"Liv!" Spencer yelled through the house, "Liv! You seen my controller?!"
Olivia paused for a second, hearing the desperation in his voice, then continued on with her flow, transitioning from Downward Dog to Cobra on her yoga mat. His frantic steps got closer and closer to their bedroom.
"Liv! Did you hear me? You seen my controller?" he reached the doorway, disregarding the peaceful ambiance she had attempted to curate for herself. Music played softly from her speakers. Her favorite candle was lit on the bedside table.
"No, Spencer," she replied calmly, transitioning once again to Downward Dog.
"I looked everywhere. You sure you didn't move it last night when y'all were having your girl's night?"
"No, I didn't."
Spencer started to move stuff around the room, throwing pillows as he searched. Accepting that the vibe was ruined, Olivia fell out of her pose, landing on her knees.
"Don't you see I'm doing something here?" her eyes followed him around the room.
"Sorry babe, the tournament starts in 10. Can't play without my controller."
Having turned the room upside down to no avail, he left her to look through his office. Olivia sat on the floor, listening to him move from room to room.
A few minutes later, she treaded carefully down the stairs, unsure of what state she'd find him in. These Madden tournaments had become a tradition in their house. Every week, Spencer sat on the couch with his bowl of chips and headset and played game after game. Sometimes he won. Mostly he didn't.
Entering the living room, she found him moping on the couch, staring at the TV screen like he had just lost his first born. She let out a sigh before walking up behind him.
"It'll be okay, babe," she placed her hands on his shoulders, massaging him gently, "it's just one game."
"This was gonna be my week, Liv," she rolled her eyes behind him. Every week was his week.
"How about we go grab some food? We haven't done that in a while," she suggested.
"Sure."
Fifteen minutes later, they were getting into the car and heading to their favorite burrito spot. The car was quiet. Not the normal quiet, the uncomfortable kind.
"Sooooo, you really gonna let a stupid game ruin the rest of your day?"
"It's not a stupid game, Liv. It's my career."
"Your career is real football, Spencer. Not little cartoons running around on a screen."
Spencer looked over at her, hurt that she would degrade Madden like that.
"Don't give me that look," Olivia replied, irritation creeping into her voice.
"I made a commitment to the guys. Now the tournament is one man short. You can't have a proper tournament bracket with an odd number of players."
"To the guys?" she snapped her head in his direction, narrowing her eyes.
"Uhhh, yea," Spencer let out slowly, wondering if they were still talking about Madden.
"How about your commitment to me?"
"Babe, what are you talking about?" Spencer pulled over the car, confused about how they arrived at this point.
"The tournaments, Spencer!" she threw her hands up in defeat, "every fucking week it's the tournaments. And I get that it's your bro time or whatever, but you're in training all week, and I work. And yet, when the weekend comes around, you spend half the time in front of the TV. I didn't sign up for a 50/50 split of your time, especially considering that I'm currently going halfsies with a fucking video game."
His eyes scanned her face, waiting to see if she had anything else to add. Once he could tell that there was nothing else coming, he spoke up.
"I didn't know you felt like this... why didn't you say anything?"
"It's not rocket science, Spencer," she huffed.
"Can you stop saying my name like that. It's scaring me."
"It's your name."
"Yea, and I'm aware of that. You don't need to remind me every other sentence."
"Stop trying to change the subject."
"Baby, I'm sorry. We can plan more time together, I'll cut down on the gaming."
"I don't want you to plan more time. I want you to want to spend time together."
"Okay, excuse my wording," his voice slick.
"I don't want burritos anymore. Take me home," she turned her face towards the window, sadness replacing her anger.
Lost as to how their burrito run turned into an argument, he glanced over at her before making a u-turn and taking them back home. So much for quality time.
___________________________
The weekend ended, and the tension between the two gradually melted away. Spencer knew actions meant more than words when it came to Olivia, and he was determined to show her that she was his top priority.
During the off-season, Spencer did most of the cooking at their house. He found peace in the preparation, so he naturally took over the role. Plus, seeing the smile on Olivia's face when he brought her her favorite foods didn't hurt.
On Wednesday night, Spencer decided to prepare her a special dinner; chicken and waffles, one of her favorites. She could never resist the crispy and fluffy combo.
In the zone, Spencer started preparing the waffle batter. He laid out all the ingredients and reached into the cabinet to grab a bowl when he heard something rattle.
"What the heck?" he pulled down the bowl to find something that didn't belong. Staring at his Xbox controller, he put two and two together. Olivia.
They were just getting back into their normal banter, so he didn't want to go and mess things up. Deciding to deal with it later, he stuffed the controller behind the couch cushion and finished up dinner.
Once the food was plated, he set up the table, lit some candles, and dimmed the lights. Olivia had been working all day on her latest article, and she deserved a break.
"Liv!" he called out, "Dinner's ready!"
Coming down the stairs with her eyes glued to her phone, she didn't notice the scene until she was pulling her chair out to take her usual seat at the table.
"What's all this for?" she looked over at Spencer.
"Quality time. You were right. I've been slacking."
She bit her lip, feeling her heart overflow with love for her favorite person. Sometimes he slipped up, but he always got his act together. Not waiting any longer, she grabbed a piece of chicken and took a bite, her shoulders dancing as she ate.
