When Quinn woke up, her heart sank. She didn't want to check the time, she didn't want this to end. She didn't want them to be over, before they even began. Clay breathed softly in his sleep, both of his arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her close to him.

"Clay," Quinn's voice was a whisper, she couldn't bare to make it any louder, "you have to let me go."

It crushed her to say. You have to let me go. He stirred in his sleep. Quinn laid there listening to the sound of his heartbeat and the pace of his breathing. She only realized that he was fully awake when he started to draw light circles on her back with his hand.

"Hi," His voice was charming, even in the morning, even after last night, "Good morning."

"Hi," Quinn responded, trying her best to keep herself composed. It was a glimpse into what they could have had, "How'd you sleep?"

"That was the best I've slept in a while, you should sleep with me more often," he joked, partially.

"Clay, not now, please." Quinn sat up in bed, remembering that she was in his shirt, as if things couldn't get any worse. He sat up in bed too, sitting centimeters apart from her, if he wanted to, and if he thought it would be appropriate, he would pull her back down under the covers and keep her here. Clay didn't want Quinn to leave, but he knew that it wasn't a decision for him to make.

"I don't wanna look at the time," Clay reached for his phone anyways, "What if we just don't look. Then you don't have to leave."

"I wish it were that simple," Quinn averted her eyes from the object in his hand, "but we both know this is the reasonable thing to do."

"I hate being reasonable," Clay pouted and Quinn laughed a little at this.

She reached out a steady hand and touched Clay's phone screen, 9:47 am, ouch. Quinn took a deep breath, she had ten minutes, and then it was over. It was at this moment that Patches jumped onto Clay's bed and strutted towards Quinn, ready to cuddle.

"See, she doesn't want you to leave either," Clay reached out and pulled Quinn, who was holding patches, into his lap, "It's gonna hurt so bad when you go," he admitted this into Quinn's ear, his voice wavering a little. It made Quinn want to sob.

She was a little distracted by all the direct connection with his skin. Her back pressed against his chest, his arms around her, his legs underneath her, his lips by her ear, Quinn was a little flustered. She did an unreasonable thing, and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. His hands drifted on top of hers petting Patches effectively.

"I could quit," Clay announced under his breath, "for you, I would."

"Absolutely not," Quinn sat up, regarding him seriously, "I wouldn't let you."

"If it meant that we could do this every day, I would quit," Quinn could see in his eyes that he wasn't joking, and that scared her a little bit.

"Clay, you love streaming, you love making videos, you love hanging out with your friends, and you love your fans. You have your dream job, and I would never let you give that up, even if it meant being together," Quinn cupped his face in her hands, staring straight into his eyes. Clay looked like he wanted to say something, but she knew deep down that if he spoke, it would be game over for her, "can we just enjoy these last few minutes together, before I have to pretend it didn't happen?"

Clay nodded, and Quinn's eyes drifted to a dark spot on his collarbone, "shit." She breathed out, with almost a laugh. Quinn touched it, and Clay smirked at her.

"You did a number on me," Clay chuckled, "It's okay, I'm sure you have at least one, somewhere," he was referring to the reason that Quinn was in his shirt, her hoodie was somewhere on his floor. She went to get up from bed, ready to switch back into her hoodie, when she felt his arms wrap back around her.

"Clay," She said sadly.

"I know," He rescinded with a tenderness, pressing a kiss to the small of her back before letting her go.

Quinn pulled Clay's shirt off and sure enough she had a hickey or two of her own, if she didn't have to leave in a few minutes, she would laugh about this, and probably give him another one to match her, but now it felt like a mockery. A temporary reminder that he wasn't hers. She went to throw his shirt into a laundry basket but he stopped her.

"Give it," He put a hand out.

"It's dirty," Quinn stated the obvious, but gave Clay the shirt anyway. She watched as he put in on, seeing how nicely it fit him.

