Incurable

Twenty

Alex and Jake were laughing about something, no one else had any idea.

Scott was on Alex's other side, Mitch under his arm as usual.

Kirstie was speaking to Scott across the table, and he gave her his full attention.

Avi was right beside her, but he was speaking to Kevin, because they'd gotten into a conversation about a book that they'd both read.

Kevin was positively beaming. "I've never been able to talk to someone about this! None of these guys read in their spare time. How refreshing."

Avi chuckled, eating something from his plate. "Well, you've got a friend in me." He chuckled at his own reference, and then elaborated on it. "I watch lots of movies, too."

Alex had been listening, and he leaned forward a little. "Ever seen The Wizard of Oz?"

"Of course I have."

Alex smiled widely, looking back to his food. "That one's my favorite."

"Oh, how neat." Avi responded with a smile of his own.

Mitch giggled, and lightly elbowed Scott's stomach. Scott leaned down a little to hear him. "Kevin found a new friend. A fellow nerd. How cute."

Scott smiled at him, looking back over at Avi and Kevin, and then nodding in agreement.

Mitch giggled again, before turning back to his food.

Scott cleared his throat and leaned toward Mitch's ear. "Right back." Then he stood, and headed in the direction of the bathroom.

Alex's head popped up, and he quickly stood too. "Scott, wait!"

Scott turned quickly, a little startled.

"Are you going to the bathroom?"

Scott nodded once, and then Alex quickly walked over to him, before they both turned back toward the bathroom.

Kirstie smiled at them, and then looked over at Mitch, because everyone else was talking already. "They have such a cute friendship."

Mitch smiled back. "I know." But then he realized what he was agreeing to, and frowned. "Wait, what?"

"Like.. They take those naps together, they talk all the time... Once I even saw Alex pull Scott into his room and they were both cracking up about it. It's just.. Cute." Kirstie responded with a giggle.

Mitch tilted his head a little. "What? Why did Scott need to be in his bedroom?"

"Probably another nap."

"When did this happen? Scott never leaves my side."

"It was like.. Late at night. After curfew. I was just going to say goodnight to Avi, and I saw it happen on my way back down the hall." She explained.

"Why would Alex need a nap right before he goes to bed?"

Avi decided to weigh in, because he could see how upset Mitch was getting. "Maybe Alex just needed help falling asleep. You didn't even notice that Scott left, so it's not like he was gone for the whole night."

Mitch frowned. "I wish he wouldn't do that..."

Kirstie glanced over. "Do what?" 

"Hang out with Alex so much."

"Why not?"

Mitch pouted at his food, shaking his head. "Nevermind."

After Scott sat back down, he immediately noticed how upset Mitch looked. Scott put his arm over Mitch's shoulders, pulling Mitch into his embrace, and then pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Mitch looked up at him, trying to smile.

Scott tilted his head at him, hoping to get his message across.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Scott leaned a little closer. "You okay?"

"Yeah. But I need to talk to you about something when we get back to our room, okay?"

Scott nodded a few times, not the slightest clue what Mitch could be talking about.

********

After dinner, Avi followed Kirstie into her room, but as soon as he closed the door, he turned to see her directly in front of him.

Avi jumped a little. "Oh! You scared me, Kit."

"Aw, you already have a nickname for me."

Avi blushed a little, and shrugged. "Yeah..."

Kirstie giggled, and then leaned over to kiss him.

Avi kissed back, before he set his hands on Kirstie's shoulders to push her away gently. "You're getting right into it, aren't you?"

She giggled again. "I guess so."

Avi set a hand on her face when he came in to kiss her again, gently this time, but Kevin knocked on the door loudly, efficiently scaring them both.

Kevin knocked once more. "Avi, I'm sorry to bug you.. But the nurses are going around doing count. We're up in a few minutes."

"Okay. I'll be out in a second." Avi responded, turning to Kirstie for a moment. 

She smiled at him. "Go, I don't need you getting into trouble. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Avi smiled right back, pecking Kirstie's lips once more, before walking out the door. "Goodnight."

********

Alex had gotten his night medications from the nurse, luckily the new dosage was working well.

Jake sat down on the edge of Alex's bed when the nurse left the room. "I heard a thing about you and Scott today."

"What about us?"

"Kirstin was talking about how cute she thinks your guys' friendship is. But Mitch got a little upset, because apparently you brought Scott in here after curfew."

"I just needed help falling asleep." Alex clarified.

Jake laid down beside Alex, frowning at him. "I would've helped..."

"You were asleep."

"So?"

Alex looked over finally. "Are you... Jealous?"

"Maybe a little." Jake snapped, but still didn't move from the bed. "I just don't understand why you would choose someone else's boyfriend over your best friend."

Alex frowned, feeling guilt wash over him. "You're right. I should've asked you. I'm sorry."

Jake sighed, and stood up. "It's okay. Just... Next time?"

"Okay."

Jake went to the bathroom, and when he walked back out, Alex was pouting at him.

Alex waved him over. "Is now a good time?"

"You haven't given your pills enough time to kick in, Al."

"I know."

Jake stared at him, trying to figure it out, but came up empty. So he just mentally shrugged his shoulders, and climbed into bed next to Alex.

Alex smiled, and scooted down a little on the bed, to be able to rest his head on Jake's chest. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Allie."

****