my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone concerning everything that's happened friday and yesterday, especially with the events in paris.
i thought maybe today would be a good day to finally post this long overdue halloween chapter of silence. maybe itll cheer someone up. idk.
i love you all very much, and im so thankful for each and every one of you who reads my stories.
quick shoutout to hannah (Sup3rfruitPrettyMuch) for being the best person ever ilysfm
and to the rest of you, ily. i hope you enjoy this sorta long chapter (oops).
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Scott slung an arm around Mitch's waist and caused the tiny brunette to jump as he appeared from the bathroom.
"Do you know what day it is?!" Scott practically yelled in Mitch's ear.
Mitch winced away before nodding at him with a strained smile. He was excited, but his ear was ringing now and he couldn't quite look happy enough to convince his boyfriend.
"Come on, Mitchi, you've gotta know!" He was so loud this morning.
Mitch spun himself out from Scott's grip and nodded again, being able to smile regularly now that his head wasn't underneath a loudspeaker.
Of course Mitch mouthed, and Scott pretended to sigh in relief.
"Oh, thank GOD. I would've had to kick you out if you hadn't known! Halloween is my favorite. holiday. EVER."
Mitch raised one sharp eyebrow.
"Sorry about the energy, by the way. I definitely had too much coffee yesterday."
Mitch's eyes narrowed.
"Sorry, sorry." Scott's voice had gone down to a sheepish mutter now, and Mitch gave him a satisfied smirk.
"Anyway," Scott said, ducking into the kitchen, "I was thinking, since it's Halloween and all, maybe we should have Kirstin over! We could have, like, a mini party!"
He looked over to his boyfriend for approval, and Mitch nodded enthusiastically.
"Okay! When do you think I should call her? Now? Or should we decorate? Or bake? Or something else to prepare?"
Mitch made a 'calm down' gesture to settle Scott before holding up one finger, indicating that he wanted to call Kirstin first.
"Alright, I'll get on it." Scott pulled out his phone and clicked on the only contact he ever talked to.
They both waited apprehensively for her to pick up.
After three rings, they heard a very tired sounding, "Hello?"
"Hi Kirst! It's Scott and Mitch," Scott answered enthusiastically.
"I know it's you, Scott, it says your name on the call." Kirstin sounded irritated for some reason.
"Oh. Right." There was an awkward pause before Mitch nudged him, reminding him to ask about the party.
"Oh! Kirst! How would you like to come over later for a Halloween party? A mini party, since it'd just be the three of us, but a fun party nonetheless!" Mitch made his laughing face, and Scott poked his nose with his finger, making the brunette's smile wider.
"Scotty, that sounds like a lot of fun, but I've got so many appointments today and I don't think I can cancel...I'm really sorry."
Mitch's smile fell, and Scott's heart broke a tiny bit. "Oh, that's okay then. I-we understand. I hope you have a good Halloween anyway. Um, just out of curiosity...who is it that's coming in later?"
"Alex is scheduled to be here for the next few hours." So that was why she sounded so tired. Both she and Scott knew that Alex was a handful.
"Ah. That sounds like a lot of work. Good luck."
"Thank you, Scott, and thanks for inviting me. Both of you. Shall we call it a raincheck?"
"It's a deal. Mitch says hello, as well."
"Hi little Mitchi! How are you?"
Mitch looked at Scott and gave him a sad smile.
"He's good, but he wishes you could come over. He loves Halloween."
"Aww, I'm really sorry I can't come."
"As I said before, Kirst, it's understood."
"Thanks...I gotta go. Maybe I'll call later tonight?"
"Sounds great, we'll look forward to it. Love you, best friend!"
"Love you too, Scotty. Miss you Mitch!" And just like that, Kirstin was gone.
Scott took Mitch's hand and smiled down at him. "I know you're disappointed, but tonight can still be fun! It's Halloween! We can go out and buy some cute costumes, hand out candy, or just stay in and have a little movie night. Whatever you like!"
Mitch smiled and leaned up to kiss him. As he pulled away and held up three fingers, Scott's phone buzzed once. Twice.
He ran over and picked up. "Kirst?"
"I'm on my way over, and I'll pick up some cute decorations on the way."
"What? But-"
"Oh, to hell with the appointments. It's a holiday, the best holiday ever, and my best friends invited me to a party! How could I resist?"
"You're the dumbest person I know. See you in ten?" Scott looked down to see Mitch's surprised smile, which was one of his (many) favorite smiles.
"Five, if you get off the phone with me now."
"Alright, alright. I can't wait!" Scott hung up, threw his phone on the couch and picked Mitch up to swing him around.
"WE'RE GONNA HAVE A HELLA COOL PARTY, BABY!" He yelled, Mitch "laughing" and nodding in excited agreement.
