I'm Not The Only One (Scomiche)

10: Explanation

"Now the room is all hazy. We're too lost in the fumes. I feel like it's just me and you."

Nirvana by Sam Smith

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I lay on the bed and put an arm over my eyes. There were so many thoughts swirling through my head and emotions coursing through my system. I stayed in that position for I don't know how long until I fell asleep.

I woke up when I heard him softly calling my name.

"Mitch..." Scott was seated on the edge with one of his legs on the mattress, his body angled towards me.

Am I ready for this? I mentally counted to three and sat up, grabbing a pillow and hugging it to my chest. "Hey," I whispered.

His head was turned down and he was running his thumb on his palm repeatedly. I let the silence stretch between us and waited for him to talk.

However the silence started to become uncomfortable and the air in the room hung heavy with tension. I could practically hear Scott's heavy breathing. "Scott. Why are you here?" I asked finally.

He slowly turned his head to me. His blue eyes bore into mine but I couldn't read the expression on his face. It seemed as if there were a thousand thoughts going through his head and he didn't know which one to start with.

Despite my better judgement I moved closer to him until we were a foot apart. "Scott..."

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Oh. Wasn't expecting that. "For?" I needed to know what exactly he was apologizing for because quite honestly, I still haven't wrapped my head around what happened in the last couple of hours.

Instead of an answer, he asked me another question. "You wouldn't cheat on me, right?"

Wow. Just... wow. My mouth hung open and I stared at him in disbelief. This day keeps getting better and better. Definitely takes the cake for most number of shitty conversations. I crossed my arms over my chest. "What if I did?"

It was brief but I saw the momentary flicker of anger in his blue depths before it was replaced with what seemed like pain... or sadness. He let out a sigh and he shifted in place. "I guess I deserved that."

I didn't reply and instead just let that thought sit in his head. I continued to watch him and waited for him to speak.

"I love you, Mitch," he said after a while. "I know I've put you in an unfair position for a long time, and I've broken many promises but..." he paused as he reached for my hands, "that's about to change. I left Alex. We are done. And now you and I can start over."

My hands rested limply in his and I fought the urge to entwine my fingers with his. "What happened?" I had a lot of questions but I decided to start with that.

He gave my hands a squeeze before letting them go. He ran a hand through his hair as he stood up and paced my bedroom floor. "We fought. I mean, obviously we fought."

My eyes followed him as he walked back and forth.

"Everything was fine until the evening. I started getting antsy when you didn't reply to my messages. Then I saw the snaps and it only worsened my mood. I don't know, I guess Alex noticed and got fed up or something. He started yelling and saying things until he told me that he's known about the affair for a while now." He stopped in his tracks and looked at me.

I said nothing. I waited for the rest of the story, for his explanation.

"Things got... messy," he continued. "He was so angry. He started throwing things. He asked me how I... we could have done that to him," his voice softened at the last sentence. "And the only thing I could think of saying was that I was sorry. Because I knew I hurt him terribly." Scott walked back to the edge of the bed and reclaimed his previous spot.

I kept my lips pursed and my hands on the pillow on my chest.

"Finally he asked me to choose. You or him."

Oh my god.

"I guess it's pretty obvious what my answer was."

OH MY GOD. He already told me that he chose me, but hearing the story, hearing how it happened made it seem more real. "And?" I couldn't help asking. Was there more to the story?

He bowed his head and took a deep breath. "And he cried and he begged me to stay. He said that we could make it work, that I should give our relationship a chance."

Alex did that?

He must have sensed my doubt at the things he was trying to say. "But I don't know. When I told him I choose you, it felt right. Final. My only thought was that I wanted to get home and see you. All the time I was driving, so many thoughts were running through my head. One of those was how stupid I was for not doing it sooner."

A part of me refused to believe Scott, refused to believe that he actually left Alex after all these time. But that part was only little, and a bigger part of me, the part that's been wanting for this moment for a very long time, desperately wanted everything that Scott said to be true. "So you and Alex are really over?"

"Yes."

And with that one word I gave in. I crawled over to Scott and threw my arms around him, pulling him to a tight embrace. "Baby..." I murmured. "I didn't cheat on you, I swear. And I wouldn't, I promise," I added. I felt like I needed to say it, needed for him to hear it.

Instead of replying he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. "I'm sorry it took forever," he whispered against my ear a little while later.

"It's okay..."

It was how I pictured that moment would be, a far cry from how our earlier conversation happened. I finally felt like I could breathe, like the weight of the lies and repeated pain and heartbreak of the past year have been lifted off my chest. Along with the breath I released came the tears. I sobbed quietly in his arms and let myself get lost in the moment and be overwhelmed by the multitude of emotions flooding my system.

Moments later I felt Scott's hand on my chin. He used his thumb to wipe away the tears from my cheeks before slowly tilting my face up. He leaned down and his lips captured mine. He kissed me softly, gently, unhurriedly. My hands reached for the collar of his shirt and I pulled him closer, desperate to deepen the kiss. I felt his smile on my lips before he he murmured 'I love you' and obliged.

For the next hour Scott claimed the rest of me and I let myself savor every second... every kiss, every touch, every whispered word of love. I allowed myself savor the man in my arms, the man I loved with all my heart, the man I could finally call mine.

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A/N: Today I finally met my good friend's own version of Scott in his life. *cries*