Hard To See (Gawsten)

eighteen

Skskdjsk y'all had a lot to say about Patty popping up in the last chapter!! I'll tell y'all this- if there's an opportunity to bring in an antagonist from the past that's been mentioned (like Patty), I'll usually take it ;)

Also- so sorry for the delay!! A lot has been happening. Here's an extra long chapter to make up for it!!

***

The best part about owning and working in one of the most popular coffee shops in town? The gossip.

If Alex were a bad person, this would be a very bad thing- but he's not. He keeps his mouth shut and pretends that he doesn't accidentally eavesdrop on conversations on a daily basis.

However, there are times when concern pries his mouth open. Jack and Kellin, Alex's closest friends, are a bit more aware of Alex's wandering ear than the general public.

Today, Alex heard something- or rather, he didn't hear something- that made him open his mouth.

"He never spoke?" Jack asks as he flips the open sign to 'closed'.

"Yeah, it was weird. I mean, Awsten isn't a chatterbox by any means, but he usually- I don't know- replies at least," Alex explains as he sweeps the floor behind the counter.

The last of the coffee-drinkers left a few minutes ago, just in time for the three boys to close up shop for an hour. Geoff and Awsten left two hours ago, and Alex can't stop thinking about the blond boy's silence. Geoff had supplied all of the verbal conversation, and the most Awsten had done was nod or shake his head- Alex had noticed it all.

"Kellin- you're friends with Geoff, right?" Jack asks, and the raven-haired boy slowly nods. He shifts uncomfortably as he wipes tables down.

"Has Geoff said anything about Awsten?" Alex asks.

The brunet isn't interested in gossip, he just wants to know if everything's okay with the timid boy who frequents his coffee shop.

"No, but I think I know what's up," Kellin responds. He isn't going to tell them- it's not his story to tell- but he also isn't going to pretend like he doesn't know anything. If he pretends like a doesn't know, Jack and Alex may go looking for answers, but if they know that Kellin knows what's up and he convinces them that everything's okay, maybe he can talk them into staying out of it.

"Oh, what is it?" Both boys ask Kellin at the same time.

"None of your business- that's what it is," the raven-haired boy responds, only half joking. "Don't worry too much about it, there's just some stuff that went down and this is the aftermath. He's fine, I'm sure- and even if he's not, he's got Geoff, Jawn, and Otto there to help him, and I'm here for him too."

"Is it a Travis thing? I saw Geoff and Awsten holding hands, as well as Awsten's busted lip. Did Travis fucking do something to him?" Alex instantly asks, pausing his sweeping.

"No no no, Travis wasn't involved. Trust me, I'd be calling in to tell you I can't make it to work from jail if Travis did something like that," Kellin responds quickly.

"Well, whatever it is, if Awsten needs anything, you let me know," Alex says, and continues sweeping.

***

"Jawn, I'm not gonna lie, this is kinda weird. How do you even remember that project?" Patty asks from his desk chair.

Otto mutters that he already told Jawn this is weird.

"I don't know, I just do. We've got a friend who's gone through a traumatic event, and now he's mute- or so we think. You did research and conducted a whole experiment, right? Help us, please," Jawn begs. He elbows Otto, who's sitting next to him on the edge of Patty's bed.