Pathways // Gawsten [Book 2]

15 - Will We Be Okay?

The next day, the tension in the house was somewhat relieved. Grace was slowly getting less awkward around the boys and they were all easing into the idea of keeping the secret from Awsten, even though they all knew it was the best thing to do.

It was late in the evening, and Geoff was on his laptop. He was scrolling through twitter looking at everyone's reactions to the video they posted a few days ago. It was mainly all positive, and it warmed his heart to know people were excited for them to come back.

But the second he saw Otto's head poke round the side of his door, his heart dropped. He was instantly reminded of when Otto used to sneak into his room to talk about the letters.

"Psst," Geoff heard a voice say, "Is Awsten awake?" He lifted his head to look at the doorway, and saw Otto poking his head in. Geoff shook his head and motioned for Otto to come in. He stepped into the room and slowly closed the door behind him, trying not to make any noise.

Geoff noticed a piece of paper in Otto's hands as he sat down on the edge of his bed,

"What's up?" He asked his friend, noting the paleness of his face and the messiness of his hair.

Otto said nothing and handed over the piece of paper from his hands. It was crumpled but Geoff could tell it had been folded neatly. The names on the front of the paper were written nicely in cursive writing, and was addressed to "O. Wood" and "G. Wigington". Geoff raised an eyebrow at the name but unfolded the paper. Otto watched as his eyes scattered across the page and widened as he read.

They sat in silence for a moment as Geoff placed the paper on his lap. 

"Is that real?" He whispered, "Like... Are they serious?" 

"To be honest, I don't know. They know things about us that they shouldn't know... They described our movements and our house," Otto's hands were fiddling in his lap and Geoff could tell he was struggling to get his words out.

"Well... what can we do? We can't go to the police"

"We wait... If we get another one, we tell someone... But we can't tell Awsten, he'll freak out and there's no point worrying him over nothing."

The next morning, the boys woke to a photo of their house stuck to the inside of their bedroom doors.

The image of Otto's nervous face, both then and now, shook him to the core. The look on his face right now directly mirrored the look when he told Geoff about the letters. Before Geoff could even think about it, panic spread through his whole body. The look on his face was so familiar, and his mind immediately went to the idea that the letters had started again. Why else would Otto be at his door late in the evening? The Look. It was the look, and he could feel his breathing get quicker.

"Geoff?" Otto whispered, looking at his friend. He crept into the room some more and closed the door quietly behind him.

Geoff's heart was racing so much it was all he could feel. He couldn't shake the feeling that Otto was about to tell him that the letters had started again, or the photographs, or something else was about to happen. This was all too familiar,

"What is it?" He choked out. Otto furrowed his eyebrows and sat down next to Geoff on the bed and ignored how Geoff flinched as he did,

"Geoff, what's wrong? Why are you like this?" Otto said worriedly, pushing aside what he was about to say,

"You, coming into my room at night, it's all so familiar," Geoff said quietly, and Otto felt his heart drop.

"I swear that's not why I'm here, Geoff... We're safe." Otto reassured Geoff quietly, and placed his hand on his knee comfortingly. Otto completely understood why Geoff was scared and even he was reminded of the times he use to sneak into Geoff's room.

The two sat in silence for a while, with the only noise being Geoff's breathing and Otto shuffling closer to Geoff. 

"So why are you here?" Geoff asked after a while, and Otto sighed. There was no point hiding anything from Geoff, not after everything they'd been through.

"I am scared of it starting again... Absolutely petrified." Otto whispered, and when he looked at Geoff he could see the tears in his eyes. Geoff had seen Otto get emotional about this a lot back in Houston, but it had been a rarity in London.

"Honestly? Me too... But there's no point worrying about it," Geoff said, and rested his head on Otto's shoulder, "We just got this life back. We can't ruin it." 

"I feel so bad about lying to them." Otto sighed and felt Geoff nod his head. Sure, they hadn't lied a lot, but they hadn't been entirely truthful. There was still a lot Grace and Awsten didn't know about. 

"They don't need to know, Otto... If they knew, it would break them." Geoff whispered and Otto sniffled slightly,

"After what happened to you, Geoff... When I found you-" Otto choked out, and Geoff clenched his eyes shut. He knew his friend was crying and he couldn't bear to look at it, "It was so scary. I was convinced it was over for both of us."

Geoff felt his own eyes well up with tears at his friends words. Otto was right, what happened to him was horrifying, and Geoff would do anything to take it back and make it right. But he couldn't do that; what's done is done, and he hated it more than anything.

"It was never going to be over for us. We made it out alive." Geoff reached over to grab Otto's hand in his own and hold it tightly. 

"You're right," Otto sniffled, "They can never know. Not about that, not about the case being open, not about any of it. Promise?"

"I promise."

After that, the two sat in silence for a while, solely enjoying each others company. With the exception of the other night, the two hadn't been alone together a lot. It was a big change; going from being alone with each other every day for nearly a year, to living in a house with 3 other people and five animals.

Not that they didn't enjoy it, but it was something they weren't use to anymore. They were use to quiet and small confined spaces...Each others company. Now everything was so different, and they were going to have to readjust.

"We can never hook up again." Otto said and startled Geoff out of his daydream. Geoff sighed,

"I know." 

Neither of them were entirely disappointed that it had to end, as they finally had their loves back in their lives. But again, it was another adjustment. It had been the normality for the past year, and it changed over night.

"Especially with Grace knowing, and... I want her to be mine again, solely mine, and that can't happen if-... You know." Otto said, and Geoff nodded in response,

"I don't want to ruin things with Awsten again. I broke his heart once, I don't want to do it again. I want to prove to him that I can be a good person for him." Geoff said with a small smile on his face. 

"We'll get our lives back, Geoff. It'll just take time." Otto said. Geoff swallowed the small lump is throat and nodded again,

"Let's just agree to forget everything that happened in Houston. If we wouldn't tell people about it, we forget it... Okay?" Geoff said, finally lifting his head from Otto's shoulder.

"Deal, but if you think I'm keeping my mouth shut about your little kink..." Otto teased, and Geoff gasped before hitting his friend with a cushion next to him.