Scott spent the rest of the day taking care of his laundry, calling his mother and texting with Mitch for a while. His best friend, of course, encouraged him and his plans for the date he had planned and told him once more to make an appointment with a therapist which Scott decided to do the next morning. After having some takeout for dinner, he watched a movie and decided to go to bed early.
Before he put his phone away, his finger hovered over the keyboard, he was wondering whether he should text Avi or whether it would be too much. While he was still thinking about it, he got a message from the bearded man:
"Hi, Scott. I just wanted to check in with you. I hope you had a good day and I am already looking forward to seeing you tomorrow."
"Avi! I was just about to text you. I had a busy day, but a nice one nevertheless. I cannot wait for tomorrow either. I hope you are well as well."
"I am. Did a lot of housework today and now I'm tired and in bed already."
"Same here. Am just about to turn off the lights."
"Well, then sleep tight and I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Scott."
"Good night, Avi."
Scott put his phone away and was glad that they had the little exchange. It was weird being in bed alone after so many nights of sleeping next to Avi, but he knew that it was something he had to get used to for the time being.
~
When Avi woke up the next morning, he felt well-rested and ready to tackle the day. He looked over to his right side and almost expected to find a mess of blonde hair on the other pillow but then he realised that he was at home and so was Scott. And while he missed Scott, he knew that he had the date in the afternoon to look forward to. So he got up, started the day with a meditation and a quick breakfast and then got to work. He still had to take care of a lot of things before his date.
The morning passed quickly and soon Avi was showered and dressed for his date. He had decided to wear a pair of good skinny jeans and paired them with one of the shirts he had bought in Mykonos. Together with a necklace and a hair tie wrapped around his arm, he deemed himself ready.
Scott arrived on time and Avi smiled happily when he saw him standing in front of his door. "Hello Scott" he greeted him with a bright smile on his face.
"Well hello handsome" the blonde returned and leaned in for a hug and a soft kiss. "Are you ready to go out?"
Avi nodded. "I am" he replied and grabbed his keys, phone and wallet. "Ready and still wondering where you'll take me."
Scott smiled, but he shook his head. "Well, this is for me to know and for you to find out eventually. But it's going to be fun."
"I'm up for fun," Avi said as he got into Scott's car.
"Good," Scott said and started the car. "What have you been up to?"
"Not much. Laundry, a bit of cleaning and repacking for Visalia" Avi explained. "How about you?"
"Almost the same. But I also texted Mitch and made an appointment for therapy" Scott replied.
"That's good, Scott," Avi said. "I'm glad that you're tackling it right away."
Scott nodded. "Yeah. I must admit that I thought I could do without, but then I realised how stressed I was over the pancakes. And it showed me how much influence he had on me" he explained. "And I think talking to a therapist will help, especially because I don't want to bother you all the time with these issues I have. No one wants to keep hearing stories about the ex."
"Actually Scott, I wouldn't mind. If there's a situation that makes you uncomfortable or if you're having flashbacks or anything, I would like it if you let me know so we can work on the situation together? Even if you feel like you're bothering me, you could never." He smiled when Scott took his hand at a red light.
"I get that. But I still want to try therapy first" he explained.
"Therapy is good," Avi said and smiled back at him. "I can listen to you and try to help you, but a professional can give you advice and coping strategies."
Scott nodded. "That's what I hope. Also, it is someone who doesn't know Nick. I know that you're always trying to be civil, but Mitch definitely isn't. Having someone who only knows me and who is only interested in my side of the story without anger or anything might be good, too. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going there next Thursday. No more talking about it, we're having a date today." The blonde steered his car through the traffic and then finally parked at their destination.
"Here?" Avi asked and looked around.
Scott nodded. "Yeah," he said smiled slightly and got out of the car. "I thought we could play some miniature golf? We can also do something else if you don't like it. I just thought."
Avi grinned. "That's a wonderful idea, Scott," he said, trying to not show how sad he was about the blonde's sudden insecurity.
"Really?"
Avi walked around the car and took Scott's hands. "Really, Scott. I think it will be a lot of fun beating you."
Scott looked up at the bearded man. "Beating me?"
"Yeah," Avi said, a grin on his face. "You don't think you're better than me, right?"
Scott chuckled and shook his head. "Well I do think that you don't stand a chance against me" he returned.
Avi scoffed playfully. "Well, you're in for a devastating defeat Scotty."
"Oh if you're too full of yourself let's up the ante: Loser has to cook dinner for the other one next week" Scott offered. "What do you think?"
Avi grinned and looked up into Scott's eyes. "Well, you better be prepared to whip out the pans and pots," he said.
Scott just chuckled. "We'll see about that" he returned and let go of one of Avi's hands. "Let's go."
~~~~
