CHAPTER 16

I grasped my keys in my hand and attempted to unlock the door, but my hand was shaking too much. Anthony reached around and held my hand firmly, guiding the key to the lock.
"It will be ok, I promise." He murmured in my ear when we heard the click of the lock. I took a deep breath and let Anthony guide my hand to the door knob. We turned it together and opened the door.
As soon as I walked in, I smelled bacon cooking. Ev was standing in the kitchen, only wearing his pajama pants, and Sarah stood next to him, one of his shirts hanging on her shoulders like a short nightdress. She was moving the bacon around on the skillet, and Ev had his arms wrapped around her and was murmuring in her ear. She laughed and turned to give him a kiss. I coughed and they jumped, breaking apart. Ev turned red when he saw Anthony and I, but Sarah just sneered at us.
"Uh, hey guys." I said. Ev nodded at me, but Sarah's eyes were locked on Anthony, who shifted nervously from foot to foot.
"Hey." Ev said. We stood in silence, and I tensed up from the awkwardness.
"Look, um… I'm here for my stuff." I said. Ev nodded and turned back to the cooking bacon. I tried to swallow the knot in my throat and walked into the hall leading to our room. Anthony started to follow but was stopped by Sarah who said "Eliza, you don't mind if I speak with Anthony for a minute?" I looked at her and shrugged. She gave me a sinister smile and took Anthony by the arm, pulling him into the living room. I stepped into the bedroom Ev and I had shared and had to work to fight back tears. I grabbed my suitcase, covered with band stickers, and packed away all of my clothes. I then grabbed my big old duffel and stowed away other things, like books and electronics. I finally emptied all my drawers and shelves that I had spread things out on, and zipped up my additional backpack. I looked around, looking for anything left that was mine. I slipped into the bathroom to grab my things there, and noticed the corner of the mirror. It was still broken, and I still had the scar from when I had smashed it… from when I realized that I was dangerously falling for Anthony. Fighting back more tears, I quickly left. As I neared the living room, I heard Sarah talking to Anthony, not even trying to whisper.
"You do know that you will have to tell her, right?" She was demanding Anthony.
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her." Was his reply. I was about to burst out and demand just what I didn't know, but something stopped me. I had to listen more. Sarah gave a frustrated sigh.
"Anthony, keeping it from her is riskier than telling her. You know that even if you were completely honest and innocent when you told her, she might leave you?"
"She won't find out, Sarah."
sarah paused, and I saw her walk away to the kitchen. I came out of hiding, but acted like I didn't hear anything. I heard Sarah murmur "Won't find out, my ass" but ignored her.
"Ev, I'm taking the Xbox, the PS2, and all of my games." I announced. Ev jumped a bit.
"You're taking the Xbox and the PS2?" He demanded, whirling to face me. I met his gaze and must've been a bit fiercer that I thought after hearing the exchange of Anthony and Sarah, because he flinched.
"Yes, I'm taking the Xbox and PS2, and all of the games that I bought with my money. I brought the Xbox and PS2 into this house, I'm taking them out." I said quietly. Ev nodded and turned back to whatever he was doing. I took five minutes to pack the consoles and games into my duffel, and turned to face Anthony.
"I'm ready." I said. He took my suitcase and kissed me on the cheek, leading me out the door. I didn't look back.

