Chapter 6

                                    

                                          
     Mitch had been sitting on his bed staring at the floor for almost a full hour, not sure how to process everything that happened this past week. His heart was yanked in so many directions that it ached and his brain couldn't seem to slow down enough to form a full coherent thought. Mitch hadn't gotten a call from Connie yet, which could either be bad or good, and Scott hadn't replied to any of the texts Angelica had sent on Mitch's behalf. He spent a good portion of the evening just slowly packing he and Scott's things up, ashamed of himself for putting on one of Scott's t-shirts and even sneaking one into his own luggage to keep. When everything was folded neatly he sat on the bed and hadn't moved since.
                          
     He nearly jumped out of his skin when the bedroom door flew open. 
                          
     "She was upset." Scott's words weighed on him, along with the blanket of shame covering his heart. He nodded his head and averted his eyes to the floor. "But she kept saying that I was lying to her when I was telling her the truth." Mitch's brows furrowed at this and he tilted his head, trying to understand. "She kept saying that I was lying when I told her that we weren't actually a couple in love." As if Mitch's heart needed any more assault, Scott's words pushed the knife in that much farther.
                          
     Scott hadn't moved from where he was in the doorway. His heart was pounding hard, partly from taking the stairs from two at a time and partly from nerves. He stood still, watching Mitch's body language change as he tried his best to explain his thoughts clearly and was surprised to see him curling in on himself. Usually, Mitch was not afraid of confrontation with him and would step up to face him.
                          
     "She--" Scott cut himself off when his eyes drifted around the room, tidier than before and suitcases full and zipped neatly in the corner, and to his shirt draped over the body that was writhing underneath his own just one night ago. Mitch finally looked up at his abrupt stop. "She isn't completely wrong, Mitch."
                          
     Mitch drew in a shaky breath, unsure of how to respond and not really understanding why Scott was telling him this in the first place. Their eyes never broke contact as Scott came closer and took a seat next to him on the bed. Scott's voice lowered to a whisper, his confidence slowly crumbling the longer he sat feeling vulnerable. "I wasn't lying last night, or the night before that, or getting to hold you and kiss you like we were more than friends." 
                          
     Mitch closed his eyes, breaking their contact and swallowed the thick lump in his throat. "I don't know if I was lying or not." And it was true. Mitch had been second-guessing the motives behind his actions since Angelica told him to make sure of what he wanted. He opened his eyes to a blank face. There was no hint of emotion behind Scott's eyes and Mitch could tell this was exactly what Angelica meant. After a second of staring, Scott nodded his head subtlely.
                          
     "Okay. Everything is back to how it was then." Scott was doing his best to be okay with this situation. He let a small smile grace his face to reassure Mitch that they were okay, but he knew it didn't come off as sincere as he hoped. Mitch returned the same smile.
                          
***
                          
     "Angelica was right, Kirst. Scott acts like he is okay but he stops faking when he thinks I'm not looking." Mitch adjusted the phone against his ear as his gaze drifted over Scott's back through the window. He was leaning against the balcony, arms spread wide on the rail and head and shoulders slumped forwards.
                          
     "I know, I see it too." Kirstie sighed on the other end of the phone admitting to what she had witnessed over the past three weeks since they have been home. "But you want to know a secret?"
                          
     "What?"
                          
     "You are sad too." Mitch let the curtain fall back into place, blocking his view of outside. "Both of you try so hard to be normal -- whatever that means-- around each other but you both are hurting inside." Mitch let out a puff of air, on the verge of denying what she was telling him. "What happened to the Mitch that practically admitted to me he had feelings for his best friend? The person that was ecstatic to announce he made love with his best friend?" He didn't have an answer for her. "Look, I know that what my mom said had some truth to it. But maybe, you need to let yourselves decide what is best for y'all without any pressures from anyone else. No lying, no Connie, no Angelica, no parents in general, not even the social media managers. You and Scott. That's it."