A/N: This fic had been edited to change this from a reader insert imagine to a regular JoexOC pairing fic. Una is pronounced OO-nah.
A/N: This story includes mentions of terminal illness, specifically cancer. If this subject is upsetting for you or a trigger, it's best if you don't read.
A/A/N: This fic is from the perspective of a viewer. Una is Joe's girlfriend.
The door shut with a click behind her. Brianna let out a long sigh, plopping down on the bed beside her thrown backpack.
Man, she was glad the day was over.
Today had been particularly trying and she just wanted to decompress. On the way home from school, she had told herself that she'd work on her piled-up homework as soon as she walked in the door. But, lying in her mess of covers, she quickly realized that wouldn't be the case.
Just one video. She impishly smirked at herself as she dragged her laptop into her lap. I'm pretty sure Caspar uploaded today, at least.
As her computer booted up, she casually scrolled through her Instagram feed. Brianna had noticed that lately a few of her favorite YouTubers hadn't been posting as much as usual on social media. She hadn't thought much of it, until one photo caught her eye. It was a photo of Una L/N, her favorite travel vlogger, but it had been posted on Joe Sugg's profile.
The photo was older, taken maybe about five months ago. They had been in Mykonos, Greece for the summer. Her hair was longer. Her smile was bright. Her silver aviators shone in the sunlight, reflecting a small, grinning Joe in the right lens of her glasses.
Una and Joe had been together for well over three years now. It wasn't odd that he was posting about her. What was odd was the context. The filter he used toned down a lot of the saturation. The edges were blurred. The caption underneath was short.
What a beautiful soul, it read.
Worry crept into Brianna's gut.
Immediately, she checked Una's twitter. She hadn't updated in over a month, except for today. The tweet was pinned, a new video thumbnail. But, instead of Una's smiling face with some tropical land behind her, there was a sullen looking Joe sat in their living room, a picture of grinning Una pasted on the right.
A Message to My Fans.
The words glared out at her.
"Honey, how was your day at school?" Brianna jumped. Her mom broke through her panicked thoughts. She hadn't even realized she had walked in.
"Uh..." she blinked. "It was okay." Her gaze went back to her laptop screen, frantically clicking the video link.
Her mom frowned, a hand sat at her hip, "Bree… I'm talking to you. Could you please pull yourself away from your computer for two seconds?"
The advertisement began to play as Brianna turned to face her. "I can't right now. I'm sorry, mom, but I need to watch this. Can we talk after?"
Her mom smirked and rolled her eyes, "You don't need to watch it, you want to. Big difference." She sat down next to Brianna on the bed, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "So, come on. Tell me about your day."
"No, mom, I do need to watch this. Please, it's import- "
Joe's voice cut her retort short, her gaze snapping to the laptop screen.
"I don't understand why," Her mother grumbled. "It's just going to be another promotion for you kids to buy all their crap."
"Shh!" she tutted, at this point not caring that she just risked a serious slap. But, apparently, her mom took the hint, as she started watching too.
Joe's low voice continued to filter through her small speakers.
"Alright…" He sighed. "So, I'm sure you're utterly confused as to why I'm on Una's channel. I will get to that in a moment."
Brianna's brows furrowed as she looked at the state of him. His cheeks were more gaunt than usual. The bags under his eyes were prominent and almost grey. His whole posture and demeanor was downcast and defeated.
"If you don't know who I am, hello. My name's Joe. I'm Una's boyfriend. Have been for about…" he looked past the camera for a moment. "Well, in two weeks, it'll be four years." He let out a long breath of air, both palms running down his face.
He was quiet for a moment or two more, before straightening up and looking straight down the barrel of the lens.
"As you can tell from the title of this video, this is a message to all of Una's fans. As well as friends who may not have been kept in the loop."
He took a deep breath.
"A while ago… Una was diagnosed with cervical cancer," he said.
Brianna's heart dropped.
"She went to the doctor for treatment as much as she was supposed to and did everything that she was meant to do." The muscles in his jaw clenched. "But, her body didn't respond the way it was supposed to."
"She underwent many surgeries and different treatments. But…the cancer spread into her ovaries and into her liver," Joe's breath hitched, but he continued. "And, at this point, there's not much that the doctors can do."
