It was in the late afternoon when Avi, Scott and Mitch arrived in Dallas. They got their luggage and then stepped out into the arrival hall.
"Who is picking us up?" Avi asked, already looking around.
"Mike" Mitch quipped, a grin on his face.
"Yep, my parents are so swamped with preparing everything for tomorrow, so Mike gladly offered" Scott explained and then pointed in one direction. "There he is."
He went towards Mitch's father, followed by his boyfriends.
"Mike! Hello!"
"Hello, boys! How are you?"
Mitch hugged his father first. "Fine, still a little stressed out from the promo tour, but I'm happy to see you, Dad."
"I'm happy, too, Son." Mike held him for a moment and then turned to his boyfriends, greeting them with a hug, too.
"Now, shall we? If we hurry, we might be able to avoid the evening rush" Mike replied.
"That would be awesome, I really cannot wait to be at home" Avi spoke up as they walked over to the car park.
"Me too. Are we staying with the Hoyings or at your place, Dad?" Mitch wanted to know.
"You're going to stay with us, if your don't mind" Mike replied with a grin on his face.
"Never!" Scott spoke up. "Mum and Dad told me last week that they might need the room for guests. I offered booking a hotel room, but staying with you is even better."
"Yeah, I agree. After all these nights in hotel rooms, with all the sneaking around only to be able to share a room, staying somewhere that we can call home is amazing" Mitch said.
"He's right. I mean we got very lucky in Nashville, because we were staying with Esther there, but still. Until we're officially out as a triad, sneaking around has to do" Avi added.
The four men arrived at the car and loaded the luggage into the trunk before getting inside the car.
"So..." Mike asked once he had steered the car out of the car park. "You mentioned having to come out publically. Did you already plan anything for that?"
"No" Scott, who was sitting beside Mike, answered. "I mean we have talked about it and we all know that we want to do it and we also agreed that we're talking about months and not about years until we do it, but right now we don't know how and when, so we'll keep it that way until we're ready."
"To be honest, I wouldn't know how to do this, either. I mean with us as your families and with your friends it was rather simple, you sat us down and explained what it's all about, it was personal. But with the fans and the public in general it's different, that's for sure" Mike replied.
"I feel like there will be a lot of explaining we'll need to do and I am kind of opposed to having to do it, because this here is our private life. I feel like people sometimes think that everything we do is directly connected to Pentatonix, Superfruit or Avis project while we are more distant in this respect" Mitch explained thoughtfully.
"I understand what you mean, Son and if your relationship was one that would be perceived as normal by society, I'd agree" Mitch returned. "However, it isn't. It only is becoming something natural to me, but that's mainly because I took time to not only listen to your story, but also to do some research online in order to understand. And I am afraid, but there will be major backlash and you will have to explain yourself, no matter how you'll choose to come out."
"I know..." Mitch sighed. He fell silent and looked out of the window.
Mike recognised this in the rear view mirror. "You know that I will stand by you, no matter what. Always."
I know, Dad. And it means a lot to me." Mitch smiled at his father. "Thank you."
"You're welcome" Mike returned, before he decided to drop the topic. "Now, how did your promo tour go?"
The rest of the ride was spent with a conversation about ridiculous interview questions and everything else that happened on their tour.
When they arrived at the Grassi's house, Nel was standing in the kitchen, stirring in a large pot. "My boys are finally here!" She exclaimed when she saw her son and his boyfriends. "Hello, Dears!"
"Hi, Mum."
Nel hugged first her son and then Scott and Mitch. "I'm so glad that you're finally here. I'm already cooking, we'll have lasagna."
"Lasagna sounds amazing! Mitch and Scott always talked about yours when I served them mine..." Avi spoke up, a grin on his face.
"Yours was delicious, Honey, but you cannot beat Mama Grassi's lasagna" Mitch returned.
"And I would never, ever want to" Avi replied.
"Thanks, dear." Nel smiled at him. "Now, there's still some time until dinner, why don't you get settled. It's been a long journey."
"I'd like that, Mum" Mitch said. "Are we going to stay in my room?"
"If you can make it work, definitely" Nel replied. "You know the bed isn't the largest, so if there's not enough space in bed, you could also use the second guest room. You'd have to split up, though. But you don't have to, of course."
"Thank you, Nel" Scott stopped her rambling. "We'll make it work, in one or two rooms. But it's very thoughtful of you to offer."
"She actually wanted to move beds and everything just to fir you in one room comfortably" Mike said, earning a playful slap from his wife.
"I appreciate it a lot, Nel" Avi said. "But as Scott said, we'll make it work, don't worry."
"Yep" Mitch concluded. "Now, I cannot wait to fall into the bed and close my eyes for one minute. How long until dinner?"
"Hmmm... fourty five minutes, but I'll call you, don't worry" Nel replied.
"Awesome, I'll make it two mintes then" Mitch joked, before he left the kitchen followed by Avi and Scott.
