While they waited for Nick to finish packing his stuff the four of them sat down on the sofa. Ben made a round of coffee for them.
"You should go home" Scott replied, taking a sip of his coffee. "I can deal with him."
"That's not happening," Kirstie said. "Not until he left."
"But you must be tired and hungry and I don't want to keep you from going home. We had a long travel day" the blonde tried again.
"You aren't keeping us from anything," Ben said as he sat down next to his fiancé. "Nick is keeping us from it."
Scott just hummed and leaned his head against Avi's shoulder, closing his eyes. "I'm drained," he said.
"I get that. I noticed how unsteady you slept on the plane" Avi replied. "You can sleep, soon. But do you want to eat something first? If everyone is hungry we could order something?"
"Oh yes," Kirstie said. "There's this Mexican place. I love it, but they don't deliver to where I live. I could go for a good old burrito?"
Scott opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Me too. It's on me. Just..." he took out his phone and unlocked it, then handed it over to her. "Order something for everyone. I'll have a classic burrito with some fries. And some churros to share, please."
"Got it," Kirstie said and Scott closed his eyes again, knowing that his friends would handle the situation. He even drifted off for a few minutes but jerked up when he heard a noise coming from the hallway. He knew that it was Nick and got up.
But Kirstie was quicker and in the hallway before Scott was. "Do you have everything you need right now? No coming back tonight" she said to Nick, who was carrying his big suitcase.
"Yeah," the other man said and sighed. "What about the rest of my stuff?"
Kirstie raised an eyebrow and turned to Scott. "When are you going to Texas?"
"On Wednesday. I'm staying until Tuesday" the blonde man replied.
"Good" Kirstie said and turned back to Nick. "You choose one of the days he isn't here and let me know. I'll be here so you can pick up whatever is left. Is it much?"
Nick shook his head. "No. But I can just keep the keys and drop by" he argued.
"Oh no. The keys stay here" Kirstie said and opened her hand, waited until Nick reluctantly dropped his keys. "Good. You have my number, just text me."
Nick wanted to leave but then stopped and looked over Kirstie's shoulder at Scott.
"Did you forget anything?" Kirstie asked.
"He did" Scott spoke up and went back into the kitchen only to come back with the bouquet of roses in his hand. "I don't want them," he said and handed them over to Nick.
"Scott, please-"
"Take them and leave. Now" the blonde said.
Nick faltered for an additional moment but then grabbed the bouquet and opened the front door. "I wished you had given me another chance to prove myself to you, Scott. It's not fair, but I accept your decision" he said before he closed the door behind him.
Scott took a deep breath. "He's gone" he whispered.
Kirstie smiled at him. "He is," she said and took his hand. "Giving him the flowers was a good gesture to show him that it's really over."
Scott shrugged his shoulders. "I just didn't want them here. Didn't want them to remind me of him. I hate roses so much."
Kirstie squeezed his hand. "He's gone now so don't worry. No more roses."
"I think roses are overrated anyway," Avi said as he joined them.
Scott smiled at him. "Good," he said. "But you don't need to come here when he picks up his stuff. I can do it, Kirstie."
But the woman just shook her head. "No. You go home and enjoy time with your family. I deal with Nick. You'd do the same for me. You already did the same for me. Remember when you helped me move out of Kyle's apartment late at night because he cheated?"
Scott chuckled softly. "Yeah," he said. "It was wild because someone had already so many clothes back then."
"See? And this is my payback" Kirstie replied. She let go of Scott's hand and walked back into the living room, knowing that the two men might need a moment.
"How are you feeling, Scott?"
Scott shrugged his shoulders. "Still drained but happy to have him gone."
Avi nodded. "I get that. So dinner and then it's off to bed?"
"I should shower before," Scott said.
Avi smiled. "Then we'll shower first."
Scott furrowed his brows. "We?"
Avi nodded. "You don't think that I'll leave you alone tonight, don't you?"
"But... don't you want to go home?" Scott asked. "You don't need to stay."
"Scott. I won't leave you alone in here until you had the opportunity to get the locks changed" Avi explained.
"He wouldn't..." Scott began but then he shook his head. "I really don't know what he would or wouldn't do anymore. Thank you, Avi."
Avi stood on the tips of his toes and pressed a soft kiss onto the blonde's cheek. "You're welcome," he said softly.
Scott opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. "Dinner," he said happily and opened the door to accept the delivery.
~
Dinner itself was a quick and quiet affair. The four of them were tired and Ben and Kirstie were happy to leave after their burritos and a few churros. They made plans to meet up on Tuesday and to stay in contact before they got into their uber and left Scott and Avi alone.
"Do you want to watch some TV, or..." Scott asked, but Avi just shook his head.
"Let's just shower and go to bed, okay?" Avi said. "We're both tired and I cannot wait to just cuddle up with you."
Scott nodded. "Alright." He waited until Avi had grabbed a set of spare clothes and together they went upstairs into the bedroom.
"Do you want to shower first?" Scott asked and then he looked at the bed. It wasn't made, Nick always hated to make the bed and suddenly he realised. "He slept here."
"Yeah?" Avi asked confused. Then he understood. "Why don't you show me where you keep your spare linen and I'll change it while you're in the bathroom?"
"Avi..."
"The linen, Scott" Avi insisted with a slight smile on his face.
~
A while later they both were freshly showered and lying in the bed, which Avi had freshly made. Scott was on his back and Avi was curled up on his side.
"Thank you for staying, Avi," Scott said softly. "And for the bed and everything else you did for me."
Avi looked up at him. "You're welcome," he said. "And there's no need to thank me every time. Just know that I like doing things for you. Whatever you need, just let me know and we'll figure it out. Okay?"
Scott nodded. "Yeah. But for now, I'm fine right here and right now with you. And tired."
Avi leaned up and kissed him softly. "Then we should sleep, Scott. Good night."
Scott returned the kiss and smiled slightly. "Good night, Avi."
~~~~
