The Deep End
Chapter 10
Alan was lying in his darkened room, drowning in all of his failures and his stupid crush on his only friend, whilst listening to one of Austin's CD's when his dad entered. "Your mum and I are going out with some friends, we will be back quite late so make some dinner for yourself, alright?" Alan nodded with a lack of enthusiasm. He would need the fire brigades number on speed dial if he was to cook dinner.
An idea sprung to him; and so he hopped off his bed and grabbed his phone, texting Austin:
'Hey Aust, are you free this evening? x'
He hoped desperately that Austin was free. Who wouldn't avoid a whole night of mopping in their sadness and pondering on their probable eternal damnation? A beep from his phone alerted him of a text, he opened it and sure enough it was Austin.
'Yh I am, wanna hang out? xx'
'Yeah, you can come round mine x'
'Sure, I'll be there in 5 mins if that's okay xx?'
'Yeah, see ya :)x'
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The doorbell rung echoed through the house; and Alan sprinted to the door so fast he nearly had a near death experience. He swung the door open, and to his relief it was Austin. He wasn't quite sure who else he would be expecting, but he sure as hell didn't want a fucking advertising person at his door.
They both had settled down on the couch's in Alan's living room, and because of Alan's stunning film taste, they were watching the new Star Trek film. Austin's explosive laughing fits at Benedict Cumberbatch's cheekbones were rather distracting; but Alan would rather be watching Austin being happy than watch any film.
They weren't entirely sure how it happened; they were suddenly really close, gazing at each other's matching expressions of hope and adoration. Both could feel the other's breath on their faces, and the distance dividing them was shriveling quickly.
Austin gravitated towards Alan, their noses bumping lightly, and they both turned their heads and they were so close to kissing and-
The doorbell rung; what the actual fuck.
The distance between them was renewed once more, and Alan got up and headed to the door. He opened it, and to his surprise it wasn't some advertising salesman, it was Carl.
"Umm....Hi?" Alan stared at him; disbelief being the only thing that registered. "Can I come in?" Carl asked. Alan wasn't responding, his thoughts were something along the lines of:
'oh my fuck Austin is in my house and Carl is almost in my house he will grass me out oh my fuck'
It was sheer bad luck that Austin decided to go and make sure that Alan hadn't been kidnapped judging by the silence and the open door. "Hey, Alan, you okay?" He asked, peering over his head and putting a possessive hand on Alan's lower arm, suspicious of the boy that was making his ginger anxious. He could practically feel Alan's heartbeat manically from his grip on his wrist.
Alan snapped out of his trance and stepped to the side, letting Carl through, and Austin followed. Alan seemed to calm considerably and so Austin did too. "Er, Austin, this is my friend, Carl. Carl, this is my friend, Austin."
Carl seemed a lot less harmful, so Austin extended his hand and added a cheery: "Hi, Carl, it's nice to meet you." Carl suspiciously shook his hand, still wary of him even as Austin beamed at him with the harmlessness of a puppy. It was all part of Austin's plan, to be trusted and then abuse that trust, he was sure of it.
They all sat on the sofas, Austin and Alan sharing one and Carl on his own. Carl cleared his throat. "Sorry, if you want me to leave, I will. It's just my parents are out with your parents so I kind of assumed you would be alone and we could hang out." He eyed Austin with disdain. "No, It's fine, Carl, really. We were only watching Star Trek anyway." Alan assured him.
They all watched the remainder of Star Trek. Alan's eyes started to water at the part where Kirk was dying, and Austin looped an arm around his shoulders to comfort him. Alan accepted the offer and layed his head on Austin's shoulder, sniffling. Carl examined them, mainly Austin. They were sitting too close for his liking; Austin's hand gripped Alan's arm too firmly; and probably the most alarming observations was that Alan seemed happy being so close to Austin.
It hurt Carl to see it. Austin was taking advantage of him. Alan was probably just happy to have someone paying him attention, and Austin was going to take advantage of him because Alan was sensitive and easily attached to people; a clear target.
