shuffle & repeat - oneshots [complete]

me & bobby mcgee

i'm pretty positive i'm gonna make this into a full fic aha. 60s band au.

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awsten knew two things were certain when he boarded that van on that humid june evening in '68.

he knew he had a passion for making music, and he knew he needed to get his feet out of texas if he was ever going to get anywhere.

so naturally, he was sat on a curb at the edge of town the night after graduation. with one thumb pointing towards the setting sun, he figured eventually someone would stop and let him hop into their car with him. it wasn't like he was entirely new to this - he'd hopped in stranger's cars to get from town to town to visit his friends or see local bands play. this time was different though - he had no intentions of hitching a ride back to houston after a weekend away.

he was going to california.

after sitting under the grueling summer sun for hours, with no sign of any willing drivers so much as sowing down to give him a chance however...california seemed further away than ever.

needless to say, when a technicolor volkswagon pulled to a stop right in front of him, he couldn't be sure if he was hallucinating from the heat or not.

"you lookin' for a ride buddy?" the voice inside was inquisitive, prodding even - but it was all innocent. when awsten peered up at the driver, he noted his long curly hair and the bandana tied around his forehead. he seemed, in awsten's eyes at least, very cool. he looked like the kind of guy that he'd get along well with, though he supposed he shouldn't be so quick to assume anything.

"uh, yeah actually." he started, pushing himself off the pavement and slinging his guitar case over his shoulder. all he had was a small bag and his guitar - figuring it'd be best to pack lightly with all the traveling he'd be doing.

"where ya headin'?" the other asked, eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

"how far are you willing to drive me?" was his quick response, before heading around the front of the van and opening the passenger side door.

"considering i'm headin' all the way out to the west coast, i'll drop you off just about anywhere between here and there."

"wait, you're going to the coast too? shit, you aren't stopping in cali are you?" he was honestly shocked this dude was going out to the same place as him. how could he get so lucky? was this his payback for nearly dying of heatstroke out here all day?

the other waited for him to climb in before continuing. "why, i might just be. i'm meeting friends out in hollywood, i take it you're goin' that direction yourself?"

"hell yeah i am! name's awsten, with a 'w'." he introduced animatedly, eyes wide and smile bright as ever.

"alright awsten with a 'w', name's otto, with an 'o'." he said with a nod, letting the kid toss his stuff in back before speeding off down the road and towards the highway.

-

the sky had been slowly bled of all her colors, the vibrant shades of crimson and tangerine slowly sinking into the horizon and melting into cool shades of teal and lavender. awsten silently admired the way the twinkling stars seemed to wink at him from above, seemingly teasing him. the sticky, humid air of houston had since been replaced with the cool winds of the twilight hour, and that had doused both boys in a sense of purity and serenity that they had both been hard-pressed to find before.

otto was kind enough to let awsten skim through his eight track tapes, giving him the freedom to play what he liked. he found they had a similar taste overall, but noted that otto seemed to know a lot more funky underground bands than he did. awsten's tastes were varied, while otto's seemed a little more fine-tuned. he never complained though; he welcomed the new sounds with open arms.