Pathways // Gawsten [Book 2]

16 - Rekindle

The first thing Geoff saw in the morning (slash early afternoon) when he walked down the stairs into the kitchen was Awsten. He was sat at the table with his head facing down at the full mug of coffee in front of him, obviously in some sort of daydream as he didn't even flinch when Geoff bounded into the room. The room was mainly silent, with the exception of the animals making noise around the main room, and Geoff couldn't help but let the silence sink in for a little while as he watched Awsten swirl around in his thoughts. 

"Awsten?" Geoff asked timidly, and Awsten's head shot up. His face flushed pink and he slumped back, embarrassed from being caught daydreaming.

"Morning, Geoff." He said quietly, giving him a small smile. Geoff smiled back at Awsten and moved over to the fridge to pull out a carton of milk.
"How did you sleep?" Awsten asked, and watched discretely when Geoff's t-shirt rode up his back as he reached up to grab cereal from the top of the fridge. 

"Good, thanks." Geoff lied. No way was Awsten about to find out that he and Otto had spoken during the night again. Especially given what they had been speaking about. Grace would be the next to know and god forbid that would happen; the two were still keeping secrets even though they swore they wouldn't and the last thing either of them wanted was for it all to be exposed. He couldn't ruin things again., "You?"

"Great, actually." Awsten said quietly. He ducked his head again, and Geoff glanced at him from the corner of his eye as he poured milk into his bowl before setting it down on the counter top. 

The light shone in the window at such an angle that it fell onto Awsten's back perfectly. It made his hair shine and showed just how pale his skin was. Geoff couldn't help but compare the sight before him to exactly how Awsten looked on their date last winter; he still looked as beautiful and the feeling Geoff got in his chest at the sight of him still remained the same. Before he could even think, Geoff was opening his mouth,

"Go on a date with me." Geoff stated and Awsten's mouth dropped open. Awsten's gaze shot up to meet Geoff's, who was now also looking a bit shocked at what had just come out of his mouth. Awsten's eyes flickered on Geoff's face looking for any sign that he was kidding, or he was imagining things. But it was real,

"Are you serious?" Awsten choked out, finally. 

"Umm... Yeah, I am." Geoff stated, and bit his lip nervously. Awsten had an unreadable expression on his face and it was making Geoff nervous. He didn't know if he was about to get rejected or what. But before he could anticipate anything else, Awsten had jumped out of his chair and leapt towards him. Awsten's arms wrapped around Geoff's neck and held onto him tightly. Geoff could feel Awsten's smile as he pressed his face into the crook of his neck, and Geoff smiled as he pulled Awsten's body into his, holding him as tightly as he could.

"Of course I'll go on a date with you." Awsten's muffled voice said, and Geoff felt his smile stretch even wider. He could vaguely feel Awsten's breath on his neck as Awsten's hold on him got tighter,
"When were you thinking?" Awsten asked as he pulled away, but keeping his arms around Geoff's neck.

"How about today?" Geoff blurted out again.

A smile spread across Awsten's face as he nodded, and Geoff felt his heart begin to pound faster,

"Okay... Later." Awsten said softly, and leant forward to hesitantly kiss Geoff's cheek. 

No sooner had his lips touched the side of Geoff's face, Awsten was speeding off up the stairs. Geoff turned around to watch him run up with a smirk on his face. Awsten ran forward towards Otto's room and began knocking on the door relentlessly. He could vaguely hear Otto swearing behind the door before footsteps approached. Soon enough, the door opened and Grace stood there with Flynn in her arms.