Chapter Text
Otto Wood did not have a horrible relationship with his family.
There wasn’t any real animosity between anyone, there were no horrible secrets threatening to ‘tear their bond apart’, there was no sitcom-like bullshit that made his family any different from the standard. He had a perfectly normal family, and a perfectly normal relationship with them.
He really did wish they would stop bugging him about when he was going to bring his new boyfriend home for the holidays, though.
Otto Wood, although having a normal relationship with his family, did not have the same sort of normal relationship with his new boyfriend.
This lack of normalcy may or may not be related to the fact that said “new boyfriend” did not actually exist.
It wasn’t exactly all his fault.
That was a lie. It definitely was his fault.
Every time he’d seen his parents recently, the one consistent conversation topic was whether or not he was still single. He’d come home, and it seemed like the first question was if he had a girlfriend yet. It had gotten very old very fast.
The last time he’d been over for Thanksgiving, the question was raised again, and by that point, Otto had gotten so fed up that he couldn’t take it anymore.
“No, Ma. I don’t have a girlfriend. I don’t even like girls.” He’d snapped. He hadn’t exactly meant to say it, after all, coming out to his parents was supposed to be an important thing, and he’d just done it in a spur of the moment outburst.
His mother barely missed a beat, though. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Do you have a boyfriend, then?”
There was no end to his suffering.
He’d gone back home a few days after, and it had all spiraled from there. His mother has once again asked if he had a boyfriend, and this time, he finally said yes.
Otto didn’t exactly know why he’d done it. It had kind of just slipped out. Maybe he was tired of hearing the same question over and over, or maybe he just wanted to see his mother’s reaction.
His mother had looked shocked. “It’s the holidays, Otto. You should bring him around for Christmas! I’d love to meet this boyfriend of yours.” He had no clue what to say to that. It probably ended up being a bunch of stuttering, ending with a final “Okay,” with the subject being dropped.
Otto had wanted to forget all about this conversation, but now, Christmas was drawing nearer, and his mother had asked him if she needed to plan for one more.He told her yes, because what else was there to say? If he’d said that they’d broken up, it would be weird, but if he’d said he just wasn’t bringing his supposed boyfriend, it would be even more awkward.
That left him with two weeks to find someone to bring to his family’s Christmas party and pretend to be his boyfriend.
It was completely fine.
~~~~~
Otto had been in his favorite little coffee place when he’d seen the flyer. It was haphazardly tacked to a corkboard in the corner, where you could only really see it if you were standing at the far end of the counter waiting for your drink.
It stood out from all the others, being printed on bright pink construction paper and with a large headline that read ‘Alone for the holidays? Mad at your dad? Look no further!!!!!!!!’. Otto squinted at it, though with the color contrast he couldn't exactly read what the smaller text said from where he was standing.
A snort came from behind him, and he turned back around to the counter, where the barista was now standing. “He put another one of those flyers up. I can’t help but admire the dedication.”
Otto raised his eyebrow at them. “Oh?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
“Yeah,” they sighed. “The pink one. This guy comes in every day and pts up another flyer, but we have to take them down because he didn’t ask first.” The barista laughed, “The thing is though, if he just asked first we’d let him actually put one up.”
He frowned slightly, finally taking his drink. “Oh well, some people are just strange.”
Coincidentally, the bulletin board with the strange flyer was right next to Otto’s usual table. He didn’t know how he’d never noticed any of the previous flyers, maybe he’d been too early, or too late, or maybe he just hadn’t been paying well enough attention.
However, it didn’t really matter how he’d missed them in the past, because he’d finally noticed today, and maybe this was the exact solution he needed. The flyer would probably end up getting thrown out anyways, so taking it wouldn’t hurt.
Otto sighed to himself, debating for a second before finally getting up and taking the flyer from where it was pinned. He could hear some faint snickering behind him, and when he glazed over the barista was giving him this look. He only rolled his eyes in response.
He sat back down, finally able to read the contents of the paper.
Alone for the holidays? Mad at your dad? Look no further!!!!!!!!
