Bruises- Shane Madej

5. The Sound Guy

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It was a few months later. They were just starting to shoot season 3. The Buzzfeed higher-ups decided that Buzzfeed Unsolved was getting pretty successful and that they needed to add another person to their crew.

Lo and behold, the sound guy, Alvin Jensen. 

Maddie and Shane were better friends than ever. Alvin seemed to fit in the group well enough. Shane wasn't too friendly towards him but Maddie just attributed that to him being new and not really well known yet. 

Maddie liked Alvin a lot. He was a pretty nice guy. He was shorter than Shane. He wasn't really as much fun as shane.

Or Ryan, she added as an afterthought. 

 Maddie didn't know why she kept comparing Alvin only to Shane; Ryan was her best friend, too. 

She shook her head and continued sitting at her desk, helping edit this weeks video. Shane was throwing cheeseballs in arcs to Maddie and she was catching them in her mouth. 

She really wasn't getting that much work done. 

A few minutes later, Maddie was on her lunch break, getting some coffee at the canteen. 

Alvin walked up and sat down next to her, carrying a paper bag. She smiled at him. "Hi, Alvin!" 

He grinned. "Hey Maddie." He glanced at her single cup of coffee. "Do you have anything for lunch?"

"Oh, I was in a rush this morning and i forgot to pack one. I'll be okay," she smiled. 

He reached into the bag and pulled out a pb&j sandwich. "Here, have half of my sandwich." 

"Oh, no, I'm fine, really." 

"You've gotta eat," he said, pushing the sandwich half towards her. 

She was about to protest more when her stomach betrayed her, growling loudly. "Thank you," she said, picking up the sandwich half and taking a bite. Alvin did the same. 

Through a mouthful of pb&j, Maddie spoke again. "You know, I bet Shane's cheeseballs coulda tied me over until dinner." 

Alvin laughed, not really saying anything. After a pregnant pause, he said, "So, uh, you and Shane?"

"Mhm?" she asked, a little confused. 

"Are you two together?"

Maddie nearly spit out her coffee. "Oh, no. No, we're not." She laughed. "Yeah, no. Definitely not. We're just good friends."

Alvin nodded contentedly and resumed with his lunch. 

—-

A few days later, the crew was working late. 

Their goofing off and procrastination had caught up with them. Ryan was making them all stay late and just get it all done. 

It was around 11 pm when Alvin went to the canteen to get a coffee. Maddie smiled when he brought one back for her. To her slight disappointment, it wasn't how she liked it, but she was grateful all the same.

Maddie didn't notice Shane send Alvin a dirty look. About an hour later, he got up and got himself some coffee, bringing some back for her. It was notable that this cup of coffee was exactly how Maddie liked it. 

She smiled and thanked Shane, taking a long sip. She was going to need a lot of coffee in order to stay up all night working.

By the time they finished their workload, it was 3 am. Maddie signed out of her computer and got up to walk outside with Alvin. 

She used to walk out with Shane and Ryan, but Alvin had been wanting to talk to her more and more lately, so she'd taken a habit of parking next to him. 

When Maddie got home, she didn't think twice before flopping down in her bed and falling asleep.

Shane, on the other hand, did not fall asleep so easily.

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