The Mentor

Chapter 38

**Yes, this is another emotional Scott chapter. There is 1000% more development coming with Jamie and Kyle's relationship, I just haven't got that figured out yet and how exactly it's going to weave in. This chapter is going to set the emotional development going forward, perhaps how certain characters interact with each other. This is an emotional one, and massive TW for child loss.**

After a while, I finally said something.

"I uh...I gotta be somewhere. Y-you should probably go, sorry."

Kyle nodded somberly and put up his hand slightly in a wave, climbing out of my car and running across the parking lot to his.

I gazed out the window for a while longer, letting the raindrops fall on the glass, occasionally following them down with my eyes. I didn't bother calling Scott back, but after a while I turned the car on and raced over to his luxury apartment.

I made my way up through the parking lot in the rain, holding my backpack over my head to shield myself from the still pouring rain until I made it into the shelter of the enclosed staircase. Moving carefully up each step, I was eventually met with Scott's front door, and knocked on it lightly. Seemingly half a second after I knocked, the door nearly flew open, and his tall figure stood before me. He hadn't changed out of his clothes from earlier and was still wearing his sage green cargo jacket that had cigarette burns on the sleeves. For someone so wealthy, it made little sense for him to wear the same "working man" style clothes nearly every day, but I suppose that was just his way of going about things.

He looked me up and down and blinked a few times, thinking to himself. What could he have possibly been thinking? He must've figured out that I was in the middle of roughing it up with someone when he called, right? He was definitely smart enough for that.

He stepped aside and motioned me into the apartment, closing the door and locking it behind me. I walked into the living room and sat my bag down on the love seat. I could hear his feet slowly placing themselves one in front of the other on the soft carpet and could feel the anxiety pierce through the veins in my arms like an electric shock. He ended up in front of me and looked down into my eyes for a moment before speaking.

"So, you decided to come here because...?"

For once, it seemed like he didn't have an answer to a question that was completely out in the open.

"Well, you told me you were thinking about getting some help and...I don't know I just wanted to touch base, I guess."

He put his hands in his pockets and sighed.

"Well, you know I won't be at the shop for a few days and uh...I'm going into a program. I leave tomorrow afternoon."

I crossed my arms over my chest. This was good, right? Yes, it was good, great even. I knew I was really going to miss him, even for a few days, but I couldn't let that selfish thought translate into my words at all. I had to show that I was proud of him or happy for him, even, in some twisted way.

"That's...good, how long are you going to be gone? Do you know for sure?" I said softly.

My words were nearly a whisper.

"Only for three days, but it'll help me detox and talk about things, I think. I-I have no way of really knowing until I get there."

"Where at?"

"Saint Agnes Mercy, I had a buddy go through there and he seemed...satisfactory when he returned."

The way he was speaking wasn't his normal way of speaking. It was a normal way of speaking in comparison to his big words and metaphors, but it was abnormal for him. It was the most typical verbiage that I'd ever heard him use since we'd met, frankly.