“Sorry, going.”

“He’s my friend, Jake. There’s nothing romantic between us.” “You could’ve fooled me.” You shook your head. He did this every time you spent more than two minutes around a guy who wasn’t him. He never failed. Every single time it was like this. “You know what? Fine. Believe whatever you want. I’m tired of doing this, Jake.” “That’s it! You’ve got to be kidding me, Y/N. You were in there alone with him for two hours! That’s really all you’ve got to say to me?” “I’m tired of having to explain every stupid little thing I do to you! I’m supposed to be so understanding in reversed positions but you can be excessively jealous and possessive? I’m done with this, Jake. Have fun with the next girl.” When he heard you getting out your suitcase, that’s when he realized you weren’t just saying it this time. You were actually going to leave. He peeked into the room. You were pulling your clothes out of the drawers and gathering your shoes from next to the door. Then you started gathering things like pictures and other keepsakes around your room. His eyes lingered on the two frames you didn’t take. The picture of the two of you on your six month anniversary and the picture of your first event together as a couple. Everything else you’d taken. Then he noticed the silver chain glittering on your desk. The necklace. He’d given it to you before the last event you couldn’t make. It was so that he’d always be with you. That’s what he’d said when he’d hooked the clasp behind your neck. This was the first time he’d seen you without it around your neck since then. He went to Mike’s room, his eyes wet with tears. “Dude, what’s wrong? I haven’t seen you cry in, like, awhile.” “She’s leaving.” “She’s said that before.” “She’s actually packing this time…and she took off her necklace.” “Oh…that’s really not good. What did you do?” “She was with dev1ce for like two hours. The two of them. Alone.” “I don’t think she’d try anything and I think she’d try to get away from him if he tried anything. She loves you. She loves you a lot and if she’s walking away, that means you really hurt her.” “So what do I do? I don’t want her to leave.” “You’re going to have to go try to talk to her. Without yelling. She doesn’t like it when you yell at her.” “How do you know that?” “Because apparently my job title should be Shroud, the glue holding Stewie’s relationship together.” Jake walked back to your room and actually came in this time. You gave him a silent glare before continuing what you were doing. He looked at his hands for a minute before he cleared his throat. “Can we talk?” “About what?” “Y/N, I know you’re mad at me and you have every right to be, but please don’t leave.” “Why shouldn’t I? Jake-” “Because, I want to learn. I want to be good enough for you. Y/N, I’d give up my career if that’s what it took. I’d rather give up Counter-Strike than not get to love you.” “Pretty words, Jake. Anyone can say pretty words.” “I’m not going to say I’m sorry for being jealous. I’m always going to be jealous. You’re to good for me. You’re probably too good for any of us. So seeing you with someone scares the living crap out of me.” “You should trust me enough to know that I won’t do anything that I shouldn’t.” “I know…I want you to teach me.” “You’ve got one chance, Yip. Don’t screw it up.”

