Incurable

Nineteen

Another tear fell down Scott's face as he realized this, and all he could manage to get out was; "You're.. Too beautiful to hate..."

Mitch reached up to wipe Scott's tears. "Don't cry, please... I love you. I didn't mean to force you to speak."

"It's not..."

Mitch tried to comprehend it all. "You're not crying because of talking. You're crying because....?"

"Because you're beautiful."

"You're crying because I'm beautiful." Mitch spoke in disbelief.

"Because you don't see it..." Scott whispered, tears still falling silently.

"Don't cry because of that. That's silly." Mitch threw back, reaching up to wipe Scott's tears again.

An action to which Scott responded by nuzzling his face into Mitch's hand, before grabbing his wrist and holding Mitch's hand in place so he could kiss it briefly.

Mitch frowned at him. "Please don't cry anymore. Let's just... Go hang out until dinner. Okay?"

Scott nodded, forced a smile, and then grabbed Mitch's hand to lead him back to their room.

*********

Avi followed Kirstie into her room, sitting on her bed while Kirstie grabbed a pile of letters, sitting beside him to sort through it.

He frowned at her. "Was Scott crying when we left?"

"I think so. Mitch said something negative about himself, and it made Scott upset."

"Oh... That makes sense. They're so cute, are you sure they haven't been dating this entire time?"

Kirstie laughed a little, stilling the movement of her hands for a second to look over at him. "You know what, I bet you're right. I could see them doing that."

Avi smiled back at her. "They're just... Something else."

"Well we all are, don't you think?"

"Absolutely."

She smiled again, and then looked back down at the letters in her lap.

Avi caught himself staring at her lips, so he quickly turned away. But he slowly turned and looked down at them again a moment later.

Kirstie hadn't noticed, as she'd been reading a letter, but she suddenly looked up, and knew exactly what he was looking at. "Avi...?"

He looked into her eyes quickly. "I'm so sorry. I'm just--- You know what? Fuck it." Avi scooted forward quickly, in the same moment grabbing Kirstie's face and pressing his lips against hers.

Kirstie didn't move for a second, too much in shock, but quickly reciprocated and held Avi in place with a hand on his neck.

Avi never wanted to leave this position, but he pulled back anyway, to catch his breath. "Sorry... I'm sorry."

Kirstie shook her head at him, and quickly closed the space between them, kissing him for a second time.

*********

Kevin was in his room reading a book, when Alex came in and sat next to him, not saying a word.

Kevin glanced over at him, watching him lay down beside where Kevin was laying down, and setting his head on Kevin's back.

Kevin reached behind him to set his hand gently on Alex's hair. "You okay?"

"Mhmm. It's peaceful in here... Loud in my room. Can I stay here for a bit?"

"Sure. If you don't mind my occasional page turning."

Alex chuckled tiredly. "I'm sure it's not a bother."

Scott and Mitch were now in Kirstie and Avi's room with them, waiting for dinner to be announced.

Avi was sitting beside Kirstie on one of the beds, playing some card game to pass the time.

Meanwhile Scott was just laying down, head in Mitch's lap as he closed his eyes.

Mitch was just looking down at him with a smile, running his hands through Scott's hair.

Avi scanned the room for a second. "Is this what you guys do all day? I mean... You've been here for years. How can you guys do the exact same thing every single day and not get bored?"

Kirstie shrugged. "Sometimes I go in Scott's room and we do work outs. Like push ups and squats and stuff... Helps the time pass."

Avi stared at her. "You're serious? You guys don't have any hobbies, or... Classes?"

Mitch shrugged. "Not really. When you're tearing yourself apart because of an illness, you don't really think about that stuff, I guess."

"But you guys aren't tearing yourselves apart. That's why you're allowed to stay in rooms together. You're all pretty normal for the most part. But... It's like prison in here."

Kirstie frowned at him, but agreed. "Well... I guess you're right."

"I just mean... The days stretch on for so long, because no one's really doing anything."

Mitch nodded. "I absolutely agree. It's just meals, and counseling sessions."

"Exactly! I'm so glad you said that. I thought I was the only one who felt that way."

Mitch smiled at him, and looked down at Scott, who smiled as well. "Hey Scott?"

Scott nodded, squeezing his hand once.

"I'm sad. Will you please give me a compliment?"

Scott brought Mitch's hand up to his lips and kissed it once. "You're beautiful."

"Thank you. Another one?"

"You're adorable."

Mitch giggled, and leaned down to kiss Scott's lips. "Aww you're so nice to me."

Scott brought one hand up to hold Mitch's neck, keeping their lips together as they moved in this brief act of passion.

Kirstie smiled at them and looked away, back down to what she and Avi were doing. "They're so cute."

Mitch pulled away just to tell her. "We can hear you, and thank you." Before he dove right back into the kiss.

Kirstie laughed a little, turning back to the game, when she caught Avi staring at her for the second time that day.

She smiled at him. "Avi?"

He didn't seem to hear her.

"Avi...?"

Avi blinked once. "What?"

*********