A Good Night Full Of Mistakes

Ch. 13

It's 10:32pm.

If there's one thing Scott's sure of it's that he won't be admitting the jealousy thing now or probably ever.

This decision leaves him with an unsavory choice: keep refusing to talk, or lie to his best friend's face. Neither option is good but only one might buy him enough time to get himself under control.

"I just -" Scott begins, his eyes on Mitch's hand which is still resting on his arm. "I have, like, zero negative feelings about you. That's not it at all." Thoughts racing, he tries to come up with any other explanation for his behavior.

"I've been... I'm trying to find the right words here," Scott stalls as Mitch looks at him encouragingly; his gentle smile and the kindness in his eyes makes Scott feel like the worst person in the world. He drops his eyes back down at Mitch's hand, now softly patting his. "I've felt so fucking guilty for weeks now, Mitchy. So, so guilty. I guess I didn't know, like, how I was supposed to be acting. I was trying not to be weird, but when I would feel that guilt I... well, I think I tried to cover it up by being goofy and snarky. And it just came out all wrong. I am so sorry for being a total bitch and making you feel... like that."

Nailed it.

"I promise I'm going to pay more attention to what I say and how I say it. I never meant to hurt you," Scott looks back up at Mitch, his friend's expression now downright serene. This is good. It's a good explanation, and, really, not too far from the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

"Alright," Mitch says quietly after a minute. "Okay, see, we just need to talk about this shit before it gets out of hand, right?"

Scott nods enthusiastically. "Yeah. Yeah, I really fucked up not talking to you about all this..."

"Mhm," Mitch agrees. "We both kind of did and that's dumb. We can talk to each other about anything."

Ouch.

Scott doesn't have long to dwell on how true that last statement is supposed to be before Mitch changes the subject.

"She's tired, Steph. Remind me who's flying where and when this week and then I'm gonna sleep."

Glad to have something else to think about, Scott mentally goes over their schedules. "I'm going home to meet Archer on Wednesday, then flying into New York early Sunday. Your flight is later on Sunday... I think 3ish, but I'll double check and remind you tomorrow. We'll both be in New York in time to get dinner Sunday."

"Ugh," Mitch groans. "And then meetings. M'kay, gimme a hug and then get the hell out. Mama needs her beauty rest."

It's 11:06pm when Scott heads out of Mitch's room. He's feeling pretty good - guilt at the lies aside - and making plans to use the next few days to get this ridiculous jealousy bullshit out of his system once and for all so things can go back to normal. Everything is going to be okay.

He steals another glance at Mitch before leaving and finds the previously calm and serene expression now crestfallen.