"Don't care. It smells like you," As he got out of bed Quinn slipped her hoodie back on and then tapped on Clay's phone, 9:57 am, she frowned.

"Well, this is it," She sighed, trying to stay light-hearted, as if it wasn't shattering her from the inside, Quinn stuck a hand out, as if she wanted him to shake it.

"Shut the fuck up," Clay grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug.

Quinn nearly melted right there. She decided that if there was a single moment she could stay in, it would be this one. He was hers, even if it was just for a moment, even if this was the last time this would happen, right now, he was hers.

"Can you do me a favor?" He asked quietly, still hugging her. Quinn nodded against his chest.

"Jump," He moved his hand under her thigh, so that he could pick her up. Quinn followed his command, and soon she had her legs wrapped around his torso, their hug feeling much more like a goodbye now. It was taking everything in Quinn's power to not burst into tears. He was holding her so tight, she could tell this hurt him too.

They stayed like that for what felt like forever. It was only when she heard a small alarm go off, that she knew it was time. Clay put her back on the floor, and grabbed her hand one last time.

"Thank you," he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, "for everything."

Quinn couldn't find the words, so she nodded, before turning to open the door, her heart heavier than it had ever been.

"Bye," Quinn whispered, as if her room wasn't right down the hall from his. When she closed the door behind her, it seemed to hit her all at once. Quinn rushed to her own room shutting the door behind her.

"Oh my god," she took a deep breath, letting the tears form, after holding them back for twelve hours. She felt wrecked, the breaths felt like lead in her lungs, and she covered her face with her hands. It was all too much.

Tiki meowed from Quinn's bed, and she looked to her cat, who was affectionately rolling on her pillows. This got a wet laugh from Quinn, who made the rational decision to change her clothes. She couldn't stay in this outfit.

She stripped and put on anything comfy she could find before crawling in bed with Tiki, letting herself cry. Quinn knew she had to get it all out, and once she did, she could think about putting herself back together.

If only she had fought harder for him.

It could've been so easy to be together.

It would've been so worth it.

But she knew that right now wasn't a good time.

She knew that Clay was probably in a similar position, moping a little bit, wishing that there was something he could do. Quinn contemplated this for a while.

It was about thirty minutes, before Quinn heard a knock on her door. The person on the other side, opened it and began talking.

"Hey, I know it early but I was wondering if you wanted to take another stab at that mod and- hey, are you okay?" It was George. He must've seen the redness around her eyes, because he sat down on the bed and pulled her into a hug. It wasn't like Clay's, but she found much comfort in George's small embrace, "We don't have to talk about what's bothering you, but just know I'm here for you."

"Thank you George," Quinn's voice was weak, and it made her laugh a little bit, as she reached up to wipe her tears.

"Of course," He stood back up and made his way to her door, "and I'll tell the boys to leave you alone for today, I'll tell them that you're extremely busy, and need to focus."

Quinn smiled at him, George was so lovely.

When he left her, Quinn found her own phone, plugged into her charger on the bedside table, waiting for her from the night before. She checked her notifications. Two texts from Ellie, a few Twitter notifications, some Twitch alerts, a voicemail and missed call from her mom, and a text from Clay. She opened his text first.

I know this hurts you as bad as it hurts me.

I'm not leaving my room for a bit, told Nick I wasn't feeling good.

I'm sorry.

Quinn frowned before responding.

This seemed to be her new reality, giving short responses to one of her favorite people on the planet. How unfortunate.

She cleared most of her notifications, but opened the text from Ellie, it was a picture of her standing in front of a mirror, holding a puppy, and a text that read I got a new roommate! I think you'd love him.

Quinn gasped and responded quickly.

Ellie's response was immediate.

Bruno, you'll have to come see him some time.

Ps. i miss you.

Quinn shot back to her.

And then Quinn put her head on her pillow and fell straight asleep. Tiki snuggled up next to her owner, purring softly.

