BLOOM • awsten knight

103

SEPTEMBER 2019

Awsten and Elle have another full day together.

They start their morning by going out for breakfast together (after Awsten had managed to persuade Elle out of bed), before they take a walk down to the farmer's market; he thought it'd be a cute idea, since he knows how much she loves the one in Burbank.

"Oh my god, I can't believe I forgot to ask," Elle presses her palm to her forehead suddenly, causing Awsten to look at her oddly, while he holds her other hand securely. "How's your new apartment? All I've seen is stuff on Twitter."

"Oh, shit, yeah! I'll give you a FaceTime tour when I get back, I promise," he smiles. "But, it's really nice. Like, too nice."

"Too nice? Do you not like it?"

"No, no, I love it! It's just so fancy," Awsten laughs. "It feels like it's too nice for me, you know?"

"Come on, you're so fancy it's ridiculous," Elle rolls her eyes. "With your fucking gold cutlery and shit."

"I just have expensive taste," he shrugs, a smirk playing on his lips.

When they arrive at the market, Awsten picks up some fruit for them to snack on as they walk around; he holds a small punnet of strawberries between the two of them, and Elle naturally gravitates towards the flowers.

Awsten is distracted by someone carrying an abnormally large amount of roses, which he's sure is heavier than it looks, before he turns around and spots Elle, stood in front of a wide array of sunflowers.

She's quiet, with her gaze seemingly stuck on the bright yellow flowers. Her eyes look glazed over as Awsten stops at her side, slipping a comforting hand around her waist; she leans into his touch, as he rests his chin against her shoulder.

"Georgia loved sunflowers," Elle mumbles.

"Why'd you say loved?" Awsten asks, earning a frown. She turns her head, confused; she knows that she's definitely told him all about Georgia, and he can't possibly have forgotten. "I bet she still does love them," he adds, causing Elle's expression to dissolve completely, as her heart melts.

Awsten notices the way her eyes well up at his comment, but she works up a smile.

"Yeah, actually," she nods, turning back to the flowers. "You're right."

She chokes up slightly as a bee lands on the sunflower right in front of her; she lifts her hand to cover her mouth, as a small cry shakes her shoulders, but she doesn't seem overly sad.

Awsten's grip on her tightens, his heart aching as he presses his lips to her cheek, just as a stray tear falls from Elle's eye.

"She had this fascination with bees, too," she tells Awsten, mindlessly. "Because of the pollen and stuff, I don't know. I always thought it was stupid, because I'm scared of bees," Elle confesses, while Awsten listens to her, patiently. "There was this one time, a bee fucking flew into my hair, and all Georgia wanted to do was let it make its own way out, so that we didn't hurt it," she laughs slightly. "I was fucking freaking out so much, and all she cared about was saving this stupid bee."

Elle lets out a breath, blinking back a couple more tears, as Awsten rubs circles on her back.

"I'm writing a song about her," she admits, her voice still fairly quiet. "It's taking a little while to articulate some things, because I want to get it right."

"Can I hear it, when it's done?" Awsten asks, softly, earning a nod, as she sniffles.

They're quiet for another long moment, as Elle keeps Awsten close, enjoying the comfort of having him at her side.