Tightrope: A Scomiche AU

Chapter Seventeen

The whole room was silent, everyone knowing the inevitable came as Scott picked the crying baby out of his lover's arms. He heard a few sniffles from Kirstie, and silent sobs from Coby, and he breathed out, trying to be strong for everyone else. People rushed in, and the four walked out, going to the rec room to try and find something to keep their minds off of things. Kirstie took Scarlet with her to a mothers circle, Coby went to the toddler music event happening, and Scott sat alone in a corner at the keyboard plugging headphones in, closing his eyes, and tickled the keys, remembering every moment he had with Mitch.

Scott was nervous. He was told that there would be a new student in his third grade class, and that he would be the blonds partner for the rest of the year. He didn't know how to communicate with the new boy, but he knew he had to figure it out somehow. He walked into class and his new partner was already sitting at the desk, everything out and prepared to use for learning.

The boy was the most beautiful human he had ever seen, and he knew he wanted him in his life, no matter how it was. He had dark chocolate hair, with shining eyes, to match. He had on some glasses, those of which were completely cosmetic, with a spongebob hoodie and some jeans. He was writing on a piece of paper when the blond walked up.

"Well hello there!" The strange brunet greeted with a big smile as Scott sat down in his usual spot. "You must be Scott. I am Mitch. I've been told you don't talk so I will be communicating with you in a special notebook. I am so happy to finally meet you. We're gonna be such good friends. I can feel it. As long as you promise not to go anywhere, I will always be around forever."

Scott began to write in the book.

It's nice to meet you too.
So you do want to talk to me?
Yes... You're finally someone not weirded out by me not talking.
There's nothing wrong with not talking. You probably have a reason to. Just know that if you do ever want to actually talk, I am all ears.
Thank you.

~*****~

Scott woke up on a normal Friday, happy that his dad wouldn't be home as he got ready for school. He knew it was music day, so he put on his favorite treble clef t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and his favorite sneakers. He sat down to write another journal entry before throwing it into his SpongeBob backpack. He double checked everything and went out the door, getting on the bus.

"Scooootttty!" Mitch bounced the minute he saw the blonde. "Are you excited for music day? I heard you do well."

Scott nodded.

"Miss Clark told me that you play the violin but want to learn how to play the piano," Mitch continued as Scott sat down. "If you want you can come over and I'll teach you how to play."

Scott shook his head nervously, Mitch understanding from the notebook conversations they had over five weeks.

"Well I will teach you if you ever want me to," Mitch shrugged. "I am really good at it so I think with a few lessons, you'd be good too."

I can't come over. EVER! I could never put you in harm's way like that.
But I think that you would be worth the harm. I like you too much for you to not live your life as your own. I will wait for you to get out of there.
You are too good of a friend. Why do you like me so much? I'm not that special.
You're smart, talented, funny, and very cute /cute crossed out\ good looking. Your future wife will be very lucky.
I don't think I will ever have a wife.
What makes you think that?
I don't see how anyone could ever love me. Besides, I don't think I want a wife. Girls are too much drama.
Yeah I understand that. Well you're a great person who deserves to find someone that loves him and stands by them until their last breath. Until you find that, you have me.

"You were always meant to be that someone..." Scott sighed, someone tapping his shoulder before he could go back to playing piano.

"I am sorry to interrupt," a new, very young nurse spoke. "I understand you're beginning to grieve, and I understand, but would you come with me to make arrangements for Mitch?"

"I... Umm... Yeah..." Scott sighed, standing up and following the woman to the conference room he knew all too well. The social worker, Matt, was sitting there, waiting for him.

"Hello, Scott," the man greeted. "I am beyond devastated that we are meeting under these conditions. I have known Mitch since he was about three, so he was like an nephew to me."

"He will definitely be missed by many," Scott nodded, nervously playing with his fingers.

"Okay," Matt started. "The first thing we need to discuss is living arrangements. Do you have a house to move into? Or are you going to continue living in the hospital?"

"I think I want to stay here," Scott admitted. "Living here, I have made some really good friends and I've met people that I could help by staying. I can volunteer around here and help the people that have helped me. I'll pay what I need to. Just... I need to stay here... I can't leave this place..."

"I understand," Matt nodded, writing something down. "Well we have little apartments here for people just like you. The biggest we can get you is an 8-room. I know you'll want offices as well. I am sure that's big enough for you. We also have workers here that are sent out to buy groceries, so if you want groceries, they'll go out, use a company card, and the price will be added to your stay, normally, but you don't have to ever worry about paying for the apartment. It's on me. Mitch helped me so much, so it's time for me to give back."

"Oh thank you!" Scott gasped, tears forming in his eyes.

"I will bring you all of the information you need to you," Matt continued. "The next thing we need to discuss is Coby's mental health. He's been showing potential signs of PTSD as well as many other mental disabilities."

"I understand you're concerned," Scott sighed, "and I get you want the best for him, but I have everything under control. I am not concerned right now, but I will seek help if anything gets worse."

"Well," Matt explained, "I only brought it up to ask your opinion on a small dosage of medical marijuana. We've been doing studies here with children with anxiety and other disabilities, and we think he would be a good candidate for those studies."

"Well I would have to discuss with Kirstie," Scott looked down, not knowing what to think.

"I have already discussed it with her," Matt added. "She said that as long as you are okay with it, that we could go through with it. It is completely okay if you do not want to do it. It'll be the same dosage as yours, as y'all had the lowest dose."

"I... Umm... Yeah we can do that..." Scott nodded nervously. "I just didn't want to go over her."

"I understand," he laughed a little, but then grew serious. "The last thing we need to talk about is funeral arrangements."

"I want him to be cremated," Scott spoke up. "I want a funeral ceremony then I want him cremated. It's what he wanted. He wants some of his ashes put into necklaces. He has a list of people he wants to get them for. I'll give it to you the list when you give me my information. We'll have the ceremony the day after tomorrow. I will invite people and will be down to pick out his arrangements. I'll bring Kirstie as well."

"Sounds good," Matt nodded, looking through his papers. "The last thing we need to discuss is Mitch's will. I understand that he has left everything to the three of you. He was originally gonna rewrite his will for Scarlett to get a part of it. As his POA, would you allow us to split it in fours so Scarlett can benefit from her father's work?"

"Of course!" Scott exclaimed. "She deserves the absolute world."

"Okay," Matt wrote on the paper. "If anyone doesn't try to cause any kind of trouble, we should have your new bank cards within 8 weeks. Is there anything else you want to discuss?"

"No Sir," Scott shook his head.

"Well then you enjoy the rest of the day as best as you can," Matt smiled, shaking the blonds hand before Scott walked out, walking back to his lover's old room.