Missing You (Gawsten)

Explain

"Although, when I broke into his squat house on a mission to get him arrested again, he did almost catch me."

"And who's idea was that?" Awsten asks in shock, just as a cherry red Mustang rumbles into the driveway. It comes to a stop behind Otto's car.

Alex turns the car off and gets out, and Patty exits the passenger door. They make their way toward the two boys on the porch. Awsten looks at them, confused, until Alex removes his pilot shades and greets them.

"Hey, guys. Figured we'd stop by and help with any lingering questions. Also, some loose ends need to be discussed," Alex says, sending Geoff a meaningful look, and Awsten realizes that these are two of the boys Geoff mentioned.

"Alexander William Gaskarth, did you bug my house? I was literally about to have that conversation with Aws," Geoff asks in a fake accusatory tone. He knows Alex would never do that without asking him or at least giving him a heads up.

"In other words- perfect timing as usual, Alex," Patty offers a translation. Geoff grins, and so do the two new arrivals.

"It was his idea, by the way," Geoff mentions, pointing to Patty before introducing the two, "this is Patty and Alex." Patty smiles sheepishly at Awsten, and the purple-haired boy sizes him up.

"If I weren't sure you could kick my ass, I would kick yours for putting Geoff in danger," Awsten mutters, narrowing his eyes at the two boys standing on his porch, only half way joking. They don't look like the type to organize plans to break into an ex-convict's house. One was wearing pilot shades and has a semi-loose fitting Hawaiian floral print shirt on, while the other is wearing Vans on his feet and a beanie over his blond hair.

"I take it you guys weren't very deep into the conversation yet," Patty states, eyeing Awsten carefully.

"Not really, no," Geoff says. He wraps his arm around Awsten's waist and rubs soothing circles into his side with his thumb. The purple-haired boy subconsciously moves closer to him.

"Well, I guess we'd better get started then, because when I said we have loose ends to take care of- I meant it," Alex says as he makes himself comfortable in one of the rocking chairs placed near the swing. Patty sits in the one next to him.

The four are silent for several minutes, each waiting for another to begin speaking. Awsten thinks about all the questions he has. The other three boys think about how to even begin explaining.

For Geoff, it's harder to explain it all to Awsten. Talking to Otto about everything was different, seeing as Otto had helped him out with his father in the first round. But Awsten is, despite threatening to fight Patty, innocent- he's never thought of menevolent things such as child abusers eventually getting out of jail. He thought that once it was over, it was over- no need to worry about it anymore. The anxiety caused by the imminent release of such people would terrorize him, which is why Geoff had kept all the laying-in-wait plans a secret, and never mentioned the eventual danger.

That, and he knew Awsten would insist on going with him. Geoff can't stand the thought of putting him in more danger than he's already in by simply just being with him. He has to keep him away from the metaphorical and literal gunfire.

Otto decides that the conversation needs a jumpstart, so he calls out through the screen door from his totally not purposeful eavesdropping spot in the living room, "start with the phonecall!"

Geoff grins and Awsten lets out a giggle. Alex nods in agreement and nudges Patty.

"We've always had a protocol on the back burner for when Geoff's dad got released, so when I got word that he had, I contacted the guys," Patty begins. "When I heard, I called Geoff," Alex mentions. Patty nods and continues, "I was close to where his dad was being held, and I expected more warning, so when my prison guard friend, Ronnie, told me what was up, I kind of panicked. The guy was already roaming the streets and I was like a sitting duck. Then, in my rush to warn the others to start moving things along as well as trying to get myself somewhere safe, I got grabbed."

Awsten's eyes widen slightly, and he feels a small twinge of guilt about being so unwelcoming toward Patty. It's obvious these boys have risked a lot to keep Geoff safe.

"What happened after that?" Awsten asks, leaning toward the blond boy.

