Chapter Text
12:37 PM
“Awsten, did you go to the store last week?” Luke asked, rummaging through the fridge, trying to find something to cook for him and Awsten. He looked over to the couch from where he was in the kitchen, seeing Awsten splayed out on the couch.
He heard a loud sigh, followed by a whine, which answered his question, even though he could already tell by the very empty state of the refrigerator. Luke just hummed, absentmindedly tapping the side of the fridge.
“Do you want to go to the store? I can go on my own if you don’t feel up to it,” Luke suggested, shutting the fridge and walking over to lean against the back of the couch Awsten was lying on, crossing his arms. He watched as Awsten pouted when he suggested going to the store, and watched it deepen as Luke kept talking.
“Can’t we just like, go through a drive-thru or something?” Awsten looked up at Luke, trying his puppy eyes on him, although Awsten knew they probably wouldn’t work on him anymore.
“C’mon Aws, I know it seem like a hassle now, but eating, like, at least a little better will be good for you,” Luke smiled down at Awsten, trying not to seem too menacing or forceful. He knows how much Awsten values his physical health, and he knows that if he doesn’t at the very least try to help, Awsten will beat himself up over not eating right at some point in the future.
He could see Awsten thinking it over and physically deflating as he came to a conclusion with a sigh.
“Fineeee...” He said, dragging out the e, “We can go to the store… can I just stay in the car though..?” He seemed hesitant to ask, his eyes focusing on the couch instead of Luke.
Luke didn’t mind at all, he was just happy to get Awsten out of the house one way or another.
“Of course,” Luke smiled sweetly at him, pushing off of the couch and standing up straight, ruffling Awsten’s hair, the black and red strands mixing together, “Let me know when you’re ready to leave, alright? No rush.”
Awsten nodded, leaning into Luke’s hand, letting out a content sigh this time, mumbling in agreement.
Luke went to get changed, just opting for a sweater and jeans. He waited for Awsten in the living room, sitting on the couch Awsten was previously lying on.
He heard a door open and shut, leaning over to look down the hallway, seeing Awsten walking over, hands shoved into the pockets of his hoodie. He was wearing the same hoodie he wore earlier, although his sweatpants were different and his hair was nearer than usual. Luke felt a bit of pride spread throughout his body at the sight of Awsten having the energy to get a little put together, even if it was just to sit and wait in the car.
Even if they didn’t talk about it much apart from the rare conversation brought up by Awsten for whatever reason, Luke was always subconsciously making sure Awsten was managing his mental health decently. That’s why he was at Awsten’s house in the first place, he wanted to make sure the guy was okay and was getting the care and love he couldn’t give himself. He didn’t mind the deeper conversations or awkward silent moments as long as it meant Awsten was okay.
It’s what made small moments like this so great for Luke. He’s seen Awsten barely able to get out of bed to eat food, so seeing him have the energy to go out was fulfilling for Luke, it meant Awsten was at least trying to get better and that Luke had to have been doing something right.
“We can leave whenever you want now…” Awsten spoke, rocking back and forth on his heels. Luke stood up almost immediately, nodding at Awsten and smiling, to which Awsten smiled back at.
“Alright, let’s go then!” He grabbed his keys from the counter, walking out the door with Awsten right behind him. Luke had already unlocked his car, so Awsten got in while Luke locked the door to the house.
Luke hopped into the car, starting it and pulling out of the driveway. Once they actually got on the road, he tried to start up a conversation. He hated driving in silence with other people.
“How’ve Geoff and Otto been lately?” In all honesty, Luke wasn’t all too close with the rest of Waterparks, but Awsten loved to go on and on about them, so he asked anyways.
“Oh!! I talked to them a couple days ago, Otto’s been doing good, playing around in the forest or some shit. The usual… Apparently he has some like, freakish animal living in his yard, I never get those here, it’s too city-like…” Luke listened intently as Awsten rambled on and on about Otto and Geoff. It seemed the two were doing well, Luke enjoys seeing how happy Awsten gets while talking about his friends.
Luke didn’t even notice how fast the drive was passing, as it felt like he was pulling into the parking lot after hardly a minute of driving despite the ride being a good 15 minutes. He knew it was stupid to go to a store further away, but this place had bigger variety of food, which usually meant more healthier food, which was the whole reason they came here.
