Scott sighed as he unlocked the door to his apartment, his head slightly foggy from his night out with Avi and Kevin. He locked the door behind him, and as he kicked off his shoes, he was surprised to see Mitch's shoes as well. He frowned, noticing Mitch's coat tossed on the floor a few feet away. Mitch had been planning his date tonight with Travis all week, and he had been giddy with excitement when Scott had left around 6:00pm. Scott glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, 11:37, Mitch shouldn't be home yet. He said it'd probably be after midnight, "If I come home at all," he'd winked, laughing.
Scott tossed his coat over the back of their couch, heading towards Mitch's room.
"Mitch?" he called, trying to keep the worry out of his voice, "You home already?"
"In here."
The voice was quiet, coming from behind him. Scott turned, facing the door to his own room. He knocked lightly, then slowly pushed the door open. "Mitch?"
The room was almost completely black, but in the dim light, Scott could make out Mitch's shape on his bed. He stepped forward, feeling for his bedside lamp. When he found it, he tugged the cord, releasing a small shower of light into the room.
"Owww," Mitch whined, "Turn it off…"
Scott's eyes widened. Mitch lay curled up on Scott's bed, still in his carefully coordinated outfit, his eyes red and puffy.
"Oh my god, Mitch, are you okay?" Scott sat on the bed, reaching for Mitch, who sat up slowly.
"Me and Travis, we… H-he broke up with me," Mitch gulped.
"Oh, Mitchie," Scott held out his hands, "C'mere."
Mitch fell into his arms more suddenly than Scott had expected, sobbing against his chest. Scott rubbed his back, doing his best to murmur soothingly. "Mitch, I'm so sorry," he said, "I know you were looking forward to tonight."
His roommate trembled against him. "I was g-gonna make it the p-perfect date, but he," Mitch swallowed, "He told me he f-felt suffocated, that he didn't think he was ready for such a s-serious relationship."
Scott frowned, squeezing Mitch tighter. "He doesn't deserve you. Trust me, Mitch, it's not your fault."
Mitch sat back, rubbing his eyes, "Yeah, fuck him." Mitch tried to sound confident, but his voice cracked.
Scott squeezed his shoulder. "How about this, you and me eat a shit ton of ice cream and watch a movie?"
Mitch's smile melted Scott's heart. "That would be great," he said, "but I don't wanna keep you up…"
Scott smiled back, "My best friend is more important to me than sleep. Why don't you find a movie and I'll get the ice cream?"
Mitch smiled at him again, this time sadly. "Thank you Scott, this means a lot to me."
"You're welcome." Scott went into the kitchen and grabbed two large bowls. He filled one with chocolate ice cream for Mitch, and another with mint chocolate chip for himself. When he headed back into the room, he found Mitch sitting on the floor in front of his t.v.
"Quick Scott," he asked, "the little mermaid or the lion king?"
Scott shrugged, "whichever you feel like."
"Ugh, you're useless. The little mermaid then." Scott smiled, hearing some of the sass returning to Mitch's voice.
Mitch popped the movie in and switched on the t.v.
"Scott, can I borrow a t-shirt?"
"Huh? Yeah s-" Scott paused as Mitch stood, peeling off his jeans and shirt smoothly. He crossed the room to Scott's closet in only his boxers. Scott froze for a moment, taken aback at Mitch's sudden strip, then dragged his eyes away from Mitch's body.
Mitch pulled on his oversized No Angel sweatshirt and flopped onto the bed beside him.
"You hurry up and change too," he demanded, "and gimme my ice cream!"
Scott grinned, passing him the bowl and setting his own on his nightstand. He moved to his still-open closet, grabbing a t-shirt and pajama pants. He glanced over at Mitch, they had seen each other in boxers a hundred times, but for some reason it felt weird to change in front of him.
Scott undid his belt and replaced his jeans with the pajama pants, then yanked off his shirt. He thought he felt Mitch's gaze, but when he turned to glance over his shoulder, his roommate was watching the t.v, trying to start the movie.
"Scott, it's not working," Mitch sighed dramatically.
