not bothered to uninstall the app. The four of them hopped into a voice chat and talked about how life had been going for them and John’s wrestling success. None of them had heard from Tom recently; this discovery had saddened them all.
It was Steven who suggested that everyone should meet up again. While talking to everyone, he had realized why he felt so unhappy in Canada. It was a nice location, sure, but he was alone. It was connected to the other Steven, but that didn't prevent the loneliness. He wanted to be able to spend Christmas with someone. His previous Christmas was spent with his now ex-girlfriend, which ended up not being the most pleasant Christmas Steven had ever had.
There's no time to waste,
Everyone started looking through old messages on Discord, their emails, Skype, to see if they could find contact information for Tom or John, since neither of them were responding to the Discord messages. It was a lot of chaos, scrolling through everything in an attempt to see if anyone had any type of record at all of a phone number or a personal email or something.
While this scramble was happening, Tom decided to congratulate Anthony on reaching 15 million subscribers. Tom was the only one out of the six of them that had kept all of the numbers of the other Derp Crew numbers, so he pulled out his phone and brought up Anthony’s contact. He sent the text to Anthony, and chuckled when Anthony responded with “who is this”. Tom replied to that, “guess :)”, which frustrated Anthony. He guessed a couple of people before saying that he didn't have time for these games and was trying to get in touch with someone important.
There so much to celebrate.
Because the phone idea didn't work for Tom, he thought about how to get Anthony’s attention without a guessing game until he realized that he could use Discord. He reinstalled Discord on his computer and waited for everything to load. Tom then realized that there were lots of messages in the old Derp Crew chat. Once he looked through them, he realized that Anthony was looking for him and John due to GaLm not having a functional mic and having to type everything out.
There was a panic in the Discord room after GaLm typed to everyone that Tom was online. Tom then plugged in his old headphones with a mic and joined the call. Tom got bombarded by everyone's voices in his ear, but he didn't seem to mind. He missed everyone as well, and told them about life had been going. While Tom was doing this, he sent a quick text to John, telling him to go on Discord if he was available. Learning from what had happened with Chilled, he signed his message so John would know who was randomly texting him. “Don't know if you're available right now, but everyone is having a Discord reunion without you. -Tom”
Believe in what you feel inside,
As soon as John entered the voice chat “randomly”, everyone except for Tom started flipping out. Tom then explained that he had kept everyone’s numbers and revealed that he was the one who texted Anthony. Anthony pretended to be mad while everyone else started cracking up. Phone numbers were once again exchanged and stored in everyone's phones. Everyone talked about anything they could think about at the time, including how things were back in the day. Old memories and good laughs made everyone happy for hours on end. Everyone was finally reunited at last.
It's was Steven's idea to all meet up for Christmas. After Anthony complained that he didn't want to leave Jess alone on the holidays, Tom suggested that everyone go to New York. Everyone else in the Derp Crew agreed after checking their calendars and realizing none of them had definite Christmas plans. Just like that, the conversation was shifted from the past into the present and future as everyone scrambled to make this idea into a reality. Everyone needed a break from their lives, and this gave everyone that chance. Plans were finalized with the exception of travel plans, which would be done separately. With all this in mind, everyone left the Discord chat and prepared for the days ahead of them.
Give your dreams the wings to fly.
Anthony ordered his plane ticket right away. Anywhere that wasn't Texas was a good place for Anthony to go. Anthony happily requested time off from his work, and since he hasn't taken a break from work since forever, he knew his boss would suck it up and accept his request. Anthony then started packing, which was something he hadn't done since his YouTube days when he'd go off to some convention to meet with friends and fans. He went through a packing checklist in his head multiple times to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything. He didn't want anything to go wrong on this trip because of his negligence.
Neither Steven knew that they had pressed the button to order their tickets at practically the same time. It was an act so insignificant, yet so significant at the same time. There had always been a connection between the two that neither of them had noticed; if they had, their futures may have turned out quite differently. But even when it was too late for such a future fate, the connection still remained in the most subtle of ways. Despite everything, fate showed up to make a declaration that would be lost to time. The two Stevens were connected, and could even be seen as soulmates, but both had always been far too blind to recognize the truth.
