Time After Time

Holding On

The silent journey through the dark and miserable streets continued on, the four unsure of what to say. Scott, steadier on his feet now, walked ahead of his friends, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, the rain mingling with the never-ending flood of tears. He could hear murmuring voices from behind him, and each time he picked out individual words, he found himself growing more scared.

“...suicidal... didn’t know... bathroom...”

“...Mitch... boyfriends... abuse... alone...”

“...scars... eating... was struggling...”

“...Scott...in love... killing himself.”

“Can you all just shut up?” Scott shouted, turning around to face his friends. His eyes were red-rimmed and puffy from his constant crying, and those blue orbs showed no anger, only pain. He couldn’t handle this. He couldn’t. He just wanted Mitch and he wanted it all to stop. He just wanted... He didn’t know anymore. He knew he wanted Mitch, but that was the only coherent thought that his mind contained.  The rest of his thoughts were nothing more than a spinning, swirling mess of anything and nothing and everything all at once, and Scott felt as though he would drown in the black hole that was his brain – unless, of course, he drowned in his tears first.

“We’re sorry, Scott,” Kirstie whispered, dragging Scott away from the mess inside of his head. Back in reality again, Scott’s brain registered the rain once again and Scott found himself to be cold. He shivered slightly, but didn’t mention it. The cold was the least of his worries.

“We were only curious,” Avi said quietly, walking towards the blonde and hugging him. Scott choked back a sob and fell apart again as his three friends tried their best to console him. They knew that this was only going to use up more time that they could spend hunting for Mitch, but, at the same time, they were concerned that Scott would run off too, and then they’d both be out alone. Unwilling to allow the even the slightest hint of a possibility of that scenario, Avi, Kevin and Kirstie, all of whom were crying their own tears, made sure to hold on to Scott with all of their strength – both physically and mentally. They couldn’t allow the baritone to wander off; he wasn’t thinking clearly and, even if Scott himself was unaware of it, he could be just as much of a danger to himself as Mitch currently was to himself. The severity of the situation hit Kirstie hard, and she brought a shaking hand to her eyes to mop up her tears. She knew some of the things Mitch had been through, and she knew that she had to make sure that Scott was aware. Even if it didn’t seem to be the most ideal of places, even if the situation was absolutely awful, she knew that she didn’t have a choice. The four slowly began to walk forward to an almost vacant street, and the long haired woman sighed quietly before glancing up at the three men.

“His exes called him fat and ugly. They told him he had no talent, and that he was only good for sex,” Avi gasped audibly as Kevin’s eyes widened in shock. Scott looked as if he was about to pass out, start vomiting and burst into tears all at the same time. He leaned back against the building behind him and let out a shuddery breath.

“I’ll fucking kill them,” Scott muttered into the air as he tipped his head back, allowing the rain to fall on his face. Kevin paid no attention to the use of the expletive, too afraid for Mitch to even consider complaining. This was all too much. So many men must have told Mitch so many lies for him to be such a mess.

“It explains why he isn’t eating... I – Look, I mean nothing by it, but have you two, uh,” Kirstie paused, blushing slightly, “Have you two had sex?” Scott looked down at the soprano. His eyes were wide, and his mouth hung open in pure shock. He shook his head frantically.

“N-no, why would-“

“They forced him into sex,” Kirstie told him. Scott remembered Mitch telling him this before, but he hadn’t been afraid of that, just angry, because he couldn’t understand why anyone would want to hurt the countertenor in that way.

“He thinks I’ll do the same?” Scott questioned quietly, the realization too much for him to handle. He slowly lowered himself onto the cold ground below him, crying harder. His friends once again shared worried glances and knelt before him, reaching hands out to comfort and to console. After around ten minutes of helping Scott to breathe at a steady rate again, the four singers continued with the journey, making their way through street after street as they searched frantically. It was getting incredibly late now, and it was still pouring with rain. Scott continued to break down at random intervals, and his three friends would have to calm him each time. Despite this, they kept on hunting frantically, shining their cell phones into darkened streets in attempts to find their younger friend. They were about to give up when they hears a quiet sob coming from a dark alleyway. Cautiously, they walked down into it, and noticed a figure curled up against a wall.

“Mitch?” Scott asked, his voice nothing more than a barely audible whisper. The figure glanced upwards, his cheeks as drenched as the rest of his body.

“I’m sorry,” the countertenor murmured, and Scott knelt down and hugged his boyfriend. He pressed a desperate kiss to his lips and wrapped his strong arms around the vulnerable, small man. Mitch just looked so weak and pitiful.

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for,” the blonde told him as Mitch reached and hugged him. The position was awkward, but neither man wanted to let go. Their lips met again, sweeter this time, and full of love. After a few more kisses, Scott clambered to his feet and lifted his boyfriend up from the ground. He was scared when he first lifted the younger man’s small frame; the countertenor was so light that it was worrying. The five began to make their way back to Scott and Mitch’s apartment, and, somewhere along the way, Mitch had drifted off to sleep. The baritone just held onto his boyfriend tightly. He knew that they still had plenty of challenged ahead of them, and a lot of things to discuss, but as the rain pelted down on them, the blonde knew that he wasn’t going to let Mitch go again.