So this is my first Stitchers fic. I wanted to get the first chapter up before we actually met Liam just in case they break up this episode. Canon will probably mess most of this up tonight, but oh well. I did watch the preview clips for 1x07, but I didn't really lift much info from them. I ran with the fact that Liam is presented as the nicest and most perfect person ever.

I couldn't help myself from throwing Settlers of Catan into this. My family loves it and plays all the time. The crew is playing the original game with the expansion pack for 5/6 players. Basic gist of the game: everyone's turn starts with rolling dice. Certain numbers give certain players cards. You use cards to build things or pick up special cards. These actions give you points. If a seven gets rolled, all players with over 7 cards have to discard half of them. The first player to 10 points wins. I tried to make their gameplay make sense if you aren't familiar with the game. If there's something that I should clarify, drop me a note.

Under the line is the night Kirsten is telling Camille about.

Kirsten leaned against the wall outside of Camille's door, arms crossed. She tried to piece together what had happened earlier in the day. Even now as she sifted through her memories, she couldn't pinpoint exactly where everything had gone wrong. It was many little moments that had gotten her into this mess. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't hear Camille get out of the shower. Her roommate padded up in her pajamas. She stopped towel drying her hair when she spotted Kirsten.

"I thought you were staying over at Lover Boy's tonight." Camille frowned when she noticed the crease between Kirsten's eyebrows deepen. "Did you two have a fight?"

Kirsten tilted her head to the side. "You could call it that. Neither of us yelled though, so maybe not. We definitely broke up though."

Camille raised her eyebrows and nodded once. "I think we're going to need some wine with this story."

They both made their way to the kitchen. Kirsten grabbed a bottle of wine from the fridge. She poured the merlot into glasses that Camille had taken from the cabinet. Kirsten was a little heavyhanded with the amount. Camille took a few sips off the top so the liquid didn't slosh out when she walked. Kirsten drained half of her glass before she made it to the couch.

Camille wrapped herself up in a blanket. She settled in with her wine and turned toward Kirsten. "So what happened with you and Mr. Abs?"

Kirsten closed her eyes in thought. "I think I should start with Settlers of Catan night."

"Three! That's another sheep and two wheat for me." Liam beamed across the table. "Thanks, Linus!"

"Linus shifted in his seat. His eyes stayed focused on the table before him. Cameron's face went blank as he slouched lower in his chair. The entire game had been one lucky streak for Liam and a shitstorm for Cameron. Liam kept getting resource cards quickly and playing them within a turn. He already had the longest road, two cities, and two settlements, which gave him eight victory points. He also had three face down development cards, one of which was likely a victory point. He could easily reach ten points in the next hand or so.

Cameron, on the other hand, only had the two settlements he started with for two points. None of his numbers were coming up on the dice, even though he built on mostly sixes and eights, which statistically should pop up more often. When he finally got some cards, Camille rolled a seven which wiped out half of his hand. It would've been harder to watch if Cameron wasn't the one who was usually annihilating everyone. Still Kirsten was ready for Cameron to be put out of his misery. He had slowly withdrawn as the game had gone on. It was strange for him to be this quiet.

Luckily for Cameron, Liam built a settlement and revealed a development card worth a victory point on his next turn. The game had been an absolute slaughter. Linus came in second with only four points. Camille rolled her eyes and shot Linus a look. Kirsten had a feeling they were both annoyed with how the game had gone. Their games were usually a lot closer than this. Kirsten gave Liam a kiss on the cheek and congratulated him. It seemed like the right thing to do.

Linus and Camille broke down the board, separating the expansion pieces from the rest of the game. Liam sorted the cards. Cameron immediately busied himself with taking dishes to the kitchen. Kirsten gathered up the last of the dishes and followed him.

Cameron stood at the sink. Steam rose as he washed a plate. Kirsten took a dishtowel and joined him. She took the wet plate from him and started to dry it off. Cameron smiled at her, but there was something funny about it. The edges didn't quite fall where they usually did. His smile was as recognizable to Kirsten as her favorite sweater.