The film ended, and neither Austin nor Alan made a move to detach from their place. Carl got up, explaining that he had to get home and that it was nice to see Alan again. Alan and Austin got up, and saw him to the door, where Austin added: "It was nice to meet you, Carl, bye." with a genuine smile. Carl nodded, knowing he wouldn't be able to return such a sentence; he had always had the unfortunate inability to lie convincingly. He waved at both of them before turning away and strolling into the dusk.
Alan looked at the clock, it alerted him that it was 7:09 pm. Time for dinner. "Hey, Austin, do you wanna have dinner here? I have some pizza we could share." Alan offered, knowing Austin wouldn't be able to say no to such a proposition.
They ate their pizza with a comfortable silence; Alan stole a slice from Austin's plate when he wasn't looking, but to no avail Austin still realized he was one slice short. "Hey, Alan!" He whined. Alan just grinned in the success of his plan. "Usually I would fight for my stolen my pizza." Austin informed him, and Alan raised his eyebrows as if to say 'why not now?'. Austin quietly added: "But I like you enough to let you take my pizza." Alan beamed at him and continued to eat it.
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Somehow Austin had managed to persuade Alan to watch another episode of that British detective show with the main characters that are gay for each other. (That's what Alan thinks anyway.) It didn't really matter though; within twenty minutes they were laid on the sofa, both facing to the TV with Austin's arm rested over Alan's hip. It was a position they would not be caught in if only they weren't fast asleep.
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As Austin woke up he was greeted with Alan's hair in his face, he almost opened his eyes but he was glad he didn't, because as much as he liked Alan's hair, he did not want to feel as if he was giving birth to Satan out of his eyeballs.
He was vaguely aware of talking coming from the direction of the kitchen, but he decided not to dwell on that fact and focused that Alan was curled up and his hand was linked with Austin's. The talking escalated into what seemed almost like hysterical mumbling, it was saying something like:
"I don't know, Jill! There is the weird goth from next door spooning my so- Don't you dare tell me to calm down! Just tell me what to do a-"
Well fuck; he supposed now would be a good time to wake Alan up.
An idea sprung to him; and so he hopped off his bed and grabbed his phone, texting Austin:
'Hey Aust, are you free this evening? x'
He hoped desperately that Austin was free. Who wouldn't avoid a whole night of mopping in their sadness and pondering on their probable eternal damnation? A beep from his phone alerted him of a text, he opened it and sure enough it was Austin.
'Yh I am, wanna hang out? xx'
'Yeah, you can come round mine x'
'Sure, I'll be there in 5 mins if that's okay xx?'
'Yeah, see ya :)x'
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The doorbell rung echoed through the house; and Alan sprinted to the door so fast he nearly had a near death experience. He swung the door open, and to his relief it was Austin. He wasn't quite sure who else he would be expecting, but he sure as hell didn't want a fucking advertising person at his door.
They both had settled down on the couch's in Alan's living room, and because of Alan's stunning film taste, they were watching the new Star Trek film. Austin's explosive laughing fits at Benedict Cumberbatch's cheekbones were rather distracting; but Alan would rather be watching Austin being happy than watch any film.
They weren't entirely sure how it happened; they were suddenly really close, gazing at each other's matching expressions of hope and adoration. Both could feel the other's breath on their faces, and the distance dividing them was shriveling quickly.
Austin gravitated towards Alan, their noses bumping lightly, and they both turned their heads and they were so close to kissing and-
The doorbell rung; what the actual fuck.
The distance between them was renewed once more, and Alan got up and headed to the door. He opened it, and to his surprise it wasn't some advertising salesman, it was Carl.
"Umm....Hi?" Alan stared at him; disbelief being the only thing that registered. "Can I come in?" Carl asked. Alan wasn't responding, his thoughts were something along the lines of:
'oh my fuck Austin is in my house and Carl is almost in my house he will grass me out oh my fuck'
It was sheer bad luck that Austin decided to go and make sure that Alan hadn't been kidnapped judging by the silence and the open door. "Hey, Alan, you okay?" He asked, peering over his head and putting a possessive hand on Alan's lower arm, suspicious of the boy that was making his ginger anxious. He could practically feel Alan's heartbeat manically from his grip on his wrist.
