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Ever since middle school, Rayne and Awsten had been inseparable. But when Rayne gets accepted into her dream college of another state, they become distant, losing touch.
Years pass, and Rayne comes home for the summer. A mutual friend...
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It was the clattering of pans that had awakened me early the next morning. I sat up slowly, careful not to make my headache any worse with a head rush. I took a look at my surroundings. I was on the couch in Otto's living room still, and it seemed as if I was the only person in the room. The only light snuck through the cracks of the blinds, making the room dim.
A sigh emitted from the distant recliner in the corner of the room. My head flicked in that direction, and I could see Awsten's headful of neon hair poking out from some blankets.
Guess I'm not alone after all.
"Aws?" I called out.
No response.
"Aws?" I said again, with a little more force.
Still, no reply.
I would've figured he was still asleep, but I could see the light from his phone shining on the wall behind him. I blew some air from my nose in slight irritation and stood up slowly.
As soon as I was up, I had to steady myself for a moment before I went over to where Awsten was laying. "Awsten," I pressed as I gently shook his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Awsten's eyes flicked to mine for a moment before they resumed their position on his screen. "Totally fine," he said expressionlessly, his voice hoarse with sleep and lack of hydration.
Of course, I wasn't going to believe that, but I decided not to press the matter any further. Didn't want to make him any more irritated than he already seemed to be.
The smell of breakfast being made lured me into the kitchen. There I found two, quite comfortable looking men setting up the table.
"Dear Lord, guys, put a shirt on! I can see your tits, for crying out loud!" I joked.
Otto, who was leaning over the table plating food decoratively, looked up from his work with a lopsided grin. "We could say the same for you!"
My face went to an expression of surprise and fear, "What?!" Did I get naked in front of them? We stood there staring at each other for a moment in still silence before finally, Otto cracked up.
"Dude, I'm kidding!" he exclaimed in a fit of laughter. "Oh man, the look on your face! Priceless!"
I moved closer and jabbed Otto's ribs, causing him to gasp and drop a small bit of eggs on the floor.
"Real nice, Ray," Otto said as he looked to the fallen soldiers and back to me.
I blew some air from my nose and crossed my arms, "You started it."
A few moments passed as I stood there and watched Otto put the finishing touches on a plate of food. Finally, after a few minutes of being hunched over the table, he straightened. "Breakfast," he said in a weird, fancy voice, "is served."
Just hearing the sound of those words must've broken Awsten from his sullen silence on the recliner, because he barged into the kitchen. Though he still seemed to be in a mood. "Dude, finally!" he exclaimed, "I'm about starved."
Eventually, we were all seated at the long, oak table. Geoff and I were seated next to each other, whilst Otto and Awsten were sitting on opposite ends of the table. We began digging into our breakfast of fried eggs, Belgian waffles, crispy bacon, sweet yet spicy sausage links, with syrup drizzled over everything, and a tall glass of tangy and refreshing orange juice on the side.
I almost choked on my juice when I felt Geoff place his hand on my knee. I wasn't uncomfortable about it, but it was kind of surprising considering how yesterday afternoon Geoff and I barely spoke. But things changed between us since last night. He gently tapped his fingers to an unknown beat on my knee, and it was almost soothing until a sausage rolled out of Awsten's fingers and under the table.
Awsten knelt down and was under the table picking up the fallen soldier when he paused for a moment. "Hmph," could be heard from below. He came up after a solid ten seconds and resumed his position in his chair. I glanced at him. His face was red with what seemed to be anger, and tears pricked his eyes.
Everyone looked to him with worry.
"You okay, dude?" Otto asked with genuine concern.
Apparently, Awsten had had enough when he heard that. He threw the sausage onto his plate and stood up abruptly. "Fuck this," he growled through gritted teeth, bitterness lacing his words. He stormed off towards the exit, cursing under his breath, and slammed the door on his way out with such force that it shook the whole house.
Otto trailed behind him, trying to figure out what was wrong so he could console his friend.
Geoff and I sat there in awkward silence, picking at our food, until Otto came and sat back down in his spot. He glanced between Geoff and I, sighing as he shook his head. He picked up his fork and tried to resume eating.
Geoff knit his brows, "What? What happened?"
Otto set his fork down with a little too much force, and looked at the blue-eyed man in disbelief. "I'd tell you, but he wants this kept a secret," he said curtly.
Something in my gut told me that the reasoning for Awsten's outburst was me, but I couldn't make myself believe it. It made me feel uneasy. Geoff's hand was absent from my leg, and I almost wanted it present. The warmth from his hand was pleasant and soothing.
Eventually, we finished breakfast.
I stood up and brushed off whatever particles of food there might've been on my pants with my hands. "Well," I said with a shaky voice, "I guess I should leave."
Geoff stood up as well, and gingerly grabbed my hand, swaying it from side to side for a moment. "I'll take you home," he insisted.
And with that, we made our way for the door, hand in hand. That is, until Otto stopped us.
"Actually," he said, "I need to have a few words with Rayne for a moment."
We paused, and Geoff looked at me.
"You go ahead," I said to him, "I'll be fine."
Otto and I watched as the tall dude left the house.
When the door shut, Otto began talking.
"What's going on between you and him?" He asked.
"Geoff?"
"Yeah," he said, "You two barely spoke to each other yesterday and now all of a sudden you guys are all handsy."
A heat rushed to my face. "We, uh, reconnected last night, I guess you could say."
Otto snorted. "And that's Awsten's problem."
My eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
"You've got to be kidding me..." he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you really not see it?"
Silence was my response, and it was that way for a few seconds.