"Quick, do we have anything we can throw in the oven?" The tiny brunette nodded and scurried into the kitchen to bake something, while Scott pulled down sprinkles and other decorations from the high cupboards Mitch couldn't reach.
While Mitch was cooking, Scott set out to vacuum the living room and dust what he could, even washing dishes as Mitch got through with them so they wouldn't have to do it while Kirstin was over.
Those few minutes of utter silence, minus the clattering of dishes and running water from the sink, were the most perfect moments of balance and teamwork. Both Scott and Mitch could feel that they were going to have an amazing night together.
After about five minutes, Mitch had put food into the oven, the tiny house had been cleaned, and yet Kirstin still hadn't arrived.
"Do you think we should call her?" Scott asked, a bit worried. Mitch shook his head and gave him a reassuring smile.
"You're right. She'll be just fine." Mitch's smile grew just the smallest bit bigger, as it always did when Scott understood his simple expressions. They were too perfect for each other.
The oven beeped just as the doorbell rang, and both boys jumped up from where they were on the couch to answer the noises, Mitch pulling a tray out of the oven just before Scott reached the door to open it.
"Hi babes!" Kirstin squealed as she walked inside, managing to hug Scott even with her arms full of bags.
"Hey, Kirst!" Scott replied, taking some of the bags from her as Mitch ran over, still wearing his oven mitts, to wrap his arms around Kirstin tightly.
"Mitchell, hi, how are you? How are you both?" Mitch beamed up at her as Scott said, "We're good, especially because we get to see you today! How about you, everything in work going alright?"
"I'm fine, for the most part, but not exactly. The building we're in is talking about moving us into a smaller space so that empty offices can be put in instead. I mean, can you believe that? We're doing good work, and they think they can just move us out?" While Kirstie went off on her tangent about work, Mitch led her to the living room to have a seat while Scott slipped into the kitchen.
The blonde stuck a toothpick into the brownies Mitch had found somewhere. They were still not anywhere close to done. He swore quietly and put the tray back into the oven, burning his finger as he did so and swearing again.
"Um, Scott?" He heard Kirstin call from the living room.
"Yeah?"
"You all good in there? It's not like we can't hear you cussing from in here."
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, the food wasn't done and then I burned myself but yeah I'm alright."
"You sure you're okay? Maybe you should take care of that burn before our food."
"No, no, I'm fine, I promise." As Scott was reaching up to put away the sprinkles that they didn't need anymore, he felt two arms hug him around his waist.
"Hi, baby. Were you worried about me?" There was a nod against his back. "That's sweet, Mitchi, but I really am okay."
He turned around in Mitch's arms to face him and smiled. "See? Not in any pain."
The brunette's arms moved from Scott's waist to around his neck, and they kissed for a few moments before Kirstin yelled, "Alright you two, break it up in there!"
Mitch smiled, hugged Scott quickly, and ran back out to be with Kirstie so she wouldn't be alone. A few minutes later, Scott came in to join them.
"So, Kirstin, as our guest of honor, you get to choose what you'd like to do."
"Ooh, fun! Umm, well, it's only 3:00 right now, so maybe we could decorate the place? And then maybe watch scary movies? Or hand out candy? Do kids even come up here?"
"Oh yeah, for sure! Granted, I've never actually handed out candy to them before, but if you'd like to we definitely could. I probably have some kind of makeup hidden away we could use for quick costumes."
"Okay, that sounds like a lot of fun! Mitchell, what do you think?"
Mitch nodded and smiled, but Scott could see a little bit of concern in his eyes.
"Mitch doesn't really like kids. They ask too many questions. Also, scary movies aren't his thing."
"Oh, that's alright then, we can eliminate the movies! Maybe we could watch some cartoons instead? Like Charlie Brown?"
Mitch nodded again, this time looking happier.
"As for handing out candy, maybe we could just try it and see how it goes? I think kids are too focused on getting candy to care if you speak to them or not. I think it would be good for you to try at least once, and if you don't feel good about it, we can always stop."
"There's your therapist voice coming out again!" Scott teased, and Kirstin stuck her tongue out at him.
"Mitch, how would you feel about that?" She asked him, choosing to ignore Scott.
Mitch thought for a moment, then nodded, a real smile on his face.
"Yay! Should we start on decorating then? I bought a lot of stuff!"
"Sounds good. I love Halloween decorations."
As Kirstie started on emptying the five bags of stuff, Scott pulled Mitch aside.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" He whispered. Mitch nodded, but looked down at his feet.
"Baby, listen to me," Scott said, placing his hand under Mitch's chin so he could see his eyes. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to, okay? If you're scared, we won't make you do it."
Mitch stared at him for moment, then shrugged and glanced back at Kirstin.
"I suppose you're right, she did have a good idea, but...I don't want to pressure you..."
Mitch nodded, as if saying "it's alright" and hugged him. Scott held him tightly, wanting to make sure Mitch was really okay and trying to help as best he could.
