Author's Note: Im glad you guys like the tension. I've never done a Spinneli fic where they didn't hit it off automatically so this is difficult for me. I truly believe there would never be any tension between them, lol, so I'm trying. : )

The sweat was dripping down Eli's face and into his eyes as he beat on the drums. Spinner had just effortlessly played a four minute song without a drop of sweat or missing a beat. Eli looked like he was dying trying to finish the last remaining minute of the song. He needed to win this if he wanted to stay healthy.

With a ragged breath, he hit the symbols one last time and stopped, looking up and Sav and panting for breath. Spinner was sitting behind Sav, a cocky smirk planted on his lips. Eli stood up.

"Wow. You two are both amazing," Sav said. "And you're both my friends - I can't choose between you two,"

Eli sighed and wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was obvious that Spinner was better than him and Sav was just doing this to be nice.

"I gotta go pick my sister up from the library," Sav said, looking at his watch. "I'll think about it and let you guys know tomorrow?"

Spinner and Eli nodded. Eli was still out of breath and he sat back down.

"You're a pretty good drummer," Spinner began, standing up and walking towards Eli. "But you could use some pointers,"

"I don't need any pointers," Eli muttered.

"Look, man, I'm just trying to help you get better. You seem to really want this,"

"I need this,"

"That's your problem," Spinner said, easily. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to Eli. "You want this so badly that you're focusing more on getting it, than the actual song. When you're drumming, don't worry about anything else but the song. You're carrying the beat. If you mess up, the whole band is messing up,"

Eli nodded. "Thanks,"

The cafe doors slid open and Clare stepped through, smiling. "So how'd it go?"

Eli stood up, "Uh, great. I think I did alright. I'm in a contest with that guy," Eli pointed to Spinner. "Sav is gonna let me know tomorrow if I got it," He reached Clare and gave her a quick kiss.

Spinner stood up and pointed. "Clare Edwards!"

"Yes?" She said, confused.

"You don't remember me? I dated Darcy, like, three years ago,"

"Spinner?" Clare smiled. She walked forward and hugged him. "It's been a long time. How are you?"

"I'm great. I heard Darcy moved to Africa?" Clare nodded. "Wow. That's something,"

"Actually, she's visiting this weekend and I'm sure she'd love to see you. Why don't you come over for dinner? Eli's gonna be there to meet her and you two can get to know each other better since you're competing against each other,"

Eli sighed.

"That would be great, actually," Spinner said. "I'll be there for sure,"

"Great," Clare smiled.

"Great," Eli muttered.

"See you tomorrow, Eli. And hey, good luck!" Spinner playfully hit him on the shoulder before walking out the door.

"You two seem cozy," Eli said to Clare.

"He was really good to Darcy, and to me when he was over. I liked him," She shrugged.

Eli scoffed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, walking out of the cafe.

Everyone just seemed to love Spinner. Fantastic.

Author's note: that felt weird.