Darkness

Lake House

They had Avi's things packed in no time. While the bearded man was in the bathroom to collect his toiletries, Scott vacuumed the living room to remove the hair on the floor and then cleaned up the kitchen. Then he heard Avi setting down his backpack in the hallway near the door and pat the slim cabinet for his phone.

"What are you looking for, Babe?" Scott asked and rinsed the bowls they had used for dinner.

"My phone! Can't find it!"

"It's in the bedroom, charging!" He heard him sigh.

"Scott, you can't just...move my things..." he had gotten more and more quiet and walked over to his bed to feel for his phone which was charging. "Thank you for charging it!"

The baritone couldn't help but chuckle and put away the dishes before he checked Avi's fridge for anything that could go off while they were away. It was mostly empty, there was some cheese and yogurt and he closed it again. The only thing he found was a box of strawberries on the counter which Kirstie must've brought with her, it was still in the white plastic bag they usually gave out at the farmer's market. He took it and brought it over to Avi's backpack. Then he went to the bedroom and hugged Avi from behind.

"I'm sorry for moving your phone. I just thought I'd charge it so we're ready to go in a bit."

"I know. Thank you. I appreciate it." He covered Scott's hands with his own and leaned back against his chest. "I'm excited to go camping and I think I'll leave my phone at home. I won't need it."

"You sure?"

Avi nodded and turned around in his arms. He put his hand on Scott's chest, moved it up to his cheek before his thumb brushed over the baritones lips. He was looking at Scott's chest at first, before his eyes moved and he looked up, almost right in Scott's. The last rays of sunshine that came through his large bedroom window revealed the tiniest specks of both brown and light amber in a sea of green while Avi's pupils constricted.

Scott cupped his cheek, gently turned his face just slightly to the window and couldn't get enough of how beautiful his boyfriend was, how his hair shimmered in the sun. Then he came closer and their lips met. "You're the most beautiful man I've ever met" the baritone whispered as he pulled away, touched his jaw and then his shoulder. "I'll never get tired of looking at and being with you."

Avi began to smile and hugged him. He tucked his head under Scott's chin and hummed. "Love you."

"Love you too. Are we ready to get going?"

Avi was asleep against the side of the car with his hands folded in his lap when they arrived in Big Bear. It was dark by now and Scott was more than happy to have found a free lake house at which they'd stay for the first night before hiking one or two of the trails to camp there the following day. He had called one of Mitch's friends whose father owned a couple of houses there and was relieved when one of them was free up until Tuesday. They had picked up the keys before they left Los Angeles and Avi was fast asleep just twenty minutes later. The noise of the engine had lulled him to sleep and the baritone felt bad for having to wake him again.

"Avriel?" He gently touched his knee and rubbed it. "Avi, wake up. We're almost there, five more minutes" Scott mumbled, then reached up and touched his shoulder. "You can go back to sleep once we're inside but for now you have to wake up."

The man mumbled something before he stretched and blinked sleepily. "'m awake" he said with his voice deep, almost as deep as it was in the morning.

They reached Big Bear Lake and got out of the car. Avi had his hand on the window and dragged his feet over the pavement to the trunk while Scott opened it and started to unload their luggage.

"How's the view?" the bass asked while he took his backpack and reached for his cane that was in the bottle holder on the side.

"To be honest, I can see as much of the lake as you at the moment." Scott took his backpack, closed the trunk and took Avi's hand. "The house looks pretty nice though."

Together they went to the front door and Scott unlocked it while Avi focused on the noises coming from the lake. He heard the water moving, some birds were still chirping, he listened to the wind getting caught in the trees on the other side of the road. When he heard the door opening he turned back to Scott and followed him inside.

"This is a rather small house, maybe the size of your apartment. We're right behind the front door, " he moved his hand to the side until Avi felt wood under his fingers, "here's the little cabinet for our shoes. There is a door about five steps away from us, on the right. That's the guest bathroom." Scott guided him through the hallway. "Ahead of us is the living room area with an open kitchen and an island with two chairs. It's rather small, to your left, and then there's a big couch. The living room."

"And the bedroom?" The bass was walking around without him, slowly, using his cane and his free hand to feel for everything that could possibly be in his way but he soon noticed that there wasn't a lot of furniture standing around. He wouldn't be able to move around like he did at home but it wouldn't be too hard either.

"Uhm...yeah, the...the bedroom" Scott mumbled and ran his hand through his hair. "It's actually on the first floor? It's not really a floor. But there's a ladder we have to climb up. It's a loft." He watched Avi but the man didn't seem to mind. "Are you okay with that?"

He shrugged. "Sure! Just have to be careful on the ladder."