In Another Life

One

A/N: This is the first chapter/small introduction to my first ever multi-chapter fic! Ever since I first read Scott's tweet about Mitch getting into USC I always wondered what would happen if they ended up going to college together. So I decided to write a fic about it! Most chapters will be a lot longer than this one, and the fic should end up about 15-20 chapters long :) I hope you enjoy!! (Warning: there won't be any major triggers in this fic but there will be some mild mentions of anxiety.)

Mitch could feel it happening. He'd been hoping so much to avoid it, but there it was; the all too familiar sensation of anxiety starting to bubble inside of him. His chest was starting to feel tight, and he had sweaty, shaky hands.

Great. With his luck, he was probably going to start crying the second he started talking to Scott. How embarrassing.

He supposed he could always text Scott instead, of course. But that would be cowardly of him. If he was going to crush Scott's hopes and dreams, he needed to have an actual conversation with him. It was only fair.

Mitch took a deep breath to steel himself, and then finally forced himself to press the call button on his cell phone.

The ringing barely lasted for over two seconds. "Hey!" Scott answered, sounding ridiculously enthusiastic. It only made Mitch feel even guiltier. "Have you talked to your parents yet?"

"Yeah. I did," Mitch answered slowly.

He'd been hoping that Scott would notice the dread in his voice and he'd know what the answer was without him having to say so. Unfortunately, he underestimated how oblivious Scott could be. "Well, what did they say?" he hummed. His enthusiasm hadn't faded in the slightest.

Mitch sighed. "They, um. They said no." His throat felt tight as he spoke, tears already threatening to prickle in his eyes at the idea of Scott's forthcoming disappointment.

Mitch didn't know why he expected his parents to answer any differently, really.

Upon returning home from choir practice that very afternoon, Mitch had been greeted with a text from Scott. 'Get on skype with me and Kirstie asap!!' it had read.

Mitch didn't need to be asked twice. He logged onto Skype right away, and for the next thirty minutes he and Kirstie both listened to Scott go on and on about this a cappella TV show called The Sing-Off that he wanted them to audition for.

He had it all planned out and everything. His friend Ben was going to help them find a bass and a beatboxer to fill out their sound. All he needed was for the two of them to agree and they were golden.

Kirstie didn't hesitate to answer with a 'hell yes.' Mitch, however, didn't have the same liberty.

Now that Scott and Kirstie were both attending college, they were free to do pretty much whatever they wanted. But Mitch was still in high school. If he wanted to do something as huge as moving to LA for multiple months for a TV show, he had to go through his parents first.

So Mitch had assured his best friends that he'd get back to them later with his answer. During dinner that night, he broached the subject with his parents very carefully... only to be shot down instantly by his father.

No amount of arguing made them change their minds. He was told repeatedly and in no uncertain terms that it wasn't going to happen. According to his dad, Mitch just 'wasn't ready for such a high stress situation.' And the fact that he'd be missing his high school graduation was the icing on the cake.

Considering the anxiety he felt now just having to break the news to Scott, his dad was probably right about him not being able to handle the stress. But that didn't make it any less heartbreaking.