Missing You (Gawsten)

Split

"Awsten? Wake up, sweetheart!" Geoff says urgently, and Awsten bolts up in the still unfamiliar bed.

They've only been at the safehouse for a couple of weeks, but it's been enough time for everyone to settle in and calm down. Getting woken up by a panicking Geoff isn't part of the usual routine that the boys have fallen into, though.

"Wh-what?" Awsten mumbles as the brunet pulls him out of bed.

He stumbles after Geoff, clutching his hand, and the brunet leads him upstairs and into the security room. Otto meets them once they pass through the doorway, and the three boys stand there- still in pajamas- as Travis and Kellin flit around the room.

Awsten grabs Otto's hand and makes sure he also has a firm grip on Geoff's.

"Call Alex back and tell him we have to move!" Travis commands loudly, moving from one computer desk to the other. Both desks have several monitors on them showing different camera feeds- some are night vision or thermal cameras trained on different parts of the area around the house, while others are showing the view caught by nearby traffic light cameras.

"No! We don't have anywhere else set up and all of my safehouses are almost full! None of them can hold five more people- we have to stay," Kellin yells back as he runs across the room again. He keeps going from the closet to a table with different guns on it.

"If we stay here we'll die!" Travis shoots back.

Awsten begins to shake.

"What the hell is happening?" Geoff asks, trying to be heard over the other two boys' bickering.

"Kellin got a call from Alex- he broke blackout protocol- and he told him that the gang knows we're here. They have people in this neighborhood, but don't worry, they're not shooters- just people who know too much. We have to fucking go!" Travis says as he yanks the power cord to the monitors at one desk. The screens go black.

"Where are we gonna fucking go, Travis? Where the fuck do you expect us to go?" Kellin asks condescendingly as he puts a pistol in the waistband of his jeans.

"Anywhere but here!" Travis replies, just as condescending, as he pulls the other desk's power cord.

***

"Okay, we're moving and- assumably- safe. So, where're we going?" Otto asks from the passenger seat. Awsten nods from the seat behind him, still shaking slightly.

"Uh, Kellin?" Geoff prods from the backseat, beside Awsten.

"I have no idea- just hang on." the raven-haired boy answers, sounding uncomfortable.

Geoff stares out of the darkly tinted window. The sun hasn't even thought of coming up yet- it's somewhere near four in the morning. The rest of the three boys' world is fast alseep.

After a while of watching the dark world pass by- blissfully unaware of the danger it's home to- and holding Awsten's shaking hand, Geoff feels the car slow down and pull over.

Awsten grips his hand tighter.

Travis, who's driving his own vehicle, pulls up behind them with his four-way lights on.

Geoff opens the door and helps Awsten out before quickly steering himself and the smaller boy out of the road. They meet up with Otto in between Travis' truck and Kellin's SUV.

The road is silent, and crickets chirp much like they do on the summer nights Geoff and Awsten spend on the porch at home. The sound brings a sense of something akin to nostalgia.

The truck's headlights wash over the five boys, highlighting the calculating expressions on Travis, Geoff, and Kellin's faces.

A lone car passes them, and Awsten shuffles closer to the brunet as the cool air whips past them.

Geoff turns and holds Awsten to himself. The tired boy clutches him, wishing they could go to bed and wake up in a safer world.

While Geoff is distracted, Travis and Kellin exchange careful looks. Travis shakes his head little, and Kellin nods with a matter-of-fact look on his face.

"That's not gonna work," Travis says, and that recaptures Geoff's attention.

"What's not gonna work?" Geoff asks, slightly pulling away from Awsten.

Travis and Kellin share another look.

"I don't have a safehouse that has enough room for all of us. Our only option is to split up. We need to-" Kellin begins but Awsten interrupts him.

"No! We're staying together!"

Kellin sighs and throws his hands up in the air. "Well, what do y'all suggest, then?"

Both Awsten and Otto look at Geoff, hoping he has an idea.

"I don't know," Geoff mumbles.

Silence invades the atmosphere. Awsten is shaking at the idea of having to split up.

"What safehouse options are there?" Otto asks quietly. He knows that Awsten and Geoff need to stay together, even if that means he gets separated from them.

"I have four- the one we just left, an apartment with two spaces, a barn with one space, and another house with two spaces. Either me or Travis have to stay with y'all. Do you see the issue? We need another person like me or Travis," Kellin replies.

"Fuck," Geoff whispers, and Awsten whimpers quietly before looking down at the ground.

Just then, a Mustang comes roaring down the road. The engine's noise tears the quiet night air apart. It pulls over in front of Kellin's SUV, and the driver turns the four-way lights on before getting out of the car.

Patty marches toward them, looking tired. "Alex broke blackout protocol- which I'm sure y'all already know- and everyone is scattered right now. Do y'all have a plan? Because, for once, I sure as fuck don't."

"We- um, no. We don't," Geoff responds, and Awsten sniffles.

The brunet pulls the purple-haired boy against him gently, and Awsten buries his face in his chest. Geoff pets his hair, trying to keep him calm.

"What's going on with you and your team? How did you find us?" Kellin asks the blond boy.

"Travis sent me your location as soon as you guys stopped. I was on my way to you guys already, and I was almost at the safehouse when I received the location. Rian and Zack are making sure Alex and Jack are safe- they've already called Jawn and his people. They're all on standby just in case things go south with the gang. It could be a shootout- potentially one of the worst ones we've seen," Patty explains, shifting from foot to foot anxiously.

"Things really have gone to shit, huh?" Kellin mutters before beginning to pace around the small area.

"That's definitely one way to put it. Where are you guys going now?" Patty asks, sighing heavily.

"All of Kellin's safehouses are almost full. We'd have to split up, but there's three of them and only two of us," Travis explains, gesturing toward himself and Kellin. "One of them would be left unprotected."

"You could take Otto and Kellin could take Awsten. Geoff can come with m- wait no. I can't take Geoff, I'm too close to the gang and there's such a high possibility of everything going to hell. Everyone in that gang can probably recognize him- it'd be too risky to have him so close," Patty says, thinking out loud.

Awsten tightens his grip on Geoff. He isn't crying anymore, but the thought of what he's about to suggest makes him want to start again.

Geoff promised him that they would stay together, but Awsten never promised the same thing.

The purple-haired boy lets go of Geoff, and takes a shuddering breath. He looks at the brunet and Otto. "You guys are going to split up with Travis and Kellin. I'm going with Patty."

...