Best + Bitter = Better

Nineteen days after

Geoff sniffs and coughs as he makes his way to his music theory lecture. His hood is up and his head is down. He just feels like crap. The lecture is important to him - he knows that - but lying in bed and playing Zelda sounds really attractive to him now. As he carries his laptop close to his chest, he walks around a puddle and yanks open a door to the university.

He is trying to pay attention to his lecture, he really is. However - thoughts cloud his, already foggy, brain and make it impossible to think clearly. Through the mess in his brain, he can only see Awsten; his face when he saw him and Lucy. He looked mortified and Geoff wants to explain, but he knows his boundaries. They are no longer friends and no longer speaking and it is no longer acceptable to explain himself. He just wishes that he could make amends and reverse time and—

"Mr Wigington, are you paying any attention at all?" There's an old woman teaching this class. She's horrible, but good. Particularly because you can understand what she's saying unlike other lecturers. She occasionally drops in little anecdotes about herself. Such as when they were talking about tonal analysis and she dropped in that she met her husband through a friend who studied it. She impressed him by playing Bohemian Rhapsody on piano.

Geoff looks up at her and, with a nasally voice, utters, "I actually don't feel very well. " He stands up and starts packing his things. "I think I'm just gonna go home and lie down." He swiftly exits the room and hears his lecturer carry on. He'll get the notes from someone else later.

As he comes to the doors that lead outside, he hears the rain. It's pelting down outside. Today has not gone well for Geoff. He sighs aloud and thinks about what he's gonna do. He could either, stay inside and wait for the rain to pass and stay dry. Or, he could walk back to his room and get wet. He murmurs under his breath, "Fuck it." and pushes open the door, stepping outside.

He's too tired to run, so his leisurely pace isn't helping. His jacket isn't waterproof; it's thin and covered in holes. He only wore it because he couldn't find his favourite jumper. The scene is a sight to pity: a large boy hunched over himself; his clothes are soaked through and his heavy footsteps cause puddles to splash around him. Someone who did take pity on him, though, is Awsten.

Awsten was running through the rain, trying to get to his room after his lecture ended, when he saw Geoff. He's never seen Geoff sick or sad or ever pitiful apart from that one night where he went back to collect his stuff. He sprints over to the man. Awsten has an umbrella, so he gets close enough to cover both of them with it.

Geoff looks up, confused as to why the rain stopped falling on his head and sees Awsten. He furrows his eyebrows at him and wonders out loud, "What are you doing?" He wants to sound as normal as possible, but his voice still comes out hoarse. He has never liked to be weak in front of people - especially not Awsten.

Awsten glances at him in shock, "You're sick." He states. He puts his umbrella in his other hand and feels Geoff's forehead, only to frown further.

Geoff smiles softly, taking Awsten's hand off his forehead and sighing, "I'm not sick, I'm just a bit under the weather." He has to sniff hard so that his nose won't run, but by doing that he ends up having a coughing fit. Awsten makes them stop and places his hand on Geoff's back. When he recovers, they both start walking again. "I'm fine." Geoff insists.

"Famous last words." Awsten mutters. He looks back at Geoff and sees that his blinks are long and his face doesn't carry it's normal cheery glow. He looks exhausted.

They reach the doors and Awsten pulls one open for Geoff and shakes off his umbrella as he gets inside. He turns to look at Geoff and sees that he's five meters away already. "Hey!" He calls out. Geoff stops and looks at him in curiosity. "Where are you going?" Awsten speed walks to him.