Okay maybe he was just a little jealous… part 2?..
We’ve all seen it. That thing that happens when two characters in a show or movie are shipped together. The endless TikToks and Reels, set to those painfully sappy soundtracks that get everyone in their feelings, analyzing every single look, touch, and accidental shoulder brush exchanged between the actors. Then, when they’re out doing promo tours, all it takes is one laugh, or one shared glance, and suddenly the entire internet is fcking clamoring for these two people to “end up together in real life.”
Cute if you’re just a fan, right? Soooo fun to ship two total strangers together. Because obviously, they belong together. The chemistry? Palpable. Impossible to fake, clearly. 
But what if you’re…the actual partner of one of those people?
Yeah. Imagine that feeling. And imagine if that partner is Daniel fcking Parker.
Daniel had told himself he was too busy to worry about Valerie’s latest on-screen romance. He was happy for her. She was his fiancée, after all, and she was playing the coveted role of Benedict Bridgerton’s love interest. But that was before he’d logged onto TikTok out of curiosity—just to “see what people were saying about the show.” Three hours later, Daniel Parker was officially in the TikTok rabbit hole.
Oh, and a rabbit hole it was.
So here he was, sitting in his dimly lit office at 3 a.m., eyes squinting at his phone screen, feeling like he’d run a marathon of absolute nonsense and rage. The TikTok videos were relentless, each caption more cringe-inducing than the last:
“Valerie and Luke’s chemistry is off the charts 
Can we talk about that final scene?! URGH can Netflix drop the next four episodes already?”
“Ugh, no. NO we can fcking not. It’s NOT off the charts. It’s WELL within the charts,” he muttered, rolling his eyes, clicking on the next one.
TikTok Video 1: A slow-motion scene from the 4th episode where Valerie’s character leans in to whisper something to Luke’s character, their faces just inches apart. The editor had paired it with a moody track about “love against all odds.” Cue the swooning comments, because every single FCKING one of them was exactly that.
@AbbieNicole: “It’s official. Val & Luke need to date IRL! I mean LOOK AT THIS
”
@onedaygirly: “I don’t care that she’s engaged. That man looks at her like she hung the stars. AND HE’S SINGLE IN RL.”
@Lincoln123: “It’s true… they’re soulmates. Sorry, Mr. fiancé or whatever his name is, but this is fate. Just waiting for the breakup announcement so she can run into Luke’s arms.”
Daniel scoffed, his fingers twitching with the urge to respond. And before he knew it, his hands had already taken over. This was Daniel Parker we’re talking about, after all. But he’d learned a few things over the years, okay? He wasn’t about to use his real account and tie it back to Valerie. No, sir. He had a genius-level spam account, @Mr.GeniusPants.
Yes, Mr.GeniusPants. Don’t judge. He’s a genius. It’s fitting.
@Mr.GeniusPants: “I don’t know… her and her fiancé look pretty great together. Just saying. Did you SEE his proposal to her? Crazyyyyyy. And I heard her man is, like, a trillionaire.”
It didn’t take long for the replies to start rolling in.
@FanGirl1998: “@Mr.GeniusPants Idk… that doesn’t compare to the look she gave Luke on set. Watch the video again, pleaseeee. Money doesn’t matter. This is love.”
Daniel rolled his eyes so hard they practically went into his skull.
@Mr.GeniusPants: “Love? LOL rewatch the video yourself. That’s SUCH a joke. They’re just good actors.”
@FanGirl1998: “They can be good actors, but they can’t fake that kind of chemistry. I’ll die on that hill. I’d bet my next paycheck Valerie’s gonna be single in a few months and then her and Luke will be an ITEM.”
@FutureMrsBridgerton: “@Mr.GeniusPants "Never seen someone be more wrong lol.”
@dancintillidrop: “@Mr.GeniusPants “Dude did you SEE the video? THE EYES?”
He could feel his irritation building, scrolling through comment after comment that all somehow came to the same, ridiculous conclusion: Valerie Parker was in love with Luke Thompson.
His thumbs worked fast.
@Mr.GeniusPants: “Seriously, though, you people are delusional. Luke’s cool or whatever, but this is ACTING. They are ACTORS. Look it up a definition idiots.”
@DramaLover34: “@Mr.GeniusPants LOL who hurt you? You’re just mad because their chemistry is REAL and it’s making her rl relationship look boring. She’s probably just with that other dude for the money anyways.”
@Mr.GeniusPants: “Boring? Her fiancé is a literal genius and TRILLIONaire. Do you know how much that is? Hey, that phone you’re messaging on? HE CREATED IT. That laptop you’re watching these videos on? He made that. She’s not about to trade that for some…pretend barn romance.”
He huffed, mentally counting to ten - like the therapist Jess, Jez, and Val forced him to go to told him to do. Annnnndd as he swiped up to watch a new video, he realized that, okay, maybe he was being a little ridiculous.
Just a little, he thought.
He clicked away, telling himself it was time to close out and calm down. Progress, right? If it was old Daniel, he’d have taken a deep dive into the accounts of each one of those people and sent them…something unpleasant. Maybe a bag of flaming dog crap. But it wasn’t worth it. He just needed to breathe.
But just as he was about to pull away, his thumb accidentally clicked on a new YouTube thumbnail: “Valerie Parker & Luke Thompson Gush Over Each Other in Exclusive Interview!”
Oh, here we go.
YouTube Video: Valerie and Luke, seated side by side, laughing together in the way that drives fans wild. Aka - TOO FCKING CLOSE TO EACH OTHER.
Luke, chuckling: “I think it was the steamy scenes that really, uh…broke the ice.”
Valerie laughs, swatting his shoulder. “Oh, you know, just another day at work, right?”
