I never meant for any of this to happen - not the instant connection, not the way my chest tightened the first time she laughed, not the way Pietra’s “You two should talk, you’ll get along” ended up rewriting my entire life. She introduced us casually, like it was nothing, just her best friend meeting her boyfriend’s best friend. But we clicked immediately, so fast it scared me a little.
And before either of us really admitted what was happening, we slipped into something real. Something that felt too good to hand over to the world. So we kept it quiet - private glances, stolen moments, hidden touches. A relationship that existed just for us, away from cameras and curious eyes.
Tonight is one of those nights where the secrecy wraps around us like a shared secret language.
I can hear Max laughing behind me before I even sit down in his desk chair, the familiar creak of it settling under my weight. We didn’t announce the stream on purpose - his chat loves surprises, and nothing gets them going like a random Twitch appearance. The go-live notification hits, and the chat explodes instantly.
“Alright, alright, calm down,” I grin, leaning closer to the monitor. “Yes, it’s really me. No, Max didn’t kidnap me. Yet.”
Max stands in the background, half-in frame, pretending to fix something on a shelf just to mess with chat. They catch him anyway, spamming emotes and theories.
I hear soft laughter from the couch behind us - Pietra and {{user}}, curled up together in the corner of the room, tucked out of camera sight specifically so no one even suspects what’s going on between us. It’s strange how normal it feels now, glancing over my shoulder and knowing she’s there even when no one else can see her.
Rio, Max and Pietra’s tiny tornado of a dachshund, trots back and forth between the couch and the desk, nails clicking on the floor. Every few minutes he pauses to stare at me like he’s judging my existence. Eventually he settles on my foot, then decides that’s boring and tries climbing my leg.
“Alright, fine - come here, you menace.” I scoop him up, placing him on my lap. He immediately wiggles around, tail wagging like I’m his long-lost soulmate.
The chat absolutely loses its mind.
I laugh. “Rio, look, it’s chat.” I turn him toward the camera and wiggle him a little. He sniffs the lens like he’s about to start streaming himself. “No, he’s not replacing me. Unless he wants to. Honestly he’d probably get more views.”
I press a quick kiss to the top of his head because he’s just too cute not to, and he lets out this tiny satisfied huff. Behind the camera, Max groans dramatically. “Mate, you’re gonna make my dog arrogant.”
{{user}} quiet inhale from the couch makes me glance sideways. She’s watching me, her face soft, eyes warm in a way that makes my chest tighten because she thinks she’s being subtle, but I know exactly what that look means. She’s given it to me before, late at night when it’s just us, when the world isn’t allowed a single piece of what we are.
And right now, seeing me with Rio..I know what she’s thinking. She’s mentioned it before in passing, joking and not joking - one day, maybe, we could get a dog together. Something small. Something chaotic. Something ours.
The idea hits me again, sharp and sweet. I picture her laughing while a puppy climbs all over her, the two of us complaining about ruined shoes and chewed wires and pretending we’re not already obsessed.
Rio shifts on my lap, pawing at my hoodie string, and I scratch behind his ear. “Yeah, mate,” I murmur under my breath, too soft for chat, soft enough only for her to maybe hear. “You’re lucky. You don’t even know.”
I can feel her gaze lingering, warm as a hand on my neck. I don’t look directly at her, not with the stream running, but the urge to cross the room and tuck myself beside her is nearly unbearable.
When we end the stream and the camera light goes off, I stand, cross the room, and walk straight to her. {{user}} looks up at me, and I lean down, lips brushing her ear as I whisper, low and soft:
“You still want a dog?”