You have everything you need,
At first, Tom had also went online to find airline tickets, but looking at the prices, he realized he needed to find something else. He knew a plane to New York would be quicker, but the train was much more affordable. He couldn't afford to spend much money because the vacation his wife and kids went on took out much of their finances. Tom hadn't been this excited to something since his marriage to his wife. Tom needed a break from his usual schedule, and this was it. This was his one breather before going back into life's responsibilities of dealing with the wife and raising the kids.
Tom went online to find train prices and stations. After a while of searching, Tom found a route that wasn't all that bad. It'd be a bit uncomfortable for a long trip, but it wasn't expensive and the train had air-conditioning. He notified Anthony about his plan, and then explained to him why he got a train when Anthony questioned his choice of travel. After that, everything was set. All Tom had to do was pack everything up and wait in anticipation to leave his lonely house.
If you just believe.
John immediately went to Marissa to tell her about the plans he had made. Marissa was enthusiastic about the whole thing because she knew it meant John would be forced to stay in New York for Christmas and she knew how much John had missed his friends. Also, she knew that both her John needed something to focus on something that wasn't wrestling. Sure, John loved his career, but it was also exhausting. And Marissa wanted to not worry about John's health for a while.
Anthony also went right to his significant other to tell her about the people who would be coming to New York. After hearing the news, Jess immediately started preparing for the extra guests and sent Anthony shopping for more food. It had been a while since Jess had heard from any of them, and she knew how happy Anthony was around them, especially because she had been there for some of those recordings. It would take some work to make this happen, but Jess knew it would be all worth it.
Trains move quickly to their journey's end.
Tom ran to make sure he caught his train on time. If he ended up missing this train, he would be set back at least a couple hours. He had called his wife to let her know that he would be spending Christmas somewhere else and his wife was fine with it. That left Tom with luggage in his hand running to a train he was hoping not to miss. Tom cursed the fact that he slept through his alarm and had a panic attack when he finally woke up. Now, he had to run to catch a train that was far from the station's entrance after he had sped all the way to the station.
Tom hopped on the train five minutes before it was supposed to take off. He then sat down, out of breath. Tom couldn't believe that he had made it. The other passengers looked at him confused, but Tom chose to ignore them and ate a snack he had packed for himself as his breakfast. While he was eating, the train started to move. Tom started out the window while eating his snack as he saw the station become smaller and smaller as the train went faster and faster. He couldn't imagine how disappointed he would have been if he had to watch the train leave without him.
Destinations are where we begin again.
Anthony looked at the luggage he hadn't used since the last convention he ever went to. Since then, Anthony never had motivation to go anywhere else besides the restaurants and stores that are near him. Of course, he still went to his job, but that wasn't based off of motivation. That was based on life's responsibilities and what added to his lack of motivation. And now, here he was with a packed bag of essentials and dreams. This trip had ignited a fire he hadn't felt since… forever. And Anthony liked the fire. It helped him feel alive.
After getting everything he would need in his car, Anthony drove off to the airport with his spirits high. He had left plenty of time to go through security, considering some of the experiences he had experienced in the past. Most of the time, security was quick, but he'd rather wait in the airport lobby for his plane to come than miss his plane because of security. Besides, there were restaurants he could get food from and he had his phone and Switch on him in case he got bored. There wasn't anything for Anthony to worry about.
Ships go sailing far across the sea.
Steven got onto the first boat he could back to Alaska. It was easier to avoid international flights in his opinion. From there, he would take a plane to New York. But for now, he sat on the boat watching the ocean seem to move behind him, when really the boat was the object moving across the ocean. It reminded Steven of the times when the other Steven would ramble on about his science. Steven reckoned that objects moving would lead the other Steven to ramble on about why people used to believe the Earth was flat. It was an odd habit that Steven couldn't help but think of while staring at the ocean, which reflected the stars.
Steven could feel his nerves inside of him. Not because he was nervous, but because he was excited. He missed everyone and the things they would all do. He even missed all of the short jokes that used to annoy him. He wanted to feel accepted by the people around him, and this was his chance to do that. It was his chance to feel whole again after his ex had shattered his heart into a million pieces. He knew that he would find the solace he'd been looking for all this time. He just knew.
Trusting starlight to get where they need to be.
