(A/N)
I'm posting this early to apologize for accidentally posting this morning xD
Cheers
**
Mitch turned immediately when Scott closed the door.
He hugged Scott tightly. "Please tell me you're okay... Why are you crying?"
Scott hugged him back and didn't speak at first.
"Scott, please... What's going on?"
"Sorry... I wish I didn't do this on your birthday..."
"Honey I don't care about that. So you're not sick..?"
"No, just... Really really sad."
Mitch pulled out of the hug to look at Scott's face. "Why are you sad, baby?"
Scott looked down at the ground. "I feel silly talking about it..."
Mitch's hands slid around to Scott's stomach. "Honey... It's not--" He paused, feeling something cube-like in Scott's side pocket. "What's this..?"
Scott stepped back. "Nothing."
"Why are you carrying around a tiny Rubik's cube?"
"I'm not..."
"Can I see what it is?"
Scott shook his head quickly. "Can I be honest about something really quick?"
"Of course you can."
"Just... I didn't know you didn't want to be married yet..."
Mitch paused, tilting his head. "That's what freaked you out? Oh, honey... I love you so much, and I'd love nothing more than to--"
"But... Not yet."
Mitch put a hand on Scott's arm. "Baby, I'm sorry..." He moved the hand on top of the box in Scott's pocket, his voice suddenly no louder than a whisper. "Was that my present..? You... You were gonna propose..?"
Scott looked down, almost in shame. "No..."
Mitch felt awful. "I'm so sorry... I'm just not ready yet, Scott... I love you so much, but... But we're so young. I just turned 18, babe..."
"I know... I know that... I just can't imagine my life with anyone else. And... I want you to be mine forever..." Scott wiped at one of his eyes.
"Baby, I am yours. I swear that I am. But marriage is a big step."
Scott stepped back again, reaching out for the door handle. "I.. I gotta go, Mitch. I need to be alone for a bit. Please."
Mitch stared at him, putting a hand over his own heart. "Scott, honey... I'm so--"
Scott opened the door. "No, it's fine. I can't force you to be with me." He stumbled back out of the door. "Happy birthday."
Mitch couldn't find the words. "Scott, I love you. I'm so sorry."
"It's fine. I can wait... I can wait for you."
Mitch tried to follow him, pushing into Kevin's bedroom with the others.
Scott laid down on the bed again. "Guys, can I be alone?"
Kevin cleared out immediately, Alex following.
Kirstie walked over to kiss Scott's forehead. "It's okay, sweetie... It's gonna be okay."
Avi waited for her to go, and then walked over too. "You gonna be alright? Want anything? Maybe something to drink?"
"No..."
"Okay. I'm gonna check on you in twenty minutes."
"Don't care."
Avi patted his back a few times, and then started to walk out. "I love you, big guy."
Mitch pushed past him to stand beside Scott. "Honey, can--?"
Avi snapped at him. "Mitch, he asked to be alone. You're not an exception to that rule."
"But I just--"
"No. Out."
Scott sat up a little, waving a hand at Avi. "It's fine, Avi... It's his birthday, let him do whatever he wants."
Mitch gave Avi a smile, and then walked forward to sit on the bed with Scott.
Avi just shook his head, and stood in the doorway for a moment. "I'm keeping my phone on me, Scott. Whenever you need it."
Scott only nodded, and watched Mitch climb into bed next to him.
Once Avi closed the door, Mitch moved to sit on Scott's hips, both of them still wearing their nice dress pants, though Scott wasn't wearing his jacket anymore.
Scott immediately wiped his thumb under Mitch's eye, noticing tears that resided there. "Babe, why are you crying?"
"I didn't mean to break your heart, Scott... I didn't mean it... I didn't realize you were so ready to... To be married, y'know?"
"It's okay. Don't cry."
"But I didn't mean to, Scott. I.. I wanna be ready. So bad. But..."
"It's okay, Mitch. You're allowed to not be ready. I get that marriage is a big step, I totally get that."
Mitch met his eyes, and more tears fell. "But you were ready for the step... And I wasn't."
"So?" Scott's hands fell down to Mitch's thighs. "Babe, we're a team, remember? If... If you're not ready, then we're not ready."
"But--"
"No more buts. The only butt you get to have, is this one." Scott mumbled, giving Mitch's ass a light smack.
