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summary: when geoff's clothes start disappearing, he doesn't think much of it
At least, at first he doesn't. He's on tour with other dudes who have a vaguely similar sense of style (more or less), so it's not that big of a deal. It's not uncommon for this to happen — clothes get mixed up and tossed into different bunks, or suitcases, or whatever. He knows he'll get them back eventually, so he doesn't really stress over it. It's not like he minds that much, anyway. They usually just sort it out when they get home. No biggie.
Except that for a few weeks after tour ends, he still seems to be mysteriously short on his usual number of shirts. Otto had returned a good handful in a little trade-off they'd done, but he hasn't gotten anything back from Awsten yet. That's weird, since Awsten's usually super eager to get all of his shit back.
Maybe he's busy? Geoff looks down at his phone; the last time he'd texted Awsten was a few days ago. It feels like too long already, after such a long period of seeing him every day. It makes him feel... empty, in a way. He'd gotten so used to having this loud little energetic ball of color and brightness in his life, and now he's just... gone. Radio silence.
Whoa. Whoa. Awsten's not dead. He's fine. They're fine. The fuck? Why does he care so much?
As if the universe is watching him, his screen lights up with an incoming call. Awsten. Of course. Weird fuckin' psychic boy. "Hello?"
"Hey dude, you busy?"
Geoff is never busy. Everyone knows that by now. "Nah, never too busy for you. What's up?"
"Nothing, just... wanted to hear your voice."
Well, that's odd. "Well... here I am. Speaking. This is my voice. Talking to you. Yeah?"
"You're a dork." A pause, something Awsten doesn't usually do. He'll ramble and ramble and ramble and you'll look at the clock and three hours will have gone by. Awsten Knight has no time for thoughtful pauses. "Thank you, though."
"You doing okay, man?" Geoff asks.
"Yeah, of course, why wouldn't I be?" Awsten replies, and it doesn't seem like anything is off by his tone. "It's been nice to just lay the fuck down and do nothing, y'know? I'm perfectly okay. I'm glad that I don't have to worry about a ton of shit right now."
It hits Geoff just how much he already misses Awsten, for whatever reason. Huh. "Yeah, I just wanted to make sure, since I don't know when I'm gonna see you next. I miss you, dude."
"I mean, I'm in town, actually," Awsten says nonchalantly, and Geoff can almost picture his expression on the other end of the line. "We could go get lunch, if you wanted. Like... right now."
"Yeah, of course," Geoff agrees, already getting up to put his shoes on. Since when am I so eager to eat lunch with Awsten? I do that shit all the time. "Wanna meet somewhere?"
"Yeah, just share your location with me and I'll figure out where you are and come to you."
"Sounds good. See you in 15ish?"
"Of course."
-
Overall, the visit is nice. The café is cute, and they have good food, and the wind ruffling Awsten's hair makes it glint sweet-pea pink and lavender in the sunlight. They make small talk and catch up; it feels nice to be able to talk to Awsten without all the stress that tour or recording brings. Just two dudes having lunch together. Bro time. Hell yeah.
It finally hits Geoff halfway through his meal, taking him right back to his train of thought earlier that day; that's definitely his shirt that Awsten is wearing.
"Hey Aws?" he asks quietly, trying to figure out a way to say 'please give me my shirt back, you goblin' that won't make Awsten take off his shirt in public. "Do you still have some of my clothes?"
Awsten tenses. It's not visible to most people, and to be honest it's almost unnoticeable, but Geoff knows Awsten like the back of his hand. They've been through a lot of shit together. Geoff knows what he looks like when he's uncomfortable. "Oh, yeah, I think I might. Sorry about that."
"It's okay, don't worry about it," Geoff reassures him. Why is he so nervous about this? "I was just curious, since I'm still missing a good chunk of my wardrobe, y'know? I just didn't want to think I'd lost them somewhere on tour."
Awsten gives him a nervous laugh, and... is he blushing? "I didn't even realize, I guess I must have forgotten."
"It's fine," Geoff insists. "To be honest, I would've forgotten too, but I just realized that the shirt you're wearing right now is mine, if I'm not wrong."
"I can, uh, mail them to you? If you want..." Awsten trails off, and Geoff knows something is up. Awsten doesn't normally get flustered around him — or anyone, for that matter — unless they're talking about something he might be embarrassed about. Usually, it's about him looking dumb in front of someone he has a crush on, because he hates looking stupid in front o—
Wait. Wait. Wait.
Awsten has a crush on him?
The other man won't stop fidgeting in his seat, eyes darting around nervously, like he's nervous about catching Geoff's gaze. His blush is even deeper now, staining his cheeks a bright red, so that's kind of a dead giveaway.
Yeah. Awsten has a crush on him. His best friend has a crush on him, and he's been stealing his shirts. And it's kind of cute, and Geoff is maybe starting to realize why he'd been missing Awsten so much even though they'd only been apart for a couple of days, and... is he really entertaining this thought? Oh god.
Well, that sure is something, isn't it?
"Sure, but the shirt you already have on? Keep it," Geoff offers, feeling something warm begin to spark in his chest. Why not? He might as well go for it. That's his best friend. He has nothing to lose. "It looks good on you."