Steven’s flight was during the night. He watched as the stars seemed to be moving past him when really the plane was moving. As a lover of Science, Steven thought about how the early scientists thought the Sun and stars revolved around the Earth because to those on Earth, it looked like the sky was moving while the Earth remained still. It was no wonder that the early scientists were skeptical of Galileo's findings. Most people stick with what they believe is true; Steven reckoned that's why people believed the Earth was flat. Perception is those days was everything, as well as what was in the Bible, of course.
Steven chuckled to himself. Him and his stupid theories that someone else probably already came up with. Steven doubted that anyone would actually associate those stupid thoughts with him. There's probably some great scientist out there who already explained the ideologies of the people in the past and why they had them besides the Bible saying them. Not that it mattered anyway, since Steven had gone with Computer Science as his major instead of a type of science that deals with astronomy. In the end, all Steven really needed to know was that the stars are beautiful. And that people would complain when the most productive change to come to YouTube was a starry night background, but in Steven's defense, that background was a spectacular sight to see.
When it seems that we have lost our way…
Anthony sat at the chosen meeting place anxiously, wondering if seeing everyone again was really the best idea. Jess was all for the idea, but Anthony was hoping for something more romantic with Jess this Christmas. Anthony couldn't back out of this though because his friends were expecting him to be there and Jess had done so much to prepare for them to arrive. A part of Anthony wished that he hadn't agreed to this in the first place. Everyone else quit YouTube and left him alone in a sense. And now, they were abruptly coming back into his life.
John's wrestling career was taking off, so Anthony was afraid that the fame had gotten to his head and that he wouldn't be the kind soul he used to be. And Anthony knew practically nothing about the other Derp Crew members. Everyone was a stranger now. And that made Anthony feel uncomfortable. People change over the years, so how could Anthony expect to know if this trip is going to work? What if everyone argues all the time? What if everyone suddenly hates each other's company? That didn't happen in the Skype call, but it might happen when the nostalgia ends and everyone's true personalities come out. The thought of it all filled Anthony with dread.
We find ourselves again on Christmas Day.
John finished up the last of his business with wrestling before putting his phone down. He'd worry about finding someone to help him with stress after Christmas was over. He didn't want to have to worry about his manager creating a moral support job that he was supposed to fill. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. Now was the time to focus on the positive. After all these years, John would finally be able to see his old friends. The ones he had left behind in order to pursue his dreams.
Being able to see everyone was a dream come true. Even though John had the career and woman of his dreams, he missed all of his old friends dearly. Giving up YouTube to accomplish his dream was a heart-wrenching experience for John. In doing so, he had left his best friends behind. And now, he had the chance to see them all again. Even though they yelled at him for being stupid a whole bunch, he knew that they didn't actually hate him and were just frustrated with the game. He could hardly wait until everyone was supposed to arrive.
Believe in what your heart is saying,
Anthony sat down outside of the security gate waiting for the other Anthony and the Stevens. In his hands was a sign saying “Welcome Back Derps!”. He got a couple of strange looks, but he knew that it would be worth it to see everyone's reaction to the sign. Plus the silliness of the sign helped calm down his nerves. This was the moment of truth, the moment of reckoning. This was when his fears would be put to the test. He'd see his old friends and hopefully everything would end up fine. But what if everything wasn't fine? Anthony tried to tell himself not to worry, but it was hard for him to not have doubts.
John sat at the train station where Tom was supposed to be dropped off at. At first, John thought Anthony was kidding when he asked John to pick up Tom from the train station instead of an airport, but after Tom confirmed that he was in fact taking the train, John made plans to wait at the train station. John couldn't believe the time was almost here. He was about to meet up with everyone again. He watched the clock as it slowly ticked to the arrival time of the train. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. John started tapping his foot and twiddling his thumbs in anticipation for what he had been excited for ever since the plans had been made for everyone to come.
Hear the melody that's playing.
Anthony was surprised to find both Stevens walking towards him at the same time. He'd be less surprised if they were walking together, but what he witnessed was both Stevens on opposite sides of the exit to security oblivious to each other looking for him. Both ended up noticing the sign at the same time and chuckled to themselves before they walked up to Anthony. After both approached Anthony and all three of them laughed at their impeccable timing and exchanged hugs and all the sentimental stuff, the Stevens sat next to each other and starting talking with Anthony.
