Serendipitous (Gawsten)

57. Shout

Awsten pulled away from Geoff and quickly tugged the older boy out of the view of his window. Awsten was never very good at keeping false hope, but there was not a single doubt in his mind right now that his family had just caught him kissing Geoff, who was shirtless, at that.

Awsten stared up at Geoff while he waited for some sort of suggestion, neither of them had any idea on what to do. The younger boy made sure the locks on his door were closed, which thankfully they were, Geoff pulling on his shirt. "We're going to fucking die in here."

"Aws-"

"Don't tell me it's gonna be okay because it's not. My dad is going to fucking kill us."

"Lie down." Geoff pointed to the bed, he had to try to keep Awsten calm as long as he possibly could, at least until they figured out which of their options was the safest for them. They had to keep safe.

It was evident that Awsten wanted to question it although he didn't, hesitantly going over to the bed and laying down like Geoff had told him to. The older boy came and lay down on the space in the bed next to him, tightly pulling Awsten into his chest, holding him firmly in his arms. He knew that it had always helped.

The shouting started.

Awsten had already braced for it, hearing the familiar sound of his father's boots on the squeaky staircase that lead up to his bedroom door. As soon as he heard his father shout slurs at them, the smaller boy clasped his hands over his ears to try and block all of the sound out. Awsten was crying and shaking, hard, at that.

"I'm going to fucking kill you, Wigington!" Geoff kept his arms around Awsten protectively, keeping the boy hugged tightly into his chest as they lay there. He rubbed small circles into Awsten's back through the material of the hoodie, trying to keep the younger boy as calm as he possibly could while he screamed 'make it all go away', hands firmly in place over his ears.

Geoff was absolutely terrified, but his first priority was to make Awsten feel safe, even if he wasn't.

Geoff looked over to the window, back down at Awsten. It was loud in the younger boy's bedroom from his father shouting and his own shouting in hopes that it would make it stop.

The older boy looked back over to the window. Awsten's bedroom may have been on the second floor, but Geoff had already seen the large generator beneath his window. They could climb out. Geoff sat up, pulling Awsten up to sit with him on the edge of the bed, the boy still crying. "The window," Geoff pointed over to it, making sure that the younger boy understood what he was suggesting. "There's a generator, right?"

Awsten shook his head in protest. "I-I'm not g-gonna climb out-t of my f-fucking window!" Awsten tried to yell but it only came out as a whisper between his sobs, thankfully that meant that Awsten's dad, who was still trying to pound down the door, hadn't heard.

Geoff could tell that Awsten was about to have a severe anxiety attack, as well as knowing that he was going to have to calm the boy down, quickly, at that. "Aws," Geoff gently cupped Awsten's cheeks in his hands, careful not to startle him. "Aws, listen to me. We are much more likely to get hurt if we stay in here than if we go out there. I wouldn't let you get hurt. I'll go first and help you climb out, yeah? Then we can drive as far away from here as you want. I can take you to one of my favourite places. We can pretend that everything is going to be okay."

He brushed his thumb over Awsten's cheek, wiping away the fallen tears as the younger boy nodded. He tugged on the smaller boy's hand, helping him over to the window. Another thud on the door. "I know you boys are in there! Come the fuck out!"

Geoff hushed Awsten as he pulled him into his chest quickly, pressing a light kiss to the top of his forehead. "It's gonna be okay. I promise." He whispered quietly so that Awsten's father wouldn't be able to hear them, reluctantly letting go of Awsten. "I've got to open the window now."

Geoff unhooked Awsten's window and began pushing it up slowly, bracing for it to squeal in its tracks and expose their idea. It didn't. Geoff took Awsten's hand and kissed it gently before letting go, kicking one of his legs over the windowsill.

"I'll just be down here on the generator, okay? Do you promise that you'll come down when I tell you to? Once I climb down then I can't come back up. We'll have to be quick, too." Awsten nodded a quick response as he watched Geoff drop down onto the large generator with a loud thud, the sound that they were both expecting. This was exactly why they had to be quick; it was a race with Awsten's father to see who could get to Geoff's car first.

Awsten felt his head starting to get hot as he broke down, trying his best to climb out of his window while he was shaking. The thudding on his door stopped, which means Awsten's father had already figured out what was happening. They really had to hurry.

He looked down at Geoff, he could barely see the older boy from his tears clouding his vision. He didn't think. He just flicked his legs over and dropped with his eyes closed. It wasn't that bad, and now Geoff was squeezing his hand tightly as he opened his eyes again.

Geoff climbed off the generator and onto the ground, helping the other boy climb down. The older boy grabbed Awsten's hand again as he sprinted over to his car dragging Awsten along behind him, getting his car key out as they ran to unlock it. He had to quickly help Awsten into the passenger seat because he was shaking so much, Geoff quickly running around to the drivers side and getting in.

They saw the front door swing open, Geoff fiddling with the ignition since he'd also started to shake with adrenaline. "F-Fucking drive, Geoff!" Awsten's encouragement may not have helped but the older boy managed to start up his car and reverse out of the driveway, stepping down hard on the acceleration pedal as they sped down awstens street.

As he drove quickly, he heard a sound that made his heart melt. He heard Awsten laughing.