It was just an ordinary Saturday. Elena was in the kitchen doing the dishes, and Nate sat on the living room couch playing Crash Bandicoot and desperately trying to get better at the game. They were basically just killing time while waiting for Chloe and Flynn to come over.

"So, how are you doing, Nate?"

Elena finally asked, after seeing Nate screw up quite a many times.

"Huh, in the game? Good",

he straight up said despite just falling in the pit once again. He tried really hard but he still pretty much sucked.

"Oh, okay",

Elena said and smiled to herself. She had of course seen every screw up but for once didn't dare to comment anything about it. She knew that Nate wanted to be good in the game so badly.

"Well, keep on playing. I'm almost done with the dishes, and I think that Chloe and Harry might be here any minute."

After that she fell silent and focused mostly on finishing her task. Mostly. For a while the only noises in the room were Crash yelping when taking hit damage and, occasionally, Nate cursing. Elena bit her lip to prevent herself saying anything. Her thoughts were interrupted when the doorbell rang.

"Oh, I think they're here! Nate, can you go to the door?"

Elena asked.. and waited. No response. Nate was so deep in the game that he hadn't heard anything.

"Nate? Oh, well.."

Elena sighed, dried her hands and walked to the front door to open it herself. As she did so, she heard another yelp from the living room. Was it Nate or Crash, she wasn't even sure anymore. Maybe it was both at the same time. Elena smiled and welcomed the guests.

"Hey! Come on in, we were waiting for you",

she said. There was yet another yelp, which caught Chloe's attention.

"Where's Nate?"

she asked, causing Elena to take a quick glance towards the living room.

"He's a little.. occupied with something. He's playing a video game and desperately trying to get better at it."

"Oh?"

Flynn said.

"Well, let's go look."

With that they walked into the living room while Elena returned to the kitchen.

"Which game is that?"

Flynn thought out loud while staring at the tv.

"He doesn't seem to be too good at it."

As Chloe turned to face the tv, her jaw dropped.

"No way! You have Crash Bandicoot!"

she yelled out loud, finally causing Nate to become aware of their presence. He put the game on pause and turned around.

"Oh, hey, you're here. Please, feel free to sit down",

he said and gestured to the free space next to him. Chloe and Flynn walked around the couch and sat down.

"So, you're playing, mate",

Flynn said.

"Can I try?"

"Well, yeah, sure",

Nate replied and handed over the controller. Flynn stared at it looking slightly confused, having never played Crash before, and then faced the tv.

"Okay, you're going to have to help me here a little. Which.. which button does what?"

Nate smiled as he got a chance to shine.

"It's real simple. The X button, it's the bottom one.. you press it to jump. And then the square button, which is on the left, is your spinny spin attack. Try them out",

he said and Flynn did so.

"Okay, this really does look simple enough. Tell me something.. why is it wearing sneakers?"

Flynn then asked as he looked at Crash.

"I know, right? That's what I've been thinking about!"

Nate said, causing Chloe to roll her eyes.

"You guys are focusing on the wrong things!"

she said, sounding slightly frustrated.

"And what is that? A wolverine?"

Flynn continued as he slowly started playing.

"It's a fox",

Nate said firmly.

"No, you're giving out wrong information. It's a bandicoot!"

Elena corrected from the kitchen.

"Yeah, look, it's in the name. Crash BANDICOOT",

Chloe said.

"Bandicoots don't wear sneakers or jeans",

Nate insisted.

"Oh my god.."

Chloe laughed.

"Have you ever SEEN a bandicoot?"

"Well.. no.."

Nate said.

"But I'm pretty sure that they don't wear clothes."

"Okay, shut up, you're thinking too much into it",

Chloe finally decided but couldn't stop smiling. While they had talked, Flynn had started to get a hang of the game. Surely his inexperience was showing, but for a beginner he wasn't doing too badly.

Chloe let Flynn play for like half an hour before she finally demanded that it was her turn.

"Okay, boys, you've had your fun. I think it's my turn now",

she said.

"By the way, the company that made this game, Naughty Dog, is really good. Have you ever thought about what it would be like if they made a game about us?"

she asked as Flynn rather reluctantly handed her the controller.

"Why.. would anyone do that?"

Nate asked, confused.

"I'm just saying, darling, that it would be a hit. Everyone would play and love it",

Chloe stated, sounding pretty confident about it.

"But now.. let me show you boys how this game is really played."

Elena was finally done with everything and walked into the living room and sat down.

"Wait.. you have played this before?"

she asked from Chloe, and she nodded with a new shine in her eyes.

"Yes! Quite a lot, actually. And I can swear that I'm better at it than both Nate and Harry combined."

"Oh, yeah? Show me",

Nate demanded. Chloe didn't get flustered, she just nodded with a wide smile on her face.

"You bet it, darling. You'll get destroyed",

she promised.

"Okay, this is something that I have to see",

Elena said and high fived Chloe. Chloe wasn't lying. She had played this game a lot and it showed. Seeing her play clearly made Nate nervous, as he stood up rather quickly.

"Nate? Where are you going?"

Elena asked and looked at her husband.

"I'll.. go make popcorn",

he said and walked away, causing Elena to let out a bubbly laugh.

"Popcorn? We don't have any popcorn!"

she yelled to Nate, who didn't respond. He didn't even go to the kitchen, he just walked straight out the backdoor. Flynn stood up shortly after that and followed his friend. After they both had left, Chloe and Elena looked at each other and smirked.

"Haha, that was great!"

Chloe stated.

"Well done, sunshine."

"Why, thank you",

Elena replied with a smile.

About fifteen minutes later Flynn and Nate returned inside. Elena and Chloe stayed silent until the boys had sat down.

"So.. how's the popcorn?"

Chloe had to ask and burst out laughing once more. Elena joined her soon enough. Even Flynn let out a little laugh.

"I'll show you",

Nate said and reached out to Chloe's hand to get the controller back. He was once again ready to fight.

"No, I still want to play!"

Chloe complained. Nate sighed.

"Okay, five more minutes. But after that it's my turn."

Minutes turned into hours, and eventually it was dark outside.

"Oh.."

Chloe only said when she noticed that.

"It's late. I think we'd better get going.."

"Oh, no, no",

Elena quickly said.

"You can stay for the night, if you want to. It's fine by us, right, Nate?"

"Yeah, absolutely",

Nate confirmed. Flynn and Chloe exchanged a quick look.

"Well.. I suppose we can do that.."

Chloe finally said, and Elena jumped up.

"Great! The guest room is all yours!"

she said as she starting walking towards said room.

"You two can share a bed, right?"

"Well.. yeah.."

Flynn said.

Two more hours passed and everyone was getting ready to go to bed. As Chloe and Flynn walked towards the guest room Nate said to Chloe:

"Tomorrow.. I'll destroy you."

Chloe let out one final laugh.

"I think we'll see about that later. Good night, Nate."

And with that she closed the door after her and Flynn. Nate stared at the door for a while before turning around and walking into their bedroom. He was sure of it. Tomorrow Chloe would see what he was really made of. The honor among gamers, that's what it was all about.