Hold My Heart (Scomiche AU)

4: Kirst

 "Please tell me you have good news."

"Hello to you too, Kirst," Scott greeted, a teasing smile on his face. He didn't take a breath to allow Kirstie to respond before continuing. "How've I been, you ask? I've been great, thanks. I've got a conference in Chicago in two weeks, but aside from that, life is as usual. I've been working super hard on my presentation for it, but it's not turning out great. The research is fascinating, and I know everyone wants to hear it, but I just wish I had a more interesting way to deliver it. In other news, Mary and Trey from my 3 PM Wednesday discussion are in love, I'm pretty sure. I've been watching them pretty closely, and I can tell you that Trey likes Mary, for sure. I'm still trying to figure out if Mary likes him back, but--"

"Shut up," Kirstie groaned, finally interrupting Scott, who took a deep breath for the first time since he'd begun speaking. "I'm sorry I didn't greet you, jeez."

"Good," Scott said with a smirk. "Anyhow, I do, in fact, have good news. I finished all of the--" Scott paused for a moment as his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, grinning at the text lighting up his screen.

Mitchy: got any fun plans @7 today??

Scott grinned, quickly tapping out a reply.

Scotty: Nope! What're you thinking?

"Sorry," Scott mumbled, putting his phone back in his pocket and looking back up at Kirstie, who sat with her eyebrow raised, an unamused expression on her face. "What was I saying?"

"You finished all of the..."

"Right," Scott said, his eyes focusing back in on Kirstie. "I finished all of the planning over the weekend! Everything is taken care of, and I brought you the number of everyone you need to know and the information everyone gave me. I'm waiting on a set list from the deejay, which I should have by--" Scott cut himself off once again, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulling it out at inhuman speed, a grin automatically spreading across his face as he read the message.

Mitchy: movie/takeout/wine nite

Scotty: I'll bring the takeout!

Mitchy: i'll have the wine.

Mitchy: see u then, babe

"Hello? Earth to Scott!" Kirstie let out an exasperated sigh, allowing her arms to fall from where they'd been waving dramatically in front of Scott's face, and finally reached across the table to grab Scott's phone from him. Scott let out a cry in protest. "Nuh-uh," Kirstie said sternly as he reached across the table, trying to grab it back from her. "You can barely finish a sentence, you're so distracted. Who exactly are you texting?"

"No one!" Scott said, panicked. He loved Kirstie, but he also knew her to be a bit of a nut when it came to his love life. He'd gotten in too many messes by telling Kirstie about his relationships too early on. He realized, as soon as the syllables had rushed from his mouth, that he'd made a mistake. Kirstie's mouth spread into a wicked grin.

"No one, huh? You said that awfully quick. You know what that means?" Kirstie smirked at Scott, who was sitting across from her with a helpless pout on his face. "It means it's a booooooooooooy! A boy you like!" She had an uncannily Cheshire-Cat-like grin on her face as she unlocked his phone, scrolling through his messages. "Mitchy," she enunciated in a teasing tone, giggling as Scott's face turned tomato red.

Scott groaned, snatching his phone back out of her hands and shoving it in his pocket. "Shut up," he mumbled. "We were talking about the wedding. So, as I was saying--"

"Nope," Kirstie interrupted. "You were the one who interrupted our wedding talk. Now it's time for boy talk."

Scott scoffed. "Okay, fine. Boy talk, let's go. How's Jeremy?"

"That's not boy talk, it's fiancee talk. I said boy talk," Kirstie retorted, narrowing her eyes at Scott. "Now, tell me about this Mitchy. Who is he? Where did you meet him? Do you like him? Is he cute? Tell me everything."

Scott sighed. "It's really not a big deal, Kirst. He's my neighbor, we just met recently and we're hanging out a little more."

"I don't believe you," Kirstie said with no hesitation. "What's his last name? I wanna look him up! Or, better yet, show me a picture of him! Do you have one?"

"You won't find a picture of him anywhere on the internet," Scott mumbled, feeling defeated. There was no way out of this conversation now. "He's possibly the most elusive person on this planet."

"Everyone's on the internet, silly," Kirstie said with a grin, but her smile dimmed a bit when she saw Scott shaking his head confidently.

"Not him. I'm betting you'll recognize his name, though. Know who Mitch Grassi is?" Scott smirked a little, feeling the slightest bit of satisfaction at the way Kirstie's mouth fell open in surprise, her entire demeanor changed from smug to shocked.

"Do I know who Mitch Grassi is?" she asked incredulously, her voice raising to practically a shriek. "Of course I know who Mitch Grassi is! Mitch Grassi is your f*cking neighbor? Holy sh*t, I don't believe how amazing your luck is."

Scott shrugged, quickly checking the time on his phone. It was just past 5:30 PM, so he had plenty of time to deal with the freak-out that he knew his next words would elicit from Kirstie. "Not as amazing as your luck is," he said softly, a smirk gracing his face. "Because Mitch Grassi isn't the deejay at my wedding. He's the deejay at yours."

It took Scott almost an entire hour to finally lose the ringing sound in his ear caused by the incredible volume and high pitch of Kirstie's scream. It had attracted the attention of almost every other patron of the small coffee shop they were sitting in, but Kirstie didn't seem to care as she gushed happily about how she just had to tell Jeremy the good news. Scott was semi-deaf and a bit embarrassed, but he hadn't seen his best friend so excited about anything since Jeremy proposed months earlier, and he truly had missed his Kirstie quite a lot in the past several months, when meetings were few and far between.

Scott sat with Kirstie, talking over more wedding plans and elaborating just slightly more on Mitch, until 6:15, when he apologetically cut their meeting short with a promise of another coffee date in the very near future. By 6:30, he was carrying a bag of Thai food and en route to his apartment, a soft smile on his face as he thought about the man he was about to spend his Monday evening with. It may have been all the wedding talk, first with his sisters to confirm the details of their parents' anniversary party, and then with Kirstie at the coffee shop, but Scott was suddenly aware of a feeling suspiciously unlike platonic friendship that erupted in his chest every time he thought of Mitch.

It'd only been a week since he first met the man, but Scott had always believed in love at first sight, and while this feeling--the tingling sensation in his chest that made him feel like he might fall over at any moment--wasn't quite love, Scott was sure that it was something uncannily similar. Mitch was beautiful in the most delicate way, and his passionate dedication to things that Scott himself loved--namely, Spongebob, Starbucks, and music--made Scott's head spin and heart thump violently in his chest. The comfortable banter between the two was one of Scott's new favorite things, and he couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, they were meant for each other.

Scott was almost ridiculously on time to Mitch's. He stood awkwardly in the hall for two full minutes, checking his phone every ten seconds or so for the time, before knocking on Mitch's door at precisely 7:00 PM. It took exactly twenty-five seconds for Mitch to get to the door, swinging it open with a wide grin on his face, and six minutes more for the boys to greet each other shyly and situate themselves on Mitch's couch, a small distance apart. The Thai food sat on the coffee table in front of them, just beside two full bottles of red wine.

"So," Mitch said softly. "What should we watch?"