I am a 24 year old college dropout with a shitty job teaching little kids music, and a guitar that’s probably older than most middle schoolers. I have blue hair and can pull off various levels of shitty rock dude depending on whether or not I shave. If you’d like to have me as your date for various holiday events, (Thanksgiving, Christmas eve, Christmas day, New years, holiday season birthdays, etc. etc.) but have me pretend to be in a very long and serious relationship with you, to either torment your family or give the illusion that you aren’t single and lonely, I’m your guy.
I can also do these other things, at your request:
Play shitty demo recordings from an old “crunkcore” band I was in years ago
Start instigative discussions about strange topics (i.e. cat radioactivity, red light conspiracy theories, those stupid shoes that have toes built in, veganism, etc.)
Propose to you, in front of everyone
Attempt to steal the family pet
Bring my guitar and badly play all the songs no one wants to hear badly played on guitar at a party
Flirt with your mom while you act like you don’t notice
I don’t need any payment other than the free food and entertainment I’ll be getting at the event. I am fully serious about all of this, and if you are too, contact me at 713-394-5638 ;)
Otto would be lying if he said this is not exactly what he was looking for, with the added chaos just being a bonus. He stared at the paper for a few additional seconds before finally giving in and shoving it in his jacket pocket. He’d call on the walk back.
~~~~~
Otto had nearly forgotten about the flyer in his pocket until that night when he threw his jacket on the couch and the wadded up paper fell out. He blinked at it for a few seconds, before remembering what exactly it was and why he had it.
Oh right.
The fake date thing.
He stared at the paper for a few more minutes, debating wether or not calling was actually worth it, before he finally gave up and dialed the number. It rang for a few seconds, before a guy on the other end picked up.
“Hello?”
He suddenly regretted calling. This was so embarrassing, maybe he should have just told his mom he was lying. That might just be more mortifying than this.
“Um. Hi, I’m calling about the flyer? In the coffee shop. For uhh, holiday family stuff.” Smooth, Otto.
“For real? I didn’t think anyone would actually take those seriously.”
Otto had the horrible feeling he may have just fucked up. ”Oh, if those weren’t serious I’m sorry I—”
The guy on the other line laughed, effectively cutting him off, “Oh no, I was completely serious.”
“Oh,” he replied simply.
”So, you called about the fake boyfriend thing, huh. How do you want to go about this then?” and then almost as an afterthought, he added “I’m Awsten, by the way.”
“Otto,” he replied. “I honestly don’t know how to go about all this, I’ve never done anything…” he paused, but Awsten cut him off before he could finish the thought.
“Anything as crazy as calling a stranger and getting them to be your Christmas date?”
“Yeah,” Otto laughed. “Exactly.”
“If it makes you feel better, I’ve also never done this before. Honestly, I think we should meet up a few times beforehand, get to know each other and get our story straight and all that shit. We can get that all out of the way so it’s not as awkward on the actual day of.”
“Yeah, ok,” Otto agreed, “That sounds like a good plan. ”How about— um— that coffee shop the flyer was in on Friday, does that work?”
“You’re lucky, I’m off that day. Sounds great, I can be there at….” there were flipping sounds, like Awsten was looking through a notebook. ”Eleven?”
“Yeah. Sure, ok.” Otto agreed, nodding his head before realizing Awsten couldn’t see him.
God, he was an idiot.
“See you then?”
“See you then, Otto,” and it was like he could hear the wink in Awsten’s voice.
He hung up the phone, promptly throwing it full force at the couch. All things considered, that conversation could have gone a lot worse. Really, Otto didn’t want to admit to himself that he was actually doing this.
His phone vibrated from where it now lay on the couch. He ignored it.
“I need to go to bed,” He muttered to himself. He still had two days before he was meeting Awsten, but Otto had a feeling he would be spending most of those two days overthinking every single thing about this whole situation. Hell, he wasn’t even sure Awsten wasn’t a serial murderer yet. Sure, he sounded harmless, but you could never be too sure.
~~~~~
It was Friday morning, a week and some change before Christmas, and Otto Wood was most certainly NOT freaking out.
