comment if you feel like it.

***

Mitch didn't have any injuries too severe. He had bruises that needed to be wrapped, and cuts that needed to be clean. But hours worth of tests and scans, his body was in average condition, minus his said cuts and bruises.

Scott had immediately figured out that Mitch was, indeed, his soulmate. But Mitch didn't have a clue. He just thought Scott was his rescuer.

Scott decided Mitch was going through a lot, and wanted to wait before telling him. He learned that Mitch was only seventeen, so he didn't have any clue that Scott was or even could be his soulmate.
The Grassi family wasn't at the hospital yet, saying as they moved six months prior to Mitch's rescue.

The police found a body that was beaten so bad it was almost unrecognizable, but the identified the body was Mitchell Grassi when they found it. The Grassi's were beyond devastated, and moved out of the country. Trying to restart there life as best as they could without their only child.

So when they were notified, they started coming back to America immediately. But it was going to take them a few days.
So Scott stayed with Mitch his first night in the hospital. Even though he was good to leave, they wanted to keep him for a day or two to moderator his metal health.

It was this time when Scott decided to tell him. They were sitting in Mitch's room, Mitch just sitting with his head tucked in his legs and his knees up to his chest, making no noise. He didn't question why Scott stayed with him, but for some odd reason he couldn't understand, he was one of the few people he actually felt comfortable around. Especially since he was the one who saved him.

"Mitch?" Scott softly spoke, hoping not to disturb him. He heard Mitch's breath hitch, probably out of surprise.
Mitch looked toward him, changing his position to laying down sideways to face Scott, who was sitting i a plastic chair next to the hospital bed.

Mitch made eye contact with him, encouraging Scott to continue. Scott took a deep breath, but before he could speak, Mitch interrupted.

"You're my soulmate, aren't you?" He asked softly.
Scott's mouth stayed open, but he didn't speak. Surprised that he got it right without him even saying anything yet.

Mitch turned to lay flat on his back. Scott could faintly see the shining tears in Mitch's eyes. Scott, for a moment, though that maybe Mitch was disappointed that Scott was his soulmate. But when Mitch spoke again, that thought quickly went away.

"I-I remember your name. When I was eight, I was watching the news with my dad and your picture came up on the screen along with your parents giving out information about you... and then when I was... ten, I think, I remember the news of you returning home safely."
Scott sighed quietly, a little out of relief.

"Why're you crying?" Scott asked softly, still confused. Mitch sighed and closed his eyes.

"Why wouldn't I be?" He replied back, his tone soft too. Not harsh or rude, just simple. As if this were all simple.

Mitch then sat up and faced Scott before rubbing the tears away from his face. He let out a quiet hum as he looked at Scott, and it made Scott tense. As if he were being examined or something.
"You'll do." Mitch said jokingly.

Scott laughed, and it made Mitch smile. That was the first time he saw Mitch smile.

He hoped he would do it more often.

***

Mitch went with his parents to stay with them at their hotel. Scott went back to his house, and was surprised to see Kirstie laying in his bed, half asleep.

He sighed and crossed his arms, staring at her as she was sprawled out like a starfish. He walked towards the side she was ok and crouched down to sit on his knees, then back on his heels. He put his hand on Kirstie's shoulder, and she flinched awake.
"Finally..." she mumbled, sitting up tiredly.

Scott rolled his eyes, but couldn't help the small smile on his face.
"What're you doing here, babe?" He asked softly, since it was nearing two a.m and his parents and sisters were asleep.

She sighed. "I came here to hang out with you because I thought you already came back from the hospital. Your parents said you wouldn't be like and that I could wait in your room. Your bed is very comfortable. Things happen." She said with a groggy tone, scratching her knuckles.

Scott laughed breathily as he began changing into more comfortable clothes.
"What took you so long, anyway?" She asked once he got in bed next to her.
"Mitch's parents were stuck in the airport for awhile, not a surprise since it's Friday."
Kirstie mumbled a quiet, 'oh,' and Scott could tell she was still on the verge of sleep.

He smiled tiredly and got under the covers. He got comfortable, using the crook of Kirstie's neck as a pillow as he laid beside her. He could already hear her breaths of sleep, and soon enough, he found himself falling asleep too.

Although he didn't sleep for very long.

His phone began ringing. He groaned, getting woken up immediately. He blindly reached for his phone which lay plugged into the charger on his bedside table.
He saw numbers displayed on the screen, but no contact name yet.
Although the numbers sounded familiar, so, despite being in the verge of sleep, he answered.

He cringed at the sound of his croaky voice. "Hello?"

"O-oh! You answered... I-I was going to leave you a message, u-um..." Scott recognized the voice as his soulmate, Mitch.

He could hear the guilt and slight embarrassment in Mitch's tone, so he decided to say a little white lie.
"No! No, it's okay. I was already awake." He said, clearing his throat to sound more awake since his groggy voice was probably showing the truth.

Although, he heard a relieved sigh.
"Oh, that's good. I-I just wanted to call you because... we got a call, my family I mean..." Scott closed his eyes and laid back down in his comfortable position, although kept the phone pressed to his ear.

