The most important night of Geoff's entire life started on November fourth inside a Wendy's.
He had this unexplainable, intense, and unstoppable craving for chili. He needed some, and fast. So, naturally, he was more than willing to drive five blocks in the dead of night to get his fix at the world's greatest fast food chain.
Luckily, he had just got his driver's license, after nearly a year of disaster after disaster behind the wheel. He was overjoyed to finally able to ditch the musty, crowded bus for his senior year of high school. And, more importantly, he could make as many late-night drives to Wendy's as he wanted.
He entered the bright red building warily, squinting from the bright fluorescent lights. It was unsurprisingly empty, the one exception being an exhausted-looking teenage boy with moppy brown curls hanging over his face at the register. Geoff approached the boy slowly, half expecting him to be asleep. His nametag read 'Otto'.
As he made his way into Otto's line of vision, he saw the boy seemingly snap out of a trance, directing his attention to Geoff.
"Welcome to... Wendy's, can I, uh, take your order?" Otto was clearly not used to people coming in so late at night. He was groggy and out of his element. Geoff was out of his element too, but it had less to do with the time and more to do with Otto's jawline.
"I just, uh... I just want some... some chili. Yeah" He cringed. Purposefully putting himself in a situation where he was required to talk to a complete stranger is something he would only find himself doing at 2 am at a Wendy's.
"Coming... right... up." Otto mumbled, staggering into the kitchen. Geoff wrung his hands as he waited for him, trying hard to not think too much about that goddamn jawline. It could slice an apple. It could draw blood. It could take an eye out. Lots of violent situations could be initiated with the structure of that sleep-deprived face.
As much as he loved Otto's face, all those thoughts disappeared the moment he saw his chili. He could see the steam coming off of it, and it took virtually all of his self-control to resist yanking it out of Otto's hands and dumping the whole concoction straight into his mouth.
"Thanks, man," he breathed. He took the warm paper bowl in his hands. His palms were sweating. He was completely prepared to inhale this chili.
He spared only a single glance at the boy at the counter once he was sat down at his table. He started to shovel down his chili but stopped. He looked back at Otto to see him staring at the seat across Geoff with longing. That jawline intruded his thoughts yet again. Geoff turned toward him. After a beat, he said, "Hey man, uh, you wanna...well, you wanna join me?"
Otto's eyes widened. "Sure," he said immediately. He grabbed a package of fries from the kitchen and stumbled to the table Geoff was occupying. Geoff had already downed his entire cup of chili by the time Otto had reached him. His face was covered in it, and he was breathing heavily like he hadn't taken a single breath while chugging his heaven in a bowl.
"Uh... here. You might want some of these." Otto took some Chipotle napkins out of his pocket and handed them to Geoff.
Geoff let out a timid laugh. "Thanks." He wiped off his face, then directed his gaze back to Otto in admiration. He was too tired to pretend he wasn't staring.
Luckily, Otto was staring right back. He had completely forgotten about his fries. All he cared about was how Geoff's eyes looked when they caught the light. They were like kaleidoscopes, sparkling and churning. He could stare at them all day, and never get bored.
Geoff leaned over to Otto, and before he could change his mind, he kissed him.
His whole world simultaneously melted away. Nothing existed, nothing mattered, except them. He felt like a hole in his heart that he never knew he had had been filled at last. Otto's lips were soft against his. Geoff pressed his hands on the side of his face, running over that fantastic jaw he had thought so much about. He was overwhelmed with joy at kissing this complete stranger. It was cheesy, but it really did feel like it was meant to be.
Just as Otto had begun tangling his hands into Geoff's hair, they were interrupted by a great commotion at the doors of the fast-food chain. Another teenage boy ran in, cheeks flushed, eyes wild, panting like he had run all the way here. His hair was brown, with a blonde streak running through it.
"Who wants to be in my band!?"
