BLOOM • awsten knight

64

OCTOBER 2018

Awsten finds a new therapist in LA and starts having sessions again.

He doesn't want to feel so angry anymore, but he still has some things he needs to work through.

He sees that Elle is active on social media again, and a part of him feels relieved. He's glad that people haven't pushed her away from the internet forever, but it's mostly for selfish reasons; if she hadn't come back, he would've felt almost entirely responsible.

He thinks he needs to work on that - being less selfish. If he wasn't so wrapped up in his own feelings - or more ignoring his own feelings - he might've realised everything that he was doing wrong.

He's starting to realise it now - that he was reckless with Elle, and he shouldn't have been, because he ended up hurting her, as well as himself.

Being close to the studio is nice for Awsten; he spends most of his days there, and it makes him feel a lot more productive.

He's creating, writing, recording, and repeating the cycle.

He's closer to more of his musician friends; he becomes close with De'wayne, who he watched play live a couple of weeks ago, and immediately wants to add him to their upcoming tour.

Awsten soon feels settled; he feels like he's supposed to be in LA, and he's starting to feel like things are going to pan out to be better than he had thought - he just has to keep bettering himself.

//

Taylor is surprised when Elle wants to take a trip back to England; it's only for a couple of days, and it's mainly to go to see Georgia's grave, but she didn't expect it.

Georgia's anniversary hits Elle hard, and she cries for a long time when they bring flowers to the cemetery.

She had to bring her sunflowers; they were Georgia's favourite, but due to the season, it proved difficult. That doesn't mean she stopped looking, though; she spent a full day searching supermarkets and flower shops to finally find a bouquet of sunflowers. They were expensive, and probably a lot more than Elle should be spending right now, but she buys them anyway.

Taylor brings a blanket to lay on the ground, and the two of them sit in front of Georgia's headstone.

They talk for a long time, and Elle cries onto Taylor's shoulder.

She's glad that she's getting better at letting it out now.

Elle thinks about how Georgia would have liked Awsten; she would've laughed at his jokes, and made fun of how soft they were around each other. She was a lot like Taylor, and Elle always thought they were closer; but that doesn't mean she ever loved her any less.

When they get back to Houston, it's not long before Elle is headed off to Los Angeles.

She's going on her own this time; it's a strange feeling to look to her left on the plane, and not see either Awsten or Taylor beside her, but it doesn't sting in the way she expects it to.

She knows Awsten is in Houston now, which puts her mind at ease.

She doesn't stay in Burbank this time around, either; she stays in Van Nuys, because it's closer to the Hopeless offices, and it's still not far from the studio.

Within the first day she's there, Elle gets a text from Courtney, saying that he heard she was in LA, and would love to work with her again.

She takes up the offer in a heartbeat.