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"It wasn't that bad," Aiden sighed, unlocking the car with his keys.
"Yes the fuck it was!" Maia exclaimed as she tightened the strings on her hoodie to hide in embarrassment.
The LA Sparks had lost by 20 in their first game.
Sure, Maia had scored almost half of her team's points, but as per usual, her intrusive thoughts were convincing her that it was some of the worst basketball she had ever played.
Every turnover, missed shot, and mistake that Maia made was replaying in her head over and over and over again.
It had been a problem ever since she started playing basketball, even at only 6 years old. Sadly, it had only gotten worse in college and even more so when she went to the WNBA.
"You do realize that if your weren't on the court that those bitches would've lost by like 60, right?" Aiden asked.
Maia couldn't help but smile at what he said. It was truley a talent that Aiden had, being able to light up a depressing situation with just a couple words.
"Plus," he continued, "it's only the first game of the season. You're gonna have so many other chances to be out on the court, Maia."
Maia sighed, leaning her head on the car window, having no choice but to believe him.
—
But oh boy was he wrong.
Maia threw her duffel bag by the shoe rack in the entry way, pausing to stare at her reflection in the hallway mirror.
After a 5 away game losing streak, Maia was losing hope in her team. She wanted to blame it on the timezones or the inconvenience of having 5 games on the road, but deep down Maia knew it was something else.
Ready to relax with a new episode of Dance Moms and a bottle of wine, Maia made her way to the living room. Pausing at the sound of yelling, she saw Aiden, Hasan, Ludwig, and QT playing Mario Kart.
"MAIA!" Aiden yelled at the sight of her, springing up from his spot on the couch to give his best friend a hug.
Maia didn't say a word and just embraced him. She could tell immediately that he knew something was wrong.
"Are you okay?" He whispered, though already having a sense of what her answer was.
Maias gave Aiden a look told him something completely different than what came out of her mouth.
"Yeah," she said, loud enough for the other streamers to hear, "I'm just feeling kind of...tired from the trip, so imma just head to bed if that's ok..."
"Yeah, oh my gosh, you had to have been in the car forever!" QT exclaimed, looking at her over the back of the couch.
"Don't worry, Maia, there will be plenty of more chances for me to destroy you in Mario Kart," Ludwig joked, looking over his shoulder before turning his attention back to the game.
"Ok 'mister eleventh place'." QT retorted.
"Hey-
Maia took that as an opportunity to escape from the situation, as Aiden jumped in to tease Ludwig about his placement too.
Silently turning away and shuffling away from the living room, Maia didn't notice a certain pair of eyes following her from across the room.
——
One of the things that Maia made prominent to the lady who helped them find an apartment was that it had to include a balcony.
Before her mother died, it was the one place they would spend some time alone, usually in silence. Whether they had had a really good day or a really bad one, it was nice to have a moment to decompress, reflecting on life.
Thus, it was where Maia found herself on the windy summer night. On the balcony, looking over the city of LA.
"Hey." A voice said from behind her, making Maia jump and spin around to see who it was.
"Jesus Christ Hasan," she said, turning back to the view. "Youre gonna give me a damn heart attack."
Hasan chuckled, leaning his arms on the railing beside her.
"Rough couple of weeks?" He asked.
Maia nodded, focusing her eyes on a helicopter flying above.
With the time zones being a problem, and games being every week or so, Maia didn't have as much time to talk to Hasan as she would've wanted.
She did try an call him from time to time, though half of them went unanswered. Unfortunately, Hasan was either with his friends, or streaming, despite his pledge to make more time for her.
Maia hated when someone was needy and had always done her best to not be like that, even going as far to push her true feelings as far down as they would go.
Turning to her, Maia could see the knowing look in Hasan's eyes.
He acknowledged his flaws, it was a trait he took pride in.
Though often unaware of how to fix them, Hasan could at least make an attempt to better the situation.
"We should go out for dinner," he blurted out, turning towards her.
Maia snorted at his timing of the question.
"I'm serious!" He exclaimed with a smile, placing his hands on her waist.
"Now?" Maia asked with hesitation in her expression.
"No not now," Hasan said, rolling his eyes. "How about this Saturday?"
Maia opened her mouth to agree in an instant, but stopped herself.
Saturday was the day Vince was back in town, and would no doubt have a bone to pick with her.
"Are you busy? I'm pretty sure you don't have a game-
"No no it's not that," Maia said, pausing to collect her thoughts. "Vince is back on Saturday."
"Jesus- don't even worry about that asshole, Maia!"
"He's my boss!"
"So!?" Hasan said passionately. "The last time I checked, being a boss doesn't make someone less of a dick!"
He was definitely right, and Maia knew it.
Breaking eye contact with Hasan, she turned her attention back to the city skyline.
After a few moments of peaceful silence, Hasan gently pulled Maia into an embrace, letting her head rest on his shoulder,
