Color

Twenty Three

Scott was bouncing his knee anxiously the entire drive to the restaurant, chewing on his lip at every chance he got. 

Mitch kept glancing over out of worry, wondering if maybe he'd made a wrong move by pulling Scott out of his comfort zone. 

Mitch reached over to grab Scott's hand, giving it a sharp squeeze. "You alright, baby?"

Scott nodded quickly, looking over to reassure him. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"You look nervous." Mitch paused. "There's no reason to be nervous, honey. It's just dinner."

"But..." Scott looked away, shaking his head. "Nevermind... Don't know what I was gonna say."

"Please don't be worried, Scottie." He giggled a little to try and break the tension. "I thought I was the one with social anxiety."

Scott didn't find it funny though. "You've been working really hard on that."

Mitch squeezed his hand again, trying to think of other ways he could help. "Hey, you look really good by the way. I love that shirt on you."

Scott just hummed. "Thanks... Not good enough to be seen with you, but good enough I guess."

Mitch frowned, but was mildly relieved to see that he was almost to the restaurant. "Babe, will you stop doing that? You're so sweet and it's so heartwarming that you think so highly of me, but... But you're important too, okay? You're gorgeous, and worthy of attention."

Scott finally looked over. "Thanks. That's... Really nice of you." He squeezed Mitch's hand once, and then brought it to his lips to press a kiss to Mitch's knuckles. "Love you."

Mitch sighed softly, glad Scott was starting to sound a little more like himself. "I love you too."

*

Scott was holding Mitch's hand tightly as they weaved through tables behind the waiter, only to be sat down at a booth near one of the windows. 

The waiter smiled, plucking the 'Reserved' card off of the table. "Here we are!" He offered menus, explaining a few things that Scott wasn't really listening to, and then paused a moment and looked at them expectantly. 

Scott was confused, until Mitch ordered himself a soda and then looked to Scott with a smile. Scott met the eyes of the waiter. "Just a water."

Mitch waited for the waiter to leave, and then reached across the table to grab Scott's hand. "Feeling better? I hoped once we sat down and you saw that it wasn't scary, you'd be okay."

"I'm fine." Scott responded, looking down at the menu in front of him. "Hungry, but fine."

"Can I ask you something?"

Scott looked up, his piercingly attentive, blue eyes making Mitch smile. "Yeah, of course."

Mitch grinned at him, his own eyes not leaving Scott's for a second. "Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are?"

Scott actually blushed, which made Mitch fall in love all over again. 

Scott just looked down at his menu, unsure how to tackle that question. "No."

Mitch leaned toward him a little more. "Absolutely stunning, babe. Truly."

Scott looked up, eyes locking with Mitch's in an instant. "Thanks... Um. Any idea what you wanna order?"

"Nothing on the menu is as appealing as you are. So I'm not sure."

Scott's blush deepened, and he hated it. He hated that Mitch was making him flustered, because that's supposed to be Scott's job. He loved for Mitch to feel beautiful, and wanted, and... And Scott loved to flirt with him at every waking moment.