Painkillers

Chapter Eighteen

A/N: As promised, here is some Scotty!

Scott had hoped to hear from Mitch about the birthday gift he had sent him. He knew Mitch didn't have his number since he had gotten a new one but he had his hopes up that the brunette would reach out to him on social media or write him a letter or send a thank you card. He knew he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up but he wanted to know he made Mitch happy. Since he didn't hear anything he started to worry that it didn't reach Mitch. Maybe he just hadn't gotten it yet and it would be a late birthday gift? Or maybe it got lost in the mail? Scott was afraid it was the latter.

"You keep spacing out on us." Mark pointed out. Scott looked up at Mark and Mason who were sitting at the round table with him.

"Oh, um, sorry I have a lot on my mind." Scott told them, eating another fry.

"Are you thinking about Mitch again?" Mason asked through a mouthful of burger. Scott sighed and stared down at his arms that were crossed on the table.

"I know it's dumb to worry about whether he got his gift or not but I can't help it. I told you guys how he was treated and I wanted to make his eighteenth a happy day and what if he didn't get it? Or what if he's still pissed at me?"

"It's been three years since all of that. Do you really think he would still be mad? You didn't even do anything." Mark pointed out.

"I caused him a lot of stress because I didn't listen the first time he told me to leave him alone. I got his dad arrested which he was obviously punished harshly for. I wouldn't be surprised if he was still angry." Scott explained before taking a bite of his burger.

"Why don't you just find him on social and message him? The worst he can do is ignore you right?" Mason suggested.

"Or get furious with me." Scott mumbled. "I don't want to do anything to upset him. I guess I'll just have to wait for school to start back up to see what his reaction is."

"I can't believe you're going to be gone again for nine months." Mark pouted, getting a smirk from Scott.

"I'll be home for Thanksgiving and Christmas as always." Scott pointed out.

"But we never see you at Thanksgiving or Christmas." Mason added, putting on his best sad face.

"I know but I can't help that my entire family passes me around when I'm home." Scott chuckled, getting a smile from his friends.

"I know!" Mark exclaimed, a huge grin on his face. "How about we go on a trip after we all graduate." Mark glanced between Scott and Mason to see their reactions and was met with growing smiles.

"Where would we go?" Scott asked, liking the idea.

"I don't know, we can figure that out later. But we all three need to save as much money as possible so we can go crazy and celebrate freedom from school." Mark replied, danicng in his seat a little.

"And then we'll be back in school in the fall for four or more years." Mason pointed out with a chuckle.

"Let me pretend like I'll be free." Mark jokingly snapped, still dancing in his seat. Scott and Mason laughed at him which made his smile wider.

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Scott laid in bed and browsed Tinder while listening to Mark and Mason talk. Mason was laying beside him and Mark was laying with his head on Scott's stomach and legs over Mason's waist. Scott wasn't entirely interested in their conversation. He hadn't really dated because he wasn't openly out but he still hooked up in private which was the only reason he had Tinder.

He decided to put away Tinder for a while and instead went to Mitch's Twitter. He had found it a while ago but never followed the brunette. He didn't know how Mitch would feel about him following him. Plus he was a little afraid of being blocked if Mitch knew he found him. So instead he secretly stalked him. He had realized that Mitch was a lot different online. He seemed more confident and funny. He retweeted cats and things about being awkward and posted his own funny tweets. He rarely posted pictures but Scott guessed he understood why.

"Yeah, Scott could really use a shower. I'm dying down here." Scott heard Mark say, bringing him back to reality. He looked down at Mark to see him staring up at him with a smile. He turned to Mason and the two burst into laughter.

"We've been talking about you for like two minutes now. You've really mastered tuning us out, huh?" Mason asked sarcastically. Scott chuckled and playfully rolled his eyes.

"Sorry but your conversation was boring me." Scott told them with a smirk, causing them both to laugh.

"What are you doing anyway? I don't think you've set your phone down once the last hour." Mason pointed out.

"I was on Tinder and now I'm on Twitter." Scott explained, finally locking his phone and setting it aside.

"Have you had anymore hooks up that you won't go into detail with us about even though we're supposedly your best friends?" Mark asked, smirking to show that he was joking.

"Yes, actually, I have. And no, I'm not going into detail about it. You guys don't need to know how or who I fu.ck." Scott replied in a joking tone. He loved and trusted Mark and Mason. He knew they wouldn't judge him because Mark was openly gay and Mason was open about the fact that he was questioning. Scott wasn't confident in himself. He still felt fear and maybe a little shame about what he felt even though he wasn't one hundred percent sure what he was. He wished he could just say the words to them. He wanted to tell them that he was also questioning but couldn't get the words out. He had come close to it more than once but always got scared. He wasn't sure what he was afraid of though.

"Do you hook up with people at school?" Mark asked, looking up at Scott.

"I have," Scott shrugged, his cheeks turning pink.

"Isn't that weird though?" Mason asked and Mark agreed.

"Yeah, you live with those people most of the year. Is it weird to hook up and then see them every day?"

"Not really, it's like normal school. You two hook up with people from school and then see them every day. If there's a bad hook up you just avoid them and pretend you don't know each other. Boarding school is kind of the same." Scott explained.

"I guess that makes sense. So you have had bad hook ups?" Mark asked, honestly interested.

"I'd rather not discuss this," Scott told them. He knew they weren't trying to push him or trick him into telling them anything. They talked a lot about their hook ups and didn't understand why Scott didn't want to talk about his. He was open about everything else in his life except intimacy. He could see why that would seem weird to them. He had no issue talking about sex until it's about his own sex life.

"Alright, alright, no more hook up talk." Mason agreed with a smile.

"Who wants to play some Mario?" Scott asked, hoping to keep them off of hook ups for now. He knew the conversation would work its way back around to it because they were horny young men but at least it was off of him for now.

A/N: I really hope my writing and this story has improved since the story. I'm really proud of how this story is doing and I'm so thankful that so many of you love it. This is the first time I've ever had one of my stories do this well. I hope you know how much I appreciate all of you.