It's going on 1 in the afternoon when Scott walks into the kitchen to find his mom in front of the stove. He smiles, walking towards her. "Morning." He murmurs, stopping to plant a kiss on her cheek before going over to make a cup of coffee.

"Afternoon." Connie says, glancing sideways at him with that mother look in her eyes.

Scott rolls his eyes, leaning against the counter next to her. "Already taking over my kitchen, huh?"

"Like you every really use this kitchen anyways." She jokes.

"Mitch does." He says, and regrets it immediately. His heart stutters a bit, aches at the thought of the dark-haired boy he walked away from early this morning and wonders if revealing that Mitch spends more time in his own kitchen than he does is a very good idea. "I mean, you know, he likes to mess around when he's visiting."

Connie smiles knowingly, "Yes, well, I remember him taking over our kitchen some days when he was over."

"Yeah." Scott mumbles, pushing himself away from the counter, grabbing his cup of coffee. He situates himself on the stool behind the small island in the kitchen.

"What's wrong, love?"

"Nothing." Scott whispers, shaking his head.

Connie tilts her head, giving him the look she used to give him as a child when she knew he was telling a lie. "Is it MItch?"

"How'd you know?"

She smiles sadly, "He looked upset when he was leaving yesterday. You looked upset when he was leaving yesterday."

Scott frowns, staring down at his coffee that he hasn't touched yet. "We kind of had a bit of a falling out."

"What kind of falling out?"

Big enough for him to break up with me, he thinks. Scott shrugs, "I just... I messed up."

"Well of course you did-"

"Hey!" Scott shouts, lifting his head up to look at his mom. "That's offensive."

Connie sighs. "Scott, Mitch would never be that stupid to do anything that would hurt you-"

"What, and I am?"

"Only because you're not as...in tune with others' feelings as he is."

A silence falls over them, then, and Scott realizes she's right. Even when they were kids, it was always Scott who'd done something unintentionally to hurt Mitch; always Mitch who took Scott back.

"Look, love, you don't need to tell me what it was about, but whatever is was, I'm sure it'll pass. It always does. And Mitch will still always adore you."

Scott blinks, his stomach flipping over at his mother's words. "What...what do you mean, 'still always'?"

"That boy has always adored you Scott, from the moment you two met. He's always loved you."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm a mother, that's my job." Connie says softly, smiling as she pats her son's hand across the counter. "And besides that, Mitch's always incredibly obvious in how he feels about people. You've always been a bit more hard to read."

Scott's brow furrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

She shrugs," You're just more guarded than he is so it was a bit harder to tell, but you've always adored him as well. That's why I say it'll pass... because neither one of you know how to stay angry at the other. You'll fix it and everything with be good as new and-"

"I'm in love with him." Scott blurts out, unable to hold the words back anymore.

Connie smiles, "I know."

It feels like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, off his chest, and it's easier to breathe now. "We've been seeing each other for months now, mom. And nobody knew because we haven't told anyone, and I thought...I thought that's what he wanted too. And then yesterday he got upset because I told you he slept in the guest bedroom and then he got mad because I didn't want to tell you and... and it's not because I'm ashamed, because I'm not, I just...I just haven't been able to decide how I feel and..." He breathes in deeply after his word vomit, placing a hand over his rapidly beating heart. "Mom... I'm in love with him." He breathes.

"I know." Connie replies happily.

Scott scoffs playfully, a smile tugging at his lips. "How do you know everything?"

"It's the same way I knew he didn't sleep in the guest bedroom and the way I knew he didn't leave to go keep Jake company and the way I knew you snuck out last night to go see him. I'm a mother."

Scott smiles then, again, only this time it's more apprehensive. "Okay then mom, what do you suggest I do to fix this?"

Connie laughs, winking at him before turning her attention back to the stove. "I think you just did."

-------

His stomach is in knots, his palms, which he's put into both front pockets of his jeans, are sweating and he can hear his heart rapidly beating in his ears. The conversation he'd had with his mother just hours before, echoes in Scott's head as he waits, with bated breath, for the all too familiar door to be answered.