Awsten seemed to be just as surprised, letting out a small hum as he noticed the building in front of them.
“I’ll be back in a few…Alright?” Luke turned to Awsten, letting him nod in response before he opened the car door, just in case Awsten changed his mind and wanted to go inside with him.
Luke got out of the car, making sure to lock it. Just in case.
He didn’t take any longer than twenty minutes in the store, having already memorized the layout of it and knowing exactly what he was going to buy. It wasn’t much, just the usual assortment of fruits and vegetables as well as a couple meats for dinner and oats that were simple enough to cook for breakfast. He also made sure to get a few microwave meals for Awsten to make himself on the days that Luke couldn’t be there for him.
After paying, he walked back to his car, the weight of the bags he was carrying only slightly weighing him down. He knocked on the window so Awsten knew to unlock the car, allowing Luke to open the back seat and shove the bags into the car. He sighed, getting into the driver’s seat and turning to Awsten.
“Everything good?”
Awsten nodded response, fiddling with the strings of the hoodie he was wearing, looking up to smile at Luke
“Yeah! Is there anywhere else we need to stop or are we all good?” Awsten asked, tapping a beat that Luke didn’t recognize.
He nodded as he began to drive out of the parking lot.
“We’re all good… i got stuff to make sandwiches, if you want that, and I was thinking we could just chill and watch a movie after…?” Luke suggested, looking over at Awsten once they got to a red light for any signs of disapproval, which he didn’t see.
Awsten hummed in agreement, staring out the window. He quietly hummed along to the radio as Luke drove, occasionally glancing over at him, silently pondering how he managed to get so lucky.
1:48 PM
When they finally arrived back at Awsten’s place, Awsten immediately went to lay on the couch again. He didn’t even bother to take his shoes off, just laying on his side and pulling his phone out. Luke sighed, he knew that Awsten was going to be drained by the time they got home. He’s been around Awsten enough to know his habits, so it was rare that he had much energy after going out.
Luke didn’t bother him, just putting away the food he bought, leaving out what he needed to make food for him and Awsten. It was already nearing 2, but Luke still made the two of them lunch like he said he would.
When he was about to be done making the food, Awsten came over and leaned against the counter.
“Do you want to go out for a walk? Like, after we eat obviously. Just around the neighborhood..?” Awsten rested his head on the heel of his hand, looking over at Luke as a plate was pushed towards him.
Luke nodded, taking a bite of his own sandwich. He would be lying if he said wasn’t surprised at Awsten’s suggestion, he assumed that Awsten would just want to stay at home, but he didn’t let it show on his face.
“Yeah! The weather didn’t seem too bad earlier… only a bit windy…” The seasons were in the middle of transitioning from winter to spring, but they were lucky to be in California where they didn’t have very harsh winters.
Awsten nodded, and they two maintained a comfortable silence as they ate their food.
Twenty minutes later, Luke was standing by the door, watching as Awsten grabbed his phone from where he left it on the couch.
“I’m ready to go now!” Awsten said with a smile on his face, his phone in hand, keeping the voice memos app opened up
Luke smiled, raising an eyebrow at the opened app on Awsten’s phone as they walked outside, Luke turning to lock the door.
“You gonna record some stuff?” He asked, turning to Awsten and gently grabbing his unoccupied hand, lacing their fingers together.
“Mhm…I need some more sound effects for the album, and nothing that I have fits well enough… even small things like leaves rustling in the wind… it needs to be perfect. It’s the perfect weather to try to record some today too! The song we’re working on… It needs like… forest noises. Birds and leaves and shit… but all the free sound libraries don’t have anything that fit, and like, everyone says the song sounds fine but it just… doesn’t!” Awsten continued rambling on and on, sounding more and more stressed as he continued.
Luke looked over at him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
“Don’t stress over it too much, Aws, okay? I know how much your music means to you, but stressing over it won’t do you any good…” He faced forward as he talked, not wanting to possibly overwhelm Awsten, but he spared a few glances at the boy, who was looking down at his feet as they walked.
“Yeah… shit, you’re right… It’s just… it feels like it needs to be perfect sometimes… you know?” Luke did know. That’s why it was so much easier for Awsten to talk to Luke about this. Luke knows what it’s like to feel buried by the stress and self-imposed expectations.