"Omar Winebecker?" Mitch said like a question. Scott's heart began pounding harder and harder.

His eyes shot open, and he instinctively sat up. And although Kirstie was asleep next to him, he still grabbed her hand.

"H-how d-did you--?"

Although Scott's voice was quiet, and Mitch began talking over him.
"H-he's the one that... that kidnapped me. They found him in Louisiana at his childhood home, dead... he apparently killed himself when you got me out of the house and the news found a picture of him to share on the news."
Scott's breathing was uneven, he felt like he was about to stop breathing at all.

"Scott?" Mitch asked, slightly worried by the heavy breathing coming through the phone that he could hear.

"H-he's dead?"
Scott asked, his voice cracking. He wasn't thinking about how tight he was holding Kirstie's hand, cause he then noticed her waking up with furrowed eyebrows and an expression of discomfort.

"He is... w-what's going on with you?" Mitch asked concernedly. Scott's eyes filled with tears, and he didn't trust himself to form a proper sentence in reply.

There was a moment of silence, besides Scott's anxious panting, and then Mitch asked him a question with a tone he didn't know how to describe.

"They never found your kidnapper, did they?" Mitch asked in a whisper.

Scott didn't have to answer, because the silence did it for him.

***

"It was the same guy!?" Kirstie asked with surprise. She ended up falling back asleep before she even has the chance to wake up fully.

And in the morning when they started getting ready, Scott told her everything they took place the night before.
Scott just nodded, still looking in the mirror at himself while Kirstie was doing her makeup.

"Wow..." she whispered. "I don't... I don't really know what to say. Are you... I don't know, relieved at all that they found him?"
Scott shook his head, 'no.'

Kirstie made eye contact with him in the mirror.

"Maybe it's... the inner child that still is in you with Stockholm syndrome." She suggested.

That was something that Scott still didn't understand till that day.
During his kidnapping, he started developing attachment issues with his own captor.
When he had to leave for work, which wasn't too often, Scott would scream and cry and beg him too stay.

And the day that Scott was found was one of the worst days of his life, at least at the time. They were at a target to get fruit, and when Omar has to use the bathroom and Scott waiting outside of the stall, a security guard walked in, too.

He recognized Scott right away, and immediately began talking to him, soon he lead Scott out of the bathroom. Omar clearly heard all of this, and stayed in the stall until they were gone, and somehow left the store before anyone could find him.

Scott was in full panic mode. Hitting the police and screaming out for his kidnaper to help him, but he never did.

And after that, when he was returned home, he didn't even trust his own family. He had to learn it all again, he had to learn to live without Omar.

And the worst thing about the entire ordeal, was that they never found Omar because of Scott. Scott refused to give them any information about his appearance, what job he had, what he did or even where he could possibly go. Scott gave them nothing, he didn't want to rat Omar out. So he didn't.

After years of becoming normal again, his trust and attachment for Omar turned into hatred and sadness. He wished he could change what he did and tell them everything about everything. But he couldn't. And since years went by, most of the information would be completely useless. He had the time to change his appearance, his job, his location, his everything.

Scott then realized that he was the reason that Mitch had gotten kidnapped.

***

"It wasn't your fault. If that's what you're thinking, anyway. You were only nine years old and you were easy to manipulate... he tried doing it to me but I was old enough to block it out as best as I could." Mitch said to Scott when they decided to meet up at Mitch's hotel while his parents were going to the airport to pick up his grandparents.

Scott shook his head, rolling his eyes.
"Can you not understand? If I had told them everything about Omar, then--"

"Then this still would've happened. Because it's how we met... it would've happened anyways." Mitch snapped back, although his voice slowly turned into a whisper. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Don't blame yourself, Scott. I swear, if you do that frequently I'm going be so confused as to why we're soulmates because that is so not my brand." Scott laughed, and Mitch smiled a little. Glad he was able to maybe break a piece of brick of the giant wall in front of Scott.

"I can't believe he's lived miles away from my house." Scott mumbled as he looked out at the view, his arms rested on the gates that blocked them from falling.

Mitch sighed and looked out too, watching the highway filled with speeding cars.
"I can't believe I lived in the house." He said. Scott didn't reply, not really knowing how.

Obviously their situations were very similar, but because of the age difference, the metal trauma was completely different.

"How'd he do it?" Mitch asked after minutes of silence passing.
Scott didn't need to ask what he was referring to.

"He said he was a teacher at my school and was leading me to the bus. That bus was his car, and he took me to my new 'home.'" Scott sighed with a bitter laugh, shaking his head at himself.

Mitch paused a moment, "he drugged me when I snuck into a bar with my friends."

Neither of them spoke for awhile.

"Purple."

Scott looked at Mitch with confusion, his eyes narrowing. Mitch looked at Scott, and Scott could see tears in his eyes, but he wasn't sure why.

"It's my favorite color."

Scott walked a little closer to him, and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. Mitch sighed heavily, and rested his head on his shoulder.

"I don't know much about you at all."

Mitch mumbled. Scott didn't reply, just stood there with Mitch in his arms.
"Mines blue." He replied back.

After that, they didn't talk much.

***