Ch 23. Girlfriend/Boyfriend

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Scott was nervous. Ok, understatement of the century.

Kirstie had done her best to calm him, and she had to a certain extent, but she was gone now and he was alone staring at the wooden door in front of him.

He could hear the television going inside.

He wondered what Mitch was watching. He wasted a bit of time trying to figure it out, but he eventually realized he had been standing out there for nearly 15 minutes staring at Mitch's door like a fool.

Its not doing you any good to stand out here. If this is going to end badly, then it’s still eventually going to happen and standing out here isn’t going to make the situation go away.

He raised his fist, letting it hang in mid-air momentarily before he finally found the courage to connect.

The sound of the television came to an abrupt halt and he could hear Mitch’s crutches moving across the floor.

Deep breaths. Just breathe. It’s just Mitch. Remember what he said earlier.  It’s going to be fine. You can do this.

His mental pep-talk didn’t do much to ease the anxiety, and his fingers tapped against his legs as he waited. When the door finally opened he couldn’t help but give a tiny nervous smile. Seeing Mitch helped with the nerves a bit, well that is until he got a good look at him.

Mitch looked hesitant and wouldn’t meet his eyes but he stood aside and let him in.

Something was wrong.

The fear and anxiety returned tenfold. Kirstie had said Mitch cared about him as much as he cared about Mitch, but did he really? Was she mistaken? Was everything he’d said earlier at the studio a lie? What if he’d thought about it and realized what a wreck Scott was and decided he wasn’t worth it.

He didn’t think his heart would be able to handle that. Not after it had taken so much work to prepare it for this. Not after he had shown up ready to give it completely to the other man…

He followed Mitch inside and watched as he sat down on the couch. He still wouldn’t look at him.

Scott sat for a moment on the other side of the couch, facing him.

His heart sank. He could see it written all over his face. He’d seen that look before… Mitch was searching for words to let him down easy. He was gonna say he was wrong and that they were better as friends.

He’s gonna tell you it’s not you, it’s him… even though it really is you…

He felt the pain and disappointment all over again, even before Mitch had opened his mouth.

“I can’t do this again. If you’re gonna say that you made a mistake, that you were wrong…”  he paused for a bit, hoping Mitch would interrupt him to tell him he was wrong. Mitch remained silent. He felt tears stinging his eyes again, but he managed to keep it together.

“I can’t do this.  Not again.”

He stood and headed for the door. The pain was too much this time, it was sharp and vicious and Mitch just kept sitting there.

His hand was almost to the doorknob when the other man finally spoke up.

“Wait.”

He stopped.

“Come back.  Please?” Mitch sounded quiet, hesitant still.  


Scott let his hand fall to his side, but he couldn’t turn around yet.  He couldn’t face him again.

“I’m not gonna say that I made a mistake, because I didn’t.  But…   I’m scared, Scott.”

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