Hard To See (Gawsten)

sixteen

You're welcome in advance for the lil bit of fluff :)

***

Jawn, Otto, and Kellin half expected Awsten to end up freaking out again at some point, especially when it came to his hands. The red-haired boy stood near the hallway entrance the entire time, ready to march in and calm down another situation.

To everyone's surprise, Geoff emerges from the bathroom- after preforming surgery for thirty minutes- carrying a tired Awsten. The blond boy has his arms around Geoff's neck, and his legs around his waist. His eyes droop sleepily.

"If you guys will clean up the bathroom, I'll get Awsten somewhere he can sleep. He's worn out," Geoff says, and Otto nods. He and Kellin head for the bathroom, while Jawn follows Geoff to one of the two bedrooms. One room has two twin-sized beds, while the other has one king-sized. Geoff gently sits Awsten down on the king-sized bed, and removes his shoes for him since his hands are out of commission.

Jawn watches Geoff. The brunet has never been violent by any means, but there's still something so uncharacteristically gentle about the way he interacts with Awsten. There's also something so trusting about the way the blond boy interacts with Geoff. Jawn figures Otto was right about Awsten being good for Geoff.

The blond boy carefully gets under the covers and closes his eyes. He wants to ask Geoff to stay, but he bites his tongue.

Geoff wants to stay, but he doesn't want to be any more invasive than he already has been.

"We'll be in the living room, Awsie. Sleep as long as you like," Geoff whispers before pulling the door so that it's almost closed. Awsten nods and drifts off to sleep.

The two boys meet back up with Kellin and Otto in the living room. All four boys settle onto the couch, not minding being kind of squished together.

"There was so much fucking glass in that cup," Otto comments. He still believes Awsten should've been taken to the hospital.

"You're sure you got it all out?" Kellin asks, standing up. Geoff only nods. He needs a nap too.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go. I'm late for my shift at Gaskarth's as it is. If you guys need anything at all- medical stuff, a place for Aws to stay, a metal bat to beat his dad with- you just let me know," Kellin says, loving the idea of turning the tables on the violent man, before saluting the boys and leaving the apartment through the back door.

The three remaining boys call out 'goodbye's and 'thank you's, and watch as the door shuts quietly behind the raven-haired boy.

"Are your parents gone yet?" Jawn asks Otto, and the curly-haired boy shrugs. Nobody's been paying attention to anything upstairs for the past forty minutes. It's a miracle Mr. and Mrs. Wood didn't wander downstairs to check on them. Maybe they slipped out and left for Europe. That'd be okay- Otto already said goodbye.

"Let's go find out. We should also get some supplies- we're staying here until Aws is doing better," Jawn says, and he and Otto stand up and head for the stairs.

Geoff slouches down onto the couch. Jawn and Otto are probably going to be gone for a while- they tend to overdo it when they go for supply runs. Geoff can vaguely hear Jawn making a list aloud through the ceiling.

"We need clothes for Awsten- he can borrow mine, I'll run home and get some- and we need food. You go to the store and get some stuff, I have a feeling we're gonna be here for a minute. We need to meet back here in, say, forty-five minutes? I'll grab some other stuff from my house too-"

The brunet starts to fall asleep to the sound of Jawn's rambling. The red-haired boy tends to talk a lot after dealing with a particularly anxiety-inducing situation. It helps to ground him.