Sean uploaded his last video while sitting in the airport waiting for his plane to arrive. It wasn't the end of his Youtube career, but it was the last video he planned to do for awhile. He needed a break and he was going to take it. Unlike his breaks before, he didn't have videos made in advance to upload and he didn't even feel like dealing with social media in general. He wanted to cut himself from it all and just... find himself again. He had become obsessed with the routine of two uploads a day and chatting with people on Twitter. For five years straight he pushed himself to be there for everyone and to make people happy. Now, he wanted to be happy. The video finished uploading and Sean sighed. There was no going back now. The woman at the desk announced the arrival of his plane and he pulled out his ticket from his jacket. She was starting to call out the boarding processes, when Sean's phone dinged with a text message. 

Sean glanced down to check it real quick. It was a message from Felix that read; "Are you alright, Jack? Where are you going? Is this about me?" Sean clenched his jaw, fighting the urge cry as he turned his phone completely off. Pocketing his phone, he boarded the plane. He had paid a bit more for first class, but he didn't want to be seated by a possible fan right now. Right now, he wanted to tune out. To just relax and remember that he had a life outside of Youtube. Slipping into his seat, he pulled up his hoodie enough to block his face and closed his eyes. He was leaving late at night and wouldn't arrive in L.A., until it was early morning there. So, he wanted to get what sleep he could, because the time zone difference was going to be hell on him. During the long flight, Sean watched a few new movies on the inflight movie database. Then when he had gotten enough of that, he slumped in his seat to play a bit of Zelda again.

The plane landed in L.A. before the sun was up and Sean forced himself to stagger from the plane. He felt so tried and cramped up. He just wanted to crash across the first bed he could find. Even a couch sounded good right now. He followed the signs to his luggage and upon trudging out into the main entrance way of the airport, he smirked. The airport was almost empty this early in the morning, but he recognized the man waiting for him. Nate was leaning against the wall, wearing a tank top decorated with a faded grey American flag and black jeans that were torn at the knees. Nate pulled the bill of his baseball cap down as a woman did a double take on him as she passed by him. He too was clearly trying to stay under the radar. Slowly approaching Nate, Sean playfully asked him. "Sunglasses indoors at night? Really Nate...?" Nate pulled his dark sunglasses off with a bright smile, folding them up to embrace Sean in a tight hug.

Sean hugged him back, before Nate pulled away replying casually. "Shh, I'm in disguise. It's the only way I could come here to get you." Sean raised an eyebrow, sarcastically chipping in. "Really? What are you disguised as? An L.A. television cop?" Nate hooked his folded glasses on the front of his shirt, sassily shooting back. "Hey, don't get salty with me. It was working to keep the fans away." Sean opened his mouth to add in a snarky comment on why it was keeping them away, when Nate raised his hand to stop him, chuckling out. "Ah, no, no, no! One more word about it and you can forget me buying you coffee, young man!" Sean raised his hands in surrender and they both laughed. Nate patted his shoulder, sliding his arm across his shoulders afterward to lead him out toward the parking lot. Sean listened to Nate talk about this little restaurant that served Thai Tea that he wanted to take him to eventually as they walked to the machine to pay for parking.

Nate stopped to fish out his wallet, when the question slipped from Sean's mouth. "I saw on Twitter that Christina and you put off your wedding. Something happen?" Nate hesitated a moment, then swiped his card through the reader, answering in a low tone of voice. "No offense, Jack... but I really don't want to talk about that. It's a... complicated." Sean took notice that Nate wasn't wearing his engagement ring as he took his receipt from the machine. Quickly trying to change the subject, Nate asked him curiously. "So, I take it you and Felix have parted ways?" Sean stopped abruptly as Nate crossed over to his car. Sean's heart ached in his chest. The wound still too fresh as he mumbled out distantly. "I don't want to talk about that." Nate unlocked his car, wincing as he replied tenderly. "My bad. I'm sorry, man." Sean opened the trunk of Nate's car to throw in his luggage, puffing up his chest as he stated back. "It's fine. Don't worry about it. It's in the past." Sean closed the trunk and swallowed nervously.

Nate was staring at him with a soft expression. What Nate's face didn't say, his deep dark eyes did. Nate's eyes saw right through his defenses. Sean couldn't believe how much emotion Nate could express with just his eyes. It was powerful enough to make his eyes water. Turning away, Sean made his way into the passenger seat. Avoiding Nate's eyes, he focused on calming himself down. Nate dropped into the driver seat, telling him with a positive attitude. "I get it. Just know that when your ready to talk about it, I'm here for you." Sean clenched his jaw tightly, keeping his eyes on the passenger window as Nate backed the car out. He had a strong urge to tell Nate that both Mark and Felix had feed him that exact same line, but he resisted it. He came here to loosen up and forget, not to start a fight. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop himself from grumbling out. "I'll talk about it, when you're ready to talk about Cristina."

