Click, clack, click.

A series of billiard balls rolled across the carrom table in calculated and uncalculated patterns. Sebastian had always been the better player when it comes to billiards, while Sam, who was at least getting better after every game, had a streak of losses that didn't seem to break. The majority of his losses could be attributed to Sam trying to impress his friends with a technique or trick shot he learned from a video online. Or just watched and thought it'd be cool to try out.

"Sam, just shoot your damn shot. You've been stalling your turn for 10 minutes," Sebastian said impatiently.

He was standing by his usual resting spot by the corner. Though it was only you four, he seemed to keep the habit of standing by the farthest part of the room. It could be because it was a good place to lean back.

"Yeah, yeah, just hold on, alright?" Sam said, eyeing different points where he could possibly aim his shot.

You and Abigail reclined on the sofa at the side of the room, watching the two boys play. Abigail had claimed that she's pretty decent at pool, but she prefers to make off-handed comments at the side. She taught you how to play at some point, and you played pretty decent as well. But most nights you commentate with Abigail than play billiards with the boys, or play co-op with her at Journey of the Prairie King.

"So, what time is he coming over?" Abigail asked, turning to you.

Tonight was the night Alex will be going to the Saloon to hang out with you and your friends. The previous week, you confessed your feelings to Alex and eventually started dating each other. Alex didn't hang out with your friends before you came to valley, but he was more than happy to spend time with you and your friends.

"Around 8:30," you answered, peering at the clock, which said 8:31. "In fact, I think he should be here by now."

"Ok, I got it!" Sam declared.

"Well, make it hit something this time," Sebastian smirked.

"Oh, you bet I will," Sam challenged. He finally leaned on the edge of the carrom table, pulled back his pool stick, and shot.

Just then, Alex stepped in the room.

"Hey guys, how's it go-WOAH!"

The cue ball flew straight towards Alex's face.

"Alex!" Sam shouted. He dropped his pool stick and rushed to Alex's side. You, Abigail and Sebastian, also hurried towards him as well.

"Dude, I'm really sorry!" Sam apologized frantically. "I'm sorry I ended up hitting you face!"

You saw that in front of Alex's face was the cue ball, an inch away from impact, being gripped by his strong hand.

"Hey, it's alright, dude," Alex grinned. "Luckily for me, I got fast reflexes."

Everyone sighed in relief.

"You son of a bitch," Sebastian said, impressed. "I nearly thought you were going to get knocked out."

"Yeah," Abigail said, who was also impressed. "I thought your face was gonna get ruined!"

"Dude, that was a wicked catch!" Sam said, who was the most impressed.

"Ahh, it's no big deal," Alex laughed good-naturedly.

You rolled your eyes at him, and smiled. He was still a bit of a show off, but you do admit it was something worth bragging about. It was possibly one of the most close-call catches he ever had in his life.

Sebastian held out a hand to Alex. "Give it here," he said.

"Ah, sure thing," Alex said, returning it. He immediately turned to you, a wide grin appearing on his face. "(Name)!" Alex said, lifting you up in a hug. "How's my girl doing tonight?"

You can't help but blush at his bold greeting. When he eased on his grip, you answered "I'm ok. I've just been waiting for you, and I'm happy you weren't hurt by Sam's attempt at a jump shot."

"That was pretty awesome shot, don't you think?" Sam said, trying to recover how little his esteem he had. "Did you see it frickin' fly through the room?"

"Yeah, I saw it, clearly," Alex smirked, putting you down. He wrapped an arm over your shoulder in an affectionate gesture. "Hell of a first impression though."

"Thanks," Sam grinned. "But seriously, I'm sorry about the cue ball."

"Yeah, just, please don't do that again, Sam," Sebastian said, already leaning against the carrom table to take aim. "You always pull that shit out whenever we play."

"It's no fun if I don't, Seb," Sam retorted. He turns to Abigail. "Right, Abby? (Name)?"

Abigail shrugged. "Well, it's a lot more entertaining that way."

You shrugged too. "I'd make do without you harming my boyfriend though."

Sam sighed. "I'm never gonna live it down, am I?"

"Mmm-hmm. Now shut up, I'm concentrating," Sebastian said.

He pulled his pool stick back and forth across his hand. He became still for a moment, before finally shooting his shot.

One ball got hit. Then two. Then three. And finally the 8-ball, all in quick succession. Each ball dropped in a pocket on different spots in the table. A near-perfect combination shot.

Sebastian raised his pool stick in victory. Sam looked as if he's about to break his pool stick.

