Best + Bitter = Better

Thirty Four days after

The drive home is awesome. Singing along to Christmas songs together in absolute euphoria and talking about Christmas things, they are both in fucking heaven.

"You could always come to my house tomorrow and wrap them." Awsten offers.

Geoff has all his gifts, but hasn't wrapped them and with little cousins running around the place it would be impossible to keep everything secret.

"That's a great idea, can I?" Geoff smiles. He taps on the wheel along to the da dun da dun da dun that comes just before I don't want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need.

Awsten laughs, "Of course, I wouldn't offer if not."

One thing that Awsten hasn't realised, that Geoff has, is that he hasn't told Mark that he's on the way home. In fact, he hasn't spoken to Mark as far as Geoff knows. He isn't about to tell Awsten, though. It may be selfish and morally wrong, but fuck... Geoff needs this.

-

Geoff parks outside of Awsten's home. They stare at each other in silence for a moment, then Geoff's gaze falls to Awsten's lips and he tears himself away. He gets out, followed by Awsten. Geoff grabs Awsten's suitcase out of the trunk. He doesn't normally do this, he's not even sure he's ever met Awsten's family other than Gracie.

"I can do it." Awsten says, offering his hand for Geoff to put the suitcase handle on.

Instead, Geoff gives Awsten his hand and starts walking, a little smirk predominant on his face while he pulls Awsten along.

They don't get very far when the door opens and Gracie bounces out. She runs to Awsten and hugs him hard, then turns to Geoff and does the same to him. She's giggling so happily and it's contagious.

"Come in, come in, Geoff." Gracie laughs as she pulls him along into the house.

Nerves entrap him, he's going to meet Awsten's parents and he's so not ready for this. He should have gotten his mum flowers or something. "O-okay." He stutters.

Gracie takes the suitcase out of his hand and leaves it at the door while she pulls him through the house, looking for her parents. Awsten follows behind them, excited for Geoff to meet his parents. He wants his parents to be happy with Geoff; they weren't with Mark. He was perfectly pleasant, but mums know all.

"Hey, Mum, Dad! This is Geoff!" She squeals and lets go of Geoff's hand to present him to her parents. They're sat in the living room; their dad reading a newspaper, their mum watching something on TV.

Geoff is stood frozen, face bright pink and not knowing what to do. Thankfully, Awsten saves him.

"Hey, guys! It's good to see you. This is Geoff, he's my friend from uni. He's the one that always drives me here." He explains. A little bit of Geoff dies when he says friend, but he smiles and nods through it.

"It's nice to meet you." His brain says it before he can even think about it - his brain seems to have been restored to factory settings because after he says that he shakes both of the parents' hands without thinking.

"It's nice to meet you too, dear. I've heard so much about you." Mrs. Knight says. Geoff looks towards the siblings who are stood next to each other slightly behind him. Gracie beams at him, while Awsten blushes and hides his face.

"Yeah, good to meet ya, son. How was the drive?" Mr. Knight says.

"Oh, it was pretty good, actually. Traffic was the too bad and we sang Christmas songs together." Geoff smiles back, glad to be having a conversation that's going well.

Awsten's dad nods, "Sounds alright. What're ya drivin', anyway?" He asks. A sudden rush of embarrassment rushes through him. He suddenly feels like he's not good enough for Awsten, so he won't be liked by his family.

Geoff scratches the back of his head, "Uh, it's just my sister's old truck. I actually have a job now, so I'm saving up for a new one." That's a lie. He could never get rid of his truck, he loves her too much.

"Really?" Awsten steps in and asks. "I don't think you should get a new one. I love her too much."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Too many memories." He nods. Checking that Mr. Knight hasn't suddenly set on fire with anger; he's actually looking fondly at the two.

"You should stay for dinner." Mrs. Knight smiles at Geoff.

Gracie grabs Geoff's arm and nods enthusiastically, "Please stay! Please, please, please!"

Geoff laughs a little and looks over at Awsten, who is standing and smiling hopefully. He gives a lopsided smile and apologises, "Sorry, I can't. I would honestly love to, but I should really go home and see my family."

The room is silent for a few seconds, then Awsten pipes up, "Since your coming over tomorrow to wrap things, could you stay then?" He asks with his bottom lip jutted out and hands clasped together in front of his chest.

Geoff couldn't say no if his life depended on it. "Yeah, that sounds really nice. I would love to."

"Okay, dear. Tomorrow." Mrs. Knight says.

Awsten takes Geoff's hand and leads him back into the hall. He collects his suitcase and continues to lead Geoff upstairs.

-

Awsten's childhood bedroom is something of a time capsule. For a start, it's blue - the kind of blue Awsten's hair was last year. There's a lot of posters of musicians (hot male musicians). There's an acoustic guitar in the corner on a stand and Geoff has a strong urge to play it. He has a double bed and all commodities of a basic bedroom. But it's just so Awsten and Geoff can't tell why.

Okay, this is short, I'll pad it out later. I just wanted to get this out so I can get one out on Christmas.