Incurable

Fourteen

(A/N)

Sorry about the wait, y'all

****

Scott was sat in between Mitch and Kirstie, Alex right across from him while they all sat down for dinner.

Kirstie was talking his ear off about Avi, trying to rush it all out before Avi found his way to their table.

Jake plopped himself down next to Alex, asking him how he was doing, but Kevin suddenly inquired about how Jake's visitation went.

Mitch grabbed Scott's hand all of a sudden, looking off to another table.

Scott turned to him, squeezing his hand to get his attention.

Mitch only glanced at him, before looking back at the other table. "There's another new kid. He's sitting with the Green's."

Scott gazed over at the table and shrugged, which was right about the same time that Avi sat down at the table.

Mitch shook his head, knowing that Scott missed his point. "No, look at him. He's been here before. He was with the Green's last month, and now he's back. Some kind of addiction, probably."

Scott leaned towards his ear. "So?"

Mitch turned to him, eyebrows furrowed. "You really don't remember? He's the one that said something mean to Kirstie and sent her into one of her episodes."

Scott's eyes widened, and he looked to Kirstie, who had yet to notice the familiar face.

Mitch reached across the table and tapped Kevin's arm, glancing over to the other table pointedly.

Kevin looked over, and then tilted his head. "Is that...?"

"Yes." Mitch answered quickly.

Kirstie noticed everyone looking at the other table, and turned to see as well.

Her jaw dropped a little when her eyes landed on the familiar face. "Oh no..."

Avi turned to her immediately. "What's wrong?"

Kirstie didn't answer, but she quickly looked down to her tray. "I, um.. I need to go. I'll see you guys later."

Avi watched her throw her dinner away with a frown.

A few minutes of silence passed, and then suddenly Jake had to catch Alex from falling face first into his dinner. "Alex... Not again."

Alex rubbed his eyes and sat up straighter, determined to look more awake. "I'm sorry. I'll do better."

Jake sighed and shook his head. "Come on, Al. Let's get you to bed."

Alex frowned and looked at Jake's food filled tray. "You hardly ate anything. Eat first, and then we'll go."

"Don't worry about me. Come on." Jake stood, pulling Alex's arm to stand as well, while Scott reached forward to take their trays to the garbage for them.

Alex met his eyes. "Thank you."

Scott smiled and then stood to complete the task.

Avi shook his head as the other two left. "Poor Alex."

Kevin smiled and ate more of his dinner. "I know. You'll get over that too. That.. Feeling bad for everyone who is here."

"Why shouldn't I feel bad for them? I feel bad for all of you."

Mitch looked up from his food. "Don't. You're no different from us. We all belong here."

Scott sat down to keep eating, and Mitch grabbed his hand.

Avi frowned at that. There's nothing wrong with asking for help. Sure, they might all need help, but they didn't belong here. Not like they'd done something wrong.

Kevin stood up with his tray. "I'm going to go check on Kirstie. Avi, you're free to come with me if you want."

Avi nodded, and stood up. He set a hand on Scott's shoulder. "See you guys tomorrow."

Scott glanced around the room, and then took both he and Mitch's apples from their trays, before hiding them in his sweatshirt pocket, and shoved his hands in the pocket to make it less conspicuous.

Mitch got the hint and smiled, standing up to toss both of their trays in the trash, before coming to Scott's side again to sneak outside with him.

**********

Avi ran into Kirstie's room, and stood right behind her. "Kirstie."

She flipped around and glared at him. "What?"

Avi flinched almost unnoticeably. "I... Sorry. I just... Are you okay?"

"Of course I am."

Avi took a small step forward, a little more afraid than he should've been. "Who was that new guy?"

"That's none of your business." She snapped, but then her shoulders sagged a little and a frown took over her face. "I'm sorry. You're trying to be nice... I just don't want to talk about it."

Avi gave her a small smile. "Okay. Whenever you're ready..?"

Kirstie nodded.

Avi stood awkwardly for a second, and then raised his arms in her direction. "Can I give you a hug?"

Kirstie blushed a little, took a moment to consider, and then nodded, reaching her arms out towards him.

**********

Jake tucked Alex into bed, just before his nurse walked in to give him his night time medicine.

He took the pill from her gratefully, but Jake was the one to stop her. "Excuse me?"

She turned and smiled a little. "Yes?"

"I think Alex needs a stronger dose of his sleeping pills. It doesn't seem to be working at all. I don't know for sure if he wakes up frequently, but I do know that when he does wake up he's extremely drained. Like he didn't sleep at all."

She nodded and pulled a notepad out of her pocket before scribbling something down. "I can't do anything until he meets with his counselor, so we'll just schedule that for tomorrow and hopefully we can work something out."

Jake smiled at her and then sat down on his own bed. "Thank you."

"No problem!" She called back in an overly chipper voice. Overly chipper for this hour of the night anyway.

Alex watched her leave, and then smiled at Jake. "Thank you."

Jake shook his head and laid down. "One of these days, Alex. I swear to God."

"What?"

"One of these days you'll learn to ask for the things you want."

"I would've asked if I really needed it."

Jake scoffed and looked over at him. "Right."

Alex sat up and pouted. "I would have!"

Jake shook his head and turned over to face the wall, so Alex couldn't see him. "Okay, Al. Whatever you say."

****