Luke just nodded, smiling at Awsten a bit.
“I know, just… music shouldn’t be making you as miserable as it is, because then your job, our jobs, become unbearable… you should be able to live your life without having to constantly worry about music.”
Awsten hummed, still looking down, adjusting his grip on Luke’s hand. He was right, Awsten should be able to do things without worrying about his band, but he just couldn’t help it. His music was his everything.
“Yeah….Yeah, you’re right. It’s just hard… so hard. Music’s been my whole life for the past 20-something fucking years….”
Luke just squeezed his hand, a silent acknowledgement. The two continued their walk in silence, eventually turning back to walk to Awsten’s place before they strayed too far from it.
They were about 5 minutes away from Awstens place when he suddenly stopped. Luke looked at him with an eyebrow raised, confused.
“The birds,” Awsten mouthed, quickly pulling his phone out and opening his voice memos app, pressing record and holding his phone up in the direction of the chirping birds. He stayed there for a good thirty seconds before ending the recording and smiling wide.
“This might be perfect!!” His voice was giddy with excitement. This could be what his song was missing.
Luke chuckled, looking fondly at Awsten. It was a bit of whiplash seeing the sudden change in Awsten’s mood, but he didn’t mind. He was happy to see Awsten in such a good mood.
The two finally arrived back at Awsten’s place a bit after 4, Awsten immediately retreating to his home studio to work on the song that he was stressing over previously.
Luke sat in the living room, watching some random TV show he found on Netflix that he vaguely remembers Awsten recommending to him. He wasn’t sure if Awsten still wanted to watch a movie, he knew how fixated Awsten could get on his work.
7:46 PM
Awsten came out of his room, humming a song that Luke didn’t recognize.
“Do you still wanna watch a movie?” Awsten asked, sitting beside Luke on the couch, pulling his legs up to his chest. Luke hummed and nodded.
“Yeah totally! I can get some popcorn while you pick the movie,” Luke suggested, Awsten nodding in response and reaching over to grab the remote, turning the show Luke was watching off and scrolling through Netflix.
“By the way, how’s your song going?” Luke asked from the kitchen as he grabbed the popcorn from where Awsten stored it and putting it into the microwave, walking back to the couch and leaning against the back of it.
“It’s going good! The stuff I recorded on the walk earlier really was the perfect stuff for it!” He smiled, finally settling on a movie, Luke laughing once he saw what it was.
“Twilight? Really?” He didn’t mind the movie choice at all, he hasn’t watched the movies since his teenage years. Awsten rolled his eyes, clicking on the movie and immediately pausing the movie before it could start.
“What?! It’s not even that bad!! Plus, i haven’t watched it in years… I wanna see if it lives up to how I remembered it!!” Awsten explained as Luke walked back to the kitchen to grab the popcorn, pouring it all into a bowl and bringing it to the couch, setting it between the two as he sat down next to Awsten.
The two bickered a bit longer before finally deciding to actually watch it.
One of Luke’s favorite parts of watching movies with Awsten was his remarks throughout them, making fun of the characters or their decisions. It was funny to see the way Awsten’s brain worked even during the most mundane activities like watching a movie that they definitely weren’t the target audience for.
Halfway through the movie, Luke moved the now-empty popcorn bowl onto the floor, allowing Awsten to get closer to him, loosely holding onto his arm. Awsten’s commentary slowly decreased as the movie went on, and once it had gone over twenty minutes without a single remark, Luke looked over to see Awsten asleep, his head resting on his own hand where he held onto Luke’s arm.
Luke smiled, grabbing the remote and turning the TV off so he could finish it with Awsten, knowing that he would be upset about missing the end. He carefully detached Awsten from his arm without disturbing him, gently lifting him up bridal style to carry him to his bed. Awsten’s couch wasn’t horribly uncomfortable, but it definitely wasn’t meant to be slept on.
He grunted quietly as he adjusted his grip on the boy, carefully walking to Awsten’s room, grateful that the door was left open. He pushed it open all the way, walking in and laying Awsten down on the bed.
Luke looked down at him and smiled, walking to the other side of the bed and laying down next to Awsten, pulling the blanket over the two of them and drifting off to sleep not too long after.