will they? won't they? | gawsten

chapter one: internal conflicts and locked microwaves

   tour was set to start soon, the boys overjoyed about the 'made in america' tour. awsten was nervous, but knew everything would most likely turn out fine, geoff and otto always prepared to console him. they were headlining this one, a thought that petrified the blue boy down to his bones. he shivered, closing his notebook but not before bookmarking the page with his green gel pen. he sighed out, attempting to shake off his nerves. he slouched down from where he was sitting on the floor, letting his head fall back and hitting his bed.

     geoff was downstairs with otto, messing around while attempting to operate awsten's microwave. keyword; attempt. they somehow set a timer for ten minutes instead of heating their food for one minute, the microwave locking until the timer was done. geoff looked completely distraught, his leftovers locked away from him, due to otto's fuck up.

     as geoff sulked, otto brought up a valuable point for once; "where's awsten?"

     the short-haired brunette shot up at the thought, leaving otto alone in the kitchen with the stupidly locked microwave. he sat there, lonesome, as the timer ticked down, every flip of the digital clock making him more and more agitated.

     geoff headed upstairs to awsten's room, knocking on the door three times, a rhythm that let awsten know it was geoff and not whoever else. he slowly opened the door, giving his friend a reassuring smile as he sat down on the floor next to him. he criss-crossed his legs, leaning up to the blue boy's bed to quickly grab a throw pillow and placing it on his lap. he motioned awsten down after he did so, letting him know he's free to lie down if he wanted to. he took the offer, smiling back and following through.

     after a few moments of silence the older asked, "everything alright?"

     the younger attempted to shake off the butterflies undeniably freaking out in his stomach at geoff's soft, caring, voice. he simply nodded his head, not trusting his voice at that moment.

     geoff started to run a hand through awsten's hair, knowing it helped the other calm down. "are you sure?"

     the blue boy nodded again, an unshakable smile plaguing his lips. geoff smiled back, a comfortable silence surrounding them. but their moment was short-lived when otto bursted through the door.

     "geoff it opened!" he shouted in excitement.

     awsten quirked a brow at him as geoff rolled his eyes. the brunette slightly bounced up the leg the blue boy was lying on, a cue for him to get up. he did so, allowing geoff to investigate what otto was even talking about. awsten followed after, trailing behind geoff like a lost duckling, the blue boy shooting otto a dirty glare as they entered the kitchen, the long-haired brunette having a knowing look in his eyes, his smirk telling awsten everything he needs to know. geoff, thankfully, had no idea what was going on, turning to awsten for help with the microwave that caused him so much frustration and disparity.

     the blue boy shook his head with a smile, being sarcastic but lighthearted as he explained how it worked.

     "you got it now?" the younger asked, looking at geoff with such care it made otto sick to his stomach. the brunette nodded nonetheless, proceeding to successfully heat up his food.

     otto waited a second before interrupting awsten from his thoughts, "hey can we talk outside?"

     the blue boy nodded, confused, and followed his friend out the front door, furthest from geoff so he doesn't hear.

     "so what's up?" awsten asked curiously, crossing his arms as he looked at otto who appeared nervous.

     "so, you and geoff?" he asked, continually swapping his weight from one leg to the other. "what's goin' on?"

     "what do you mean?" the blue boy replied, quirking up a brow.

     otto gave him a disbelieving stare, lightly shivering as a soft breeze blew past them, awsten making sweater paws. "i know you know what i mean."

     "otto, i really don't," awsten replied, a confused look in his eyes. maybe he really didn't know. but unlucky for awsten, otto was persistent.

     "do you like geoff, aws?"

     and that question scared him. terrified him.

     "i think so?" his answer was more of a question, just wanting this interaction to be over.

     "i'll leave this for now, loverboy's probably wonderin' where we went," otto said, letting awsten feel relieved. "but we're gonna continue this later." and just like that the anxiety's back.

     they went back inside to see geoff sitting at the island, eating his—probably stale—pizza. "hey," he smiled, with a small wave. but otto saw the brunette wasn't even looking at him, he was looking at awsten.

     otto smiled knowingly, rolling his eyes as geoff cocked his head at the expression.

     the blue boy sat next to his—presumably newfound—crush, shaking his head as geoff offers some pizza to him.

     "c'mon, you haven't eaten yet, and it's," he paused, looking down at his phone for the time, "2 o'clock."

     awsten narrowed his eyes at geoff, not wanting to let geoff's pout control his decisions. but—as usual—it did, and he rolled his eyes as the older pressed the pizza to the blue boy's mouth, smiling as he took a bite. and even if it was small, he was happy awsten ate at all.

     otto watched as they interacted, secretly from the fridge as he pretended to look for something. but neither of his friends noticed thankfully.

     otto knew his friends liked each other for a long time, though he isn't sure when it started, but that didn't really matter to him. he didn't want to pressure them into confessing or anything of the sort, he just hoped they admit it—to at least themselves—soon. he quickly grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge, not wanting them to realize he was minorly stalking them.

     his friends sat together, otto joining them soon after, smiling as they bumped each other playfully, unaware of the aura around them.

     soon otto got tired and bid them farewell. was he actually tired? or was he just giving some excuse so they'd maybe have alone time to figure things out? of course it was the latter.

     the other two showed him the door, in the nicest of ways, each hugging their friend before he departed. awsten closed the door behind otto, turning to look at geoff after, not knowing why he felt so entranced.  deep down he knew why, but he wasn't about to admit that to himself, or at least not yet.

     "okay," geoff started, looking away from awsten and sitting on the couch. "movie?"

     the blue boy smiled, sitting next to him, "close, 'office'."

     the older rolled his eyes playfully, letting his arm rest behind awsten, along the top of the couch. "go on," he replied with a soft smile, letting his friend rest his head on his shoulder.

     they watched 'the office' together, and by the end of the first episode they were pretty much cuddled up together. neither of them really realized either, this was just normal for them. they were just very comfortable with each other, or at least that's what they convinced themselves.

     the blue boy tried to ignore the nervous pit in his stomach, as geoff hyper-focused on how soft awsten's hair was.

     maybe otto was right?