Underneath the mistletoe 6/11

[marea67]

Underneath the mistletoe 6/11

By Marea67
About: Kevin, Scotty, Chad, Jason,
Rate: G
Disclaimer: The boys belong to ABC.
Summary: Change partners and dance?

*****

“Hey! Found all the things you were looking for?” Jason asks when he sees Scotty exit the store.
“Everything, except one ingredient, but I found a substitute.”
“For…?”

“Not telling. You’ll see it, when we eat tonight.” Scotty teases.
“Unfair.” Jason pouts, but then he smiles. “Want to go back straightaway or shall we get some coffee first, so we can warm our hands?”
“If I can go for tea?”

“I’m driving. I don’t care what you drink, as long as you don’t sing off-key in my car.” Jason laughs cheerful.
“Then I’d love some tea.” Scotty replies and he follows Jason. They quickly find a nice place, where Scotty changes his mind and orders coffee after all.

The waitress tries to sell them some pieces of pie, but they gently and politely decline the offer and finally she leaves them alone.
“Oh, that’s so much better.” Jason blows on his hands. “I’ve been cold all day.”
“You’re not going to get sick, are you?” Scotty asks.

“No, not on my ‘to do’ list for this week.” Jason grins. “Maybe bad blood-circulation.” He shrugs. For a moment they quietly enjoy the warmth of their hot drinks, but then Jason puts down his mug.
“Can I ask you something, Scotty? ... It’s about Robert.”

“Sure.” Scotty braces himself. Sometimes it’s still hard to feel completely at ease around Jason and the subject of Robert had created enough trouble between Scotty and Kevin.
“What were his last hours like? Was he happy? ... I’ve tried to ask Kitty, but she doesn’t really want to talk about it.”

Scotty relaxes and carefully weighs his words.
“I have to admit, Saul and I were very busy in the kitchen, so I haven’t seen everything that happened around me, but I thought, in general, that he was happy. A bit tense at first. I’m not sure why.

However, after his heart-attack-scare and after his hospital-visit something had happened, that made him more relaxed. Like a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders. I mostly remember Robert and Kitty being very happy and laughing and having fun. They looked forward to going home and seeing Evan again. Why?”

“I’ve been trying to reconstruct his last hours for myself, but I didn’t know who to turn to. Obviously Kevin and Kitty were the closest to him, but I find it hard to start on this topic with them…” Jason sighs.
“Maybe you should try Justin. I noticed that Robert and Justin talked to each other several times.”

“Thanks.” Jason replies, seemingly surprised by Scotty’s suggestion. “By the way, why did you chose to go to Ojai for a weekend to try the test-menu?”
“Saul and I thought it would be fun to have everyone over at the old Walker-place.”
“It belonged to the Walkers?”




“Yes. Didn’t you know? They sold it not long after William died.”
“So, you had seen it before?”
“Yes. Kevin and I had our millionth argument there and I left early. Took a ride with Warren, who was Kitty’s boyfriend-who-didn’t-make-it.”

“Sounds like a volatile weekend?” Jason laughs.
“It was. Sarah wanted to sell the place, but everyone objected. Nora wanted to go there one more time. No one was interested. Of course we all ended up there…”

“All?”
“Nora with her then boyfriend David, Sarah and Joe, Kitty with Warren, Tommy and Julia and Justin and what’s her name again… Tyler! And there was Kevin and me. That was the weekend that Tommy asked Kevin to be the sperm-donor and … I didn’t agree with Kevin’s refusal.”

“He refused?”
“Yes, at first.”
“You fought over that?”
“Not exactly. I just expressed that I had a different opinion and he told me to shut up.”

“Ouch!”
“Yes. Maybe it shouldn’t have mattered to me, I should have also seen that Kevin felt ganged up on, but I was so tired of Kevin constantly telling me how to feel, what to think or if I was allowed to express my point of view. I was ... done.”

“I see your point… Want some more coffee?”
“Yes, please.” Scotty sees Jason return to the counter and he looks out the window. The sky is dark-grey and Scotty frowns. He doesn’t like the color of it.
“Scotty? I think we better go now, instead of taking more coffee.”