There was really no reason for him to be worrying this much. He’d actually done all his shopping early, and there was no newly arisen family drama, which was really the main two things that someone could expect to be going wrong in that given timespan.
Yet here he was on the Friday before Christmas, definitely not worrying about meeting the guy who was about to pretend to be his boyfriend in front of a good chunk of his family.
After that first call, they’d texted a bit, and he seemed fairly normal, (although, what kind of normal person spells their name like that?). All in all, Awsten seemed like a pretty alright dude.
Otto was glad he’d still picked a public place to meet up though.
Just in case.
It was too late to back out now though, and that was how Otto Wood ended up at his favorite coffee shop a little before 11:00, nervously scanning the occupied tables. It had occurred to him at some point in the past few minutes that, past the blue hair detail, he had no idea who he was looking for.
It was the same barista working today as it had been when he’d come in on Wednesday, and they immediately spotted his jumpiness. “Got something important today?” they asked, before smirking at him. “A date, perhaps?”
Otto blushed. “No! Well, yes. Kind of. It’s complicated?”
The barista only looked him up and down before busting out laughing. “Well, whatever it is, good luck on your kind of date.”
He was taking his drink when the door chimed, and the moment he saw the guy that had just entered, he knew it had to be Awsten. It wasn’t like you saw someone with bright blue hair every day in the middle of Houston’s suburbs. He looked vaguely familiar, but Otto couldn’t place it. It was probably nothing.
Awsten just walked right up to the counter, and smiled at the barista, probably not even recognizing that Otto was the guy he was there to meet. Really, he had no way of knowing, so Otto just let him finish before he would say anything.
From where he was sitting, he could hear bits and pieces of Awsten and the barista’s conversation, but all he really caught for sure was, ‘If you hang up another flyer in here I’m going to have to kick you out.’ and Awstens reply, ‘Oh, you don’t have too. The flyers have served their purpose.’ Which was possibly the most ominous thing Awsten had said so far.
He didn’t want to seem like he was staring, or listening in to their conversation, and elected to just stare at the wall instead. His phone vibrated on the table, finally giving him the perfect excuse to not look like a stalker, or something.
Awsten: hey im here ;)
He’d been so focused on the wall he didn’t notice that Awsten had moved to wait at the end of the bar, and now looked to be scrolling aimlessly through his phone. He typed out a response.
Otto: Ok. I’m at the table by the bulletin board in the corner.
Awsten glanced up then, and Otto shot him a small wave from his little corner table.
He could see the barista behind Awsten looking between the two of them with a raised eyebrow, before rolling their eyes and handing him his drink. After that it seemed like almost a few milliseconds before Awsten was sitting across from him.
“Otto, right?” Awsten asked, setting his drink down on the table.
“Yeah,” Otto replied, and suddenly it’s like he has no clue what to say. Maybe if he caused a big enough distraction, he could run out the door and go live out the rest of his life in a cave away from the rest of civilization.
Awsten just grinned at him. “So, what leaves a guy like you that desperate for a date this holiday season?”
“Well, um,” Otto started. “My mom kept asking whether or not I had a girlfriend.” Awsten raised his eyebrow at him, but Otto continued pretending not to notice. “I finally snapped and was like, ‘Ma I don’t even like girls, I don’t have a girlfriend.’ and I thought that would finally make her stop but then she started asking me if I had a boyfriend.”
“Oh my god,” Awsten laughed. “That’s got to be one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard.”
“I finally snapped and told her I had one thinking she’d give it a rest,” Otto continued, ”but she just wants me to bring this ‘new boyfriend’ over.”
“And you started panicking because you had no one to ask, and called a random guy, right?” Awsten asked. “Honestly, if you ask me, I think this is going to be fun for both of us. I don’t have to pull any really outrageous shit, and you get left alone.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Otto grinned. “I guess we need a story then.”
Awsten smirked at him.
“The way you’re looking at me is absolutely terrifying.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “Oh come on, let me have a little fun with it.”
