Re:life with Karmic Gacha (Modern Family) Chapter 413: Tough Decision

[Edward POV]

My mind froze a little when Annie laid down on my bed.

"Um, Annie, what are you doing?" I asked, smiling awkwardly.

With a red tint on her cheeks, she shyly said, "I can't sleep alone… without my plushies. So can I sleep with you?"

"Errr…" I hesitated. "This might not be a good idea, since we're employer and employee—"

"But there are no rules against a boss and employee being close. And this isn't even a relationship. We're just going to cuddle and sleep," Annie said nervously.

"We're just going to cuddle?" I couldn't help but snort in amusent.

"You want to do sothing else?" She perked up slightly, biting her lower lip.

"Annie—" I sighed heavily. She quickly added, flustered, "No. We're not going to do anything. We're just going to sleep."

"Alright. We're just going to sleep."

Annie grinned. As we laid down next to each other, she asked, "Hey, do you rember when you took out on a date?"

"Yeah. At Greendale Community College."

"At that ti, it almost drove crazy that the date didn't go very well," Annie admitted.

"It did… go well? Did it not?" I chuckled.

Annie shook her head. "No. I was too obsessed with Troy, and you were…"

"I was just trying to prove a point to Frankie back then," I muttered, a little apologetic. "Sorry, Annie."

"I don't mind it!" She flushed, then began daydreaming aloud. "I just wonder sotis, if we actually went to college together, what would've beco of us?"

"Well, I never actually went to college. I was just visiting. But I get what you're saying."

What if I didn't have any system… just went on as an ordinary student?

"One thing's for sure—it wouldn't take six seasons to try and get with you." I cackled.

Annie laughed, sarcasm dripping: "Yeah right. You'd never actually do anything. Maybe just think about asking out in your mind."

"No. I'm pretty sure I'd ask you out the mont I saw you in a tight sweater roaming the halls."

Her cheeks flared as she blinked in surprise. "So once you ask out, what happens then?"

"We'll start slow. A few dates. Then, when the ti's right, you're going to spread your legs—"

"Pervert—"

"—and join for my daily yoga lessons."

"Ah!" She gasped then whispered, "Jerk." She chuckled, embarrassed she'd fallen for the trap.

"What about you?" I asked. "What do you think would've happened?"

"Well…" Annie smirked. "I'd probably baby-trap you within a couple of months. You're too hot, so I'd feel insecure and end up being toxic and draining."

"Will you have the 'crazy eyes'?" I asked casually.

She replied, "Yup. I'm sure I will have that."

I raised a brow, amused. Annie leaned in with a mock glare, voice rising, "You'd say, 'She's just working on an assignnt with !' and I'd scream, 'Why are you even in college looking at other girls!'"

I burst into laughter, "I don't think it would co to that. That's really bad."

"Yeah, it definitely would've been bad," Annie giggled.

We bantered a while, and she rested her head on my shoulder.

I sighed. "Too bad I'm never going to experience normal again."

"Nor—Normal is subjective," Annie stamred. "It depends on how you were raised. And when your surroundings change… won't that beco your new normal after a while?"

I guess that was true.

"You're quite wise, Annie."

Her eyes sparkled. "Really?"

"Yeah." I patted her head. "Now, go to sleep. I'll leave once you're out."

She pouted and clung to my arm. "Are you sure you don't want to do anything?"

"I can't. I'm sorry."

Suddenly, Ness and Haley chid in from the doorway.

Haley smirked. "Forget it, Annie. You're not breaking through his defenses. He's gone voluntarily celibate for whatever reason."

Ness added, "Yeah. He really thinks he's a ssiah, so he has to act all pure and dignified—"

"Okay, both of you are drunk. And I'm not trying to be pure or anything." My patience frayed. "Also, most of the resistance ca from you two. I could feel your eyes on the whole ti."

My observation haki told they were there, which killed the vibe.

"We're not that drunk," Ness grinned, ignoring most of my words. "I only had one glass of wine. Then I pretended to sleep so I could see what Annie was planning."

"Ditto," Haley said.