In the room down the hallway, Clay sat at his desk, his head in his hands. He felt weak, and worthless. Despite everything, they couldn't make it work, and he knew that. He just wished it wasn't the case. Feeling his own tears rise to his eyes, he picked up his phone and called the only person he knew could help. His mom.

She answered almost immediately, "Hi baby," she greeted.

"Hi mom," Clay's voice cracked, and he took a deep breath, hearing his mom's voice, made him break down a little bit.

"What happened?" His mom's concern was apparent, "Talk to me, Clay, are you okay?"

"I think... I think I just messed up real bad, mom," Tears fell down his cheeks, it was like once they started they couldn't stop, "I let her go, I shouldn't have, but I did."

"Oh baby," His mom knew about Quinn, of course she did, Clay told his mom everything, "You talked to her?"

"I kissed her," His chest felt tight, if he breathed deep enough, he could still smell her.

"Did she not feel the same?" His mom could hear how broken her son was over this, and that hurt her heart.

"I wish she didn't," Clay admitted, staring at nothing, trying to stop the tears from falling down his face, "but she does, although we're both too logical to give into wanting to be together."

"I know that can be tough, especially with your jobs. I know you'll figure it out. You're both incredibly smart, and I know you care about her a lot."

"Mom, you know how I feel... I-"

"I know, Clay, I know." His mom was always patient with her sweet boy, who called to tell her everything about his life, and she knew that Quinn had all of his heart, so this had to hurt a lot, "I know you've been stuck on Quinn for a while, maybe you just need a distraction? Have you met anyone else?"

Clay couldn't believe this was the conversation that they were having, "No mom, I haven't."

"Maybe you should. It could give you a break from being constantly heartbroken over Quinn," Clay's mom just wanted the best for her son. She loved Quinn, truly, but she knew that if Clay continued to pursue her right now, it'd kill him.

"I'll think about it, I just wanted to call you and tell you about everything," He swallowed, feeling better, getting it out to his mom, just made everything better, "Okay, I'm gonna go, drink water probably, and maybe take Patches for a walk, or something. I love you."

"I love you too Clay, call me if you need anything."

"I will. Bye," he hung up and let out a deep sigh. He stood from his desk chair and flopped into bed, being heartbroken really did a number on your energy. What if his mom was onto something? Clay liked Quinn a lot, but after months of just trying to pursue a single girl, Clay was exhausted. Maybe it was time to look for someone new.

But for now, Clay felt himself falling asleep, and in a pure moment of silence, he wished that Quinn were by his side.

She stayed in bed almost all day, some of it sleeping, other parts watching streams or scrolling on social media. It was 6:30 when she decided that it was probably a good idea to hydrate and eat something. So she begrudgingly left her room, and slumped to the kitchen, her eyes puffy and her body weak, why did she have to fall for her roommate?

She entered the kitchen and thought about turning around, seeing that Clay was standing at the fridge, doing exactly what she was. She almost did turn around, except he closed the door and they were suddenly staring at each other.

He had been crying. This was the first thing Quinn noticed, the second being that he hadn't changed. Does it still smell like me? She wanted to ask. She didn't.

"Water?" He offered her the bottle in his hand, and she almost declined it, but knew better. Clay opened the fridge to get another one for himself.

"Thanks," Quinn uncapped it and took a sip. The cold water sent a chill down her spine, "I think I slept pretty much all day."

"Same," He nodded, "I called my mom."

"I called Ellie," Quinn was a little touched that he called his mom, but this also made her want to cry again so she ignored it, "Why does this feel like a break up?"

"I've been asking myself that all day," Clay wasn't looking at her anymore, instead he was watching himself twist the water bottle cap off and on again.

"Clay," Quinn said his name like it was her favorite word in the world, and to Clay it sounded like music coming from her, "we're gonna be okay, right?"

He regarded her seriously, looking at her and nodding, "Yeah, we're gonna be okay."

They shared a smile. Quinn believed him. She felt okay now.