Chapter 154

Avi tilted his head a little. "Tired of waiting?" "Mhmm..." Scott suddenly froze, his shoulder muscles going stiff with the pillow still in his hand. "Do you think...? He'll leave to find someone better?" Avi scoffed. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It's not possible for him to be away from you for ten minutes, let alone the rest of his life." Scott let out a sigh. "You're right. He wouldn't..." Avi shook his head a little, walking up to Scott and taking the blanket from him, just to toss it onto the bed. "Look at me for a second." He paused. "You need to figure out how to split your attention. Mitchell can't be your only priority. You're not taking care of yourself, and because of that your insecurities are only getting worse." "I... I'm sorry." "Don't be sorry. Just take my advice and fix it." Scott nodded, turning to lay down on the couch. "Yes, Sir." "You're seriously going to sleep out here?" "Well... Yeah. If it'll make Mitch happy." Avi shook his head slowly, watching Scott get comfortable. "God, you're so... You're so damn hard on yourself." "I don't know what you mean." "You treat yourself like shit, thinking it'll make other people happy. You always throw your health down the drain just to protect the others. Even if it's disproportionate. Like... You'd rather someone cut off your entire arm, then let anyone else get slapped." "Well, I mean--" "How much do you have to hate yourself, for your brain to convince itself of that?" "I don't hate myself." "Maybe not. But you definitely don't make yourself a priority." "Of course not. The Omegas are the first priority. Then the Betas, and then you. If that's all said and done, then I'm the next one." "That doesn't make any sense. Fuck, what did the Counsel do to you, Rookie?" Scott didn't answer, until he spoke quietly. "I'd like to go to bed, Alpha." Avi took a deep breath, and then sighed loudly. "Rooks, I'm not gonna let you sleep on the couch." "It's just a punishment, Av. The Omegas have done them before, so why not let an Alpha take one?" "No. No, no, no." Avi got a little louder each time. "And finally, no." "Why not? It's only fair." "It isn't fair. First of all, you don't have the mindset of an Omega. Second, even if you did, we stopped doing punishments unless absolutely necessary. And finally, you don't deserve a punishment for simply not conforming to every single thing your Omega asks of you." Scott frowned at him. "He doesn't want me near him, Alpha. I don't know what you want me to do." Avi was quiet for a second. "Just... Come with me, babes." He turned to walk down the hall. Scott jumped up. "Wait, I have to move these--" "I'll take care of it. Just come here." Scott followed him cautiously. Avi walked into his own room, Kirstie standing near the bed. Avi raised an eyebrow. "Kitten? Why are you up?" "Got up when you did, and then wanted to check on Gracie." Avi nodded slowly, waving Scott into the room. "So, Princess. Scott here, needs a place to sleep for the night. Can he stay here with you?" Kirstie shrugged and rubbed one of her eyes. "Yes of course. I don't mind. Are you not staying then?" "I think I'm gonna set myself up on the floor of Grace's room. I know you haven't been sleeping much, as you're constantly caring for her. So I thought I'd take a turn, and then you can catch up on your sleep." Scott was the first to veto the idea. "Wait, no. I can't just take your bed and make you sleep on the floor. It's my fault I'm even in this mess." Kirstie waved them both over, after crawling into the bed. "We can make it work. Come on, you two. You need sleep more than anyone." Avi walked over immediately, though Scott hesitated a second. Scott ended up in the middle of the couple, as he was too big to be on the edge, because Avi was worried he'd fall off the bed. Kirstie on the other hand, just wanted him in the middle so he'd feel loved rather than like a third wheel. Scott had both of them under his arms, Kirstie's head on Scott's chest, and Avi's on Scott's upper arm. Kirstie reached across Scott's chest to hold Avi's hand, and then she smiled as she fell asleep. Avi looked up at Scott, checking to see if he was asleep yet, which he was not. Scott was just staring at the ceiling, one of his hands subconsciously running up and down Kirstie's arm to help her sleep. Avi spoke as quietly as he could. "Hey, Rooks. You planning on sleeping, ever?" "Once I can get myself to stop feeling so terrible, yeah." "Terrible? Why?" "Because... I should be brave enough to give Mitch what he--" "Oh for the love of-- Scott Richard Grassi-Hoying, will you stop that? It's not about being brave, and it has nothing to do with how much you love him. If you're not ready, then you shouldn't rush yourself into something you're not comfortable with." Scott stopped talking, not wanting to discuss it any further.