It was 9.40 am. Mitch had been waiting in his car in front of his best friend's house for the past ten minutes. Usually, it was him who was late, but for the past weeks, Scott had been unreliable. And Mitch had yet to understand why.
Finally, five minutes later, Scott rushed out of the front door. "Good morning Mitch. Thank you for picking me up" he greeted once he got into the car.
Mitch raised an eyebrow. "I've been waiting for fifteen minutes now, Scott. You do realise that we have a schedule we need to stick to? And this schedule doesn't include waiting for Mr Hoying to finally show up." He said all this while steering the car out onto the street so they wouldn't be too late to rehearsal.
Scott sighed. "I'm sorry. I..."
"Yeah?" Mitch asked. "Honestly, an explanation for your unusual behaviour would be appreciated."
"Nothing. Just got carried away. Nick is working from home this week and we had breakfast" Scott said, smiling brightly.
Mitch rolled his eyes. "Well... set a second alarm next time. One for getting up and the second so you leave the house on time."
"Yes, I will, Mitch, sorry," Scott said. He looked out of the window and sighed softly.
"What's wrong?" Mitch asked.
"Nothing" Scott replied. "I'm okay. Just a little tired if I am honest. I... we painted the living room yesterday." He leaned forward and turned the up the music.
Mitch looked over to his best friend. He didn't know what to make of his behaviour. For a while now he had been different. Arriving late, leaving as soon as they were done with whatever they needed to do. Yet, Mitch was able to understand him. Nick, Scott's boyfriend was in the process of moving out of his place and renting it out. There was a lot to do and Scott definitely wanted to support his boyfriend and have everything finished before the European tour which would be starting in two weeks.
Scott didn't talk much on the drive, he only offered to pay for the round of coffee they were getting for the group and then greeted their band colleagues in the rehearsal studio. "Morning."
"Good morning. Late again, hmm?"
"Yeah, sorry about that. It got late last night. We're still renovating" Scott said. He scratched the back of his head and then adjusted the snapback he was wearing. "Coffee is on me. I just need to go to the bathroom and then we can start, okay?"
Avi smiled at him. "Of course, Scott," he said. "We won't run away."
Once Scott had left, Mitch sighed heavily.
"What's wrong, Mitch" Kirstie asked.
"I don't know. But I hate how Scott is behaving right now. It's like he has been replaced by a twin. I hate seeing him like that" Mitch replied. "He's not happy right now and I hate it."
"He's probably just tired" Avi spoke up. "He must be stressed out between Nick's move, the renovation and tour prep."
"I know, but why doesn't he get help?" Mitch asked. "When he started talking about the move I gave him the card of the people who did my house. Why does he do it all on his own?"
"Maybe he wants to? Together with Nick?" Avi spoke up. "Remember that we all offered our help and he refused. Give him some time to adjust to the new situation, he'll be alright."
Mitch nodded. "I just hope that it'll get better, soon."
"I think so" Kirstie chimed in. "Once we hit the road and he's in tour mode, he'll be back. Don't worry, Mitch."
"Yes, I hope so" Mitch replied and took a sip of his coffee. "Anyway, what do we need to do today?"
"First we need to fix the setlist and then we'll start on choreography," Kevin said. "So... round table first."
~
In the end, they worked for the better part of the day, first on the setlist and then on the choreography.
Mitch noticed that during their breaks, Scott often was on his phone texting at a rapid speed. "Any issues?" He finally asked during the last break in the afternoon.
"Hmm?" Scott looked up momentarily but turned his phone away so Mitch couldn't read it.
"You've been texting non-stop during our breaks. I'm just wondering if everything is alright. You know, best friend worries" Mitch replied, trying to be as cheerful as possible.
"Oh yes, everything is fine" Scott replied. "Nick just had some questions and I wanted to reply as quickly as possible. He knows that I can only reply during our breaks though."
"Are we doing anything after rehearsal?" Kirstie joined the two men with a smile on her face. "I asked the others and everyone is in on dinner."
Mitch nodded. "Sure! Sounds like a wonderful plan" he agreed and looked at his best friend, who was once again on his phone. "Scott?"
"Yeah?"
"We're having dinner together after the rehearsal. Are you in?"
"Errm, I..." Scott started. "I would love to, Mitch, but there's still so much to do our house and I want to get it finished."
Mitch pouted. "You've been working non-stop on your house. Don't you think that you deserve a day off? Come on. Live a little. I'm sure Nick can be without you for one night."
"Mitch, I would love to" Scott replied. "But not today. And there'll be a lot of dinners together once we're in Europe." He tried to be cheerful, but Mitch noticed that he really wasn't feeling like that.
"That's alright Scott" Kirstie spoke up. "Just remember to not pull an all-nighter. You have issues following choreography and usually, it's Avi who is struggling hard."
"You know that I am right here?" Avi called over.
Kirstie chuckled. "I know. But you know that it's the truth. Choreography really isn't your forte, Avi."
"But I can do this." Avi proceeded to do somebody rolls which had everyone laugh.
Everyone but Scott. The blonde was still focused on his phone and only put it away when they ended the break.
~~~~
A/N: Finally got an idea. I hope you like the prologue. More coming soon!
