Dear journal,
After a whole nights sleep, I woke up wondering/hoping that this all would blow over easily and that everyone was magically okay with it. Needless to say, I was dead wrong. So apparently, at nearly 3:00 on the morning, Alex got a call from Avi saying that he "just wanted to talk". Alex came home with a black eye. He didn't tell me until this morning. I had also woken to about twenty texts from Scott stating that "he thinks that we shouldn't be arguing," and that "we need to talk ASAP.
-M

--

I didn't know what to do. I had replied to Scott, telling him that I was okay with talking but now was not the time and stayed with Alex, trying to pry every single detail about what happened last night out of him.

"It's fine, Mitch, I promise. It's really not a big deal, I prob'ly deserved it," Alex rambles, trying to push my hand away from holding an ice pack to his eye.

"Alex, I can guarantee you, you did not deserve it. If anyone did, I did. I'm the one who told you," I explain. "He had no right to hit you because he was angry that he got caught! He shouldn't treat Jackson like that, we all knew it,  but someone had to do something." Alex groans and stands up from the counter in the bathroom. "I'm starting to think that it'd be easier if we all just forgot about Jackson." I listened to my phone buzz once, ignoring it.

"No," Alex says instantly. "I like em, Mitch. I really like em and I'm not gonna try to 'forget him' because Avi is angry! I've been tryin' to make your friends like me, I'm done. I want to be with Jackson and I'm not gonna hold back to try and be in a friend group with people who won't even try to be civil with me. They've made it clear that I'm not wanted." I sigh slowly.

"I guess I can respect that," I respond after a moment. Alex nods.

"Thank you," he says quietly. "And I want us to be friends, Mitch. Believe me when I say that, but I also don't wanna ruin whatever friends you got 'cause they refuse to like me." My phone buzzed again. I picked it up to see a call and a text from Scott. Opening the text, it read:

Scott: I'm outside, open the door.

I quickly excused myself and went to our hotel room door, opening it and sticking my head out. Outside, Scott was standing with a small bouquet of flowers.

"It ain't much 'cause I've been usin' Avi's money, but forgive me?" He asks. I sigh and take the flowers.

"Give me a sec, I'll meet you downstairs," I say. He nods and walks off towards the elevator. I shut the door and walked back in.

"Flowers?" Alex questions. "Is Scott here?" He asks. I nodded.

"I'm going to go talk to him, is that okay?" Alex nods once. "I'm going to bring up the black eye, though, Alex. Scott can do something about it, I'm sure." Before Alex could respond, I took off towards the door.

I quickly went to the elevator and headed down to the lobby. After a short ride down, Scott was waiting in a seat. He saw me almost instantly and led me outside of the hotel. I followed him and sat on a bench next to him.

"So," he says.

"So," I respond.

"I'm sorry."

"I am too," I say. "I was pretty harsh yesterday, I should've let you speak. I just, like, left and shit-"

"I wanna be your boyfriend," he interrupts. My eyes widened. "I know you said you ain't want any labels, but I do, and I feel like this whole 'no labels' things is hurtin' us and I'm sick of tellin' people no when they ask if we are together, because we practically are." He exclaims.

"Scott-"

"Please, Mitch," he begs. "I'll do whatever you want. Alex can hang out with you whenever, I don't care, I just wanna be able to be with you officially. And if you don't want that, let me know so I can stop trying."

"I-I don't know," I whisper. "I can't, I just can't, Scott. There is so much going on and a relationship involves so much commitment, Scott. I'm sorry."

"Wait, what?" He begins. "Is this some kind of joke, or...?" I quietly shook my head. He squinted his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "I thought you liked me?" I walked forward and caressed each side of his face, only for him to grab my wrists and hold them back.

"I do like you, Scott," I whisper. Scott shook his head.

"What's holdin' you back?" He asks.

"There is a lot going on right now, you know that. I mean, Alex came back to the room last night with a black eye because of your best friend!"

"How does that affect us!" He asks loudly. I didn't say anything. "Exactly. It doesn't. That is Alex's and Avi's business."

"I know, but I told Alex-"

"Avi said he was gonna tell Jackson anyway," Scott intervenes. "We ain't involved anymore. This is between them."

"Scott," I whisper. "I don't-I don't know what to tell you."

"That you'll be with me! Tell me that you will be with me!" He exclaims.

"Why can't we just go back to how things were before?" I ask. Scott sighs.

"Because, Mitch," Scott continues. "I'm unhappy how we are. I don't know how to treat you, how to feel, what to say to people. If we aren't boyfriends, then what the hell are we?" He asks. "There is so much tension between us, I think makin' things official would help us."

"Maybe we should take a break before we even start," I say quietly. Scott's face tensed up. I took a deep breathe. "You're right, there is a lot of tension. We argue a lot. Why is that?"

"You're breaking up with me before we even get together?" He asks softly. I painfully nodded. "I begged Avi to let me use his money for those flowers for nearly 45 minutes," he says. "But you don't want to be with me." He nodded once and walked off towards the elevator, but I quickly followed.

"Scott, I don't hate you or anything, I still like you a lot, I just can't be in a relationship right now, I'm sorry-"

"It's fine. You don't feel the same, I got it," he says, getting into the elevator. I only shook my head as I watched it shut, deciding it'd be best if we just took separate elevators.