will they? won't they? | gawsten

chapter three: talks and fine moments

after attempting to fall asleep for what felt like forever, he gave up. he instead took his phone out, plugging it in once seeing it was at ten percent, but that wasn't abnormal for awsten. he ended up doom-scrolling twitter, trying to avoid negative tweets about himself, but failing because...it's twitter.

    he knew he shouldn't have started because now he can't stop. it's like a car crash or train accident, you just can't look away, he was in too deep now. they were all vastly different, which would lead a normal person to believe they were all full of it, wanting a huge reaction. but for awsten, it just told him his entire character sucked, he couldn't sing, wasn't funny. he huffed out, pressing the home button on his phone twice, switching to instagram instead. people were always nicer over there, and he could like some artwork while he was there anyways. he ended up reposting some art, smiling when the creator took note of their notice and freaked. he always liked doing that, and found time for it whenever he could.

    eventually he got tired of looking at his screen though, opting for sitting up and stretching, before heading to the front of the bus. he noticed jawn was still driving, though not surprising, since everyone else seemed to be asleep.

    "how are you holding up?" the red-head had asked, not taking his eyes off the road for even a second.

    "i'm alright," awsten replied, sitting down in the passenger seat. "just gonna get over it."

    "you are?" jawn seemed surprised.

    "well...yeah," awsten laughed a little. "not gonna fuck this all up now."

    "and how do you know that you will?" jawn asked as he took the exit, being very careful not to scratch the bus.

    "no way he returns that," the blue boy scoffed, rolling his eyes.

    "i wouldn't give up that easy," god awsten hated when jawn got cryptic on him. "i wouldn't give up until i tried."

    "whatever," awsten sighed, sitting criss-cross in his seat as he watched the scenery of dallas take over his view. he tried not to think about his obvious feelings, not wanting to waste his time or energy on it.

    after a little while they pulled into the venue, more than early to show time. awsten found himself yawning as he got up, turning to go to the back to wake the other two up. he walked down the isle, waking otto first and then geoff. he slowly approached otto's bunk before quickly opening the curtain, iphone flashlight burning his eyes. "get the fuck up, it's time for friendship and to love each other forever!" he shouted, waking geoff in the process, he was always a light sleeper, especially on tour.

    "shut up," otto groaned, not appreciating getting woken up minutes after he finally fell asleep.

    "i will drag you," the blue boy mentioned, smirking as otto still didn't move. "i warned you," he shrugged before grabbing his friend's arm and yanking him to the floor and making him stand on his own two feet. he was just lucky he chose bottom bunk this tour.

    the other rolled his eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them before walking off the bus, awsten following soon after, the blue boy turning around to make sure geoff was there, and boy was he. he stood there in all his sleepy glory, smiling sleepily at awsten. the blue boy made himself ignore the heart pounding in his chest, or the funny feeling in his stomach upon seeing his best friend like that.

    "c'mon," awsten smiled dumbly, heart on his sleeve for all to see.

    geoff nodded, smile not wavering for a second, and followed his friend off the bus. they met up with jawn and otto, helping tale set pieces in from the bandwagon.

    awsten tried to avoid geoff at all costs, doing pretty good at the start; taking small stuff so he wouldn't have to help geoff with big items and left it to the other two to assist. but that all came crashing down when geoff needed help with a bigger prop and jawn and otto made themselves busy. and ordinarily awsten wouldn't immediately suspect they're doing this on purpose, but the looks on their faces said otherwise. he death-glared them before turning to help geoff.

    "you got it?" geoff asked as awsten held up his end of the prop.

    the blue boy nodded, walking forward as he directed his lanky friend who was walking backwards.

    they finally made it to the stage, setting it down and repositioning it as needed, before draping a cloth over it. awsten sighed out and sat on the stage, facing the to-be-filled chairs. he was nervous, but everyone gets 'first show jitters' every now and again. but even geoff took note of his quiet, and very apparently nervous, demeanor.

    the brunette sat next to him on the wooden stage, sort of reminding him of a school auditorium stage, thinking of all the good times he had back then—as a theatre nerd—and now. geoff was a very physical person, with pretty much anyone he grew comfortable around, but he's always had an itch for touching awsten; and not in some perverted weird way. in the way of that's his only way to comfort awsten since the words always slipped his mind the moment he goes to use his tongue.

    he noticed his friend was in his own little world, and didn't want to accidentally scare him, so he pondered for a moment before slowly lying his hand on top of awsten's pale one. the other didn't flinch, hardly moved actually. he sighed out again, flipping his hand over and letting their fingers intertwine. this surprised geoff, awsten never really being one for initiating touches, but this wasn't unwelcome by any means. if anything he liked it.

    they sat for a moment, geoff looking over at the blue boy every few moments, watching the cogs turn in his mind, he hoped his touch provided comfort, but little did he know that's all that awsten was thinking about.

    the world was on mute for awsten; he just tuned everything out. though he knew people were moving, people were talking, life was going on. his mind cycled through thoughts; the show, geoff, what he wanted for dinner tonight, geoff's touch, what otto and jawn were up to, the way geoff's thumb rubbed over his own. yeah who was he kidding, he couldn't stop thinking of geoff. and how nice he is, he caring he was, and how fucking awesome it was that he wasn't being questioned, because geoff knew not to pry.

    awsten ended up snapping himself out of it, feeling unhelpful that he was just sat there not helping anyone. he came back to reality and still his mind was on the person next to him. he squeezed geoff's hand, turning to look at him, getting a smile which he returned.

    their moment—if you can even call it that—was soon interrupted by none other than jawn, "hey guys! little help here?"

    they rolled their eyes, unlocking their hands and meandering over to the other two, finishing up the preparations and overnight them with sheets, per awsten's request. he didn't want the fans spoiled, okay?

    they finished up soon after, retiring to sitting in the parking lot as they researched nearby places so they could eat. there was approximately three and a half hours before show time, plenty of time. awsten sat under the overhang by the doorway, not wanting to get viciously sunburned this early into the tour. he scrolled on his phone, looking for places to eat, soon coming across chili's, and who could turn that down?