"They kept me as a bargaining piece. I was the only one Geoff's dad knew to look for because there was a small fuck up regarding my identity when we originally put him away years ago. They used my phone to send a text to Jack saying that if he handed Geoff over, they would release me. I knew the guys would eventually find me on their own, though," Patty answers, and Alex picks up the story, "Zack found him. We were spread kind of thin without him, so we knew that- besides keeping Geoff safe- our first order of business was to find Patty. Jack and Rian kept watch here while Zack looked for him. Geoff and I-"

"Wait, what do you mean Jack and Rian kept watch here?" Awsten interrupts, his gaze shifting between the three boys. Alex and Patty exchange looks.

"Um, this is gonna sound weird, but did you ever notice a car consistently linger on the road near here for odd amounts of time?" Geoff asks, and Awsten slowly nods. "That was either Jack or Rian. They kept watch over you and Otto to make sure my dad didn't come here looking for me," Geoff explains and Awsten quirks an eyebrow.

"It was a necessary precaution, trust me. Anyway," Alex inputs before continuing, "Geoff and I stayed on the move for a solid two months before Zack found Patty. Then, after a month of scouting and enlisting the help of some bomb technicians, we got Patty back and got Geoff's dad and his gang off of our trail for a hot minute-"

"Alex, I think that needs elaboration," Patty stops his friend after seeing the look on Awsten's face. Awsten's eyes are wide, and his jaw has slightly dropped at the mention of bomb technicians.

"So, we got help from these three guys who know how to make bombs. They were on a FBI bomb squad or something at some point. Anyway, we found a small window of time that Patty was left unguarded periodically, and we knew that the second we got him Geoff's dad and his gang were gonna be hot on our asses, so we blew the place up after getting Patty out. There's a rival gang led by a guy named Jawn, and their shtick is explosives, so we wanted Geoff's dad's gang to be focused on them long enough for us to get a good distance away," Alex clarifies.

"Did they go after Jawn's gang?" Awsten asks, voice uneasy. He doesn't like how dangerous this all sounds. Geoff was a part of this for eight months- what if something had gone wrong and he had never came back at all? The thought makes an icy hand clench around Awsten's heart. Maybe he could've continued on without Geoff, but he would've never been the same.

"They did, even if for only a few days- it was enough. Once we got away- with me in one piece, thankfully- we regrouped and began to look for Geoff's dad's squat house. We knew he wouldn't take up a permanent residence until he had dealt with Geoff, and it's much harder to find something so under the table, but we found him. We did the same thing as last time- we planted drugs and called the cops," Patty concludes.

Awsten sits back and lets the questions move around in his head like a whirlpool of curiosity, fear, and new-found knowledge. Then, one finally pops out, "who planted the drugs?" He already has a sneaking suspicion of the answer.

"Geoff," Patty answers, "I monitored the entire thing, both the actual planting as well as the diversion Alex distracted Geoff's dad with."

"I pretended to negotiate with him about drug prices downstairs. Meanwhile, Geoff snuck into his upstairs bedroom through the window and did his part. It almost went south- I'm not gonna lie. At one point, his dad started to go upstairs to get me a gun, but Patty sent Jack to knock on the front door to bring him back down. I left when Geoff's dad was looking around outside for Jack, and as soon as he went inside, Geoff left the same way he came in," Alex explains in more detail.

"We called the cops, and he now has thirty more years in jail," Patty finishes, and Awsten nods.

"Anymore questions, love?" Geoff asks gently. He's been watching Awsten carefully the whole time. Both Patty and Alex noticed, but made a silent agreement to not mention it. It's sweet, and Alex is glad he finally knows the boy Geoff has been so anxious to get home to.

Awsten shakes his head. He suddenly feels tired. Alex and Patty's story weighs on his heart, which is still kind of weak from Geoff's absence. It's scary to think about what could've happened to his lover, so instead, the purple-haired boy leans back and lays his head on Geoff's shoulder. The brunet kisses the top of his head before turning his eyes to Alex and Patty.

"What was it you said about loose ends?"

...