“I agree. The sky is really dark.”
“We have nothing to worry about. The bad weather is still an hour or two away and we’ll be home, nice and cozy before that. But… I think we should go now.”
“I’m right with you.”

*****

“I don’t like it. They are not back yet.” Kevin says softly.
“Hey, listen, they are both adults, they are smart. I don’t think we have to worry about anything.” Chad tries to comfort Kevin’s concerns away.
“I know. I’m trying not to, but you just heard the news…”

Chad nods. Yes, there’s a warning for severe snow tonight, but he cannot see how that can affect them.
“Jason and Scotty will be back before that. This house has apparently survived quite some blizzards. We have enough wood to keep ourselves warm…”

“I know.” Kevin nods.
“And tonight, when the snow starts to fall, we’ll all be safely here and we’ll drink hot chocolate and enjoy the warmth of the fire…”
“I like that thought.” Kevin admit, feeling how Chad lets his hands rest on his waist.

“Knew you would… and think about this…” Chad lowers his voice, his mouth close to Kevin’s ear. “Tonight, when it’s all cold outside, you can snuggle up close to Scotty… Be warm and safe… Maybe you could even show how much you appreciate that….” Chad grins at Kevin’s little hum.

He lets go of Kevin and he returns to the couch and picks up his script. Kevin watches him read and he decides to take the big chair, but the magazine he reads can’t hold his attention. It’s all quiet in the room, except for the radio softly playing. His eyes grow heavy and eventually he drifts off to sleep.

Chad smiles tenderly when he sees Kevin sleep. He takes the blanket, that Scotty had used that night, and covers Kevin with it, so that Kevin is warm. Chad returns to his place, picks up his script and soon enough he’s lost in the story and he doesn’t notice the time tick away.

*****

“I understand that you want to be home quickly, but can you slow down just a little bit?” Scotty asks. “I’m the one looking down the precipice here.”
“Sorry.” Jason replies and he does slow down a bit. “It’s not going as fast as I wished it would. The roads are so slippery.”

“That’s alright, I just rather get home a little later, but in one piece.” Scotty sighs and more softer he continues: “I hate accidents…”
Jason looks at Scotty’s serious face.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring back bad memories.”

“I’m fine.” Scotty smiles. He looks out the window again. The road goes up and the snow-banks are not that high everywhere, so occasionally Scotty can see the slopes of the mountain. Again he can see the valley below. His stomach protests and he closes his eyes.

He tries to focus on the progress that he and Jason have made. It seems like ages ago, since he had barged in on Kevin’s ‘tea-party’. Even now, he still feels a little silly for his petty jealousy, but he had wanted Kevin so badly and he had been so afraid that he’d lose Kevin all over again.




Especially the awkward dinner between him, Jason and Kevin hadn’t been one of his finest hours. Jason had been so polite and Scotty, who had planned to really dislike him, had started to feel sorry for him. And then there had been Kevin’s grumpiness and Scotty had been sure that it was all because he would have preferred to be alone with Jason.

Scotty had never been so happy to see a guest leave, as he had been that night. He had felt stupid, angry, confused, used, argumentative and hurt at the same time. He never managed to clean the kitchen that fast again. And that without Kevin’s help, which, in hindsight was alright. At least he didn’t get a chance to throw anything at Kevin's head.

Of course, Kevin had made it all right the next day, when he had, once again, told Scotty how much he had wanted him. Sometimes Scotty thinks that their relationship really took off that day and all the weeks prior to that morning had been only a testing period to see if it was all worth it… He smiles.

Then, …. it happens so quickly. He hears Jason’s scream, but when he opens his eyes, Scotty only sees something big and black swoosh by, the snow-banks come closer and he believes they will crash into them, but instead, the snow and ice give way to the strong car. The car tips over and starts to slide down the slope.

In a fraction of a second he sees Jason’s horrified face and he knows the car is out of his control. He turns his head to look in front him and sees the trees come at him. He raises his arms in an attempt to cover his face. Not even the seat-belt can protect him from the blow that follows and everything turns to black.

END OF PART 6