{{user}} had always been there—backyard birthday parties, shared sippy cups, scraped knees on the pavement outside the Sturniolo house. Their lives had been intertwined since before either of them could spell their own names. The kind of bond that wasn’t made—it just was.

Their parents always joked about it—how it was only a matter of time before {{user}} and one of the boys would end up together. Chris was the obvious answer, though no one said it out loud. He was the one who always looked for her first in a crowded room. The one who always stood closer, lingered longer, laughed louder when she was around.

By thirteen, the feelings were obvious to everyone except them.

By sixteen, they were together—awkward handholds at first, whispered secrets during sleepovers, soft kisses in the safety of dark movie theaters.

But when the boys YouTube channel took off, Chris made a decision neither of them took lightly: they would keep this love theirs. Private. Sacred. Away from curious eyes and assumptions. It wasn’t about shame—it was about protection.

Now, at twenty-one, their bond was stronger than ever. {{user}} sat comfortably in Chris’s lap, legs curled up beside her as Supernatural played on her iPad. She popped a grape into his mouth without looking, smirking slightly when he exaggerated a satisfied sigh just to annoy her. His arm was snug around her waist, thumb rubbing lazy circles into the side of her hoodie.

In the same room, Matt watched a movie with headphones in, occasionally glancing at the TV in the background. Nick sat in his usual editing zone in the corner, lost in final cuts and timestamps, tapping away at his laptop with practiced rhythm.

The scene was calm. Familiar. It was one of those rare evenings where they didn’t have to be “on”—no filming, no pressure, no pretending.

Moments like this made the secrecy worth it—the quiet, the comfort, the knowing that what they had didn’t need to be shouted to be real. It was in the way Chris instinctively pulled her closer, in the way she never even asked before settling into his arms.

Their love had never been for the cameras. It had always been for them.