sorry this took so long! but without further ado, here's plastic part two

"Are you done staring yet?"

Scott's eyes went wide as he quickly turned his head to face the blonde-haired girl.

"Lauren," he hissed. He could immediately feel his cheeks go red, but he had no place to hide.

"We went through this last time," she continued on. "So put on your big boy pants again and go say hi."

"But..." Scott trailed off as he looked back towards Mitch who was sitting down at the same bench as before. Even though Scott was quite a distance away, he could still see the effects of the day on Mitch's face. "He looks really stressed. I don't want to bother him."

"Both of you were beaming last time. It'll do him some good." Scott sighed heavily as he continued to watch Mitch and Gabe. A moment later, Mitch stood up from his spot, then gathered Gabe up in his arms. The two of them looked quite distressed, and for that reason, Scott couldn't get himself to go over there.

"His kid is crying and he's getting up. I'll just let him go."

"Or you could take advantage of the situation."

"Lauren--"

"Scott." He opened his mouth to speak again, but he was instantly cut off. "Go." Scott clenched his jaw before finally turning and beginning to walk towards Mitch. He walked slowly, trying to come up with anything to say. However, the distance between the two was rapidly decreasing, and before Scott could do anything, he was suddenly right in front of the two.

"Mitch?" He asked carefully, his mind still running through all the possible outcomes. The brunette's head shot up, and he visibly relaxed as his eyes landed on Scott.

"Oh, hi." Scott glanced at Gabe, then towards Mitch once again. And with one last look at the boy, Scott couldn't help the words that fell out of his mouth.

"Here, let me take him--" Scott could practically see Mitch's grip tighten on the toddler.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," he said. Scott could hear the worry in his voice, but for some reason he didn't back off.

"Just trust me." Mitch stared back at Scott for what seemed like an eternity, before finally readjusting his hold on Gabe and reaching him out to Scott. Scott gave the two a small smile before taking Gabe and holding him against his chest. The boy barely acknowledged the change in who was holding him, especially when Scott began swaying back and forth.

"Hi, buddy. Remember me? You threw a toy at me last time." The only response he received was Gabe setting his head on Scott's chest and sniffling quietly. Mitch let out a soft chuckle which caused Scott to look his way again.

"You look awfully stressed too," Scott said a moment later, still rocking Gabe in his arms.

"Thanks for letting me know."

"I'm sorry, I just--"

"No," Mitch interrupted. "No, I should be sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"Are you okay?" Mitch raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what's wrong then?"

"Um," he said, glancing around the park. "More or less... family issues?"

"Even though we're practically strangers, you can tell me stuff if you want. I don't mind."

"Its not you at all. I just don't want to think anymore about it." Scott nodded his head before finally turning his attention back to the toddler. He smiled at the nearly asleep boy before giving him back over to Mitch, who was now wearing a matching smile.

"Thank you so much," Mitch said as he set Gabe down in his stroller.

"No problem. It looked like you needed a bit of a break."

"I don't think I've ever gotten a break from him." And once again, Scott couldn't stop the words that came next.

"This might be a complete long shot but let me take you out tonight. Let's get a couple hours to ourselves to get away from everything," Mitch's eyes immediately widened at the proposition.

"That's really sweet, but I don't know."

"If it's about a sitter, my sister has a kid. That's the reason I've been here so much. I think she'd be okay watching a second kid for a little while." Mitch took a deep breath and let his eyes fall back down to Gabe for a moment.

"Yeah," he said, looking back up to Scott. "Yeah, why not?" Scott's grin only grew wider. "But just to let you know, I haven't been on a date in a while either."

"Who said it was a date?" Mitch's eyes widened, but Scott was quick to speak up again. "If that's what you want, I'd be more than happy to take you some place nice."

"I'd really like that."

"Can I get your number? That way we can plan something out?"

And Mitch was more than happy to oblige.

-

"I'm not knocking on the door for you."

"What if he changed his mind or something?"