"He's good." Cameron wouldn't meet her eyes. His voice was low so they wouldn't be overheard. "Did they play a lot in the Peace Corps?"

Kirsten shook her head as she checked the plate in her hands. "Greenpeace."

Cameron nearly dropped the fork he was washing. "I was kidding," he muttered. "Maybe he really is perfect."

They continued in silence for a moment. It seemed like Cameron was scrubbing things with a little more force, but that could've been the honey glaze being stubborn. More than just steam hung in the air between them. Kirsten wasn't sure what it was, but she didn't like feeling like there was a barrier between her and Cameron.

"He snores," Kirsten blurted out. She wasn't sure why, but she thought it might lighten the mood.

The corner of Cameron's mouth twitched slightly. "So do you."

Kirsten rolled her eyes. "No, I don't." She pushed at Cameron's arm with the towel in her hand. The move left a wet mark on his sleeve. "Whoops."

Cameron smiled genuinely for the first time in a long while. Kirsten couldnt measure it in time, but she knew that in their last few interactions Cameron had been acting funny. Seeing a real smile from him made her realize how different his false ones were. They usually shared things with each other. It was strange that he was trying to hide his feelings.

Kirsten tried to keep their moment going. "He insists on making me fancy coffee drinks, instead of how I usually drink it." She paused to think. "Sometimes when he kisses me-"

A sharp noise cut Kirsten off. Cameron had fumbled a plate and dropped it. There was now a large chip in it. An irritated huff came out of Cameron. He grabbed a paper towel to pick up the shard and throw it out.

"Are you guys okay?" Linus called from the living room.

Cameron tossed the broken piece into the garbage can. "Fine," he yelled back.

Liam popped up at the counter in front of the kitchen. "You about ready to head out, babe?"

Kirsten wasn't quite ready to let Cameron go yet. She felt things slipping back to being weird. "We still have a few dishes left. I'll be out when we're done."

Liam disappeared with a smile. Cameron waited until Liam was out of sight before quietly telling Kirsten that he could finish up on his own.

"I'm not going anywhere without checking to make sure you're okay." She took one of Cameron's hands in both of her own. Her fingers trailed along his hand to find any tender spots or cuts.

Cameron stared at their joined hands. "You really don't have to." There was a tension in his voice that Kirsten doesn't quite understand. It was almost as if a steel cord had been wrapped around his throat.

"We take care of each other," she said simply. Cameron was always looking out for her. It was nice to be the one in that role for once. That was how partnerships worked.

Kirsten examined his other hand, but found nothing. She held on even though she was done. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Cameron nodded, delicately pulling out of her grasp. "My hands are okay." His eyes didn't quite meet Kirsten's. "You should get going. Liam's waiting."

Kirsten's fingers flexed, trying to grab back onto Cameron's. She tried to read the emotion behind his expression. Her mind flipped through her mental rolodex of feelings. His fragile smile and furrowed eyebrows gave nothing away. She couldn't figure it out. Frustration welled up in her. She couldn't let him see it though.

"I'll see you at work, Dr. Smartypants." The nickname was her last ditch effort at teasing out a smile. It had the opposite effect. His whole face shut down.

Cameron barely made eye contact with her and waved halfheartedly. "See you then."

As Kirsten collected her bag, something nagged at her. There was something she had noticed, but couldn't figure out what it was. She barely responded to Liam as he chattered about how much he liked her coworkers. It wasn't until Kirsten was buckling her seatbelt that she realized what had happened.

Cameron hadn't called her by any nicknames.

Kirsten wasn't sure what that meant, but the thought that he might be upset with her made her chest ache.

Kirsten is such a challenge to write, but I really enjoy it. This is going to be a couple of chapters. The next one is going to be from Cameron's POV while he talks to Linus.

Enjoy tonight's episode! I'm so glad we're getting a season two :)