debauchery *gawsten* ✓

Chapter Nine

8.19.20
new chapter nine.
1,086 words

geoff p.o.v.

i was woken up in the middle of the night by my bladder screaming at me.

i ended up spending the night over at otto's. we had stayed up pretty late doing homework. his mum also just happened to be an excellent cook.

while i came back into otto's room, i noticed his phone on the bedside table. it was going nuts vibrating and lighting up. out of curiosity, i went closer to see why it was blowing up.

there were multiple texts and missed facetime calls from awsten. i saw two of the messages and rushed to wake otto. "otto, otto, awsten needs you, i think something's wrong-"

a groggy otto hurried to check his phone. i read the texts over his shoulder. what i saw confused and concerned me.

pomengranate: ityo
pomengranate: pla snsser ur fonepomengranate: atudii

pomengranate: hwlp
pomengranate: wimdoqs ooen

otto cussed and tugged on a pair of sweats. "you can stay if you want, but i really-"

"to hell. i'm coming with." i snapped. i found my bag to get some clothes to put on. "what happened?"

otto hesitated. "i don't know. he might be havin' an anxiety attack, but he's never...he's never needed me there this late at night." when he looked up at me, it looked like he was crying.

"where does he live?" i asked. i swallowed the lump in my throat; seeing otto cry made me want to, too.

"just down the street. let's go."

otto left a note for his mum and we ran down the street. otto led the way to a window on the side of the house. as he pushed it up, he asked me where awsten said he was.

"something about an...atudii?" i replied. "sounds latin."

"studio." otto corrected, helping me up into awsten's room.

awsten's room was a lot. it was meticulously clean, save for his spilt bag and the pile of what i assumed what dirty laundry. everything was a splash of colour that was hard for me to process. he had labels on his dresser drawers that appeared to be organised by colour.

otto went for awsten's closet. "geoff, come on."

"um...you said studio, right?" i asked.

"secret room," he replied, pulling on my arm. we went into his closet, which also looked meticulously organised.

"lima-bean snowflakes bother him." otto said. before i got the chance to ask him what he meant, he gasped and fell to his knees. "awsten!"

i knelt next to him and almost cried out. awsten was sobbing on the floor, clutching at his chest. his breathing sounded laboured and like it hurt. i didn't know what came over me when i rushed forward to hold him.

he pushed me away. instead of giving up, i tried again. it wasn't until the fourth try that he finally crawled into my lap and clung to me. otto looked disturbed and extremely upset. i reached out to rub his shoulder before taking my hand back. i was soon holding awsten in both of my arms again.

i didn't know how long the three of us sat there. otto left after a while to get some water from his house. he was gone before awsten could wiggle out of my arms to stop him. i didn't think awsten realized i was still there because he started crying harder.

i reached for him to hold him again. "awsten, awsten, i'm still here. c'mere, i've got you, he'll be back..." he settled into my arms again and sobbed into my shirt. i rocked him and shushed him until otto came back.

awsten pushed away from me to jump into otto's arms. his crying started up anew. otto was bewildered. "awsten, what's wrong?"

awsten moved a little bit away from him. he signed something, and otto's face fell. "awsten... aws, i was just runnin' home to get us water..."

awsten signed something else, and otto replied, "awsten, look. i appreciate the concern, but you need water. here, drink up." he added, holding up a water bottle. awsten snatched it out of his hand and took a drink.

he signed another thing, to which otto replied, "you're welcome."

"awsten, what happened tonight?" i asked quietly.  awsten is slow to turn and face me. when he does, there's a wild look in his eyes. i stood up to be ready to hold him once again. "awsten, what happened?" i repeated.

he signed something and otto translated, "he says he fell down the stairs." otto's tone scared me. he didn't sound as if he believed what he was told.

"wait, otto, why did you have to go all the way to your house to get water?" i asked, just then remembering something. "couldn't you just go downstairs?"

"um...awsten's dad doesn't really like when awsten has people over uninvited." otto replied.

"awsten, did you really fall down the stairs?" i asked him gently.

awsten nodded and rolled his eyes. he stormed out of his closet and to his room. otto and i followed to find him curled up in his bed under a blanket. despite the situation, he looked cute.

clearly awsten didn't want to talk about tonight, so i changed the subject. "awsten, what are lima-bean snowflakes?"

he stood, still wrapped in his blanket. he shuffled to me and pointed to my nose with a blanket-covered paw.

i rubbed a hand on where he pointed. when i drew it back, i saw a smudge of dirt on my finger. "damn it! is my face really that dirty? for the whole day, too?"

"lima-bean snowflakes." otto said.

i had to think hard about it. i thought about how colourful awsten's room was and even just his person. i put two and two together, and then i realised it.

"wow, awsten, do you have synesthesia?"

he nodded and shuffled back to his bed. he patted the space next to himself and pointed at me. i obliged, laying down and facing him, even though i didn't know what he was doing. then awsten pointed to otto and patted his own hip.

"lay...on top of you two?" otto asked. awsten nodded. otto hesitated before coming over. he awkwardly clambered to be laying on me and awsten. awsten's eyes squeezed shut, but i could tell that he thought i didn't notice.

"get some sleep, you two." otto said. "there's still school tomorrow." even as he spoke, awsten's eyelids were drooping and he yawned.

"goodnight, awsten." i whispered to him.

he smiled sleepily and mouthed a goodnight back to me.