Author's note-
> I know that in this case, they would need to go to court to sue Derek because of harassment, etc, but because I have no clue how that works and because this is my story, I'll let it be. Sue me.

(Besides. Knowing society, it wouldn't help her anyways.)

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Soon, they had the details worked out and ended the call. Ashley was left staring at her phone in a silent room, not knowing what to think. This was real. They would trick everyone into thinking that they were dating because they had made a drunk mistake at a party.

Sighing, she opened Instagram. The comments on her newest post were filled with all the different reactions she could imagine. Ashley put her phone down, the screen pointing to the table, and got up.

Jerry was sitting in the living room, and she was pretty sure that he was looking at the comments and posts as well.

"Is this real?" he asked as she entered, knowing that she would guess what he was talking about. Ashley gave him a crooked smile and nodded.

"Yeah... I was going to tell you, I swear."

Jerry looked up at her, grinning widely but with a hint of confusion in his eyes. "Congrats then!"

"You're not angry?" Ashley made sure.

"No, of course not! But, I mean, since when? How long has this been going on?" He did seem a little bit hurt, even though he was good at hiding it.

"We've known for a month now... But we've been together for like six days? I... um, I asked him the day after the trip. When I called him." She blushed. Why did she blush again? It wasn't even real.

Jerry gave her a sympathetic smile. "How do you feel? After that idiot leaked it?"

"Well, I think it was our own fault. We weren't thinking straight and did that, even though we wanted to keep it private," Ashley said, making a grimace. She sat down next to him, leaning her head as far back as possible. "I got my revenge though."

"Yep, he's getting a massive shitstorm. I hope that, if he's been like that with other girls, they'll speak up. You should maybe tweet something about it. #CancelDerek is about to be trending."

"Have you?" Ashley asked, too lazy to get her phone.

"Not yet. I wanted to wait for what you say."

"Alright," she said, sighing, "then I guess I'll have to post my thoughts. Here we go."

She stood up and walked to her room, grabbing her phone before she threw herself on the bed. It was already blowing up with notifications from every one of the social media apps she was on.

Opening Twitter, she clicked all the Tweets away and started to write a new one. The blank space was staring at her. What in the hell was she going to write without sounding like an asshole?

"Yes, I and Colby are together.

No, I won't answer any questions about it yet.

Yes, Derek did harass me at the party, until Colby showed up.

No, I did not know he filmed me and Colby when we were kissing.

Yes, he posted it without our consent, and I think that's a crime. He can't have not noticed us in the back of his video and still decided to post it. Derek, if you're reading this (which I suppose you are), I'm sorry that you are so bitter about a girl's rejection. I'm sorry that harassing someone is the only way you could possibly get anywhere because your personality isn't enough. That must be a sad life.

I'm not sorry that you're getting what you deserve, though. #CancelDerek"

Good enough. She tweeted it before she started having second thoughts. Quickly, responses were raining in, and she turned the notifications off, knowing that there wouldn't be a lot of interesting things. She did check on Derek's account though. He hadn't offered any kind of statement yet.

"I'm already tired of this," she complained to Jerry as she walked back to the couch. "Can't people just shut up? Why do they have to be so hungry for drama..."

"You need to look at the bright side of things. You know that this will skyrocket the attention you have on social media?" Jerry asked. "Just enjoy it while it lasts." A grin was tugging at the corners of his mouth, and she rolled her eyes playfully.

"Yeah, but come on now, it's the negative kind of attention. Well, not fully. Something in between."

"See, it could be a lot worse," he stated. "Look at the shitstorm Derek is getting."

"He deserves it," Ashley muttered. "I hope I never see him again or I might actually punch him. But can we not think about this right now? I need to distract myself."

Jerry nodded, understanding. "Sure, do you want to watch a movie?"

Ashley agreed, flopping down on the couch, and reaching for the remote control. "Can we watch Stranger Things?"

"Again?" he asked. "You've seen the first season like ten times already."

"Seven, but who's counting," she hummed, already selecting it.

"Fine. But I'll go cook something," he checked the watch on the wall, "in half an hour."

"Good, I'm starving. The egg you made in the morning is the only thing I've eaten all day," Ashley said as she put on the first episode.

"You need to take better care of yourself. Good that you live with me," Jerry stated.

"Yeah, it's like a restaurant every day. You need to teach me how to cook so well, seriously," she said absentmindedly, her mind already focusing on the series playing.

"We could film a YouTube video. You're cooking blindfolded and I have to instruct what you do," he suggested. She chuckled at the thought.

"It would be a catastrophe. I'm in."

As promised, Jerry stood up around halfway through the first episode to go to the kitchen. She used the moment of distraction to check her phone. Colby had posted a tweet as well, telling people to stop calling Ashley a slut and convincing them to hate on Derek instead.

The apartment was filled with fighting sounds from the series and Jerry's happy humming as he was frying something in the pan. It smelled delicious, and for a moment, Ashley could imagine a world without this past week, without all the drama happening around her.

She couldn't quite manage to imagine a world without Colby, though. And then she felt bad because she hadn't thought of Sam for a long time, not even questioning how the blond was doing.

On the other hand, he hadn't really contacted her either, but Colby had, so it was fair in her opinion.

Her phone chimed, and she wanted to turn it off but changed her mind as she saw a text from Colby.

Colby 🖤
how are you holding up?

Ash 🤍
pretty well, i think

Colby 🖤
you think?

Ash 🤍
watching my favorite series and listening to jerry cook, i'd
say i'm distracted enough :)
hbu?

Colby 🖤
sam didn't like that i "kept this from him" for so long
but i'm good otherwise

Ash 🤍
i understand him, you're his best friend after all
ngl, i'm still surprised you went with not telling him

Colby 🖤
how did jerry take it?

Ash 🤍
pretty chill. but our relationship is more of a roommate
relationship, we're not as close as you and sam

Colby 🖤
why did you move in together in the first place?

Ash 🤍
well, we both decided to move here around the same time
and didn't know anyone else
we'd been collabing on both accounts regularly for some
time, mostly online tho
the fans loved the collabs and we work well together, so we
decided why not live together

Colby 🖤
that sounds nice

Ash 🤍
it is, i enjoy working with him :)
the only annoying thing is that people ship us constantly
especially in the beginning. it's calmed down a little by now
butttt he's a really good cook, that makes up for it lmao

Colby 🖤
yeah, i experienced that firsthand this morning haha

Ash 🤍
ok, he's finished preparing dinner, brb

Colby 🖤
🤍

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Author's note-
> Why the texts look different than before? Because they're not texting on Insta anymore ;)