The Boy That Changed My Life

Chapter 18

The car journey home was in silence. Scott and Mitch both stared out the window, letting their thoughts overtake them. Scott turned his head to look over at Mitch. He noticed how slumped his shoulders were. His face was turned away and Scott could only guess what emotions were showing on it.

He reached over and across the seat, taking Mitch's hand which was resting in the middle seat. He felt Mitch give his hand a reassuring but not turn around. He tried to memorise the way his fingers locked into Mitch's. The warm feeling of Palm against Palm. The fluttering feeling of Mitch's pulse as his heart rate picked up.

When they arrived at the Grassi's house Mitch took himself off to have a shower. So, Scott sat and waited by the kitchen counter. He listened out for Mitch's singing voice but didn't hear it. It was the first time he had not heard Mitch singing in the shower.

"I am really sorry, Scott." Scott heard someone say. He lifted his head from his hands and looked up at Mike. "I'm sorry." He whispered. Scott frowned.

"There's nothing you can do about it. Don't worry." Scott said, pressing his lips together in a line. Why was Mike sorry? Scott wasn't his son, he shouldn't need to be sorry.

"You do realise that you are the nicest person I have ever come across. You think about other people before yourself. You help others. You love others. You care for others. That's extremely honourable. Remember that, yeah?" Mike told Scott.

Scott thought for a minute. "You know, you're probably the closest thing I have ever had to a dad. My dad, he left when I was eight. Before he left he told me he'd come back for me every weekend. He to,d me he would take me to California for a couple of days. He told me we could go on motorbike trips. I haven't seen him since he left though. I sat by my bedroom window every evening for three months, just in case he would come back. But he didn't. Every man that I was supposed to trust let me down. My dad ran off. My step dad abused me. My uncle killed himself. Thank you for just being there for me for the past year." Scott looked up at Mike who had tears in his eyes.

Before Scott knew it Mike had stepped forward and pulled him into a hug. Scott relaxed, he wondered if that was what it felt like to have a dad who loved you. To have a dad that truly cared.

"I really am going to miss having you here everyday." Mike said patting Scott lightly on the shoulder and letting him go. Scott sniffed back his tears. He didn't want to go. He didn't want to leave but he also didn't want to pressure the people he cared about the most. "Hey, don't cry okay? What would you like me to cook for dinner? I can do anything you like!" Mike said.

Scott wiped his eyes and smiled. "Anything with your mash potato!" He said eagerly, his eyes drawn to the doorway where Mitch stood.

Mike saw Scott's eyes light up and turned to see that Mitch was stood in the doorway. As their eyes met he saw Mitch's face light up too. It was an amazing sight, he thought. Every time they were together they seemed to not care about anything else.

"Did I hear mash potato?" Mitch asked, his eyes sparkling. Scott could see though, behind the sparkle was sadness. Complete and utter devastation. He walked forward, sitting down next to Scott. Correction, sitting down almost on top of Scott. Their legs were glued together, their feet crossing over each other. Mitch grabbed Scott's hand and rested them on their legs. Scott smiled as Mitch rested his head on Scott's shoulder.

"I saw you trading money earlier." Mitch said when they were sat down at the dinner table. "Explain?!" He exclaimed, smirking at his parents. Nel turned bright red.

"Your father didn't believe that y'all were together. So we put a bet on it." Nel said. Scott snorted choking on his chicken.

"You put a bet on us being together. How much?" Scott giggled, his hand fluttering in Mitch's. They're chairs were pushed together, touching off each other. They couldn't possibly get any closer without sitting on top of one another.

"Fifty bucks." Mike sighed, frowning across at Nel. Scott laughed, dropping his fork to his plate.

"Fifty bucks? You bet fifty bucks on us! Oh wow! You were pretty certain huh?" Scott asked.

"Yep." Mike said stifling a laugh, his moustache wiggling up and down.

After dinner they went up to bed. "Can I borrow a hoodie?" Scott asked sitting down on the edge of Mitch's bed, pulling his shirt over is head. Mitch took out an oversized hoodie from his drawer and threw it at Scott.

Scott examined the dressing on his arm. It was clean and white, the cleanest thing he had seen on his bare skin since he was twelve years old. He swiftly pulled the hoodie over his head taking in the familiar scent of Mitch. It made his head spin and his heart flutter.

Mitch climbed into his bed. Scott looked down at the mattress on the floor and began to lie down. "What are you doing?" Mitch asked almost sarcastically. Scott looked at him, frowning. "You know if you frown all the time then your face will get stuck like that. Now come and cuddle me." Mitch stated pulling back the covers of his bed.

Scott jumped up and cuddled under the covers. Mitch rolled over onto his side to face Scott. They were so close that their noses were almost touching. Mitch's face suddenly fell. His eyes became cold and Scott could see in the dim light that he was crying.

"What did I say about crying?" Scott asked, leaning in and placing a kiss on each of the stray tears on Mitch's cheeks.

"I know. I'm just going to miss you. I love you." Mitch stammered.

"I'm going to miss you too, little one. I love you more." Scott said pressing his forehead against Mitch's.

"I don't want to go to sleep. I don't want it to be tomorrow. I don't want you to leave." Mitch whispered.

"Neither do I but I'll find a cell phone. I'll call you every day. I'll beg them to bring me here for the summer. We'll still see each other don't you worry." Scott whispered back.

"Promise me that when you turn eighteen you'll come and find me and we'll go and live together in LA. We'll live in an apartment and have a sphynx cat and we'll watch sponge bob and buy each other Starbucks." Mitch rambled.

"Anything for you. We'll make a YouTube channel and become famous and we'll travel the world, in a tour bus. We'll go out to watch movies and go to Disney World. We'll get take out every night and go to clubs at the weekend." Scott giggled. Mitch stuck his tongue out and nodded.

"I'm not going to fall asleep! Even if you do. I'm going to stay awake and try to memorise every feature of your fabulous face." Mitch whispered.

"You're kind of a stalker, you know that right?" Scott giggled.

"Shut the hell up." Mitch giggled.

The boys talked all night. Only falling asleep as the sun was coming up. The time they had left was slowly ticking away. They held each other as tightly as they could. Neither of them willing to let go!