Finder's, Keepers. | Scomiche

Chapter 15

   Mitch carefully poured laundry detergent into the washing machine and started it up. He pulled clean clothes out of the dryer and waddled to the bedroom, dropping them onto the bed. He heard the shower turn off.

     It was early and he wasn't used to being awake at this hour, but because he hadn't been to work in close to a month, he was on Scott's sleeping schedule. He stopped going to the precinct with him after Esther had made her point about him already helping enough to relax the rest of the case. Instead, he stayed at the apartment and gave himself time to heal, mentally and physically.

    He bent down and started pairing socks and folding underwear.

     He assumed everything was going well with the case. Still no sign of Sean, but Scott didn't seem too bothered by it.

     As much as he actually loved staying home and doing chores and waiting for Scott, he wanted to go back to work. He missed singing and performing, and his friends. He hadn't talked to them in forever and he needed to gossip with people out of his immediate circle of friends right now.

     Scott looked surprised to see him actually out of bed this early but smiled and enveloped him in a damp hug anyway. "Good morning. Laundry?"

     "Yeah, we were getting pretty low again." Mitch twisted in his arms and flopped back on the bed, pulling Scott with him. His hands tightened on the large back, fingers sliding over the wet skin. Scott rested his chin on his chest and yawned. Mitch looked up at the ceiling and just let himself feel the weight on top of him, pressing him into the bed.

     "What are you thinking about?"

     "I'm ready to go back to work. I think I might call and see if I can start tonight." He felt Scott lift and he glanced down at him.

     "You sure? The media is still covering the case." Scott shuffled upwards and slid his fingers under the back of Mitch's neck.

     "Yeah, I think so. I don't have any reason not to besides that. And I miss my friends."

     "Okay. If you're ready." Mitch couldn't help but smile at Scott's lopsided grin.

     "I don't know how you feel about it, but I'm going to take the subway too. By myself." The grin faltered. "I've already thought about it and there is no one left on the streets stalking me and it's a shorter distance from here than I used to take. I just really need to not let myself think too hard about being alone and just do it. I have to be able to do things on my own terms, by myself."

     Scott's thumbs swiped back and forth along his jawline. He could tell Scott was weighing the circumstances in his mind. Mitch didn't feel like he needed Scott's permission, but he did want his opinion. Scott rolled off of him and propped himself up on an elbow.

     "I'm proud of you. I think it's great that you are ready to go back to your normal routine. It's a good sign of a strong individual." Scott combed his fingers through Mitch's messy morning hair. "But, I also just want to make sure you know that there is in no way a requirement for being okay. You don't have to be. No one is expecting you to be, nor will they judge you if you aren't."

     "I know, but I think it would make me feel better about everything."

     "As long as you are only doing it for yourself." Mitch nodded. "You know you have a family that would drop everything to take you wherever you wanted and a boyfriend that would do just about anything for you?"

     Mitch's heart nearly stopped at the word boyfriend. Not once have they tried to label what they were doing. Mitch assumed it would still be bad press or there would be some hoops they would have to jump through if they publicly acknowledged what they were outside of the precinct and so he was fine with just going with the flow. He didn't feel any pressure on their relationship. It was just developing organically.