"Then he would've texted you." Scott fiddled with the cuff sleeve of his button-up as he looked back to Lauren. She nodded her head towards the door, and after a deep breath, Scott reached out a hand and knocked on it. The sound of it echoed throughout the hallway, but Scott remained focused on the door. Thankfully, the door was opening a moment later and Mitch finally came into view.

"Hi," he greeted, his eyes immediately falling on Scott.

"You look great," were the first words out of Scott's mouth.

"You do too." Scott and Mitch couldn't tear their eyes away from one another until Lauren finally spoke up.

"I'm Lauren. Scott's sister." Mitch turned and looked her way and gave her a warm smile.

"Nice to meet you." His eyes flitted back to Scott before he opened the door further and took a step back. "Here, come in." Scott and Lauren walked into the apartment but waited for Mitch as he closed the door.

"I'll go introduce you to Gabe," Mitch said, nodding his head down the hallway. He and Lauren then headed to what Scott assumed was Gabe's room, and he was left alone in the living room. He couldn't help but let his eyes wander around the room. There was a couple of picture frames scattered around, and Scott found himself walking towards them. It wasn't surprising to see that most of them were of his son. One in particular included Mitch. It appeared to capture him laughing loudly at whatever Gabe was doing, and Scott felt him smiling along with the two in the picture.

"You ready?" Scott quickly turned back around to see Mitch back in the living room. Scott nodded his head, and with that, the two headed out the door.

"So, what are our plans?" Mitch asked once the two had made it out of the apartment building. He had left the planning in Scott's hands, and as excited as he was to finally get out again, he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. All he knew at this point was that Scott got an Uber to take them to their first destination.

"I'm not entirely sure what you liked, so there's a couple things planned." Mitch raised an eyebrow. "We're gonna go watch a movie first. Do you have any preferences?"

"No," Mitch said quickly before pausing to rethink his answer. "Wait." Scott glanced down at him. "I'll watch anything, as long as it doesn't start with desk lamp jumping on top of a capital 'I'." Scott tried to keep a serious face, but eventually couldn't help the loud chuckle that fell past his lips.

"I think we can do that."

"Then we're gonna head to this little diner my friend owns. I haven't been there in a little while so I figured this would be a good excuse to go again."

"That actually sounds great." Scott gave him a small smile before ushering him towards a car sitting in the parking lot.

True to Scott's word, the first place the two headed to was a nearby movie theater. It also wasn't one for children, a fact that made Mitch happy, and Scott laugh at his excitement.

Once the movie was over, the two then headed to the diner. Mitch wasn't overly hungry, but Scott convinced him to at least get a plate of fries to snack on as they talked. The conversations flowed surprisingly well between the two, and both of them were perfectly content with their night continuing like this.

And then Mitch got a call on his phone. With barely a glance at it, he declined the call, then continued on with the conversation. Scott didn't care that his phone was ringing and even managed to remain patient the second and third time it went off. Mitch, however, seemed to be fed up with it.

"Fuck, I'm sorry," he said as the familiar ringtone came up again.

"Do you need to get that?"

"No," he said as he turned his phone off and shoved it into his pocket. "I really don't."

Scott was a bit surprised at that response, but he also didn't want to be the reason that Mitch would miss a call.

"You said you were dealing with family things. If that's related to it, you can answer it. I don't care at all."

"I don't want to answer it." Scott furrowed his brows in confusion, and Mitch quickly caught onto the look. "I don't want to throw this on all of you either. At least not yet."

"I already told you that you can tell me stuff." Mitch looked back at the plate for a second before turning back to Scott.

"I lied to you." Scott raised an eyebrow. "Its not family issues."

"What is it then?"

"My ex walked back into town a couple days ago."

"Ex...?"

"Fiancé."

"Oh."

"You don't have anything to worry about. He's in my past."

"If he is, then why's he calling you? From my experience, exes are more of the texting and or accidentally running into you at a club type."

"I adopted Gabe."

"With the fiancé then?" Mitch nodded his head.

"We always wanted kids. When we got engaged, we figured that we could jumpstart that process. We got Gabe a couple months before our wedding. We were so happy... but then he just left. I know it was either because of me or Gabe. But God, I hope it was me."

