Worried: A Scomiche Short Story

Part 7: Distractions

As soon as Mitch said his name, Scott stopped what he was doing at the piano and swiveled in his seat to give Mitch his full attention only to be met with the shortest glimpse of his retreating figure as it flew around the corner and the resounding thud of the door as it closed abruptly behind him. Scott stared at the door blinking in confusion for a few seconds more than he'd later be able to forgive himself for before he was able to fully comprehended the situation. Upon his sudden realization that Mitch was suffering, he launched off the piano bench after him, ignoring the chorus of confused and slightly annoyed questions from Avi and Kevin that followed.

"Hey Avi, Kevin. Guys!" Kirstie gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head when she pulled their attention back to her. "Trust me on this one, Mitch needs Scott's help more than we need him right now. Let him go."

Their perplexed expressions softened almost immediately in sympathy and guilt. Often during these sessions, the pair would get so focused on the music and energy of the process that they'd forget there was a world outside of this creative headspace. Typically, Mitch and the others were right there with them, but now the different energy during this particular session made a lot more sense. Mitch's lack of input and overall subdued presence, Scott's lack of focus and constant glances towards Mitch: it was all connected, but not apparent to the two of them until Kirstie made it so crystal clear.

" Oh. OH. Yeah...Yeah you're right, Kirst, my apologies," Kevin said. Avi murmured in agreement before Kevin added, "Now's a good time for all of us to take a break actually. Water anyone? I can grab it."

He stood without waiting for an answer and made his way to the mini fridge in the other corner of the room to grab enough bottles of water for the remaining people in the room. He turned to rejoin the group but seemed to reconsider halfway through the motion. After a thoughtful pause, he bent down, grabbed two additional bottles and quietly set them outside the door of their studio. Satisfied, he returned to his seat next to the piano and began to tell Avi and Kirstin an animated story about some random fact he'd learned simply to take their attention away from the situation at hand.

Meanwhile, Scott had already jogged down the narrow hallway of the studio building and poked his head around the corner of an adjacent hallway of small practice rooms in search of Mitch. In addition to seeing Mitch's hunched figure slinking along the wall away from him, he saw their manager, Jonathan, scrolling distractedly through his phone as he wandered in Mitch's direction. Scott's heart leapt a beat out of his chest at spotting Mitch, but also at the impending crisis that could occur should Mitch find himself trapped in a conversation with their manager. Scott knew he needed to do something fast.

"Hey, Mitch! Wait, are you-"

Scott skirted the corner quickly and intercepted their manager's attention before he could get another word out to Mitch.

"Jonathan! Hey! How are you? Oh! Before I forget, I have another amazing idea for you, better than the last one I promise!"

Mitch's head whipped around in alarm at Scott's sudden presence but relief briefly flooded his features when he grasped what his savior was doing for him. Scott's heart absolutely shattered at the pain he could see written across his best friend's face and fear gleaming in his eye, but nonetheless, he kept a straight face as he continued to distract Jonathan.

"Oh my goodness please not another idea, Scott." Jonathan rolled his eyes as he thought back to his last "incredible" idea. Something about speakers was it?

Scott continued what he hoped was a relaxed gait down the hallway towards Jonathan while he began rambling about some crazy idea that had appeared in his latest dream. It was all utterly ridiculous rambling but it gave Mitch the opportunity to duck silently into the fortunately empty practice room next to him.

"Isn't that just the greatest idea?" concluded Scott knowing full well that Jonathan had stopped listening to him as soon as "amazing idea" had popped out of his mouth.

"Totally. Yes, great idea," muttered Jonathan distractedly as he glanced over Scott's shoulder looking for an out. "Hey, I'm just going to go find the others, yeah?"

"Sounds good." Scott's body visibly relaxed after the crisis was averted. He stepped aside to let the mildly inconvenienced man through and waited until he had rounded the corner behind him before he closed his eyes, took a deep breath to center himself, and entered the room where Mitch was hiding away. 

A/N: Thoughts? Favorite line or part? Let me know! New part coming your way in the next day or two!