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Hunter Page was never really the jealous type. Ally was a streamer and a gamer girl, an attractive one at that, and dating Ally for even a little while showed him that those qualities were highly sought after by guys aplenty in the nerdier demographic of the internet. But it never bothered him before! Who cares what those guys, gals, and nonbinary pals would say, Ally was his and he was hers and it was awesome! Who cares if they had their fights?
So why did watching Benji make her laugh so much irritate him?
He picked up his Subway footlong, saying something about a Jill sandwich and she laughed. She followed up with something about lockpicks and he laughed back? She touched his shoulder while giggling. Tristan, the other person at their small get together, said something about bingo which caused all 3 of them to laugh. What the hell did lockpicks and bingo have to do with one another and who the hell was Jill?
“Sooo guys, what are we talking about?”
“Resident Evil dude! We’re just sharing our favorite quips from the games!” Tristan answered, beaming.
Hunter perked up; that’s why the bingo line seemed kind of familiar! “Oh I love Resident Evil! The puzzles are my favorite part!”
Ally rolled her eyes. “Yet you won’t play the ones with the best puzzles in the series, curious!’
Hunter groaned inwardly; they had this argument what felt like every other week. “I’m sorry Ally but the 4th one looks the best!”
“Yeah, the remake! You’re forgetting that your favorite came out in 2023! The one people usually think of is from 2005 and it’s way better!”
“If it helps any, my favorite in the series is the remake!” Benji piped in.
Hunter smiled at the geek appreciatively. Even though part of him was jealous, at least someone was on his side!
Ally snickered. “You would like 4’s remake, you dork! You probably find Ashley and Ada super attractive, right?”
Benji tried to retort back, and Tristan said something about Ada and dominating, causing Ally to laugh again and Benji to have a stammering fit, but Hunter didn’t hear any of it because what the hell!? The topic of this stupid game caused at least 3 fights between the couple but when Benji says oh he likes that one Ally’s all of a sudden okay with it? What gives!
Frustrated, the Hunter abruptly stood up and left.
His thoughts were a mess. The thing was, he didn’t even really want to hate the guy. When watching Carnival of Chaos with Ally and Tess, the law student was his and Ally’s favorite by miles, and he was an even cooler guy to be around! But seeing Ally just laugh so carefree, be so happy because of him? It irritated Hunter! He thought he got better at socializing, so how come he couldn’t play the hardest difficulty of Minesweeper known as “not pissing Ally off” but Benji did so with ease?
“Yo dude, you okay?”
Hunter’s brooding was interrupted by Tristan, face etched with concern. The puzzle lover sighed. “Not really, no.”
“If this is over the remake thing, don’t worry about it! My favorite is the original but every game is great in its own way!”
Hunter smiled softly. “It’s not the game thing, it’s just some other stuff.”
“Wanna talk about it? I’ve been told I’m quite the good listener!”
He shrugged his shoulders; what’s the harm in being open? “I’m just jealous of Benji, that's all.”
Tristan raised an eyebrow. “Jealous of my boyfriend? He’s not the unfaithful type, y’know that right?”
Hunter raised his hands defensively. “It’s not that! I just envy how well he gets along with Ally! Whenever me and her talk, I feel like I’m always saying the wrong thing and then we’re fighting again! But he doesn’t have that problem at all. What gives!”
The nonbinary goth nodded in understanding, stroking their chin in thought. “He puts his foot in his own mouth too, but that’s more so with innuendos than it is argument starters,” they admitted. “Do you know why you two fight so much?”
“I don’t know man! I just wish we didn’t and Benji clearly knows something that I don’t!”
Tristan placed a supporting hand on his shoulder. “Just try talking to her about it dude! Ally’s a great person, I’m sure she’ll be understanding!”
Hunter smiled at the goth. “Yeah, maybe that’s all I gotta do. Thanks Tristan!”
Walking back to the table the 4 were at, he asked, “Hey Ally, can we talk?”
Ally’s face paled. Weird, was she sick? She stood up regardless, saying “Of course!” Benji gave her a thumbs up, and she smiled at the law student nervously before stepping aside with Hunter. “Is everything okay?”
“No, it isn’t.”
Ally began to tear up at this, causing panic to set into Hunter’s very core.
“Hey, there’s no need to cry! What’s the matter?”
“You’re going to b-break up with me, in public no less! That’s what the fuck the matter is you jerk!”
Hunter’s face somehow turned even whiter than it already was. How the fuck did he give off that impression? “No no please, that’s not it Ally!” He pulled her into a tight embrace. “I love you so much, it’s not a break up I promise!”
The gamer girl sniffled. “Are you sure?”
“Positive!”
“Well don’t tell your partner you need to talk! That means break up incoming Hunter, you stupid jerk!” Her words were harsh but the tone was one of relief. She laughed, causing his heart to flutter. “What is it you wanted to talk about then?” she asked.
Oh yeah, that! “Um, I just wanted to ask why do we fight so much? Is it me?”
She looked away. “Kind of? You just have a way with words sometimes, it’s a bit frustrating.”
His heart felt like it split wide open. “O-oh, I see…”
She turned back to him. “But it’s just as much my fault. I will admit, I’m really aggressive over things that I shouldn’t be.”
He smiled at her softly. “Yeah, we do have some arguments over silly things. We can work that out though, alright? Whatever it takes, I want to work things out with you!”
She smiled back, and cupped his cheek. Sea green eyes peered into his ocean blue. His heart pounded, and his mouth went dry. She smirked at him, and he felt his knees damn near turn into jelly.
“I g-guess you still know how to push my buttons huh?”
She laughed softly. “I know how to. I'm a gamer after all, pushing buttons is sort of my thing!” She kissed him, and he felt like the happiest man in the world.
“Hey so Tris just explained to me what happened and oh my god you guys are kissing I’m so sorry for interrupting my bad please don’t let me interrupt yall’s rank 10 moment!”
Ally looked incredulous. "Dude, we’ve been dating forever this social link was maxed out ages ago!” Seeing the law student stammer out an apology, Hunter laughed to himself. He might’ve not had a clue about what game the two were talking about, but it seemed not even Benji could play Ally Minesweeper without messing things up!