Under Control

8. Actions

8. Actions

"He feels the same."

Great. Mark thinks he's too good for you. It's now a fact, verified by one Mitchell Grassi.

Mitch's eyes widened as Scott's eyes filled with tears again. "I meant... he feels the same way about himself. He thinks you're too good for him. He's said so since the beginning. He always asked me why I thought you liked him at all. He always said that you were far too talented and successful to settle for someone like him."

"Okay, Mitch."

"I'm serious," Mitch said, and his words were dripping with honesty. "One night, on our world tour? He and I talked for hours about you. You had fallen asleep. Remember that hotel in Japan, with the joint balcony?"

Scott nodded.

"Well, he joined me out there. We talked until sunrise. It was really quite romantic," Mitch teased, gently. "That is, it would have been, if we hadn't been talking and crying over you."

Mitch shifted so he was seated shoulder-to-shoulder with his taller friend, bringing his knees to his own chest in an action that mimicked Scott's.

"We went back and forth about what your best feature was, at one point, when we really became delirious," Mitch added. "He says it's your smile, but I say it's your eyes."

Fat people can have nice smiles and eyes, too.

"We settled on one agreement, though," Mitch continued. "And that was your shoulders."

"Mitch. I don't want to talk about this."

"You don't want to hear what people like about you? Why? Because it goes against your own self-image? Because you don't believe it?"

"Because I feel disgusting," Scott whispered, shakily. The tears spilled over again, and his face was in his hands once more.

Mitch pulled him close, clutching him again.

"I just want to stop feeling so damn repulsive..." Scott whispered, tugging at his own hair, lightly.

Mitch pulled away, and Scott wondered what he had said wrong, but the arms returned a moment later, followed by light kisses to his temple.

He was almost surprised, but then the scent of Mark's body spray filled his nostrils, and he melted into the embrace.

"Let's get you in the shower, and then take a nap. Mitch will make you something to eat. Something that will be easy on your stomach. And after that, we're going to fix this. All of it. Okay?" Mark said softly, kissing Scott's ear when he was done speaking.

Scott considered arguing.

He couldn't.

His energy was gone.

Mark led him to the bathroom, and Scott followed on still-shaky legs. He felt slightly better after eating a little bit, but he hadn't yet fully recovered. He watched quietly as Mark started the water, making sure it was the proper temperature, and then he watched as Mark took his own shirt off.

"I'm afraid that he heat of the shower will make you faint again. Can I stay with you?" Mark asked, already stripping the rest of his own clothing off.

Scott nodded, and Mark reached for his clothing next, before taking his hand and leading him beneath the water.

Mark worked quietly, putting shampoo in Scott's hair and watching protectively as he lathered it in. Scott felt like a child who had done something wrong. But each time he made eye contact with his fiancé, his heart broke for him. The man looked terrified.