Dreams (Scomiche)

Chapter Three

Mitch

 

Mitch helped Scott set up his bed and stuff, offering to help Scott choose outfits and whatnot in the mornings. Scott thanked him with a smile. They had gone to dinner together, and then back to the room. Mitch hadn’t been sure what to do then, all the things he usually did required vision. Scott had taken charge, asking Mitch to hand him the headphones that were on his desk and listening to an audiobook on his phone. It gave Mitch nothing to do. Nothing to do except go to sleep. And going to sleep was Mitch’s least favorite part of the day. Well, going to bed was his least favorite part of the day. Sleep was a general term that couldn’t always apply to Mitch. He had been lying in bed awake for a while when he heard Scott moving. After the fumbling didn’t stop, Mitch began to wonder what Scott was doing.

“What’s up,” he called across the room.

“I was trying to plug my phone in but I can’t find the plug. I knew where it was in my old room but…” Scott trailed off. Mitch stood up from his bed, flipping on the light, crossing the room, and taking the phone from Scott’s hands. He plugged it in before turning back to Scott.

“It’s plugged in. Don’t worry about asking me in the future, Scott. It takes me a while to fall asleep anyway.”

“Oh,” Scott said. “I didn’t want to bug you, sorry.” Mitch saw the blush on Scott’s cheeks.

“It’s fine,” Mitch replied. “Do you need anything else before I head to sleep?” Scott shook his head, shifting on the blankets. “Well, goodnight,” Mitch said lamely.

“Goodnight.”

Now there was really nothing to do. Since Scott was asleep, Mitch couldn’t make noise. He contemplated just leaving the light on and watching things with headphones, but shot down the idea immediately when he realized that his headphones were buried in his bag, and finding them would take too much effort. So he was left lying on his bed, staring at the celling. With nothing to do but think. Think about his life.

Think about Travis.

Travis. When Mitch had started dating him back in the end junior year, Travis had been flirtatious and kind. He brought Mitch flowers, chocolates, sent him good-morning and goodnight texts.

Travis. In the beginning of senior year, he started being weird. He started being unreasonably weird. He would yell at Mitch for doing little things. He would insult him sometimes, but he would always come back the next day crying and begging Mitch to forgive him. Mitch always would, because Travis was all he knew.

Travis. In the middle of senior year, for the first time, Travis hit Mitch. It was at a party. Travis was drunk. Mitch wasn’t. He’d tried to get Travis to go home, and finally just dragged him out of the party, because he didn’t want Travis to do something stupid. In the car, they started arguing with each other. Mitch couldn’t remember what he said, but the next thing he knew Travis’s hand came and slapped him across the face.

Travis. After that, Travis was different. He started acting like he did now. He would hit Mitch if Mitch made him angry. He would remind Mitch that he was the only one that would love him. He would even tell Mitch that he was just doing what other people did, because he had had boyfriends in the past, and boyfriends did that kind of thing. 

Travis. Travis, his boyfriend who would hit him when he did something wrong. Travis, who he couldn’t be himself around anymore. Travis, who haunted his nights even when they weren’t together.

Mitch eventually managed to drift off to sleep, but it didn’t help him.

He was sitting in a room. He had no clue what room it was, it was just a room. A plain room, with a bed in one corner and a closet with a mirrored door. A single chair, in which Mitch was sitting, was against the wall. Mitch wasn’t tied to the chair in any way, but he found himself unable to move.