Chapter 43

Todrick lead Kirstie out of the room to pick out a color of nail polish, when Kevin turned to Scott. "Will you please stay with him?" "What about Mitch? He can't be alone. And I refuse to let him sleep without me, considering what's happened today." Scott shot back. Kevin sighed, glancing to Mitch. "You need to take some vitamins if you're going to stay in a room with him. But don't get too close to him. No hugging or anything. Come with me really quick." Scott watched them leave, before taking his shirt off and climbing onto the bed beside Avi. Avi started a sentence, before stopping to cough, and then tried again. "You don't have to stay. I'm fine on my own." "No, no. It's cool. Alpha sleepover." Scott mumbled, his face pressed into a pillow. Scott was lying on top of the covers, allowing Avi to see all of him. "Nice pants, Rookie." He remarked. Scott mumbled back a halfhearted, "Thanks." Avi chuckled a little. "Where'd you get them?" "Don't know. Got them for Christmas." "Really? From who?" Kevin opened the door for Mitch, and then corrected Avi. "You mean whom." Avi looked up at him. "Do I really? Who says that anymore?" "Classy people. Goodnight you three. Try not to argue." Kevin said, closing the door quickly after so they couldn't yell at him. Scott sighed, and then felt the bed dip beside him as Mitch cuddled up to his side. Avi sighed too. "How many pills did he make you take, Peanut?" "6." Avi snorted. "Of course he did." He glanced over at him again. "You sleep with all your clothes on? Isn't it like.. Bad to sleep in jeans?" Scott looked over at Mitch, fully clothed. "Strip down a little, honey. You'll get too hot." Mitch frowned. "You're still wearing pants." "Yeah, but I'm not going to complain about being too hot. Just.. Take my advice, alright?" Mitch nodded and got up from the bed, stripping down to just his boxers. Avi laughed a little. "For a second I thought those were Scott's boxers." Scott and Mitch exchanged a knowing look, before Mitch climbed into bed next to them. Mitch poked Scott's back. "Aren't you going to take stuff off too?" "Wasn't planning on it." Scott mumbled tiredly. Avi patted his bare shoulder. "Nothing to be ashamed of, Rookie. Everyone's seen you naked. You used to take pride in that." Scott didn't answer. "What if I promise to keep my hands to myself?" Avi asked sarcastically. Scott looked over at him. "Leave me alone. I'm comfortable in what I'm wearing." Mitch frowned again, kissing Scott's shoulder blade lightly. "Do you not think you're beautiful anymore?" Scott just shook his head, trying to sleep. Avi sat up a little, poking Scott's arm. "Come on now. Don't be like that. Tell me what's wrong." "Avi, just be quiet. Please." Scott replied. Avi shook his head, confused why Scott was suddenly so uncomfortable in his own skin. "Scott, we need to talk about this. You've never acted like this before." Mitch set his chin on Scott's arm, looking at Avi. "Actually... Lately he's been acting like this a lot. Always shy about his body, and stuff." Scott still remained quiet, hoping if they thought he'd fallen asleep, they'd leave him alone. Avi continued to poke him though. "Scottie. Talk to me. Or I'll take them off for you." Scott snorted to himself. "Pants off, dance off." Mitch gave him a disapproving look. "Don't make jokes. This is serious, Alpha." Scott finally sighed and sat up before standing from the bed completely. "You know what? Fine." He unzipped and dropped his pants, throwing them near his shirt before climbing back into the bed, avoiding their eye contact at all times. He flopped back down, face first to evade their worried eyes. Mitch laid his top half down on Scott's back, curling into the warmth with a small grin. Avi leaned towards Scott's ear to whisper to him. "If you think you just avoided that conversation, you're wrong." Scott turned his head a little. "What conversation? All I did was what you asked me to do. I don't know what more you want." Avi huffed and laid back down to cough, before glancing over at Scott again. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. We'll take care of it in the morning I guess." Scott rolled his eyes and turned his head, grumbling to himself. "Even when you're sick you're a pain in my ass." Avi sat up slowly, glaring at him. "I'm sorry? I don't think I heard you correctly."