"What the heck, man! Did you seriously just do that? Abby, is that legal?" Sam asks.

Abigail nodded.

Sam dropped his head in defeat.

Sebastian clapped a hand on Sam's back. "Looks like you're gonna be buying our drinks tonight," he said.

"Man, I always buy our drinks tonight," Sam puffed.

Alex was visibly amazed. "Woah, Sebastian, how did you just do that?!"

"Honestly, that was just dumb luck." Sebastian shrugged. "I've been playing for a while though, you can pick up some tricks along the way if you play seriously enough."

Alex, nevertheless, gave him a thumbs up.

"So, what are you having, Alex?" Abigail asked nicely. "Beer? Pale ale maybe?"

Alex shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. I don't really drink."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Really, not even with friends?"

"Yeah, I'll just have a soda or something," Alex answered.

"Fine by me," Sam said, pulling out his wallet. "I guess the usual?"

"Uh, I think I'll have a soda too for tonight," You said.

"You sure?" Abigail asked, quirking an eyebrow. "You aren't just embarrassed to drink in front of your boyfriend, are you?" she teased.

"No, really, I'm good. I'm just in the mood for some soda too," you affirmed, raising up open hands in a defensive pose.

Honestly, it was true that you didn't want to drink in front of your boyfriend. You knew of how sensitive the subject of drinking was for Alex. You just didn't want to remind him of it, especially since you were his girlfriend.

Sam shrugged. "That's also fine by me, mercy for my wallet. I'll be back with the drinks then." he said, leaving for the bar.

You felt Alex squeezed your shoulder. You looked up at him and saw he was smiling at you, but you can't quite put what kind of smile it was.

You both bought your own sodas from the vending machine, then sat down on the blue sofa near it. Abigail reclined on the red sofa, lying on it with a leg propped up in the back side. Sebastian pulled out a cigarette from a pack in his pocket. He placed it between his lips, but he didn't light it.

"So, how's Mr. and Mrs. Mullner, Alex?" Abigail asked.

"Oh, they're doing great. Healthy as far as old folks go. Still need help with the heavy stuff and all that," Alex said.

"Oh, does Mrs. Mullner still make her chocolate chip cookies?" Sebastian asked.

Alex chuckled. "Yeah, they're awesome, aren't they? She makes 'em every week. They run out pretty fast by the end of the day, though."

"Yeah! I try to get some before anyone else does, but, when I get there they're all gone!" Abigail said, recalling the attempts when she tried to get a hold of Evelyn's cookies. "I suspected you ate them all, Alex."

"Me? Nooo-well, sometimes," Alex laughed. "But I try to not to eat too much. It's not good for my diet. "

"I don't mind eating them all," you said proudly.

"And who can blame you?" Alex smiled.

"Oh, so it's you this whole time?" Abigail said, giving you an accusing look.

You raised your hands again in defense, and laughed. "Haha, guilty as charged."

"Dude, you owe me like, 3 weeks' worth of cookies!" Abigail said.

She crawled to the in-between of the two sofas to playfully hit you. You continued to laugh, weakly defending yourself.

Sebastian interjected. "Doesn't that mean you're in his house often?" he said, smirking.

Your laughter abruptly stopped, instead replaced with a faint blush. "W-well, yeah-"

"Hey, you were in my house without me knowing?" Alex asked, quirking an inquisitive eyebrow at you.

You looked away from him in embarrassment. "W-well, I did ask where you were when I got there. But Mrs. Mullner offered me some of her cookies, so, I couldn't just reject her!"

"But you kept coming back, you cookie theft!" Abigail exclaimed.

"They were too good, Abby!" you said, your laughter making a return.

"I can't believe you were in my house when I wasn't there though, (Name)," Alex said, though with no malice. "You know I'd be happy to see you anytime!"

Your blush grew warmer from his words. "W-well, we weren't together back then, so, I didn't assume you would be."

"Hmm, how'd you guys start dating then?" Sebastian asked. He had been unconsciously chewing on the end of his cigarette. Probably anxious to go outside, since he'd usually smoke after he won a match.

You and Alex looked at each other, as if your stares made you both exchange answers in your mind.

You started, "Well, we were playing catch one day. Throwing the gridball around at the beach."

"Then, I threw it too far one time, and it fell in the water," Alex continued. "I was about to get it myself, but then I saw (Name) jump in after it."

"Yeah," you unconsciously scratched your head. "I thought I could get it myself, but then I realized the water was too deep-and, that I wasn't that good at swimming."

