A Fresh Start

SEVEN

After a week in the house, Scott finally took a walk around the trail. It was just after lunch time and he invited Mitch and Avi to walk with him, Kev, and Kirstie. They gladly accepted.

The five (four if you don't count the bear) (and three of you don't count the dog) (but we'll say five because that's way cuter when you realize Scotty held a teddy bear and a puppy in the same regard as his two people) (AND this is a Pentatonix fanfic so we need all five in there, ya know?) set out on the trail beside the lake. They stopped at all seven of the houses on the way and introduced themselves to all the neighbors.

Scott was worried how they would rationalize his place in the family, but Mitch had that covered.

"it's nice to meet you, Ben, this is my husband Avi, and our friend and house manager, Scott. He helps us keep things running smoothly." It was a weird description, but Scott did take care of Kirstie and was exceptionally helpful with the rat problem they had.

Scott smiled at the explanation. It made him feel like he was supposed to be there.

"Hey, Scott, I have a helper, too. That's Ryan over there. He and his wife live in our bottom floor. He has the same job as you, maintain the house. He's really part of the family now, as I'm sure to are too."

"I am, sir! These two let me move in and I am so happy they did!"

After the walk, they hung out in the basement while Avi finished up one of his painting.

"How do you two make money?" Scott asked has he painted (he tried his best) on his canvas next to Avi and the masterpiece he was working on.

"I paint, as you can see, and then I write stories based on the paintings. And Mitchy makes music. It's the weirdest music I've ever heard, but he knows what he's doing."

"Can I hear the weird music?" Scott asked innocently.

Mitch laughed and waved him over to the studio room. "Avi, don't corrupt my baby. It's not weird, its EDM." He defended.

He gave Scott his best Bose head phones. Scott looked confused.

Mitch laughed hard before calling Avi in.

"look at the headphones I tried to give Scotty. We'd have to cut his ears off for them to work!"

Scott panicked for a second before he realized that neither Mitch nor Avi would actually cut off his ears. Mitch just played the music through the computer speakers, giving up the idea of headphones.

The music was weird, but Scotty liked it. He bobbed his head to the song and smiled when it finished. Without saying a word, he went to his painting, switched it for a new canvas, and started painting.

Once he was finished, he called Mitch over.

"It's your song!" He stated proudly.

"Whoa." Mitch muttered. It really did look like his song. "Scotty, I have found a job for you. Want to make my cover art for my music? I've been wanting to fire Ethan for a while. You can have your own money, if you want"

Scott liked the idea. He wanted some knew clothes but never wanted to ask.

"Perfect. I normally give Ethan $1,000 for singles and $5,000 for an album cover. But he was crap and I love you a whole lot more. I'll double those numbers."

Scott immediately denied the offer. "No, I'll do it for free. To pay you back the 1 million dollars you spent on me. I'm not sure how much art that is, but I can do other stuff like clean or whatever to pay the rest."

Scott was giving a genuine offer. He looked at Avi who wouldn't return the gaze. Confused, he looked to Mitch, who looked like he was about to cry,

"Listen to me right now Scott. I did not buy you like I buy a pillow or a dishwasher or a damn toothbrush. I adopted you like I adopted my beautiful kitty and like we adopted our amazing puppy or like I would adopt my own child. You are not a thing I bought, you are a neko, a person. You are a member of this crazy family just as much as I am or Avi is or Wyatt or Kirstie. I think of you the way you think of Kevin. A friend that others might not understand, but the most important friend in the world. You will take the money for your work, because you deserve it. End of discussion. Never, NEVER talk about yourself as an object again. Understood?"

Scott could only nod as he leapt into Mitch's arms and cried. Mitch held him close and heard Scott mumble the same word over and over. He cried when he realized Scott was saying "momma".