Clay was standing in the dark. It was the middle of the day, but the curtains in Quinn's room were pulled tightly over the windows. Clay couldn't explain what drove him to come into her room, but it seemed to call to him. He had a feeling he wouldn't be hearing from Quinn for a few weeks, and the thought drove him up a wall. So here he stood, in the dark, motionless, and on the verge of tears.

The house felt so empty. Nick and George had stayed reserved all day, not coming out of their rooms. Clay felt so alone. He had known that Quinn was the missing piece in their puzzle, the part of the dynamic that just made everyone else fall in place, but he didn't expect it to crumble so quickly once she had gone. He needed to call someone, to hear anyone's voice.

"Hello?" Clay sounded weak, wounded.

"Hey baby, how are you holding up?" Vanessa's voice soothed him in the moment. When Quinn left, everything felt off. Clay and Vanessa argued on the way back to Vanessa's house, and it resulted in the both of them in tears, each for their own reasons.

"Not well," Clay admitted sadly, sitting down onto Quinn's bed, feeling his chest grow tight, "I wish it could've gone differently."

"I know you do, and I do too. I'm sorry, Clay," Vanessa, despite popular belief, did really care about Clay. Seeing him hurt like this, made her feel sad, even if it was partially her fault.

"No, don't be sorry Ness, I know why you did what you did. I know it was hard to put your foot down like that," Clay reassured her.

In Vanessa's driveway, she broke down, and opened up to him, about being a hardass, and a bitch, and why she felt threatened. Clay learned that Vanessa's previous relationship had ended incredibly badly, to the point where the police got involved. Vanessa's previous boyfriend had been sleeping around with another girl, and when his side piece found out, she threatened Vanessa with violence.

"I trust you, I just can never be too careful," Vanessa spoke softly. She had known that there was something going on between Quinn and Clay from the beginning, and as much as she liked Clay, she wouldn't let history repeat itself. Especially when Quinn could write her off as a villain, using her platform to turn thousands of people against her.

"I know, I know," Clay's hand was shaking, "it's just different without her here. I wonder how she is."

"She's probably really upset," Vanessa was trying to sympathise with how Quinn felt, but she really didn't care, "but she'll bounce back. She's a strong girl Clay, losing you guys would tear anyone apart."

"She hasn't lost us," Clay cut Vanessa off, feeling weaker thinking about not talking to Quinn anymore, "She just doesn't live with us anymore."

"You probably won't hear from her for a while, if she's hurting, she's going to want to heal before she does anything, just be patient," Vanessa said this, already knowing that Quinn blocked his number. He won't be hearing from her for a long time, "do you want me to come over baby? So you're not so alone?"

"It's okay, I probably need to talk to George and Nick, I just hope that Quinn told one of them that she's okay," Clay knew he was getting what he deserved, but he just wanted to know that Quinn was safe. His biggest worry was that she would sleep in her car, trying to find a place to stay, and that she wasn't taking care of herself. The thought made Clay's eyes water again.

"Do you think they're still mad?" Vanessa sounded timid on the other end of the line, "I know Nick and Quinn were really close, and I know he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you, I promise. They don't know that you have a reason for being that stubborn, once they find out, they'll understand and it'll be okay. I promise he doesn't hate you, Ness. And George, he'll come around too," Clay knew that Nick was mad. When Clay got home from his parents house, Nick gave him a sketchy look and then retreated to his room. He hasn't been out since.

"Okay, okay, I'm gonna get some rest, it's been a long night. You should too. You sound worn out, Clay," Vanessa's tone was motherly and concerned. Clay sounded like he could break down at any moment, even though he already has multiple times that day.

"I will. Sleep well. I'll talk to you later," Clay and Vanessa said their goodbyes and hung up.

Clay felt Quinn's bed underneath him, and decided to just lay down. Her room was cold and dark, and it provided Clay the moment of calm that he had tried to chase ever since she left. He laid in silence until he heard a small mewing noise at the door. Patches seemed to read Clay well, because she jumped up onto him as he laid there. She mewed sadly.

"I know. I miss her too."

Meanwhile, at Ellie's house, Quinn was unpacking her suitcase, collecting her items so that she could shower. After she woke up, Quinn decided that she had to move on. Even if she wasn't talking to Clay right now, that didn't mean that her life was over. Ellie was a big believer in moving on, and encouraged Quinn to get her life back together ASAP.

"It's gonna be so much fun having you back," Ellie was opening the window of Quinn's room, letting some fresh air in. Quinn watched as she then lit a candle and placed it on the desk where Quinn's computer was staring up, "It's gonna be like old times!"

"And you're sure that you're okay with being in my streams now?" This was a discussion that they had an hour or so ago, when Ellie suggested that they get drunk and Quinn suggested that they streamed it.

"I'm sure, it's all new for me so you might just have to be patient, but yes, of course, I want to be a part of my best friend's super fun job," Ellie handed Quinn empty hangers from the closet, and Quinn put clothes on them before handing them back.