"Originally, she wanted to make this video and tell all of you herself," he gave the camera a forlorn smile, his eyes beginning to shine. "But, in the end, she thought it'd be better if I..." His voice cracked. Joe cleared his throat softly. "If I helped."
"I've got a video clip for you. Una recorded this about a month and a half ago." His hands fidgeted in his lap as he focused on looking at the camera, the tears threatening to fall. "The reason why I'm showing you this and not something recent is simply because she wants you all to remember her… whole."
The video cut to black and silence, and then slowly faded to color and bustling sound.
"Ah crap, let me close this. Jeez, that's loud…" Una's bright voice sifted through, more and more clear. The balcony door slid shut and her smiling face popped up, accompanied with a wave. "Hello sweethearts! Sorry about that, London traffic is a bit crazy around this time."
She sat down, camera angled so her elbow could support the weight. Her face was thin, her collarbones jutted out more than they should have, and the bags under her eyes were starting to bruise purple. But, her smile made all of that not matter in the slightest, "Okay, I'm not sure when this will be uploaded or if it will ever be uploaded." Una gave a soft chuckle, "Let's hope for never."
A small sob escaped from Brianna's lips.
"But, I'm being realistic… so I'm filming this," Una inhaled slowly and gave a small smile to the camera. "If you're watching this, then my time's up. I'm at the end of the road."
Bree couldn't help the tears that now streamed down her face.
"And, you know what, that's okay," Una looked out the window she sat besides, smiling whimsically to herself. She turned her face back to the camera. "I know that this will be hard to hear. I know that it will hurt. That you'll feel as though you have no control, and you may not know what to do… And, I'm sorry."
"I'm so sorry that I have to leave all of you," Una wiped away at a rogue tear. "Thank you… so very much for your astronomical support, for your kindness, your love. Over these past few, crazy years, each and every one of you have become a part of my community, my family."
"And I just wanted to say that you," she pointed at the lens, "Yes, you… are beautiful."
Brianna's mom did her best to cradle her daughter, trying to calm the wrenching sobs that overcame her.
"And smart. And loved, oh so loved. And, most importantly… I'm going to need you to listen really carefully for this one," she brought the camera a bit closer to her face. "You are capable of anything."
"Travel. Explore. See new places. Do new things. Follow your dreams. Make them a reality," Una burst into giggles. "Oh jeez, I sound like an inspirational travel advert. Who am I?" She laughed through the tears that trickled down her cheeks.
"But, I mean it. That has always been the purpose of this channel, to explore and learn, and to take you guys with me. Now it's your turn," she gave the camera a teary-eyed smile. "Do it for me. No. Better yet, do it for you."
"Get out there, sweetheart. I know damn well you'll make me proud."
And with that, she gave her signature sign-off and kissed the camera.
The video faded to black again, only this time it came back to Joe, still in his living room.
His cheeks glistened from grief shed tears, his breathing haggard. He roughly wiped his face of the wetness and took in a shaky breath, "I'm sorry, but I won't be very active, if at all, on social media for a while. I hope that you all will understand. This channel will not be deleted or changed. All your favorite videos of Una will be here for as long as YouTube is around. She wouldn't have it any other way."
Something snapped then in Joe, and he let out a sob so fragile, Brianna could almost hear his heart breaking.
He tried his hardest to suck in his grief and show face for the camera, but the tears rolling down betrayed him.
"Una is the best thing that has ever happened to me," he breathed. "And I know some of you feel the same. Her videos helped some of you through dark times in your lives. Myself included."
"And, I just want you all to know," Joe sniffed, his voice cracking. "I'm going to miss her, too."
"Thank you for the support that I know you will unconditionally give during this time. Thank you for understanding. We love you very much."
The screen went to black and the video ended.
Brianna held on tight as her mother rocked her slightly, back and forth. Her eyes were wide and her mind started to numb. In that moment, she knew that she wasn't the only one.
6,000,000 subscribers.
Six million people, all around the world, all floored by the ripples this woman had made in their lives.
Bree closed her eyes and just breathed.
She would make her proud.