Color

Three

Alex and Mitch were allowed to see Kirstie, but only for a little while. 

They met Scott, Avi, and Kevin out by the car. Scott was frowning at his cast, Kevin appearing to be saying something reassuring to him. 

Mitch hurried over to him, just to hold his hand out. "Can I hold your hand?"

Scott tipped his head to the side a little. "You never have to ask, babe."

Mitch shook his head when Scott offered his left hand. "No. I want the broken one."

Luckily the cast stopped just before Scott's elbow, so he wasn't restricted very much movement. He held his hand up anyway. "Why?"

Mitch grabbed his hand as best he could, only to bring it to his lips to kiss the part of the cast on the back of Scott's hand. "I didn't really get to thank you... Y'know, for--"

"Babe, don't thank me for that. That's... Unnecessary."

"But if you hadn't reacted as fast as you did--"

"Let's not talk about the possibilities, okay? You're alive and well, and... Perfectly healthy now, and... And Kirstie is gonna be just fine."

Mitch took a deep breath, still holding Scott's hand. "Fine. But... Let's continue the conversation later, okay? I have more to say to you."

*

When Scott and Mitch arrived back at Scott's house, Scott claimed he wanted to watch a movie. But they'd only made it about twenty minutes before Scott was snoozing with his head in Mitch's lap.

Mitch continued running his fingers through Scott's blonde hair, his other hand texting Alex back.

Avi walked into the house suddenly, tossing his car keys onto the table as he glanced over at Mitch. Seeing the state Scott was in, he decided not to bother them apart from giving Mitch a short wave. "Need anything?"

Mitch shook his head once. "How's Kirstie?"

"Kevin and Alex are staying with her for as long as they can. Doesn't sound like anything has happened yet. Don't forget that we can't tell him that Kirstie isn't awake yet... He needs to stay calm."

"I know. And--?"

"How's he doing?" Avi asked softly, gesturing to the sleeping boy in Mitch's lap. 

Mitch looked down, only to smile fondly at him. "He's alright... You know how he is. He'll pretend he's okay until he actually is."

"Yes... Of course." Avi shook his head a little, and then headed toward the kitchen. "Can I grab you anything?"

"No. Thank you, though... Did you just come from the hospital?"

"Yeah." Avi waited to speak again until he was back in the living room, now with a beer in hand. "I wanted to check on you guys, just in case. And then later I'm helping Alex pack up a few more boxes, so... You're gonna be on your own for a bit."

"Oh, no problem. He took care of me, so... I'm sure I can handle taking care of him in return. Especially considering he's less of a complainer."

Avi smiled a little as Mitch giggled, and nodded. "Yeah... He's not gonna be difficult to take care of. But be sure to call me if you need anything, anything at all. Maybe I can bring you guys dinner?"

"I'll call you."

"And... Text me with some updates on how he's doing?"

"Yeah, of course. Anything you need."

"Thanks."

Scott stirred then, blinking a few times to focus his eyes on Avi. "Oh, hey..."

Avi walked over quickly, and then squatted down beside the couch to meet his eyes. "Hey. How're you doing?"

"I'm okay. My head doesn't hurt anymore."

"Good... Good... How's your arm?"

"Still broken."

Avi rolled his eyes. "Shocking. You know that's not what I meant, smart ass."

"Sorry." Scott cleared his throat quickly. "It doesn't hurt, really. I'm just... Really tired."

"I see. Why don't you lay down on a real bed, then? Gonna hurt your back sleeping on the couch. Don't forget that the doctor wants you to relax."

"But.. Mitchie's here." Scott reminded him. 

"And Mitch can go wherever you go, Scott. It's not like it'd be the first time he's seen your bedroom." He stood back up. "I'll lock the door behind me when I go, and then you can sleep for as long as you want."

Scott reached out to grab his hand. "Wait, wait... Where's everyone else?"

"Alex and Kevin are at the hospital with Kirstie. And she's gonna be okay, so don't worry about that."

"Oh good, she woke up?"

Avi didn't hesitate in lying to his face. "Yeah. A little while ago, actually."

"Thank God." Scott grinned and pressed a quick kiss to Mitch's thigh. "That's such good news."

As he did so, Mitch met Avi's eyes and shook his head disapprovingly. "Yeah..."

Avi cleared his throat out of discomfort. "So, I'll just step out then. Mitch, text me? And Scott, please get some rest."

Mitch tried to help Scott sit up, but Scott pouted. "How come he gets to text you?"

Mitch then looked to Avi. "Sorry, he's still kinda out of it.."

Avi met Scott's eyes again. "You can text me too, if you really want."

Scott squinted at him. "I don't need your permission."

Avi blinked slowly, and then sighed. "Yeah... Okay. Whatever, I'll see you guys later."

*

Kevin had to actually beg Alex to go home, or at least go get something to eat. 

But it wasn't until Avi came and physically dragged him out, that Alex regarded Kevin's words. 

Alex tried to pull away, but ended up just pouting and letting Avi push him toward his car. "This is... Stupid. I want to be here when she gets up."

"Kevin will call as soon as something happens. But you need to eat a meal, and get some sleep."

"Kirstie is way more important right now than--"

"Alex, you know damn well she wouldn't want you to be doing this to yourself. So just shut up and let me take care of you."

Alex pouted even more. "I don't need to be taken care of. I just... I need Kirstie to be okay."

"But that's so--"

"You can't even judge me, because if Scott was in her position, nothing on this earth would get you to leave that building. And you know it."

Avi didn't respond to that, and held the door open for Alex to get into the car. 

Alex shook his head slowly, but reluctantly got into the vehicle, immediately pulling his phone out to text Mitch and ask how he's doing.

Avi had literally only been in the car for about five seconds, before Kevin called presumably to ask if Avi'd succeeded in getting Alex out of the parking lot. 

He put the call on speaker, so Kevin could hear Alex's voice and know he's okay. Avi spoke first though. "Yeah, Kev, what's--?"

"Guys, she's awake."

**