Darkness

Preparation

On their next weekend off Scott packed a bag and threw it in the trunk of his jeep before he picked up takeout and then some camping stuff from one of his friends. He had pushed the museum visit back, luckily he had ordered flex tickets, and focused on getting Avi out and away from the city.

When he entered Avi's apartment he put his keys right next to Avi's lanyard that was attached to his keys one one of the small hooks he had installed, slipped out of his shoes and put them to the side. Since he spent more and more time at Avi's place he was forced to clean up after himself and it quickly became a habit. He didn't want his mess to endanger his boyfriend. Scott found him sitting on a chair near the dining table, just in a pair of shorts and with damp hair. He stopped in his tracks.

"Scott?" Avi asked and turned his head in his direction. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same..what the heck are you up to? I brought take out, and I have plans for us for the weekend." He turned around when he heard the bathroom door open and frowned. "Kirstie?"

"Scott! Hi!" She smiled. Kirstie held hair cutting scissors in one, a bottle of conditioner and what seemed to be a pouch with Avi's beard care products in the other and walked over to where Avi was sitting. When the products hit the wooden table the man flinched lightly. "Oh, sorry! Why are you here, Scott? I thought you were out with Max and Lucas tonight."

"No, I canceled. I wanted to take my man to Big Bear, camping, but it looks like he has other plans for today."

Kirstie took the fine comb and ran it through Avi's damp curls, making sure to start at the ends and slowly move up.

The bearded man shuddered, Scott knew how much he liked others playing with his hair, and goosebumps appeared on his body. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to surprise you" the baritone chuckled and walked over to him, quickly pecked his lips. "Hi Love."

"Hi..I would love to go camping..."

"Well, after Kirstie finished pampering you we can get in the car and leave. I got food, by the way, picked up chinese takeout on the way. If I had known about Kirstie being here I would've brought more."

But Kirstie shook her head. "I'm good, thanks! Go ahead and eat. Avi's tummy has been rumbling for the past twenty minutes, he was just too shy to say something."

Scott looked at Avi and saw blush creeping up his cheeks. "I'll get forks" he just said and disappeared to the kitchen. When he came back Avi was combing his beard , smoothing it out with his free hand and then put the comb back on the table while Kirstie had some of his hair between her fingers and trimmed the ends.

"How much, Avi?" the woman asked and stopped.

"Oh, as much as you think has to go. My ends have gotten thinner over the past few months, I just want my hair to look healthy." He leaned back and smiled lightly. "And Scott likes when it's soft.."

The baritone hummed and handed Avi one of the forks and a bowl filled with some of the rice, beef and broccoli he had brought for him. "There you go, bud."

Avi dug in while Kirstie kept cutting his hair, adjusting his head every now and then, until she was done and happy with the result. She smiled and looked at Scott. "Good?"

"Looks great, yeah!" He reached out after putting down his bowl and touched Avi's hair. "So smooth."

The blind man smiled and pushed some more food on his fork, brought it to his lips and ate it. "My beard now?"

"Eat up first, I don't want your food to get cold."

Half an hour later Avi's hair was neatly braided and his beard trimmed. Even though Scott didn't mind the rather wild look he enjoyed that his boyfriend put some thought into his appearance and wanted to look neat, not for him but for himself. Kirstie said her goodbyes, hugged both men and then slipped into her shoes and left after having a cup of tea on the couch with the boys. Scott looked at his man and patted his knee.

"Camping?"

"Yes! Big Bear isn't too far away, is it?"

"No, two hours I think. We'll go camping, hiking, make s'mores...what do you think? Take a minute or two to sort your thoughts, okay? I know that it might be scary at first but I'm not leaving your side and their hiking trails are pretty easy, just right for you to get back in and for me to start. My stuff is packed but if you are unsure I am more than okay just staying here with you and maybe watch a movie or two."

But Avi shook his head almost immediately. "No, I want to go camping. I don't know about hiking, it's probably pretty hard without seeing anything but...yeah, camping sounds fun. And I've never been to Big Bear."

Scott gasped. "Are you kidding me? You've never been to Big Bear? You'll love it. Its a small city right next to the Big Bear Lake, lots and lots of hiking trails, they have an animal sanctuary there too." And it's beautiful, he wanted to add but quickly bit his lip.

"Can you help me pack? My hiking boots are somewhere hidden in the closet. Do you have a tent?"

"Yeah, all you need is clothing. I'm free until Tuesday but it's supposed to rain on Sunday, if you're up for it we can stay a little longer and rent a place for one or two nights."

Instead of a reply the bass teared up. Avi was beyond excited to be out in nature again, to get out of the city and reconnect with what he loved most, to do it with Scott. He trusted Scott with his life and silent tears made their way down his cheeks while he buried his face in his hands.

Scott was confused. Had he said something wrong? Was Avi scared? Unsure? "Avi? Hey...I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Shut up" the bass cried and wiped away his tears before he reached out and hugged Scott. He buried his nose in the baritone's shirt and Scott heard a barely audible "Thank you so much."