BLOOM • awsten knight

57

SEPTEMBER 2018

Elle feels more relieved that Awsten is coming back.

She's hoping it's going to somehow disperse all of the strange tension between the two of them, and everything will fall into place.

Awsten is hoping for the same; he wants to ignore every thought and problem, and just be with her - he'll deal with everything else later.

On the plane, Awsten is listening to Elle's song; the first one he wrote about her, the day he saw her in Target.

She still doesn't know it's about her - she may not even knows it exists if she didn't see the tweet - but Awsten knows, and that's enough for now.

She may never know about it; it may just become another demo that's stored in his hard drive - or maybe it'll be something, one day.

Awsten thinks that's maybe like the two of them, symbolising the weird balancing act that they're in right now; unsure of whether they are something or not, or whether they ever will be.

He feels different about the song now; when he wrote it, he never thought he'd see her again, let alone grow this close to her - it's an obsessive love song, born from compulsive thoughts, that trapped her in his mind, and he wonders if things would be the same if he hadn't written it.

He wonders where he'd be now, if he hadn't gone to Target that day; he wouldn't have spent a month thinking about a girl he'd never met, but then he probably wouldn't have stopped outside of that florist's to listen to the girl singing inside - he probably would've never met Elle.

It's a weird feeling, to think that one trip to Target has lead him here, but he doesn't regret it.

Elle feels impatient as she sits at home.

She's managed to move past her slight breakdown the other week, though she can see things more clearly now; it's only a matter of time before she'll have to do something about it.

The flight is long, and Awsten is tired; he knows jet lag is going to kick his ass, because it always seems to be worse with the time difference from Europe.

But he still goes to Elle's apartment.

His signature knock on the door causes her to shoot up from the couch, practically running to unlock it.

"Hey-" Awsten begins to greet her, but wordlessly, Elle wraps her arms around him.

She buries her head in the crook of his neck, as her arms wrap around his shoulders; she's on her tip toes, grasping him tightly, until Awsten bends down to her height, and his arms fold around her waist.

Elle shows no signs of letting go, and Awsten lets out a small laugh when he tries to move, so he nudges the door closed and steps into the apartment with her.

He rubs slow circles on her back, allowing her to cling to him; he thought that he missed her a lot, but maybe she needs him a little more than he thinks.

"You okay?" He asks, eventually, and she nods against his shoulder.

She pulls back to look at him, taking a deep breath, and he searches her eyes.

Elle lifts her hand and runs it through his hair.

"I like this blonde on you," she mumbles, admiring the way his roots are growing out, and he hums in response.

The feeling of her playing with his hair is soothing, so Awsten takes her hand, and leads them to the couch.

Elle notices what he's doing and takes a seat, allowing room for him to lay down comfortably; Awsten's head rests against her chest as her pulls her waist closer to him.