Upon waking up, Alex turned to smile at Jake, who looked like he'd been awake for a while.
Jake smiled right back. "Good morning, Al. Did you sleep alright?"
"Yes, Sir. Thank you."
"Does your arm feel alright?"
"Sort of... It kind of hurts... Just a little though."
Jake nodded, standing up to walk into their bathroom to grab a few pain killers.
Alex moved over and tried to grab his arm to stop him, but accidently used the wrong arm, and he gasped before cringing, trying to look away so Jake wouldn't notice.
But Jake had watched him do it. Jake kneeled down by the bed, reaching a hand out to tilt Alex's head toward himself. "Allie, why did you do that?"
Alex shook his head, in too much pain to speak.
Jake lifted Alex by the shoulders, just to turn him onto his back so he wouldn't lay on his arm anymore. "I'm sorry, babe. I'll go grab you some pain killers, okay? Do not move. Understood?"
"Yes, Sir." Alex answered through gritted teeth.
Jake hurried to get him a glass of water, and two pain killers, before he rushed back over to Alex's side. "Here."
Alex took the pills, praying that they work quickly.
Jake took the water back, took a sip, and then placed the glass on their bedside table. He reached a hand out for Alex's good arm, and helped him stand.
Alex had tears in his eyes, but he did his best not to let Jake see them.
Jake held his hand and helped him walk down the stairs carefully, knowing Alex might be scared of them after his accident.
Todrick saw them and walked over quickly, waiting at the base of the staircase. "Good morning, you two. How are you feeling, Al?"
Alex smiled at him as much as he could. "Pretty good. Alpha gave me some pills to take, so... Should be even better!"
Todrick nodded once, looking to Jake. "Will you go back up and grab the sling from your room? I'm going to get this gauze off."
Jake nodded and quickly turned around to do so.
Alex followed Todrick into the kitchen, where Kevin was making breakfast.
Nearly an hour later, Avi and Kirstie made their way to the kitchen, before sitting down at the dining room table.
Scott was sitting beside Alex, holding the bag of ice against his arm for him, while Jake fed him.
Avi stared at them, letting his brain catch up for a minute before he got curious. "Alexander? Are you alright?"
Alex smiled widely. "Yes, Sir. Thank you for asking! How are you?"
"I'm fine. I'm asking about the sling though." Avi corrected.
Alex looked down, as if he forgot it was there. "Oh, yeah! I fell down the stairs yesterday, before you got home... And Kevin said I over extended something..? Or something."
Kevin nodded once, not looking up. "Hyperextended."
Avi glanced over at him. "Does he need to see a doctor?"
"Not yet. He might need physical therapy after it heals, but for the time being he just needs to rest it."
Avi nodded, and then turned back to Alex. "Does it hurt? Is there anything I can do?"
"No, Sir. But thank you, that's nice of you to offer." Alex smiled again.
********
Mitch, on his way down the hall to the bathroom, bumped into Avi on his way back from his room.
Avi moved out of his way politely, but Mitch didn't walk past him. Avi tilted his head a little. "What's wrong, Peanut?"
"Alpha and I talked about why you hit him across the face. And I do not agree with your decision."
"It's in the past now, Mitchell. I can't fix it, I can't change it." Avi replied dismissively.
"Doesn't mean it was an okay thing for you to do." Mitch snapped.
Avi crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't you dare give me attitude."
Mitch copied his position, raising an eyebrow. "Well you're going around punishing people for no reason, I might as well give you something to be upset about to even it out."
"I didn't punish him. I was trying to help."
"How would slapping someone across the face help?"
"I don't know, I just panicked. I didn't want him to cry because of his rude father. His father doesn't deserve to get him upset like that."
"You could've hugged him, or--"
Avi interrupted. "You're getting all mad at me, but here's something. Where the Hell were you when this was all happening? Why was it my job to help him? Aren't you the one who is supposed to stop him from crying?"
"You're his Alpha."
"And you're his mate. His husband, eventually. Or at least I thought you were."
Mitch's jaw dropped a little. "That was rude."
"You're kind of asking for it. You weren't there for him. So it was either me, or he would've been sobbing in the bathroom all by himself." Avi argued.
Mitch clenched his teeth, keeping himself from shouting at his Leader.
"Would it make you feel better if I let you hit me?" Avi offered.
Mitch seriously considered that, but decided. "No. It wouldn't. But what will make me feel better is if you're super nice to him today. And I'm talking all day."
Avi squinted at him. "Fine. Then will you forgive me?"
"Yep. And... If you give him a hug every single time you see him."
"Okay now you're pushing it."
*********
Avi walked straight back into the kitchen, where Scott was washing dishes, and hugged him as tight as he could, lifting him off the ground for a second, before walking away.
Scott took a second to catch his breath, and then stared at the doorway Avi had walked out of.
Mitch skipped over and smiled at him. "Hi!"
"Hi, honey. How are you?"
"Good. Want some help?"
"No, I'm almost done. But thank you, baby. That's really nice of you to offer."
"You sound like Alex."
Scott hesitated a second, and then lowered his voice's pitch as much as he could, before speaking again. "How about now?"
Mitch giggled loudly. "Now you sound like The Alpha."
Scott continued washing dishes, but laughed a little. "That's what I was shooting for."
Mitch giggled again, and then ducked down a little to sneak under Scott's arm, before standing up so that he would be in between the sink and Scott, looking up into Scott's eyes.
Scott just watched him do it, smiling. "What are you up to?"
"I just miss you is all."
"Miss me? From the ten seconds we were apart when I walked into the kitchen before you?"
Mitch giggled, reaching up to unbutton the top button on Scott's shirt, which was right at his eye line.
"Why'd you do that?"
"Looks cuter."
"Thank you, then. Always there to correct my fashion sense."
Mitch giggled once more, nodding. "It's what I do."
Scott continued cleaning, looking over Mitch to do so, but before he could finish, Mitch undid another button.
Scott froze, meeting his eyes. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to seduce me."
"Guess it's a good thing that you know better." Mitch mumbled, winking at him, but undoing yet another button.
Avi walked into the kitchen, just grabbing himself some water, but stopped when he saw the other two.
Scott quickly dropped the dish, and turned to hide himself from Avi, before buttoning his shirt back up. "I'm sorry, Sir."
"Sorry for what?"
Mitch stared at Scott, who was blushing profusely. "Yeah, sorry for what?"
"For being half naked in the kitchen. I'm sorry about that."
Avi turned and took a step closer. "Half naked? Your shirt was open. That's it. And I'm pretty sure you used to walk around in just your underwear, so... I've seen worse."
Scott blushed again, facing him. "I'm sorry about that too..."
"About what?"
"You having to see that."
Mitch frowned at him. "I think we should have an underwear day, where we all walk around in our undies. Because you, my love, are more attractive than you'll ever know."
Scott looked over at him and squinted a little. "What does that have to do with--?"
Avi laughed once. "I like that idea, actually. We're all so damn, sorry Mitchell, insecure. Might as well take a day to appreciate what everyone looks like."
Mitch giggled and pulled on Scott's shirt to get his attention. "We're gonna see lots of boners."
Avi rolled his eyes and walked out of the room. "Alright, strip down everyone."
**********