"Good morning thiccalicious" I say when Awsten answers the call. He immediately starts laughing, confused.
"Good morning to you too." He says when he finally calms down. I loved hearing him laugh.
"So, you're still here for 2 days, correct?"
"Mhm." He yawns and it's quiet for a moment.
"Can we video chat? I wanna see you." He says breaking the silence.
"I look gross."
"I do too. Let's be gross together."
"Nasty." I giggle, opening the video chat. He smiles. His hair was a mess and he was wearing his glasses.
"That's adorable." I said, smiling.
"Ditto." He smiles back even wider than before.
"What are you up to today?" I ask and he pauses for a moment, looking at the whiteboard next to him.
"I think all we have to do today is just do a bus invaders video for Digital Tour Bus. That'll only take like an hour at most." He yawns again, rubbing his face.
"It is pretty early still. I'll leave you alone so you can sleep."
"Nooooo." He whines and someone slaps him.
"Fuck Geoff! It's too early!" Awsten slaps him back and rolls over in his bunk.
"Anyways. We aren't doing much today. Why?"
"I wanted to see if you wanted to do a thing."
"A thing?"
"Mhm, a thing."
"Do I get to what the thing is?"
"Nope."
"Let's do the thing."
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"Is this the thing?" Awsten asks as we walk towards the large building. He had a blindfold on and I refused to let him look yet.
"Yes this is the thing. No peaking, just trust me." I say, pulling him to the left some. I was walking backwards holding his hands to guide him. We were standing outside the front entrance now.
"Okay, ready?" I ask and he nods, smiling. I take off his blind fold and his jaw drops.
"You brought me to an aquarium?!"
"Yes, yes I did." I smile and back away some so that he can look around and get the entire view. Baltimore's Aquarium was insanely impressive. It held some of the largest tanks I've ever seen.
"This is fucking incredible!"
"Awsten, children!"
"Oh yeah." He giggled.
We made our way to the admissions office and I paid for the passes before Awsten could get the chance to argue. I handed him his pass and we began our walk through the massive Aquarium.
"Oh my god..." He says as his eyes widen. He looks at me for conformation and I smile, laughing some.
"They have literal fucking dolphins!" He whispers excitedly.
"Yes they do. Go check them out."
He grabs my hand and we speed walk to the dolphin tank. It was kinda hard to keep up with him because he's tall and fit. I'm definitely neither of those things.
We walk into a dark room with just pure glass on the other side. The room was lit by blue lights and the light shining through the water from outside.
"Can i...?" He asks, looking up at the tank. I nod and he walks over, placing his hands against the tank, eagerly looking around for the dolphins.
I smile, sneaking a couple pictures before joining him. It was a very candid shot honestly. The lighting perfectly hit in all the right places.
I look up towards the top of the tank, listening to the chatter and waited for a sign. Slowly but surely, a single dolphin swam down to us and circled around so we could get a full view.
There was a bright yellow tag that almost looked like tape one the underside of her tail. I looked down at the reference chart and saw that her name was Pearl. I placed my hand against the tank and looked into her eyes. She was stunning. I looked back down at the chart to read about her.
"Tori... look." Awsten said, bring my attention back to the glass. Pearl was staring at me. She tapped her nose against the place where I had my hand. We both stayed there in silence, just watching each other. She eventually backed away and swam back to the top.
"That was incredible! You have definitely got to post this." He says, showing me a picture of the moment. He sends me the picture then runs off to the next tank, the turtles.
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"Did you see how fucking big the sharks were? And the seals! And don't even get me started on the uh... sea flaps." Awsten was so excited as we walked out onto the top balcony of the aquarium. It was sunset and the view was amazing.
"Sea flaps?" I ask, giggling.
"The uh... pancake dudes. Fuck what are they called.." He paused to think.
"Manta rays?"
"Damnit I was so close."
"Gotta be quicker than that." I laugh some, leaning against the half wall overlooking the ocean. The sunlight crashed against the waves and danced along the shoreline and the piers. It was breath taking. Awsten stood beside me, mimicking my movements.
"Where's your favorite place to be?" I ask, looking at him for a moment before looking back at the water.
"You answer first."
"I feel at peace with the water. Something about the waves and the feeling of the hot sand. The smell of the salt water. The sun. It just makes me feel like I'm home. Alex always said that he wrote Tidal Waves for me. I don't believe that for a second, but it's kinda sweet to think about." I explain, watching the sun sink further and further along the waterline.
"Tidal Waves is a sad song though?"
"Sad song for a sad story. You never answered my question."
"With you."
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"Awsten i swear to god if you push me in I will drag you through the depths of hell." I say, carefully keeping my distance as we walk along the waters edge. The sun was about to fully set but there was still some light. We were walking barefoot, half in the water and half out, depending on the waves. We carried our shoes and Awsten used his phone flashlight.
"You're too nice. I couldn't. If you were Geoff on the otherhand... what are we even doing out here anyways?"
"I wanna show you something. Just trust me. Okay?"
"I trust you."
We continue our walk and then I stop, looking down at the ground. I smile, bending down, picking up the object of my interest. A shark tooth. I pick it up and dust it off before handing it to Awsten.
"How did you know they'd be out here?"
"I spent a lot of lonely nights here when I was younger. I still come every time I get the chance. You eventually learn the tricks and trades of the area." I explain, looking around for more. He bends down beside me, looking as well.
"What the hell is that?!"
"Oh my god it's a clam!" I smile, carefully grabbing it. Awsten shines the light on it to get a better look as I gently open it. Unfortunately, it was a dead clam, but within it held something beautiful. Pearls.
"Held me out here." I say and Awsten nods, holding up the clam shell. I carefully scoop out the pearl and clean it off in the water. My hands were freezing but I didn't care. I hand Awsten the pearl and continue my search.
After about 30 minutes, the sun had set and it was starting to get cold. I had found a total of 8 shark teeth, 23 shells, and 3 pearls.
"We better get going. It's gonna get darker soon." I say, placing all the shells and stuff in my pants pockets.
"Tori." Awsten says, standing in front of me. I look up at him, waiting for him to say something. Instead, he pulls me into a hug. I hesitate for a moment out of confusion, but hug back. I realize he's crying.
"Awsten what's wrong? Did I say something?" I ask, not daring to leave the embrace as he held on tighter.
"N-nothing. Everything's g-great. That's the problem." He chokes out through the tears. I rub circles into his back trying to comfort him as he sobs.
"Hey. It's okay. It's okay, I promise." I reassure him and after a moment he begins to calm down. He pulls back from the embrace, quickly rubbing his tears away so I couldn't see.
"Awsten, it's okay not to be okay. You know that, right?"
He nods, sniffling some. He hid the last sign of sadness before looking out at the waves.
"Do you think you'll remember me when I'm gone?" He asks, avoiding all eye contact.
"Awe, A.. of course I will. You're a great friend. Why wouldn't i?"
"I'm just me."
"What's so bad about that?"
"Everything." He sighs, running his fingers through his hair.
"That's not true at all. Awsten, you're amazing. You always know how to make people smile and laugh. Your music inspires thousands. You keep people going. You're a hero to so many people. You're really strong and kind and caring. You're smart. You're really smart. You're funny, creative, unique. Just... amazing."
"You really think so?" He looks at me and I nod, smiling some.
"Thank you. For everything." He says hugging me again. I laugh, hugging him back.
"You're also a good hugger."
He laughs and we sway to the wind and the sound of the waves crashing against the water. It was so peaceful.