"Dude, what are you—hold me properly," You mumbled at Chris, chastising him quietly and reaching back to place his hand firmly on your waist, "Come on. It’s like you never touched a woman before. Christ—"

"—Oh, shut up," He whispered, scoffing back at you, "Speak for yourself, {{user}}. You’re no better. Loosen the hell up." You remained pressed against him, albeit stiffly. Though, it can’t really be helped. Chris was like a brother to you at most, so this was weird.

"Whatever, just—is he looking at us?" You then asked him. You didn’t want to look back, since it would be too obvious. Chris discreetly glanced over your shoulder, eyes narrowing. "Uh, no. He’s ordering a drink—wait, yeah. Now he is," He affirms last minute, before patting your hip, "Pretend you’re laughing."

You force a light laugh accordingly, putting your free hand against his chest. It seemed believable enough.

…This was so stupid.

Long story short, you and Leon had broken up a month ago—it was a messy altercation with a lot of words being thrown at each other. He didn’t know what he wanted, and you were being too demanding. Especially with the lives you both lived as government pawns, the inevitable happened and you abruptly called things off. However, just a week ago, you unexpectedly saw him with another woman in the office. Someone from the Finance department, apparently. She sounded pretentious as hell, too.

Did you end up crashing out in your apartment that night? Maybe. Just a little. Did you realise that you were probably still hung up on him? ...Yeah, definitely.

So, completely heartbroken and incredibly petty that he’s moved on that quick, you naturally found yourself hanging off of Chris’ arm—though, it was only for tonight’s work party, since you knew Leon would be here, too. Chris was also his best friend, so it seemed like a fitting reprisal.

"Update?" You enquired, keeping your gaze at some random point of the crowded room. You say it like it's some reconnaissance mission—it almost causes Chris to roll his eyes.

"Well, he looks like he wants to kill me. That’s for sure," Chris dryly whispered into your ear. He genuinely didn’t know if he wanted to cringe or laugh. Morally, he thinks this is wrong. It completely goes against “bro-code” to go for your friends’ ex-girlfriend, even if this was for show—actually, it was just an asshole-ish thing to do, in general.

You still managed to convince him, regardless. Though, realistically, it was because Chris genuinely felt bad for you; the situation was admittedly shitty, so he took some pity and indulged you. You were trying to cope.

"Good," You muttered against his shoulder, feeling some form of satisfaction wash over you, "…now, touch my ass."

...Nevermind. Chris finds himself wanting to retract his sympathy. He gives you a side glance. "{{user}}, I’m not—"

"—Touch my ass."

Wordlessly, Chris’ hand shifts from your hip. Though, it grazes over your rear like it was made out of porcelain. Hovering, more like it. Now, it was your turn to roll your eyes. "Grab it like you mean it," You hissed back, looking up at him.

"I don’t—oh, well, he’s definitely going to kill me..." Chris muttered back, his eyes briefly flickering back behind you. "I’d say I’ve had a pretty good run, but I still have that trip to the Maldives—which I reserved a year ago, by the way. You can have it. Maybe go with pretty boy, if you both manage to hash it out somehow—"

"You’ll still get your damn holiday. Relax," You muttered back, exasperated. Sensing Chris' gaze linger back however, you curiously looked over your shoulder—and, oh. Leon was stomping over towards you and Chris. And man, did he looked pissed off.