Take A Break | Hasan Piker

Living the Dream

"Thank you," Maia said as she took her boarding pass from the airport staff.

It was official.

There was no way in hell that Maia was going to pay 100 dollars in baggage fees and then change her mind about going.

Though, the wave of realization seemed to hit her as the view of the escalators suddenly became blurry.

In just under a day, Maia would be stepping foot in a completely new and unfamiliar place. She wouldn't understand what anyone would be saying, despite the many hours of Duolingo she had crammed into the hours leading up to her flight.

In just a few weeks, Maia would be meeting a brand new team in a whole different league. The playing style would be foreign to her, not to mention the language barriers with her teammates.

And in just a few months, Maia feared the worst.

The new language, scenery, and customs were all things that anyone could handle.

It was the fact that Maia would have to face them alone.

Not with Aiden...and not with Hasan.

In a few months, Maia feared she would be regretting her decision entirely. She had a life here...she had a family.

Maia would be leaving behind everything.

And all for what?

Maia desperately tried to distract her mind as she slowly ascended up the escalator.

But a few tears spilled down her face and Maia tightened her hoodie strings to hide her regret.

——

Hasan groaned as the loud ringing filled his ears.

Embracing the annoying sound, he stared at the ceiling until it became unbearable.

After hitting snooze, Hasan got out of bed without checking his phone for the first time in weeks.

His daily ritual of reading countless news articles as stream preparation was helpful, but damaging to his mental health.

The line between work and personal life was starting to fade in recent months, though Hasan had a pretty clear thought of why.

"Want this?" Aiden asked as he handed Hasan a still warm cup of coffee.

"Sure," Hasan said, caring more about the weight of sleepless nights than his attempt to have a better diet.

"Did-

"No. She hasn't called yet," Aiden said, referring to the question Hasan had been asking him every day for the past 4 months.

"I was gonna ask if you had gotten your vid con tickets yet but that works too."

"We both know you were thinking it," Aiden said, rolling his eyes as he stared into his drink.

The familiar solemn mood engulfed the two as they both tried to block out the thoughts of their out-of-touch friend.

Friend, ex-lover, same thing.

"I wouldn't look at Instagram today if I were you," Aiden mentioned as Hasan made his way towards his office.

"Well now Im obviously going to look."

"Seriously dude, don't."

And Hasan didn't.

For most of the day, anyways.

Hasan sat at his streaming setup for a typical stream, yelling and laughing at the influx of worldwide events on the internet.

The length of his stream that day (a whole 10 hours) would usually be a burden on the man he was only months ago.

But recently, it was common for the camera to roll from early hours of the day through the dark parts of the evening. A distraction, as Aiden often said.

A distraction from the exact thing Hasan saw the moment he opened Instagram.

MAIA_P22
attachment- [three images]

  the dream ♥︎

Swiping through the pictures of new friends, experiences, and scenery sent a wave of emotions to Hasan's heart.

But thing that bothered him the most was an image tucked away at the end of the post.

It was a picture of two people holding hands by the water. One was clearly Maias, as her favorite butterfly ring adjourned her middle finger, but the other?

Anger clouded Hasan as the thought of another man with her was unbearable.

The woman he could've had...should've had was with another person, in another country, as far away as she could possibly be.

A reality he wished he wasn't living...

And didn't have to be.

Hasan's feet had stayed glued to the ground as he watched the girl of his dreams drift slowly further and further away.

Though a quick reminder of the reality...nightmare he wished to never live was enough motivation to send Hasan sprinting across the tile floors.

Maia was worth every ounce of energy he could give.

And even if she didn't listen to his reasoning, at least she knew he cared.