"So you snapped because you didn't like seeing me exhausted?" Avi asked.
They had sat down on the sofa and were talking about the incident. Scott knew that Avi deserved an explanation so he tried to give him one even though it sounded ridiculous to him.
"Yeah, basically. At least that's what I think after talking to Mitch and writing my journal" Scott said. He shrugged his shoulders and looked down at his hands. "I don't know, Avi, it just was too much and everything that happened in the studio is so blurry."
Avi reached over and took one of Scott's hands into his own. "It's okay, Scott."
But Scott pulled his hand away. "It's not okay. I fucked up so bad, I don't know why you are forgiving me that easily?"
"You apologised, Scott. You came here with this beautiful bouquet and apologised. And I believe that you didn't do it to hurt me, but because you were overwhelmed" Avi explained calmly. "Am I right?"
Scott sighed. "Yeah," he said. "I never wanted to hurt you."
"See? That's what matters" Avi said.
"But are you feeling better now?" Scott wanted to know. "You definitely look better than you did yesterday."
Avi smiled. "Thanks. I mainly slept after we went home yesterday. Had pizza and then it was bedtime" he explained. "So yeah I'm feeling fine but actually a bit bad about the cancelled studio day."
"Me too," Scott said and shrugged his shoulders. "But our friends cancelled it so we could spend some time together and I think that's exactly what we should do."
Avi smiled. "Oh yes! I'm in for whatever, but do you know what I'd love to do?"
Scott chuckled. "I won't know unless you tell me."
"Beach day? The weather is amazing" Avi said.
"I'd love a beach day. Do you want to pack up your things real quick and then we stop at my place to get my things?"
Avi nodded. "Sure," he said. "But before we do that, I think we forgot something earlier.
Scott furrowed his brows. "We did?"
"Mmhm" Avi hummed and leaned in to connect his lips to Scott's.
~
Two hours later, Scott and Avi were lying at the beach. They had rented two deck chairs and an umbrella and had applied sunscreen to their bodies so they wouldn't burn.
It was a calm day during which they alternated between chilling on the beach and having fun in the sea. Late in the afternoon, they came out of the water one more time for the last time. They had gone for a swim and also messed around for a bit. Scott had brought a little ball with which they played in the water.
"Oh that was fun, but I'm getting hungry for sure," Scott said as they were drying off.
"Oh yeah," Avi replied. "We should definitely have some dinner, soon. Do we want to cook or go somewhere?"
"Well I wouldn't mind cooking together," Scott said. "But what?"
"I could go for baked potatoes with sour cream and some salad on the side. Or grilled veggies?" Avi said.
"Grilled veggies," Scott said. "Don't feel like having a salad."
"Good, I don't care as long as it's healthy, I ate comfort food yesterday and I feel like I need some vitamins for a change," Avi said as he squeezed out his hair.
Scott raised an eyebrow and wanted to say something, but then he froze. "There... he..."
Avi turned around and immediately saw the tall man. Nick. He was alone and walking in their direction. "I know," he said and smiled at Scott. "Remember that he is not allowed to contact you."
Scott drew in a shaky breath. "Yeah," he said, but couldn't look away.
"Love come on, let's get dressed and go home," Avi said softly and stretched his arm out towards the blonde and took his hand to get his attention.
Scott managed to look away from his ex and towards Avi. "Hmm?"
"Get dressed, I'll pack up. We should leave" Avi said.
"Yeah," Scott said and grabbed his tank top. While he got ready to leave, he always looked over to Nick who hadn't noticed him, yet.
"Almost ready," Avi said while he rolled up their towels and packed them up. He put on his shirt and then handed Scott one of the bags. "Here, we can go."
Scott nodded and looked over to Nick once more. He almost jumped when his ex suddenly looked at him with a grin on his face.
Avi noticed that immediately and took his boyfriend's hand. "Come on, let's go," he said and softly pulled at the blonde's arm. "Come, Scott."
Scott turned around and allowed Avi to lead him away. He still was tensed and just wanted to get away, but since it was rather crowded it took them some time to leave the beach.
All of a sudden, they were already back on the street, Scott felt a hand on his shoulder. He froze once again when he heard the familiar voice.
"Scott wait. You lost something."
Avi was the first to turn around and face Nick. "What is it" he asked and then noticed that Nick had Scott's snapback in his hand. He took it. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Nick said, feigning kindness. He then turned to Scott who had turned around as well. "You moved on quickly."
"That's none of your business" Scott returned. "Thank you for the cap but leave us alone now."
"So hostile" Nick commented.
"You do realise that Scott has a restraining order on you," Avi said. "So you better let us be."
"Yeah, that thing. It's just temporary for now and I don't think it will become permanent" Nick said. "It's pathetic that I have to deal with this at all."
"It's not pathetic. If you had left me alone, we could've just parted ways and be done" Scott said. "But you didn't."
"Yeah well that's your version," Nick said. "And I get it. You're famous, you need to keep your image and being a victim probably sells music just fine, doesn't it?"
"I..." Scott didn't know what to say.
"We'll go now," Avi said. "And unless you want us to call your cops and have them arrest you, you'll leave us alone."
Nick scoffed. "Pathetic," he said. "But you win this time, I'll go. Got a date today and it would be a bummer if I had to deal with the police. Bye Scott."
Nick turned away just like that and Avi looked back at Scott. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I..." the blonde shook his head. "Can we just go home?"
Avi smiled at him. "Sure, Love."
They walked to Scott's car and when they arrived there, the blonde handed his boyfriend his keys. "Can you? I don't think I should drive right now."
Avi smiled slightly. "Sure. My place or yours?"
"Yours."
As he drove, Avi looked at Scott every now and then.
"I'm okay, Avi," Scott said after a while. "A bit angry about the fact that he disturbed us, but I don't want this to ruin the rest of our day."
Avi smiled. "That's good to know. So are you still up to do some cooking? I thought about turning on the grill and eat outside, what do you think? With a glass of wine?"
"Sounds wonderful to me" Scott replied and smiled brightly at his boyfriend.
~~~~