You’d been inconsolable for days. You boyfriend, well ex boyfriend now, had broken up with you. But of course you’d been stupid enough to date a player from the same organization and division as you. So now you’d been holed up in your room, not wanting to see him. Several of the others had come to check on you. Not that you really wanted to talk. Jordan was their teammate, you were their manager. “Y/N? Did you eat what Stewie brought up?” Shroud shuffled in, looking at the untouched plate on the desk. He sighed and looked back at you. “I’m not hungry.” “Y/N-” “I’m fine, Mike. "Then why won’t you come out of your room?” “Because I don’t want to see him. I really thought we were going to last…” “He…Y/N, don’t cry.” The tears had started and you couldn’t hold them back. Mike sat down next to you and pulled you against him, trying to calm you. You didn’t stop crying until you’d fallen asleep. Your arms were wrapped tightly around his waist and he just gave into the fact that he was going to be spending the night in your room. He’d dreamed about falling asleep in that exact position so many times, but he didn’t think it’d happen. Or that it would be because one of his teammates broke up with you. He knew he’d treat you better than Jordan and he’d hoped you’d see that. Instead he’d gone through ten excruciating months of watching Jordan treat you badly. But you always said you were in love with him, so Mike waited. When he woke up, you were still asleep against him. The redness had left your skin and you looked peaceful. He slowly unwound your arms from his waist and got up, heading to the bathroom. You woke up while he was gone. You could still feel the heat from his body, but he was nowhere to be seen. Then the bathroom door opened. “I thought you’d left.” “Still here.” “Can you stay a little longer?” “Do you want me to?” You nodded and he came back to bed. He seemed surprised when you wrapped your arms around him again. And when you laid your head against his chest. You didn’t usually cuddle up to him. Sure you’d sit next to each other and you’d jokingly sat on his lap before, but you’d never just held onto him. He ran a hand through your hair and you didn’t protest. Then he rested a hand on the curve of your back. You didn’t even flinch under his touch and it made him happy. He may have been Jordan’s teammate, but he’d been in love with you for several years. Not that he’d ever actually said that out loud to anyone. “Y/N?” “Yeah?” “Your hair smells nice.” “Thanks?” “Just thought I’d tell you.” “You smell nice too. I don’t know about your hair, but you do.” Jordan’s voice echoed through the hallway. He was looking for Mike. Mike stiffened against you and you shrank down. Jordan’s voice got ever closer and you got tenser and tenser the closer he got. You were hoping he didn’t look in your room. That was the last thing you wanted at the moment. But that was exactly what happened. Jordan looked into your room and saw you with your arms around Mike and your face hidden in your side. “You’re kidding right? I always thought you might have a thing for her, but really?” “Just leave it alone, Jordan.” “I mean you can have her. She’s a little bitch. Glad I dumped her when I did.” Mike was up and to the doorway before you or Jordan could react. He was fuming and it really looked like he was going to punch Jordan. Even Jordan knew that Mike looked like he was going to punch him. “Mike, please come back to bed. Please.” He wavered at the sound of your voice. He’d wanted to hear those words from you for so long, but he wanted to give Jordan what he deserved. Finally he mad his decision. He turned around and walked back to the bed. You put your hand on his chest, watching his face. He took your hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing it. “He’s wrong. You’re so much better than that.”

“Braxton Pierce.” “You’re using my full name what did I do?” “Got unbanned from ESL events.” “Yeah. It’s pretty fucking great.” “Maybe we should…celebrate.” “And how should we do that?” “Well we could start with taking our clothes off.” “I like where this is going.” First was your shirt, then his. Before long you were both undressed and in bed. He’d made a grab at something by the bed, but you hadn’t seen what. Then you felt something around one of your wrists. Next around the other. Braxton had put a pair of leather handcuffs on you. “Braxton, what the fuck?” “You said celebrate. Celebrate, I will.” Braxton’s hands slid between your legs, teasing you. You’d never been able to stand Braxton’s teasing. His touch drove you insane. His hands always moved slow. He knew it could make you go mad. “Braxton Pierce, stop it.” “Nothing you can do about it, baby doll.” Braxton’s tongue soon joined the equation and he nearly had you finished right then. You let out a particularly loud and Braxton finally seemed to be giving in. “How bad do you want those off, baby doll?” “Take them off and I’ll show you, Brax.” Braxton let you loose and he seemed a bit startled. You rolled him over so that you were on top, your hands quickly finding the zipper on his jeans. Braxton simply watched as you lowered your head. It was one of his favorite views.

Stewie had been moping around for days. He’d just gone through a breakup and was not handling it well. He hadn’t been out of his room in two days and you were starting to worry. “Jake? Jake, come on, I know you’re upset but you have to eat.” He was sat in bed, surrounded by tissues and with bloodshot eyes. You sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Jake, it hurts but you still have to take care of yourself.” “I know…I just can’t find the energy to…” “If I bring some food up will you eat?” “I might.” You went downstairs to the kitchen. Your boyfriend, Braxton, was making…you actually had no clue. You busied yourself making food that you thought Jake would find comforting and didn’t even notice the looks Braxton was giving you. “What are you doing?” “It’s for Stewie.” “Can’t he get it for himself?” “He hasn’t left his room in two days, Brax.” “He can-” But you’d already left the kitchen and were headed upstairs. You were pretty sure Jake didn’t want to eat, but he did. When he’d eaten, you took the dirty dishes downstairs. Braxton was sitting in the kitchen on his laptop and he did not look happy. “Brax, are you going to throw a hissy fit over this? Really?” “I’m not throwing a hissy fit.” “Then why do you look so mad?” “Because you’re my girlfriend, not his!” “Yes, I’m well aware, Braxton. Jake hasn’t been eating because he and his girlfriend broke up. I was concerned for him.” “I know…I’m just scared that one of these days you’re going to figure out that one of those players could do so much more for you than I ever can.” You sighed and sat down next to him, tilting his head until he was looking at you. “Braxton Pierce, I know there are guys out there who could give me everything I ever wanted on a silver platter, but I wouldn’t be happy.” “Why not?” You smiled and shook your head. “Because they aren’t you. You’re the love of my life, Braxton. Always and forever.” “But what if-” “No, Brax, no what ifs. I love you and that’s all I need to know.”

