Savior (Scomiche)

Saved

The restaurant was one neither of us had been to before. It was a dim Italian place with the only lights shining brightly around the bar. Scott made comments about how he "liked it already" when we walked in, noticing the deep red walls and the sparkling tile floors. I nodded distantly, but managed to politely tell the host that were only two of us and we preferred a booth. He led us to one, passing a few couples and families along the way.
You know when you have news, good or bad, to tell someone and no matter how much you try to get it off your mind and just listen to them, you can't? Yeah, that's what this was like. Except, it wasn't news, or even mine to tell. I just couldn't get my brain to ignore the fact Scott turned down such a promotion.

"So," he started, looking over the menu. "How was your day?"
A simple question, yet it made me freeze for a moment. "Um, pretty good. Yours?"
"Better than usual, actually. I don't know why, I just enjoyed work today. Must've gotten a good night's sleep or something."
"Oh, okay, good." I decided on Alfredo and set my menu to the side.
"You already decided? Wow, I'm behind." He laughed a little, but I didn't. I was only half there.
Scott frowned. By the time the waiter came around, he had picked a dish. He gestured for me to order first.
"I'll take the Alfredo, please." After that I said no added meat and salad, not soup.
"And the linguine and clams for me. Salad as well, thank you."
The waiter collected the menus and left. In an attempt to get my mind focused on something else, I asked him to tell me about the traffic getting to work and the meeting he sat through. It was nice to see him so talkative, and it was definitely different. Scott was never so social.
"Cool," I said after he was done raving about how good his office's coffee was.
His eyebrows furrowed. "Is something wrong?"
I paused and shook my head. "Nope. Um, maybe I could stop by for a visit and try their coffee."
He grinned. "Yeah!"
My lips twitched up to give a small smile, but it quickly fell. I grabbed the salt shaker and played with it, then the pepper when I became bored. He watched with concern.
"Seriously, you're really quiet today. Are you sure everything's okay?"
I pushed the salt and pepper back into place and nodded. "Yup, just tired I guess." It was a lie, but I went with it anyway. "Maybe I should borrow some of that good night's sleep you got."
"Yeah, you can have it."
My responses from there on out were just a word or two, unless pushed to give more. From his worried look, I could tell he knew I had lied, but he put off asking until after we had eaten our salads and gotten our entrees.
Scott hooked his finger around the knot of his tie and loosened it. I don't know what it was about ties, but they were extremely attractive, at least to me. And paired with Scott? Heaven.
I twirled the noodles around the prongs of the fork and slowly ate. He did the same and asked if I liked mine. I did, so I told him, and then he was back talking about work.
"Oh and I didn't mention that today at work Clara forgot her papers on her desk and she had to give a presentation! She had to ask to be excused and was so embarrassed." He proceeded to tell me how clumsy she was and how ashamed she acted, and then that transferred into the time he forgot about a presentation. Finally, I was sick of being somewhere else in my head, and I couldn't eat with that heavy, nauseous feeling in my stomach.
"Why didn't you accept the promotion?" I blurted in the middle of one of his sentences.
I watched the delight in his face collapse, drooping to sadness. He debated on what to say for a few seconds. "How did you know?"
"Jane told me." My fork was poking at the noodles, but my eyes were 100% concentrated on him.
Scott inhaled shakily and shifted back uncomfortably. "Damn." I didn't answer, I just waited expectantly. "Okay, what'd she tell you?"
"It's in Boston, it's more money, it's something you'd love, and oh, yeah, that you turned it down."
He sighed, and I felt guilty for making him feel bad. "So she told you everything."
"Yeah." My gaze was most likely boring holes into him, but he seemed to be lost for words. His mouth opened a few times, but always ended up snapping shut. I decided that my intense staring probably wasn't helping his nerves, so I glanced down and slouched my posture, hoping to come across as more approachable. He still didn't say anything. Then I felt absolutely awful.
"It's just that you could've had a better job with more money and been in Boston."
"My job is fine, and why would I want to leave? You're here."
It was my turn to not know what to say. My usual confidence had melted to full-on blushing. He watched my struggle, a coy smile on his face.
"Y-you're staying..."
"For you, Mitch."
My vulnerability and any insecurity I'd ever had crawled up then. "What? Why would you stay for me? I'm not as important as a job. I can handle it if you move. I don't know why you're staying really, I'm not worth that."
He inched forward while I was talking and eventually was pressing himself against the table. When I finished, I saw him staring at me, looking like he knew something I didn't.
Scott leaned across the table, his hands reaching to cup my face, a soft whisper of "Mitch", and his tie falling into the clam sauce. I moved forward to meet him and he connected our lips.
It wasn't long, but it wasn't short. We gave it plenty of time to set in and mold our lips to one another's.
We pulled apart, a breath's distance away. I was speechless and frozen as I flicked my eyes up to meet his. Scott had an explanation though. An explanation of why he wasn't leaving and why he kept hanging out with me and why we'd just shared an amazing kiss.
"You saved me."