"I'm not gonna get lost, whatever that means, " Patrick almost laughs, as he fails (again) to pick up his sushi with his chopsticks. He was back home, mainly to visit you, from tour. It had become tradition that when he was home, the two of you went to your favourite sushi restaurant. Telling each other everything that had happened while you'd been apart. Not that you'd hadn't already heard it from each other the phone, but it was different. "And I'm not going to go broke."

Patrick hadn't been doing as well this season as he had during previous, he knew you were worried about him. His prize money was starting to be drained, as it was spent on flying and driving around the world to different tournaments. Patrick had dropped out of the top 100, meaning he no longer immediately qualified for big tournaments. He was getting lost in the rankings.

You were one of the few people that could see Patrick, really see him. You knew it was getting to him, could tell he was struggling on tour. He'd stopped asking his parents for money, or they'd stopped giving it. You didn't ask. He wasn't going in for as many abroad tournaments, choosing to drive to as many as he could. Save the money on flights.

Your attempts to push further are immediately cut off, as you watch Patrick drop his sushi from his chopsticks once again. "You know I love you, babe," Patrick mutters, through his full mouth. "But I'm fine, 'kay? I'll get back up the rankings and everything will be fine." You weren't sure how much you believed him, but you knew better than to push him further when he clearly didn't want to talk about it. That's how you knew, that it was getting to him.