((again - _opheliac wrote most of it - all praise should go to her <3))

~

Mitch felt a bit unbalanced. Things in his world were off kilter and it left him a bit muddled

Everything had felt so easy and, yeah a bit strange and confusing, but a Scott is a Scott no matter where he's from. Well, sorta.

It wasn't until he was away from the charm and allure of Oz that he realized he'd been a bit unfair to the man who'd been by his side almost as long as he could remember. His priority should be Scott, but how does that work when they were both Scott?

He had to keep reminding himself that they weren't actually BOTH Scott... well, his Scott anyway. 

The silence that he was treated to as he watched his best friend pace the length of his hotel room was unsettling and all of the wind was lost from his sails. He was wrong and he knew it. "Scott..."

The only response he got was Scott turning his back to him as he started going through his suitcase.

"Babe, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking and it wasn't fair to-"

"-stop."

Those blue eyes looked miserable as he finally turned to look at him and it made his heart sink to his toes as he realized that he had a large part in that.

"Scott, please just-"

"No. I keep trying to tell you how I feel, that I'm worried and scared and yet you obviously don't care. The one person who is always supposed to be on my side...."

"That's not true." He risked moving closer and even though Scott put up a hand to try and stop him, he ignored him and took those large hands in his. Scott didn't pull away, but the frown on his lips and in his eyes didn't soften at all. "I'm sorry. I know what I did was shitty. I just.. got a little... protective? of him I guess? I just keep imagining you getting stranded somewhere alone and terrified and ..." He couldn't stop his sigh, the realization of his insensitivity pressing guilt into his heart. "Look, I know he isn't you, but you have to understand ... I'm wired a certain way and my natural response when you're sad or scared is to want to fix it. I mean, you're Scott... that's just how we work. I know he isn't you but.. I still look at him and my brain still wants to react. I still don't want him to be afraid or sad and I don't know how to turn that off."

Blue eyes stared into his and though they were similar to the pair he'd left in the other room, he would always be able to tell which was his Scott.  Always.

Finally the tension began to leave those broad shoulders and the weight in his chest felt just a bit lighter.

"I'm sorry I freaked out, but..."

"I know and I love you for it."

The blonde nodded his head and wrapped Mitch up in a tight hug. "He's not me." 

The words were practically the same as the ones Mitch himself had used, but something in the way Scott said them, the delivery... it just felt off. He tried to shake off the strange feeling, but it still sat just on the edge of thought and nagged at him. "I know.  I promise I know." He pressed his cheek against Scott's shoulder, glad that things were back on track... at least mostly.

"I have to finish packing." Scott didn't sound too enthused about that fact as he pulled away and turned to his suitcase, his frown now accentuated by a slight pout of lips. "I have a plane to catch."

Mitch put a hand on his arm. "It's going to be ok. We're going to figure this out and everything will go back to normal."

Scott looked tired and resigned as he looked at his best friend. "Since when have we ever been normal."

The brunette had to dig deep, but he plastered on a smile and pressed a kiss to the swell of shoulder that Scott's tank top left exposed. Finally a twitch of a smile greeted him when he looked up again. Everything seemed difficult and complicated, but there was one thing that was always clear... and that was his loyalty to Scott.

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Three weeks passed and they were the most and least eventful of Oz's life. It was a lot to adjust to.

This new world was already disconcerting as it was, with such color and life all around him. The weather was different too, going from hot to cold in the span of a day, but never coming close to the temperature that he had been used to. The sun, too, was less bright, the rays of sunshine almost dimmer than what he remembered, and the nights seemed to be much darker than he would have loved. As a result, he was always tired, his sleep schedule completely different and worse than it had ever been.

Staying indoors wasn't any better than being outside. He didn't like walking down the streets, Scott's fame following him like a shadow every time he was seen with Mitch, but whenever the blonde was out of the house, when he was forced to stay inside, the sadness and the feeling of being out of place crept up on him once again.

Things between them were still strained. They were slowly beginning to learn how to live together (much to Scott's chagrin). Even though the weirdness of seeing another 'him' every single day was starting to subside, it was obvious that the main reason they hadn't killed each other had been Mitch. Yet, he was also the reason why his heart couldn't fully heal, why he sometimes was hit with waves of sadness that he hadn't felt in months. He was getting used to the flutter of hope that swirled in his stomach every morning when he first saw Mitch, his half asleep brain still not remembering that it wasn't, in fact, his Mitch, the disappointment more and more prominent every time he realized that, yes, Mitch was still dead.

