Chapter 151

Scott pulled away from the hug. "He died?" Mitch nodded sadly. "And you two knew him? Is that why she was so upset about it?" Mitch looked down at the floor. "He was one of our best friends.. But he and Kirstin were like.. Closer than family. She told me he had cancer.. And one day, he just.. Stopped coming to school." Scott stared at Mitch, waiting to see if he would break down. But he didn't. Scott pulled Mitch in for a brief kiss, and then hugged him again. "I'm sorry, baby. No one deserves to go out like that. I'm sorry you lost a friend." Mitch didn't hug back, but instead tucked his arms into himself to be fully enveloped in Scott's warmth. "Kirstie was so upset about it.. Took me two whole days to get her to sleep again. A few more to get her to eat. That's why she and I are so close now, I guess.." Scott swayed their bodies a little bit, trying to be comforting. "You weren't as upset about it?" "Well.. I mean, obviously, death is terrible. I just.. Wasn't as close to him as she was. I mean, I knew him. Pretty well, actually.. I think I was just so busy trying to cheer Kirstin up, that I didn't really think about being sad myself." Scott ran his hands up and down Mitch's back, giving them a moment of silence. "Well.. Thank you for telling me." Mitch nodded into his chest. "Yeah." Scott moved back and kissed Mitch's forehead. "Does she still talk about him?" Mitch shook his head slowly. "No. Maybe once every few months." Scott nodded, and turned to leave. Mitch set a hand on his arm. "Sir? What does 'Dark Berry' mean?" Scott sighed and grabbed one of Mitch's hands. "This is going to be hard for you to understand, because you're such a kind person. But.. You know Kevin is a different skin color than we are. And some people made fun of him for being different. That was his nickname to people who judged him." Mitch just blinked at him, eyebrows furrowed. "Why would they make fun of him for that?" "I don't know, Pumpkin." Mitch frowned. "That's so mean..." Scott kissed his forehead again. "You have such a good heart.. Don't let anyone ever change that, okay?" Mitch nodded. "Okay." ******** Avi walked out into the living room, and knelt down in front of where Kirstie was sitting on the couch. "Please, baby. Please, tell me." She felt tears pushing at the back of her eyes as she desperately searched for the words. "He.. He was a friend of mine. A friend whose life was cut short." Avi put his hands on her legs. "Oh, baby. I'm so sorry. What happened to him?" She looked down at her lap, and the first tear fell. "Cancer.." Avi jumped up to sit on the couch. He wiped away some of her tears with his thumbs, resting his hands on her face. " I'm so sorry. Life is unfair that way sometimes." She shook her head a little and tried to stop crying. "I don't want to be sad about it anymore. I want him to be a good memory.. I want to smile when I think of him. Not cry.." Avi smiled at her and nodded. "Okay. That's a good plan. Just. Think of all the happy things you two did together. Don't think about the way it ended.. Think about how it started. How you first met. Happy things." She smiled and tried to think for a minute. Avi respected the silence, and put a hand on one of her thighs. And this lead into a long conversation about Kirstin and James' happiest moments. When the conversation was over, nothing more needed to be said. Kirstin let Avi carry her into the bedroom, now that it was late at night, and Avi told her how proud he was. Mitch and Scott were in a similar situation in their own room, a long discussion only just beginning. Scott had an arm under Mitch's head, while Mitch laid down facing him. Mitch trailed a hand down Scott's chest, before meeting his eyes. "What happened with the other Alpha? That Mr. Kaplan was talking about.." Scott smiled at him. "You never miss a thing, do you?" Mitch smiled and shook his head. Scott sighed, thinking about it. "That same Alpha that harassed me in the store.. He saw me at the Alpha meeting we went to. And he said some awful things to me.." "Like what?" Scott tried a half smile. "That doesn't matter. What matters is, he got off my back because of Avi. But I never wanted to do any of the things he said. I never even wanted to talk to him." Mitch traced shapes into Scott's chest with his finger as he listened. "Okay.. So why was it such a big deal when Avi's dad said something about it?" "I didn't even tell you about it. Avi had no right to say something to his dad about a thing that happened to me. It was none of his business." Scott said, somewhat angrily. "Can I ask you something else?" Scott pulled Mitch a little closer to him, rubbing circles into his arm. "Of course you can." "Would you rather that I wore make-up? Because I can. And I will..." Mitch said quietly. Scott shook his head and smiled. "Never, in a million years, will I want you to cover your beautiful face with that stuff." "But the other Alphas said you might want to kiss it off of me.. Or watch me cry it off, or something like that." Mitch explained in confusion. Scott closed his eyes and pulled Mitch flush against his body. "No, sweetie. They were just being gross. I love you, exactly the way you are. If you wanted to wear make-up, I would support you. I would love you all the same. But I won't force you to. You are absolutely gorgeous without it." ********