BLOOM • awsten knight

79

APRIL 2019

Awsten's heart is suddenly beating out of his chest when he read's Elle text; it's a simple, i'm here, but it seems to set in the reality that she's coming her, for him, to hear his song.

"Why are you freaking out?" Zakk asks. "It's not like you haven't seen her recently," he points out. "And you've wanted to show her this song since like, the second you finished it."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Awsten stands up, beginning to pace. "I just—" he sighs, offering Zakk a strange look, "you know?"

"Just chill," he laughs lightly, shaking his head. "I'm sure if she didn't want to be here, she would've just said no."

Before Awsten gets the chance to reply, there's a soft knock on the door, before it begins to creak open.

Awsten's shoulders relax at the sight of Elle, poking her head around the door frame, as she pushes the door open carefully.

Hi," she smiles, softly, entering the room.

"Hey-" He moves forward for a hug, automatically, but stops himself, hopefully before anyone can notice. "Uh, Elle, this is Zakk Cervini," he changes his tone quickly, and watches casually as they shake hands. "He's fucking crazy, you're gonna love him."

"It's a pleasure, Elle," Zakk offers her a smile. "I hear your EP is out soon."

"Oh, yeah," she lets out a breath. "I'm so ready for it to be out now," she rolls her eyes, lightheartedly. "I've been sitting on some of these songs for like, a year now."

"No doubt you've got more ready to be released," Zakk comments, with a slight questioning tone, to which Elle nods.

"I think I've always got things ready to be released," her face spreads into a grin, which almost knocks the air out of Awsten's lungs.

It's so genuine that he almost can't stop himself from staring; he hasn't seen that kind of expression on her for a long time, if ever.

"So, Awsten?" Zakk raises an eyebrow, looking towards him, tearing him from his slight daze.

"Oh! Yeah, song," he nods, clearing his mind. "You wanna hear it?"

"Yeah, course," Elle responds, as Awsten pulls around a chair for her. "Oh, uh, thank you," she stutters, quietly, unsure if he can even hear her. She watches him for a moment longer, as he grabs the smaller chair for himself; her heart tugs, realising that he'd offered her his own chair, likely because it's more comfortable.

Still, Awsten doesn't bat an eyelid - the gesture was casual and just plain polite to him - so he continues, nodding towards Zakk to play the song.

From the moment the instrumental starts, Elle is engaged, listening closely.

"You had your own Pete Wentz and Patrick combined," Awsten's voice begins to fill the room.

At this moment, Elle's jaw falls open slightly; she pays attention to the lyrics, admiring how clever they are, as well as how different the song is sonically from anything she's heard from Waterparks before.

She's never listened to a new song in front of Awsten before, but she's trying to ignore that for now.

Awsten is side-eyeing her from a safe distance, trying to gage her reaction, and so far, he thinks it's good.

When the pre-chorus starts, Elle looks up from the floor, her eyes seeming to light up, which causes Awsten's heart to skip a beat.

Her expression only widens when the chorus hits, and his face spreads into a smile.