"He sounds like an utter asshole."

"He wasn't though. We had been friends for the longest time before we got together. That's what made everything so much worse."

"Do you know what he wants?" Mitch shook his head.

"I answered him once, the first time. He got a new number and I didn't recognize it so..." Mitch trailed off. "Its been a year. I don't know what he could want."

"You deserve so much more than that." Mitch couldn't help the blush that began dusting his cheeks.

"You're really sweet."

"And I'm being really honest." Mitch looked up to Scott and immediate noticed the sincerity in his voice that matched his words. And as much as he appreciated the words, he also was ready for the focus to be off of him. He reached for another fry and quickly took a bite of it before speaking again.

"Tell me about your sister's kid." Scott let a wide smile take over his face before they dove back into conversation. Somehow, Mitch managed to learn even more about the blonde in front of him. He couldn't wipe the thoughts of how great of a guy Scott seemed to be. And as a result, for the rest of their dinner, he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face.

"My apartment is just a couple blocks away," Mitch noted once they were done eating and they had stepped outside. He glanced down street before back to Scott. "Want to walk?"

"Sure," the blonde answered, giving Mitch a small smile.

The duo remained silent on their walk back to Mitch's place, and simply took in the lights of the city. Millions of thoughts raced through their minds, but neither one of them could say a word.

About halfway to the apartment they were forced to stop at an intersection. As Scott turned his head to look at his surroundings, Mitch didn't hesitate in grabbing Scott's hand and intertwining their fingers. Scott glanced down at their hands before looking towards Mitch.

"Making sure I cross the street safely?" Scott saw the corner of Mitch's lip turn upwards, but he kept looking straight ahead.

"Something like that."

Scott considered making a comment back, but as the lights turned green, he could only squeeze Mitch's hand back.

The apartment complex came up quickly, far too quickly for Mitch's liking, but Scott didn't leave, even when they passed the main doors. Mitch was sure Scott would have made some remark about being a gentleman and walking Mitch to his door if he asked; however, they stayed quiet as they went up the numerous floors.

As they slowed down and eventually stopped in front of Mitch's door, uncertainty settled in their chests.

"The whole night is over when we head back in there," Mitch said, not even bothering to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"I don't want it to be."

"Honestly, me neither." Another silence fell over the two, but finally, Scott felt brave enough to voice one of the thoughts he was having.

"Can I kiss you?" Mitch smiled.

"Come here." Unlike Mitch, Scott tried to fight a smile by ducking his head as he took a step towards Mitch. He set a hand on the younger man's waist and slowly, if slightly uncertainly, leaned in.

"Hey, g-- woah!"

Scott and Mitch immediately pulled away from each other as Lauren slammed the door shut.

"Lauren!"

"Sorry! Just keep going or whatever." Scott's jaw dropped slightly before he shook his head in disbelief. Scott turned back to Mitch, and a second later, Mitch went up on his toes and placed his lips on Scott's. Scott could barely begin to process what was going on, and when he finally did, Mitch was already pulling back.

"Thank you, Scott."

"Of course." Scott began to lean back down, but it was once again cut short by Lauren.

"Are you guys done?" Mitch giggled as Scott's head dropped for a moment.

"Yeah, we are."

A second later, the door opened back up and Lauren took a step back into the hallway. She quickly raised an eyebrow at Scott before turning to Mitch with a smile on her face.

"Gabe has been asleep for the past hour. He was an absolute angel for me."

"I'm glad to hear that. Thank you so much."

"Ready to go, Scott?" Lauren asked, turning back to the blonde.

"Unless you want to come inside?" Scott's eyes darted over to Mitch, and all he could do was nod his head.

"I'll just call an Uber or something."

"You better call me later," she said before turning on her heels and heading down the hallway. And once she was out of sight, Scott didn't hesitate to step foot into Mitch's apartment.

okay! that's officially the end of this book!

i loved writing this whole thing, and i'm glad you guys seemed to like it too.

if you want to read more stuff by me, i just put out a new book called rain that could really use some love.

alright, that's it! love you guys!