Serendipitous (Gawsten)

25. Shelved

Awsten passed out.

He wasn't sure exactly when that happened or how long he'd been out for, at some point during the arguing Awsten's brain decided it would be a better idea to shut off. At least now his body was working again, he couldn't panic while he was unconscious, his breathing steadied and his heart rate calmed.

When he finally managed to shake himself from his sleep, he was alone. Everything looked so dark as it all immediately came back to him, he just wanted Geoff, but he wasn't here. He couldn't be sure where he was since the fighting upstairs had ceased; initially, he was relieved, although maybe it was a bad thing, either way, he was still oblivious to everything going on.

He managed to peel his eyes open as he heard the gentle footsteps slowly getting closer as someone climbed down the staircase, he'd never felt so relieved to see that it was Geoff. He didn't give Awsten his warm and reassuring smile, though; his eyes looked sunken in, he looked exhausted, tear tracks stained his cheeks.

He looked so upset; Awsten's heart sank to the bottom of his stomach, he felt as though he wanted to vomit it up. Geoff almost looked mad, Awsten assumed that he was mad at him until the older boy quickly rushed over and pulled Awsten into his chest as he sat down on the bed, running his fingers through the blonde boy's hair and pressing gentle kisses to his head.

Awsten felt safe again, he felt so soft, Geoff was holding him so tightly. He could hear his shaky breaths as he pulled his head away from Geoff's chest, looking directly into his icy blue eyes, glossy from the tears that were quickly falling once again. "Why are you crying, Geoffy?"

His voice sounded so small, so naïve. He heard the older boy laugh nervously through his tears, he looked so sad, it mad Awsten sad, too. "I'm sorry, baby... you have to go back home."

Awsten's heart sunk further down, he didn't want to go home. He didn't want to. As much as that statement made Awsten want to completely break down, he acted as if it didn't matter and completely ignored it. "Why was Sarah mad? Was it because I'm here?"

"No, no... it's not you... don't worry about it, okay, love?" He sounded stressed, there was obvious tension as the words spilled from Geoff's mouth.

"Is it because you're gay?" Awsten couldn't imagine Geoff's family being homophobic. They all seemed so genuinely accepting, except for maybe his mother, who Awsten was almost certain still hated him.

Geoff smiled softly down at him. "No, I guess she didn't know that but that's not why she was mad... you really don't have to worry, okay, baby? It's all okay."

He nodded in response, he didn't believe it, he wasn't that stupid. "When do I have to go?" He didn't want to. There wasn't anything more to it, he just didn't want to; his reasons were clear.

"N-now... I guess... what did you bring?"

"My phone," that was the only thing, he was pretty sure, "oh... and my clothes." He wasn't even sure where they had gotten to, he knew that Geoff had soaked the blood from them and obviously put them somewhere to dry where his family wouldn't see.

Geoff let him go as he left the room, he assumed to get his clothes. He had a quick blank as to where his phone was until he remembered that he'd left it to charge on Geoff's desk.

It was still there although wasn't plugged in anymore, Geoff's phone was. He wanted to know what his lock screen was, maybe it was pink, that would be so cute. He turned it on, the screen was just a solid colour, he couldn't tell which, covered by a message notification.

'Why are you ignoring me?' From an unknown number, Awsten didn't recognise it, probably Geoff's mum again. He sighed and took his phone and went to sit back down on the bed until Geoff returned holding a bundle of his clothes.

"The blood didn't all come out... I'm sorry," Geoff looked genuinely guilty. He'd tried so hard to look after Awsten that now he was feeling bad about it, he was so sweet; the good kind of sweet.

"Thank you," he took the clothes from the older boy's hands and tucked his phone into the front pocket in his sweatpants. "Can I keep these on, just until I get the chance to give them back?" He gestured towards Geoff's clothes that hung loosely from his frame.

"Uh- yeah, of course," he replied quickly, although he seemed to look extremely apologetic. Awsten knew there was something else that needed to be said, the anticipation was making his stomach ache.

"What?" He waited for Geoff to respond. Nothing. "Geoff, what the fuck is it?"

"We can't see each other again," his eyes began to overflow with tears as they forcefully fell down his face and was soaking into his white T-shirt.

"N-no!" Awsten quickly stuttered out as he covered his mouth with his hand. He didn't start crying, he was about to, he just didn't know how to react, his body felt as if it was going into shock again. "W-why? I thought..."

He couldn't compose a sentence before he felt a tear running down his face, he thought it didn't matter that he was here? "I kn-know... Sarah said she wouldn't tell my p-parents if I take you home now."

It must have been only Sarah and Geoff home besides Awsten, and for some reason, Geoff really didn't want his parents to find out about him. Maybe he was embarrassed? Maybe it was just that he didn't want them to know he was gay. Either way, having them find out was a big enough threat for Geoff to take Awsten back to his house.

"C-come on, we should go."