"Oh my god," Abigail gasped. "Then what happened?"

"I start flailing around in the water, trying to at least grab hold of something-"

"Then I thought, 'Oh shit, she's drowning,' so I had to jump in after her-"

"While the gridball floated away with the current-"

"And I had to get her back to shore before she floated away."

Sebastian started snickering at the corner, holding down a laugh emerging from his throat.

"So he swam us back to shore, leaving the gridball in the ocean," you said in a defeated tone.

"She apologized over and over again for not getting the ball and having me rescue her instead," Alex laughed. "Then I told her this one thing-"

"It was really cheesy," you reminded.

"It was true though," Alex chuckled.

"What did you say?" Abigail asked, sitting up from her seat, fascinated in the story.

"I told her, 'There are a lot of gridballs, but there is only one of you.'"

"Aww," Abigail said.

Sebastian continued to stifle his laughter, which came stronger than ever.

"And then I saw her blushing and I thought it was really cute," Alex grinned at the memory.

You covered your face in embarrassment. "I did not see it coming," you added.

"The next day, she came over to my house with a new gridball, and told me she had feelings for me," he said. You felt him pull you closer to his side, his arm still on your shoulder. "I told her I felt the same, and now we're together!"

"Aww, that's so a sweet" Abigail swooned.

Sebastian covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking from keeping in his laughter, and his fingers pinching the cigarette to not let it fall.

"I almost drowned," you lamented. "Almost dying made me realize how precious my life really is. So I had to tell him sooner or later."

"You sure it wasn't because I rescued you?" Alex teased.

You smirked. "Sweetie, I'm sure your shirtless muscled body holding me while glistening in the sunlight had nothing to do with it."

Everyone laughed, with someone laughing unusually louder than the others.

"Hey, what did I miss?" Sam asked, coming back with two trays. The smell of marinara and basil wafted across the room from one of the trays.

Abigail suddenly stood up from the sofa.

"Sam, is that pizza?" she asked eagerly.

You and Alex also stood up from the sofa. Sebastian took out the unlit cigarette from his mouth.

Sam grinned. "Yep, since it's Alex's first night hanging out with us, I figured it'd be great to have some together." He stepped towards Alex. "And also to make up for almost hitting you with a cue ball," he mumbled.

"Thanks man!" Alex said, taking the tray from Sam's hand. "Let's eat!"

Everyone took their own slice from the tray. Sebastian, Abigail and Sam also took their own drinks, which were on the other tray, while you and Alex bought your sodas from the vending machine. You all stood in the room together, eating and drinking like comrades.

"So tell me, what do you guys usually do here?" Alex asked, taking a bite of his pizza.

"Pool," Abigail answered, chewing on her pizza, making "pool" come out as "poo." She swallowed. "Seb and Sam usually play some rounds against each other. (Name) and I just watch and have some drinks afterwards."

"Mmm," Alex hummed, mouthful of pizza.

"You know how to play?" You asked curiously at Alex.

"Nope," Alex said, which came out as "nof." He also swallowed. "I wasn't taught how. Looks pretty intense though!"

"Anything is intense with this bastard," Sebastian said, laying a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Every other night is a new trick, or a ball going through a window-"

"So we keep the windows open now to save us from the damage," Abigail added. "Everything else is defenseless, though."

"No kidding," Alex said, glancing at Sam.

Sam shrugged off Sebastian's hand. "Come on, man, am I ever gonna live it down?" he whined.

"So long as you keep bouncing the balls off the table..." Sebastian pondered for a moment. "Nah, not even if all your shots get clean."

Sam frowned at him. "Alright, alright, enough about the damn cue ball. Alex! What music are you into?

Alex thinks for a moment. "The...type of music with violins and pianos?"

"Classical?" Abigail said, intrigued.

"Yeah, my mom liked to play those kind of songs in our house back then," Alex smiled sadly.

"Oh, I didn't expect you to like that kind of stuff," Sam said. "I'd say it's pretty good I guess."

Alex chuckled, "Well, besides that, I listened to some rock bands too."

Sam grinned. "Awesome! 'Cause we're in a band," he said, pulling Abigail and Sebastian to his sides. "We're Goblin Destroyer!"

You almost choked on your pizza. "Goblin Destroyer?"

"Yeah! Thanks to you, we got inspiration for our sound, and our name!" Sam said.

Alex looked at you for a response. You give him a sheepish smile.

"I suggested they play experimental noise rock," you giggled. "I don't even know what that means."

