Chapter 3

Mitch was in his same position, dabbing Scott's face gently with the towel. Scott flinched once, but was otherwise compliant. At some point, Jake took the towel and put a little disinfectant on it, which Kevin keeps in a box in the car, along with some other medical things. Mitch was even more careful now, knowing it would sting. Scott looked over at Jake, so Mitch had better access to the wound on his cheek, and clenched his jaw to keep his pain under control.

Mitch had to stop halfway through, because of how bad he felt. "Alpha..." He whispered. Scott turned his head. "Done?"

"Well... No. But I don't like that you're in pain."

"Don't worry about it, babe. Just finish up. I'm fine, I promise."

Mitch pouted and reached a shaky hand up to continue disinfecting the wound. Avi was looking out the window, trapped in his own mind, when Alex shifted in his sleep and rested his head on Avi's shoulder. Avi glanced over, and noticed that Alex had fallen asleep holding Todrick's hand in his lap, and even upon falling asleep, he didn't let go. Avi smiled at him, and looked over, meeting Todrick's worried eyes. Todrick grabbed Alex's shoulder to pull him away from Avi. "I'm so sorry, Alpha."

Avi just put his arm over the back of Alex's seat. "That's alright, Todrick. He's fine."

Todrick nodded slowly. "If you change your mind... I'll wake him."

"That won't be necessary." Nearly half way through the drive, Avi glanced around the car, noting that everyone was asleep except Scott and Kevin. Mitch was asleep, in his own seat now, but leaning into Scott's side, with one arm over Scott's lap. Scott was just running his hand up and down Mitch's back, not really thinking about it. Jake was asleep as well, leaning his head back on the seat. Todrick fell asleep after Alex woke up just long enough to roughly tuck Todrick under his arm and kiss his temple. Todrick had blinked at him. "Go back to sleep, honey. We still have at least an hour." Alex nodded and smiled lazily. "Okay. I love you."

Todrick smiled right back, bringing Alex's hand up to kiss it briefly. "I love you too, Allie. Sleep."

Alex nodded and closed his eyes, leaning back into Avi. "Yes, Sir." He mumbled. And then the two had fallen asleep. Kirstie still hadn't woken up since the first time she fell asleep, and Kevin was just peacefully driving, a smile occasionally drifting on to his face when he thought of something he liked. Scott cleared his throat quietly, trying to speak quietly enough to not wake anyone up. "Um.. Alpha?"

Avi just hummed, Alex's body making it too hard for him to turn and actually see Scott. "Are we... Going to work for The Counsel?"

"If you want to."

"Are you going to?"

"I mean.. I don't know. Too much is going on for me to make that kind of decision right now."

Scott nodded slowly, taking a second before answering. "And what about the house? Are we really moving?"

"We're definitely moving. I just don't know where... See, The Counsel building that they want us to work in is about a half hour away from Esther's house so... Somewhere in the middle, I guess." Scott nodded again. "Okay.. Um. Avi? I have to tell you something..." Kevin looked back at him in the rear view mirror, slightly concerned, but not wanting to say anything. Avi furrowed his eyebrows even though Scott couldn't see him. "I'm listening."

"I just.. When we have to move..? My shoulder has been hurting like crazy recently... And... I don't know if I'll really be able to help. But I promise I'll try my best."

"I completely understand. That is perfectly fine. The amount of pain you've gone through for this pack is already.. Remarkable. I wouldn't expect you to do anything more than you already have. And the fact that you're actually asking me if you can take care of yourself..." He shook his head slowly. Scott blushed and looked down, but only Kevin saw him do so. Avi smiled to himself. "It's fine, Rookie. Take it easy, yeah?"

"Yes, Sir. Thank you." **********

When the pack returned home, Todrick and Kevin nearly collapsed on the couch, both falling asleep almost immediately. Avi carried Kirstie to bed, after saying quick 'goodnight's to everyone. Jake helped Alex walk in the house, Alex leaning almost every single bit of his weight into Jake. Alex waved obnoxiously at Todrick, whose eyes were closed anyway. "Goodnight, T-Bird!" Todrick cracked one eye open. "Goodnight, Lex."

Scott closed the door behind himself as he walked in, Mitch on his hip like a small child. Mitch was awake, but Scott insisted on carrying him anyway. Scott walked them both into their bedroom, before laying Mitch down, and beginning to help him undress. Mitch grabbed both of Scott's hands to stop him. "Don't you ever get tired? I know you were awake the whole drive home. Just.. Take a break."

Scott stared at him. Mitch rolled his eyes and pulled on Scott's arm so he would lay down, Scott being too tired to fight back. Scott was half on top of him, so he lifted himself up a little as to not crush him. "Mitchie.. I just wanted to help you get ready for bed."

Mitch closed his eyes and smiled, wrapping his arms around Scott and pulling him down to hold him flush against his own body. Scott tried to protest, legitimately afraid he would squish Mitch's little body beneath him. "Mitchie, stop it. I'll crush you."

"Oh, stop. You're fine." Mitch assured. Scott did absolutely everything he could to keep weight off of Mitch, but he was afraid he wouldn't be able to, as he got more and more tired. "Baby.. Please let me move." Mitch opened his eyes and frowned. "But... I wanna hold you.." He practically whimpered.

Scott frowned right back. "Aw, honey... You can if you want to. Just.. Let me take this band aid off.. And then you can get ready for bed.. Sound good?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Scott stood from the bed when Mitch let go of him. He went into the bathroom and carefully peeled the band aid off of his face to toss it into the trash can.

He frowned at the scar, and then walked back into the room, where Mitch was standing by the closet in only his boxers. Correction; Scott's boxers. Scott could tell because they were nearly slipping off of his narrow hips, and he had to pull them up every few seconds. Scott walked over to him and wrapped his arms around Mitch from behind, resting his chin on Mitch's shoulders. He slid his hands down Mitch's abdomen until he reached the elastic part of his boxers. "Why are you wearing my underwear?" "Because..." Mitch tilted his head in thought, but couldn't come up with anything, so he just shrugged. Scott chuckled lightly and moved his arms to give Mitch's torso a quick squeeze before moving away completely. He saw Mitch's clothes tossed in a pile, so he did the same and tossed his clothes in the same direction before changing his boxers. Scott then climbed onto the bed, and closed his eyes to wait for Mitch to come out of the bathroom. Mitch climbed into the bed moments later, grinning when he saw that Scott did his best to cram into a pair of Mitch's boxers. Mitch giggled at the sight, because they were very tight and way too short, but Scott still forced himself into them just to make Mitch smile. And Mitch could only think about how silly that was. That Scott would purposely make himself uncomfortable, just for Mitch's enjoyment. How strange.

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