In Another Life

Eight

A/N: I'M BACK IT'S BEEN OVER A WEEK. I'm so sorry I was way more busy than I expected to be after Christmas and I was struggling so much with writing this chapter for some reason. I'm still not super happy with it and I also had to edit it on my phone so I'm REALLY sorry if it's disappointing. Thank you for waiting though and I promise the next chapter won't take this long!

Mitch struggled to keep his eyes open as he dragged himself into the rehearsal area of the CalTones house on the afternoon of January second. Following behind him was Scott; looking less exhausted although still not quite as upbeat as usual.

They'd only just arrived back in LA from their winter break that very morning, and had barely had any rest because of it.

Not to mention that they still were just finally getting over hangovers from their way too wild New Year's Eve party they'd attended with all of their old Martin choir friends.

Mitch would love to be resting right now since it was his last day off before classes started back up again, but unfortunately he and Scott had been called in for an emergency, non optionable CalTones meeting.

Mitch was pretty sure that the bitterness he felt towards Lucas because of it was comparable to how he felt about him when he'd thought that he'd gotten back together with Scott.

"Should we have a nap together after this or do you think we should just head straight to Starbucks?" Scott asked Mitch with a yawn as they both joined the awaiting group members. Only about half of them had arrived so far, so they were all just standing around waiting for the meeting to officially begin.

Mitch hummed out in contemplation. "Both," he decided finally. "Nap first and then we can get coffee when we wake up."

"Did I hear the word coffee? Am I invited?"

The new voice added into the conversation was accompanied by the sudden sensation of someone wrapping their arms around Mitch from behind. Mitch flinched and tensed momentarily, but relaxed into the embrace once it clicked in his head who it was.

"Is it really necessary for you to always pop up out of nowhere? Can't you ever just join a conversation like a normal person by saying hi?" Mitch teased gently. He spun around in Blake's arms so he could look at him and wrapped his arms around his neck.

Blake laughed. "That would be no fun. I like seeing the startled look on your face every time," he teased right back. Mitch watched as his face went soft afterwards. "I've missed you."

The two had texted pretty much non-stop all of Christmas break. Any free time that Mitch wasn't spending with family or friends was spent messaging him.

No longer was the intention behind their conversations ambiguous; it was very clear that they were headed towards a relationship.

"I've missed you too," Mitch agreed softly.

Blake glanced downwards and then back up at Mitch's eyes. "I can see that. You're still wearing my jacket," he pointed out with a smirk.

Mitch blushed. "It's cozy and LA is unreasonably cold right now," he defended himself. "You can have it back later today, if you want."

Blake shook his head. "You need it more than I do, just keep it. Besides, I like seeing you in my clothes."

Mitch giggled softly and opened his mouth to reply, but his train of thought was forgotten at the sudden loud sound of a cough from behind them. Both he and Blake turned their heads to see Scott staring at them.

"Oh! Hey. Good to see you, Scott," Blake greeted him. Mitch felt Blake's grip on him tighten somewhat, his body getting pulled closer.

Scott barely smiled. "You too."