Anthony let me sleep in his room, so I just plopped my bags down in there when I got back to their house. I sighed, looking around, then giggled when I saw his pink kitten poster. He had followed me in, and cracked a grin at me when I saw the poster.
"That is the most sophisticated room decoration I have ever seen." I said, smiling. Making a goofy seductive face, he leaned over and stroked the kitten.
"Oh, isn't it?" He breathed, flicking his tongue out through his teeth. I laughed and gave him a hug which he happily returned. He held me tightly and buried his face in my hair, making me sigh happily. He smelled so good, and I pressed my cheek into his chest. Then I remembered how I would hug Ev like this all the time, and tears threatened to spill over my lashes. I took a shaky breath, which caused Anthony to hold me more firmly. He pressed a kiss to my temple.
"Everything's going to be alright, Eliza." He said softly. I nodded, scolding myself for losing my cool like that.
"I'm sorry, Anthony." I said softly. He pulled back, cradling my face in his hands.
"What on earth would you be sorry for?" He demanded. I nearly faltered under the intense gaze of chocolate brown eyes, but I didn't.
"For losing it and running away, making you guys come after me. For having to stay with you guys without warning. I'm sorry for causing you all of this trouble."
This time, the tears did spill over my lashes and ran down my cheeks. I choked on a sob, and I raised my hand to brush the tears away. But Anthony just pressed his lips to mine, slipping an arm around my waist and bringing me close to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled as I felt his thumb wipe the tear from my cheek. He pulled away and kissed my forehead.
"I love you, Eliza. I wouldn't trade spending time with you for the world." He whispered, looking into my eyes. The warm brown that had been intense a few moments ago was now warm and comforting, and I just wanted to melt into a puddle right there. I kept my wobbly knees steady, but left the goofy grin on my face because it felt so genuine.
"I love you too, Anthony… So much." I whispered back. He smiled and wrapped me close in another hug, tightening his arms around me. Then we let each other go and walked into the living room, where Ian was sitting with his laptop. He raised his eyebrow at us, then looked back at his screen.
"Anthony, we're gonna have to work on some videos… The fans are getting a little worried by our inactivity." He said. Anthony winced and went to sit next to Ian.
"What do we have as some backups while we work on planning our next filming?" he asked. Ian scrolled through a file on his computer.
"Not much, dude. It's all fairly sketchy stuff, as well… not very quality. We have to come up with something, quick." He said. They both stared in silence at the computer, brooding. I stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before saying "What about something about how you guys are outside of Smosh?"
They both looked up at me in shock. "Wait, what?" Ian said.
"Well, the fans really love you guys as people, too… I'm sure a lot of them would be happy if you guys just made an impromptu video being yourselves without a script or fancy equipment. Just make a bigger longer 'Ian is Bored.'" I said, looking down at my toes. I felt the color rise to my face, because it wasn't my place to be advising them on their videos. Much to my surprise, Ian leapt to his feet and gave me a bear hug.
"That is a great idea, Eliza! Thank you!" He said, nearly knocking me over with his enthusiasm. I laughed and hugged him back.
"Glad you think so. Speaking as a fan, seeing you guys as normal people would make lots of people super happy, because you guys are considered celebrities to many people." I said. Ian nodded thoughtfully, as if he were trying to think from the point of view of a fan. Anthony suddenly burst out laughing rom the sofa.
"Why are you blushing so much, Eliza?" He said between laughs. I pressed my hands to my cheeks to find them warm.
"Agh, I'm embarrassed! Suggesting something for a video to Smosh isn't exactly a piece of cake for a fan…" I muttered. Anthony rose and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
"You're fine, Eliza. You know we love," he started to nuzzle my ear, making me giggle. "love our fans." I smacked him playfully and smiled as Ian coughed uncomfortably.
"Well, when should we get started?" Ian asked Anthony. Anthony grabbed a camera from the coffee table and pointed it at him.
"How about now?" He said, finger hovering over the record button. Ian grinned and gave him the thumbs up. With the little red light blinking, I tried to sidle away but Anthony fixed me with a stare while Ian started introducing the new video.
"Hey guys! So, we've been a little inactive with Smosh… Sorry about that." Ian pulled a face for the camera, and Anthony snorted a bit as he turned the camera back around to face him.

"So we thought we would do a unscripted, barely edited video for our fans, for you guys to wee what we're really like when we don't have a script!" He turned the camera towards me and said "Props to Eliza for coming up with the idea!"
I stood there with my hands over my face, wondering how red I had turned by now. "Anthony!" I squeaked, peering at him through my fingers.
"What?" He asked, grinning at me.
"You don't need to film me!" I protested as he brought the camera close to my face. He laughed and turned the camera back around to look at him.
"We'll get her eventually. Let the crazy filming begin!" He said, throwing his arms wide and pretending to drop the camera. I couldn't help it, I laughed and he pointed the camera at me.
"Noo!" I said, clapping my hands to my face again, and he just laughed.
"This is going to be interesting." Ian grinned as the camera was pointed back at him.