So I have another chapter... five weeks later...Hahahaha oops.
I have no excuses. I've literally had no motivation for the past couple of months so yeah. This chapter is the mosy productive thing I've done in a while. I'm on break now though, so if I get inspiration you may get a decent upload schedule!
I'm sorry I'm a failure you should probably just leave this story
The door to the house opened quietly and someone stepped inside. Mitch tensed up before remembering Jerome had gone out. The bacca walked into the kitchen area and set down some food, only to turn around and be surprised by the boy. "Mitch? You got up this early?"
"Yeah, G." He responded as normally as possible. "I slept pretty well last night."
"Good to hear." Jerome said as he continued to put food away in chests. "What's that in your hand?"
Mitch looked down at the paper in his hands. "I- uh... Nothing! Nothing at all." He shoved his hand under himself.
Jerome raised his eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure that was something."
"There are things and there are not things, and I can assure you that was a not thing." Mitch replied.
"Mitchell Donald Ralph Hughes, show me that object or I will be forced to take extreme measures." The bacca had set down the food by now and was approaching Mitch.
"There is no object to show." Mitch frantically searched for a place to hide the paper.
"Resistance, hmm? Well I guess I'll just have to... Tickle you!" The bacca started tickling Mitch.
"Stop- it..." He said between laughter.
"Nothing?" Jerome said as he stopped his attack. "I'm watching you, Mitchell."
"Can't... breathe..." Mitch choked out.
Jerome rolled his eyes and laughed faintly as he went back to the kitchen. "We have to meet Jordan and Ryan at the arena in four hours, you know." Mitch nodded in agreement. "I'm going to go get ready. Once I get back we can talk strategies."
The moment the baca left the room, Mitch breathed a sigh of relief and pulled the paper out from in between the two cushions. He really had to be more careful about where he displayed his secret possessions if he planned to hide this. Doing such a thing would be tough, but he could manage. No more stupid slip-ups.
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"Sharp left, G, and through the trees!" Jerome commanded through the headset. Mitch followed the orders and ducked underneath a sword as a girl swung at him. With one punch he knocked her back and continued on his path.
"I've got a stone sword Ryan, where are you?" Jordan asked.
"Staring at this bacca through the trees." Ryan laughed.
"No killing each other until death match!" Jerome reminded. "For all the viewers, we decided to have Mitch and I vs those noobs, but we aren't going to officially try and kill each other until the D. We're just going to go on our way if we see each other but we won't team."
"I'm so tempted to kill you." Ryan groaned. "Meet you at spawn, Jordan?"
"On my way."
Mitch searched through the trees but he couldn't seem to find anything. "I'm so lost..." He groaned halfheartedly. "Where are all the chests on this map?"
"Hiding from you, obviously." Jordan said.
"We're gonna win! We're gonna win!" Ryan cheered. "Jordan, is that you? Since when do you have blue sunglasses and not red?"
"That's not me!" He urgently called back. "Run!"
Mitch laughed as he continued scanning the area around him. "Where are you, G? I'm lonely without my bac."
"Come meet me at the treehouse and we can kill people for the D and maybe cuddle a little." Jerome said.
"Would you guys stop flirting? This is group call, you know." Ryan joked. A scene from Mitch's first battledome with Team Crafted flashed before his eyes but he pushed it away.
"Sorry." Jerome laughed. "Mitch, where you be?"
Mitch sprinted to the bottom of the massive treehouse. "I'm climbing up the ladders. Are you at the top?"
"Indubitably, biggums." Mitch frowned to himself as he made his way up. Jerome and him hadn't called each other that since, well, since the relationship. It was almost a silent pact to push aside the word that meant a forced love. It felt odd hearing it after so long.
"I made it to the top, G." Mitch said as he looked around. "Jerome?"
"Gotcha!" The bacca screamed as he popped out from behind a branch. Mitch squeaked and fell to the ground, shaking slightly. "Haha, the look on your face!"
