Scott slept tight for almost 3 hours and then he woke up to soft voices.
"So one tea, one coffee and two tomato soups?"
"Mmhm, coffee" Scott mumbled.
"Make that two coffees and three tomato soups, please" Avi corrected.
"Sure, I'll bring it over in a bit."
Scott opened his eyes and saw that Avi was still sitting opposite while Mitch was beside him. "Hi. Did you just order food?"
"Yeah. And coffee" Mitch replied.
"Oh yes. Thank you" Scott said. He closed his eyes momentarily to rub them and then stretched out his arms. "Man, that was a much-needed nap."
Mitch nodded. "We could hear that," he joked. "Anyway, how was your day? I haven't heard from you since you bailed out last night and that bar we went to was amazing!"
Scott chuckled. "I saw the stories. But I was just done for the day. I guess Nick didn't like that I basically fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillows, but it is what it is" he explained.
"Well, I guess you didn't like having to stay in the hotel room the other night when we were out watching fireworks either" Mitch stated. "But you did."
"Because I didn't want him to be alone," Scott replied.
"See? And he shouldn't mind having a quiet night in, because you needed rest."
Scott shrugged his shoulders. "I know. But I can understand him, Mitch, after all, it was our last night together."
"Yeah, of course, but your health, be it mental or physical should be more important," Mitch said.
Scott nodded. "Yeah..." he said and sighed softly "Anyway, I don't want to talk about it right now, it's been a stressful week and I am ready for a break..."
Avi smiled slightly. "We'll have one in Zurich," he said and sighed softly. "Still three more shows to go."
"Yeah but that's okay. I'll be fine. I mean we have a late start tomorrow, right?" Scott asked.
"Yes. So late that I personally will ditch breakfast and go for a nice brunch in a café" Mitch said. "Outside, with some sun..."
"No shopping?" Scott asked, grinning widely.
"No. I need a retail break. Until we're in Milan that is" Mitch replied. "But yeah, feel free to join me for brunch. Just a quiet morning out somewhere, no talk about boyfriends and shit, okay?"
Scott smiled. "Count me in," he said, eager to finally spend some time with his best friend. "You, Avi?"
But Avi shook his head. "No, I have plans with Esther," he said. "But thank you for asking..."
"Of course..." Scott said and leaned his had back. "I could go for another nap..." he said and sighed. "But first I gotta use the bathroom."
As soon as he had left the compartment, Mitch looked at Avi. "What do you think?"
Avi shrugged his shoulders. "He seems drained which seems awful to me. I mean I remember when Beth joined us, I was sad when she left, maybe a bit tired, because I was keen on spending as much time with her as possible. But I never looked or felt like this. It almost seems as if he is getting sick."
"Mmhm, but it's impossible that he caught whatever Nick had in Hamburg, it's been two days," Mitch said. He sighed softly. "I just hope that we'll be able to help him eventually. I mean, while we're on tour it is easy to keep an eye on him, but as soon as we're home... I mean nothing is going on for us as a band and I feel like Nick is trying to seclude Scott from us, so what are we going to do?"
"We'll think about it once we're there. And it is only going to be a week until we're going to Mykonos" Avi explained.
Mitch raised an eyebrow. "I am still doubting they'll come along," he said.
"Why?" Avi wanted to know. "Everything is booked already and Scott paid the whole trip for them..."
"Nick will find a way to get them out of the vacation. I don't want this to happen, but I am sure" he said. "Read a lot about toxic people back when I was coming to terms with the whole Luca situation and even though it's different for everyone, I feel like Nick's scheme is to agree to things just so Scott stays happy and quiet and then he finds something so he can get around the event."
"Like he did in Hamburg?" Avi asked.
Mitch nodded. "Exactly." He then cleared his throat. "Yeah, I don't know if and what I will be doing in Zurich. But there will be something to explore, hopefully, good food and a bed... Or maybe I'll book myself in for some wellness. A good massage, hot tub..."
"I could go for a massage" Scott said as he joined his friends. "When and where?"
Mitch smiled. "Oh we were talking about our day off in Zurich he said," he said and exchanged a quick look with Avi. "So I'll count you in."
~
The following week passed quickly with concerts in Austria, Switzerland and Italy and sooner than they were ready for, they had reached the last stop of the tour, Rome.
"I cannot believe that we're already done with touring again," Mitch said. "Time passes so quickly when you're having fun."
Scott, who was stuck to his phone, only hummed.
"Scott, I am talking to you" Mitch tried again. "Who are you texting?"
When the blonde didn't react, Mitch moved to sit down next to him. "Of course. Nick. What happened this time?"
"Nothing, just..." Scott sighed.
Mitch raised an eyebrow and scrolled up in the conversation, knowing that Scott would stop him if it bothered him.
"My sister just called, Scott. I forgot that my Mum is celebrating her birthday in two weeks and it would be a foul move to miss it."
"Okay, just give me the date, maybe we'll have to amend the flights so we can get from there to Mykonos but it should be doable. I don't mind the extra stress for your Mum!"
"August 13."
"No" was the first thing Mitch said. "He is not doing this. You are not doing this. We're leaving for Mykonos on the 10th!"
Scott sighed. "I know... but his Mum."
"His Mum can celebrate without you for a change. If he wants to go there, fine with me, but you booked a vacation for fcks sake" Mitch tried again while Scott just typed away:
"We're supposed to fly out on the 10th. But her birthday is on the 8th? Monday? Why don't we make it the weekend before and then leave on Tuesday or Wednesday for Mykonos?"
"But I want to be there on the 13th, Scott. Come on, it's just a vacation. And we'll have Guadalupe for us!"
Mitch scoffed. "What a way of saying 'I don't want to spend time with your friends and I definitely don't want you to do that either'."
Scott sighed. "It's not like that, please don't talk like that about him..."
Mitch shook his head. "It's everything like that" he stated. "That man of yours is toxic and until you realise it, I will talk like that."
"Fine" Scott said. "Then maybe it's best if we don't talk at all. All you do is hate on him and I am so done with that."
Mitch scoffed again. "Fine. Make me that bad guy in your story. But mark my words: He is going to hurt you. And once that happens, you will think about this situation and realise that I was right." He got up and left the dressing room, shutting the door with more force than needed.
~~~~
