Color

Seven

Avi was the last to wake up, but when he did get up it was only because he could hear them talking about food.

It was later in the evening now, and Kirstie had decided to order a pizza for everyone, because Mitch said he'd only wanted a salad for dinner and she knew she could order one of those as well. 

Scott was now sitting on the edge of the bed with Alex watching soccer, partly because Alex had begged him to leave it on.

Avi rolled off of the bed and rubbed one of his eyes. "How long you guys been up?"

Scott turned halfway to grin at him. "Only like a half hour. Nobody made fun of your snoring except me."

Avi walked past him and grumbled. "I don't snore, you fuck-tard."

Scott laughed and turned back to the sport in front of him. 

Mitch walked out of the bathroom, quickly mumbling an 'excuse me' when he bumped into Avi on the way out. 

He walked over and sat next to Scott, looking down sadly at his (still) broken arm. "Did you get enough sleep, babe?"

"You asked me that already."

"Just curious... Does your arm hurt at all?"

"No. Kinda itchy though."

"Oh... I've always seen people scratch it with like chopsticks and stuff."

Scott chuckled at that. "I'm sure I'll live."

Kirstie pouted at them, until Alex met her eyes and scooted back on the bed a little so she'd have somewhere to sit.

She grinned at him. "Thanks, Allie." And then she skipped over to sit between his knees, leaning back into him so he'd put an arm over her shoulder. "I'm really excited to go to this school."

Scott glanced at her as he put an arm over Mitch's shoulders. "I'm really excited to eat this pizza."

Mitch giggled a little, looking up at him. "I guess it's the small things in life that make us truly happy."

Scott leaned toward him, pressing his mouth almost entirely to the top of Mitch's ear to whisper to him. "Explains why you love my dick so--"

Mitch squeaked, pushing him away with a rough shove. "Oh my God, shut up. It's not even..." He blushed trying to think of how to word this in an inconspicuous way. "Like..."

Scott only chuckled at him, and pressed a quick kiss to Mitch's cheekbone. 

Avi walked out of the bathroom with a strong pout on his face. "Hoying. Come here."

Scott didn't hesitate, removing his arm from Mitch's shoulders and leaving him a quick kiss on the lips before he stood to walk over to Avi. "Yeah?"

Avi just waved him into the bathroom, closing the door behind both of them. 

"Avi, this is like... Really gay."

Avi smacked his shoulder. "Shut up."

"If you wanted to talk we could've just gone outside."

Avi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yeah... You're right. Sorry, I'm just tired."

Scott smiled at first, but it fell gradually as he got a better look at Avi's face. He put a hand on Avi's shoulder and leaned down a little to squint at him. "Something else is wrong... Are you okay?"

"Just tired. Like I said."

"That's not true. Come on, Avi... When have you not been able to trust me?"

Avi pushed his hand away. "Let's do this outside, okay?"

Scott only hesitated a moment, and then he walked out of the bathroom. 

Walking past Mitch, he dug in his pocket for his wallet. "We're gonna be right back. Kit, how much is the--?"

She spoke over him. "Already taken care of. Put your wallet away."

"But--"

"Taken care of, Scottie. But thank you."

He pouted as he put his wallet back. "You're sure? I'd really like to--"

Avi smacked his ass as he walked by. "Just get out here, you dumbass."

Scott flinched at first, certainly not expecting it, but turned to follow Avi out of their hotel room. He glanced back at Mitch before closing the door. "Text me if you need anything, babe."

Avi walked a little further, through the lobby and out the doors, knowing Scott was still trailing behind him without even saying anything. 

He then took a seat in one of the lobby room chairs, and pulled the one beside him a little closer for Scott to sit in. 

Scott immediately sat down, placing his phone face up on the small table between the two boys, just in case Mitch did need something. "Alright talk to me. What's goin' on?"

"Well... You know... We keep getting closer and closer to this house that I'm gonna share with four other people. Which isn't a problem, of course, just... One of those people just so happens to be a boy that I love."

Scott nodded, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Aw, I love you too, Avi." 

As he laughed at his own joke, Avi smacked his shoulder again. "You're such a shit."

Scott laughed a little more, but then cleared his throat. "Sorry, sorry... Okay, I'm listening now. You're scared to move in with Alex."

"Well yeah. That's like the ultimate commitment."

"More ultimate than this?" Scott held up his ring, smirking at him.

Avi stared at him for a long moment, and then stood from his seat. "Fuck you. I'm going back to bed."

Scott grabbed his hand. "No, no don't pout. I'm sorry. I'll listen. I know you don't like commitment, I know. But Alex is the perfect person to tell, Avi."

Avi sat down slowly, squinting a little. "Why..?"

"Because he needs to know that you're gonna need a little time to adapt to the whole thing. And he needs to know that if you're grumpy because of it, it's not his fault. You gotta communicate with him, Av."

"I'm just worried, is all... There's three rooms, right?"

"Yeah... But if it's ever too much, you can always just take the couch for a night. But again, you gotta tell him it's not his fault if you do that."

"Right... Okay."

"And I'll be there too, y'know. And you can always talk to me about it."

"I know... I know. I just don't wanna get in another fight with him. I... I don't want--"

"I know, Avi. But you gotta put some faith in yourself, alright? He's a smart, reasonable and trustworthy person. I'm sure he'll understand anything that you're concerned about. All you gotta do is tell him."

"But..." Avi looked away from him. "Yeah... You're right actually. I just find it really hard to open up about that stuff... Or about anything I guess."

"I know. But honestly, that's the whole secret behind Mitch and I's relationship. We don't let anything go unsaid. Because as soon as the thought is out in the open, then we can fix it and improve on it."

Avi thought about that for a moment, and in that time, Scott's phone buzzed once. 

Scott glanced down, just to be sure it was Mitch. "Sorry, one sec." He picked it up and read it quickly. "Mitch said the pizza guy must've walked right past us, because the pizza is here already."

Avi nodded, gesturing behind Scott as the delivery man walked through the lobby again on his way out. "Mhmm."

Scott turned briefly, and then stood up facing Avi. "Well... Let's go get some food then." He waited for Avi to stand before he spoke again. "There's literally nothing to be worried about, Avi. We're all your friends, man. You just gotta speak up and tell us what's going on so we can help you. Alright?"

**