Darkness

Apology

When Scott woke up Avi wasn't there anymore. Instead of being held he felt the pressure of the basses weighted blanket, something he sometimes preferred to sleep with after a rough day or an anxiety attack, on his upper body, effectively mimicking Avi's arms combined with the heavy cast on his back. Much to his surprise his first reaction wasn't worry because he heard Avi's voice coming from the living room. The door to the bedroom was open and Scott allowed himself to close his eyes again while he focused on his voice and the feeling of calm and safety it brought. The headache had returned, his nose was stuffy and he overall didn't feel good but just a few minutes later a warm hand patted it's way up to his head and brushed through his quiff.

"Scotty? I made you some tea with honey" he whispered and let go to feel for the nightstand where he put down the mug. "Are you awake? Scott? I made tea" Avi said again, this time louder. His hands moved from his head down to his shoulder where he pulled off the heavy blanket, leaving him with the normal duvets.

Scott smiled lightly. "I'm awake, Av." He sat up slowly and reached for the mug, brought it up to his lips and took a small sip. "Thank you for the tea."

"Sure!" he beamed and smiled. "Are you feeling better?"

"Not really, no..but I slept and I think that's an improvement. Did you have dinner yet? It's six, you should-"

"Esther is making soup for us, she's staying until after dinner and then we can go back to bed and cuddle?" he offered and sat down on the bed, waiting for an answer.

"That sounds amazing" Scott mumbled and reached out to squeeze his hand. "Thank you, Avi. I really appreciate it."

"I know."

Scott needed almost a week to recover. He spent most of the time either in bed or on the couch, near Avi who was trying his best to take care of his sick boyfriend. He made tea and food, made sure they went to bed on time and got their eight hours of sleep. Every now and then both he and Scott had nightmares but since they openly talked about their mood, thoughts and feelings it gradually got better.

"Scott?" Avi suddenly asked on day five of them being at home. "Have you talked to Mitch?" He was in the kitchen, carefully slicing an apple while Scott was sitting in the living room.

"No, not really..I don't know how. I had hoped that he would check on me but...he's pretty stubborn and I understand that I might've hurt his feelings."

"To me it sounds like you're the stubborn one." Avriel reached for a couple of small Tupperware boxes and put the apples in one, closed it and moved on to the washed strawberries. He carefully removed the stems, patted them dry and packed them before he repeated the process with cherries. "Go ahead and call him, he's your best friend."

"I don't know..."

"C'mon, Scotty. It won't hurt."

Scott sighed. Avi was right, Mitch was his best friend and he didn't want to lose him over something that stupid. He reached for his phone and his finger hovered over his icon before the man took a deep breath and clicked on it. It didn't take long for Mitch to answer.

"Yeah?"

Scott hesitated for a moment. The man on the other side of the line didn't sound like he was interested in a conversation and for a moment he thought about hanging up again but then he pulled himself together. "Mitchy, I- I wanted to apologize."

Silcence.

"For snapping at you. I know that you just wanted to help me. When I got back Esther was here, she stayed the night but Avi was okay, no nightmares or anything else. We talked and it's been a lot better the past few days."

"Thank you" Mitch said surprisingly soft. He had been waiting for Scott's call and was happy to hear that he was able to resolve the conflict inside of him. "How are you doing?"

"Way better. Avi has been taking care of me and I'm almost back to 100 percent."

"That's awesome. I'm actually on my way to the studio right now but we can meet for lunch tomorrow? Catch up?"

Scott smiled lightly to himself. "Yeah, sure! Noonish?"

"Sounds good."

"Great, thank you Mitchy. I love you. And sorry, again."

"Never mind. Love you too. Take care and hug your man, 'kay?"

"Will do. See you tomorrow" the baritone said before he ended the call and got up. "I'm meeting Mitchy for lunch tomorrow. Do you wanna come with me?"

But Avi shook his head while he carefully cut a few slices of melon. "No, you should go by yourself. Spend some time with Mitchy. I wanted to go and get ice cream with Esther, we have to talk about mama's birthday present and it's getting more 'n more tough the older she gets."

Scott chuckled and pressed a kiss right on the tip of Avi's ear. "Alright. What are you doing there?"

"Cutting fruit. Wait, help me out. Who's the blind one?"

Scott gasped but then Avi laughed so hard that he had to put down the knife and the tall man simply couldn't hold back. He started laughing as well and wrapped his arms around the bass to tickle him. For the first time in over two weeks they just laughed, carefree and untroubled. They laughed until they couldn't breathe anymore and the bearded man kept squirming in his boyfriend's tight embrace until Scott let go.

"You'll make me pee my pants!" he cried with laughter and rushed to the bathroom while Scott just grinned and took some of the cubed watermelon.

When the bass returned the counter was clean and the dishwasher loaded. He was holding his folded cane and a black tote bag.

"So, for what are you cutting all that fruit?" Scott asked and put his arm loosely around his waist. Then he spotted the bag. "Do you wanna go out?"

"Yeah! I'm taking you to the park to have a picnic. Vitamins, sunlight and fresh air. Well, as fresh as it can be in Los Angeles."

A few minutes later they were both wearing their shoes and Avi took the bag. He reached for the keys and unfolded the cane, was about to open the door when Scott stopped him.

"You don't have to use the cane, I'm right with you" he said and touched it, but Avi shook his head.

"No, I told you that I'm taking you to the park. That means that I am the one taking you to the park and to do that I need my cane" the man said and then smiled. "Okay? Please?"

"Okay. I love you."