Princess // gawsten ✓

018.

Awsten laid in bed, curled up into Geoff's chest for hours. They stayed hooked to one another, almost as if one another were their oxygen tanks. The air around then filled with the noise of each other's soft breaths and the beating of their hearts in sync.

A soft knock echoed on Geoff's door, and he pushed himself to his feet. "Come in!" He called and began to busy himself with fidgeting with knickknacks.

His mother appeared in the doorway, smiling brightly as she saw Awsten's back facing her. "I just came up to tell you I'm going back to the office." Her smile replaced with a sad, withered frown as she tapped her nails against the wood of the door. "Amber's at Mama's, so you two have the house to yourselves." She pecked Geoff's cheek, gave him a small hug, and left without another word, leaving the pair alone in silence once more.

Once Awsten was sure Geoff's mother had left, he flipped over to look at the elder, smiling as he became infatuated with some video game figurine. "You don't think your mom would mind if I crashed here, right?" He asked hopefully, burying his sore and swollen face in Geoff's linen pillowcases.

A part of Awsten wanted to go home, to see his mother and father and be welcomed back with open arms. The other part of Awsten knew he wouldn't be allowed in until after his father left, which he remembered vividly would be Friday of that week.

"I don't think so. I mean—" Geoff gestured towards his window as the sound of his mother's car starring echoed through the small suburban neighborhood. "We have the whole house to ourselves for the entire night, which makes the oldest one here in charge." Climbing back into bed, Geoff wrapped an arm around Awsten and pulled him into a deeper embrace.

The younger boy obliged without hesitation, burying his injured face into the nape of Geoff's  warm neck. "What exactly are we, Gee?" He asked meekly as his face remained locked in its position. He felt embarrassed having to ask. Shouldn't he already know what they were? Isn't that how relationships worked?

Considering it had a couple years since Awsten's last relationship, he really had forgotten what it meant to love. His whole life was drained of any source of love, which only made falling in love twelve times harder than it had to be.

"I would like to think that we're dating, but not necessarily boyfriends." Geoff's right hand, which was around Awsten's body, reached up to massage tenderly beneath the boy's neck, sending soothing shivers to cascade throughout his body. "If that makes any sort of sense."

Awsten nodded and retorted to silence, afraid to speak what he felt. He felt the same way as Geoff, of course, but he wanted to tell him how he felt. "I'm afraid to love, Geoff." He murmured as he sat himself up, his bruised hands laying upon Geoff's thigh. "I haven't loved or been loved in so long. It's almost like I've forgotten what it's actually like, you know?" His eyes remained turned towards the ground, as the younger boy was afraid of meeting Geoff's eyes. He wasn't use to speaking his mind, and it was still hard to do so in front of someone as beautiful as Geoff.

Gripping one hand in his, Geoff offered a small pat of encouragement as well as a lighthearted giggle. "Well of course, Aws, I am too. For Christ's sake, I'm a victim of child molestation. I'm a lonely, punk nerd who never knew the meaning of a loving touch up until I was a freshman." Geoff's fingers cupped Awsten's chin and tilted the young boy's head upwards, staring deeply into his eyes. "But that's the beauty of love, right? You learn how to love together, and that's exactly what I can't wait for." Geoff leaned in slowly, only to leave a small peck along Awsten's forehead.

"Motherf—you had my hopes up!" Awsten pushed Geoff away and huffed, his arms crossing over his chest playfully.

Geoff pulled the younger boy back into his chest, his long arms stretching around to hold his body protectively. "I want to make the first kiss a special one, dummy. Now, how about we go downstairs, order some crummy Chinese takeout, and watch some movies?"