pain and pacis // gawsten ddlb

-part 3

The next day that Awsten had a shift with Geoff, it was extremely awkward.
"Hey... sorry that I kinda... freaked out. I know you were just trying to help," Awsten apologized bashfully.
"No worries. I could tell." Geoff placed his hand on Awsten's back consolingly. Awsten usually hated when people touched him. Why was he okay with this?
"How are you?" Geoff continued.
"Oh, I'm a bit better now, thank you sir. Wait, no, sorry. I'm better. How about you?"
"I'm good, thank you."
"Did you meet Lyss yet?" Questioned Awsten as he re-cleaned some tools.
"Yeah, she's super friendly."
"Yeah," Awsten replied absentmindedly.
Surprisingly, the rest of the day went smoothly. Geoff and Awsten said their goodbyes, and the younger felt his heart grow saddened. Why did he feel this way?
"Hey!" Geoff called as Awsten got in his car.
Awsten was taken by surprise.
"Yeah?"
"I meant to ask... would you wanna... maybe... come over or something? It's totally fine if you don't want to, I was thinking you could show me around or something, you don't even have to come to my house, I'm new to town, I-"
Awsten's dream had come true. But also his worst nightmare.
"Oh, yeah- yeah, of course!" He grinned, fluffing his blue hair. "I can show you the best places in town! That sounds really fun!"
"Great!" Geoff beamed. "When are you free?"
"Whenever. The rest of my week should be free."
What the fuck would he tell Logan??
"So, short notice but... is tomorrow okay?"
"Totally! I'll come around at like 3, is that fine?"
"Yeah, of course! I- um- here's my address!"
Awsten took it excitedly. Unbeknownst to each other, both walked to their cars grinning from ear to ear.

Awsten huffed to his front door. Back to hell.
"May I meet up with a work friend tomorrow at 3, sir?" He inquired. Even if Logan said no, he knew he'd find a way.
"Depends," Logan tutted. "Who is it?"
"His name's Geoff. He's my coworker and he's just moved here. He just wants to see the town, sir." Awsten added, "Lyss will be there."
That was a lie.
A big, fat, dirty, lie.
Lyss was on a trip for school.
And yet, Logan seemed more inclined to let him go with the addition of that last sentence.
"Hmm... I guess you can. You must be home by 9. No exceptions."
"Thank you, sir!"

Awsten cheered once he finally was alone. This could either go very poorly or very well. Geoff didn't know he had a boyfriend. But did he need to know? Awsten was going to find a way to get out of that relationship anyway. He contemplated the question as he drifted off to sleep that night.

3 could not have come faster. At 1:30, Awsten found the tightest black jeans he owned that highlighted all his greatest features. He paired them with a loose white sweater that fell past his hands, and tied the look off with the Vans that he donned daily.

The boy bit his lip in anticipation. Was this a date? Geoff couldn't be gay. It would be too good to be true.

Awsten turned his volume all the way up and screamed love songs on his way to Geoff's house. He hadn't been this happy in a long time. A really long time. He stumbled up the steps to the address on the little piece of paper. Awsten knocked one the door cautiously.

Seconds later, it swung open to reveal Geoff in a denim jacket and black skinny jeans.
"Hi, thanks for coming!" He greeted his guest.
"Th-thanks for inviting me, si-" Awsten stopped himself.
"Would you like to come in?"
"Sure, thanks!" Awsten smiled warmly.
God, Logan was going to kill him.
"So what are we planning on doing?" Geoff asked, grabbing a glass of water for Awsten as they walked into the kitchen.
"I was thinking I could show you the cider mill first, and then maybe I could show you this super cool Halloween walkway. It's the best- some people drive like an hour to come see it."
"You're lucky I love Halloween," Geoff laughed.
"Haha, yeah, sorry about that..."
"No worries. Wanna get going?"
"Yeah, of course!"

Awsten strolled outside and into his car. He was so nervous for how this was gonna go. There was absolutely no way that Geoff would like him back; they'd only known each other for like a week, and Awsten had gone batshit crazy on him one of the days. Geoff climbed into the passenger seat.