After some struggling climbing up stairs, Awsten was laying on Gracie's bed. He loved Gracie's room. It was quite 'basic', if you'd call it that. White walls, fairy lights strung up around the room, patterned cushions and a few posters of some boy bands were on the walls. Compared to Awstens room it was fashionable.
Awsten wasn't hurting too much at the moment. His legs were still achey, but it was so much better than this morning. He turned to Gracie, grunting quietly. "Kay-" He panted, not used to the exercise. "Ask away."
"Who is it?" Gracie asked straight away, looking like she was about to burst.
"Any question but that one." Awsten giggled.
"Fine. What's he look like?" Gracie asked.
"Well.. it's hard to explain. I'm not really sure if I like him, but I know it's not just friendly feelings. He has brown hair, but it's not like our brown hair, it's more like wet sand. It's long, but it's not that long. It's curly, and I love to play with the curls. He's tall. Taller than me. And he has the strongest arms and chest, I feel so safe when he hugs me.." Awsten blushed. "Uh.. h-he has a cute tummy. It's squishy. So are his thighs. Yeah.. that's him."
"Why do you like him?" Gracie asked.
"Well, I dunno if I like him, remember?Uh.. he's so sweet to me. He's always there for me no matter what, I could message him at three am and he'd come over if I needed him. He's just a complete sweetheart. And he gives the best cuddles. He's so big and warm.. a-and his eyes? They're so gorgeous. They're like the sky, but even better. I would stare into them all day if I could. And he's not weird about me having Leukemia. A bunch of people are pretending to be my friend because of it, it's dumb. He's exactly the same with me as he was beforehand," Awsten smiled. "He makes me feel safe. I like that about him."
"Dude, you're whipped. Is he gay?" Gracie asked.
"I don't know. I don't think so, but maybe," Awsten sighed. "It's hard to know."
"Okay.. why won't you tell me his name?" Gracie pouted. "As your sister, I think it's, like, illegal not to tell me and like, you totally should just tell me, like, otherwise I'll annoy you for, like, the rest of your life." She babbled, paying no mind to the look on Awstens face.
"No. Because you'll tell him, and if you don't tell him you'll tease me." Awsten said firmly, laughing at the look on her face.
"I'll tell you about my crush." Gracie said.
"I already know. Everything is about him. Jonny this and Jonny that. Jonny, Jonny, Jonny.." Awsten rolled his eyes.
"What, and you're any better? You're always going on about-" she paused, and her eyes grew wide. "It's Geoff! You have a crush on Geoff!"
"No!" Awsten squealed, hiding his face. "No! Definitely not, he's my best friend!"
Gracie could see right through the lie. "Awsten likes Geoff, Awsten likes Geoff!" She teased, dragging out her words. "Geoff and Awsie, sittin' in a tree! K I S S I N G! First comes love-" she laughed at the look of shock on Awstens face. "Then comes marriage-"
"No!" Awsten shook his head. "I don't- no!" He was so red.
"Then comes the baby sittin' in a carriage." Gracie laughed, playfully pushing Awsten.
"I don't even like kids," Awsten mumbled. "And I'm not gonna marry Geoff."
"Sure, whatever." She rolled her eyes.
—
Geoff was sat in his room, completely silent. He was staring at the floor where he beat him up. Geoff's blood was everywhere, and it wasn't pretty. He was too upset to clean it up, so he just left it. He'd do it tomorrow. Geoff pulled out his phone and called Otto. He needed him. He would've called Awsten, but he knew Awsten wouldn't be able to make it over to his house. "Hey, Otto." Geoff said quietly.
"What's up?" Otto asked. Geoff heard a giggle in the back, Grace must've been over.
"I need you," Geoff said. "Right now."
"What's wrong?" He heard shuffling and the sound of pants being zipped up. "Is everything okay?"
"No," Geoff mumbled. "It got really bad."
"What got bad?" Otto asked. "Oh shit, do you mean your dad?" He frowned deeply, pulling on a shirt. "I'll come over."
"Thank you." Geoff hung up, curling up on his bed.
—
"What's wrong?" Grace whined, tugging on the loop on Ottos jeans. "I thought we were gonna have some fun."
"Geoff's in trouble, somethings wrong," Otto explained. He ran a hand through his long hair, then sat on her bed to pull his shoes on. "Later though. I'll see if I can come by tomorrow," Otto smiled. "I love you."
"I love you too." Grace replied, gently rubbing his back with her hand.
Otto smiled and turned, leaning down to press a quick kiss to her lips. "I'll text you."
Grace smiled and waved goodbye, watching Otto leave her room.
—
Otto ditched his bike next to Geoff's door and knocked on it, being answered by Becky. "Hey." Otto smiled.
"He's in his room." Becky mumbled, shutting the door behind Otto.
Otto nodded, going upstairs. "Gee?" He opened the door, frowning deeply when he heard a quiet sob. "Geoffy?" Otto turned on the bedroom light, jumping back in shock when he saw blood running up the wall and in a puddle on the floor. "Geoff, what the fuck?"