Otto sighed, crossing his arms. “Fine. What do you have in mind?”
“Well, this one time I was in Buc ee’s, right?”
Otto raised his eyebrow.
“Dude, hear me out. So I was in Buc ee’s with my friend, and we’d just bought like, a BUNCH of beef jerky. We had one of those shopping baskets just FULL of jerky.”
“Why the hell were you buying that much beef jerky?” Otto asked. “That’s gotta be enough for a lifetime.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, his grandma likes it. It was a gift for her birthday. Anyways, we were buying this jerky and he just goes, ‘Awsten, I still don’t think this is enough.’ It’s wild because like, that’s already gotta be half of the entire stock in this basket. So I told him I wasn’t going back for more. He was all like, ‘Wait, we forgot to grab the Buc ee’s brand gift bags.’ I didn’t even know they had those. So he’s in line, and I’m running around trying to find these gift bags. I finally find them, and I run back to the front and he’s in line, just having all these things of jerky scanned one by one.”
Otto still wasn’t sure where all this was going, or how it fit in with meeting someone you’d end up dating. It did sound pretty on brand for Buc ee’s though.
“And so, they’re just getting scanned one by one. The girl behind the register was making direct eye contact the entire time too. She wasn’t even looking at the jerky for most of it, just this horrible targeted glaring. I get it though, if i had to scan like 100 things of jerky I’d also be a little homicidal, you know?”
Otto nodded. “I still don’t get why someone’s grandmother needed that much jerky.”
“Honestly?” Awsten continued, “I don’t either. However, I am not one to deny anyone’s grandmother her jerky. Anyways, she finally finishes scanning everything and it’s two bags of just beef jerky. So the total comes out, and it’s over $300 worth of the stuff. You’d think this would stop him, but no. He actually bought it all. So we get out into the parking lot, and he manages to trip over someone’s tire and dump this bag of jerky all over the ground. We’re both standing there thinking, ‘oh my god’, until this guy comes up behind me and starts picking it all up. And I snap out of my shock and help him, and at the end he winks at me and walks away. And then we left.”
It was at that exact moment where Otto realized why Awsten looked so familiar.
A few months ago, Otto had been in the parking lot of a Buc ee’s during his lunch break. He’d grabbed a bag of chips and left, but when he walked out there were two guys with 6 bags of jerky between them struggling to carry it through the parking lot.
Awsten was parking lot beef jerky guy.
Awsten was the guy Otto had helped after he dumped beef jerky all over the ground.
He’d been telling this story for weeks.
“So, did she like her jerky?” Otto asked, playing it off. This was the funniest plot twist that could have happened, and Awsten didn’t even know it.
“Well, I don’t know. She got new dentures the week before her birthday and now she can't have it anymore.”
Otto blinked at him, before doubling over in slightly hysterical laughter. “All that and she didn’t even get her jerky.”
Awsten grinned. “We split it 50/50 after that. I still have most of it. Anyways, where I was going with all that is, would you see yourself as the kind of guy to wink seductively at a random guy with a bunch of jerky in a Buc ee’s parking lot?”
Otto could only laugh at that.
“You know what? I guess I can.”
~~~~~
When Otto got off work that night, he was greeted by a slew of notifications from Awsten.
Awsten: dude it just hit me
Awsten: i dont know anything about you
Awsten: what if your parents ask me questions theyll think im a horrible boyfriend
Awsten: i might not be your actual boyfriend but i dont want to seem like a dick
He hadn’t actually thought about that. It was a good point; his mom would be even more pushy if she thought the guy he was dating wasn’t “good enough”
Otto: Sorry. I just got off work.
Otto: You’re right. It would probably be nice to know some other details, for consistency’s sake.
The reply came almost instantaneously.
Awsten: first question
Awsten: why the FUCK do you type like my 80 year old grandma
Otto: What?
Awsten: nevermind
He blinked at his phone, not really understanding what Awsten meant by that. Otto wasn’t the best with technology, but he didn’t think he was that out of the loop. He shrugged it off, deciding that he really didn’t care.
