Here For the Credit • Gawsten (boyxboy)

Epilouge

hftc has been my baby for so long and i guess it's time to say goodbye to it.

go ask any questions you have about ANY part of this fic on frank and i's tumblr, everyparxsongisgay! (anon asks are on too!) that includes what happened to side characters, process of writing, anything you wanna know about me, etc etc. GO. after you read of course.

HUGE thank you to all of yall who have been super supportive since the beginning of this fic. or, just recently. either way, THANK YOU.  i do plan on writing more in the future.

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Awsten laughed as the bump of the car messed him up, shaking his hands further. "Oh! Oh, god!"

"What?" Geoff asked as Awsten's eyes widened, laughing softly under his breath so he didn't mess up Awsten's artistry even more.

"There- there's purple paint on your nose!" He laughed, wiping off his hands on a paper towel in his lap before grabbing his phone out of a sling-bag he had hanging off his shoulder. "Hold on, I want you to see!"

"Awsten, I'm driving." Geoff said simply, glancing at his boyfriend briefly from the corner of his vision.

Awsten swiped to his phone camera, holding it up to Geoff's face and taking a picture as Geoff glanced over, smiling widely. He snapped it quickly, not wanting him to be distracted for too long.

"Fine, you can look later. But hold on, I can fix it." The purple-haired boy responded. He licked the tip of his thumb and dragged it over Geoff's nose.

"That's gross." The brunet commented, which Awsten completely ignored. He instead fixed the paint before putting his dollar tree paint set in the seats behind them, which were anything but empty. However, what they were filled by wasn't people.

It gave him a heavily bittersweet feeling, seeing all the suitcases Geoff had stacked in the back seat. On one hand, he was proud of Geoff: He was going to the school of his dreams and setting up a life for himself in California, one of his favorite places in the world.

One the other hand though, he was doing it alone. Yes, completely. They'd mutually agreed that Geoff should take on college alone, because Awsten was already going to a community college in Houston, and therefore wasn't tagging along, and the long distance between them most likely wouldn't work out. They both depended heavily on physical affection, and maybe the mature thing would be to just let it go.

In all honesty, there was no word to describe the way Awsten felt other than completely fucking heartbroken. He didn't want Geoff to go, he really just wanted to cling onto him for dear life and never let go. He wanted to hold on tighter and tighter and kiss him everywhere, and keep his grasp until his flight had long passed and he'd be forced to stay, for even just a little longer. However, they were adults now: Awsten was eighteen, and Geoff was turning nineteen in a month. They had to do the mature thing, even if it hurt like absolute hell.

Today was their last day together. Geoff had already said his goodbyes to his family, and so he and Awsten were going to attend this event together and then Awsten would drop him off at the airport, and that'd be it. He got to keep Geoff's car as well, which made it sting just a little bit more. Obviously they were still going to be friends after this all was over, but it wouldn't be the same. Nowhere near it. They both knew that.

Despite it, though, today was going to be happy. They were going to continue to pretend that in a few hours, Awsten wasn't going to drop Geoff off at the airport, for him to fly across the country, hundreds of miles away. He was not going to sob in his arms and kiss him over and over and tell him how in love he is right now, and he's not going to tell him that Houston isn't home without at least catching a slight glance of him everywhere he goes. He's not going to be one of those sappy, fucking stupid people who are so desperately in love that they beg their partner not to leave.

He's not. Or at least, he tells himself that.

"You ready for your first ever pride parade?" Geoff asks as he parks, smile lines accentuating when he turns to Awsten. The rainbow-colored rectangles on the apples of his cheeks compliment Geoff's wide eyes well. In Awsten's opinion, better than the pink/purple/blue pattern complimented his own eyes. Looking at Geoff, beaming as if it was just another casual day together, he thought he'd never seen anyone so positive under pressure.

Awsten played along, smiling widely and leaning over to squeeze Geoff's hand. "Of course. Houston better watch the fuck out."