Here For the Credit • Gawsten (boyxboy)

Chapter 9: I Don't Have Clever Wordplay For This Chapter But Just Know It's Good

5k words. I told myself I wasn't posting this till next chapter was prewritten. I lied. This didn't turn out exactly how I wanted but, oh well.

The rest of the ride, to say the least, was awkward. Almost ten hours of near silence.

Near because Geoff could vaguely hear the sound of Brockhampton and Childish Gambino through Awsten's headphones for the majority of the ride, when he didn't have his own headphones in. Literally, it was he had a playlist of just those artists.

He did that, facetime a couple different people, and muttered to himself. Not that Geoff hadn't noticed. Okay, so maybe he had, and maybe it wasn't all that silent on Awsten's end. Only Geoff's.

Geoff's end was quiet because all his friends were too busy for him and he played his music at what he would consider a respectable volume. It'd sped by agonizingly slowly, to the point where Geoff was practically begging to have content to add to the 'Awsten's High Quotes' folder, but they had gotten to the hotel soon enough.

It was nine o'clock at night, and everyone was exhausted. They'd all briefly met, (Or, were reacquainted with) Geoff's aunt and uncle before all heading to their own rooms. Geoff still hadn't seen his parents, but he understood why. They were likely still asleep.

There was a catch to the rooms, though. Obviously Geoff's aunt and uncle couldn't give them too many rooms. It'd be bad for business in one of their biggest prime times of the year. So, they spared, for all eight of them, two rooms.

It wasn't as bad as it sounded, actually. One room had three bedrooms, and that's where both sets of parents, Gracie, and Rebecca would stay. The catch was, since Awsten and Geoff were the oldest, they'd get their own studio-style room across the hotel.

(Awsten's parents gave them a lecture about personal responsibility before letting them go off. Gracie tried to be personally responsible too, but there were only two beds. She deemed it unfair, but got over it rather quickly.)

So, everyone was scattered as the boys went off to their own room and the rest of the group went off to theirs. Awsten and Geoff still hadn't spoken, even as their door was being opened by the keycard in Awsten's hand.

The first thing he noticed was white. Everything in the room was stark white, with the exception of the light colored walls and picture frames scattered around the room. Even the counters were a light gray-cream color. Besides the white, the room was nice, though, and the beds looked comfortable. Two full-sizes, pressed against the right wall. Part of the left wall protruded, and had a door leading to what was most likely the bathroom. In the back area where the wall caved outwards, there was a kitchenette with a fridge, a sink, and a small amount of counter space.

A sliding glass door on the back wall led to a deck area, solid concrete and having a view from three stories in the air. Right in front of them, and slightly to the left, by the bathroom door was a small living space with two chairs and a small TV.

Awsten near immediately claimed the bed towards the back of the room before saying his first words directed at Geoff in hours: "I'm taking a shower."

The shower turned out to be everything Awsten had needed. After going to the bathroom and stepping under the showerhead, he finally felt at peace — as if there was room to breathe, finally. He'd almost told Geoff about his massive crush, and even though he had the feeling he knew anyways, it was still relieving.

Then again, the crush still existed, which was a burden in itself — whatever, he thought, he was mostly sober, and he was anxious, but he was okay.