Darkness

Dreams

When Scott woke up the next day Avi wasn't in bed anymore. They had fallen asleep just like the last time he stayed overnight, after the nightmare, with their legs tangled and the smaller man against his side but now he was by himself and sat up slowly. 

He needed a second to wake up properly and when he set foot in the hallway he realized that Avi's guitar that had been leaning against the wall near the couch was gone. Scott walked through the living room and opened the door to the spacious balcony to find Avi sitting on a few pillows. 

The bearded man had a blanket over his shoulders to keep him warm, his hair was loosely tied up in a bun to keep it from falling in his face and he held his head low while his fingers plucked the strings of his guitar. Avriel was humming softly while he played different chords and Scott couldn't help but smile. 

Let's wake up the sun

Let's wake up the sun

Let's wake up the sun with our voices strong

The baritone stepped out on the balcony into the crisp morning air and sat down next to him before he joined his friend and hummed softy. 

Avi raised his head, a smile appeared on his lips and he focused back on playing different chords while they sang together.

"Is the sun up yet?" Avriel asked a few minutes later and turned his head in Scott's direction. 

Scott chuckled softly. "Slowly creeping up, yes. She's sleepy. When was the last time you played guitar?"

Avi thought for a moment. "I don't know, definitely before the crash. I didn't feel the need to sing or play after coming back home, with Caleb gone and stuck with the feeling of just being lonely and lost. So much that not even music was able to help me." He carefully put the guitar back in its case and closed the zipper, then pulled the blanket tighter around his upper body. 

"Well then I'm glad you felt like picking up your guitar again. That's an improvement." He wrapped his strong arm around Avi's shoulders and pulled him against his side. "I'm glad you're alive." Scott tucked a loose strand of hair behind Avi's ear and pressed a soft kiss against his temple. 

"Me too. And I'm glad that you're here. I couldn't have powered through without you, Scott. You mean a lot to me." He took a short break and turned his head to him, squished his forehead against the man's jaw and closed his eyes. "When I'm sleeping next to you I don't have nightmares, I just..I dream of you'n me.." he mumbled, "us. And I dream of being able to see again. Not nature, just you. I want to see you. Your face, your eyes, your- I dream of you." Avriel stumbled over his words but then took a deep breath. He was scared of Scott's reaction, scared of being pushed away or laughed at, just how Caleb laughed at his plea of him staying home.

But Scott didn't laugh. He started to smile, then ran his hand over the basses upper arm before he reached around him and pulled him on his lap and Avi straddled him, leaned against his chest. He figured that Avi was scared of being rejected again, the reason why he wasn't that confident about sharing his thoughts but the tall man gently placed the side of his pointer finger underneath his chin and tilted his head up until he saw two gorgeous green orbs looking straight at him. "I dream of you too, Avi" he said. "Every night."

Avi took a deep shaky breath after he realized that he had been holding his breath the whole time and wanted to say something when he felt Scott's hands on his own. He frowned lightly until he felt warm skin against his fingertips, surprisingly soft but short hair and something rather hard underneath when he carefully applied pressure. Then he understood. He felt for the baritone's jaw, moved his thumb over the stubble, up to his cheeks, the cheekbones and the bridge of Scott's nose. When the other man's eyes fluttered shut he felt his soft lashes tickling the side of his knuckle and a soft smile appeared on his face. "Sorry..." Avriel mumbled and kept going. Soon the pads of this thumbs grazed over his friend's closed eyes back over his cheekbones to his jaw. Then he ran his left thumb over his bottom lip and felt the warm air on his skin. He leaned closer, lowered his hands down to the blonde man's chest and brushed his lips over Scott's.

It happened again and again, Scott slowly closed his eyes before his hand found the back of Avi's head before he held him close and kissed him properly while their noses touched. 

Avriel raised himself up, balanced on his knees and against Scott's chest, tilted his head up and kept kissing him until he was out of breath and had to pull back. 

Both men were out of breath and Avi slid back down on his friend's lap before he pulled the blanket that had slid off back over his shoulders and leaned against Scott's chest. His hands were shaking after exploring the baritone's face and he gripped the soft wool tighter. It was silent, for what he thought way too long, and he struggled to keep the rising panic hidden. He wanted to apologize, but when he opened his mouth Scott began to speak. 

"I hope we can do that more often" the man mumbled and placed his chin on Avriel's head. 

"I wouldn't mind.." He felt the warmth coming from Scott and heat on his face, knew that the sun had to be up by now. Avriel smiled. Life was good.