Color

Thirty Six

Mitch had expected Scott to sleep for at least an hour, but he quickly blinked himself awake within twenty minutes. 

Scott looked at him almost immediately. "Thought... You, gone?"

Mitch only blinked at him, taking an extra second to comprehend the fragmented sentence. "I know, but... You weren't asleep that long. So... I didn't leave yet."

"Oh... You gonna sleep?" Scott seemed to remember stuff that was going on. "Oh, food was gonna... Did you already?"

"Okay, honey." Mitch put a hand on Scott's forehead as if to feel for a fever. "You should take a deep breath, and let yourself wake up for a second."

Scott nodded slowly, took a deep breath, and then tried again. "So... Hi."

Mitch grinned at him. "Hi, baby. How are you?"

"Tired... And... And really sorry for hurting you... Like really sorry."

"You wanna talk about it now?"

"Mhmm." Scott moved around on the bed a little, to get more comfortable, sitting up a little. "Baby. I'm so so sorry."

"Sorry about what? Do you honestly not like my body type? Do you think I'm not taking care of myself?"

Scott frowned deeply, looking in to Mitch's eyes. "Of course not. I love your body type more than any other body type I've ever seen. You're always so cautious with what you eat, and rarely ever eat junk food and... And I'm so proud of how you've taken care of yourself. And I'm so so sorry..."

"You keep saying that, but I don't understand... How can you think that, if you just said that other stuff so easily?"

"I don't know why I said that stuff, Mitch. I am so, so, sorry. I'll do anything I can to make it up to you."

"I just don't understand is all. I'm not mad at you, and... And I still love you, of course. But I'm just... I don't want to keep thinking that you hate what I look like."

"I don't, Mitch. You're so beautiful, and fucking sexy and.. And healthy, Mitch. I promise that you are."

"Then why--?"

"I don't know, Mitch. I know that's a shitty excuse and I'm so fucking sorry, but I don't know."

Mitch nodded once, meeting Scott's eyes for a second. "It's okay. I... I have a lot of faith in the relationship we have. And... And I know better than to question what we have, but.. It just hurt me. A lot."

Scott closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry, Mitch... I hate that I'm the cause of this. I didn't mean to be such an asshole. Do you think... We should take a break?"

"No, no... Nothing like that. But... I think I just need some time to think about it. Is that okay?"

"Yes, of course, take as much time as you need. And... And please tell me if you need anything else from me, okay? Like if you want me to stop talking to you, or need me to hug you more often, or... Or whatever. I just want us to be okay."

*

Alex was busy slicing a tomato when Avi walked over and smacked him once on the ass. 

Alex jumped, having to pull the knife away from his fingers in a panic. "Christ-- What the--?"

Avi leaned over his arm when he saw the knife. "Oh fuck, I'm sorry, I didn't think that through. Sorry. Did you cut yourself at all..?"

"No, I'm okay. Can I help you, or..? Did you just come in here to assault me?"

Avi leaned over the counter then, looking up at Alex with a smirk. "Just wanted to offer some help. But you're so damn good at literally everything... Guess I shouldn't bother."

Alex only shrugged. "You can start doing the tortillas if you want."

"Oh can I?" Avi asked sarcastically. "What else can I do?"

Alex missed his sexual attitude, and raised an eyebrow as he continued slicing tomatoes. "I don't know..? Whatever you want?"

Avi chuckled, grabbing Alex's hips tightly as he pressed a kiss to the back of Alex's neck. "Yeah? Anything I want?"

Alex chuckled a little, glancing over his shoulder a little. "I mean... I guess."

Avi just moved back with a laugh, and then turned to do what Alex had told him.

*

For dinner, Mitch stood beside Scott as they made their tacos, Mitch having to grab the corn tortillas to please his gluten allergy.

As Scott was packing his tacos with meat and cheese, Mitch had to hesitate for a second at the thought of what he was putting in to his body.

Mitch knew that being insecure was silly, and he needed to talk to Scott instead of getting upset.

He leaned toward Scott, to speak softly. "Just to clarify... You're not gonna be mad at me if I eat a lot..?"

Scott stared at him for a second, and then held his own plate up higher to show Mitch. "Babe, I'm eating four. Why would I care how many you eat..?"

Alex came through then, packing his tacos full of vegetables and a small amount of meat. He grinned at the food, proud of his healthy choices.

Avi hit Alex's ass once. "Are you planning on eating anything, or..?"

Alex looked down at his plate. "What's wrong with what I'm eating?"

"That's not real food, babe. Are you serious?"

Alex huffed shortly. "Stop attacking me. Just because you don't eat vegetables--"

"Being in a relationship with you is honestly the healthiest thing I've ever done." He leaned past Alex to look at Scott. "Damn, are you eating four?"

Scott just smirked, helping Mitch put some cheese on his tacos. "Fuck yeah I am."

Avi hummed. "I see your four, and I raise you five."

Alex spoke softly. "It's all in good spirit, I know. But please don't make yourself sick, babe."

Avi just shrugged. "I'll be alright I think."

Kirstie finally walked out, having been in the shower when Alex called her.

She skipped in. "Hi gay couple numbers one and two. How are you guys?"

Mitch turned to squint at her. "Scott and I better be couple number one."

**