BLOOM • awsten knight

58

SEPTEMBER 2018

Awsten is in his car, almost as soon as he sees what's happening on Twitter - after he's had enough of tweeting and deleting things, angrily.

He doesn't know who to be more angry at; his fans, or Alex.

Seeing pictures of Elle with him wasn't Awsten's most favourite thing in the world; in fact, it made his heart ache more than it should have.

The pictures were from moments that she looked happy, and he tries to remind himself that it doesn't mean their relationship was good - it doesn't mean that he really made her happy.

Awsten was hoping that somehow Elle wouldn't have seen it all, but of course, she has.

He can't seem to wrap his head around why people want to hurt her so badly; do they not realise she's a person? Or do they know that, and are just overstepping anyway.

If he wasn't so worried about Elle, Awsten could have said so much more than he did; but instead, he just needs to see her.

Jawn is trying to call him, and he's ignored him the last five times, but he's finally getting sick of the sound of his phone ringing.

"What?" He skips over a greeting, bitterly.

"Man, what the fuck is going on?" Jawn asks, clearly seeing no time for pleasantries either. "Are you with Elle? Is she okay?"

"I'm on my way to her place," Awsten answers. "I don't know. She stopped tweeting after a while, so I'm hoping she stopped looking at it all," he bites his lips, knowing that she probably hasn't stopped looking, she's just stopped replying.

"Are you okay?" Jawn asks, after a moment.

"It's not me that we need to worry about," Awsten insists. "Elle is the one being attacked for no fucking reason and- god, she just found out she got cheated on via Twitter," he rants, feeling increasingly frustrated. "I fucking hate him. I fucking hate them."

"I think you should stay offline for a little while," Jawn reasons, "at least until this passes."

"But, what if-"

"I'll keep an eye on everything," he cuts him off, before he can argue. "You know I see it all, anyway."

"I'm just so fucking mad," Awsten grips the steering wheel a little tighter. "Why do they have to do this?"

"I don't know," Jawn shakes his head with a sigh. "Just- make sure Elle is okay, and that you're okay. This can't be easy."

"Yeah, I know," Awsten nods.

"No one is gonna understand this better than you."

Jawn's words sting a little - he knows he doesn't mean for that, but the idea of this feeling like past events repeating makes Awsten's heart ache.

"Yeah, okay," he nods, bringing their conversation to a close, as he pulls up at Elle's complex. "I'll talk to you later."

When Awsten knocks on Elle's apartment door, Taylor answers first, with a sad smile.

It's weirdly quiet, which sets him on edge, and he can't see Elle in the living room or the kitchen.

"She's in her room," she nods towards her door, and Awsten just nods, heading there immediately.

"Elle?" He knocks softly, and upon hearing no response, he pushes the door open gently and cautiously.

She doesn't look up from the spot on the wall that she's been staring at for god-knows-how-long.