defect ➵ scömìche

twenty three

Avi Kaplan's POV

"YOU KNOW," I SAID. "MITCH has been distant from us lately, right? And we know why. So why not ask Scott why he broke up with him?" I suggested. Kevin stared at me, then sighed with a nod. "I guess so. I want to know why and I think Mitch deserves an explanation anyways. The break up hit him hard."

"Yeah," I frowned. "Do you know where Scott lives?" I asked him. He shook his head, then I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and dialed a new number. After a few rings, they answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kirstie," I greeted. "What's Scott's address?"

"Uh, why? What are you planning on doing?" Kirstie inquired. "I just wanted to ask him something. Can you please give it to me? Please," I asked again.

"Fine. I'll text it to you. Don't do anything stupid," she warned, then a beep occurred, telling me the call was stopped. A few seconds later, yet another beep happened, indicating a text from Kirstie. I looked at the address, then grabbed Kevin's wrist. "Let's go."

After getting in the car, Kevin decided to speak, "So what if Scott lies to us? Or what if he isn't even home? Then what?"

"We can just try to call him but he probably won't answer," I said, "But if nothing works then I guess we keep trying for a few days."

"Alright, whatever you say," Kevin shrugged, and we stayed in a small silence for awhile.

"Have you heard about Scott before Mitch started hanging out with him?" Kevin asked quietly after minutes of complete silence. "Yes," I sighed. "I warned him that night that he doesn't date anyone - it was always just 'hook up and leave before they wake up' with him. Scott is a bad guy. I don't understand how Mitch seems to like him," I responded.

"But didn't Scott date Mitch? Ignore the time span of it, but he did date him. That does count, doesn't it? I think Scott genuinely liked Mitch. Maybe there's something happening that prevented him from continuing their relationship or something?" Kevin tried. I shrugged, "Maybe. Scott has made Mitch go through a lot, too. I was hoping he wouldn't put him through anymore hell."

"Yeah," Kevin frowned.

***

"Scott?" I knocked on the neat wooden door. "It's Avi and Kevin. Are you home? Scott?" I tried again.

"Maybe he isn't—" and then a car pulled up, and it wasn't Scott. I pushed Kevin toward the back of the house before the person could see us, and then we both stared at the car, waiting for the person to get out and reveal themselves.

Out came a tall brunet and muscular man. He had gray eyes from what I could see and he was wearing all black; skinny jeans and a hoodie. His hair was short and gelled up to make it look like he was ready for a dinner party or something. He reached into his hoodie pockets and pulled out something small before walking up to Scott's door.

I furrowed my eyebrows, staring at the unfamiliar man. Was Scott cheating on Mitch? God, I'll kill him—

Kevin snapped me out of my train of thought. "That guy looks scary as heck. And that certainly is not something innocent he's holding," Kevin told me, and I looked at his hand, holding the dark object.

It was a small pocket knife, and then the door opened. The man shoved the weapon back into his hoodie and smiled, his cheeks becoming a bit red as his eyes traveled downward. Scott probably wasn't wearing much. His eyes instantly met up with Scott's possibly, and he apologized for a moment before nodding and walking inside.

"Wanna spy?" I raised an eyebrow. Kevin rolled his eyes but nodded nonetheless, "Fine. Hurry."

We both crouched and walked to the window, staring into it. Scott was wearing just a towel and obviously flustered as hell. The other man continued speaking before touching Scott's shoulder in a seemingly sad way. Scott nodded and pointed to the door, shrugging sheepishly and running a hand through his wet hair.

The other man left the room and I looked to Kevin, "What do you think that was about?"

"I don't know. Maybe something bad happened? That guy looked pretty pitiful."

I chuckled, but then looked back and gasping, falling back with wide eyes as Scott stared at us closer in a bored manner, clearly mad but wouldn't show it. He made a hand motion to indicate that we should go inside and I blushed with a nod as I led Kevin to the door as Scott went into a room for a moment.

When I opened the door, Scott was walking back down and pulling a hoodie over his head. "So why were you spying on me and my f-friend?" Scott stuttered after contemplating what word to use.

"Friend? Scott, what's going on? Why did you break up with Mitch? I mean, I know you said 'you didn't like him anymore' but I thought you two were really into the relationship. Especially you. You seemed really happy, dude. What's up?" I asked softly at the end, and Kevin stayed silent.

"I just... I just don't like Mitch anymore. Is that so bad? Do I have to have a heartfelt reason as to why I broke up with him?" Scott furrowed his deceptive eyebrows.

"Well, no, but I really thought that—" I started, but he quickly interrupted me. "I don't like him. It was a mistake. Meeting him was a mistake. Just leave me alone. You're his friends. You're not one of mine," Scott said all so quickly and I barely got any of it. I paused for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. See you around, right? Oh, never mind," I scoffed at the end and looked at Kevin. "Come on."

He nodded slowly, walking with me to the door. I looked back to Scott with a slight smile, "Just tell Mitch that. I think he deserves an explanation as to why the guy that broke his heart did it. Or better yet, why he ever played with it in the first place. Bye, Scott," I remarked, then Kevin and I left the small house.

***

a/n: short & late but this will be finished in about 2 or 3 chapters. i haven't been in a good state of mind for awhile. i'll try to update faster. cya.