"What?!" Sam exclaimed, Abigail and Sebastian already stepping away from him. "You didn't even know what genre you were talking about?"

Your giggle turned into laughter. "Haha! I'm sorry, you put me on the spot there at the time. For some weird reason, it was the first thing I thought of."

Sebastian smirked. "Well, we already made a few songs."

"Really?" Alex said, raising an eyebrow in interest.

"Yeah!" Sam said excitedly. He counted off the songs from his head."'The Dark March,' 'Warriors at the Cliffside' 'A hundred thousand arrows and swords slaying our enemies-'"

"The last one is a work in progress," Abigail laughed. "But we're planning on making a demo."

"And eventually-a gig in the city!" Sam proclaimed excitedly.

"Woah," you said, smiling widely. "I'm so happy for you guys!"

Sebastian chuckled, nudging Sam. "Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We still need to rehearse a lot more times."

"It sounds pretty badass though," Alex said. "A hundred thousand arrows and swords slaying our enemies?"

"That's not the final title though," Abigail asserted, nudging Sam.

"But it's what it sounds like!" Sam insisted.

"Well, whatever it is, I'll listen to it!" Alex chuckled. "That title got me sold."

"Sure thing, man!" Sam grinned. "You can come by at band practice!"

"Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 1 o'clock," you pointed out. "I watch them rehearse whenever I have the time. You should come with me! They sound pretty good."

"Sure, babe!" Alex grinned, wrapping his arm back on your shoulders. "Looks like we'll get to spend more time together then."

You grinned as well, blushing at him. "Yeah, I'll be looking forward to it."

Eventually the pizza ran out and all that was left was the tray greasy from cheese oil, and the semi-crescent crusts left by none-crust eaters. Sebastian and Abigail's mugs were a quarter full left of their drinks, while you and Alex's soda cans were empty and in the trash.

Sam downed what's left his mug of beer, and threw an arm around Alex. "Hey Alex! Since we're pretty much buddies by now, how about a round of billiards with me?"

"Dude, I don't even know how to play," Alex chuckled.

"I'll teach ya!" Sam said. "You and me, come on!"

"Ehh, I don't know..."

"How about we play as teams?" You suggested. "It'll be a lot more fun that way!"

"In that case, I don't think it's fair that I play," Sebastian smirked. "Abby, how 'bout you play? It's been a while since you did."

"Sure!" Abigail smiled. "Now, the real question is, who's in whose team?"

"Hey, how 'bout you and me against these nerds, (Name)?" Alex laughed.

You smiled at his eagerness. You were about to agree when Sebastian interrupted.

"Actually, I got a better idea," he said. "How about the happy couple play on opposing teams?"

Everyone stared at Sebastian. "What do you mean, Seb?" Alex asked, intrigued.

"Well, as you probably saw from when you first got here, we usually put up some wagers when we play. Whoever wins gets to make the loser do whatever they want," Sebastian smirked, dragging out the word "whatever" for emphasis.

You turned to Alex for his reaction. He looked entertained by the idea. Probably already thinking of the possibilities.

"Alright, I'm in," he grinned.

"Sounds good to me!" Sam said.

"Yeah, you're on!" Abigail exclaimed.

You smiled. Looks like it'll be a fun rest of the night. "Ok, let's go for it!"

"Great," Sebastian said, feeling the pack of cigarettes in his pocket. "I'm dying for a smoke right now, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Sebastian left the room, already pulling out a cigarette stick from his pack and a lighter on his way out. Sam went to set up the billiard table, taking out the balls from the pockets, setting up the rack, and giving everyone their pool sticks.

Alex turned to you. "So, what do you want me to do if I lose, (Name)?"

"Hmm…" you pondered for a moment. "I'm not sure yet, I think I'll leave it as a surprise?"

"You sure? 'Cause, I already know what I want you to do," Alex smirked.

You quirked an eyebrow at him. "Oh yeah?"

Alex leaned in to whisper in your ear. You listened for a moment. When he pulled away, you were blushing red.

"Cool with you babe?" Alex chuckled.

You didn't know what to say, but before you even thought of what to say, Sam pulled Alex to the table.

"Dude, let me teach you how to play! So, you put your hand like this..." Sam said, putting his hand on the carrom table and pulling back his pool stick. As Sam spoke on about the rules and techniques, Alex turned to look at you, and winked at your direction.

"Hey, (Name), Alex's wager must be pretty embarrassing," Abigail said, sidling beside you. "You look as red as a ruby."

Your face stayed that red for a while.