Even knowing it, he couldn't stop it.

Mitch brought out so many confusing feelings in him that he was almost happy whenever he wasn't around, happy to give his brain some time to catch up with whatever was going on. Which is why he wasn't that sad that morning when no one was around by the time he woke up.

He was laying on the couch in the living room, his eyes fixated on the tv, mindlessly watching the news, when he heard the door open all of a sudden. He almost jumped on the spot, not expecting anyone to be home yet. With his heart beating fast, he turned his head towards the entrance, calling, "uh, Mitch?"

But it wasn't Mitch. Instead, walking into the living with an awkward expression all over his face, eyes darting around the room, was Scott. "No, it's just me..." He trailed off, fishing his phone out of his pocket and starting to tap on the screen, avoiding any kind of eye contact.

He bit his bottom lip, trying not to show how his face had fallen as soon as he realized that it was just the two of them, the brunette nowhere to be seen. "Oh..hi. Sorry, I..was expecting you both. Uhm.."

Scott just shrugged at that, still standing motionless in front of the entrance. "Mitch had to get his hair done or something."

"Oh okay..uhm..is he coming home soon?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized how bad they sounded. Scott already thought of him as a needy child that wanted attention, there was no need to give him any more reason to think that. "I mean, not that I NEED him to be here, you know."

"I don't know... I honestly thought he'd be home by now.  He's with Candice, thought, and sometimes they can lose track of time..." The blond raised his eyes from his device then, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, a move that Oz had started to recognize as his awkward stance. "So, um... I talked to Esther. Still no luck finding that Jefferson person, but shes still looking..."

He couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh, the information nothing new but still disappointing. "I'm starting to wonder if he actually exists, dammit." He rubbed at his face with his hands, trying to find some comfort in the gesture, with no help. When he opened his eyes again, he found Scott still standing there almost like he had no idea what to do. He sighed. "You can sit down, you know? I mean, it's your house after all."

Scott bit his lip, almost like he was weighing his options but then finally seemed to make up his mind. He walked towards the couch and sat down with a sigh. "Ok, this is weird."

"You can say that again."

"At least when Mitch is here I can focus on him but you're me...and that still just feels wrong. Besides, I don't know what to say to myself. I mean you're me but we don't exactly have a lot to talk about."

He nodded at that, for the first time agreeing with his doppelganger. "I know what you mean, it's easy to focus on Mitch when he's around, at least then I can ignore your killer looks." He joked, hoping to lighten up the atmosphere. "I feel like the only thing we have in common is him."

They stayed silent for a while, so much so that he thought the attempt at having a conversation was actually over. He had been watching the tv again for a couple of minutes when Scott cleared his throat, and he turned to find him staring. "Is he ... I mean, is my Mitch a lot like your Mitch was?"

The question wasn't completely unexpected, but it did take him aback. He muted the tv so he could give Scott his attention, and he bit his lip as he wondered how much he should share - a habit, he had noticed, that both of them shared. He knew that the man had been curious about it since he had first met him, but had probably been too afraid to ask- or maybe the fact that Mitch was always around had stopped him.

There was so much he could have said. "He.. it's hard to explain. He looks a bit different. Mitch, my Mitch I mean, his hair was different.. his clothes too, and no tattoos. He was more shy, less confident but then sometimes Mitch reminds me so much of..well, him, that it feels like he never went away." Only when he stopped talking and his lungs filled with a huge amount of air he realized that he hadn't taken a breath since he had started his little speech.

He didn't know what he had been expecting, but Scott's focused face wasn't that. The blonde had a small smile on his face, his blue eyes twinkling as he thought. "Were you best friends first "

"Yeah, we were friends for a while.. although to be honest I don't think there was ever a moment when I wasn't in love with him." He giggled at that as a blush crept on his cheeks. "Wow that was mushy."

His double was laughing too, although he still seemed pensive. "Were you ever afraid it would mess things up? Like, friends wise." His eyes widened immediately after his question was out and he shifted his gaze, almost like he was regretting asking. "I mean... Never mind, I shouldn't have asked about him. I'm sorry."

He cocked his head on the side, observing Scott carefully. There was a pink flush on his neck, something that, he knew from experience, happened when he was embarrassed, or nervous, or frustrated. It was obvious that the question had slipped out of his mouth before he could think of it, and it only added to some of the different theories that Oz had been thinking about since he had landed in this new strange world.

