Imagines and One-Shots (Book Three)

After All This Time (Awsten Knight) - Part 2

requested by anonymous on tumblr

its been a hot minute since we last saw each other hasnt it

~

Two weeks later

"Sorry I'm making you come to my house already," Awsten told you after parking his car in the driveway, "This is actually kind of embarrassing."

"All you did was forget a wallet," you smiled, "At least you didn't realize you forgot it while in line at McDonald's."

"Fair point," he chuckled before you both got out of the car.

"Even though I wouldn't mind paying for you," you continued. He simply rolled his eyes, making you grin to yourself again – you knew he wouldn't have gone for it.

Awsten led you to the front door of his house, bringing you inside. You hadn't expected to run into anyone, but someone just happened to walking out from the hallway into the direction of the kitchen when they stopped.

"What are you doing here?" a brunette asked Awsten, her confused gaze flicking between the two of them. You could only barely make out what she said, but the look on her face gave you enough of a hint that she was surprised that he was there.

"I forgot my wallet," he laughed shyly, "But uh... This is Y/N..." The girl watched Awsten nudge you since you were looking around the room. "This is my sister Gracie," he signed to you.

The moment you looked at her, it was like the both of you knew what the other was thinking. You were starting to put the pieces together as was she, but she was the first to do anything.

"Y/N?" Gracie tilted her head. Your eyes widened – both at the fact that she was signing, and that she'd used the name sign your best friend in middle school came up with. 

To figure out whether or not it really was her, you returned the name sign you'd given to her. When her eyes widened in recognition as well, you both couldn't help but grin so widely, your cheeks started hurting almost instantly. 

Gracie ran over to you, throwing her arms around your neck as your own went around her waist. You missed Awsten ask what was going on, but felt Gracie's throat vibrate against your cheek when she answered.

"You remember the friend that we all learned sign language for?" she said. Awsten obviously nodded. "This is her!" Gracie smiled brightly, letting go of you so she could sign to you again. "I thought you moved in high school?" she questioned.

"I came back a few months ago," you answered, "Houston can never get rid of me." You had a small smirk on your face, making Gracie laugh.

"I can't believe you didn't text me!"

"I tried, but the person texted back saying I had the wrong number," you teased her, "How was I supposed to reach you then?" She laughed again as you went on. "I guess I should have known though," you pouted, "How many other people have I met that spell their name the way your brother does?" Awsten shoved you playfully, earning himself an innocent smile.

"Do you wanna hang out here instead?" he asked you, "I'm sure you and Gracie wanna catch up."

"We do!" Gracie answered for you, making you laugh as she took your hand and tugged you into the living room.

~

A couple hours later, you all found yourselves lounging around – you and Gracie were sprawled out obnoxiously on the floor while Awsten was leaning up against the footrest of the couch. You weren't talking about anything particularly important, so she decided to change the subject in an effort to embarrass her brother.

"You know, Y/N, Awsten used to have the biggest crush on you," Gracie informed you, "I'll bet he still does."

"Gracie!" Awsten whined, signing her name so you were still part of the conversation. You giggled softly – silently, as far as you knew – making him look at you as you signed to her.

"Is it weird that I kind of still have a crush on your brother?" you replied. Awsten's eyes widened – sure, you'd been flirting back and forth for the last couple weeks, but even after finding out he was your childhood best friend's brother... You still had a crush on him?

"Still?" she cocked an eyebrow, a small smirk on her face. You simply shrugged, a light pink blush on your cheeks as Awsten remained silent. "I just remembered," Gracie said suddenly, "I have to go do something in another room on the complete opposite side of the house. You two will be fine alone for a while, won't you?" She got up and trotted out of the room, not even giving you enough time to process the question.

You and Awsten sat there for a moment – each time you made eye contact, you would both look away shyly – until he finally gathered up enough courage to nudge your knee and make you look at him.

"I really would like to take you out sometime," he said.

"Are you sure?" you asked, taking him aback.

"Why wouldn't I be sure?"

"I will never be able to hear you, Awsten," you shook your head, your expression falling a bit, "And I don't want you going into this thinking that some miracle is going to happen and I'll wake up one morning being able to hear. My deafness is untreatable; No surgery will be able to fix me."

He looked at you intently for a moment before slowly holding his hand out to you. He was giving you such a loving look – the kind of look you hadn't seen from a guy in a long time – so you didn't even hesitate to take it. He gently pulled you into his lap, letting you sit with your legs wrapped around his waist. He bravely pressed his lips to your nose, making you scrunch your face up happily. A giggle escaped your mouth and although it sounded a bit weird since you couldn't hear yourself, Awsten thought it was the cutest sound in the world.

"I don't know what other guys have done to you because you can't hear, Y/N, but I promise I won't be like them," Awsten told you with a firm expression so you knew he was being serious, "You are not broken or defined by your inability to hear. I've liked you for so long and would love to be the person who shows you that not everyone is going to leave when things get too hard." You smiled bashfully and nodded your head. "Good," he sighed, "I didn't want to have to guilt trip you by bringing up that time I learned sign language for you."

You giggled again, your head finding a resting place on Awsten's shoulder as you cuddled up to him. His arms snaked around you, rubbing your back as he kissed the side of your head every now and then. 

And you didn't hear it, but Gracie came back into the room not long after.

"You know," she said, making her brother look over, "I always had my suspicions growing up that she only ever liked hanging out at our house because she liked you." 

She walked away before he could respond, and Awsten couldn't keep the small smile from pulling at his mouth as he squeezed you again, feeling you smile as well.

~

hi im not dead but i did forget how to write decent shit lmao