"Shall we head into your room first and see about sleeping and space tonight?" Scott asked Mitch.
Mitch nodded. "Yeah, definitely." He smiled when he opened the door and stepped inside his old room. "Here we are. Finally." After he had put down his suitcase and kicked off his shoes, he flopped down on the bed.
Scott chuckled. "Comfy?"
"Mmhm, yeah. It feels good to rest for a moment. Wanna join?" He grinned at his boyfriends and shifted so he was lying right in the middle of the bed.
"Definitely" Scott replied and kicked off his shoes, before he lied down next to Mitch. "You're right, this is so perfect. You coming, Avi?"
"Just a second, I am still looking around. This is teenage Mitch?"
Mitch chuckled. "Partly, yes. My parents redecorated, of course, but they kept my favourite posters and this collage of then and now moments."
Avi hummed as he looked at said collage. "It's crazy to see just how much we changed since the Sing Off" he remarked as he looked at one specific picture, before turning towards the bed to look at their boyfriends, smiling when he saw how they were cuddled up to one another.
"We changed a lot, for sure" Mitch said with a smile on his face. "Now, if you've finished your little trip down memory lane, come here and cuddle for a few minutes."
Avi chuckled. "I won't ever decline such a sweet offer" he replied and lied down on the bed next to Mitch, putting his arms around the smaller man immediately.
"Mmhm..." Mitch hummed from where he was lying in the middle of his boyfriends. "Feels warm and snuggly."
"It does" Scott replied. "But I fear that it's too cuddly for the night..."
"Mmhm" Mitch hummed. "But for right now it feels amazing, at least to me. Mind me drifting off? Just for ten minutes, wanna change before dinner."
"Never" Avi replied with a fond smile on his face. "We'll wake you up, don't worry, Love."
"Thank you, love you" Mitch mumbled as he fell asleep.
After a long moment, Avi looked away from the smaller man to Scott, who was typing away on his phone. "What's up?" He said, his voice a whisper.
"I'm just wondering why my parents didn't answer. I texted them when we were in the car..."
"They're probably busy preparing for the party, Scott. Don't worry, you'll see them tomorrow" Avi replied.
Scott sighed. "Actually, I've been thinking about heading over after dinner. Just to see if they need any help and to say hello. But then again we're the Grassi's guests for the night and leaving right after dinner would be rude."
"I doubt that the Grassi's would mind if you went over to your family. Plus Mitch and I will stay here. Don't worry, Love. If it was my family, I would go to them, too" Avi explained patiently.
"Thank you, Dear." Scott smiled at his boyfriend. "I'm sorry that your parents couldn't make it, by the way. I assume it's hard for you, being here with our families while yours isn't here."
Avi took a deep breath. "It isn't really hard, at least it doesn't feel like it. I mean I would love to have my parents here with me, but we met them in Nashville last week. Plus, I feel comfortable around your families, they certainly will make me feel right at home."
"Mmhm..." Mitch hummed, opening his eyes slowly. "My Dad especially is very happy to have you here. He said something about this bottle of liqueur he got as a gift and that he'd love to share it with you."
"Oh I would love to have a drink with your Dad. What about you, though?" Avi returned.
"I'll share a few bottles of wine with Mum." Mitch grinned at his bearded boyfriend. "We might throw in a few rounds of whatever game we're up to." He then turned to his blonde boyfriend. "No one will mind you going away after dinner. I actually think it's the right think to do. Go see your parents, spend time with them."
"I will, Dear, thank you." Scott pecked Mitch's cheek and then cuddled up to him again.
The triad fell silent for a moment, until they heard noise and voices in from downstairs.
Mitch furrowed his brows. "That sounds like..."
"My parents!" Scott was quick to jump out of bed and to run down the stairs to greet his parents. "Mum, Dad! What are you doing here?" He hugged them tightly, before looking at them again.
"Well" Connie spoke up. "We were invited for dinner and we just couldn't decline Nel's lasagna. And the company..." She looked up to where Avi and Mitch were just coming down the stairs to greet their boyfriend's parents.
"What about the preparations for tomorrow?" Scott wanted to know.
"Everything's settled. We had so many helping hands, there's only a few minor things we need to do tomorrow..." Rick explained.
"We all can help!" Avi offered immediately.
"No, Avi. You enjoy your time here" Connie returned. "Sleep in, have a nice breakfast, maybe spend some time outside, I don't care. But this is your first weekend off in a long time and I don't want to see you spending it working on our party. Same goes for you Scott, and you, Mitch. We will only see you at the party, understood?"
"Yes, Mum" Scott confirmed with a grin on his face. He knew better than to argue with her.
~~~~~~~~~
A/N: ok, this is just me having them arrive in Texas. Next part(s) will jump directly to the 'party'.
Updates are going to be slower for the next few weeks. Semester's ending and I have exams and a term paper to finish :)