Pathways // Gawsten [Book 2]

28 - They Lied To Us, Otto

Later that day once they returned, Geoff immediately noticed a difference in Awsten. He no longer seemed to be anxious and was smiling more than he had been in a long time. A part of him wanted to ask Awsten what had been wrong and why he was suddenly happy again, but he knew it didn't matter. He didn't want to reverse it. 

When he walked through the door, Awsten shot up from where he was sat and ran towards Geoff, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him into a tight hug. Geoff dropped the bag he was holding and quickly snaked his arms around Awsten's waist. He didn't know what had provoked Awsten to hug him the second he walked through the door but he wasn't complaining. He felt Otto squeeze past the two and walk over to where Grace was sat, and heard them talk in hushed tones. 

Soon, Awsten pulled back from Geoff and gave him a warm smile.

"Grace and I are gonna go out for a little while.. Maybe find cute little punk baby grows," Awsten said softly before leaning forward and kissing Geoff softly.

"But we just got back?" Geoff pouted slightly,

"I promise when we get back, I'm all yours for however long you want me," Awsten replied quietly.

He took a step back and saw Grace stand up and follow Awsten out of the bus. Otto and Geoff stood there watching the closed door wondering what had just happened.

"What was that?" Otto asked, confusion laced through his voice. 

"I have no idea..." Geoff chuckled bitterly. Maybe things weren't as normal as he thought they were.

"Oh!," Otto yelped, making Geoff jump and turn back to him, "Go see if your phone is in Awsten's bunk... If not we'll have to ring Jawn and ask him if he's seen it."

Geoff nodded and walked back into the bunks. When he left, he had forgotten to take his phone with him, but by the time he realised, they were too far away from the bus and neither of them were too bothered to go back and get it. Geoff had also realised that he had no idea where his phone was. Since he spent the night in Awsten's bunk, he thought that would be a good place to start looking for it.

He pulled the curtain back in Awsten's bunk and began lifting up the pillows and blanket to try find his phone. He huffed as he only saw his charger. Geoff began to put the pillows and blanket where they belonged when he yelped in pain. He pulled his hand back and saw a tiny paper cut on his index finger. Moving the blanket slightly, he saw the corner of a piece of paper. 

Curiosity got the better of him as he reached forward and grabbed the piece of paper. He unfolded it carefully, trying not to get blood on any piece of it. The first thing he noticed is that it wasn't addressed to Awsten, but to Grace. He couldn't understand why Awsten would have one of Grace's letters in his bunk, and he tried to think of why.

Until he saw.

Anger raced through him faster than he'd ever known it. He couldn't believe his eyes. A paternity test for Awsten. His boyfriend. He felt his mouth go dry and his head go fuzzy. Surely this couldn't be happening. Awsten and Grace hadn't been sleeping together, this couldn't be real.

But he knew it was. He knew with no doubt in his mind that this was real. Suddenly, his face paled. Otto had no idea. 

Geoff stumbled from the bunks with his eyes trained on the letter until he got back to their living area and saw Otto scrolling through his phone. As soon as he walked through the doorway, Otto's eyes shot up. Otto went to smile at his friend but when he saw the look on his face, he stood up instead and walked towards him.

"What's wrong?" He asked, worriedly, "Don't tell me that's a letter from-"

"It's not," Geoff said bitterly, cutting Otto off. "It's worse."