"No.. don't worry about it. It's.. honestly, I think you might be the only person to understand how I feel..I mean, you're me after all." He chuckled and shook his head at that, before taking a couple of seconds to gather his thoughts so he could answer him. "I don't know how to answer that question, honestly. I was afraid he wouldn't love me back and that it would ruin our friendship, yes, but once we were together.. I knew it was forever. Of course, forever didn't last long." He tried to swallow down the lump in his throat and to think about something else when he asked, "What about you?"

Scott blinked, taken aback by the question. "What do you mean?"

He tried to resist the urge to roll his eyes. "Listen...you're ME. I know and I SEE how you look at him..and your relationship.. you cannot tell me you never wondered? You never wanted it?"

The baritone simply shook his head at that, looking away from the similar blue eyes in front of him. "I told you, we're just friends. And even if I did want more - which I don't... Mitch isn't attracted to me like that anyway."

"It doesn't seem like that to me, honestly. I mean.. wait he's not dating anyone right?" He asked, the sudden idea of seeing Mitch with someone other than himself making him sick in his stomach. 

"No, he's single. Has been for awhile.."

Well, that did make it better. Still, it was so hard to wrap his head around the idea that in this world, he wasn't sharing his life - and his bed - with Mitch. "And what about you? I haven't seen any boys around but.. God, I can't imagine myself with anyone but Mitch."

Scott just shrugged at the question. "Single for now. We're always busy, so it's hard to build a relationship with anyone when we're rarely home. And besides... Mitch has really high standards. I don't have the private island or the royal title to meet those standards." He stopped then, his eyes going a little wider. "Not that I want to. I mean I ... I don't... I'm just...saying."

Oz wasn't entirely convinced. "I don't think he's that different from my Mitch, and for some reason, I was enough to meet those standards. You know, in case you do realize you WANT that." He stayed silent for what felt like a couple of minutes, his blue eyes scanning the face that was so familiar and yet so different from his, observing how pensive Scott looked. "You know.. I think this is the first actual conversation we've had since I arrived."

That got him a look. "Yeah I guess it is.."

"Do you feel as crazy as I do, like you're having a conversation with yourself?"

Scott laughed then, a full on laugh that created wrinkles in his forehead and around his eyes, making him look younger and way more approachable. It was a heartwarming sound, and for a moment he wondered if he sounded the same. "SO crazy!"

They laughed for a while, for the first time enjoying each other's company without too much awkwardness. When their laughter subsided, Oz decided it was time to be serious again. He turned to look at the blond, trying to show how sincere he was. "Look, I know this has been hard for you too.. I don't think I'd be able to share Mitch with someone else... I mean, even if It's technically myself, you know."

Scott just chewed on his lip again, clearly uncomfortable. "I don't own him, so he can do whatever he wants... It's just weird to be separated so much."

"But you're not.. I mean, you're always together, all the time."

"Not when he's with you."

There was a hint of a pout in the way the blond man had pursed his lips and crossed his arms on his chest. It was cute, given how large he was, and he remembered how Mitch used to laugh at him whenever he would do it, forehead scrunching a little bit a melodic sound coming from his mouth as he called him adorable.

He sighed. He had already lost his Mitch - he didn't want to be the reason his doppelganger would lose his. "Oh. I should feel sorry, shouldn't I?" He should have, but the point was that - he wasn't. It was so incredible to have Mitch back, at least in one way. It was hard to give that up.

Scott sighed too, face falling. "No. He's not mine to order to spend time with me - it's.. whatever."

Despite his words, it was obvious that he was bothered by the situation. Oz couldn't understand what the deal between the two of them was - but he couldn't help but tease him just a little bit. "You can admit that you're jealous, you know. It's not like I'd judge you, and he's not here yet."

"I'm NOT jealous. I'm just.. not used to it yet."

He was still pouting and it did nothing to stop him from chuckling. "Sure, sure. Then you don't mind sharing Mitch with me, right?"

That seemed to do something to Scott's mind. His eyes widened and his face looked a bit paler, and he sat up straighter on the couch as he babbled, "Wait what?! You're not.. I mean... you can't.."

"I can't what? I-"

But he had to stop himself, the sound of the door opening and then closing interrupting their conversation. They heard Mitch's melodic voice as he sang "babeeesss I'm homeeeee,". They both turned to greet him, two nearly identical blonde heads turning to the brunette that was entering the room.

