He woke in panic when he couldn't identify where he was. It took him a few seconds to figure out that he was in Geoff's room and the memories from the previous night began tumbling through his head.
The hitting. The blood. The burning shower.
Geoff coming to get him. Having his wounds cleaned. The arm around his waist.
Awsten noticed that the space in the bed next to him was vacant. He looked over at the clock and saw that it was nine in the morning, who knows where Geoff was. He managed to sit up in the bed, bracing for a heavy amount of pain but not feeling too much. He gently pulled up his sweater, Geoff's sweater, and noticed that his cuts had healed significantly overnight.
He took a sip of water and dangled his legs off the edge of the bed, blinking to try and wake up properly. Geoff's room was still dark as it was in the basement and there were no windows; but strawberry candles were lit around the room that produced a dim illumination, the same strawberry scent that Awsten had associated with Geoff.
He brushed his fingers lazily through his hair to try and tame the strands that were straying, when he heard a soft knock on Geoff's bedroom door.
Awsten's chest sunk a little, someone was about to figure out that he was here.
He watched as the handle of the door turned and Geoff entered the room, flashing an uneven smile that made Awsten feel relieved, he couldn't help but smile back.
He picked up a nearby pillow and threw it hard at the boy who had just walked in. "I thought you were going to be someone else, you dick!" He yelled quietly, not wanting to alert the rest of Geoff's household of his being there.
Geoff couldn't help but laugh a little at the boy's tantrum. His hair was wet, telling Awsten that he'd probably just been out of his room to have a shower. Awsten curled himself into Geoff's sweater more, he was swimming in the material as it appeared to swallow him. "How are you feeling?"
He couldn't quite figure out what Geoff was asking. Did he mean physically, or mentally? Maybe it was just a polite gesture to make some sort of small talk. "I'm okay."
Awsten laughed softly at the unimpressed look he was getting from the older boy.
"I'm sore; and scared, if I'm being completely honest with you."
"Scared of what?" Awsten felt himself relax when Geoff came and sat next to him, it was the familiar look of genuine worry that made Awsten open up all of the time. "He can't hurt you here, Aws."
All he could do was nod. He knew that his fear was probably irrational, but that didn't stop him from existing in a constant state of worry. Geoff probably already thought that he was pathetic, he was upset all of the time, which gave him more of a reason to fight off the tears that were starting to cloud his vision.
But they immediately fell when he collapsed into Geoff's chest, he hadn't meant to lose control of his body but he had gotten too caught up in the scenarios that wouldn't stop running through his head. He somehow ended up in Geoff's lap and curled into his chest, partly because he could no longer hold himself upright and partly because Geoff had pulled him into a light embrace.
Awsten felt safe in his arms. He felt safe as the grip around him tightened, he felt safe as he focused on the sound of Geoff's voice whispering softly to try to calm him down. "I-I don't-t want hi-him to hurt-t m-me anymore." He managed to get out between sobs.
"I know you don't..." Geoff's voice was so soft, it was always soft, it made Awsten feel soft. He naturally curled into Geoff more as he felt protected. "I won't let him hurt you, anymore."
He was aware that this was out of their control, Geoff was aware as well; but hearing this being said aloud made Awsten want to believe it for just a little while, just pretend that everything would be okay. "Thank you."
Geoff just chuckled lightly to himself, but immediately stopped as he remembered something. "Work called me in, I'll have to leave for my shift in twenty minutes..."
Awsten sniffled as he pulled away from Geoff and looked into his icy blue eyes; his soft eyes, before pulling himself off of Geoff again and burying his face gently into his own hands as he sat back down on the edge of the mattress. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Geoff stood up off of the bed and ruffled a hand through Awsten's already messy bleach-blonde hair, his natural dark roots were showing greatly. "Let me get you something to eat."
Awsten was about to protest but Geoff had already closed the door on his way out, he wasn't comfortable with eating around him, yet; but he was really hungry anyway.
Geoff returned with a plate of cut apples and strawberries, and a packet of red and yellow Twizzlers. "Gracie told me they were your favourite." Gracie.
"She's here? Does she know I'm here?" He got a small nod in response, he wasn't sure which question Geoff was responding to, if not both.
"She was freaking out, your parents told her that you had 'run away' in the middle of the night. I pulled her aside and... I just let her know that you were okay." Awsten looked at Geoff, worried. He had gotten a pretty solid explanation, but he sat as if he was waiting for an elaboration. "She knows that you came here and that you're still in my room. She promised to keep quiet, promised to keep acting worried."
That sounded like Gracie. She put a lot of trust in Awsten, most of the time, at least; she trusted him enough that if he wanted to hide from his parents, she would help him.
He watched as the older boy placed the plate of fruit and the Twizzlers on the bedside table near Awsten. He hesitated before quickly picking up an apple slice and biting down on it. "I can cancel my shift if you want me to stay with you. The only problem is that I'd have to find an excuse to tell my parents and-"
"Go." Awsten said convincingly once he had swallowed his bite of apple, cutting the end of Geoff's sentence off. "I'll be okay." He wasn't sure if he would, he really wanted Geoff to be here with him, although he didn't want to become a distraction and restrict the brunette from the more important things.
Geoff smiled gratefully and nodded. "Try to keep hidden," he began reassuringly and Awsten watched as he left the large bedroom.
YOU ARE READING
Serendipitous (Gawsten)
Fanfiction[COMPLETED] An apathetic boy with colourblindness and too many problems serendipitously meets a boy who may be able to help him feel all of the colours he'd never seen.