“Y/N, this is Braxton. Braxton, our new manager, Y/N.” He looked at your hand with disdain. You’d simply gone to shake his hand, yet he already seemed to have found a problem with you. Jake tried to settle things, he really did. “It’s fine, Stewie. If he’s going to be egotistical, let him. It’ll catch up with him at some point.” Braxton made several rude comments throughout the day and it was getting on your nerves. Dinner was tense. Usually you joked and laughed at dinner with the team, but your mood was nothing but hostile as you glared at Braxton. “Finally realizing you don’t belong, princess? Maybe you should leave the CS to the boys.” “I belong, and I can actually get into all the events.” Braxton almost jumped right across the table at you. Mike and Jake both held him back, but they couldn’t stop the string of curses and comments that came out of his mouth. Those kinda of conversations went on for several weeks. It was nearly a month later and you were all headed to the Video Game Awards. You were going as Jake’s date, which meant you had to get all dressed up. Your dress was tight, hugging your body in all the right places. You knew all of the Cloud9 guys were watching you. The most dressed up they’d ever seen you was a jersey and skinny jeans. It seemed that you caught Braxton’s attention the most though. He was distant from the group, watching from a place of his own against the wall as everyone mingled. The afterparty was in full swing by this point. You’d spent most of the evening with Jake, since he was your date. His body was pressed close as you danced, and Braxton felt the anger rising in him, burning at the back of his throat. He almost came and gave the both of you a piece of his mind when he watched Jake kiss your cheek. In the morning, everyone was dragging a bit. Well, everyone that was downstairs. Braxton was nowhere to be seen still. You and Jake were sitting together, laughing about the stupid things some people had done last night after a little too much alcohol. But everyone shut up when Braxton came storming in. He grabbed Jake by the front of the shirt and pulled him up, only inches from his face. “What game are you playing, Stew? You think you’re funny?” “What do you mean, Brax? I’m not doing-” “And you,” his eyes snapped to you, “Thinking you’re so cute, prancing around in that dress last night. I could’ve killed you both if there weren’t so many witnesses.” “Wait. I get it. Braxton’s jealous.” “Why the hell would I be jealous, Stewie?” “Because you want her. You’re mad I had her to myself last night.” “And if I am?” “You get to take that up with her.” Nothing was said on the subject for the next few days. Not that it hadn’t consumed your thoughts. No, there was no way Braxton was jealous that Jake had been close to you. Braxton hated you. A knock on your door snapped you out of your thoughts. You went and opened it, coming face to face to Braxton. “Can we talk?” “About?” “You, me, us-” “There is no us, Braxton. You snubbed me the very first time you met me. You didn’t know me, you just made assumptions.” “And I was wrong. I shouldn’t have. You’re a great person, Y/N. You’re feisty and beautiful an-” “Braxton, just say what you came to say.” “Can you give me a chance? One chance. If I’m still a jerk, then that’s your call to make.” “I don’t-” You were cut off by his warm lips pressing against yours, his hands gently cupping your face. Your first reaction was shock, then you slowly closed your eyes and kissed back. Your hands found their way to his wrists. He pulled away and your eyes fluttered a bit as you opened them. “You kissed me back.” “It was a nice kiss.” “Can I kiss you again.” “Buy me dinner and then just maybe.”