Alan snapped out of his trance and stepped to the side, letting Carl through, and Austin followed. Alan seemed to calm considerably and so Austin did too. "Er, Austin, this is my friend, Carl. Carl, this is my friend, Austin."
Carl seemed a lot less harmful, so Austin extended his hand and added a cheery: "Hi, Carl, it's nice to meet you." Carl suspiciously shook his hand, still wary of him even as Austin beamed at him with the harmlessness of a puppy. It was all part of Austin's plan, to be trusted and then abuse that trust, he was sure of it.
They all sat on the sofas, Austin and Alan sharing one and Carl on his own. Carl cleared his throat. "Sorry, if you want me to leave, I will. It's just my parents are out with your parents so I kind of assumed you would be alone and we could hang out." He eyed Austin with disdain. "No, It's fine, Carl, really. We were only watching Star Trek anyway." Alan assured him.
They all watched the remainder of Star Trek. Alan's eyes started to water at the part where Kirk was dying, and Austin looped an arm around his shoulders to comfort him. Alan accepted the offer and layed his head on Austin's shoulder, sniffling. Carl examined them, mainly Austin. They were sitting too close for his liking; Austin's hand gripped Alan's arm too firmly; and probably the most alarming observations was that Alan seemed happy being so close to Austin.
It hurt Carl to see it. Austin was taking advantage of him. Alan was probably just happy to have someone paying him attention, and Austin was going to take advantage of him because Alan was sensitive and easily attached to people; a clear target.
The film ended, and neither Austin nor Alan made a move to detach from their place. Carl got up, explaining that he had to get home and that it was nice to see Alan again. Alan and Austin got up, and saw him to the door, where Austin added: "It was nice to meet you, Carl, bye." with a genuine smile. Carl nodded, knowing he wouldn't be able to return such a sentence; he had always had the unfortunate inability to lie convincingly. He waved at both of them before turning away and strolling into the dusk.
Alan looked at the clock, it alerted him that it was 7:09 pm. Time for dinner. "Hey, Austin, do you wanna have dinner here? I have some pizza we could share." Alan offered, knowing Austin wouldn't be able to say no to such a proposition.
They ate their pizza with a comfortable silence; Alan stole a slice from Austin's plate when he wasn't looking, but to no avail Austin still realized he was one slice short. "Hey, Alan!" He whined. Alan just grinned in the success of his plan. "Usually I would fight for my stolen my pizza." Austin informed him, and Alan raised his eyebrows as if to say 'why not now?'. Austin quietly added: "But I like you enough to let you take my pizza." Alan beamed at him and continued to eat it.
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Somehow Austin had managed to persuade Alan to watch another episode of that British detective show with the main characters that are gay for each other. (That's what Alan thinks anyway.) It didn't really matter though; within twenty minutes they were laid on the sofa, both facing to the TV with Austin's arm rested over Alan's hip. It was a position they would not be caught in if only they weren't fast asleep.
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As Austin woke up he was greeted with Alan's hair in his face, he almost opened his eyes but he was glad he didn't, because as much as he liked Alan's hair, he did not want to feel as if he was giving birth to Satan out of his eyeballs.
He was vaguely aware of talking coming from the direction of the kitchen, but he decided not to dwell on that fact and focused that Alan was curled up and his hand was linked with Austin's. The talking escalated into what seemed almost like hysterical mumbling, it was saying something like:
"I don't know, Jill! There is the weird goth from next door spooning my so- Don't you dare tell me to calm down! Just tell me what to do a-"
Well fuck; he supposed now would be a good time to wake Alan up.
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There is slightly more Austin/Alan in this chapter? Thank you for the comments, recs and reads, guys! Feedback and constructive criticism is welcome! c: Thank you, again.