Notes:

This is set during/after IMPACT. (February 4, 2020)

"Are you sure you want to stay here?" Jake asked, standing in the middle of their locker room.

"Yeah, I'm busy." Sami didn't even look up from his laptop.

The screen was filled with ones and zeros. It was something that Jake didn't understand. He trusted his partner, but he began to worry. After losing the World Championship at Hard To Kill, Sami had changed. Most of the time he stared at his laptop, and sometimes he just left and didn't tell anyone what he was doing. Jake had hoped it was just a phase, but it only seemed to get worse.

"We'll take Fulton to the ring."

"Okay, you-" Sami stopped when he looked up. "What did you do to your hair?"

"You didn't notice it until now?" Jake huffed. "You don't even look at me anymore! I want to support you. We all do. But this hurts. I miss you. You need to take a break from whatever you're doing there."

Sami returned his gaze to the screen. "I can't take a break until I'm done."

"Why are you so obsessed with that shit?"

"It's not shit!" Sami shouted. He took a deep breath to calm down and continued, "It's important. They need me. I'm the savior of Impact Wrestling."

"Stop saying that. You're creeping me out."

"Leave me alone, Jake," Sami said while typing on the keyboard. "I need to focus on this."

Jake swallowed. A punch in the face would have hurt less. 'Leave me alone' was something Sami had never said to him before. He stepped out into the hallway, where Dave waited for him and questioningly raised his eyebrows. Jake shook his head, and he obviously looked so miserable that his brother hugged him.

It was hard for Jake not to cry, but they were going to have a match soon, and red swollen eyes wouldn't look cool.

It was late, and Jake was tired from his match earlier. His partner was still sitting at the table on the other side of the hotel room and stared at his laptop again.

"It's enough for today. Come to bed," Jake said while hugging him from behind.

"Don't touch me now!" Sami shouted, causing the other man to stumble back a few steps with a shocked expression on his face. Sami turned around. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." He sighed. "You need to understand that I'm not just doing this for myself. People have lost respect for oVe. I can't stand them talking trash about you. I'll expose their lies, and they won't look down on us anymore."

Jake shook his head. "They will never respect me. I will never be more than your sidekick in their eyes. But you know what? That's okay for me because I know that you respect me. Seeing you succeed is all I want. But if I'm nothing more than a distraction for you-"

"You are not," Sami interrupted him. "I'm sorry I treated you like that. Come here." He waved his partner over to him, and Jake hesitantly sat down on his lap. Sami hugged him and leaned their foreheads together. "I love you, Jake. I'm sorry I hurt you. I will make them respect you. But for now, I'll take a break," he said and closed his laptop. "Let's go to bed, okay?"

Jake nodded and kissed him. "I love you too."