Geoff had helped stall for Awsten so that they could leave later than they'd originally intended to. It didn't exactly last long, though. Geoff wanted to get home before it got dark, it already being in the middle of the afternoon.
They were only ten minutes away from the property before Awsten fell asleep. That should have been concerning, seeing as though the small boy had slept so much lately and he usually tended to not, although he was far too shaken and trying to recover from the boy's moment with being freezing cold to pay any attention to that fact.
He continued to drive. Awsten sleeping meant that he could be in at least some sort of peace, and Geoff was willing to offer whatever he could to Awsten as they drove back towards the city that caused the boy this anxiety in the first place.
Geoff would protect him from anything he needed to be protected from. Maybe Awsten's dad was stronger than Geoff, but Geoff was certainly more willing to put up a fight for his boyfriend. He'd win. He'd make sure of it. If something happened to him, then there would be nobody left to take care of Awsten.
Every single minute that he continued to drive sparked another wave of dread, whether that was a feeling on behalf of the sleeping boy next to him or a genuine feeling for himself, he wasn't sure, but it was definitely getting worse. He glanced at the little clock on his dashboard. They still had another two hours to go.
"Can you pull over soon?" Awsten mumbled as he rubbed at his eyes, squinting as he looked out of his window. Geoff hadn't even realised that he'd woken up. "The next town we go through?"
"Yeah, of course," the older boy smiled, quickly glancing over at Awsten. "Can I ask why?"
Awsten smiled a little bit to himself. "I, um... I want to eat, actually."
Geoff stuttered before he was able to compose an actual answer. Did he hear that right? "What?"
"You're putting in effort to help me get better. I guess it's probably my job to put in effort too. I want to eat, for you, you know? I want you to pull over in the next town we drive through."
Usually Geoff would do his usual worried 'are you sure?' but this was too important for him to turn down. He was smiling like crazy now. "I'm... really proud of you, Aws."
Awsten was smiling too. It felt good to make Geoff proud. "Praise me too much and I'll change my mind," he insisted, although the joy that he'd brought Geoff made him feel warm. More than that, though, it made him feel guilty.
He didn't actually want to eat. Geoff didn't have to know that. He just wanted to make the older boy happy.
It only took about twenty minutes before Geoff was driving through another small town, pulling over onto the side of the road by a local café. Awsten was half asleep again, although managed to wake himself up as the older boy gently rubbed at his arm.
He regretted asking to stop, now. It was partially to stall from getting back to Houston, although he was starting to realise that he really didn't feel like eating. Too late now.
He followed quietly behind Geoff as they entered the small café. The older boy had noticed that Awsten had grown awfully quiet and anxious since they'd left the car, although he decided that it was best not to mention it; he didn't want to accidentally discourage the small boy from eating.
"Do you feel like anything specific, love?" Awsten shook his head as a response.
"You choose."
He went and found a small table to sit at while he waited for the older boy to order, thankful that it was considerably quiet, seeing as though he hated eating in front of other people. Geoff was starting to become the only exception for a lot of things, lately.
He came back a few minutes later with a vanilla milkshake with two straws and two slices of banana bread, one for each of them. Awsten was glad that he hadn't gotten much, meaning that he didn't have to eat much. He was already starting to dread this, though.
He wanted to get better, right? He did. He wanted to get better. He kept telling himself that as he slowly started to pick at his food, ignoring the voice in his head that was screaming at him, calories.
He ate slowly. Much slower than Geoff usually did, although he was obviously trying to eat much slower today as to not rush Awsten. He was grateful for that. Geoff drank most of the milkshake because the younger boy refused, and not ignoring the fact that Awsten had just eaten, he hesitantly agreed.
Awsten couldn't handle the feeling of this food in his stomach.
"I'm just going to the bathroom, I'll meet you in the car?" The boy asked quickly, needing to get there as soon as he possibly could.
"Okay, sweetheart," Geoff smiled, quickly kissing Awsten on the cheek. "Oh, and Awsten? I'm really proud of you for eating."
The guilt got worse as the older boy walked away. Awsten ignored it and rushed into the bathrooms, immediately getting into a stall and falling to his knees.
He panted quickly before shoving two of his fingers down his own throat, allowing himself to vomit up all of the calories that he'd just poisoned his body with.
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.
