The rest of the week passed rather uneventful. They worked in the studio and had meetings and one of the three nights Scott slept over at Avi's place. On Saturday, Avi and Scott spent the day together doing some shopping and then drove to Scott's place to get ready for the double date with Mitch and Francis.
"Where are we going, Scott?" Avi asked as he was styling his hair.
Scott, who was in the adjacent bedroom, came into the bathroom. "Mitch said Francis chose the place. It's a BBQ place, called Papa Joe's or something like that."
"Never heard of it. But if Francis really is a BBQ nerd, it'll be good" Avi returned.
"I think so, too" Scott replied while he put on his pants and grabbed a shirt.
"Yeah" Avi returned. He sprayed himself with his cologne and then went into the bedroom where he put on his clothes, a pair of skinny jeans and his favourite shirt, the one he bought with Mitch.
"Gorgeous" Scott commented.
Avi chuckled. "So are you," he said.
"Thank you" Scott returned. "Mitch just texted, by the way. The uber is at his place in five minutes so they'll be here in 10."
"Alright. I'm looking forward to meeting the man that makes Mitch so happy" Avi said. "And for some good food as well."
"Mmhm... me too. I hope he is nice" Scott returned.
"Oh you sound sceptic, Scott. What is it?" Avi asked.
Scott shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing. Just want the man he found to be good to and for him, you know? And it is not easy finding the right guy. Mitch had a lot of issues in the past and he deserves to have a wonderful boyfriend" he explained.
"I think that's what we all want for the people we love" Avi returned. "And I get that you're unsure. But just get to know him. Give him a chance."
"I will don't worry" Scott replied and leaned in to press a soft kiss onto Avi's temple. "I'm glad that they've found one another and I hope that it will last."
Avi chuckled. "Good."
~
Half an hour later, Scott, Mitch and Avi were sitting in an uber approaching the restaurant Francis had chosen for them. They were talking about a song they had been working on when suddenly, Mitch pointed out of the window.
"There he is," he said and smiled happily when he saw his boyfriend approaching the restaurant on foot.
Scott looked out of the window when they passed him and stopped in front of the restaurant about 200 metres down the road.
"Shall we wait for him outside?" Mitch asked.
"We should. I mean he booked the table so it's in his name" Scott said.
"And he's almost here," Avi said and smiled when he saw the man in question approaching them quickly.
"He's so not your type" Scott mumbled and earned himself a nudge from Mitch.
"Be nice. He's important" the smaller man said.
Scott smiled. "Of course," he said and watched as Mitch approached his boyfriend and hugged and kissed him. He watched them, took in Francis's appearance. He was a little taller than Mitch with dark hair and a well-groomed full beard, a little longer than Scott's stubble but definitely not as long as Avi's. And he had a warm and open smile which Scott noticed as well. This, combined with how he looked at Mitch was enough for the blonde to decide that he liked him.
"You must be Scott and Avi," Francis said as he approached them. "Hi, I'm Francis. Nice to finally meet you. Mitch told me a lot about you."
"Same here," Scott said as they shook hands.
"Only good things, I hope" Francis returned as he shook Avi's hand as well.
"Of course," Avi said. "Nice place you've chosen by the way."
"Yeah, Mitch told me that you like BBQ and that Scott eats basically everything, so I thought I'd show you one of my favourite places" Francis replied. "So come on, let's go in. I hope you're hungry."
~
They had a wonderful meal of meat, veggies and potatoes, everything freshly grilled and utterly delicious.
"So good," Avi said as he had finished his dish. "I get why this is your favourite place, Francis."
"Yeah" Francis took another swig of his beer. "The food is good, the beer is also. Don't get me wrong, I also like other food and I wined and dined Mitch as well, but this right here is heaven."
Avi chuckled. "I get that. It's the same for me, too. Do you do BBQ at home, too?"
"I would love to, but I moved closer to work a few months ago and while my apartment is really nice, I miss having a garden, but I have a good dutch oven and a slow cooker so I do all kinds of things in my kitchen" Francis returned.
"And there's a lot you can do in the kitchen" Avi agreed.
"Look how similar they are," Scott said to Mitch and grinned. "I feel like we're out of the conversation for the foreseeable future."
"Yeah" Mitch replied. "They do have a lot of things in common, including the taste in music." He giggled. "Isn't that right, Babe?"
Francis glared at him. "I thought we decided to not mention anything of it. It's embarrassing."
"I don't think it's that bad, Francis" Avi spoke up. "I'm curious, though? Only if you feel like sharing."
Francis sighed. "Okay, tell them, Mitch."
"Well, the other day we were on a date and it involved a slightly longer car ride and I turned on his most played playlist because I was curious and the second or third song was The Summit by one Avi Kaplan. He started to tell me how he really liked this music and how the artist is so talented and lives for his music. And I don't know, I just laughed."
"Yeah, you laughed and didn't tell me why" Francis continued, now laughing as well. "I just don't know why I didn't make the connection."
"Well, my own music is vastly different from what we do with Pentatonix" Avi replied. "So of course I understand that you couldn't make a connection."
"See? It is understandable" Francis said to Mitch.
"I know" Mitch said. "But the moment was just so funny."
Francis smiled. "True."
~
"That was a nice evening," Scott said when they were back at his place, getting ready for bed. "I like him."
Avi smiled. "So do I" he returned. "I think that Mitch is in good hands with him. And vice versa, of course."
"He deserves happiness" Scott replied as he came out of the bathroom and sighed softly.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Avi asked when he heard the sigh.
Scott looked up at him. "I'm just happy" he replied. "I... erm, need to write some things into my journal, but I'm kinda not tired yet?"
Avi chuckled. "That's good because I'm not tired either," he said. "You take care of your journal, I'll be in the bathroom." He kissed his boyfriend deeply, pulling at his lower lip with his teeth slightly, knowing that Scott liked this. He smirked as he pulled away and then giggled when Scott slapped his butt as he walked by.
"Such a tease" he commented.
Avi laughed. "I know and you love it."
~~~~