He was just about to text Awsten back, saying that he thought the way he typed was perfectly normal, when his phone lit up with a call from his mother. He could argue with Awsten after talking to his mom.
“Hello?” he asked, wondering what this could possibly be about. His mother never called him this late.
“Hi sweetheart, sorry for calling this late. Did I wake you up?”
“No, Ma,” Otto answered, thankful that everything was seemingly okay and that nothing was on fire (yet). “I just got home from work.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” his mom responded. “Look sweetie, I’m sorry to call you so late, but I forgot to tell you that your cousin’s winter recital is tomorrow. I’d really love it if you could come, since you’re his favorite and all.”
His cousin was four, and to a four-year-old, Otto was the coolest person in existence. Personally, he didn’t see the appeal, but then again, he wasn’t four.
“Yeah sure, I’ll go.” Otto smiled. “Just give me details and I’ll be there.”
“Oh, actually,” his mother replied, “I was thinking you could invite this new boyfriend of yours too? I’d love to meet him before you bring him over on Christmas.”
So that’s what this was about. His mom was nothing if not persistent, and when she had something on her mind, there was nothing that could stop her. He couldn’t exactly say no to her either, which is why he ended up agreeing.
“I can ask him if he wants to come,” Otto stuttered out.
“Wonderful!” his mom replied, and he could practically hear her smiling through the phone. “I hope he can make it.”
Otto cursed under his breath.
His mother continued, prattling on about the details of the recital. Apparently, it was held in the theater of the high school Otto attended, which he hadn’t stepped foot in since he graduated six years ago.
“Ok Ma, I’ll be there. Love you.”
He hung up the phone, letting out a long sigh. He pulled his conversation with Awsten up again, noticing two new messages.
Awsten: was that too mean?
Awsten: sorry
Otto frowned, typing out a reply.
Otto: Oh, no. You’re fine.
Otto: Sorry, my Mom called me.
It only took thirty seconds for Awsten’s reply.
Awsten: ohhh ok
Awsten: mb for assuming sorry dude
Otto: Anyways
Otto: Would I be able to convince you to come to my cousin’s Winter Recital tomorrow?
Otto: That’s what my Mom called about. She asked if you wanted to come.
Truthfully, Otto did not want to be doing this. Was this too much, too soon? What if Awsten thought he was crazy for inviting him after only knowing him for a few days? How far was this whole fake relationship stuff supposed to go, anyways? It wasn’t like they taught “How to Conduct a Professional Fake Relationship” in school.
Before he could overthink anymore, Awsten answered.
Awsten: holy shit
Awsten: i didnt know you were capable of not using punctuation
Awsten: but yeah sure ill go
Awsten: sounds entertaining
Otto breathed a sigh of relief, ignoring the jab at his typing.
Otto: Oh Ok.
Otto: Cool
Awsten: omg you did it again
Awsten: the no punctuation thing
Awsten: either im rubbing off on you or youre posessed
He smiled down at the screen.
Otto: I’m not possessed. You might be rubbing off on me though
Awsten: ive created a monster
Otto actually laughed at that one. Maybe he’d start being more formal to piss Awsten off. Maybe.
~~~~~
Otto was parked on the street in front of an unassuming apartment building. They’d agreed last night that this would work best, since Awsten’s place was practically on the way, and to quote him, they would be “saving gas and shit, y’know?”
Otto: Hey, I’m outside
Awsten: ill be right out ;)
True to his word, Awsten appeared two minutes later.
“Hi,” Awsten greeted, sliding into the passenger seat. “Hope I didn’t keep you waiting for too long.”
“Oh. Oh no,” Otto replied. “I only just got here.”
“Cool, cool.” He grinned, and his smile was honestly a little breathtaking– in a completely platonic objective way, of course. “So,” Awsten asked, “What’s the deal with this cousin of yours?”
Otto laughed. “Well, his name is Colton. He's four, and he thinks I’m the coolest person ever, apparently.”
“Sounds like an interesting little dude,” Awsten commented.