Annie was aghast. "I—Um—"

"Don't worry, Annie. We totally get it." Ness sat beside her, Haley joining in.

"Great. Now everyone's in my room," I muttered, throwing my hands in the air defeatedly.

Haley rolled her eyes. "Edward, are you dumb, or did you reset to being a virgin? Do you really not know what we want here?"

She ran a hand up Annie's thigh, making her stiffen—then relax.

Ness gasped theatrically. "Oh, Haley. Do you think… he's like this because… he can't get it up anymore?"

"Oh that must be it." Haley giggled.

The jab stung my ego. I grabbed a glass of Euphoria I kept hidden, downed it, and wiped my mouth.

"Alright. That's it. Since you girls want this so badly, don't bla when things get awkward later."

Even though I was the strongest man in the world, I was still a man.

And the rule the girls made—nothing counts during the pandemic—had never sounded more tempting.

"Just so you know, if everything becos awkward tomorrow, I'm not going to take any responsibility for it." I said to all three of them.

…

[General POV]

The next morning, Edward's first music video for the Pandemic album dropped.

He promised his fans to do one song per week. Edward used his duplicates to shoot the music video while he was working on the tv show.

Edward woke up with a groan, and found the three naked girls laying their heads on his body. They woke up from his movent, and he smiled at them as he greeted, "Good Morning."

"Morning Edward." Haley replied first. "You made so sore…" She complained, her hair was extrely scruffy from the aftermath.

Ness slid next to Edward and continued sleeping, "I don't want to wake up yet. And don't bother Annie too since it's her first ti and you went really rough on her."

Edward kissed the girl's cheek before he went to make them breakfast.

While he was baking them bread, the music video was already watched by millions of people. Oracle played the song as he slamd the oven door.

[Tear In My Heart– Twenty One Pilots]

The upbeat drums and the piano harmonized together, creating an energetic start for the song.

Edward puts emotions into his vocals, "♫♪ Sotis you gotta bleed to know ♫♪"

"♫♪That you're alive and have a soul♫♪"

Mitch and Cam watched the music video as they woke up, and they were instantly srized by it.

"God, did he shoot it in Korea? Or did he use his Canvas studio again?" Cam muttered in shock as he saw Edward breaking the pandemic restriction to record the music video.

"Obviously he used the studio." Mitchell said.

"♫♪But it takes soone to co around, to show you how! She's the tear in my heart, I'm alive~! ♫♪"

♫♪ She's the tear in my heart, I'm on fire

She's the tear in my heart, take higher♫♪

♫♪Than I've ever been ♫♪

"Ohh! Gossip! Who is she?" Claire muttered.

Alex rolled her eyes and said, "Your daughter's been there for about a week. Shouldn't your first guest be–did Haley do that?"

Claire said casually, "No it's not Haley." She was so confident in it that Alex was taken aback by her response.

"♫♪ The songs on the radio are okay

But my taste in music is your face♫♪"

"Pfft–" Abby couldn't help but laugh when she heard the lyric. Not only her, but a lot of the girls giggled at this line.

♫♪ And it takes a song to co around to show you how ♫♪

♫♪ She's the tear in my heart, I'm alive

She's the tear in my heart, I'm on fire

She's the tear in my heart, take higher♫♪

♫♪(Than I've ever been x4)♫♪

Edward opened up his album with an upbeat song to keep the morale up during the pandemic. He knew that a lot of people would feel low and depressed, so he was trying to cheer them up.

"♫♪ You fell asleep in my car, I drove the whole ti

But that's okay, I'll just avoid the holes so you sleep fine♫♪"

Lily, his fanclub president, sobbed and wept as she saw him. "Edward! I miss you a lot!" She cried. "When are you going to hold another faneting?"

"♫♪ I'm driving here I sit, cursing my governnt

For not usin' my taxes to fill holes with more cent ♫♪"

Alex was aghast when she heard the lyric, "Oh my god. Is he insane? He's already in trouble with them, yet he's taunting them in the song?!"

Phil muttered with a proud expression, "Alex. You just don't understand it. Rock and Roll is all about rebellion."

