Chapter Text
Louis still remembers the day he got a Youtube. In fact, he remembers the hour, the minute, and even the second that he clicked the "Join" button. In that moment, a dozen doors opened for him, and it was all new and fresh and exciting, and Louis was next to clueless.
It was the middle of December, most people were leaving uni for the holidays, but he and his best mate Zayn were two of the small amount that stayed. He remembers sitting down in front of the shitty computer and turning on the even shittier webcam, and the two boys made their first video, filled with banter, food fights, and dancing (they may or may not have done a dramatic rendition of Ed Sheeran's "Kiss Me").
He had watched the subscriber count rise from 1, to 10, to 100, to 1,000. He remembers the first like he got on a video, the first good comment, and the first not-so-good comment. He remembers people tweeting him, saying "You're my inspiration," or "You make me smile."
He didn't even realize that this was what he really wanted to be doing until the day he reached one million subscribers. That meant one million people around the world watched him everyday, and that number was still growing. It was a bit overwhelming to him, because why would people want to watch him? He was nothing special.
The one thing he didn't remember about the past year and a half was falling in love, because it hadn't happened yet. He had gotten the comment loads of times. "Do you have a girlfriend?" "Are you single?" "Are you dating anyone?" And the answer was always no.
"Hey guys! So today me and Zayn- say hi, Zayn- are gonna be doing the chubby bunny challenge!" Louis said into the camera, with enthusiasm he wasn't really feeling. He had a shit ton of homework due tomorrow, but he had gotten so many complaints on Twitter and Tumblr about him not making a video in a while (it had been three days.).
"So we've got our marshmallows, and we've got our mouths-" Zayn snickered at that. "-so I guess we're ready... Zayn, you go first."
"Why do I have to go first?" Zayn whined, reaching into the bag anyway. He shoved the first marshmallow into his mouth and looked blankly at Louis, who was smirking.
There was a moment of silence, and then Louis blurted out, "You have to say 'chubby bunny,' you idiot."
Zayn rolled his eyes. "Chubby bunny, you idiot."
"That's better." Louis said, and got a marshmallow of his own. "Chubby bunny."
This continued for about ten minutes before Louis spit his out into the garbage can placed in between them.
"I AM THE WINNAH!" Zayn screamed after he spit his out as well, earning an eyeroll and elbow in the ribs from Louis. He was still doubled over the trash can, spitting the white sticky stuff out of his mouth, and Zayn wasn't even going to make a comment.
"So I guess Zayn wins this one," Louis said, sticking out his lower lip at the other boy, who enveloped him in a hug. He could see the comments already.
ZOUIS FOREVER! xxxxxxxx
They should date.
r they going out?
And there was always,
Faggots.
They're almost to gay to function. Lol, like for mean girls reference! xD
they should go to hell
Being "Youtube famous" was definitely bittersweet.
"Well, that's it for today, guys!" Louis said, still being held tight by Zayn. "If you liked it, make sure to give it a thumbs up or comment, and if you want to see more of my face and sometimes Zayn's, then you can subscribe to my channel. I love you guys... bye!" Zayn gave a halfhearted wave before Louis turned off the camera.
"Jesus, I'm exhausted. Remind me why I agreed to film that with you again?" Zayn said, walking away from Louis and flopping down on his bed.
"Because you love me. And apparently three days is now a century." Louis replied, already connecting his camera to their Apple computer, sitting shiny and new on the desk by the window.
"My mouth tastes like marshmallows." said Zayn.
"Mine does too. Should I upload it in 1080p and make them wait longer?"
"You know the fans, Louis. Remember last time? They nearly tore your limbs off via Instagram."
"Right. 720 it is." Louis sighed.
They didn't talk for a few minutes, the only sounds being the steady whir of the air conditioning and the clicking of the mouse.
"I'm gonna go get us some food." Zayn said, heaving himself up from his place on the tiny bed.
"Chinese?" Louis said hopefully, turning away from the computer screen.
"Just what I was thinking," Zayn smiled. He grabbed his wallet and phone, walking towards the door. "Call me if you need anything."
"I will. Love you."
"Love you too, babe." Zayn said, and he was gone.
Louis understood where the fans came from with the whole "Zouis" thing. He and Zayn acted like a couple, always hugging and cuddling and calling each other pet names. But they had dated in the past, and it only made things awkward between them. So they broke up, and went back to late night movie marathons in their dorm room and falling asleep in the same bed (they were barely big enough for just one person, let alone two. One of them always ended up on the floor).
Later, Louis was curled up in bed with his Chinese food (which was quite good) and his laptop, scrolling through the endless comments about his new video. They ranged from ALL CAPS AND LOTS OF EXCLAMATION POINTS BECAUSE OMG!!!!!!!! LOUIS TOMLINSON'S NEW VIDEO!!!!!!!!!! to flat out insults, calling him ugly and a fag and others that he didn't even want to think about. #LouisNewVideo was trending worldwide on Twitter, and his entire Tumblr dash was filled with screenshots and GIFS from the video. He saw various GIFS of Zayn and him hugging, and the captions were filled with hearts and "otp" and "JUST GET MARRIED ALREADY."
Zayn joined him after awhile, drinking tea and wearing one of Louis' sweaters. They laughed at the funny comments and ignored the hate.
And at three A.M. when Louis was about to fall asleep, he realized if he squinted hard enough, he could see the stars shining over the busy city lights.