"What do I say mom? How do I fix this?"

"Just tell him exactly how you feel, love. Tell him everything you've never said before"

The door swings open, revealing a tired looking, slightly annoyed, Jake. "Hey."

Scott's gaze is immediately going behind Jake. "Is he here?"

"You can't see him."

"Jake-" Scott starts but Jake cuts him off.

"He doesn't want to see you right now, Scott." He says softly, sighing as he leans against the door frame, pulling the door closed slightly.

Scott blinks. "I just... I have to talk to him."

"I know. He just... he literally just stopped crying. He's exhausted and the last thing he needs right now is to talk about it."

Scott nods solemnly and runs a hand through his hair.

"If you've come to break his heart-"

"I haven't." Scott says quickly, cutting him off. "Of course I haven't."

"Of course?" Jake says rather skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "Scott, you literally broke his heart less than 24 hours ago."

"I know." Scott whispers, flinching slightly as he closes his eyes against the accusation.

"You know how much he loves you, how much he's always loved you." Jake says, and Scott lowers his head. "He's fucking mad for you and he deserves someone who's going to be just as mad for him."

"I am, Jake." Scott insists. "I just-"

"Then you need to be ready to prove it. You just need to be ready period."

Scott nods once and sneaks one more glance behind Jake, but there's no sign of Mitch anywhere. He looks at Jake again, but he can't shake the feeling that Mitch isn't far away. "Look, just... please just tell him I came by? And that we need to talk?"

Jake nods sincerely.

"And...and tell him I love him." Scott adds, his voice only slighter louder than before, before he turns to leave.

-

Hiding around the corner from the front hall, behind the wall, Mitch hears every word.

-------

Mitch's lying with his head under the covers, the light from his phone illuminating his face as his thumb hovers over his keyboard, contemplating whether or not he's ready to type out a text message to Scott. He wants to. He wants there to be communication between them, especially after Scott showed up here, unannounced, to see him. Hell, he always wants to talk to Scott. And he's just about to type something out, a simple "Hi" would work, he's sure, when Jake comes barging into his bedroom.

"Check Instagram," is all he demands as he jumps onto Mitch's bed.

"What?" Mitch asks confused, as he fumbles to close his messages.

"Check Scott's Instagram." Jake repeats, pulling at Mitch's covers.

Mitch groans when Jake gets the blanket off his head. His hair is a mess, all over the place, and he has to push his fringe out of his face. "Why?"

"Just...just trust me okay?" Jake repeats, pulling on Mitch's covers some more.

Mitch does as he's told, opens his Instagram and then waits a few seconds for it to load. His breath catches in his throat and he's pretty sure his heart forgets how to beat when the first picture on his timeline, which just so happens to be Scott's, loads. It's a picture of the two of them, tangled and intertwined in the blankets and pillows across Scott's bed. He remembers taking that picture weeks ago. The sun had been shining through the window, directly on to the bed and Mitch had just spent almost ten minutes trying to convince Scott to let them take just one post sex selfie of the two of them. Scott must've broken into Mitch's phone and sent the picture to himself without him even knowing.

Scott's got his eyes closed, his lips pressed firmly against Mitch's cheek. Mitch's smiling, brown eyes shining in the sunlight, cheeks flushed a light pink from the orgasm he'd just experienced. It's all incredibly cliche, but they look happy.

"Read the caption." Jake tells him, like he knows that Mitch's gaze has yet to leave the picture.

Mitch looks to the words directly under the picture: I'm ready when you are @mitchgrassi

He freezes, blinking at the screen for a moment. His heart suddenly feels like it's going to beat out of his chest and his stomach jumps to his throat...because what the hell. He looks up at Jake then, whose smirk says it all. And then he practically leaps out of bed, gets himself dressed and grabs keys off the top of his dresser. All the while, Jake cheers him on.