Avi practically dragged Mitch to the car.
He helped Mitch into the passenger seat, and then grabbed Mitch's phone from his pocket to pass to Mitch. "Call Alex. Talk to him until I get back."
Mitch nodded once and smiled widely as he dialed the number.
Avi then closed the car door, and locked the car as he backed away.
When he walked back over to the front of the bar, just off to the side of the entrance, he could see that Scott already had the guy pinned.
Scott's fist hovered above the man's face for a moment. "Are you going to apologize?"
"Hell no! Get off of me!"
Scott swung once, and Avi flinched at the noise. Scott swung once more and started babbling. "He's not your fucking property, you fucking entitled, disrespectful, rude ass son of a bitch."
The man finally held a hand up to catch Scott's fist. "I never said--!"
"You called him an object. And my intelligent little Mitchie would call that dehumanization. Which is fucking cruel, and you're still an asshole." Scott punched him again, right in the nose.
"You're the asshole! Fucking get off me!"
"Not until you apologize to my baby."
*
Scott had to carry Mitch into the house because he'd fallen asleep.
Avi was sure to close and lock the door behind them. "Alright so I'm on the couch?"
Scott gestured toward Alex, who was sleeping on one of the couches. "Sure. Looks like he decided to ignore me."
"He just didn't want to be in your way and you know it." Avi countered.
Scott only shrugged. "Regardless. You're okay staying out here with him?"
"Of course. I'm sure you still have adrenaline in you, but when you calm down you should ice that bruise on your face. Because it's gonna hurt. Goodnight, Kid."
Scott nodded once, and turned to go down the hall with Mitch. "Thanks... Sleep well."
Mitch woke up a little, and was very disoriented as he grabbed onto Scott's shirt. "What..?"
Scott kicked his door open, walked into the room, and then kicked it partially shut. "Hi, babe. Good morning."
"It's morning? Oh my God..."
"No, I'm just kidding." Scott muttered, walking over to lay Mitch down on his bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I could sleep for the rest of my life."
"I figured as much."
Mitch squinted at him a little, unsure if he was seeing what he thought he was seeing in the darkness of the room. "Scottie..? Are you okay?"
"I'm not the one who got plastered."
"But... Do you have a bruise on your cheek?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Scott said softly, taking his shirt off and tossing it somewhere in the room before climbing into bed.
Mitch was too out of it to push the subject further, so he giggled. "You can't sleep with jeans on, silly."
"Well.. I'll take mine off, if you take yours off."
Mitch's giggle halted abruptly. "Okay, but... Keep your naughty hands away from me."
"I will." Scott began pulling his jeans off, but then looked over at him. "Wait, does that apply to cuddling too?"
"No! I always get the cuddles." Mitch mumbled incoherently as he pulled his own jeans off. "All the cuddles... Always all the cuddles..."
Scott shook his head slowly, tossing his own jeans onto the floor. "Fuck, you're still so far gone."
"Gone?" Mitch folded his jeans and leaned up to put them on his pillow so he could sleep on them. "Where did I go?"
Scott smirked a little, and snatched Mitch's jeans before Mitch could lay on them. "Babe, these don't go here." And then he tossed them onto the floor with a loud clank sound that Scott assumed was his belt buckle.
Mitch suddenly gasped, and grabbed Scott's arm a second too late. "Wait! My phone was in my pocket!"
Scott tilted his head a little. "I thought--?"
"You just threw my phone on the ground!"
"No. I didn't. Avi said he took your phone after you called Alex so you wouldn't do anything reckless like text your parents by mistake."
Mitch hesitated, and then laughed loudly; Probably loud enough to wake the entire house. "I gotchu!"
Scott smiled at him and shook his head again, deciding to humor Mitch. "Oh wow, you had me fooled."
"I know I did!"
Scott fumbled with the blanket so it was comfortably on top of the both of them, and then moved forward a little to lay on his back with an arm open to Mitch.
Mitch quickly scurried over to him, resting his head on Scott's chest. "I'm really tired... Can I sleep here?"
"Anything you want, baby."
"Thank you." He mumbled, eyes already slipping shut.
Scott slid his hand up Mitch's back only to run up Mitch's head, just to get a light hold on his hair to gently tug his head back, forcing Mitch to look up at him.
Scott took a second to adore how pliable Mitch was-- always willing to trust Scott and not be afraid of him-- before he leaned down to peck Mitch's lips once.
Mitch smiled lazily up at him, eyes still closed. "I love you."
"I love you too, silly boy."
*
Avi could swear he'd only been asleep for two hours until someone woke him up.
The first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes, is that Alex was awake too. And when he followed Alex's horrified line of sight, he could see that someone was trying to open the front door. He'd only barely gotten up to move to see who it was, when the door was thrown open, and Scott's dad walked in.
Rick tilted his head a little at Avi. "What the Hell..? It's almost 4 A.M."
Avi was still half asleep, but he did his best to make coherent conversation. "What are you doing here?"
"Was bringing the boy some money. Figured I'd do it while he's asleep, but... Looks like he brought the party home, huh?"
Avi rubbed one of his eyes tiredly. "Uh... Yeah."
Rick stepped toward him a little, eyeing Alex who'd just stood up from the couch as well, having been sleeping without a shirt. "And who might you be? Scott's latest conquest, perhaps?"
Alex only stared at him. "Uh... Nice to meet you too?" He'd said it genuinely, but Avi still snorted a little.
Rick grinned widely. "What's your name?"
"Alex... I'm just a friend."
"Yeah he says that about everyone. It's fine. None of my business."
Rick turned to put whatever money in whatever place for Scott to find, and Avi took that chance to grab Alex's arm and pull him down the hall. He glanced back to be sure Rick didn't see them, and then ducked into Scott's bedroom.
Scott sat up quickly. "Avi? Is everything--?"
"Shh, your dad's here. I'm hoping it's a quick stop."
Scott pulled the blanket up a little higher on Mitch's shoulders, pressing a kiss to Mitch's forehead before he stood up from the bed. "Fuck."
Avi held a hand out in front of him. "Where are you going? You can't go talk to him."
"Why not? He can't be here right now."
"It's his house, Scott. You know that."
Scott just stared at him, and then reached past him to shut his bedroom door all the way. "I'll take the floor. You two should be able to fit up there."
Alex moved to do so, his partially hungover body too tired to stand for much longer anyhow.
Avi shook his head once. "Not a chance in Hell. You and I can tough it out."
"Avi there's plenty of room for you up--"
"No. Just grab a blanket or something."
When Scott moved to do so, he looked at Alex, who was now laying behind Mitch. "You take good care of him, Kirk. You hear me?"
Alex nodded once, and then moved closer to Mitch, slipping his eyes shut as he slid a hand over Mitch's stomach. Subconsciously, Mitch moved a little to lean into him, exhaling softly in comfort.
Scott smiled fondly at him, before he remembered what he was doing, and snagged a blanket off of his bed.
**