Darkness

Return

Scott stayed a whole week with Mitch. He had another therapy session in which he discussed his plans to move back in with Avi with his therapist and together they decided that he would spend another night with his best friend before he would return home.

He stopped at the store to get a jar of peanut butter for the bearded man before he drove back to the apartment building, only to find his parking spot which Esther had used during her stay empty. Scott frowned, took his bag and the jar of peanut butter and walked all the way to the third floor where Avi's apartment was located.

When he opened the door he heard the familiar but this time fragile voice of his boyfriend together with his guitar. It cracked every now and then and he was sniffling whenever he paused to pick up his phone.

Oh I'm sorry, Adeline
I took your heart and stole your time
But I promise you I did believe
That we would last like evergreens
Growing tall despite the cold
Planted in each others souls
Oh I'm sorry, Adeline
Yeah, I'm sorry 'til the day I die

Avi stopped and Scott heard the phone quickly reading the single letters he had written out before the bass reached for his guitar.

Thinking about your tender heart
I go back to where we started
I held hope for sunny days
Oh, but it seems I brought the rain
Oh, but it seems I brought the rain

Scott put down the bag and slipped out of his shoes before he lightly knocked against the wall to let Avi know he was there. "Avi? Hey, I'm home.." He saw him sitting on the carpet with his back against the couch, wearing just pajamas. Avi's hair was in a low bun to keep it from falling into his face and tickling him and, much to Scott's surprise, his beard seemed to be at least half an inch shorter while his mustache was neatly trimmed, barely touching his upper lip.

"Scott" Avi gasped and turned his head in the direction the voice was coming from. He quickly wiped away his tears, pushed the guitar to the side and got up to welcome his man.

The baritone smiled when Avi felt for him and, once he came in contact with him, wrapped his arms around his upper body. He hugged back, tightly, and pressed a soft kiss on top of his head before he buried his nose in the dark curls. "Hi. Missed you, so much."

Avriel squished his cheek against the man's chest and closed his eyes. It felt good to hear his steadily beating heart, feel the rise and fall of his chest as he was breathing in and out and smell his deodorant and a hint of shampoo mixed with laundry detergent. He couldn't stop a single tear from escaping and running down his cheek and a faint sob left his body, then he felt Scott's hand against the back of his head.

"I brought peanut butter..." he mumbled and rubbed Avi's back. "Smooth and organic, just how you like it."

"Thank you" Avi replied and couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "I don't want to let go."

"Me neither. Feels good to hold you again. Nice pjs you have there."

The bearded man hesitated. "They're my- my boyfriend's.."

"I think he's okay with you keeping them." Scott slowly let go and cupped Avriel's cheeks to dry his tear stained cheeks. "No more sad tears, alright? Only happy tears. I'm back home. I'm not going away anytime soon. I love you." He moved his hands to his shoulders and noticed Avi's bones sticking out slightly.

"I love you too and I am happy that you're back home" the bass said and reached out. He touched Scott's chest but moved his hand up to his neck, all the way to his face to drag his thumb over Scott's face, trying to find his lips. When he found them Avi stretched and kissed him softly. "Thank you for coming back home."

"No need to thank me for that, Love. Now, what was that song you were singing when I came in? It sounded beautiful but the lyrics were sad.."

Avi shrugged and made his way back over the dark wooden floor to the carpet, only to locate his guitar to put it in its case. "I started writing it two days ago. It's about us" he simply said and turned back to Scott.

"But bringing rain isn't bad. Nature needs rain to grow and thrive."

They were on the couch together, with Avi resting between Scott's legs and with his back on his chest while the baritone combed through his boyfriend's curls, when Esther came home. They were listening to an audio book Avi had started the day before and even though Scott didn't know what it was about he didn't complain and enjoyed being close to Avi again.

"Scott?" Esther asked surprised when she saw him sitting on the couch. "I thought-"

"No, I came home early. I missed my man."

"He missed you too, like crazy" she said and smiled when Avi started to grin. "However, your cuddle session has to wait cause we're having dinner now. If I knew about you being here I would've gotten a third buddha bowl.."

"No worries, I'll have some toast." Scott sat up slowly and gave Avi a little squeeze. "Dinner is important, let's go. I'll sit with you."

But Avi frowned. "Buddha bowls?"

"No complaining. It's healthy and nutritious" Avi's sister said and put the to go boxes on the table. She chuckled when she saw the jar of peanut butter standing on the counter in the kitchen and returned with cutlery. "Scott brought peanut butter?"

"Yeah. He finished it so he had to get a new jar."

Scott waited for Avi to sit down before he left yet another kiss on top of his hair and fetched himself some toast and a peach for dinner. When he sat down Esther smiled at him, while Avi was already busy exploring his box of food which consisted of a whole ton of different vegetables, some chicken and chickpeas as well as quinoa and brown rice.

"It's too healthy. C'mon, Estherrr" he whined and pouted after taking the first bite.

"I don't care. You have to eat. And don't tell me you're not eating cause it's too healthy, when we ordered pizza yesterday you ate just one slice. Now stop complaining and start chewing."

Avi frowned but began to eat while Scott just grinned. It was good to be back home.