“You have no idea,” he responded. “Though, I doubt I’ll still be his favorite after he meets you.”
Awsten blinked at him, and Otto gestured vaguely at his hair. “Blue hair and all. He’s probably going to think you’re magic or something.”
“Ohhh,” Awsten laughed. “Yeah, it can have that effect on little kids. I’m sure you’ll still be the favorite, though.”
“I somehow don’t believe you,” he replied. “But sure. I’m still the favorite.”
They faded into silence for a while after that. It was a nice quiet, not like the awkward tension that you’d expect in a situation like this. Otto didn’t know exactly why he already felt so comfortable about Awsten. Maybe he was just one of those people.
Before long, they pulled up in front of the school, and Otto let out a sigh.
“Dude, I haven't been back here since I graduated.” He gave the brick building a once over, frowning slightly. “It looks the exact same.”
“I swear all high schools around here look the same,” Awsten replied. “It’s like I’m right back at mine too.”
“Oh yeah?” Otto asked. “Where’d you go, then? I thought this was the only high school in the district.”
“I’m from the next county over,” he replied. “Moved over when I moved out.”
Otto hummed in response.
It had started raining at one point on the drive over, which made the task of hiking down the hill between the staff lot and the door they needed to go in a lot more of an issue. Otto didn’t really care, though; he’d braved this hill many times in much worse conditions. He’d only just started down, when he glanced back and saw Awsten still at the top.
”That’s gotta be some sort of hazard,” Awsten called. “You’re gonna slip and die.”
“It’s fine. I’ve done this so many times,” Otto said, grinning up at him. “Come on, we have to make sure the good seats in the back aren’t taken.”
Awsten was still firmly not moving.
“Are you sure there isn’t like, a way around?” he asked, and Otto could really see the unease in his eyes this time.
“Ok, here’s the deal,” Otto replied. “Do you trust me?”
Awsten blinked. “Usually, I would say yes, but you’re being very ominous right now, so I’m sticking to a solid ‘maybe.’”
Otto sighed, before sticking out his hand. “Come on, you’re getting us both rained on. Just hold on to me and I won’t let you fall, okay?”
Awsten still looked unsure, but after a few moments of deliberation, he finally started down the hill, firmly grabbing Otto’s hand the second he could reach.
And with that, they made their way down the rest of the hill with no issue.
“See?” Otto grinned. “No problems.”
“Yeah,” Awsten smiled back. ”That wasn’t horrible.”
Neither of them let go of the other’s hand, even after they were all the way across the parking lot and in the door.
The lobby area was surprisingly empty, considering the last time Otto had been to one of these, he nearly got trampled by a suburban wine mom. He still had nightmares.
They navigated around the lobby through the maze of decorations and into the auditorium, managing to score some nice seats in the back corner. So what if the kid couldn’t see him from the stage; he’d just be a distraction anyway. It was a pretty good turn-out inside; families and friends and relatives all gathered to watch their little darlings.
The two of them looked incredibly out of place.
“So,” Awsten started, “I probably should have asked this earlier, but what even is this thing?”
Otto thought about it for a second. “Honestly?” he replied, “I don’t really know.”
“Well,” Awsten laughed, “this should be interesting then.”
They’d only gotten there a few minutes before it was slated to start, so it was no surprise when the lights dimmed and a lady with a microphone walked out onto the stage.
“Hello,” she greeted, “My name is Stephanie, i’m the head of the PTO and the one in charge of this event. Thank you all for coming out to support us!”
She smiled at the audience, and she had a face that looked like it was made out of plastic. It was honestly a bit creepy. She continued her speech– something about student progress, but Otto wasn’t really paying attention.
“She looks like a barbie doll,” Awsten whispered, and Otto couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an older couple give him the side eye.
The woman finished up her speech then, and kids started filing out onto the stage.
“That’s Colton,” Otto said, pointing at where his cousin was on stage.
“He kind of looks like you,” Awsten whispered back. “Like, if you were four and had short, straight hair.”
“So what you mean is that he looks nothing like me,” he responded.
Awsten paused for a second. “Yeah, basically.”
