In Another Life

Three

A/N: This is a very short and filler-y chapter. Sorry! The next chapter is super important though and I'm very excited about it. Thank you again to everyone who's reading and commenting!! :)

"Scotty! Oh my god, happy birthday!"

Although the room was already loud, Mitch still flinched at the sudden shriek. He looked over just in time to see a blonde girl flinging herself at Scott, hugging him impossibly tight.

Scott hugged her back with a laugh. "Heeey babe," he replied. "I've missed you so much!"

Mitch sat there awkwardly as the two of them chatted for what seemed like forever.

Two weeks of the school year had already passed. They had gone surprisingly well; even a little uneventful, if anything.

After Scott had given Mitch a very thorough tour of the campus his first day there, they had spent the rest of the weekend exploring LA together, doing typical tourist things for Mitch's sake. And then school officially began, and most of Mitch's time was spent in his classes, doing homework, or hanging out with Scott.

Today was the first time Mitch actually had any exciting plans. A few of Scott's friends had planned a birthday party for him at their apartment, and obviously as Scott's best friend he was invited.

Mitch had expected it to be a fairly small affair, with maybe fifteen people tops in attendance. What he hadn't expected was for the apartment to already be packed with people by the time he and Scott got there.

But that was exactly what happened.

Mitch didn't know why he was surprised, really. After years of knowing Scott he knew for a fact that he was just one of those people everyone wanted to be around. It made sense that he'd have so many new friends.

"Oh! Before I forget, this is Mitch!"

Mitch snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of his name. He looked back over at Scott and the girl he was talking to, smiling politely. "Nice to meet you."

"Oooh. So you're the famous Mitch," she giggled. "I'm Megg. It's nice to meet you too!"

Mitch raised his eyebrows. He looked over at Scott, his cheeks feeling warm. "The famous Mitch?" he questioned. "Do you talk about me a lot?" Despite his teasing tone, he actually really was curious.

"Duh. I talk about you and Kirstie all the time."

Well. It wasn't quite the answer Mitch had been hoping for. But he'd take it.

Before Mitch could say anything else he was interrupted by Megg. "Oh my god!" she stage whispered. She leaned towards Scott and pointed across the room. "That's that guy I was texting you about the other day. Isn't he so cute?"

Mitch followed their gaze over to the boy they were discussing. He had to agree; that guy was cute. He had a mess of dirty blond curls on his head and several tattoos decorating his arms – plus he was very well dressed, which was always a huge plus.

Of course he didn't even compare to the blond that was currently sitting beside him. But still, he was hot. There was no denying that.

"He's alright," Scott shrugged simply in response. "Not really my type, though."

"Good, because he's mine," Megg shot back instantly.

Scott laughed at that and stood up. "Let's go talk to him then. I'll be your wingman," he teased, his voice slurring just a bit. He wrapped his arm around her and began to lead the way, but stopped suddenly after he'd taken just a few steps. He turned to look at Mitch. "Are you gonna be okay?" he asked, clearly as an afterthought.