Today, the sky was grumbling with gusto as it hurled water from the ashen clouds. They had kidnapped the sunshine that once bathed the building in loveliness. Awsten found solace in the calmness of the library; only the elderly ventured in. In the five years he'd been coming here, he had never seen anyone he knows (that was a major bonus in his mind). Besides, reading is awesome and libraries are even better. Thousands of tattooed tree corpses could tell a million stories; he loved it.
Currently, Awsten had his nose in a David Leviathan book whilst sitting criss-cross on a sofa. The librarian was the only other person here; a wonderful old lady that always smelt of oranges. Awsten could spend hours at the library - it was his little slice of heaven.
That was until today, he saw a very attractive man come in. He only noticed him because of his squeaky shoes (from the rain that was still pelting outside). Awsten peeked his head over the edge of his book to watch the stranger. His hair fell onto his face every time he tilted his head to look at the titles; Awsten thought it was the cutest thing. Not to mention, every time he crouched down, Awsten got a nice view of his ass which he liked very much.
There was a large commotion from the door making he and the stranger look towards it. Awsten was quick to gather his things and hop behind the sofa out of sight. It was nothing astronomically bad, but it was still the group of guys that gave Awsten a hard time at school. They were most likely in here to hide from the rain because there was nothing open nearby. Stealthily, Awsten kept his eyes on the boys and crept sideways - trying to get to the door unnoticed. All was going to plan until he collided with the very being who he had been staring at from afar. Awsten had pushed over the stranger and knocked all the books out of both of their arms by accident. He scrambled to hide behind a bookshelf and drag the stranger there too. He looked at the stranger and got lost in the stellar blue eyes that he hadn't seen before.
"Do you have a map? Because I'm lost in your eyes." Awsten murmured without even realising what he was saying. He cringed at himself, but the stranger laughed - only to have Awsten cover his mouth. "I'm so sorry, but no noise." Awsten whispered. Then he peered out from his hiding spot, thankful to see the guys didn't seem to notice them. He regathered the books that were strewn around; all while wondering why he said that to a stranger. It was a running joke between him and his friend, Otto, that he would come up with cheesy pick up lines. But, with the realisation that now he actually said it to a cute guy, he couldn't believe his mouth.
"Hey, are you okay?" The stranger asked when Awsten turned back to him. He merely nodded while he went about resorting the books into precise piles that were his and not his.
Awsten sat back and leant against the shelf before muttering, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I was avoiding people and then I crashed into you and then I told you a pick up line and I am so sorry about the whole ordeal." Awsten was blushing a sanguine by now. The stranger took his hand and rubbed the back of it.
"It's cute." The stranger said, completely taking Awsten by surprise. Awsten snapped his gaze up to the stranger's stunning portal blue eyes. Awsten found it in him to smile at the complement.
"I'm Awsten." He smiled and offered his hand. The stranger took his hand and Awsten could swear to hell that an indescribable feeling of joy shot through him.
"Geoff." The stranger - Geoff - beamed. They let their hands drop, holding eye contact for a little longer than necessary. "So, you said you were avoiding people." Geoff stated, wanting Awsten to elaborate.
"Oh. Yeah... They picked on me at school." Awsten sighed, subconsciously looking at them through the solid wooden shelf. He felt Geoff take his hand again and the feeling reappeared.
"That must suck. I got bullied because I was gay, but it was okay because we had a quarterback with two dads." Awsten was so happy to hear that he was gay, not the bullying part, but definitely the gay part.
"That must've been great." Awsten gave a small smile, his heart now longing to go back in time and stand up for himself. "I never had that and they only found out because 'fag' was just an insult, but I am the worst at hiding anything."
"I think you're pretty good at hiding yourself." Geoff chuckled. "Apart from the whole crashing into me part, but it means I get to talk to a cutie," Geoff smirked. "So I don't mind." Awsten was reddening by the minute. "So, do you wanna get out of here? Did you drive?"
Awsten didn't need to think before answering, "No, I live close by, but yes I would love to get out of here." He smiled.
Geoff let go of Awsten's hand and stood up. "Cool, I gotta check these books out and then I'll come back and we can leave." Geoff whispered and collected his books. True to his word, he came back a minute later and gave Awsten a hand up.
He was leading Awsten out, when Awsten stopped. "What if my books get wet?" He asked. Geoff thought for a second then took the books out of Awsten's hands, shoving them in his jacket. Geoff then put his arm around Awsten's shoulders; making him tuck his face into his chest slightly.
From the second they left the doors, it was a mad rush to get to Geoff's car. Even worse for Awsten because he didn't even know what he was looking for. He saw the lights flash on a car which he assumed was Geoff unlocking it; he hurled himself into the passenger seat. Geoff basically fell into the car and slammed the door shut.
Once they had both settled and the books were sitting on Awsten's lap, Geoff said: "Coffee?"
Awsten's breathy reply was, "Coffee."