Otto opened his mouth to respond, but the dimming of the auditorium lights effectively shut him up.
Chords of melodic jingling poured out of the speakers, and the kids began to sing at the cue of their choir teacher.
“Oh… they’re, uh, really singing,” Awsten whispered.
Otto held back a chuckle. “You don’t have to be nice about it just because it’s my cousin,” he responded. “They’re four-year-olds. I know they suck.”
He sighed in relief. “Oh thank god, I didn’t think I could pretend to like that for very long. This sucks ass.”
It took everything in him not to break out into laughter and risk getting the stink eye from that same old couple.
Instead, Otto let the comfortable silence between them return once more. He rested his hand on the armrest, not realizing Awsten had already occupied it. Their fingers brushed against each other, and Otto’s heart jumped to his throat in surprise. He clasped his hands together in his lap and prayed that Awsten didn’t notice him. After that, he wasn’t paying much attention to the kids more than he was towards the one beside him.
It felt almost unreal: this person, with this magnetizing personality, managed to crawl into his life by complete chance, and now they were playing ‘fake family’ at his cousin’s winter concert. If someone told him a few weeks ago that this would happen, he would have laughed in their face.
The concert continued on, and as the kids broke out in their crude rendition of “Jingle Bells,” Otto surprisingly let out a yawn.
“What, is your sweet baby cousin’s recital this boring to you?” Awsten quipped, his voice low and teasing.
“Wha— no, I’m just… The dark room is a little tiring, I think. That’s all,” Otto defended. Now that he thought about it, the dim lights and cushioned chairs really did make him sleepy. After all, he was usually one to fall asleep in movie theaters and dark lecture halls.
He thought he could stick through the whole concert, but by the third song, he realized it was surprisingly easy to drown out the noises of singing toddlers. Otto’s eyes felt heavy, and it didn’t help that Awsten’s low chuckle was melodically comforting, practically lulling him to sleep. He was drawn towards it, unconsciously leaning towards the sound until his head rested on something soft and warm.
Just a moment of shut-eye wouldn’t hurt.
~~~~~
Otto woke up to something digging into his side, and hair that was most definitely not his tickling his forehead.
It was quieter now, only the soft buzz of voices from another room and shuffling of feet. He blinked his eyes open, groaning slightly.
“Did you have a nice nap?” someone asked, and it took Otto a second to register that it was Awsten. Another second passed, and it finally processed that not only had he fallen asleep, he’d fallen asleep on Awsten’s shoulder. There were no complaints, though; it had been a fairly comfortable nap.
“How long was I out?” he asked, readjusting himself slightly to get the armrest out of his side.
“You missed the entire thing.” Awsten laughed. “That’s some serious dedication right there. Your family walked by on the way out by the way. They’re very nice people– said to just let you rest.”
“Oh,” was all Otto could really say. “Sorry you had to sit through that with me passed out on you the whole time.”
“Don’t even worry about it,” Awsten replied, a smile on his face. “I’ve heard much worse.”
They both laughed at that, and for a moment, it was like they were the only people in the building.
“We should probably get out of here, huh?” Awsten asked after a minute, breaking the silence. “I’m sure the school wouldn’t be too happy with us staying here any longer.”
“Yeah,” Otto agreed. “You’re probably right.”
Neither of them moved, and silence fell once more. His head was still on Awsten’s shoulder, and all things considered, it was very nice.
After a while, Awsten’s voice cut through the quiet once again. “Do you want to get dinner, or something? Since it’s late and we’re already out and–”
Otto’s face reddened. “Oh, yeah. Yeah that sounds great.” He didn’t know why he was so flustered. It wasn’t a date. They were just two guys going out to eat. Even if they were pretending to be in a relationship, it didn’t matter. They could still just be friends. It was fine.
“Alright.” Awsten grinned. “I know somewhere with really good Chinese, but it’s pretty small. We could get takeout and bring it back to my place, if that’s cool?”
“Yeah, sounds great.”
