The ride back to the school was terribly awkward.
Mitch kept squeezing Scott's hand, hoping Scott would be the one to speak up and break the ice, though he didn't.
Avi was glaring out his window, refraining from making contact with anyone.
That was until Alex reached over to gently touch his knee. "Hey, I'm sorry for--"
Avi smacked his hand away quickly. "Can we please not do this right now? I'm not in the mood."
Alex shrunk back, bringing his arm back over to himself protectively. "O-Oh. Sorry. Yeah, I understand."
Avi looked away again, hardly moving at all besides that.
Mitch turned to look at Alex. "So, uh... I'll wash these jerseys and get them back to you as soon as I can."
Alex tried to force a smile that didn't even remotely reach his eyes. "Sure, sure. Whenever." He lowered his voice a little, feeling a little embarrassed to speak in front of Avi. "Means a lot to me that you guys want to wear them..."
Scott looked at him in the mirror. "Of course we do. I want everyone to know who my best friend/star athlete is."
Mitch giggled at him, and then smiled at Alex too, hoping to make him feel a little better.
Scott continued. "It's also nice to advertise that you're my friend so if anyone tries to fuck with you, I can kick some ass."
Alex smiled at him, genuinely feeling a little less like he was drowning in confusion about Avi. "Well that's nice of you, as well."
As Scott pulled into the parking lot, he found Alex's car first to drop him off beside it.
Alex thanked him quickly, and mumbled something to Mitch about homework before he got out of the car.
Avi hesitated a moment, but then groaned and got out of the car as well. "Alex, wait up."
Mitch heard both doors slam, and then looked to Scott in a panic. "Shit. Should we wait around and make sure they're okay?" Mitch made a grab at the door handle. "I should check--"
Scott immediately locked the door before Mitch's fingers could even make contact. "Absolutely fucking not. Do you remember what happened last time you tried to help them out? In this very parking lot?"
"But--"
"No." Scott started driving away. "Keep your pretty ass on that seat."
Mitch pouted, looking down at his lap. "But Scottie... What if they start arguing?"
"I won't have to worry about you getting involved and/or getting hurt. A blessing in disguise." He glanced over at Mitch's pout, and reached across to grab Mitch's knee. "Babe, they're old enough to handle themselves."
"But they're both too stubborn to get over themselves and realize their own feelings!" Mitch argued animatedly, tossing his hands to the side for effect. "On one hand, Avi loves him enough to protect him, but won't admit he's gay. And on the other, Alex is so hurt by how Avi treated him that he refuses to move on from what happened."
"Do you think he should? I mean, Avi kicked him out and embarrassed him in front of you and I."
"Yeah but Avi's clearly in love with him. Alex just needs to understand his point of view."
Scott only hummed, reaching over to grab Mitch's knee again. "Not our business. Because I'm not afraid to say that I love you."
Mitch grinned at him, giggling a little. "I know. You're such a sweetheart."
"I try." Scott muttered.
*
Avi waited for Scott's car to disappear out of the parking lot, as he rushed to follow Alex to his car. "Al, please--"
"I just wanna go home, Avi." Alex said quietly, sounding almost defeated.
"Can we just..? I don't want you to go home all upset. Especially since you did such a great job at your game today."
"You should've thought of that earlier."
"I know." Avi snagged his arm, forcing Alex to turn around. "I know that I'm an asshole and I keep yelling at you for stupid things but that's just who I am, okay? I'm too protective of the people I love and I occasionally cuss them out because they don't understand that--" A pause. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Did you just..? Did you just say you love me?"
Avi went over every word in his head. "No." Not exactly... Not specifically... (Maybe a little).
Alex continued staring at him. "I think... Okay. I just don't want us to argue anymore."
"I'm down for that. But before we can even think about that, you have to let this whole thing go. The kiss thing."
"How am I supposed to let that go? You made me feel so shitty, Av. And... I just can't trust you that way anymore."
Avi leaned his weight on the side of Alex's car. "Trust me..?"
"Not.. Not trust you, just... I can trust you obviously. But... I just can't force myself to believe you when you say you like me, and... That you want to protect me from dating or whatever the fuck happened back there. I just.. I can't believe you."
"Okay. I get that. What can I do to make you believe me? How can I fix this?"
Alex shook his head slowly, fumbling his car keys around in his hand. "I'm not sure, Av... I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault..." Avi mumbled, glancing away. "I guess I'll let you go then. Sorry to keep you."
Alex only stared at him. "Avi... Wait." He mumbled, unsure what to actually say. He just knew he didn't want Avi to go.
"What?" Avi snapped, without meaning to.
"Please don't be angry. I.. I want to build our trust back up, and maybe be something better once we've healed up. I don't want you to go away just because of a mistake."
Avi nodded once and took a step away from him. "Okay. We can do that."
Alex frowned at how hurt he looked. "Can I... Have a hug?"
Avi looked up quickly. "Seriously?"
"I played a decent game today, I deserve a hug."
He chuckled in response. "Yeah, that's true." Avi then stepped forward to hug him, noticing that Alex hugged very gently.
He wished he could stay there forever, but knew he had to respect Alex's boundaries, and pulled back quickly.
Alex grinned, and then gestured to his car. "Do you want a ride to your car? It's kinda cold out here..."
"No that's fine."
"You don't wanna hang out with me for approximately ten more seconds?"
Avi smiled back at him. "You know what? You're right. I want as much time as I can get."
"I call shotgun."
"Alex, it's your car."
"So?"
"...Okay, I guess."
**