Color

Ninety Seven

As the school year progressed, Kirstie was around the house less and less. 

She spent a lot of time with Kyle, and hardly ever came home. Mitch saw her on campus sometimes, but it was hard to keep her attention. 

Not that it mattered too much, because Mitch had one hundred percent of Scott's attention, one hundred percent of the time. 

Scott wasn't necessarily enjoying his job, but he liked having something to do during the day. He also loved that Avi could be there, to make it easier on both of them. 

Their employer realized very quickly that they were in much better moods when they worked similar shifts, so they began to work almost identical hours very quickly. 

Alex's soccer team had carried on throughout the entire year, taking advantage of the year round warm weather. He grew increasingly more tan each day, and Avi was absolutely obsessed with it. 

He and Avi's relationship was incredibly strong. Alex had never been in love before, but he truly felt something for Avi that he couldn't describe. 

He still had some weird doubts that Avi might not feel as strongly, simply because Avi wasn't great at expressing himself. 

Scott was always quick to reassure him. "Alex, that's ridiculous. Come on. I've never seen him so in love with another person in my life."

Alex just shook his head, as he always did when they got into these conversations. "That doesn't mean he's in love with me, dude. Just because he likes me more than he's liked anybody else..." He shook his head again. 

Scott was driving him home from practice, conveniently off work at a similar time of the day. "We don't have to argue again. I'll drop it. So... Did you wanna get something to eat? Or just wanna go home?"

"Home is fine." Alex looked out the window, quiet for a few moments before speaking again. "Did anything ever happen with that waitress?"

"Waitress? Oh, you mean Tara?" He glanced over. "The one bothering Avi?"

"Yeah."

"Nothing really. I mean, Avi's pretty good at telling people to fuck off, as I'm sure you know." Scott changed the subject suddenly. "I'm gonna grab a coffee, if that's alright."

"Fine with me... So, Tara. It's just harmless flirting, right? Like, from your perspective?"

Scott couldn't help but grin. "Thought you weren't the jealous type?"

"I'm just asking, sorry... I trust him, I do. I just.." Alex shook his head, embarrassed. "Nevermind, sorry."

"Hey, I'm not one to judge, man. It's all harmless, she's not asking him out or making any moves. It's all really lame." Scott reached over to bump Alex's arm. "You know I'd fight a bitch for tryin'."

Alex smiled a little, looking over at him. "Yeah I know. Thanks for that."

"Anytime. So what kinda coffee you feeling today?"

*

Mitch walked out of his classroom, swinging his backpack onto his shoulders. Phone in hand, he texted Scott that he was heading home for the day. "See ya later, Matt."

His friend gave him a nod as he headed the other way. "See ya!"

As he went to slide the phone into his back pocket, he felt someone's hand slip into his own. Mitch abruptly looked up, and sighed in relief at the sight of Avi. "You could've just said hi."

Avi continued to hold Mitch's hand as they walked out of the building. "Sorry, didn't wanna interrupt you."

"Oh.. Alright, I guess. What are you doing here? I think Alex already left."

"Not looking for Alex. Figures you didn't check the group chat."

Mitch suddenly felt left out. "Oh, sorry.. What happened?"

"Scott came to pick up Alex after work, so I thought I'd come walk you home."

Mitch reached out to push the door open, holding it for Avi. "Oh, that's nice of you. Thank you."

"No problem. Alex kinda dropped the hint this morning that he wanted to talk to Scott about something, so I figured I should stay out of their way for a few hours."

Mitch frowned. "I wonder what's wrong... Why wouldn't he tell me?"

"I figure it's something about me. Scott is generally the best source of that information."

Mitch squeezed Avi's hand as they stepped off the curb together, heading down the sidewalk toward their house. "Sorry... Not to pry... You guys okay?"

"I thought so, but... I dunno. I'm trying not to worry." He suddenly reached into his pocket, to see that his phone was ringing. 

Mitch glanced at the screen, and then looked to the ground. 

Avi swiped to answer. "Hey." A short pause. "Went to campus to walk Mitch home."

Mitch kept his eyes on his feet. He really hoped there wasn't anything wrong. He loved Alex and Avi's relationship, and it would just crush him if it didn't work out. 

Avi spoke again. "Okay, deal. I'll see ya in a bit, baby." He hung up and tucked the phone in his pocket. 

Mitch glanced up at him, squeezing his hand once. "So..? Alex?"

"He wants to talk when I get back." Avi's voice kept the flat tone he was known for. "Oh, and Scott bought you a coffee."

**