Colby recognized the picture Ashley posted on Instagram the next day. It was the one she had shown him before the party when telling him about her piercing. When he swiped, he saw another, very similar picture, obviously the try to recreate the first one. It had been taken yesterday; she had been wearing the same shirt as she had come over.

And Ashley had a piercing in it. It was a simple silver ring through her left nostril. The caption said, "going back to old ways". He automatically moved to the comment section, about to type a compliment, when he remembered what Ashley had said. They should seem like they were drifting apart. But how does one make it seem like that?

His fingers hovered over the keyboard before he put it away. Sam thought they had had an argument the day before, maybe this was an appropriate reaction. Ignoring each other for some time, and then finally seem like everything was okay before going back to ignoring.

Colby hated the fact that he was thinking about it so much.

Ashley hated the fact that she was trying not to think about it.

It was easier to just pretend that they could continue like they had for several weeks. But speaking about it had made the thought intrude into her brain that there was an end to all of this. Or that "this", whatever it was, had ended already.

She also hated the fact that she was checking her comments for the fifth time to see if Colby had commented yet. He was online, that was for sure, but there was no sign of him. Maybe it was better this way. Realistically, they would try to cover the argument up on social media by continuing in the same way, but there was nothing to hide, nothing to cover up. The whole thing was a play, a trick, a charade. Something to get the haters to shut up.

A few hours later, when she was already concentrating on something else, she finally saw Colby's comment pop up. A simple, "told you it would suit you" that made her smile more than it should.

They still posted pictures and TikToks with each other after that afternoon, but less frequently. At first, no one seemed to notice, but then Ashley saw more and more posts saying, "Don't Ashley and Colby seem a little less close to you guys?" and similar things. Most of the replies defended the two but it was evident that people started noticing the uncomfortable atmosphere in most of the videos, Ashley's glances at her own hands when she didn't want to look at Colby.

In one of their more recent videos, it was only a short TikTok, there had been a moment where Colby looked at Ashley, who lowered her eyes immediately as he turned his head. The moment was edited by so many people, saying that they could see the affection in Colby's eyes while Ashley just looked away.

She spent too much time scrolling through those edits.

Rumours were inevitable, and it was what Ashley and Colby's relationship was based on, but it still hurt when she saw people saying that she didn't deserve him or that she was only using him. Because they made her realize that she did. Since they had started lying about their relationship, her follower count was going up like rarely before. Since they kissed, they had filmed a ton of TikToks and YouTube shorts together, making her popularity go up even more. After the ghost investigation, they hadn't made a full-length YouTube video together, but the short clips seemed to be enough for the fans. The ones with Colby always blew up. Every. Single. Time.

She hated all the attention she didn't even deserve. It made her grow frustrated that a boy appearing in her videos made them so much more popular than when she was alone. And suddenly, she wasn't even trying to seem distant anymore, she just was. The bitter glances, hidden behind fake smiles, were real suddenly. The scooting away when she felt him too close to her. And the silence after filming, right before they swiftly nodded at each other, and then one of them left.

"Ash, what is going on?" Jerry asked one night when she came back late after wasting time outside, not wanting to come home. The scent of alcohol wavered around her, filling the entrance. She wasn't drunk, though. Not even drinking would make the uneasiness go away, and she knew that, so she didn't even try.

"Nothing," she answered, putting her jacket and helmet away.

"Sure," he scoffed. "And that's why you've been so distant these past two weeks. Seriously, did something happen? Is it about Colby?"

She stayed silent, her hand resting on the shelf, right next to the helmet.

"Oh, I'm going to kill him. What did he do?"

"Nothing," she quickly said, shaking her head. "It's just... It's just not the same anymore. It feels weird, you know?" Biting her lip, she considered just telling him. About the fake relationship, the hurt feelings when she looked at her videos' statistics. The pit in her stomach when she remembered all the fun moments she'd had with Colby. The disappointment in herself when she thought about how she was shutting him out.

