Scott groaned when he heard a girl's voice again and didn't bother turning around, his grip tightening around Mitch's hand as he kept walking. "Wait! Seriously, come back. We didn't mean to bother you so much."
"Yeah? Well I'm pretty fucking bothered and can't wait for you two to leave. Go away now."
"I just...I'm sorry, me and my friend really just came over-"
They were interrupted by Justin, who had ran the rest of the distance and left Chris behind once he heard raised voices. He was panting and looked over the four of them, his face dropping when he saw Mitch's expression. "I knew something was wrong. What's going on over here?"
"Nothing!" The blond girl insisted, her cheeks pink. "Nothing happened, we were just talking about-"
"We were not just talking, they're harassing Mitch and won't leave us the fuck alone! I'm so annoyed." Scott had lost his patience. "Justin, we've gotta go. I wish we could stay a little longer but now I have to go file a fucking police report on these homophobic jerks. Tell everyone we're sorry we had to leave early."
"Wait! Please! You don't need to do that, we didn't mean it." Both girls looked incredibly nervous and ashamed and Justin slowly began to process everything. His quick conclusion explained Scott's anger, the girls' embarrassment, and that exaggerated kiss he'd just seen from a distance. Scott loved defying people when he was angry and Mitch was clearly pretty upset, everything began tying itself together in his head...
"Oh my god, you girls really thought that you could get Scott's attention by coming up to him and bothering Mitch?" He looked up them and smirked when the brunette shuffled uncomfortably. "Oh, that is so funny. He must hate you guys right now. Wow, let me tell you, you guys pushed the wrong buttons. Just a tip for the future- if you see a hot boy don't try to come on to him by bullying his best friend." He laughed, watching the girls turn pinker and pinker. "Ladies, why don't you go ahead and see yourselves out of the park. Unless you need an escort? I don't mind calling the cops and staying around as an eye witness for the police report..."
The girls finally walked off, humiliated, and Scott sighed in relief. Justin walked them to Scott's car and asked again if they were sure that they wanted to leave, but Scott insisted. Mitch hadn't said a single word during the whole ordeal and it was so out of character for him to not defend himself that Scott was genuinely worried about him. Justin promised to tell the host that something important had come up and that they had to go before he waved them off and walked back to the party.
Scott let him have a moment of silence but grew a little worried when Mitch ended up staying quiet for most of the ride home. He made a little detour and went through a Starbucks drive through before parking in the lot, choosing a spot that overlooked the lowering sun that was causing the sky to change colors. He unwrapped Mitch's straw and poked it through his drink, handing it over to him before finally speaking gently.
"You've never been this quiet before, Mitchie."
Mitch didn't respond, just gratefully taking his drink from Scott's hands and sipping as he watched the sky.
"Are you okay? I'm so sorry you had to go through that. That was pretty fucking awful and it's even harder to deal with that type of stuff in person than you already do every day online."
Mitch sighed, unbuckling his seatbelt and turning in his seat so that he could curl up into a ball and face him. He balanced his drink between his chest and thighs, sipping as he kept his eyes low. He was finding it hard to speak but at least he was more comfortable now. His heart rate had calmed down significantly and his head was beginning to hurt from how hard he'd been stressing over what had just happened.
Scott held out a hand and Mitch rested his on top of it without putting up a fight. He was too mentally tired to protest and he let Scott comfort him, the blond holding his hand and rubbing Mitch's knuckles with his thumb.
"Are you okay, Mitchie?"
"Mhmm." He took a sip of his coffee and closed his eyes, not in the mood to look at him. He was embarrassed that he was affected by this at all, but he couldn't shake off how rude the girls had been right to his face. "A little sad, but okay."
"I'm so sorry I let it keep going for so long."
"No..." Mitch insisted quietly, giving Scott's hand a squeeze. His throat tightened. Scott had defended him so thoroughly and classily that Mitch couldn't even complain if he wanted to. And he didn't want to. Scott was such an incredible friend for protecting him while he was too shocked and upset to do it himself and suddenly Mitch felt like he was going cry. He was beginning to register everything at once and the mixture of hurt and relief was bringing tears to his eyes. He kept them closed.
"I'm so brave, Scott. I don't know what happened. I shut down."
"That's okay, sweetheart" Scott whispered. Mitch wasn't crying yet but Scott knew him too well to believe his eyes were closed for any other reason than to hold back tears. "You are brave. It's scary when someone's attacking you like that, I would have reacted the same way. You're here and you're safe and that's all that matters. It's technically my fault that it even happened, and I'm so sorry." He kept massaging the back of Mitch's hand with his thumb, and Mitch set down his drink and offered Scott his other hand too, which he gladly took.
"What, for being hot? This was no ones fault except theirs." Scott held both of his hands firmly and watched his face. He appreciated that Mitch could be so rational when he was upset, but he still was just that- upset. And Scott hated it.
"What can I do to make it better, Mitchie? You wanna go to the movies?"
"No."
"Okay." He glanced at the car radio for the time. "The mall's still open for an hour or two, can I take you shopping?"
"No."