"He's not a rock and roll icon! He's a teen popstar!" Alex retorted angrily.

A group of people in social dia began to dissect Edward's 'scriptures'. They were really fixated on these lines.

"♫♪ You fell asleep in my car, I drove the whole ti

But that's okay, I'll just avoid the holes so you sleep fine ♫♪"

Cultist1: He's telling us to follow him blindly, he's going to guide us into utopia.

"♫♪ I'm driving here I sit, cursing my governnt

For not using my taxes to fill holes with more cent ♫♪"

Cultist2: The governnt has run out of their usage. He will take over soon.

Lily comnted on the cultist's posts, "Are you guys ntally ill?"

"♫♪ Sotis you gotta bleed to know, oh, oh

That you're alive and have a soul, oh, oh♫♪"

While Edward was spreading jam on his bread, Ness, Annie, and Haley joined him in the kitchen.

"♫♪ But it takes soone to co around to show you how ♫♪"

"♫♪She's the tear in my heart, I'm alive♫♪"

Edward laughed with the girls as they ate breakfast together. Vader joined in, and they were having an incredible morning.

"♫♪She's the tear in my heart, I'm on fire♫♪"

Annie wiped the smudge on Edward's lips with a napkin before proceeding to kiss him.

"♫♪She's the tear in my heart, take higher♫♪"

Ness also kissed him, and lastly Haley did too.

"♫♪Than I've ever been ♫♪"

In the music video, Edward held the microphone as he sang.

"♫♪ My heart is my armor

She's the tear in my heart, she's a carver

She's a butcher with a smile, cut farther♫♪"

The chaotic energy in the music video made a lot of people smile.

"♫♪ Than I've ever been

Than I've ever been

Than I've ever been♫♪"

In just one short morning, the music video was already watched by 50 million people, and was stread online on the Spotify apps over one hundred million tis.

"♫♪ Oh, than I've ever been.♫♪ "

"♫♪ My heart is my armor♫♪"

"♫♪She's the tear in my heart, she's a carver

She's a butcher with a smile, cut farther

Than I've ever been♫♪"

Maybe there would be a lot of problems from the way Edward was handling his relationships—he realized it, but at the sa ti, the girls wore him down.

Lily comnted on the music video, "The song is really aweso! I love you, Captain!"

The comnts poured in—ten thousand of them in just one morning.

However, not everyone was enjoying the special event.

"God!" Chloe, the detective who had worked with Edward before, groaned as she got another death threat on her computer.

"Are these people serious? They know I'm a cop, right?" she muttered. "I'm the police, not the governnt."

Her partner sipped his coffee. "They don't care. Our state arrested their idol. And the governnt's only throwing worse stuff at them now. Like, literally."

Outside the California State Governnt building, an angry protester dumped 100 tons of fresh manure at the entrance.

"Take that, you disgusting fascist!" the 40-year-old balding man shouted.

Even if people couldn't go outside, many still bombarded their local governnt with calls and emails, reporting potholes that needed fixing.

Since roads were nearly empty, people were frustrated that the governnt wasn't taking advantage of the downti to do repairs.

Almost everyone had faced traffic jams caused by maintenance during peak hours.

With the song, many political comntators guessed that Edward was truly distancing himself from politics, having been stabbed in the back.

"What can we do?" A governnt official asked another.

"We can do this to get back at him. Have you seen Taylor Swift's new story?" A young man in a blue suit replied.

The old official looked at the photo and said, "Why is this relevant to the topic?"

"See here?" The man zood in, and Edward's face was seen at the back of Selena, Taylor and Barbara Palvin selfie.

"Edward Newgate broke the lockdown rules. We can use this so sar him, take that little bitch down his pedestal a notch." The man said excitedly.

An old lady official said, "Won't that bring more backlash to us?"

"We're not going to say it. I have a friend at the New York Tis. I think they will be really interested in this discovery."

At Cam and Mitchell's house

Mitchell read an Entertainnt Weekly article about the new song and grimaced. "Wow. They're talking about him every single day this month."

"At least they're talking," Cam quipped from the couch, watching TV with Lily.

Mitchell rolled his eyes. "All I said was, give space when I'm working!"

