Mitch and Noah

Mitch~ Distractions

Standing outside of his car, Mitch placed a hand to his chest as he breathed the sanity back into his desire-laden brain. He wanted more than anything to smoke a cigarette, but didn't dare smell himself up before heading back in.

His hand shook as he realized how close he'd been to grabbing and kissing Noah.

How could a person be so cute? So appreciative of the little things? So...innocent seeming? It was like he was a puppy, and Mitch wanted more than anything to hold him tight, protect him from whatever might bother him, and the feeling was scary, yet addicting.

At any other time in his life, he could have welcomed the feelings of what he feared might be the beginning of love creeping into his heart.

If only he wasn't dealing with so much crap, at one of the lowest points in his life. Go figure it was then that he would find a person as perfect for him as Noah was shaping up to be. It seemed the more they talked, the more Mitch felt drawn to protect and care for Noah's obviously fragile, and damaged soul.

He hadn't been successful in his many attempts to hear more about Noah's life, but he could tell from what he HAD been able to gather, that he was traumatized by his ex. He'd met many people with trauma in his time representing battered spouses, and Noah had the same skittish, eager to please presence that a lot of them tended to have, and it broke Mitch's heart to think about.

Thoughts of baby Rowan, love, and nursing homes consumed his mind in a jumble as he again felt the urge to smoke.

"No!"

An old man walking by with his tiny dog on leash looked at Mitch in surprise of his outburst, who sheepishly smiled and put a hand to his ear in a measly attempt to lie that he was on a Bluetooth call.

With a huff the man walked away, and Mitch resolved that he felt good enough to head inside before he gave into his stress-induced nicotine cravings.

The internal hope that Noh was inside the bathroom, or even asleep on the bed, had Mitch imagining things that had him ready to head right back outside, if not for how strange he might seem by the front desk lady doing so.

Drudging on as he thought about anything else BUT Noah's cute face and puppy eyes, Mitch knew he was in trouble.

Opening the door, he could hear the water in the bathroom running, and he breathed a sigh of relief that he still had more time to get his mind right.

If only his revving body would get the memo.

Noah's smell was a light, earthy musk that had Mitch wanted to sniff it up all day. It was what Mitch would imagine a warm breeze on a summer day would smell like if it was a person.

Removing his shoes and lying on the bed, he did his best to not imagine Noah on the other side of the bathroom door.

"Hey, Mitch? Are you there?"

Sitting back up with a jump at the sound of the door cracking, the sight of steam shooting from it had Mitch adverting his eyes.

"Yup. On the bed. What's up? You ok?"

"Ha, yeah. I just wanted to say thank you. For this. I didn't know it, but I really needed a trip like this."

Mitch's heart hitched at the sound of true appreciation and emotion coming from Noah's voice.

"I think I did too. I'm really glad it was you that's come with me."

Noah's nervously pleased chuckle had Mitch wanting more than anything to jump from the bed and into the inviting smelling shower with Noah.

"I won't be too long, in case you need to use the bathroom."

"Oh No, I'm fine. Plus, they have bathrooms in the lobby area if I'm so desperate I can't wait another minute. You should take extra time to relax. You need anything? A beverage? Snack?"

His last words were fancily accented, as if he was a posh butler ready to serve his master's every whim.

If only it were true.

"I'm good, haha. Thanks. Again."

"Don't mention it. Enjoy yourself."

The door closed to Mitch smacking himself on the forehead.

"Enjoy yourself?"

He whispered the words in disbelief of how lame he could be sometimes.

Covering his eyes with the palms of his hands, Mitch concentrated on cooling his front from it's current excited state.

It had been a long time since he'd felt like a teenager around someone with his body control, and he hated and loved it at the same time.

He thought long and hard on his idea on asking Ash and Gregory if they might be at all interested in adopting little Rowan, once he was back and Mitch had all the paperwork sorted out.

A part of him thought it was a wonderful solution, as he knew without a doubt it would be a loving, caring home, and Rowan would never want for anything. Mitch could be a stable uncle in his life, and it could be great.

Another part of him feared that this was his only chance to have a family of his own. Something he knew, deep down, he had been dreaming of having one day. He couldn't fool himself into thinking he had lots of time left to start thinking about that, as he was getting every day closer to 40.

It was something his heart knew he was completely undecided on, and for that, he felt guilt. As he knew poor Rowan had not asked for any of what was happening to him.

Changing his mind to his aunt, he decided to research some on the facility she was staying at, a worthwhile time passer that would help him think of anything but Noah in the shower, naked.

Nestled Greens was a state-run facility that Mitch knew would have a low rating before he even clicked the search on his phone. Its 2-star rating was not surprising, as the people there were paid the lowest wages possible, with little to no thorough background checks on the workers.

The residents themselves had complained many times about expired food, nurse abuse, and filthy living conditions, among other claims, and Mitch had an even worse feeling then the initial one of dread he'd had, as he read on the current class action lawsuits being pushed seemingly under the rug for the place.

"Interesting."

He suddenly felt more inclined to look further into Nestled Greens, and its operators, and he pondered on how he could get some of his old connections to help him out.

His self-distraction was so successful, that he hadn't noticed Noah until he was already out of the shower and standing at the foot of his bed in a light blue, cloud-covered set of pajamas that somehow fit his personality to a tee.

"Oh! Noah! Hey! You're so stealthy!"

"Ha, sorry. I was thinking...."

Noah looked like he wanted to vomit as he stared with his puppy dog eyes in silence for a second, his hands fidgeting with the bottom of his button up pajama top.

Taking a breath, he continued.

"I was...hoping I could kiss you."