The party had been loud. Flashy. Too many influencers in one place, each one louder than the last — and by the time you’d made it to the kitchen, shoes dangling from your fingers, your voice was hoarse from shouting over bad house music and even worse networking.

That’s when you saw him. Arthur. Curled up on the linoleum floor like it was the most normal thing in the world, a half-eaten bag of ready salted crisps cradled in his lap.

He looked up at you, eyes a little glazed and wide with recognition.

“Thank fuck,” he said. “Someone real.”

You blinked, then burst out laughing — maybe from the drink, maybe from the relief. You slid down the fridge beside him, your dress pooling around your legs.

He offered you the crisps.

“I thought influencers weren’t meant to eat carbs,” you teased.

He shrugged. “I’m not a real influencer. I’m just a guy who yells on YouTube.”

You grinned and took a crisp.

What started as dumb chat — ranking crisp flavours, mocking people in the hallway — slowly drifted into quieter conversation. Somewhere between your second mouthful and his third cider, the jokes turned soft, slurred with honesty.

You told him about the weird brand deal that made you cry. He told you about the time he got dumped during one of George's streams. You both admitted you weren’t having as much fun as you pretended online. There were pauses, but none of them awkward.

Eventually, the kitchen emptied. It was just you and him, still sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the floor, hands brushing now and then.

“I hate parties,” you muttered, cheek resting on your knees.

Arthur let out a soft laugh. “I hate shoes.”

That’s how you ended up walking barefoot through the streets at 2AM, heels swinging from your fingers, the both of you a little too drunk and a little too raw to care. You stopped every so often — to laugh, to sing badly, to argue about who was worse at being famous.

At one point, Arthur looked over at you — wind in your hair, crisps still clutched in one hand — and said, quietly, “I’m really glad you sat down.”