Color

Twenty Eight

Scott and Mitch left for their date first. 

Scott had just run out to get Mitch a large bouquet that he knew Mitch would pretend to hate but secretly love the attention.

Scott then wandered in, seeing Kirstie sitting on the couch texting someone. He closed the front door quietly. "Hey, Kirst?"

She looked up quickly. "Hmm? Aw, look how beautiful those are."

He shrugged, walking over closer to her. "Does this sweater make me look like I'm not trying? I know he's gonna look good and I just wanna make sure it looks like I gave an effort."

"Oh! Yeah, and those are nice jeans and shoes, so... You did a good job. Your hair looks bomb too, so... I'd say you're alright."

Scott smiled at her. "Oh, thanks." He pulled a flower out of the bouquet, just to hand it to her. "Here you go, beautiful."

She grinned widely, setting her phone on the couch beside her. "Aw, you're so sweet." She eyed his outfit one more time, before meeting his eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah. Something wrong?"

"No, just... Why do you always wear long sleeves on dates? Mitch is basically obsessed with your arms, I have no idea why you hide them."

"Oh... Well I like to cover up when we go out to eat. Like, other dates I can get away with. But when we go in to restaurants, I try to hide all my tattoos."

"What? Why?" She leaned back on the couch, crossing her legs. 

"Don't wanna take any attention away from him. Don't wanna be distracting."

She leaned toward him a little, squinting. "Oh, I didn't even notice you took some of your piercings out too... That's crazy. Don't pretend to be someone else, Scott. You of all people are the one to know that."

"I know. I know, but... I want everyone to see him, y'know? He deserves all the attention in the world. I don't want someone losing sight of that just because I have metal in my face, or ink on my arms."

"But--"

Mitch walked out of the hallway, grinning at Scott. "Hey, babe. You look great!"

Scott didn't hesitate in walking over, passing the flowers to Mitch as he hugged him gently. "Hello gorgeous."

Kirstie leaned back in her seat again, deciding to drop the subject. She picked her phone up, to resume what she was doing.

Scott pulled out of the hug, just to kiss Mitch's forehead as Mitch stared down at the flowers. 

Mitch grinned at them, and then grinned up at Scott. "These are so nice, Scottie... You're so sweet."

"Less than you deserve."

Mitch rolled his eyes, but didn't look truly angry. "Oh shut up. That's not true."

Scott didn't address it any further, not wanting to argue. He just kissed Mitch's forehead again. "Are you ready to go, baby? I'm not trying to be impatient, but I'm kinda hungry."

Mitch giggled a little. "You're so funny. Yeah, I'm ready to go. Just let me go grab my wallet--"

"I'll grab it." Scott responded, gently holding Mitch's shoulders to step around him and walk down the hall.

"You're so extra. Just so you know." Mitch called after him, before shaking his head and looking at Kirstie on the couch. 

She glanced up at him. "Aw, you look wonderful, Mitchie."

"Thank you!" Mitch walked over and sat beside her on the couch. "So what are your plans for tonight?"

"Don't tell Alex, but... I was thinking about asking Kyle to come over. Is that crazy?"

"No, no. But um... If I'm being honest, I'd feel safer if you let Scott or Avi meet him first. Or even Alex. They're all really good at reading people, and I just wanna make sure you're gonna be okay."

Kirstie shook her head and looked back at her phone. "You're all so damn protective."

"That's because we're boys, Kirstie. And we're all looking out for you." Mitch responded, reaching over to hold her hand and smile at her. "We love you a lot."

She smiled at him, squeezing his hand once. "Thanks, Mitchie... I know you're all lookin' out for me. And... I'd love for you all to meet him."

"How about... Spend a night with yourself today? And maybe tomorrow, invite him over for dinner so we can all meet him? I'd feel better if we all met him before you decided to have him over by yourself."

She frowned. "Fine... But I won't be happy about it."

"I know, honey... Tomorrow, okay? Or if you want, you can go out and buy whatever you want for dinner tomorrow. I'll cook whatever you want."

Kirstie just shrugged. "Yeah, we'll see. I kinda just wanna lay around and binge watch Netflix stuff..."

Mitch giggled. "Also a valid option. Up to you, honey. Let me know if I can bring home anything for you? I can stop at that little place around the corner and grab a pastry or something."

Scott walked back out and smiled at them. "What's going on? Mitchie, we're going to dinner, you don't need a pastry beforehand."

Mitch held up a finger. "First of all, I can have whatever I want thank you. And if I asked you to grab me a pastry, you know you would do it without question. Second of all, it was for Kirstie, not me."

Scott seemed to rewire himself, accommodating for what Mitch wanted. "Oh... Do you want me to go grab her one, and then come back?"

"No, no, we can grab it on our way back."

Scott suddenly smiled widely. "Hey, Mitchie...? I have a dumb idea. And... Tell me if you hate it."

"Oh no... That's never good." Mitch turned to face him. "Go ahead. Spill."

"What if we take Kirstie on our date? And just go as a group of friends?" He reached out to take Mitch's hand. "I promise I can take you out on as many dates as you want, until I make this up to you."

Mitch watched Scott lean down and kiss the back of Mitch's hand, and he smirked. "Okay... Fine. Let's take Kirstie out." He turned to Kirstie. "Sorry, we should've asked first... Wanna go out on a date?"

Kirstie just giggled. "Don't be silly, you guys. Don't let me impose. I'll be fine."

Scott shook his head once. "No, no. Alex and Avi are going out too. I don't wanna leave you here by yourself."

"It's okay. I'm getting pretty good at being single, so. I'm used to it."

"No, no... I don't feel like I know the area well enough to leave you here alone." Scott let go of Mitch's hand to walk over and grab Kirstie's hand instead. "You're much too pretty to be left unattended. Give us the honor of spending the evening with you?"

Kirstie stared up at him, almost in shock. "I always told myself that nobody would ever be good enough to be what Mitch deserved. But God damn..."

Mitch raised an eyebrow at Scott, but allowed it, knowing Scott was a natural flirt. He also knew, however, that Scott was loyal enough to know not to push it too far. After all, he doesn't know how to survive when Mitch is mad at him.

Scott glanced at Mitch and winked. "Nothing will ever be good enough for my boy. But I do as much as I can."

**