Missing You (Gawsten)

Open The Door

It's already a strange day for Awsten. It's raining, but the sun is shining brightly in the cloudless blue sky. The purple-haired boy knows that it's just because the clouds are directly over his house, so he can't see them pouring out rain, but there is absolutely no explanation for the second strange thing that's happening.

Geoff is driving up the driveway and parking his car.

Geoff.

The purple-haired boy is beside himself with shock as he watches the older boy walk quickly through the twinkling rain toward his door.

"Otto!" Awsten yells, his voice sounding monotonous. He genuinely doesn't know how the fuck to respond to this situation. His mind is blank. Geoff fucking Wigington is approaching his house.

Geoff.

The same person who completely disappeared off the face of the goddamn planet eight months ago. The same person that assured Awsten that nothing was wrong whatsoever, and then went missing the next fucking day.

The entirety of the situation starts to dawn on Awsten in that moment. This is the same Geoff that he loved and held so close to his heart months ago. He's here. Out of nowhere. Just that aspect alone is completely insane.

And to top it all off, it's sunny and raining, which just really makes Awsten question if he's dreaming. The entire atmosphere itself is the strangest thing he's ever felt, and he tries to bring himself out of his thoughts as he hears a hesitant knock on the door.

Geoff is knocking on his goddamn door.

"Otto!" Awsten calls again, more demanding.

Otto comes barreling down the stairs, expecting the worst because fuck, Awsten does not sound happy.

Upon seeing Awsten, Otto decides that the house is definitely haunted, because the purple-haired boy looks like he's seen a ghost. He's shaken to his core, standing in front of the living room window, staring with wide eyes at the driveway. His arms hang limply at his sides, seeming as if they're frozen in shock.

"What is it, Aws?" Otto asks, carefully approaching the boy. Just then, there's another timid knock at the door.

Awsten slowly turns to face the door that's a mere five feet from him. He then shifts his gaze to Otto, and there's something in his eyes that Otto can't decipher, perhaps because Awsten himself can't decipher it.

"Open the door," Awsten's voice comes out, and he doesn't mean for it to sound so low, but fuck, his boyfriend's just come home. His boyfriend that he's never let go of, even after everyone else has given up. His boyfriend that disappeared without a word. His boyfriend that has some goddamn explaining to do.

It's in this moment that he gets angry.

"Open. The. Door," Awsten pushes out through gritted teeth.

Otto doesn't know what's happening, but he knows that whoever is on the other side of the door is about to lose teeth. Trust, they probably earned it. Awsten doesn't get mad over nothing.

Otto carefully opens the door, and shit- his heart leaves his body, dragging his soul with it. It's a physical feeling. The breath leaves his lungs and all he can do is stand there, unable to move, until his brain drags his heart and soul back. When they snap back into place, Otto pounces on Geoff.

His best fucking friend is finally home. Everything can go back to normal. Finally.

Both boys break apart when they hear a door slam. Geoff and Otto send each other a questioning look when they realize that Awsten has stormed off.

"He's mad," Otto mutters.

"I think that's an understatement."

***

Geoff has been home for forty-five minutes. Thirty of those were spent catching up. He told Otto everything, but made him promise to keep his mouth shut around Awsten. Geoff wants to be the one to tell him, as it's a complicated situation.

Geoff makes himself right back at home, but refrains from going up to his room. Awsten is up there, and something tells both boys that it's best if they give Awsten a chance to calm down.

After another fifteen minutes, Otto decides that he'll try to get Awsten to come downstairs.

He knocks on Awsten's door, which has a tense silence emitting from it, only to be met with a very prominent 'go away.'

"Aws, it's just me. Let me in?" Otto says, his soft words hitting the tense silence with a thud. He waits, counting the seconds in his head. Finally, after fourteen seconds, the door makes a click sound.

Otto walks in and is met with a teary-eyed boy.

"What's wrong? Geoff's home, aren't you excited to see him? Don't you wanna know why he left?" Otto questions, having no idea why his friend is so upset.

"He left, Otto! Just like that!" Awsten exclaims, snapping his fingers.

"I was finally accepting the fact that I may never see him again. I was finally getting ready to fix my shit. I was finally understanding that not every mystery can be solved. And then he just waltzes through that fucking door like nothing happened! How am I supposed to handle that? Eight months, Otto! Eight months!" At this point, Awsten's sputtering out his words. His mixed emotions that he's become so good at supressing are coming up, rising in his throat and choking him.

"Awsten, I'm sure he had a good reason for leaving, come on, let him explain," Otto reasons with the distraught boy.

Awsten takes a deep breath, wipes his eyes, and nods. He plucks all his tangeling emotions from where they're strangling him with their roots, then marches past Otto and stomps down the stairs. He lets one emotion stay planted. Anger.

Otto reluctantly follows, knowing that Awsten is going to be less than nice. It isn't his fault though, the last eight months have been hell.

Awsten is pissed. He's filled with so many emotions in the moment, because Geoff is sitting on his fucking couch, but anger is the easiest emotion to deal with, so when Geoff stands up at the sight of Awsten, the purple-haired boy plants his hands on his chest and pushes him right back down.

"Sit the fuck down and listen."

...