Author's Note: Finale :( Feel free to read the author's note at the end.
25. Well, I Will.
Mitch entered their apartment just before dinnertime, but stopped in the threshold when he saw him.
Scott was seated at their kitchen table, rubbing his eyes with his palms, his neck flushed.
Mitch circled behind him, wrapping his arms around the broader shoulders, before placing a kiss to the top of his head.
Scott didn't flinch, despite not seeing the contact coming. He melted into the touch, a sign of ultimate trust and comfort, and pulled his hands from his eyes.
Mitch eyed the computer screen in front of him. A giant word document sat glaring at them.
"Bad day?" Mitch asked, reaching up a hand to run through the blond strands.
"Just tired."
"Well, lucky for you, we have a nice, big bed that will help with that. If you forgot where it is, I would be more than happy to show it to you."
Scott laughed. Mitch's favorite sound. Definitively.
"This is due at midnight. It's my last one. Then I plan on staying in that bed with you until graduation day."
His voice held a gruffness that indicated that he might fall asleep sitting up if they weren't careful.
They had both been working themselves to the bone. Mitch had completed his last final exam of his undergraduate career just yesterday. This paper was Scott's final one for his master's degree.
Mitch shifted his embrace, walking around the front of the taller man and settling down on his lap. He found the crook of his neck and inhaled.
Vanilla and cedar.
Two years later, and he couldn't get enough of it.
Fingertips trailed up and down Mitch's spine, lazily, as Scott gazed at the computer screen. Mitch placed a kiss to his cheek before speaking. "I'll take care of dinner. You just get this done as fast as possible. Deal?"
Lips were pressed to Mitch's throat in response, and he hopped off of his lap, feeling content.
He worked quietly in an effort not to disturb his boyfriend's train of thought. He found himself zoning out as he watched him type, admiring the way that he bit his lip while he was deep in thought, the way his eyebrows furrowed when he clearly confused himself, and the way that his knee bounced up and down, clearly to a rhythm of a song that was stuck in his head.
He loved all of those things about him.
He allowed his mind to wander as he chopped some vegetables.
It had been just shy of two years since the last time he saw his hallucination. He found that he didn't miss it in the slightest. Scott's plan had worked perfectly. As months went by and it hadn't returned like some horrible nightmare, Mitch found himself opening up to Scott Hoying more and more.
Within six months, it was as though every negative thought about giving himself completely to someone was gone.
Was he free from his demons? Absolutely not. Hallucinations and delusions had certainly taken other forms. But they were few and far between, and with Scott there, it wasn't so terrifying, anymore.
Dr. Chastain frequently called Mitch her biggest success story during their sessions. Sure, she was always joking, but he was pretty sure that there was some truth to it.
He was proud of Scott, too. Mitch knew that he could be snippy. He knew that he wasn't always as sweet as Scott deserved. But Scott was doing an incredible job of pointing these moments out to him, and Mitch was proud of himself for listening and changing his behavior, instead of becoming defensive or running away.
They were learning from one another.
He heard the ringtone at the kitchen table, followed by Scott's voice. "It's Kev. Want to talk to him? Tell him I'll call him tomorrow?"
Mitch grabbed the phone and accepted the FaceTime call after pecking Scott on the forehead.
"Hey, Mitchy!"
Mitch smiled. "Kev. We miss you."
The man was beaming into the phone. "Come visit me, then. Been waiting forever for you two to come to New York. I was pissed when Rozzi and Kirstie came without you two over Christmas!"
Mitch rolled his eyes, fondly. "Sorry that my genius boyfriend had to complete his fieldwork hours and that we couldn't get away."
Kevin laughed. "Where is he? Last I checked, this was his number."
"He sent me to tell you to leave him alone."
"Is that so?" Kevin's tone held a restrained laughter, and Mitch found himself joining in.
"He's finishing his last paper. It's due at midnight and I'm pretty sure his head might be about to explode. He said he'll call you tomorrow."
"Tell him that he can't let a measly Master's Program paper stump him if he plans on going after that Ph.D. this fall." The tone was teasing, and Mitch laughed as Scott's mouth dropped open in offense.
"Not all of us are medical students like you, Dr. Olusola," Scott called out, and Kevin's eyes widened when he realized that he was listening.
"You guys excited for graduation day?" Kevin asked, once the laughter died down.
"Scott's gonna come to mine. His ceremony is at the same time. Our university is stupid."
"Yeah, yours is more important. Throw him a party for the Ph.D... Master's Shmaster's."
"Kev, I'm gonna kill you," Scott called again.
