AN:
Before the chapter starts I'd like to thank my wonderful reviewers: TheSmashingBall, Chocolatepie277, CadentClock39, BlazetheDragonite & TheAmazingQwerty. You guys are awesome, please keep up the support! =)
The last chapters were from Mitch's POV, this one is from Adam's again. It was so hard to write, you'll see the reason in the chapter. But I really like it. So much potential for the future, yay! xD

Music tip:
Sam Smith - Nirvana
youtube: watch?v=Lv679SxziHQ

Lovers of Freedom

Chapter 5:
Hate

"Adam?!"

After Adam had ended the call with Jerome and Ty a few hours earlier, he had dressed in his best suit to look presentable. Sure, he didn't know what this deal would be about and there sure as hell were some negative sides too, but at the moment everything was a blessing. Everything that was keeping him distracted from Alesa was.

Sure, a sudden meeting and at this time was very unusual, but Mr. Murphy had made himself clear that it was very urgent. Also, the building complex wasn't very far from his home, so Adam actually agreed. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he had assumed first.

But then he had to turn up behind him.
Dressed in a light jeans and a dark hoodie, Mitch stepped out of the elevator and froze on the spot, as he recognized Adam. His voice was barely audible, as he whispered his name and his whole body tensed up.

For a short moment Adam was quite surprised.
It turned into a warm feeling inside of his chest.
Then there was only one emotion left. Anger.

"What the fuck are you doing here? This is a joke, right?"

In his vivid memories, Mitch was a coldhearted money-whore, who didn't care about friendships. In Adam's mind every single one of his moves was planned, no matter what happened to others. His eyes – cold. His grin – malicious.
His mental image didn't fit at all to the person standing in front of him now. Mitch flinched and even took a step back. It was all an act, Adam told himself. Nothing was real. The pale skin, the dark rings under his eyes, the shaking hands. He wouldn't fall a second for his act.

It felt like a lifetime had passed, as Mitch finally found his voice to reply.
"I- I guess I'm here for the same reason as you are."

Adam would deny it later on, but as he heard the small voice, unsure and completely broken, a part of him was worried. A short second he wanted to rush forward, forget the past and make sure to hear his laugh again. Then he had collected his thoughts again and nothing was left except for anger, hate and disappointment. All the emotions Mitch deserved.
Nonetheless his answer made Adam furrow his brows and forget them for a second.

"Wait, they called you as well?!"
Mitch didn't dare to reply and simply nodded. Adam took it the wrong way, unable to see it from his point of view.

"Great, that's just wonderful. I can't believe it. Now I'm stuck here with a person who's even above replying. Don't you dare get in my way, Hughes, I can't stand seeing your face."
His words were too much. Even Adam himself knew.

Still he ignored Mitch's silent reaction.
The gleam fading from his eyes.
His crumbling stance.
A single sigh, barely audible.

If Mr. Murphy hadn't appeared in the exact same moment, Adam would have eventually given up his hard attitude toward Mitch.
"Oh, I'm glad you're both here already! Please come into my office."

With a hateful look to Mitch, Adam sat down in one of the two chairs in front of the desk. As his unwanted companion sat down as well, he moved to the left with his chair. Deep inside he knew that the other boy was hurting with every move Adam made, but he couldn't bring himself to care about it. Every time he tried, the memories hit him at full strength and he remembered every single word.
Their fight had been horrible. Never before in his life had Adam felt so much resentment and bitterness towards a person than after that fateful day. His reaction now was logical, wasn't it? However, he still felt guilty for every word he was saying right now. Why wasn't Mitch as angry as Adam?! He should be – he had every right to do so. Adam hadn't been much better back then. And still Mitch behaved completely… unexpected.

It made him furious.

"Please excuse this unusual hour of our meeting. It was necessary due to a set time limit."
Mr. Murphy sat down as well behind his desk and as he looked up at the two boys, his face had lost all the kindness. Right now he seemed to be dead serious. Before one of them could ask, what exactly he'd meant with his words, he explained.
"As I've already told you, my bosses aren't happy about people like you making videos. Quite the contrary. But I know the potential you guys have and I managed to convince them to make a deal. No more videos of Youtubers about the game, except for a certain group of famous and popular people. People like you."

Adam was glad that he was already sitting, otherwise he would've collapsed for sure. "Wait, you definitely let out that part during our call!" Adam leaned forward and grabbed the armrests of his comforting chair. Shortly he glanced to his right – Mitch was sitting deep in his chair, arms crossed protectively in front of his chest and his eyes were firmly set on Mr. Murphy. Something was going on here for sure. Was he already involved?

"We, you and I, have no other chance. It's either this group or no one at all."
Murphy's eyes were serious, his voice even more. Discussing this point was out of question. Still Adam tried.
"Are you out of your mind?! Have you any idea how many people are making Minecraft-videos for a living? You can't just kick them out! The fans won't accept that, they'll go on the warpath for that!"

"That's the reason why we give them something that's even more worthy to them."
Murphy sounded way too sure and Adam got a bad feeling. He risked a short glance to his right again. Mitch was even paler than before. He knew for sure what was going on and by the look of it, it was bad.
For the first time this evening, the anger towards Mitch was replaced by worry.

"We will reunite Team Crafted."

Everything stopped.
Time slowed down.
The sound of the cars on the streets disappeared.

Adam couldn't think.
Team Crafted, the group of people, who had left their indelible mark on him.
People, who have been incredibly important to him.
Adam tried vehemently to keep the emotions down, but his resentment was washed away by the happy memories the group shared. And here he was, with a chance to get it all back and with a formerly close member, whom he still detested.

"You did it quite well back then, with the different events and the things you did for the fans, but we can do it better. We have to, according to the bosses."

It was literally all or nothing.
Adam could keep on doing his videos, unfortunately with Mitch.
Or he could look for a new job with losing everything that had become so important to him over the years.

He had no other choice.
The decision was made.

"What are the conditions?"
Mitch's head spun around quickly. He obviously didn't expect Adam to give in. Out of spite he threw Mitch a challenging and cold look, before he gave his full attention to Murphy again. He wasn't surprised at all about his decision.
"You and the other members will live and record together again. No fights via twitter, especially no words to the fans about something like that. It's no good publicity, you surely understand. Daily videos, but we can decide which modifications you are going to show. Of course we'll decide with the number of views, as you did."
The more Murphy talked, the less motivated Adam became, but he had no other choice. And it didn't sound so bad, did it? Murphy seemed to be quite enthusiastic about his little project and if he was being honest, then they should be thankful to have a job at all.

It couldn't turn out all too bad.

"Of course you and Mr. Hughes have to stop fighting, we can't afford keeping it up. Why don't you guys start with making up right now? It's hard to find a hotel at this time, and you don't live too far away. I'm sure Mr. Hughes can stay with you for the night."

Could it?

So hard to write, but I'm quite satisfied with the chapter. =)
What do you guys think about it?
Please let me know in the comments and don't forget to follow me on Twitter to get news about the chapters and stuff! -at- Milumaus