BLOOM • awsten knight

98

SEPTEMBER 2019

"Okay, so, tonight," Awsten begins, sitting himself on Elle's kitchen counter, as he watches her potter around.

"What about tonight?" She raises an eyebrow, glancing towards him.

"Well, d'you have plans?" He asks, swinging his legs mindlessly.

"Uh, other than trying not to freak out that I'm leaving for my first ever real tour tomorrow," Elle blurts quickly, "no, nothing comes to mind."

"You don't need to freak out," Awsten shoots her a sympathetic look.

She lets out a sigh, shaking her looming anxieties off for a moment. "Why? What did you have in mind?"

"Nothing fancy," he shrugs. "I wanted to show you the album in full before you go. We could just get food, go for a drive and listen in the car or something, whatever you want."

"That sounds nice," Elle offers him a small smile. "I do have a really busy day, but I should be done by tonight," she adds, moving closer to him. "Plus, I really want to hear the album."

Awsten leans forward with a smile, planting a kiss on her forehead. "What have you got to do today? Anything I can help with?"

"Uh, not really, I don't think," Elle frowns. "It's mostly last rehearsals, making sure everything is done. Oh! Plus, an apartment viewing this afternoon. You can come with me for that, if you want."

"You're moving out?" He questions, tilting his head.

"I'm looking, yeah," she nods. "Taylor wants to move in with Ethan, but she's worried about me paying for this place by myself and a whole bunch of dumb shit," Elle waves it off. "I'm just looking at a few places to get the ball rolling, so that she doesn't feel so shitty about wanting to ditch me."

"Are any of these places closer to me, by any chance?" Awsten wears a hopeful grin, tugging Elle closer to him again, as his arms slide around her waist.

"Maybe," she teases in return. "I wanted to move to Burbank in the first place, but obviously, things were a little different then," Elle explains, tracing the outline of the print on Awsten's t-shirt. "And it'll be so much easier to get the the studio and the offices from—"

"You could've just stopped there and let me think it's because of me," he cuts her off, leaning in a little closer.

"Well, now, I can't boost your ego that much," she smirks, her eyes flickering towards his lips.

"Hey, lovebirds!" Ethan calls, entering the apartment loudly, causing Elle to internally groan, as Awsten leans his head back slightly.

His arms remain around her waist, though, keeping her close, which causes Elle to smile to herself; she thinks about how he would've reacted last year to a similar situation, and the parallel warms her heart.

"Gross, you two are being couple-y again," Taylor rolls her eyes, as she enters the kitchen.

"And your timing is impeccable," Elle mutters under her breath, but still loud enough for Awsten to hear, as he lets out a quiet laugh, kissing her temple softly.