The three of them waited a bit longer until the other Anthony came to join them. Instead of Anthony facepalming or something of that nature like the three of them expected, he grinned at the sign and walked faster towards them. Anthony enthusiastically greeted the other three and chatted with them for a while before the four of them went to baggage claim to get everyone's stuff. Anthony decided to go to the parking lot and bring his car around while everyone got their luggage. It didn't take an awfully long time for the luggage to be stored in the back of Anthony's car and for the car to drive away with the four of them buckled up inside.
There's no time to waste,
John smiled as he saw Tom get off of his train. With his hood on, John had very few fans recognize him, and John told those who did that he was waiting for an old friend. Fortunately for John, those fans didn't stick around long because they had places to be and trains to catch. John waved and Tom walked over to him. The two greeted each other and started catching up on what's been going on in each other's lives. After a while of talking, Tom suggested walking to the car, so the two of them continued talking while John led the way to the parking lot and his car. While walking, John started laughing so hysterically at Tom's being late for the train that the two had to stop for a while before they continued walking.
When the two of them reached John's car, they found Anthony's car parked next to it with the other four friends waiting for them. Even though the six men received weird looks from passersby, none of them cared as they all greeted each other and started talking about how great it was that all of them were here. Eventually, the six of them split up with the Anthonys and Tom in one car and John and the Stevens in another. Tom ended up annoying the Anthonys by playing Pokémon Go in the car and requesting to stop by Pokéstops. Otherwise, both cars were full of playful banter and constant reminders to drive safe.
There's so much to celebrate.
Both cars arrived at Anthony's house at around the same time. The Stevens’ luggage entered the house while Anthony's and Tom's stayed in the car to be taken into John's house when night came. After the Stevens were shown their rooms and they settled in, all six of the Derps sat in Anthony's living room. Jess wasn't home and she had Rex with her, so the six men were alone in the house as they all talked and hung out. They recalled old stories and good times as they all ate cookies Jess had baked. Many jokes were made and the six of them just goofed off, caught up with each other, and had a good time.
This went on until Tom snuck over to Anthony's computer and started recording random crap on there. This action, when discovered, led Anthony to try and get Tom off of his computer when the Canadian Steven suggested that the six of them should record a video together. Everyone except for Anthony instantly fell in love with the idea, and all of them eventually got Anthony on board when they promised to help him edit the footage that would be uploaded to his channel. The planning for the video began as everyone debated what to do, and then what game to play and how to set up the cameras.
Believe in what you feel inside,
“Hey Internet, Chilled here, and today, I have a special treat for those of you who have been fans of my channel for a long time. But for those of you who are newer to my channel, I have some introductions I need to make.”
And that was the beginning of a video reuniting the entire Derp Crew for one final time. They had decided to play Mario Party, which went surprisingly well. To everyone's surprise, Anthony had ended up winning, which had rarely happened before he had quit YouTube. That moment of winning was the happiest moment Anthony had experienced for years. After he had been beaten down for so long, he had a moment of victory and excitement that he felt warming his soul. The others congratulated him, although Steven was still a bit salty about Anthony practically stealing the victory from him.
The comments on the Derp Crew reunion video made the whole hassle of recording the video worth it. Everyone had decided that the video should be released on Christmas Day since it was a warm hearted video that fit into the spirit of Christmas. The amount of joy everyone had while playing the game was joyful and nostalgic. After years of being apart, all six of them were doing the thing they used to and loving every moment of it. And the audience knew that as well. The comments were overwhelmingly positive, with people who had cried in joy while watching the people who had defined their childhood and earlier years together once again.
And give your dreams the wings to fly.
The rest of the time everyone spent together was magical. Everyone enjoyed each other's company, and all arguing wasn't at all friendship breaking. Anthony's doubts of everyone else had been squandered and he remembered how nice everything had been with them by his side. Jess and Marissa ended up spending a lot of time together and even started planning double dates for them and their spouses to go on. There was plenty of food to be had and laughs to share. There were plenty of activities to do around New York City that all of them could enjoy. The eight of them had the time of their lives.
While the time everyone had was wrapping up, everyone found themselves talking about their careers. Steven explained his job at Google, which got Anthony all riled up since he's still doing YouTube, but everyone else found the situation humorous. Tom talked little of his job and mostly about raising his kids. The other Steven talked a bit about his job, but was mostly content listening to others talk. And finally, John talked about the new development of the position his manager had created.