And then a tear finally escaped and rolled down his cheek and Scott felt his heart tighten in his chest. Mitch tried to keep his breathing leveled but the tears began coming faster and faster and he couldn't keep up, his shoulders were shaking. "She called me 'it,' Scott. It. Twice!"
"Fuck her, Mitch. Fuck her. They were so rude and they didn't even mean anything that they said." Mitch couldn't even hear him over how hard he was crying now, having to gasp to catch his breath. His forehead was on his knees and he was shaking. "Mitchie, please. Come on, queen. They didn't mean any of that."
"I...I know, but-" he felt his throat tighten as he tried to talk and stuttered even after trying to relax. "B-but it...it came so easy to them. It was...it was so easy for them t-to say that stuff about me." He was sobbing. He was sobbing loud, and he gave up trying to control it once he succumbed to his thoughts
Scott reached under his drivers seat and pushed it all the way back so that there was a huge gap between his seat and the steering wheel. He tugged on Mitch's hands to no avail and eventually reached over to grab the skinny boy under his arms, guiding him over the compartment between them so that he was sideways in Scott's lap in the drivers seat. He adjusted the tall boys legs so that they could hang down to the floor and held him to his chest.
"Shhhh, come here. It's okay to cry." He felt Mitch nuzzle into his shoulder and let him sob, feeling wetness soak through the material onto his skin. He slipped a hand under his black cardigan and rubbed his back over the thin material of his tshirt. "You're okay, Mitchie. You're fine." He held him there for what felt like an hour to Scott but couldn't have been more than ten minutes. "I'm so sorry. You're such a great person, so kindhearted and beautiful and smart. They don't even know you. They were so, so mean to you and you didn't deserve it."
"I know," he moaned tearfully. He fisted Scott's shirt and wiped his cheeks, still crying and wishing he could stop. He wasn't sobbing anymore but silent tears still fell every time he tried to think about it. "I know. I'm sorry. I know I didn't d-deserve it. I'm still sad. I was having such a good day and th-they..."
"Shhh. It's okay. They didn't mean to ruin your day, they're just so fucking selfish that they didn't care if it would or not." He sighed, pressing a kiss to the side of Mitch's head. "Do you want me to file that report? I wasn't really going to unless you wanted me to."
Mitch thought for a moment before whispering back. "No. I think you scared them enough that they won't do it again."
"You sure?"
"Mhmm. I don't need revenge. They learned their lesson."
He hugged Mitch closer and wiped the last of his tears from his cheeks. "See? You're so kind, and they don't even deserve it. They don't deserve to walk away from that without any consequences."
Mitch sniffled, closing his watery eyes and trying to relax against Scott's chest. "Without consequences? Did you see how pink they were when Justin made them leave? That embarrassment is sticking around for a lifetime."
Scott smiled, looking outside at the sunset. "Okay, that's true. Hey, did you see how offended the blonde girl looked when I kissed you? I can't believe she called you 'it' and used the word 'fag'...wow. No. We should have just gotten on the grass and had gay sex right in front of them." He laughed when Mitch slapped his shoulder, trying not to jostle him off his lap. "Sorry, that was rude. It might not even have worked. Some straight girls are secretly kinda into gay porn."
"You're unbelievable" Mitch sighed, shaking his head and smiling. "By the way, that kiss wasn't half bad. I almost wish I wasn't so scared so I could have actually participated in it instead of just standing there like a statue."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Well, if you want we can try it again once you stop shaking. Wow... best friend goals, am I right?" He smiled when Mitch blushed and chuckled, rolling his eyes at the blond. "I really do wanna fix your night though, you were having such a good time before all that happened. What can I do, Mitch? I wanna make it better."
"Just take me home" Mitch sighed, climbing back into the passenger seat. "I'm tired. Crying that hard is work, Scotty. My head's starting to hurt."
"I know. I'm sorry, Mitch. Please let me do something for you though? Why don't we stop by that sushi place you like and I'll get us something to go? You can stay in the car."
"Okay."
"And then once we get home? Netflix?"
"...and chill?"
Scott rolled his eyes. "Sure, and chill. We can watch an entire season of whatever the fuck you want, Mitchie. We can even open a bottle of champagne. I don't care." Mitch was being snarky with him again and he was happy to have him back. He adjusted his seat back to normal and buckled his seatbelt, watching Mitch do the same.
"I might pass out if you're planning on a whole season, Scott. I'm a sleepy boy."
"That's okay. Don't worry about details, my only goal is to have you happy by the end of the night." He started the car and looked into his rear view mirror, waiting for the lot to clear so that he could pull out.
"That's sweet. Are you gonna give me a goodnight kiss before bed?"
"Do you want one?"
He shrugged his shoulders, trying to sound nonchalant. "Like the one from earlier? I guess. If you want to." He wiped a stray tear from his cheek that was starting to sting against his skin. "Kinda."
Scott put the car in park before leaning over to Mitch's seat, tilting his chin up with his finger and giving him a soft kiss on the lips.
"You mean like that?"
"Uh huh."
Mitch was smiling so hard that his cheeks hurt and he could tell Scott was embarrassed by his own boldness from how fast he moved back to his seat and reversed out of the parking spot. "Just like that."
"I mean...I guess I could."
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