Except he wasn't brunette anymore. Instead of the raven hair that adorned his face, it was now blonde. It was really light, almost lighter than their hair, a color that he would have never thought to see on Mitch - and yet, he wore it perfectly, almost like everything else.

He was pretty sure that his mouth couldn't close. "Hey M- oh my god."

Scott seemed to be just as speechless as he was, although there was a weird expression showing on his face. It was a mixture of surprise and what seemed to be disappointment, a combination that Oz wasn't sure where was coming from, and that made him feel uneasy.

Mitch, though, didn't seem to pick up on the weird atmosphere in the room. He simply grinned at them, giving a little twirl before plopping down next to Oz, something that he always did whenever both of them were there - instead of gluing himself to Scott's side like he had seen him do. "So, do we love it?"

He felt his cheeks go ablaze as those dark eyes were turned to him. "Wow. You..uh. You look amazing. Like..more than usual." It was something that added even more to his list of differences between this Mitch and his, and maybe it should have been upsetting, seeing another thing that reminded him that he wasn't who he wanted him to be - but if anything, it made his heart feel a little bit lighter, although his stomach still felt like butterflies were swirling in it.

Mitch just smiled even wider at him. "Aww thanks babe! I thought I'd change it up a bit..." He took his phone out of his pocket to check his new hair in his front camera, before speaking again. "You're next, you know."

He was too distracted by Scott's mood shift to actually reply right away, his mind trying to make sense of the blonde's weird reaction, before the tenor's words caught up to his brain and he turned to look at him once again. "Uh, what do you mean?"

"Well, I've been thinking... you've been cooped up in this house every time Scott has been out, right? If we change your hair and maybe get you some colored contacts... maybe it'll help solve some of that."

He blinked, surprised. "That.. does actually sound smart, but -" He bit his lip, not really keen on the idea. He looked at Scott for a moment, wanting his opinion, but his dupe's eyes were still trained on Mitch - as always. "I mean, I don't know If I can see it. I don't wanna look horrible, Mitchy.."

Mitch just snorted. "Are you kidding? Like that's possible. You'll look amazing. Besides, we'll get Kyle to do it and he'll definitely take care of you. Trust me." He gave him another sweet smile before he felt the need to look at his phone screen again to check his new hair. "Are you sure it looks ok? I don't know.."

Oz wasn't really that sure about the idea of changing his own hair, but didn't feel like saying no to Mitch. Plus, maybe it could help to get him out of the house. He waited for Scott to say something about it, but it seemed like the baritone was still silent, even when Mitch wanted to be reassured some more. Oh well. If Scott didn't feel up to making Mitch feel good, he gladly would. "You look amazing, but you're always gorgeous. I love it!"

It seemed like it had been the right thing to do. Mitch did that thing he usually did when one of them complimented him, the gasping and grinning that made the sun shine a little bit brighter. "That's nice, thank you!" Mitch finally put his phone away, and seemed to suddenly realize what he had stepped foot into. "So what are you boys up to? I see we're all in the same room and no one died so... I call this a success."

"We were just.. talking. Nothing else really."

When he turned to Scott he felt his face fall at the look in his eyes. He didn't know if Mitch had noticed, but it was obvious that the man was feeling left out - and, even more, he was feeling like Mitch wasn't paying attention to him, given that the younger boy had only talked to Oz. It was both flattering and disconcerting, and he wasn't sure if he was happy about it. He bit his lip, wondering for a couple of seconds before making up his mind, plastering a small smile on his face

"Actually, if it's okay I might take a nap.. this new weather still makes me tired and groggy, to be honest." It was true, of course, but that wasn't the reason for his sudden need to leave the room, and he hoped that Scott would understand his gift.

Mitch just smiled, waving his hand. "Be my guest, but make sure you check that Wyatt isn't in your room before you close the door or he'll ruin your happiness the moment you close your eyes."

"No worries, he loves me." He saw the tiniest hint of a smile on Scott's face and he couldn't help but smile back before winking at him, then turning to look at Mitch. "You guys have fun and don't talk too badly about me!"

He then brought Mitch's head close to his in a tiny hug, before leaving the lightest of kisses on his forehead. He stood up then, trying to ignore Mitch's giggle and Scott's glare as he walked out of the room, his mind focus on the tingling feeling on his lips after the brief touch with Mitch's skin.