Anchor *scomiche*

Chapter 9 - Welcome to LA, Scott

Mitch tapped his foot as he watched for Scott to come off the plane. He'd left work early to get him, having felt the excitement build throughout the day. It had been a little over a month since he last saw him, and the anticipation was palpable. Their friendship had grown exponentially over the handful of weeks; he couldn't wait to spend time with him again. Is he my best friend? I've never had one, but this feels much different than any other friend I have. He was snapped out of his musings when he spotted the tall blonde walking toward him.

"Scotty!" Mitch moved closer to him, and they embraced each other tightly. "It's so good to see you, thank you for coming."

"Wouldn't miss this for the world, Halloween would've been a total drag without you. Good to see you, too." Scott pulled back and they smiled at each other, maybe for a few seconds too long.

"Let's go, we have much to do and even more to see! I took tomorrow off so be prepared."

"Yikes, should I be worried?"

"Pshh, why would you say that?? I would never do anything to get us in trouble," Mitch said with a smirk. "Besides, we're on a mini vacation now, we can do whatever we want. Halloween is Saturday, so we need to go shopping... unless you brought your police uniform?"

"No, no I did not. I'm not sure what I want to be so shopping is good, I could use a second pair of eyes. Can we go get coffee before anything else? I didn't sleep the best last night and you know how I am... coffee all day."

"Sure, sure, let's do that and then go get an early dinner? There's a Mexican place near my house that I unfortunately know the number to by heart." Mitch shrugged. "Sorry, not sorry, the extent of my cooking is grilled cheese and tomato soup."

Scott grinned. "Ah yes, you should buy stock in Velveeta with how often you buy it."

Mitch threw Scott's suitcase in the trunk of his car and they both slid into their seats. "Just you wait, I will make you one and it'll be the most delicious grilled cheese known to man. Do you want to listen to anything in particular? I just have a random EDM station on Spotify going."

"Nah, that is fine. Hey, I'm really glad I came... I've never been to LA before so this is a treat." Scott looked over at Mitch with a shy smile. "Thanks for inviting me."

"Of course," said Mitch, grinning back at him. His friend was here, and he had a few days off work so they could spend time together. He felt light butterflies in his stomach, which was vastly different than the ones in his belly from a month ago. He felt like nothing could ruin his mood.

The silence in the car was comfortable as they drove to a Starbucks, broken only by the music playing at a low volume. "Do you want to go in or drive-thru," asked Mitch.

"Let's do drive-thru, except it's on me this time... no arguments."

"Yes, sir, whatever you say, sir."

"Brat."

They got their drinks and headed toward Mitch's house. "I have a kitty, is that ok? No hair, no fuss, and he's completely harmless."

"Totally ok, can't wait to meet him."

"I call him Wy-Wy. He's a bit of an attention whore so just be prepared. I stocked up on food and drink so I hope you can find whatever you like. Anything in particular you feel like doing the rest of the day?"

Scott shrugged. "I'm just here for the company, sightseeing, and possible debauchery. Minus the debauchery. We can go for a drive this evening after dinner or something?"

"You got it, I'll even show you where celebs live. We can go shopping tomorrow. The party is at a friend's house. A rich friend's house. I've been there; there's a whole bar, dance floor, and game room downstairs, can you believe that? Or you probably can since we're in LA. And I hope you brought a speedo, there's a big ass pool, too."