The night and morning were okay for Scott. He fell asleep quickly with the help of one of Avi's good night stories and got up well-rested.
The appointment with his lawyer was lengthy because they had to talk through quite a lot of things regarding the hearing the following day.
"So he approached you that day on the beach?" Mr Steven asked Scott while scribbling something down.
"He did," Scott returned. "But he didn't say much. He pretended to have found my cap and handed it back, then addressed the fact that I'm with Avi and said that he would win the hearing because it is pathetic."
Mr Steven nodded. "I'd beg to differ, but well. And I am glad that he didn't do anything bad to you.
You know that you could have called the police?"
"Of course. But I thought that going separate ways was the wiser decision. I didn't want to make a fuss" Scott explained. "Is that a problem? For the hearing I mean? Avi can surely vouch for the incident."
"This would be a good idea. I mean I was sure that we'd win before, but this might be even better. He already violated the order once, who knows he wouldn't do it again?" Mr Stevens smiled. "Will Avi be present at the hearing?"
"Yes, he is planning to be there. So he can give a statement if needed" Scott said.
"Great. Do you want to run through everything once more just so you can be sure that everything is alright? I hope you won't be too nervous that way?"
Scott nodded. "That would be great, thank you for taking your time."
~
Half an hour later, Scott exited the office. He felt calmer than before and yet he was drained. Talking through everything once more was exhausting and so he drove home immediately and got comfortable on the sofa. He still had some things to do, he needed to iron some clothes and he wanted to do some cleaning. Yet, he was too tired to do anything, so he decided to close his eyes. Just for a few minutes.
A few minutes turned into a few hours and when he woke up again it was just after seven. After looking at his phone, the blonde jumped up, completely ignoring the call and messages Avi had left. He ran upstairs into his bedroom, leaving his phone on the coffee table, and started to iron the things he planned to wear to the hearing. He wanted to get that out of the way, then eat something and then go to bed early.
Scott needed a while to iron. He had never liked it and thus had issues getting all the wrinkles out of the plain white button-up, but eventually, he was finished and carefully hung everything up.
Then he went downstairs into the kitchen where he started the preparation for a quick stir-fry, with a lot of veggies.
He was just stirring in the pan when he heard the doorbell. Once and then once more. Scott furrowed his brows, he wasn't expecting anyone, but he quickly went to open the door.
Avi was standing there, a distraught expression on his face. "Scott! I thought something had happened, I've been calling and texting."
Scott furrowed his brows. "I was busy? I had the appointment that took forever, then I was so tired that I fell asleep for the bigger part of the afternoon and then I ironed my things for tomorrow and now I'm cooking dinner."
"Oh... and you didn't look at your phone? I was waiting for you to call or text. You said that you would let me know when you want me to come over" Avi returned.
"I didn't really look at my phone. I was asleep and then had to do stuff. And it's not like I didn't text you at all" Scott argued.
"Yeah, you texted me because you might need me to give a statement tomorrow," Avi said and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Scott sighed. "Look, Avi, I'm sorry that I didn't text again or call you. But I am focusing only on tomorrow. It's important for me."
"Scott, I know how important the hearing is to you. You need to be focused. I was just worried and decided to drop by" Avi said.
"And I am glad that you did, Avi. Really. But..."
"But what?"
"I think I'd rather be alone tonight. I just need to eat and sleep" Scott said, looking down onto his feet.
"If that is what you want and need, I'll go home. But I'll keep my phone next to me if you need anything..."
"No!" The word came out of Scott's mouth much sharper than he had planned.
"What?" Avi didn't know what to say, he didn't know why Scott reacted like that.
"Stop this. I don't want you to keep your phone next to you just in case I need anything. I am okay on my own" Scott argued.
"Scott, don't be like this. I just want to help you" Avi said softly.
"I don't want your help," Scott said. "Leave me alone." He closed the door and almost expected Avi to hold it open, but the bearded man didn't.
He just turned around and left, not understanding why Scott had reacted like this. But he knew that his boyfriend was probably overwhelmed by everything and since he didn't want to fight he went home, texted Mitch and still left his phone loud, just in case.
~~~~
A/N: a little shorty for you. I'm trying to get back into the swing after more than two weeks of not writing at all. Thanks for being so patient with me!