"You're so brave and strong, baby. I'm proud of you."
Thank you, Scott. I love you, Scott.
"I love you more, sweetie. Shall we go help Kirst?"
Hours later, Kirstie and Mitch were passed out on the couch, cartoons quietly flashing light into the otherwise dim apartment as Scott cleaned up.
There were ghost lamps in every corner of every room, black bat-shaped garland strung like streamers across the living room and kitchen ceilings, a not yet carved pumpkin next to the front door. A bowl with the word "BOO!" written across it multiple times sat in the middle of the kitchen island, nothing left inside but five pieces of chocolate. All the rest had been given out, and Mitch had had a wonderful time.
All of that, Scott left to sit where it was. The house, though it was a mess, really did look cute. And once he'd picked up the 23 candy wrappers , half-empty bowls of chips and candy corn, random cups lying around, and fallen streamers off of the floor and side table, it looked much neater.
After about a half hour of clean-up he did solely by himself, Scott sighed and sat down in the only chair in the living room, smiling at a tiny, curled up Mitch next to an even tinier Kirstin.
The whole thing was adorable, and he felt bad having to wake Kirstin up. After all, she couldn't spend the night. She had appointments to make up for tomorrow, and had specifically asked the two boys to not let her stay, as much as she wanted to.
"Kirst? Kirstie?" Scott whispered as quietly as he could as he shook his friend's shoulder. "You've gotta wake up."
"Hmm? Wha-oh, Scott? What are you doing here?"
"You're still at my house, dummy. You've gotta head out though, it's almost midnight and you wanted to be back at your house, remember?"
"Oh, oh, that's right, sorry. I'm exhausted. We partied way too hard."
Scott laughed quietly, and helped her off the sofa. "Are you going to be able to drive?"
"Yeah, I'll be just fine." Kirstin knelt down to put her boots on, buckling the sides as Scott grabbed her coat off the hook by the door.
"Scott?" she asked, standing up and slipping her arms into her coat sleeves.
"What's up?"
"You don't happen to have any coffee with you, do you?"
Scott smiled. "I have either some of those cold Starbucks things, or we could make some. I recommend the Starbucks, because I don't want the smell of coffee waking Mitchi up."
"That's just fine, then. Do you have vanilla, by any chance?"
"It's the only kind we have." Scott handed her the bottle, and she hugged him in return.
"Thank you so much for inviting me over, Scotty. I needed a break, and I missed you a lot."
"We missed you too. A lot."
"'We.'" Kirstin smiled, watching how Scott's eyes had unconsciously moved from her to the still-sleeping Mitch. "You love him a lot, don't you?"
"More than anything."
"You know how much he loves you too, right?"
"Of course."
"That's good." Kirstin smiled and sighed. "I should probably head out."
Scott's eyes came back to look at her. "Oh, that's right."
"Yeah..."
"Kirst, are you okay?"
Kirstin shrugged, then turned to leave, before running back and hugging him again.
"Scotty, what do I do if I really, really think I like someone and I don't know if he likes me but I really want to ask him out but I don't know if he has the time because I sure don't and-"
"Kirstin. Is it Jeremy?"
"Maybe...yes...it is, but how did you know?"
"You talk about him every time I call. It was kinda obvious."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, that's probably annoying, I don't mean to-"
"I know. I get it, I talk about Mitch every time, and that's definitely more annoying than you talking about Jeremy." Kirstin tried to say something to that, but Scott cut her off. "Now, about saying something to him...I'd say go for it. I've caught him staring at you before, so I know he likes you."
"No you haven't! Have you? Oh my god. Really? I'm going to ask him out today then! Should I? Maybe not, actually, I'm a little worried."
"Kirst, go for it! You'll be fine! The worst he could do is say no, and that wouldn't be the end of the world now, would it?"
"No, I guess not, but-"
"No buts. You're asking him out today, and you're calling me later with every detail."
"Alright...thanks Scotty."
"You're welcome. Now, get out of here. You need to be sleeping, not standing here talking about boys with me!"
Kirstin giggled quietly, and hugged him one last time before saying goodbye. "Tell Mitch thank you for me, will you?"
"Of course I will. Bye, honey. Drive safe!"
"Bye-bye," Kirstin smiled, and headed out the door, shutting it softly behind her.
Scott padded over to the TV, turning it off before scooping up Mitch to carry him to their bedroom.
After gently placing Mitch down and tucking him into the bed, he walked to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.
He stripped down to his underwear and put sweatpants on, not bothering to find a shirt. He was too tired for that. He slipped into bed, careful to not disturb Mitch, and put his arm over his boyfriend, pulling them as close together as possible.
"Happy Halloween, kitten. I love you," Scott whispered, kissing the top of Mitch's head before he dozed off to sleep.