Color

Hundred Six

Scott marched out to the living room, pillow under his arm. 

Avi was still there, folding a few blankets to be put away now that he'd gotten rid of all the trash. 

The house was incredibly quiet at this time of night, so Avi had heard most of the argument. 

He glanced over. "Hey, sorry. Heard what happened."

"Yeah." Scott just shook his head. "I just wanna sleep, dude. I don't even care right now."

"You're sleeping on the couch?"

"Looks like."

Avi frowned, and gesturing to the pile of blankets beside him. "You want one of these?"

"Don't care."

Avi paused, glancing at the clock at the wall. "You want me to sleep out here with you?"

"No."

"What if I want to?"

"Don't care." Scott mumbled, moving to lay down on the couch. 

Avi just paused again, before tossing a blanket over him in an almost angry way. "You're an idiot." He paused one more time to consider his words. "Sorry you guys argued."

"Avi, I really don't wanna talk about it."

"Alright, sorry..." Avi sighed, and then laid down on the ground beside the couch. "Just like old times, huh?"

Scott didn't answer for a few moments. "You don't gotta be out here, dude."

"Yeah, maybe not. But I want to."

*

Alex woke up the next morning, a little shocked to be alone in his room. 

He texted Avi to ask where he was, and then went about his morning routine. 

Which of course began with him putting his shorts on, changing his shirt, and grabbing his running shoes before heading down the hallway. 

He quickly shoved his headphones into his ears as he slid his phone into his pocket, before heading toward the kitchen. 

Alex frowned at the sight of Scott sleeping on the couch, but Avi was blocked from his view. 

He felt a little upset, knowing that Scott and Mitch had gotten into an argument the previous night. He had only heard little pieces of it, from where he was in his room. 

He decided he should talk to Mitch about it when he got back. Which was his last thought, as he headed out the front door. 

*

Avi sat up from the floor, rubbing his eyes a little. 

He glanced up at Scott on the couch, seeing him still asleep. 

Avi stood from his spot, and headed into the kitchen to make some coffee. As he stood in front of the coffee maker, he responded to Alex's text asking where he was. 'Home. You?'

Avi left his phone on the counter as he went off to go to the bathroom. While he was in there, he decided he was going to take a shower, before heading back. 

Once he was done, he headed back to the living room to see if Scott had woken up yet. 

Scott was in fact sitting on the couch with a blanket wrapped around him, a cup of coffee in his hands.

Avi almost wanted to laugh, as he walked over to sit beside Scott. "Morning, dude."

Scott took a deep breath, passing his cup over to Avi. "Sorry, I stole this."

Avi took the cup, but immediately went to offer it back. "I'll make my own."

Scott didn't respond, wrapping the blanket around himself a little tighter. He leaned into Avi's side, and sighed loudly before whispering, "You smell good."

Avi just blinked at him. "Yeah, I just got out of the... The shower. Are you okay?"

"Kinda sad..."

Avi paused a moment, to really take in Scott's form. He frowned at how miserable Scott seemed. "Aw, Scottie... You wanna talk about it?"

Scott shook his head, and then moved over on the couch to be directly beside Avi, to lean his head on Avi's shoulder.

Avi moved his coffee cup into his other hand, so he could throw his arm over Scott's back. "Are you sure..? You seem pretty fucked up about this."

"Yeah, well. I'm upset that he's upset, and... I don't know. I said I didn't wanna talk about it, okay? Can we watch a cartoon or something?"

Avi tilted his head just enough to kiss the top of Scott's head, before nodding. "Sure. Can I grab you a coffee first?"

*

Kirstie was the next person to come out to the living room, having taken a shower just minutes before. 

She grinned at the movie being played on the television, and walked to stand behind the couch. "Solid movie choice."

Avi looked back quickly. "Hey, Kit. Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure." She grinned. 

"I don't know if you were gonna get some coffee, but can you grab one for Scott too?"

Scott protested quickly. "I can get my own coff--"

"Sure thing." Kirstie interrupted. She placed a hand on Scott's shoulder briefly. "Sorry about last night... Heard you two arguing."

Scott's frown returned, and he leaned impossibly further into Avi's side. "Yeah."

Kirstie was quick to step away, heading toward the kitchen. 

Alex suddenly came through the front door, pulling his headphones from his ears as he looked toward the kitchen. "Hey, good morning."

Kirstie turned quickly. "There's the handsome man I was looking for! Want some coffee, hun?"

"No thanks." Alex responded softly, turning to his right to head into the living room. 

He stood behind the couch and placed a hand on Avi's shoulder to say hello. 

Avi grabbed Alex's hand and brought it to his lips briefly. "How was your run, babe?"

"Weather is really nice right now. Was kinda perfect."

Avi suddenly spoke quietly, as if he were afraid that anybody besides Alex would hear him speak. "Be careful how much time you spend in the sun, okay?"

Alex nodded once, smiling down at him. "I will."

Scott was quick to notice. "You should sit down with us, Xander. Watching Avi's cute dragon movie."

Alex smiled widely at the invitation. "If you don't mind the smell of sunscreen, sure."

Kirstie walked back into the room, two coffee mugs in hand. "The smell of coffee should cancel it out." 

Alex held a hand out, to gesture for Kirstie to walk first, and then he followed her to sit on the couch last.

Scott took the coffee from Kirstie and then turned his pout to her. "Were you guys safe last night?" 

"One hundred percent. I promise." She responded a little too quickly. 

"You'd have called me if there were any problems..? Right?" Scott asked hopefully, in an almost insecure way.

"You would've been the first call." She turned to meet his eyes. "I really mean that."

**