Color

Ninety Three

Alex waited for Kirstie to say goodbye to Kyle, before he carefully walked outside. 

Kirstie passed him with a smile, knowing what he was going to do.

Alex followed Kyle toward his car for a second, before clearing his throat. "Hey, uh.."

Kyle turned quickly, pulling his keys out of his pocket. "Oh hey. What's up? Did I forget something?"

"N-No, I just..." Alex took a deep breath, feeling nervous for some reason. "I just wanted to apologize for what went down before we left for the weekend. The, uh. Thing with Avi?"

"Oh, no sweat, dude. I think it was a big misunderstanding is all."

"Yeah, I just... I wanted to apologize for behaving the way I did." Alex looked down at his feet. "I know how short tempered Avi can be, and how easy it is for him to hit a breaking point, and I guess I thought being mean would save you from whatever he was going to say to you..."

"You don't have to explain yourself, Alex. I completely understand. And I was partially in the wrong too."

Alex nodded once, eyes still cast down. "Okay... Alright, I just wanted to make sure that it was settled."

"It is." Kyle stepped forward and ducked his head down a little to try to catch his eye line. "You don't have to be nervous or afraid around me, man. I know I'm a new person in Kirstie's life, but I literally wouldn't hurt anybody."

"I'm not afraid, I just-- Sorry. I'm a nervous person I guess." Alex looked up to be brave and make eye contact.

Kyle gave him a sympathetic smile. "I get it. And, uh.. Since we're doing this whole peacemaking thing, can I just apologize again for the insensitive shit I said a while back about you and your coach?"

"Oh, we don't need to talk about that any more than we already have." Alex responded quickly. "It was unfair of me to blame you for something you couldn't have possibly been aware of."

Kyle gave him a nod, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. He smiled, and then stuck his hand out. "I hope this resolves all of our shit, then?"

Alex reached out to shake his hand, returning the smile. "Sounds fair to me."

*

Mitch was having some quiet time, as he stood in the kitchen washing up all the dishes after their dinner. 

Avi and Kirstie seemed to be having a calm discussion in the other room, and Mitch enjoyed being alone for however long it lasted. 

In an instant, there were large hands covering his hip bones and a chin resting on his shoulder.

Mitch grinned and leaned into the body standing behind him. "Hey Scottie... You smell like deodorant."

Scott chuckled lowly, directly into his ear. "Glad to hear it, I guess?"

Mitch was quiet for a few seconds, as he scrubbed one of the plates of it's salad dressing. "I think... Kyle is pretty cool."

"I agree. I just hope he can kick his smoking habit. It's... Kinda hard to be around him when he smells like smoke."

Mitch paused his task, and turned his head as much as he could to look at Scott. "He smelled like smoke..? I didn't even notice."

"I guess it's one of those things you only notice when you know what to look for... Came in chewing intense mint gum and his cologne was a little too strong. But once it faded, the smoke was there."

"Oh... I'm sorry, Scottie. I know it's a hard habit to break, but you're doing such a good job, and I'm so proud of you..." Mitch responded softly, pressing a kiss to Scott's cheek.