Color

Twenty Seven

In the morning, Kirstie immediately demanded an explanation out of Avi for why he left Alex in that condition.

And Avi was happy to explain, because he didn't want Kirstie thinking he wasn't treating Alex right. He really was trying to do better, and he wanted her to be aware of that. 

Alex wandered out a few minutes in to their discussion, offering each of them a coffee. 

Kirstie eyed him nervously. "Did you add--?"

"Cream and sugar. Uh huh." Alex mumbled, sitting on the end of the couch so he wasn't in the way. 

Avi was nervous then too, and he turned to Alex. "Wait, but did you--?"

"No cream in yours, and only a little bit of sugar. I know."

"Oh." Avi leaned toward him for a second to kiss his cheek. "Thanks."

Alex just nodded, and Avi could tell that he was exhausted rather than just being standoff-ish. 

Avi set his coffee down, glancing at Kirstie. "Hold that thought." He then walked into the kitchen without another word. 

Kirstie watched him go, before turning to Alex with a smile. "Hi, Allie. How are you?"

"Tired..." He tried to return her smile, turning a little on the couch to orient toward her. "And how are you?"

"Well, I feel a lot better now that I talked to him. I was worried..."

"Yeah, he talked to me about it... Sorry, I hope I didn't start drama on accident. I was a little out of it, I realize, and I'm sure I said some things that were exaggerated and dumb..."

"No, no, don't blame yourself..." She giggled a little. "You're usually the one that stays sober when we go out, so.. It was your turn."

Avi walked back out of the kitchen, holding a bunch of things in his arms. He sat himself back down, handing Alex a water bottle. 

Alex took it gratefully. "Oh, thank you. Did you grab the Ibupro--?"

"You can't take them on an empty stomach, dumbass." Avi responded lowly, before passing him a bag of some of Alex's favorite pretzels. "Just a few, okay? I know you feel like shit, but just... Manage a few."

Alex frowned at him, but did as he was told. "I'll try." Even just opening the bag and smelling them had Alex turning his head with a cringe. "Maybe I won't, actually."

"Come on, babe. Gotta eat something."

Kirstie moved to stand up. "Do you want crackers instead?"

Alex shook his head quickly, not wanting her to go out of her way to grab him something. "No, no, these are fine. Thank you."

Avi did him the honors of grabbing a pretzel, holding it in front of Alex's mouth until he opened up, and then dropping it on his tongue. "How hard was that?"

Alex chewed very slowly, looking to Avi for approval. 

Avi just smiled, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to his lips. "Good. A few more, okay?"

Alex nodded and went to work doing just that.

*

Mitch was in the bathroom brushing his teeth, a towel around his waist as he'd just gotten out of the shower a few minutes ago. 

He'd left the door open in case Scott woke up and needed to pee, but Scott was still passed out when Mitch poked his head in the room when he got out of the shower.