kiss the boy | scömìche

chapter eight

Mitch hates himself.

He really, really hates himself.

There's no other way to put it.

After Nathan broke his heart for the second time, Mitch did the first thing he thought of. He figured out where Scott lived and went to him for comfort.

You might ask why he went to Scott when he's only really talked to the man twice, but what else was he supposed to do? Mitch has no one else. Scott is one of the few people that actually still wanted to talk to him after they found out he didn't speak that Mitch is still in contact with today. All the others ran away.

But does Mitch blame them?

No.

In fact, he wishes he could run away, but it's kind of hard when the thing you want to run away from is yourself.

Mitch went to Scott for comfort and crashed that date thing he was having with that other guy. He ruined it. Now, Scott probably hates him.

Oh well. It's not like everyone else doesn't, anyway.

Mitch had been doing pretty well with not crying when he first found out, surprisingly managing to get out of his apartment. However, as he made his way to Scott's apartment in the pouring rain, something inside him snapped, and suddenly he couldn't stop the tears as they flowed down his cheeks. Luckily, he managed to stem them before he got to Scott's apartment, hoping to appear at least somewhat okay when Scott opened the door.

He tried not to cry. He really did. But somehow, retelling the story to his only friend that probably hates him through writing because he's too weak to get over Nathan's abuse caused him to snap once more.

And for some reason, Scott didn't push him away. He brought Mitch into his arms and held him while he cried. Mitch is desperately confused. Scott should hate him. Scott should kick him out of his apartment. Scott should delete Mitch's number from his phone. Scott should totally cut Mitch out of his life. He should do a lot of things, but he doesn't.

In a way, Mitch wants him to go ahead and do it. After all, Scott will do it at some point. Why not get it over with?

Currently, Mitch is curled in Scott's lap. He's not full-on sobbing, but tears are still streaming silently down his cheeks. Scott runs his fingers through Mitch's hair comfortingly, murmuring soft words of reassurance.

Slowly, Mitch forces himself to sit up and wipe his tears away just to have them replaced by more. He crawls off of Scott's lap, still furiously wiping his tears away. Eventually, he gives up trying to get them to stop flowing down his cheeks and leaves them, reaching his slightly shaking hand towards his notepad and pencil.

Sorry you had to see that.

Scott's blue eyes travel across the page, his lips tilting downward more with every word he reads. "It's alright, Mitchie. I don't mind." Mitch attempts to smile weakly, and Scott's eyes soften. "Are you okay?"

No. Not really. But don't worry about me. I'm sorry to bother you.

Mitch gets up, tucking his notepad and pencil in his pocket and removing the towel from around his shoulders. He drapes it over the toilet in the bathroom, picking up his soaked clothes off the floor and moving back to Scott.

I'll bring your clothes back tomorrow. Sorry again.

Scott watches Mitch as he walks to the door, tears still flowing down his cheeks. "Wait." Mitch freezes, his muscles tensing and the tears flowing down faster. "I don't think you should go," Scott says, and Mitch slowly turns around, his brow crinkled in confusion.

Why not?

"Because . . . I don't think you should be alone right now." Mitch swallows, one hand coming up to brush away a tear. He slowly relaxes, but Scott can still see the fear deep in his dark eyes.

I won't try anything.

Mitch hesitates before showing the sentence to Scott, and Scott immediately knows that probably isn't true. He raises an eyebrow, and Mitch falters before swallowing again, plopping down to sit on the floor and resting his face in his hands. Scott feels his heart break a bit and moves to his side, kneeling in front of him and gently removing Mitch's hands from his face. Mitch looks up at him warily, his usually warm brown eyes tired and sad. "Please, Mitch. Stay here the night. I don't mind," Scott says softly, holding Mitch's fingers. Mitch looks to their hands, and Scott can sense his hesitation.

"Please."

Mitch brings his eyes up to meet Scott's gaze, and Scott feels a lump form in his throat at just how weary they are. Slowly, he nods, and a small amount of relief washes over Scott.

Scott smiles slightly, gently pulling Mitch to his feet. Mitch immediately latches onto Scott, clutching his arm tightly as though he's afraid that Scott will leave him. Scott pulls him to the couch and pushes him down like he did not even an hour ago, hesitating for a second before gently pressing a kiss to Mitch's forehead. "I'll be right back."

He turns to go, but Mitch suddenly grabs his arm, and Scott starts, surprised. Mitch immediately relaxes his grip slightly, but he doesn't let go of Scott's arm. Scott turns around, raising a questioning eyebrow at Mitch. His heart breaks a bit more at the sight. Tears are once again flowing down Mitch's cheeks, a slightly fearful expression on his face. All at once, Scott realizes why Mitch grabbed his arm.

He thinks I'm leaving him.

Scott gently pries Mitch's fingers off of his arm, but doesn't leave, sitting down beside Mitch instead. Mitch immediately curls into Scott's side, and Scott smiles softly at the small boy. He grabs the remote and turns on the TV, flipping through the channels. Mitch squeezes Scott's arm when he passes Spongebob, and Scott immediately flips back to it.

It's not long before Scott hears Mitch's breathing even out, and Scott knows that he's fallen asleep. Scott carefully picks him up and carries him to Kirstie's bedroom, gently laying him down on the bed. He vaguely wonders where she is, but realizes she probably went to her boyfriend's house, and all of his worry disappears. Scott kisses Mitch's forehead softly, smiling slightly down at the sleeping boy.

"Goodnight, Mitchie."