"Why?" Jerry asked, and she shrugged, staring at her feet, not wanting to look at his eyes.

"Don't know. It's exhausting. To hold it all up while it feels like the floor is crumbling beneath my feet."

He stepped closer, opening his arms slightly. Without hesitation, she accepted the hug, sinking into his embrace.

"I just want this to end, but I can't let go, you know?" Her voice was muffled, and her eyes closed. Jerry slightly brushed her back, guiding her to the living room to sit down on the couch. With a relieved sigh, she let herself fall in between the pillows. "How do I make this stop?" she groaned.

"Have you talked to him about it?" Jerry asked.

"Yeah... it's not helping. I just feel stupid, you know?" Ashley was concentrating on what was leaving her mouth, not wanting to spill the secret. "It's only been, what? Two months and it already feels like this? It shouldn't, right?"

"There's never a "wrong" or "right" when it comes to feelings," Jerry explained, gently stroking her hair after he sat down next to her and laid an arm around her. She immediately leaned into his touch, enjoying its familiar comfort. "If you feel like it's too much pressure, I believe you that it is."

"It is," she confirmed, sighing deeply. "There are so, so many people out there watching our faces on their damned little electronics every single day. So many people who think they know us when they don't. They have no fucking clue what's going on and still talk about us as if they did, as if they could in any way predict how we're going to continue... And then they have the audacity to complain when we decide otherwise."

Jerry chuckled softly. "Yeah," he said. Then, after a moment of silence, "but at least those are the minority of fans. We're lucky to have great fanbases, even though the amount of attention does seem overwhelming from time to time.

"Back to Colby, though. To me, it looks like the problem isn't one of you. Since the kiss was leaked, you've been showing yourself with him on social media constantly, bringing a lot of attention to the relationship." He looked away from Ashley. "Maybe that's the problem. It would be easy to solve. Just take a break. From him, from social media, whatever feels good. Take a step back and find out what's making your life so complicated. Maybe you'll see that you two were never a match. Maybe you'll see that you don't want to share your relationships with the public. Or maybe you'll be able to shut the toxic fans up."

Ashley stayed silent for a moment, leaning back, and closing her eyes. Jerry made it all seem so easy, and she let herself believe that it was. Just for a moment, she imagined what it would be like if it all were real. If the problem was the publicity, not herself, not her ego or her arrogance.

"Thank you," she whispered, feeling herself drift off to sleep. "I'm sorry," she added, quietly enough that she was sure he couldn't have heard it.

Colby was staring at the night sky, blowing a cloud of smoke into the air, and watching it dissolve. He was standing on his balcony, the vape in a tight grip. His forearms were resting against the railing until he raised his right arm, taking another hit.

The door behind him opened, and Sam walked out. Colby didn't even try to hide the vape, he just sighed deeply, letting the smoke rise into the sky. Sam's disappointment was clear, but he didn't care. It was silent for a moment before the blonde spoke up.

"Colby, man... You know you can talk to me, right?" he asked warily, not daring to look at Colby.

"Yeah." No.

"Can you just, like, tell me? What's going on with Ashley? Why you two have been acting so weird lately?"

No.

"Colby, are you listening?"

"Yeah." Colby hesitated. "I just don't know what the fuck I'm doing. Or what she's doing. What's happening. Stuff like that."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, his tone genuinely worried. Colby let out an exasperated sigh with another cloud of smoke.

"It's so damn complicated, you know?" Lying to him felt awful. Not being honest was awful. Not being able to tell him what was happening was fucking awful. "I mean, we're both trying our best, but it's... It's not the same anymore."

"Look, not to be rude, but you both were really clingy in the beginning," Sam said silently. "Maybe it would be for the best if you just took a week or two to yourselves. It was all so rushed because you couldn't tell the fans in your own time. It's okay to take a break."

"Yeah," Colby said, still not looking at him. "You're right."

And just like that, Ashley and Colby stopped talking to each other.