the balcony ••• awsten knight

prologue

june 2016

Jawn Rocha probably knows Awsten Knight better than anyone. And vice versa. They're best friends and have been for years, more than either of them can count on two hands; which just makes Awsten all the more pissed off that he has been forced into an Uber and dragged to a party right now.

"Why are you making me do this?" He whines, helplessly.

"Because I'm not letting you mope around," Jawn scowls back, shoving a soda into his hand. "Seriously, you should enjoy yourself. It's the start of Summer. You've just finished months worth of touring, about to head out for more, and your debut album is being released at the end of the year!"

"I'm aware of my schedule, thanks," Awsten quips in response, before taking a sip of his drink, earning himself an eye roll.

Despite the fuss he's making over it, Awsten knows he won't get out of this. Jawn is just as stubborn as he is.

Deep down, he's thankful for it, even if he'd never admit that he's glad that he's being dragged to a Los Angeles party with people both he and Jawn have only half-met barely a handful of times.

Awsten is just hoping that tonight will be exactly what Jawn is telling him it will be— a distraction.

Besides, maybe he will just let loose for once. It's been a stressful year, even though it's only midway through it. Being in an unofficial, on-and-off, mortally-grey half-relationship is just as confusing as it sounds, and has certainly taken it's toll over the better half of a year.

It's consumed him. Even though it's all been on the down-low, Awsten's friends and family have seen the way it's affected him. He wouldn't be surprised if a few of them were actually happy about the way things seem to have ended— regardless of the fact that Awsten is still holding out hope for everything to turn around.

For the first hour, Jawn socialises a lot more than Awsten does; which leads Jawn to head back over to Awsten, wearing an expression that looks like he's about to give a lecture.

"D'you know how many times I've had to answer the question, 'Dude, what's up with your friend?'"

Awsten can't help but laugh at Jawn's impression, but his amusement only earns a scowl.

"I'm giving you a target," he deadpans.

"Jawn, I'm not five—"

"Five! Perfect. You have to speak to five new people tonight," Jawn grins at his new idea.

"Are you fucking serious—?"

"And at least one of them has to be a girl," he wiggles his eyebrows, a smirk now playing on his lips. "And I'm dead serious. If you don't do it, I'll...I'll tell Mikey Way the boner pills story."

Awsten's eyes widen. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would," Jawn nods, smugly. "Now, go! Speak to people," he shoves Awsten's shoulder, pushing him away from his spot against the wall and further into the growing crowd of people.

Begrudgingly, Awsten wanders, weaving in and out of clusters of people.

Eventually, he finds someone that he vaguely knows; they recognise Awsten before he recognises them and it takes him a while to remember that his name is Johnny.