Awsten knew it was going to be a bad day from the moment his eyes shot open from his nightmare. He sat up, his heart palpitating painfully. Geoff didn't wake up like he normally does. He always wakes up at even the littlest thing when it has Awsten involved. Awsten was once out of state and he had cut himself with a knife when he was making dinner. Because of the different time zones, Geoff was asleep but woke up randomly and called Awsten to see if he was okay. He was, just had to wrap it in bandages (Geoff called him a mummy when he next saw him, so Awsten called him daddy until he stopped... Geoff still hasn't stopped).
Slowly, Awsten made breakfast for the both of them with tears in his eyes. When he heard the bed creek, he wiped his eyes and plastered on a smile. Geoff appeared in his boxers and his hair all fucked up; for a moment the smile wasn't fake. Geoff hugged him from behind and whispered in his ear, "I know you're upset, Sweetheart. How come?" Awsten waved him off and went to get dressed.
Awsten had a meeting early in the morning. He was expected to take notes on how things have been going with the band and realistically Geoff should have been there, but he had a to go a CFO (compulsory family outing). Otto was there though, but they were separated by scary businessmen. Obviously, Awsten wasn't paying attention; he was too busy thinking about song lyrics and what if birds roared. He only zoned back in when he noticed all eyes on him.
"— can you explain how that works, Awsten?" He couldn't. He didn't know what they were talking about. His eyes darted to Otto for help, but Otto was looking bewildered himself.
Taking a deep breath in, Awsten plastered the smile back on his face and asked, "What, sorry?" A few snickers passed between them and Awsten's face began to gain colour. He kept his eyes on the man stood at the front who asked him the question, he had a can-do attitude and Awsten didn't like it. He was wearing a long sleeve button down with the sleeves rolled up and shorts that showed his tremendously hairy legs. Even worse, he made Awsten feel like puke on fire.
"Sorry, Awsten, " Awsten didn't like that they were on a first name basis. Dave could shove his gregariousness up his ass. "I just asked you to explain this marketing scheme and how it works." He finished with a flashy white smile. Awsten hoped he fell asleep with the bleach in his mouth one day.
Awsten's eyes flicked to the board at the front and back to Otto, who was trying to encourage Awsten to say something. "Uh... It's like when... Uh... I don— don't know." Awsten felt so hot and uncomfortable. He suddenly wanted to crawl out of his own skin and run away. He sank down in his chair, defeated.
Lunch was provided at the offices, in the canteen. Otto and Awsten had another little meeting after with just Benji and Joel. They met up after the meeting and got pizza from the canteen. They were going to go sit under a tree in the little field out back, but as they were going down the stairs, Awsten missed one and his pizza went flying. Awsten had no lunch, even when Otto offered some of his. They both sat under the tree as planned, but Awsten was upset. He wanted to call Geoff, but no phones are allowed on CFO's.
As he was walking home, there was a group of teenagers behind him. They were laughing and every bone in Awsten's body told him that they were laughing at him. Were they laughing at his hair or his clothes or did he sit on something gross? Awsten walked just a little faster, but what if they laughed at that? He didn't want to cross the street because he knew where he was going and if he crossed, then he'd have to cross back and would they find that funny? His skin itched and crawled. He felt nauseous and unsafe and insecure. He just wanted it to stop.
He drops his keys on the countertop, making a hollow sound. As if by pure magic, Geoff appears in front of Awsten with a dopey smile on his face. Awsten's face broke and all of the bottled up emotions spilt out. All Geoff had to do was open his arms for Awsten to run into. Geoff squeezed Awsten and all of Awsten fit back together again. All of the puzzle pieces came together so easily in Geoff's grip. He melted into the warmth and drooped against Geoff. Geoff kissed Awsten's head and whispered 'I love you's'. Awsten's chest heaved as sobs got muffled by Geoff's chest. At least everything would be okay in a little while.