“It’s sort of stupid,” John said. “But my manager wants me to hire someone to just be there and make sure I'm not stressed all the time. It's just going to be more stressful with a random stranger there all the time because there's no way of knowing if they're a creep or a psycho fan.”
“What type of qualifications would this person need to have anyway?” Anthony asked. He knew it was a small chance, but Anthony really hated his job and this may be the break that he needed.
“There's basically no credentials required, which is stupid,” John said. “The only really needed is my approval, but even that might snap over my manager annoying me.”
“So it doesn't have to be someone you don't know?” Steven asked. He remembered GaLm complaining about how terrible his job was on a night where everyone else was drunk and knew why GaLm was so interested in this supposed job proposal.
“Well, I guess not,” John said. “I never thought of that before, actually. But everyone has jobs, and I don't want to have to make anyone quit their job just to make my life easier. Why did you ask that Steven? You don't want to quit your job, do you? I thought you loved your job.”
Steven could see the gleam of hope in Anthony's eyes, an unexplained happiness. Steven knew what to say next. “I love my job, but Anthony here doesn't.”
You have everything you need,
Everyone looked at Anthony.
“Is that true?” John asked.
“He said it loud and clear to all of us,” Steven replied. “It's not my fault you guys were drunk and don't remember that.”
There was silence for a while. John reflected on how much he had missed his friends. Having one of them by his side would make his life a lot better. Having support from the people who never gave up on him would help him remember where he came from and keep the passion he had held for wrestling for so long. But John was unsure whether the type of life that came with working for him would be the type of life Anthony would want. John's work frustrated him a lot, and for someone to have to put up with John's crap all the time… John felt bad for Marissa.
“Would you actually take the job?” John asked.
“I'd have to give my notice about quitting,” Anthony replied. “But I could start working after my old job is done with.”
“But what if it's not what you're expecting?” John asks. “What if it's all terrible?”
“John,” Anthony said. “That's the description of my old job. And if this new job is also like that, which I'm doubting, it'll be better because I'll have one of my best friends at my side.”
“I'll call my manager then,” John said, with a smile on his face. If Anthony's job was that bad, maybe a fresh start would be a good idea for him. “He shouldn't have a problem with my choice when I describe my reasoning to him. I just want to get things official before you go ahead and quit.”
If you just believe.
Soon, the Derp Crew's time together was to come to an end. Tom went back to Connecticut to his kids and wife. The kids had missed their father and he had missed them. Since so much money was spent on the vacation, Tom was able to guilt trip his wife into getting a job, even if it didn't pay the best. As a result, Tom didn't have to work as many hours to support the family and got to spend more time with his kids. When his oldest son wanted to go to Pax East because his favorite YouTuber Chilled Chaos was going to be there, Tom was excited and confused about how he had no idea about Tom's YouTube career, which was solved when his son said that he didn't have time to go back and watch Chilled's older content, which included the Christmas special. 'Oh well,’ Tom thought. 'His loss.’
John's manager was all over the idea of hiring one of John's friends to be moral support, and even praised John for the idea. As a result, Anthony happily quit his job and became a part of John's official staff. The two travelled a lot, and John's manager was thankful that Anthony was the one constantly giving John moral support instead of him. The manager could focus more on scheduling and managing instead of dealing with the human emotions package of the deal After a while on the job, Anthony realized that he was doing a lot of what he used to do on YouTube: telling John to stop being an idiot. But all the same, Anthony loved his work, and both John and Anthony benefitted from Anthony's new job.
Both Stevens returned to their normal lives for the most part. The two stayed in touch with each other a lot more often with constant Skype calls and texts. Eventually, the discontent Steven decided to move to California and became roommates with the Canadian Steven. After a new job was found for the Steven who moved, the two lived together happily. Neither of them found a romantic partner; they were content living with work and hanging out together. They found happiness in their jobs and not having to live life alone, which suited both of them just fine.
Anthony continued on with YouTube while keeping in contact with everyone. He even got permission to make vlogs about John's wedding, which got a lot of views because of how popular John's career was. Anthony was also able to convince Steven to implement some positive changes to YouTube, which partially reignited the ZeRoyalChaos ship. He managed to get in some recordings with both Stevens and the other Anthony as well. Tom was too busy with his family and John was too busy with his career to record anymore. But all six found time to have Skype calls with each other and enjoy each other's company.