Once their plates were wiped clean, Olivia found herself in Spencer's lap on his end of the table.
"You always know the way to my heart," she kissed him slowly.
"Anything to make my baby happy," he picked her up and carried her to their room, knowing it may be the last time he got some for a few days.
___________________________
The next evening, Olivia stood in the shower, lost in her memories of the night before. They hadn't had a night like that in months. Coming back to reality, she finished rinsing her body and grabbed her towel to dry off before walking to the closet.
She opened her underwear draw to find it empty. To make sure she wasn't tripping, she opened all the other drawers below it. Socks, bras, swimsuits all in their right place.
"SPENCER!"
Nothing.
She tightened her towel around her body and went after him. Turning the corner to the living room, she stopped in her tracks. In front of her was Spencer, Xbox controller in hand, and all her underwear piled next to him.
"Looking for these?" he asked, picking up a lacy red pair and spinning it on his finger, his eyes not moving from his game.
"Not funny," she scooped her underwear into her arms and marched out of the room. He wanted to play games, then so be it.
___________________________
All the next day, the petty war raged on.
Barely awake that morning, Spencer rolled over to chug some water, only to spit it out when the bitter taste of vinegar hit his mouth.
While sharing her screen with the new intern at work, a text from her mom popped up on her laptop asking if she was able to find the right medication for her yeast infection.
Olivia later decided it had been a while since they've cleaned. Dressed in a lace teddy, she spent the afternoon dusting and polishing things around Spencer's office while he took his calls with his coaches.
Nighttime rolled around, and they had dinner plans with Spencer's PR team. They were meeting at his agent's house to talk about some potential brand deals. Standing in front of his door, Spencer rang the doorbell and wrapped his arm around Olivia's waist.
She pulled away, "until this door opens, don't touch me."
Chuckling to himself, he obeyed her request, only bringing her close once Matt's face appeared on the other side of the door.
"My man, Spencer!" Matt welcomed them in, "Olivia, beautiful as always. Hey Spence, I didn't have a chance to warn you beforehand, but we got some brand reps from Adidas here to get to know you. Figured it would be nice to connect in a casual setting."
"Bet," Spencer clapped his hands, appreciating Matt for always coming through.
Later around the dinner table, the group was laughing at a story Spencer had just shared about his high school football days.
"Almost as funny as the time you had to run out of a game to relieve yourself behind the bushes," Brandon, one of the Adidas spokespeople, slapped his hand on Spencer's shoulder. The table roared with laughter. Knowing he had only ever shared that story with one person, he glared at Olivia across the table.
"Spence, you never shared that one. We gotta hear the full story," Matt egged him on.
"Yea baby, don't leave them hanging," Olivia smirked at him, holding her facial expression when he kicked her foot under the table.
"Not much to tell," Spencer laughed, not losing his charm, "I was in the middle of a play and didn't have enough time to make it back to the locker rooms. I had to find the next best thing."
For the rest of dinner, Spencer avoided eye contact with Liv. He had gone low, but she had gone lower. Involving other people like that went against their unspoken rules. When it was time to head out, they said their goodbyes, playing their role of loving couple.
The second Spencer started driving away, he turned on her.
"What was up with that?"
"Must've slipped during the appetizers," Olivia shrugged.
"Olivia."
"What, Spencer?"
"Cut the games," he looked over at her, his face serious.
"Me, cut the games!? You're the one who started it!"
"Are you kidding me right now. Liv, you put my Xbox controller in a kitchen bowl."
"I had to make my point somehow," she replied dryly.
"Liv, I need you to talk to me when you have something on your mind."
Olivia stared out the front window, letting silence take over the rest of the drive.
Closing the front door behind him, he wasn't going to let her off the hook, "Olivia."
She turned and walked back to him. Getting real close to him, she loosened his tie, unbuttoning his shirt, "I'm sorry, baby. I can - "
He grabbed hold of her hands, "that's not gonna work this time."
Her shoulders sank as she realized there was only one way out of this conversation. Taking a deep breath, she looked him in the eyes, "I'm sorry, Spencer. I'm not going to lie. Sometimes when it feel like I'm losing people, I get triggered. All those years of feeling unimportant in my own house left a mark on me."
Proud of her for finally opening up, Spencer wrapped his arms around her, making her feel safe.
"I'm working on it, and it doesn't feel like it does then. But when it felt like you didn't care, I got scared. In the past, conversations didn't do much to help the situation."
"I'm not them. I'll always listen to you," he brought his hand up to her face, wiping away a stray tear with his thumb.
"I know," she whispered.
"I love you."
He brought his lips to her, deepening the kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Picking her up, he carried her up the stairs as she hurriedly finished unbuttoning his shirt. At the top of the stairs, he brought his mouth to her, mumbling into her neck, "I would've taken the first apology."
"You're the worst," she laughed, grabbing his head in her hands, caressing the back of his neck.
"But thank you for trusting me."
___________________________
A/N: As always, thank you for reading!! I wanted to say, I do see the requests for part two's for some of the chapters, and I'll try to write them if the inspiration strikes. But for now, hope you enjoyed this one!