4

The guy didn't appear at VIP, neither in the first rows. Mitch was searching for him just to know if he was there but he couldn't spot him. He must have been in the crowd or nowhere at all. Mitch tried his best to only concentrate on preforming.

He was curious. After the show he spent some time on looking through the letters he got but those were all from nice fangirls and fanboys. Knowing him, someone already put makeup remover on his table so he turned to get himself ready for going back to the hotel and sleeping. He quickly changed his clothes and left.

There was a small shop right next to the hotel and he desperately needed some toothpaste because he forgot to bring his own and the hotel one tasted like plastic. He didn't want to bother anyone with his needs since the solution was so close. Instead of following the others inside he went into the store which was almost completely empty. He's found a decent toothpaste pretty quickly and payed for it but after closing the door behind him, he accidentally bumped into someone. "Sorry," he mumbled and looked up.

The man standing in the front of him was tall, broad shouldered. The hoodie of his sweatshirt covered his face in shadow. Mitch could really see his eyes but he knew that the guy was staring at him with numb expression, standing right in his way. It was just a single moment but Mitch felt the panic gripping him. He stepped left to pass by the man and started running as fast as he could. He used the stairs instead of the elevator and after locking the door of his hotel room, he practically collapsed onto the floor. His heart was still beating like crazy and he needed to take a couple of deep breaths to calm down.

The guy was at the hotel.

He fucking knew the hotel Mitch was staying at.

Did he follow him? Why was he at the shop? Mitch was sure as hell that this guy was the exact same one who grabbed his wrist and sent the letters, and no one could tell him that he was wrong.

What should he do now? Scott was always annoyed when Mitch said something questionable about their fans and Beau thought that he was being delusional.

A sudden knock on his door made him jump. He didn't even notice that he was holding his breath but as a last chance he tried to be someone that everyone would be proud of and stood up to peek out.

But there was literally no one on the corridor. Of course, it was already half past nine in the evening, who the hell would visit him this late right after the show? He tried so hard to come up with something comforting but then he saw a small piece of paper in the front of the door.

'Why did you run away, gorgeous?'

That was it, this and fact that he has just bumped into his stalker ten minutes ago sent him into a full blown panic attack and there was no way back.

It felt like forever until Beau finally picked up the phone. It was so late at his boyfriend's place, he was probably sleeping already. He wanted to apologize but couldn't even say a word. "Mitch? Honey, are you alright?" Beau tried after he got no response for greeting him. He immediately sounded awake. "Mitchy, can you turn on your camera please?" He requested the facetime so Mitch only needed to accept it.

When Beau saw the expression on his boyfriend's face, he kicked off the blanket to sit up properly. "Oh my God, what's wrong?" "He- He was here," Mitch wanted to try his best and explain everything but it already felt like failing as soon as Beau puckered his lips. "Who are you talking about? The letter guy?" Mitch nodded and Beau let out a small sigh. "Mitchy- Nevermind, baby, let's talk about this later. For now, I need you to calm down, okay?"

It didn't help. Of course, Beau didn't believe him. The despair felt suffocating and he was clearly losing the battle. His heart was pounding so hard, he couldn't even find any sense in his boyfriend's words. Eventually, Beau realized that there was no use trying. "Okay, I'm going to call Scott. Hold on, baby." He tapped on the screen and after some faint ringing Beau started talking. "Hi! Yeah- Look, can you check up on Mitch? Yes. Alright, thank you. Bye! Mitchy, he's going to be there in a couple of minutes."

However, Mitch couldn't decide if only a couple of minutes or a forever time passed when there was another knock on the door, followed by Scott's voice. He needed to get up and open the door. Scott sent him a faint smile and took his phone to talk with Beau shortly, telling him that they were going to be okay there and he doesn't need to worry. Then he gently grabbed Mitch's arm and led him to the bed. He knew what he was doing which already gave Mitch some kind of comfort but not enough. When he told Scott the story of the guy by the store and the knock on his door – but not mentioning the paper -, Scott leaned away to look into his eyes. "Mitch, I swear, you're overreacting this. I'm sure that no one wants to freak you out. Why would anyone do that?"

Oh. Of course.

Mitch was lost. He felt no strength to fight for his opinion. He craved for someone to believe him finally, to tell him that everything was going to be okay but no one was willing to listen. They all thought that Mitch was making this up. Despite the feeling of shame he couldn't stop crying.

After a while Scott ordered Mitch to change his clothes for sleeping but when he was finished and Scott only kicked his shoes off instead of leaving, he wrinkled his forehead. "What are you doing?" "It's pretty late, we should be sleeping," Scott explained calmly. "But- Mark?" "He doesn't mind. He's big boy and perfectly able to survive a night without me."

Mitch was grateful but also a bit annoyed. It was very obvious that Scott didn't believe him, he didn't need babysitting out of pity. Mitch trusted him and Beau the most, yet both of them were concerned for his mental health instead of listening. He didn't need that. He was perfectly aware that everything that has happened was real.

***

When Mitch woke up, Scott was still asleep. He was laying like a starfish under the fluffy hotel-blanket, snoring quietly, peacefully. Nothing has changed. Sleeping with Beau was easy and comfortable because the boy never tried to kick him off the bed during the night, not like Scott did. They used to share a room every single time they slept in a hotel, even if there was no opportunity to have two beds, only one king sized. Mitch missed his best friend.

From hanging out in every second of their life they went to barely spending any time together and even if they did, their boyfriends were there. Or at least Mark. Mitch wasn't really envious, no. He always claimed that some distance only helps their relationship with Beau, being a Leo with a Gemini. Sometimes the time spent separated felt a little bit too much and yeah, he wished his boyfriend could be with him more than he does now but it could be worse.

Mitch sent Beau a quick message and then climbed out of bed. After washing his teeth – remembering the previous night – he walked back to the bed and poked Scott's side. "Hey, fucker, wakey-wakey!" The blonde huffed and tiredly rubbed his eyes. "Time?" "Half past eight." They were leaving at ten but the others were probably eating breakfast soon. "How are you?" Scott asked, now sitting up. Mitch hummed. He didn't really know what to answer so he mumbled a small 'fine' and continued packing.

He needed to figure something.

This time on his own.