Luke grinned, leaning closer. “No but honestly, I’m not even kidding. One of our first scenes we did was actually the one where we’re in the barn together. We really had to jump in and get comfortable. But who couldn’t with such a lovely co-star? It was easy, static almost… especially because Val did actually electrocute me by accident when we fell into that water trough.”
The two of them laugh together, and Daniel can already hear the fan theories forming in the comment section.
@TopComment: “THEY’RE SO CUTE TOGETHER! Can you believe they aren’t dating??” LIKE HER TOUCHING HIS SOULDER. GAH. Swooning
@SecondTopComment: “Can you imagine them in real life? I don’t care that she’s engaged; she deserves to be happy and Luke makes her smile soooo much. She’s full-on giggling and kicking her feet.”
Daniel felt a groan rising in his throat. Really? How could people just act like he didn’t exist? AND SHE IS NOT GIGGLING. THIS IS NOT GIGGLING. HE knew what Valerie’s real uh, giggle looked like, and that was not it. Not that… Val really giggled but she did to that one thing when he went down on her and- okay he’s getting off topic.
He scrolled to a particularly irritating comment.
@ValerieStan4life: “They’re so cute it’s almost unreal. I wish I had that kind of love”
Daniel’s hands practically moved on their own as he typed a reply.
@Mr.GeniusPants: “Suppppper cute and whatever, but she’s got a fiancé, just FYI.”
@ValerieStan4life: “@Mr.GeniusPants Maybe so, but doesn’t mean he’s the one for her, you know?”
@Mr.GeniusPants: “I think he is. They’re like superrrrrr cute together. Have you seen them at the premiere?”
@DramaLover34: “@Mr.GeniusPants How would you even know? I saw the premiere photos and you know what photos were cute? Her with Luke.”
@Mr.GeniusPants: “Shut the fck up, you don’t know anything.”
@DramaLover34: “Really? Lol. You’re the idiot who can’t see love at first sight.”
@Mr.GeniusPants: “What love at first sight? ITS A VIDEO.”
@DramaLover34: “Lol have you even seen the behind the scene videos? They’re totally in love. They’re always all over each other.”
@Mr.GeniusPants: “She litereally has a man - she’s not all over him. Luke’s not even good lookig.”
@DramaLover34: “you’re blind fr fr”
OH YOU LITTLE PIECE OF… JDIOSPJFDOIPSJFDP
He blinked, realizing he might be getting a little too heated, then pulled back just before he went into full battle mode with DramaLover34. He could go off, but…he stopped, his mind suddenly alert. Was that a creak outside?
He froze, shutting his laptop and locking his phone as if he’d just been caught red-handed by the FBI. Valerie had been asleep for hours; the last thing he needed was her seeing him arguing with a teenager over her fan theories.
Taking a deep breath, he recited his therapist’s advice. “Close the stupid…fcking… frustrating distraction, Dan.” Inhale. Exhale. Pretend you’re at KaiIsStupid Island, enjoying the rays and… THIS IS SO FCKING STUPID. HE PAYS HOW MUCH FOR A THERAPIST AND THIS IS THE BEST THEY HAVE? INHALE AND FCKING EXHALE. AND THINK OF NICE PLACES? WTF
Fine. TikTok and YouTube were off-limits. Surely, Instagram would be safe, right? The losers were on TikTok, not Instagram. Insta was classy.
Except…the first Reel that popped up was another fan edit—a montage of Valerie and Luke, interspersed with their “sweetest” interview moments, set to some sappy piano cover of “Wildest Dreams.”
Daniel’s thoughts spiraled. They don’t know her. They don’t know a damn thing. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, fully aware of how ridiculous he looked at that moment. But just as he was about to close his phone, he heard soft footsteps behind him.
“Dan, it’s four in the morning,” Valerie’s voice was a warm, sleepy murmur, and he flinched, caught in the act.
“What are you doing, dummy?””
She crossed her arms, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips as she saw the absolute mess that was Daniel Parker at 4 a.m., glued to his phone, fuming over fan edits of her latest show.
Daniel felt his shoulders slump. “Do you know what people are saying, Val?” he asked, reluctantly showing her the screen. “They’re practically writing my obituary. ‘Luke deserves better’? Seriously?”
Valerie stifled a laugh, taking his phone and shutting the app.
“And here I thought you were the confident, unshakeable Daniel Parker,” she teased, climbing into his lap. “Since when do you care about random internet strangers?”
Dan gave her a look - insinuating that they both know he’s gotten into more online fights then most other people.
“Okay let me rephrase - since when did you care about random internet strangers that are spewing random sht? Especially about a show you didnt’ start watching until this season.”
He sighed, his arms instinctively wrapping around her waist. “It’s not that I care, it’s just—” He hesitated, feeling a little ridiculous as he muttered, “It’s annoying. And they’re wrong. Obviously.”
She laughed, pressing her forehead to his. “Daniel, I’m engaged to you, you dummy. They can ship me with whoever they want, but they don’t know the first thing about you and me.”
A reluctant grin pulled at his lips. “Good. Because clearly, they’re missing out on this whole package here.” He gestured to himself dramatically, still frowning a little.
“Oh, the whole package, huh?” She rolled her eyes. “You know… I’m just going to keep being professionally nice to Luke, right? That’s it?”
Daniel sighed dramatically. “I guess I’ll allow it. Just… don’t call him charming… on screen okay… Or I might end up arguing with more people online.”
Valerie laughed, brushing her thumb along his jawline. “Honestly, no one could handle your jealousy, Daniel Parker.”
“Damn right… except for you my love, Future Mrs. Parker” he muttered, smirking as he pulled her closer. “And don’t you forget it.”