They said their goodbyes and Mitch returned to work on dinner.
Just as he looked up to tell his boyfriend that his dinner was ready, he saw Scott place his forehead to the kitchen table. Not hard, but his heart stopped anyway, as a memory flashed through his mind.
----
"If I'm not real, you won't care when you watch me do this."
Mitch watched in horror as Scott threw his head against the hard wood. He lay face down against it, and Mitch only then realized that he had emitted a startled yell as he watched.
He was thankful that Kirstin wasn't home yet.
Scott sat back up after a moment, his chest heaving. Mitch could see tears forming in the cold eyes again.
And then, his face connected with the wood again.
----
He clenched his eyes shut and swallowed the lump in his throat. The memories didn't come often, but they always took him off guard.
"Angel?" Mitch asked, trying to make his voice sound steady and light.
"Done," Scott replied, still face-down on the table.
Mitch shook off the remaining dread in his stomach and smiled. "Good. Dinner, then you have to make good on your promise to spend the next six days in bed with me."
Scott lifted his face from the wood, grinning. "Deal. But I smell like nervous sweat."
"Okay, so dinner, then shower with me, then bed for six days."
"Yup. Better deal."
The fact that Mitch could make that request so casually, and that Scott could agree without missing a beat, just showed how far they had come in all of this time.
(And they were warm showers, thank you very much.)
"Mitchell Grassi."
He stood with flushed cheeks, adjusting his cap on his head.
He could hear the screams from his own cheering section, comprised of his parents, Scott and Rozzi.
Ordinarily, he would have felt bad about leaving Scott with his parents to fend for himself. But somehow, they loved him at first sight when they met him a little over a year ago. Mitch watched with wide eyes during their first interaction, and his father embraced the taller man with a strong hold and thanked him for all that he had done to keep his son healthy.
It had been adorable, and very uncharacteristic of his father, to say the least, but now both of his parents were part of the Scott Hoying Fanclub.
And Scott's parents were Mitch Grassi fans as well. His heart swelled as he thought of them. He had met them last summer, and he was amazed at what hardworking and loving parents they were. He had villainized them for so long, when they were really only trying to survive and to give Scott the life he deserved. They simply didn't have the means.
Mitch cheered for Kirstin as she crossed the stage, and laughed as he heard Scott and Rozzi do the same, in an embarrassingly loud manner.
"Where are we going to celebrate? Hate to break it to you, boy, but I don't think I can handle your place of occupation."
Scott laughed at Mr. Grassi's teasing joke. "I'm happy to say that I don't work there anymore."
Mr. Grassi pulled him in by the shoulder as they walked along the sidewalk, giving him a pat on the chest. "Glad to hear it."
Mitch watched the interaction from his place next to Mrs. Maldonado as they walked.
To say that he had been relieved when Scott quit his job at the club was an understatement.
But he did insist that he keep the shirt.
You know.
For science.
He sat on the couch across from Dr. Chastain as Scott left to start his shift on the next floor. It was a job that Mitch was extremely thankful was working out for him.
"Congratulations. You're officially a college graduate. You must be very proud. You overcame quite a lot, and still graduated on time." She was beaming like a proud parent, and Mitch's heart filled with warmth.
"Thank you."
"How are you feeling?"
"Nervous? Excited?"
"Why nervous?"
Mitch pondered his answer. "I hope I'm good at my job."
"You'll be amazing. It's a great job! Clearly they saw potential in your abilities. They're the best marketing firm in the city!"
"I know. What if I make a fool of myself?"
"You won't." She smiled. "You also said excited."
"I am. I'm excited that my life is pretty damn secure right now, considering how horribly wrong things could have gone."
"What's secure about it?" Mitch knew that she knew the answer to her question. He knew that she wanted to hear his affirmations.
"I have a great job in a city that I really like living in. I live in a nice apartment with someone who loves me, and whom I love very much. I have some of the best friends imaginable who live right down the road, who I know will be there for me always. My parents are more supportive now than ever. Life is... life is just good."
And life truly had become just that. Life was good.
It had just needed a bit of a push.
Author's Note: My first trilogy! I hope you all liked it. I really, really loved to read your comments and your votes meant so much to me. I have another, shorter book in the works. I'm not thrilled with it. Depending on how my day goes, I might start posting it tomorrow. It's also Mitch-centric.
Anyhoo... thanks again, everyone. This one was really fun to write and I'm gonna miss it :( Feel free to leave your final thoughts! Things you liked, things you wished were different, I'd be curious to hear!