"Thank you, El," Quinn wasn't just talking about helping her hand her clothes up, "I know it's weird for me to come back into your apartment randomly, and dump all my trauma shit on you. But thank you for letting me stay."

"Girl, are you kidding? I have been praying that you come back, that's why I haven't moved out, silly." Did Ellie appreciate the fact that she could bring guys and girls back to an empty place? Yes. Did it change the fact that Ellie missed her best friend more and more everyday? No. It was at this point that Bruno, Ellie's frenchie puppy, started barking in the hallway. Both girls opened the bedroom door to a yipping puppy, and a hissing cat.

"Tiki, get in here," Quinn scooped up the cat who purred affectionately, thanking Quinn for saving her. When she put Rose down on her bed, the cat meowed at her loudly and Quinn seemed to know what she was thinking, "I know you miss Patches baby, I miss her too." Quinn pet Tiki's head.

"That looks like everything," Ellie said, closing Quinn's now empty suitcase and wheeling it into the closet, "how are you feeling?"

"Weird," Quinn admitted, looking around the room, "it looks like I never left."

Everything was exactly where Quinn remembered it. The only difference was now the bedsheets were gray and dark blue, as opposed to the bedsheets that were still at Clay's. Quinn felt herself getting excited. This was a new chapter of her life, it was a time to grow, and as sad as Quinn was to have left, she knew it would have been miserable to stay there and watch Clay and Vanessa be together. At least now, she didn't have to hide her distaste.

"Why don't you shower and I'll get everything set up for dinner, so we can drink wine like the classy bitches we are," Ellie laughed at herself.

"Okay, classy bitch, are the towels still-"

"Under the sink? Yes." Ellie finished Quinn's sentence, knowing that her best friend was going to fall right back into the routine of life that they had. With that she left Quinn by herself, humming a song before playing it out loud on Alexa.

Quinn unplugged her phone, which sat on her bedside table. She wanted to tweet an announcement about streaming, that way her audience wasn't surprised by a random Twitch notification.

Drunk YLYL with Ellie tonight!

I promise you guys will be getting more Minecraft content soon! Sometime next week maybe ;)

And then she grabbed her clothes and made her way into the bathroom, ready to put herself back together.

Back at the house, the boy's phones buzzed in sync. It was a very early and a very tense dinner for them. The silence in the room was deafening.

George had tried to make conversation, but both Nick and Clay were too stubborn to engage. George reached for his phone first. When he read the notification, his eyes softened and he smiled, letting out a breath.

"Quinn's okay, you guys don't have to stare daggers at each other," George looked between the two boys, holding his phone out for them to read. Instead they both picked up their own phone and read her tweet for themselves.

"I'm glad to see she is okay to stream," Clay let out a breath that he had been holding in since Quinn left, she was safe.

"Mhmm," Nick too felt calmer knowing that she wasn't too broken about being kicked out.

"Nick, can we talk about this, because I don't want you to be mad at me forever," Clay decided to nip this in the bud, so that the angry tension would go away.

"You kicked her out, she left, she's okay," Nick said plainly, "you didn't consult us. What else is there to talk about?"

"Vanessa said she felt uncomfortable with her living here," This was clearly not the right thing to say.

"Tough shit, Vanessa doesn't live here," Nick pointed out, "You had barely been seeing her for two months before she decided that she didn't want Quinn around!"

"She sensed that there was something going on between her and I," Clay defended Vanessa.

"Yeah because there was," George put his two cents in.

"YEAH BECAUSE THERE WAS," Nick repeated, agreeing, "And you both were too cowardly to do anything about it. So instead you let her walk around miserable, as you bring in a girl who treated her like shit, before she even knew Quinn."

"Vanessa has a bad history with guys," Clay said finally. He wasn't gonna sit there and let Nick and George continue to think so lowly of his girlfriend, "I know you don't like her, and I know that you're mad that she and I decided that Quinn should move out, but Vanessa's past boyfriend cheated on her with some psycho chic who put Vanessa in the hospital."

Nick quieted down quickly, and George seemed to perk up, "what do you mean?"

"I mean, Vanessa's ex cheated on her, and if that wasn't bad enough, the girl he chose was psychotic, and started stalking Vanessa and all this crazy shit, and one night she shattered Vanessa's window, getting glass all in her skin. Vanessa was in the hospital for it, she went to therapy and all this medical stuff so that she wasn't paranoid that she was being stalked. She eventually had to move out of town, because she was so afraid that she wasn't safe. She wanted a new start," Clay watched as Nick's anger flooded out of him, "I guess when she met Quinn, she could tell that her and I had a history, and wasn't gonna let Quinn walk all over her."

"Well, shit," Nick said under his breath, he felt a little guilty, "But it doesn't mean that she had the right to be a complete jerk to Quinn."

"I know," Clay agreed, "And Vanessa feels awful about the way she acted, but she thinks it would be best for us to not reach out for a little bit, so that Quinn can heal."

