Pathways // Gawsten [Book 2]

26 - Nothing Close To Victory

It was only minutes before the band was due to go on stage and play their set for that night. There was a timer counting down from five minutes and the boys were waiting impatiently to run on stage. For the first time, all three of them were feeling different things.

Otto felt excitement and pride. What he was doing now was going to leave his legacy and make his unborn child proud. He couldn't be living a better life.

Awsten had never felt more nervous or guilty. His best friend's girlfriend was waiting for the results of a paternity test saying if her boyfriend was actually the father or not. He knew he was about to ruin things in a heartbeat and watching the crowd out there, he knew it was more than three people going to be hurt.

Geoff was just feeling happy. He had Awsten by his side, Otto was back and he and Grace were going to have a family. They were making a new record and they were back playing shows. What could go wrong?

Geoff looked across at Awsten and smiled to him before he had an idea. He moved closer to Awsten and took one of his hands,

"I want to tell everyone we're together?" Geoff said softly, and Awsten's eyes widened,

"You mean... On stage?" He asked, gaping slightly. 

"I want to tell the entire world that you're mine and I don't want to wait any longer." Geoff smiled, and a grin tugged on Awsten's cheeks.

Awsten just had time to nod before they were being pushed on stage to play, briefly looking and smiling at Geoff before he got into his stage persona. Of course Awsten wanted to tell everyone they were together, but it was such a risk right now. The truth was about to come out and their relationship would be over so quickly. But maybe it was worth it to tell the world that Geoff was his. 

Throughout the set, Awsten and Geoff couldn't help but look at each other and everyone in the crowd was noticing. Smirking, smiling, winking; everyone could see it and everyone was loving it. Tonight, the two were acting closer than usual, and pushing boundaries. Sure, they sometimes already acted pretty gay to each other on stage, but this was pushing it. 

As they finished the song before Lucky People, Awsten was getting nervous about telling people. They hadn't asked their management about this beforehand, and they hadn't told anyone at all. They weren't sure how this was going to go down.

The song ended and Awsten went to get his acoustic from the side. He breathed out and looked at the crowd. He smiled across at Geoff who walked off the other side of the stage before he walked up to the microphone.

"So before I start this song, I wanna say something," He began, placing the guitar strap over his head, "I wrote this song a year ago about someone."

The crowd screamed and he ducked his head to avoid everyone seeing the smile growing on his face. He resisted the urge to look at Geoff offstage and continued talking,

"Tonight, you're going to find out who that someone is." Awsten smirked at the crowd.

While playing, he reminded himself to play the original version of the song. The original version made it obvious that it was about a guy instead of a girl, and this was the first time everyone was going to hear the original version.

The fairy lights on the stage made everything so much more special, and most of the crowd had their phone flashlights on. Before Awsten knew, he choked up a little. He wasn't sure if it was from nerves, happiness, or adrenaline... But he couldn't complain.

As the song ended, he coughed, and handed his guitar to a tech who had come on stage,

"It's time you guys know which boy that song is about." Awsten said nervously before walking offstage and grabbing Geoff's hand.

He held Geoff's hand tightly as they walked back out onstage. There was a huge gasp from the crowd before the screaming began. Awsten couldn't help but smile, and when he looked at Geoff he noticed the large smile which graced his face too. 

Suddenly, Geoff leant down and Awsten looked at him confused, until he stood back up and handed Awsten a rose. The crowd awed as Awsten blushed, and Geoff leaned into his ear to whisper,

"I love you so much." and kissed his cheek.

-

"What do you want the future to be like?" Awsten asked Geoff that night while they were laid in his bunk,

Geoff sighed in thought and shifted so he was laying on his back,

"Well... I want us two. I want dogs, a nice house. The band to be bigger and better - obviously - and I think kids would be nice. Obviously that's further away than everything else, but it's still nice to think about," Geoff admitted.

Awsten smiled as he took in what Geoff said. A life in the future with Geoff. Their home, all to themselves, and them having a family. It seemed like a blissful daydream another lifetime away. 

"I think I'd like all that too," Awsten smiled, and cuddled more up to Geoff listening closely to his heart beat. 

Only a few feet away, Grace and Otto were laid in their bunk listening to music in silence. This was the first time Grace had been on the bus with Otto and it was a whole new experience, but she loved it. The bunk was smile but it just gave them another excuse to cuddle up to each other. 

Otto noticed Grace shivering as she snuggled into him and pulled the blanket higher on herself,

"Do you want me to get you a jumper?" Otto asked softly and quietly, and Grace nodded her head slightly.

Otto smiled and pulled the curtain back, letting himself slip out of the bunk. He briefly noticed Grace curl herself up in the other side of the blanket too before he went down the hallway to the spare bunk. He rummaged in her bag for a while before he found one of the jumpers she brought. She had only brought two, and one was currently in their dirty washing pile. 

He pulled it out of the bag by the sleeve when it suddenly got stuck on something. His eyebrows furrowed as he moved her other clothes out of the way to find out why the jumper was stuck. That's when he noticed a charm on the neck of the jumper which was caught on both the fabric of the jumper and a stitch in the bag. He carefully unhooked it before looking at the charm; he'd never seen it before and wondered if Grace had just picked it up from somewhere when she was packing.

He picked it up and took it back to the bunk for Grace, and opened the curtain to see her all wrapped up in the blanket,

"Hey, I got the jumper, but what's this charm?" Otto asked as he handed her the jumper, 

Her eyes widened slightly before a weak smile grew on her face. She quickly slid the jumper over her head and just shook her head at Otto,

"I have no idea," 

Otto just shrugged and climbed back in the bunk, covering himself with the blanket and pulling Grace close to him again, Grace put her head to his chest, and breathed slowly. He was going to find out soon; she should've been more careful.