Cam huffed. "I worked too, Mitchell! You didn't hear bitching about it when you barged into my office!"

What they called the office was just their dining room area.

The toddler, Lily, gasped. "Daddy said a bad word."

Cam imdiately picked her up. "Honey, do as Daddy says, not as Daddy does."

"But you say 'bitching,'" Lily protested.

Mitchell crouched to smooth things over. "I know, sweetie. That's still a no-no word, okay?"

He turned to Cam. "I work with professionals. You told high school kids how to work out once a week. There's a huge difference. If you can't tell what's important, maybe it's better for us to—"

Cam gasped. "You're breaking up with ?" His voice trembled.

Mitchell rolled his eyes. "No. We'll just work in different spaces. I'm buying the upper-floor house so we'll have room for both of us to work."

"Oh…" Cam giggled nervously. "That's a good idea. But I'm still shaken by the thought of—" His voice broke, and he began to sob.

Mitchell rolled his eyes again. Lily pointed at Cam and giggled. "Little bitch."

Cam froze, glaring at Lily.

[Mitch and Cam's Comntary]

"The lockdown is taking its toll," Mitchell said.

Cam added, "We're very social people. Being stuck inside sses with your brain. It's like living in solitary confinent."

"I'm fine with it," Mitchell replied. "I've got books I've been saving for free ti. I've been taking online classes—"

"Our friend Jamarcus is crying all the ti," Cam interrupted. "He has to live in his big mansion alone."

Mitchell blinked, then chuckled. "Crispin got so lonely he moved in with a woman."

"WHAT?!" Cam turned to him in shock.

[Comntary ended]

Alex and Enid watched the music video over a Zoom call Edward had set up.

Enid squealed. "AHH! I really miss him!"

Alex shook her head. "Really?"

"You talked to him yesterday. I haven't spoken to him in two days! So shut your mouth, flooz," Enid pouted.

"I'm not a flooz! He walked in when my sister was calling ," Alex retorted.

"Your sister's a floozy too! Though I admit, she's a genius for packing her bag and moving into Edward's place. Still, Edward deserved better," Enid grumbled.

"Why are you so snappy today?" Alex asked, a little taken aback.

"I just… really miss him!" Enid deflated on the table and admitted.

"Well, Jenna's going to his house tomorrow after work. Why don't you go with her?" Alex suggested.

"Yes! Definitely! It's a perfect excuse. Thank God Jenna caught the virus and almost died, or I wouldn't see Edward for two whole months," Enid said excitedly.

"Please don't say that in front of Jenna. Like… ever," Alex warned with a horrified look.

Enid shrugged, not really understanding what she had said.

Suddenly, her phone notification sounded. She checked it imdiately and gasped in exasperation.

"What is it?" Alex asked curiously.

Enid replied, "The New York Tis ca out with a hit piece against Edward: 'Rules Don't Apply to ; Edward Newgate's Latest Hypocrisy.' These fucking—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Alex cald Enid down before saying, "Send the link to first so that we can get mad about it together."

Enid was taken aback, then said, "Alright."

She waited for Alex to read it before they both cursed out The New York Tis together.

In the span of an afternoon, the dia company lost half of its subscribers for attacking the most beloved artist of all ti.

They received so much backlash over it that they pulled the article on the sa day. However, the damage was done.

The blue-suited official secretly called soone after this happened. "I've done my work. You're going to delete my pictures now, right?" He was sweating the entire ti.

On the other line, Robin smirked and said, "Sure. I'll delete the pictures you took at the furry convention. I'm not like you guys who stab people in the back."

Robin had created the chaos by leaking the picture Taylor never ant to post, in order to attack The New York Tis.

Although Edward was having a gathering at his house, it made sense since it was the premiere of the TV series, and the actresses were watching the premiere together.

Also, he had the cure back at his place. It was like getting mad at people for going to the hospital when they got sick.

Taylor was taken aback by the article at first, but then she tweeted sothing that caused even more controversy.

She said that all of the girls were staying at Edward's mansion for the span of the lockdown.

And the crowd was stunned again.