Scott pulled on the t-shirt and climbed onto the bed next to Mitch. "Here, lemme try."
He fiddled with the remote for a few minutes before reaching the title screen. "Ha!" he exclaimed, "There we go!"
He hit play and reached across Mitch's lap to grab his bowl.
"You're blocking the screen, stupid," Mitch teased, smacking his shoulder lightly.
As the movie started, he and Mitch sang along to the opening, Scott singing as badly as he could. Mitch laughed, hitting him again. He looked at Scott, taking a spoonful of ice cream.
"You're such a good friend, Scott," he said thoughtfully.
Scott shrugged, "It's nothing."
"No, really," Mitch said, "This is super nice of you, trying to cheer me up." He stared off, drawing into himself slightly. "I just, can't believe he would do something like this. I thought I loved him, Scott."
Scott drew a breath, Mitch's eyes welling up with tears as he met Scott's gaze.
"Jeez, Mitch, I don't know what to say. I'm really, really sorry."
Mitch sighed, letting his head fall onto Scott's shoulder, his cologne filling Scott's nose. "Boys suck."
"Yeah," Scott agreed, "Boys are the worst."
As they watched the rest of the movie, their topic of discussion roamed from one subject to the next, and Scott got Mitch to laugh some more, but he cried some more too. Scott last remembered them discussing black holes around 2 am when he must've passed out.
When he woke, Mitch lay curled up on the other side of his bed, frowning slightly in his sleep. Scott eased himself out of the bed and crept out of the room quietly. His head ached slightly, but he dragged himself into the kitchen, pulling eggs, milk, and cheese from the fridge. He set about making omelets, and started a pot of coffee.
Mitch emerged from the room as Scott was finishing, Scotts sweatshirt hanging on him loosely.
"Hey, just in time," Scott grinned as he saw Mitch's eyes widen.
He came to peer around Scott, his hands resting lightly on Scott's sides. "You're making omelets? Yay! Thanks Scott!" He wrapped his arms around Scott, pulling himself against Scott's back.
Scott laughed, "It's no big deal. Hey, can you see if the coffee's done?"
Mitch poured the coffee into two mugs, and Scott set them each a plate with a large omelet. Mitch thanked him again, digging in eagerly.
"So, why don't we have a movie marathon today? I'll run to the store and then we can kick back and watch your favorites."
Mitch stared at Scott, his adorable smile lighting up his whole face. He opened his mouth, then closed it, nodding. "That sounds fantastic."
Scott dressed quickly, promising Mitch he'd be back soon. He hurried to the grocery store, buying popcorn, chips, and snacks for the rest of the day. When he returned, he found Mitch on his bed, surrounded by every pillow and blanket in their house.
"Finally! Let's go! I'm hungry and I want to start one of these!"
Scott chuckled, "You just ate an omelet as big as you are like an hour ago, Mitchie."
Mitch rolled his eyes, "Scott," he said seriously, "I'm ALWAYS hungry."
Scott laughed again, and popped a bag of popcorn which he brought to Mitch along with two bags of chips.
"Okay, first up, Rent!" Mitch declared happily. They watched, eating and talking and laughing. It warmed Scott's heart to see Mitch laughing, so he did whatever he could to cheer him up. Mitch's phone buzzed as they started a second movie, but he ignored it. When it went off again, he turned it off, tossing it away. Scott frowned, fearing he knew exactly who it was.
After their third movie, Scott got up and made a large bowl of pasta with Mitch's favorite sauce.
Their last movie ended around 10, but they ended up staying up late into the night talking about anything and everything. Around midnight, Mitch nodded off, his head resting on Scott's shoulder again.
Scott sucked in a breath and held it, not wanting to wake him up. He shifted slightly, trying to feel more comfortable. Mitch made a happy noise and rolled half over, letting his arm drape across Scott's stomach.
Scott flinched, and almost started to move away, but seeing the smile on Mitch's lips, he froze. He sighed, grinning down at his sleepy friend. Mitch mumbled something inaudible, and Mitch's arm resting on him was so warm, and the feeling of Mitch's breath against his neck soon lulled him to sleep.