Double Dare II waterparks

001

"Awsten," Grace calls for her best friend as she goes into his apartment, closing and locking the door behind herself. "Room," Awsten calls back from his bedroom, "and stop misusing your key! Knocking still exists; the key is for emergencies." "There's no point in knocking," Grace responds as she comes into his room, "every time I knock you tell me just to use my key." "Fair point," Awsten concedes, scooting over on his bed so grace can sit next to him. He picks up Jet and sets the cat on his lap. As soon as grace sots, Jet is running to her instead, earning a playful glare from Awsten. "Why did you tell the internet that we're dating? We, uh, we're not," Grace speaks up after taking a moment to gather her thoughts. "Oh, that," Awsten laughs at the thought, the bed shaking from how hard he laughs. "They've shipped us forever and a lot of them have been super pushy about it. Thought it'd be funny to screw with them, and it is fucking awesome, by the way. They're going insane! I've gotten so many messages asking about us. Wait, you're cool with this, right? I can tell them I was joking if you're not okay with it." "I, um...yeah, no, it's no big deal," Grace lies, seeing how amused Awsten is by this whole thing and not wanting to ruin it. "Are you sure," Awsten questions, unable to tell for certain. Grace gives a bright, mostly fake, smile. "Yeah, of course," she assures him, "it's fine." "Nice," Awsten remarks with a grin. "Anyway, are you still good for dinner with me, Otto, and Geoff?" "Yeah," Grace answers with a nod. "I'll see you then; I gotta get to work." "Your job is such shit," Awsten complains playfully, "can't wait until you get a new one and can tell off that asshole boss of yours." "Girl can dream," Grace jokes as she gets up, Awsten doing the same. He walks with her to the door and hugs her before she leaves. Sophia heads to work, having a sinking feeling already. She hates this joke Awsten has come up with, the whole fake dating thing, but she goes along with it because it makes her best friend smile. She gets to work, a local bakery. She doesn't mind it too much, it's small and gets a decent amount of business. It's enough to pay the rent for her apartment and that's pretty much all that she can really hope for. The boss is kind of a jerk but she's gotten used to it; it bothers Awsten more than it bothers her. The day goes by painfully slow until a few minutes before her lunch break when Otto comes in, carrying two coffees. "Hey," he greets with a bright smile, "figured you might need a little pick-me-up to get through your Monday." "You always know how to make my day," Grace returns the smile, "my lunch break starts in, like, five minutes...if you want to hang out or something." "Was hoping you'd make the offer," Otto admits sheepishly, "I'll take over an empty booth. Want your coffee now or d'you wanna wait?" "I'll wait," Grace decides before a customer walks in, "see you in a few. Gotta help this customer out." Otto nods and heads over to a booth. He goes on his phone, frowning in confusion when he sees stuff about Awsten and Grace dating. That can't be right; they would have told him. He pushes it to the back of his mind, deciding to just ask about it when she comes over to the booth. A few minutes later, she does just that, sitting across from him. "So, what's up? It's a happy surprise but what made you decide to stop by? I thought you'd be busy getting ready for tour," Grace brings up as she settles in. "Already ready," he replies with a shrug, "thought of you and decided to come see what's up. Uh, speaking of which, what's this stuff I'm seeing online about you and Awsten dating? Is that a new thing or...?" Graces face heats up in embarrassment, her cheeks going red. "We, uh—it's fake," she stammers, her fingers pulling at the ends of her sleeves, "Awsten thought it'd be a funny joke since your guys' fans ship us." "That's probably the most Awsten reaction to this that there could possibly be," Otto remarks with a laugh. "I'm kind of surprised you went along with it." "Figured it couldn't hurt," Grace tries to play it off as nothing. "I mean, we both know it's a joke and the fans will probably catch on pretty quick too, considering Awsten isn't the best with being subtle." "That's an understatement."