Chapter 50

Scott finally motivated himself to get in the car, after Avi told them to wait at whatever restaurant they were planning on visiting, so he could drive down to get them. Scott assumed he'd bring Jake or Travis so one person could drive Scott's car and one could drive Avi's. And it was a good thing, too. Scott had only been driving for a few minutes, but his arms were already protesting. Mitch frowned at him. "Are you okay?" "Arms hurt. You guys were heavier than you looked." "A little over six hundred pounds, I guess. I mean... If you assume we're all around the same." "Mitchie, not everyone weighs as little as you do. I'd say more like seven hundred, but okay." "I'm trying to give you sympathy, and you're being mean." Scott sighed, one hand dropping from the wheel to reach over and hold Mitch's hand. "I'm sorry, my angel. I'm just tired, and it's making me kind of grumpy." Mitch squeezed his hand. "It's okay. You'll feel better after you eat." "Speaking of; we still have no idea where we're going." Mitch frowned, looking out the window. He wanted to pick something quickly, so Scott wouldn't have to drive more than a few minutes. "How about that one?" He pointed at a French restaurant. "Really? That's where you want to go?" "Looks interesting. And kind of romantic." "Oh... Just like Kevin." Mitch giggled. "You think Kevin's romantic?" "Yeah, actually. I do. But sure. I'm down. It's a cute little building. Will you call Avi and tell him the address when we see the street sign?" Mitch nodded, opening the console in the middle of the front seat to look for Scott's phone. "Uh... Help?" Scott frowned. "I think it's in my jeans again. Hang on, I'll grab it after I turn the car around." Mitch just leaned over the console, reaching into Scott's front pocket. Scott flinched away from him. "No, no. Back pocket. Seriously Mitchie, I'll get it in a second." Mitch truly didn't see the problem, and reached under him to slide the phone out of his pocket. "You don't have to pretend to be shy with me. It's not like I haven't touched much worse places if you know what I'm--" "Mitch!" Scott interrupted, purely out of embarrassment. Mitch just giggled. "You're so cute. It's so funny how flustered you get in public, but when we're alone you're like... A sex machine. Omega in the streets, Daddy in the sheets, yeah?" Scott blushed again, looking over his shoulder before turning into the drive of the small restaurant. "I-I guess." "Do you prefer Daddy or Alpha?" "Neither right now, thank you." Mitch waited for the car to be parked, before he turned to Scott. "Hey..? Can I ask you something real quick?" "Of course." "Do you ever think about, like... Being the Strongest? And... They might put you in charge of the Counsel some day? Especially if you keep doing all these nice things for people like you did a few minutes ago. Saving peoples lives and all that." "I don't think they'd want me in charge just for that. I'm good at taking orders. Just like a few minutes ago, I listened to that Beta and made it happen. I'm not a leader." "But still... Whenever Kevin watches those history channels, they always say that the leader is the strongest fighter. And that's you." Scott took a second to think about that, and shifted in his seat a little. "Listen... If they ever ask me to lead anything, I'll say no. Avi deserves to be in charge. I know he has a small behavioral problem, which he's working on... But he never fails to get the job done." Mitch nodded slowly. "I guess that makes sense... And he has the confidence for it, I suppose." "See? He's perfect." "I never said he wasn't. I'm just saying... People are gonna start looking up to you." "So? Avi can still be the leader." Mitch decided to leave it, not wanting to argue. "Will you tell me the address so I can call Avi?" ********* When Avi showed up, Scott and Mitch were sitting on a bench outside the restaurant, a box of leftovers beside them. He considered apologizing for making them wait, but neither boy seemed very bothered by it. Scott was already half asleep, but when Avi let them in the car, Scott laid down with his head in Mitch's lap, closing his eyes and not opening them for a while. Jake was now driving Scott's car, leading Avi back to the house. Mitch suddenly spoke to Avi, when they drove by a familiar cliff near the road. "Alpha?" "Yes, Tiny?" "Have you ever seen that game with the red barrel full of monkeys? And you have to hook them all together, and they just like.. Hang there?" "Vaguely. Why?" "I did that today!" "Really? Where on earth did you find one of those? I thought they stopped selling them." "No, no! I mean I really did that! Scott was the big monkey, holding all the other monkeys." "This isn't some kind of extended metaphor that I'm completely oblivious to, is it? Because I still have no idea what you're talking about." "Someone was hurt. Fell down the side of the hill a little. But we saved her!" Avi met his eyes in the mirror. "You..? How?" "The barrel of monkeys!" "Okay... I'm kind of getting the picture. Guess I'll ask Scott about it later." "I mean, that's why he's so tired after all. He worked hard today."