"What did you do to him?" Jordan asked. "Ryan, pass me the sticks too."
"That was rude." Mitch said quietly.
"That was... A powermove!" Jerome declared.
"I like the sound of that!" Ryan agreed.
Mitch stumbled to his feet again. "I hate you so much."
"You know you love me." Jerome insisted. Mitch rolled his eyes. "Need any weapons?"
"Yeah, that would be good. Got to chop up some fools."
"You dudes are aware there are only five players remaining, correct?" Jordan asked.
Jerome smiled at Mitch creepily. "If I kill you, we go to the D."
Fear flashed in Mitch's eyes. One will betray... "Get away from me." He said with urgency laced in his voice.
Jerome backed off, his axe lowering. "Fine, we'll do it legitimately." He seemed to be trying to nonverbally ask Mitch what was wrong without alerting the viewers.
"Jordan! Girl to the right!" Ryan yelled, breaking the moment of silence. "She's got an iron sword!"
"Mitch, we can let them do all the work and get a free ride to the D!" Jerome half-whispered.
"Of course, G." He said, his mind on other things. Jerome had been so ready to just give him up. Why? Would he really betray Mitch if it came down to it? He looked at the bacca, his partner of sorts, and wondered who he could trust. Maybe he really was alone in this world.
::::::::::::
"Haha, we win! Powermoves only!" Ryan cheered.
Jerome sighed as they met up in the lobby. "Good fight, good fight. Mitch, what happened?"
"What?" Mitch asked as he focused on the situation. "Oh. I guess they were just too strongk."
"We dominated." Jordan said. "You were a fair contender, but no match for our blades!"
"The axe is mightier than the sword." Jerome piped up.
"Obviously not." Ryan laughed. "You guys just got slayed."
"Screw you." The bacca muttered.
"Why you hef be med? Iz only game." Jordan said in a ridiculous accent that brought them all to a fit of laughter.
"Well, that wraps up this recording. Thank you so much for watching and go..." Mitch tuned out everything Jerome was saying as he did his outro, his mind still contemplating other things. Jerome was going to leave him, he was sure. Maybe he had a new best friend, someone even better than him. Well, nearly anyone was better than him. But why? Why would the bacca stay with him for so long only to abandon him? Mitch may not have been quality material, but Jerome had a heart of gold. He was just so kind that he would never lead anyone on like this. Why should Mitch be worrying? Why was he so concerned? Why couldn't he just calm himself down and take deep breaths like-
"Mitchell!" Jerome said for the fifth time as they walked out of the arena. "What do you want for dinner?"
"Um... Potatoes." He answered, slightly hurt by the harsh tone.
"Are you okay?" Jerome asked a bit softer. "You seem a bit off today."
"I'm okay." Mitch assured, wondering why he was so quick to lie lately. "I'm just disappointed we let such an easy win slip through our fingers."
"Well, we can't win 'em all, can we?" Jerome said. "Cheer up, G." Mitch gave him a halfhearted smiled and the bacca frowned. "What would make you happy? Let's go out to dinner, alright?"
"I guess." Mitch said. It'd probably do him some good to get out without the stress of recording. He smiled to make Jerome happy, but there was just a hint of a true grin behind it. The bacca did care about his well-being. He seemed so concerned about Mitch's happiness and was willing to give up his evening for that cause. Mitch decided that because Jerome was trying so hard, he would at least try to be happy. Genuinely happy, that is. And as he sat down to dinner with Jerome, another smile crept onto his face and stayed there for a few minutes.
Little did Mitch know that this was actually the beginning of the end.
Dun dun dun... I feel dumb typing that it just looks really dumb. I think these author's notes are making me look insane so I'm going to go but you should totally leave a review stating whether Jerome will be loyal or not! Yeah.
Sorry for my inability to type 1,300 entertaining words within five weeks.
~Scarlett