"I just hope she doesn't think we're abandoning her," George was staring at the table, spaced out. He abruptly stood and went back to his room. Nick and Clay watched him go. George had seemed the most reserved about the situation, but this was a pretty clear sign that something still bothered him.

"I'm sorry," Nick suddenly apologized, "I had no idea that she carried so much baggage."

"I didn't either," Clay frowned, "I feel even worse because I didn't believe Vanessa at first. When she told me today, I thought she was lying to cover her ass. But she showed me the scars Nick, and I hope no girl ever has to go through that." He pointed to a few different places on his arm where he remembered seeing scars on Vanessa's skin.

"Jesus. Yeah." Nick agreed, "I just hope Quinn is okay." Nick sat back in his seat, and watched as Clay did the same.

"Yeah, me too." Clay nodded.

****

"Hey guys! Welcome back to the stream! How are we doing tonight?" Quinn watched as more and more people flooded into the chat. Her chest was warm, her muscles were relaxed, and when she looked at herself in the stream preview, she looked pretty. Ellie had convinced Quinn to put some makeup on, so that when she was feeling a little tipsy, she glowed with laughter and eyeliner.

The chat had many questions, seeing that everyone's absence on Twitter and Twitch lined up a little too perfectly with the sudden switch of scenery.

"I promise I will explain everything to you guys, but for tonight I really just want to have some fun, if that's alright," Quinn looked to Ellie who was staring at the computer with wide eyes.

"How do you read all of that stuff?" She pointed to the quickly moving chat.

"Practice," Quinn answered and turned her attention back to the stream, "You guys know the rules, five lives, we laugh, we end the stream. Be funny tonight guys, it's been a long week and I want to laugh." Quinn clicked open the moderator tab, to see who was watching. She tried not to let herself falter when she saw that Nick, George, and Clay were watching. Quinn didn't really have a chance to react because the first video was pushed through.

If Quinn knew anything about Ellie, it was that she was so bad at containing her laughter, especially when she was tipsy. Both of the girls had slowly been sipping wine all night, careful not to overdo it. Every time that Quinn looked over to Ellie, she looked as if she was about to break, and watching Ellie about to laugh, made Quinn almost laugh, so there were a lot of deep breaths, and big smiles. It had faded from her brain that the boys were watching, and it was almost like she hadn't met them yet. Like old times.

Quinn wasn't very good at stopping her laughter once it started, and this proved to be true about halfway through the stream, when a stupid video of a documentary about monkey sign language made Quinn burst into a fit of giggles, that escalated to a near death experience.

"I feel like this isn't as much fun for the viewers as it is for us," Quinn said wiping a tear from her eye, "I am so sorry you guys."

What Quinn didn't know was that Clay tried to text her, reassuring her that the viewers were indeed having a great time watching, and that his text bounced back with a Not Delivered.

The girls continued to watch video clips for another twenty five minutes before Quinn lost the last life, trying her hardest to swallow her laughter.

"Once I'm in a giggly state, it's so incredibly hard for me NOT to laugh," Quinn then turned her attention back to chat, who at the time were all spamming a copy-pasta that said my streamer is pretty when she laughs #DHMU. This of course made Quinn giggle a little more, as she thanked the viewers for their support and that they stuck around to watch. She also expressed her gratitude for their patience with her this past month, and promised that soon everyone would have the answers they need.

When the stream ended she had a feeling that something was trending on Twitter. She was right, as she usually was, and was surprised to see that there were two things from stream, #EllieSupremacy and #TheGirlsAreBack, were both trending with thousands of pins rolling in. Quinn read the description out loud for Ellie to hear.

"#EllieSupremacy, fans show loads of support for Twitch Streamer Quinn's best friend Ellie after her appearance in a recent You Laugh You Lose stream. And, #TheGirlsAreBack, fans celebrate the return of a familiar background of Twitch streamer Quinn, and theorize the reason for Quinn to return to her roots." Quinn scrolled through each hashtag, looking at the various memes that have arisen from the stream and about Ellie. But there were also really pretty screengrabs that were posted with sweet messages. It made Quinn's heart pound, and for the first time in a month, Quinn felt like everything was going to be okay, for real.

Quinn wasn't the only one scrolling through this hashtag. Clay sat at his desk, his computer screen long turned off, scrolling through, seeing all the lovely things that fans had to say. Seeing how pretty Quinn looked, seeing her smile again, hearing her laugh, it put into perspective how fucked up Clay made her feel.

He felt like an asshole.

When the text bounced back to him, he wanted to click off the stream and mope, or worse, convince himself that she didn't block him and there was another reason his text didn't go through. But deep down he knew he deserved this. Seeing Quinn smile again, made Clay feel better, she was much stronger than he was, as she had moved on from being hurt and was on track to be happy, whereas Clay didn't know where he stood. But he missed her, and it hadn't even been a day.