~~~~~
And that's how they ended up in Awsten’s floor an hour later, a bag of takeout in tow. It had threatened to fall over and spill everywhere the entire way back, but they’d somehow managed to keep it upright.
When they finally got out of the cold, they landed right on the floor. Awsten had said that the table seemed too formal, so they just stayed where they were.
His apartment was nice, and somehow exactly what Otto had expected.
The TV was on— Awsten said he left it on for his cat— and it was playing the old Rankin Bass Rudolph movie, so they left it on while they ate. It was quiet, except for one of them occasionally pointing out their thoughts about the movie.
Apparently Awsten had some sort of violent personal hatred for Hermie the misfit dentist.
“So, what I get from all this is if being a dentist is that bad, how horrible are these elves' dental health? In any other civilization, being a doctor would be a very respected position,” Awsten pointed out. “I really don’t get it. It makes no sense. I don’t think him being a doctor is the issue, the problem is just that the kid is annoying as hell.”
Otto hummed in response. He’d learned that it was best to just let Awsten rant.
“And another thing,” he continued. “Why does he look like that? He looks like this kid I went to school with. That’s not a compliment, I hated that guy. This elf looks like he would call me a slur.”
“Are you sure?” Otto asked, “He’s a very gay little elf.”
Awsten blinked. “Yeah, you have a point. He seems like he would be the type that would pretend you didn’t exist in public while he dated you, though.”
“Okay,” Otto responded. “I’ll give you that one. That’s accurate.”
He paused for a second, debating actually going through with what he was about to ask. “Did this elf personally wrong you, or do you just hate him?”
“He’s just a little bitch,” Awsten answered. “What kind of person wants to be a dentist? I don’t trust him.”
He had a point.
They ended up staying on the floor the rest of the night, watching whatever Christmas special came on next and gradually sliding closer together. It wasn’t a conscious thing, but when they ended up pressed together leaning up against the couch, neither of them said a word.
It had gotten late, and the Charlie Brown Christmas special was drawing to a close, when Awsten finally broke their comfortable silence.
“Tonight was nice,” he smiled. “I haven’t had a chance to really get out like that in a while.”
“Even for a shitty preschool concert?” Otto asked.
“I’d like to think of it as dinner and a show,” Awsten laughed.
It was nice, just the two of them. He could get used to this. It felt less and less like Awsten was just some guy he was pretending to date, and more like someone he actually knew and had a long-standing friendship with. He could get used to this.
Otto looked back at the movie, and it was finally at the final scene. The entire group was circled around the tiny little tree, and the end music began to play.
He glanced back at Awsten, and was met with a smile. Otto could feel his face turn red, and he looked away again. It was like he was back in high school and had his first crush. What the hell was wrong with him?
Otto turned his attention back to the movie. The little kids on screen yelled merry christmas, and the end credits started to roll. The movie faded to black, and he could barely see their reflection in the screen. He turned back to Awsten.
They looked at each other for a moment, both with equally unreadable expressions.
Awsten leaned forwards.
Their lips met.
Oh.
Oh.
So that’s what this was.
It was over almost as soon as it started.
“I’m sorry,” Awsten blushed. “I shouldn’t have done that, I read the situation wrong. I’m sorry I-“
“No!” Otto cut him off. “No, no. It was nice.” He smiled, meeting Awsten’s eyes again. “I liked it.”
“Oh,” Awsten whispered. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” Otto replied.
And then they were kissing again, more purposefully this time.
By the time Otto drew back, they were both grinning uncontrollably. It was like nothing else mattered in that moment. Time had stopped for them, and nothing else mattered except for each other.
Then, Otto saw the clock over Awsten’s shoulder. It was later than he’d realized, and he had work the next morning.
“I think I need to get going,” Otto said, finally pulling away. “Work tomorrow, and all.”
Awsten’s smile flickered. “Oh, yeah. Okay.”
“I’ll text you when I get back,” He reassured. “Okay?”
“Okay,” Awsten repeated.
~~~~~
When he finally got back home, Otto sent one message to Awsten.
Otto: I had a great night. I’ll see you on Christmas.