Nate chuckled softly, gripping the steering wheel a bit tightly, but answered sincerely. "There's not much to say about that. I'm sure you could guess. My past isn't all that different from yours now." Sean raised a sarcastic eyebrow, turning his head to finally look at Nate to challenge that head on. "Oh, really? Please, enlighten me?" Nate shot Sean a quick glance out of the corner of his eye, before stating out bluntly with a smug smirk. "You think you're the first Youtuber to struggle with relationships? You remember Morgan? We broke up due to artistic differences and she took my dog Rylo. You remember Natepat? Matthew got married to Stephanie. I hook up with Cristina and now we have troubles. Our careers aren't for everyone." Sean relaxed in the seat, feeling his challenge ebbing away. Nate wasn't wrong. He hadn't thought about it.

Nate reached out to pat his leg comfortingly, adding in sweetly. "Why do you think I stopped my gaming channel and turned it into a random post channel? Trying to manage my music channel and my gaming channel just became too damn stressful. With Youtube becoming increasingly more demanding by the day... I just had to decide what made me happy. My music career is finally getting off the ground because of it... but my social life is a mess. I've got a lot of tours coming up to promote my new album and new songs I'm working on that demand all my time and attention. It's not easy." Sean nodded in understanding, asking Nate curiously. "Speaking of your new album... Why did you send me that link to your new song?" Nate's tongue flicked over his lips and he gave a small shrug as his answer. Sean slowly sat up, saying softly to him. "Nate... Why did you want me here?" Nate turned the car wheel into a drive-thru, mumbling out in a semi-innocent mumble. "I told you. I just wanted to hang out with you for a bit. That's all."

Sean crossed his arms over his chest, about to say what he really thought. However, Nate cut him off by asking what he wanted from the drive-thru menu. He really hoped that Nate didn't call him here for the reasons he thought. That was his mistake with Felix. After Mark broke up with him, he jumped into a relationship with the first person to show him any interest. He wasn't going to let himself fall like that again. He was done with love. There was nothing left of his heart to fix or heal. As far as he was concerned, romance was dead. Love was a myth conjured up by the movies and the candy companies to sell more shit on Valentine's Day. In real life, Love was just another word for emotional agony. They placed their order and inched toward the window line, when Sean felt the need to say aloud tenderly. "I sure hope so. Cause I've got nothing left to give." Nate smiled, staring ahead as he retorted briskly. "I don't believe that. It's only when you have nothing left to give that you have the most to give."

Sean gave Nate a perplexed look, causing Nate to clarify lightly. "When you have nothing to give, everything you say and do has more meaning. So, your mask has a few cracks in it... That just shows people a glimpse at who you really are underneath. I like to think our goal in life is to find a person who can stand looking at the person behind the mask. As cheesy as it sounds, it's what's on the inside that matters. Not the mask you choose to hide yourself behind." Nate pulled up to the window and received their order. Giving Sean a chance to think about what he said. Part of him wanted to believe it, but he felt too numb inside. He didn't see how the inside would matter, if what was inside him was dead. Taking a sip or two of his hot coffee, Sean tilted his seat back and tried to take a little nap. He just felt so wiped out and sick from the plane ride. It was only when he closed his eyes that he remembered that he had made a deal.

Without opening his eyes, Sean told Nate in a grumbling voice to break the silence between them. "I guess, you know my life's story already. You've not only lived it, but probably heard about it from one fan or another. I thought Felix and I understood each other. I was wrong... again. I'm unlucky in love. So, I give up." Sean started to drift off, listening faintly to Nate as he started singing a song that he had never heard before.

"Can you believe, in something that you can't even see?

Can you agree? We're part of something bigger, than you and me?

I'll take the long road home, that's lined with blood and snow.

Now I've become so numb, That I can't even feel the cold.

You can give and take. Crack my bones, but my heart won't break now.

And don't commit no crime. Find me innocent, but still I serve my time.

I think I believe. Now I can feel it speaking to me. My reasoning is logical, like it's all in my dreams.

I'll take the long road home, that's lined with blood and snow. Am I forever young, or will I simply fade before I'm old?

You can give and take. Crack my bones, but my heart won't break now.

And don't commit no crime. Find me innocent, but still I serve my time.

Would you never die if you lived a life, frozen and empty?

What you waiting for? When you start a war and you're your own worst enemy.

Crack my bones, but my heart won't break now.

And don't commit no crime. Find me innocent, but still I serve my time.

The mirror's always showing me, a shell of who I used to be!

I'll take the long road home, that's lined with blood and snow.

Now I've become so numb, That I can't even feel the cold.

I'll take the long road home, that's lined with blood and snow. Am I forever young, or will I simply fade before I'm old?

You can give and take. Crack my bones, but my heart won't break now.

And don't commit no crime. Find me innocent, but still I serve my time.

Would you never die if you lived a life, frozen and empty?

What you waiting for? When you start a war and you're your own worst enemy.

Would you never die if you lived a life, frozen and empty?

What you fighting for? When you start a war and you're your own worst enemy!"

The song was rather soothing... but it messed with his dream. The song made him think about his rocky relationships and how they each ended with a chilling heartbreak. Although, by the end of the song, he was facing a mirror that showed him his younger self. His younger self was wearing a porcelain mask and as he watched it started to crack. As the pieces slowly fell to reveal bits of his bright glowing face, he turned away to see hands on his shoulders. The hands rubbed his shoulders lovingly, before carefully reaching up to remove a worn broken mask that he didn't know he was wearing. He wanted to know who the man was that was unmasking him... Only to turn and wake up before he got the chance. To Be Continued...