Imagines and One-Shots (Book Three)

After All This Time (Awsten Knight) - Part 1

requested by anonymous on tumblr

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You were a common sight to see in the local coffee shop, your nose always stuck in whatever book you were reading that week. You would be in your own little world – your mind creating a movie along with the words on the pages in front of you. You rarely ever noticed anything going on around you, the business of the lives around you not pulling you away from your stories.

Until one day, it did.

You felt a presence brush by you, not really thinking anything of it at first – they probably just misjudged the distance between the two tables. But after a few seconds, the feeling lingered – like they were still standing there – so you looked up.

You couldn't help but jump lightly, your head tilted as you blinked curiously at the purple-haired boy standing behind the chair across from you. He smiled shyly – he really had thought you heard him – and began talking to you.

"Sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to scare you; I just wanted to say that you're very pretty."

He noticed you eyeing his lips intently, making him cock an eyebrow. He then watched you scramble to pull a small notebook and a pen out of your bag, quickly writing something down before turning it so he could see it.

I'm sorry for staring, he read what you'd written, Could you maybe write down what you just said? I'm deaf and try to lip read, but I'm not very good at it.

You saw the boy smile again and his chest shook as he laughed lightly. You couldn't help but wonder what laughter sounded like, especially when it came from someone as good-looking as him.

"I'm assuming you do sign language then?" he signed to you.

Your eyes widened and your heart skipped a beat at the gesture – you'd never met anyone that actually knew sign language before apart from your doctors and the family members and friends that bothered to learn for you.

"You know sign language?" you finally replied.

"Yeah!" he grinned, "My older sister had this best friend who's deaf when she was in middle school and we all learned for her so she could come over to our house more." You smiled slightly, finding it sweet that the entire family learned sign language for his sister's friend. "Anyway, what I said was I didn't mean to scare you, but I just wanted to tell you that you're very pretty," he said. You felt your cheeks get hot and the boy smiled widely at your blush.

"Thank you," you managed to sign back shyly.

"I'm Awsten," he told you.

"Y/N," you replied.

"May I?" he asked, motioning to the seat across from you. You nodded so rapidly that you almost hurt your neck, watching him sit down. "Hey, you're single, right?" he furrowed his eyebrows, "I don't want to sit here and try to flirt with you if you're already seeing someone." You couldn't help but giggle silently.

"No, I'm as single as they come," you shrugged, "A surprising amount of people actually don't want to date a deaf person. 'Inconvenient' is the word I get most often."

"Inconvenient? " he furrowed his eyebrows, "You're a person, not traffic on the highway." 

You giggled again, "Well, I'm glad someone sees it that way."

You and Awsten spent the next couple hours getting to know each other. He would slip in the occasional compliment just to make you smile, and you would do the same. You never really considered yourself to be much of a flirt, but with Awsten, it seemed like it just came naturally.

The barista eventually came over, poking your shoulder playfully. You looked up at her and smiled – you'd known her since the day you started regularly coming into the shop, so she'd grown to be like a sister to you. She wrote down in your notebook asking if you were okay – Awsten had been in the bathroom at the time, so you were sitting alone – saying that she'd never known you to stay for so long. You assured her that you were – that you had just met someone – and she grinned happily before getting back to work, and that was when Awsten returned.

"I should be heading home," Awsten pouted – he really didn't want to leave yet, "It's my sister's night to cook dinner and she gets annoyed when I'm late."

"It's okay," you let out a small laugh, "I've probably been here long enough anyway."

"Did you drive here?" he asked.

"No, I walked," you shook your head. You looked away to gather up your things and stand up.

Awsten waited until you were looking at him again, "Can I give you a ride?"

"I only live a few minutes down the road," you replied, but he shrugged. You barely smiled. "Sure," you accepted the offer, "I'd love a ride."

Awsten led you out to his car, opening the door for you before hurrying over to the driver's side and starting the engine. You were looking out the window, so he tapped your leg to get your attention.

"Do you mind if I listen to the radio since we won't be having a conversation?" he asked you.

"Doesn't matter to me; I can't hear it," you snickered. Awsten then shoved your leg playfully as he rolled his eyes, turning on the radio and then driving out of the parking lot.

He pulled into your apartment complex a couple minutes later upon you pointing to it as a signal for him to turn, and he drove up to the front door. You took off your seatbelt and brought your bag up to your lap, setting it there for a moment.

"Thanks for the ride, Awsten," you told him with a small grin.

"You're welcome, Y/N," he smiled shyly, "I hope we see each other again sometime..." He seemed so nervous, so you simply gave him a little push.

"I could always give you my number," you shrugged, "I mean, if you want it."

You didn't even have the chance to assume he didn't because his phone was already out of his pocket and in his hand, being held out to you. You bit back your amused smile, entering your number in his phone and texting yourself so you had his number as well. After handing his phone back to him, you began chewing on your bottom lip.

"So, I... I'll talk to you later...?" you asked shyly. You couldn't hear it, but Awsten cleared his throat as he nodded rapidly.

"I'll text you tonight," he said. His heart skipped a beat when you smiled at him again with a small nod.

"It was nice meeting you, Awsten."

"You too, Y/N," he swallowed, watching you get out of his car and waiting until you were inside to drive himself home.

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this title's gonna make more sense in part 2 ok im sorry just let it happen