Serendipitous (Gawsten)

13. Shelter

There was no way that Awsten could drive in the condition he was in now.

Nobody seemed to be outside as he stumbled down the sidewalk of his quiet neighbourhood, crying softly. He trembled as he tried to pull his phone out of his back pocket and power it up again.

It was nearly dead; Awsten managed to make out that it was just after three in the morning, although, his shaky hands and tears caking his eyes made the screen fuzzy and hard to see. He sloppily opened his contact list. Geoff, Geoff, Geoff.

It was early in the morning, so he was probably asleep although Awsten really needed him right now. He found Geoff's name in his contact list before quickly tapping his screen over the call button, bringing the phone up to his ear and hearing it begin to ring.

"Knight?" Geoff's voice was soft, like always, he didn't sound like he was tired so Awsten probably hadn't woken him. "Oh my god, what's wrong?"

He must have picked up on Awsten's light sobs through the receiver. "I-I need you."

He managed to stutter out the name of the street he was on once Geoff told him he was going to come and get him. Immediately, he collapsed onto the sidewalk and brought his knees up to his chest, burying his face into them and muffling his sobs in the material of his jeans.

Only thirty minutes.

Awsten was used to being patient, but he just wanted Geoff to come and get him, hold him, protect him.

The night air was cold as it brushed across the wet patches in his blood-soaked clothes, he didn't even think to take extra clothing so he would be stuck in this until he was comfortable to go home again, or Geoff kicked him out.

He kept turning on his phone to watch the minutes tick over, getting more impatient as each one went by. Twenty seven minutes. That's how long it took until Awsten felt a rush of relief wash over him when he saw Geoff's car pull onto the side of the road in front of him. It seemed like an awfully quick amount of time, although there was minimal traffic at this hour.

"Holy fuck."

Awsten felt Geoff's hand gently wrap around his fragile body as he got lifted off of the ground. The contact made his skin burn, although significantly less as compared to if he had gotten up himself. Awsten felt himself being carried into the back of Geoff's car, laying down across the spread of the seats before the door closed behind him and he heard Geoff get back behind the steering wheel.

Neither of the pair spoke for the first half of the drive back to Geoff's house; Awsten had exhausted his brain too much to speak and Geoff didn't want to go walking on unsteady ground.

"My parents are home..." Awsten was still lightly crying to himself as Geoff spoke, not because of the pain, more from the trauma. "They're asleep, but if they find you... they'll definitely tell your parents where you are."

Awsten immediately let a sob escape his lips, he just wanted to break down even more. He craved some sort of touch, some sort of affection that he could fall into and feel okay again. "I d-don't have anywh-where else t-to go-o"

Geoff kept glancing at him in his rearview mirror, Awsten could tell that he was upset, as well. "I know you don't, Aws. You can stay with me as long as you need, we're just going to have to keep you hidden." Awsten was looking at Geoff gratefully. "I'll keep you safe."

The words made Awsten melt. He believed them, Geoff sounded sincere. "You don't h-have to.." He didn't want to become too much of a burden, especially because Geoff was the only person who he could consider a friend right now. He was already getting attached.

"I want to."

The drive to Geoff's house seemed to end quicker than Awsten expected, he watched as the brunette got out of the car and around to the door next to Awsten's head. He tried to sit up but his body seemed to collapse again.

"Hey, don't do that." He guessed that Geoff was talking about trying to get up; he felt his arms scoop him up and out of the car, carrying him bridal-style up to the doorstep and into the quiet house.

It was dark inside but Awsten shut his eyes anyway, letting Geoff carry him down the stairs and into his bedroom in the basement, feeling himself relax as he was gently placed on the bed. He peeled his eyes open gently to see a soft gaze wash over him.

"I'm going to go get something to get you cleaned up."

Awsten quickly shook his head no, he didn't want to have his cuts cleaned, the sting that came with it wasn't the kind of pain that Awsten liked. "Please, don't." He felt himself tear up more, like a little kid.

Geoff just gently rested his hand on Awsten's leg and sighed, before leaving the bedroom and disappearing back up the stairs. Awsten was able to calm himself down a bit more once he reminded himself that Geoff didn't want to hurt him, he was looking after him.

When he returned he was holding a bowl of warm water with some wet rags and antiseptic. Awsten got nervous, but he was willing to comply with Geoff.

"You have to promise me you'll keep quiet, okay?" Awsten nodded in response, he would try his best; the cuts were deep and messy, so he knew this was going to hurt pretty bad.

Awsten tried to sit up, Geoff gave him the needed assistance so he was able to lean against the wall while sitting on the bed, that way he didn't have to try too hard to keep himself upright.

"Can I?" Awsten felt Geoff tugging lightly at the bottom of his hoodie, signalling he needed to take it off. He nodded again, he couldn't bring himself to speak.

Geoff carefully helped Awsten take his hoodie off, followed by his blood-soaked T-shirt. The change in temperature sent shivers across his skin, and he watched Geoff pull one of the wet rags from the bowl of warm water.

He instinctively flinched and inhaled sharply as the water and rag came into contact with an open wound on the side of his stomach, firmly grabbing Geoff's wrist as an attempt to fight him off, it didn't work; Geoff was much stronger.

The water soaked into his skin and Awsten felt himself begin to relax as the warm water began to soothe the cut. He felt the pressure on his cut be released as Geoff washed the rag in the bowl in an attempt to get some of the blood off and get some of the moisture back into the material before it came back into contact with a different cut.

Another sharp inhale, but this one didn't hurt as bad. Geoff followed the same routine with all of the other tears in the blonde boy's skin, while Awsten just tried to keep control of his breathing and not make any sound.

He watched as Geoff slowly opened the bottle of antiseptic and began to soak a clean rag with it.

This was going to hurt.