ambivalence ☆ // awsten knight

☆ the middle ☆

☆

thankfully, margot wasn't sitting alone for long. after about twenty minutes of watching people mess around and going on her phone, geoff joined her on the couch.

"hey, you lose awsten already?" he asked.

margot snorted, "yeah, someone came up and just dragged him away."

"ah, he'll probably be back," geoff said, "he's basically obsessed with you." he said under his breath, laughing a bit.

she didn't think he intended her to hear, but she did, "he's what?"

"oh shit, i didn't mean to say that out loud." he said sheepishly. "i just meant that he doesn't stop talking about you. you guys seem to be really good friends." he covered.

"mhm, yeah." she agreed. "i don't know how it happened so fast but he's definitely one of my closest friends." she admitted.

"i don't know about you personally, but awsten is a really good person to be friends with." geoff said. she definitely had to agree with that. he was kind, considerate, and he hadn't ghosted her yet so, he seemed to be a good friend in her book.

margot ignored the thought in the back of her mind that said she wanted to be more than friends. she was getting pretty good at getting it to shut the hell up.

she sat on the couch with geoff for a long time, getting to know him. she could see why him and awsten were friends, they had similar humor.

he told her some stories about them back in texas, and she was eager to know more about the awsten before her. to be fair, he didn't seem to be all that different. although, she definitely got a kick out of the picture geoff had shown her of his old haircut.

after about forty five minutes of chatting with geoff, olive finally reappeared. she came out of one of the hallways that margot hadn't noticed before and plopped herself down in margot's lap.

"i have something to tell youuuuu." olive said, stage whispering in her ear. she was definitely tipsy, and quite possibly passed that. oh well, it was a party.

olive seemed to just notice that there was someone else on the couch with them.

"hello, my name is olive." she stuck her hand out. geoff, laughing, shook it.

margot patted olive's side, "this is geoff, he's one of awsten's hometown friends." she introduced them.

"ah well, geoff. lovely to meet you." olive said before turning back to margot, still perched on her lap. "back to my secret."

margot tried to apologize to geoff with her eyes, but he just laughed it off. see you later? he mouthed at her. she nodded in response, waving at him as he got off the couch and disappeared into the crowd.

"alright, what did you need to tell me?" margot asked. she had to hold tight to her waist, because she feared that she might tip over onto the floor at any second.

"my toast came true!" olive said, cheering.

"no shit? with who?" margot said, scanning the room. "and how did you manage that already?" she still look relatively put together, but wow she was quick.

"i don't know, i didn't ask his name." olive admitted.

"olive! can you at least point him out?" she asked.

olive looked around for a moment, her eyes passing over all the people in the living room, "nope. he's not in here. must be in another room." she shrugged.

"well. congratulations." margot smiled. she was happy for her, all things considered. she paused, "wait. where did you..." she trailed off.

"one of the bathrooms. don't worry, we cleaned up." she replied.

"oh thank god. i was worried you'd done it in awsten's bed or something." margot sighed.

"dude, no. i'm not that rude." olive said, clutching a hand to her chest.

"okay, now that that's over with. get off my lap. my legs are going numb." she said. olive grumbled, but complied.

"have you done anything tonight?" olive asked her, slumped back into the couch. "fuck, this is a nice couch."

"i know right?" margot started. "also, no, i've been here basically the entire time because awsten got dragged away and hasn't been seen since."

"that sucks." she frowned. "but hey, i'm back now! let's dance!" she tugged on margot's hands until she finally got off the couch, unwillingly. she didn't even know the song that was playing, but olive got right into it.

margot awkwardly swayed to the beat, but olive kept goading her into moving more. she loosened up a bit, figuring most people here didn't care what the fuck she looked like while dancing.

the song switched to one she actually knew, so she and olive sang along while dancing to it.

despite having been gone most of the night, olive was chatting to the people around them like she'd known them for years. margot just figured they were all at the same level of drunk so they just talked to whoever.

she was having fun watching them try to communicate over the loud music, considering they were not more than ten feet from the speaker.

they danced for a couple more songs before olive dragged her into the kitchen.

"i need some fucking water." olive said. there was a case of water bottles next to all of the other drinks, so margot wrestled two out of the package, tossing one to olive and keeping one for herself.

she took a long drink. it was hot in there, and she was sure the heat outside wasn't helping much either.

olive had downed her own bottle pretty fast. she bent over for a second, and margot was afraid she might throw up, but she stood again and looked decent enough. she did not need to deal with vomit right now.

as she was about to grab olive and bring her back out to the living room someone entered the kitchen. she turned around to look.

it was awsten. he looked relieved to see her, which was nice.

olive looked between them, "i'll be out there." she said, disappearing around the corner.

"hey! i haven't seen you all night." margot teased.

"god, i'm sorry about that. i got dragged into judging a cup pong tournament. i'm not even sure how they set that up." awsten shrugged.

"it took that long?" margot said, confused.

"everyone playing was already pretty drunk." he explained. he walked closer to her so that they were standing only a couple feet apart.

"are you having fun? i didn't mean to abandon you." he said, seemingly genuine.

"oh, yeah! i talked with geoff for a while, and then olive and i danced for a bit. but she needed water so we ended up back in here." she said.

"good, i would feel horrible if you weren't having fun." awsten said, resting his hand on the counter just inches from where her hand was sitting.

"nah, don't worry. i'm at a perfect fun level. i'm just glad you're here. i don't know that many people." she admitted.

"i'll do my best not to leave you for the rest of the night." he promised, looking down at her. her breath caught when she realized how close they were. it reminded her too much of the last time she was in his apartment.

judging by the look on his face, he was also thinking of the same thing. he moved his hand slowly, resting it on her hip. her pulse quickened.

"you really do look good tonight, margot." he said quietly.

"so do you." she managed to say. his thumb had started rubbing circles on her hip, clearly not intentional because he didn't seem to notice.

"do you..." he started and then stopped. "can i... can i kiss you?" he asked, his eyes locking on hers.

margot felt her face flush immediately, "y-yeah. of course." awsten leaned in slowly, giving her time to stop him if needed. not like she would ever stop him, though.

and, finally, after thinking about it all week, his lips were on hers.

☆