Mitch didn't want to smile at a time like this, but he did anyway. "Fine... Do you feel better..? Now that we talked it out?"
"Not better, but... I'm trying to be more understanding. I wouldn't wanna take your future away from you."
"What? Now you're talkin' nonsense. You're not taking anything away from me."
"I know, but I just mean..." Scott looked down, hands still on Mitch's legs. "I don't know what I mean, actually."
Mitch fell gracefully to one side of Scott, only to throw a leg over Scott's and wrap an arm around Scott's waist. "I'm so so sorry, honey..."
"Please stop saying that. It's making me feel worse."
"Oh... I didn't mean to."
Avi suddenly barged in, glaring at them. "I'm early. Are you okay?"
Scott rolled his eyes. "Avi fuck off. For real."
"But I--"
"Avi."
Avi huffed indignantly, and slammed the door as he left.
Scott still refused to look at Mitch, his eyes glued to the ceiling.
Mitch kissed his chest once. "Still upset, huh... Can I help at all?"
"No... I just... I don't know, Mitch." He began to speak quietly. "I was so ready to be your husband..."
Mitch leaned up more to kiss his neck instead. "I'm so sorry, baby... This is a real conversation we need to have when you're not as upset. Okay?"
Scott nodded once. "Okay, fine... When, though?"
"Maybe tomorrow? I don't know, babe. We'll figure it out."
*
As people began to clear out of the party, Kirstie immediately began helping Kevin clean things up.
Avi began to rush up the staircase again, but Alex was quick to catch his arm.
Alex turned him and smiled. "Babe, leave them alone. Stay down here with me."
"But I need to make sure Scott is--"
"He's fine, babe. He would've called you if he needed something."
"No, he wouldn't have."
"Please, Avi? Just leave them be." Alex tried.
Avi slowly came back down the stairs, stopping on the last step so he was closer to Alex's height if not taller, only to grab the back of Alex's neck and kiss him.
As more people cleared out, a few said goodbye to Kirstie and Kevin, and less said goodbye to Avi as most were afraid to go near him.
Someone bumped Alex's shoulder though. "Thanks for the invite, Alex! See you at practice."
Alex smiled at him. "Was nice to see you Riley."
Someone else poked his arm. "Hey Alexander. I meant to say hi to you earlier."
Alex looked less excited about him, and stepped a little closer to Avi. "Oh, hi... Nice to see you, Sam."
Sam eyed him up and down with a smirk. "Lookin' good, Lex. You look trim."
Alex nodded once. "Uh, yeah... Lost six pounds."
"Oh good! You're a quarter of the way there." He responded with a wink.
Alex's smile faded even more, and he actually bumped into Avi. "Yeah, um--"
"Say, maybe I should take some of the left over food with me. Not like you're gonna need it, right?"
Avi stepped forward and gave the kid a shove. "Why don't you back the fuck off? You don't really have any room to be judging anyone else's body, considering the extra-large shirt you're currently wearing."
"It's not even--"
"The human being standing to the right of me is the most athletic-looking person in the entire building, with approximately 2% body fat, if not less. So why you're calling him out right now is absolutely beyond me, but it's pissing me off." Avi stepped forward a bit more, glaring at Sam with as much fire as he could muster. "So why don't you get the fuck out of my face?"
Sam looked past him at Alex. "He's your security guard now?"
Avi didn't even flinch. "You bet your fat ass I am."
Alex couldn't help but chuckle once, trying to look away so Sam wouldn't hear him.
Sam heard it of course, and he again tried to look past Avi at Alex. "Got something to say back there, Cupcake?"
Avi hardly even thought of what to say before it was rolling out of his mouth. "I'm going to punch you in the throat if you fucking talk down to him again. Get the fuck out of my sight."
"You don't scare me."
"Then you're dumber than you look, which is pretty fuckin' dumb."
Alex stepped out to stand beside Avi. "Guys, please don't fight. Just walk away, Sam."
Sam huffed. "I'm not going any--"
Avi nodded once. "That's fine. Alex and I are gonna go have really hot sex upstairs, because his body is an actual work of art. You have a nice day, Samantha."
"My name isn't--"
Alex just waved a hand at him, pushing Avi toward the stairs. "The only name he needs to know is mine, but thanks."
**