Black And White

Fifty Two

Scott used a key to get in, Avi's mother having given him one a long time ago.

He glanced behind him to make sure Mitch was still there, and then took a step inside the house. "Oh my God."

Mitch hurried in after him, but quickly covered his mouth with his hand at what he saw in the living room.

Alex immediately pulled his lips from Avi's, jumping off of the couch. "Oh, uh..."

Avi stood too. "Don't you have a practice or something? Get out of here."

"Avi, I'm so--"

"I said get out of here." Avi repeated, in a harsher tone.

Alex was quick to grab his keys from the table, rushing past Mitch to get out the door.

Scott tried to grab his arm. "Hey, wait--"

Alex pulled his arm from him, and kept walking. "No, I'm late. I'll see you."

Mitch frowned. "Avi, what'd you do that for?"

Avi shook his head quickly, wiping his lips off with the back of his hand. "He kissed me. Fucking... Gross. I'm gonna hang out in my room for a bit, Scott. You guys can hang out here if you want, and... You know where the guest room is."

Scott took a few steps forward. "Avi, it's not... You didn't want to..?"

"Of course I didn't!" Avi turned to leave the room. "Just... Leave me alone."

Scott frowned at him, watching him go. He turned to Mitch, only to see him still in shock by the doorway. "That was almost kinda hot, until Avi freaked."

Mitch completely ignored his attempt at humor. "I don't know who to feel bad for... I didn't know Alex liked him... But I also didn't realize Avi would reject him like that."

Scott only shrugged, taking a seat on . "Oh well. Not our drama."

"I hope Alex is okay."

"I'm sure he is. Come here, sit with me."

"You're not even relatively concerned?"

"Not really."

"Okay.. Then I'll try not to worry either..."

*

Mitch fell asleep with his head on Scott's lap when it began to get dark outside.

Avi's mom walked into the room, placing a hand on Scott's shoulder. "I'm almost done with dinner. Would you, maybe... Go see if you can talk Avi out of his room? He's very upset for some reason."

"Yeah.. I can do that. Give me one second."

Mrs. Kaplan looked down at Mitch and nodded. "Take your time."

Scott gently shook Mitch's shoulder. "Honey..."

Mitch didn't move at first, but then opened both of his eyes. "Oh shoot... I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's okay. Dinner is almost ready, babe. I have to go check on Avi, would you please go help Mrs. Kaplan in the kitchen?"

Mitch nodded, sitting up slowly. "Yeah... Sure... Hang on." He rubbed at his eyes, attempting to fix his hair without looking at it.

Scott pulled him back a little by the arm, only to kiss him once, and then stand up. He stood in front of Mitch, offering him a hand.

Mitch took it, before moving off of the couch. "Go help in the kitchen. Got it."

Scott then rushed off to Avi's room, having to turn down two hallways to get there. When he knocked on the door, Avi knew who it was without him even speaking.

Avi grumbled. "Fuck off, Scott."

"I'm coming in, regardless of what you say." Scott mumbled, barging in the door.

Avi frowned, sitting on his bed. "Why do you do that?"

"Usually because I'm worried." Scott closed the door. "Look... It's just you and me now, Av. Tell me what happened with Alex."

Avi looked away quickly. "He kissed me."

"Okay... And you pushed him away?"

"Well yeah."

"You say that like it's obvious."

"I'm not gay, Scott."

"Okay... So you didn't want to kiss him?"

"No, of course not."

"You're really quick to deny that." Scott replied skeptically, sitting beside Avi on the bed.

"Yeah, and? I'm not gay, Scott."

"The more you say that, the less I believe you. I've seen you and Alex around each other. There's nothing wrong with liking him."

"I don't." Avi looked over at him. "I never did."

"Are you sure, Avi? There's nothing wrong with liking--"

"Listen, it's fine for you to like men because you're you. But I don't. I'm not like you."

Scott frowned a little, carefully putting a hand on the center of Avi's back. "Hey... What's so wrong with liking him? You guys get along pretty well. He really seems to like you."

Avi slouched a little, but didn't argue about Scott's hand on him. "I just... Scott, you can't tell anyone. Not even Mitch, I'm serious."

"So you do like him?"

"I.. I really don't know. Honestly. I feel like.. I won't let myself like him, but... I really do enjoy being around him. And... He's so nice to me, even when I get snippy, which you know I get snippy a lot..."

Scott smirked a little. "So you like him."

"I like how he treats me."

"So you like him."

Avi scoffed. "What kind of logic is that? I also very much enjoy how you treat me, but I don't want anything to do with your dick."

Scott chuckled a little. "Sure you don't."

"Scott."

"Avi."

"Stop being like that."

"Then stop lying to me. Seriously. You know I'm the last person to judge you. It's not a big deal if you like him. You don't have to be gay. You could be bi or pan, or whatever. It's totally normal."

Avi shook his head, and looked down at his lap. "I don't get it... How do you do it, Scott? How... How is it... You're so proud of him, and... You flaunt him everywhere we go, and... How are you so open about stuff like that?"

"Well... Because he's beautiful, and I'm lucky to be with him. So I want him to know that I'm proud to show him off in public, so he'll know I'm grateful for him. But if you're not ready to be openly gay in public, you don't have to. I'm sure Alex would understand."

"I never said anything about being gay with Alex."

"You didn't really have to. But... You should call him, probably. I bet he's feelin' like shit right about now since you kicked him out like that."

Avi looked over at him quickly, having forgotten about that whole event. "Oh fuck."

*