BLOOM • awsten knight

115

NOVEMBER 2019

The first week of tour seems to have flown by, and Awsten soon settles into being much more excited.

He's made sure he has time to call Elle every single day, at least once, with an almost constant stream of texts between the two of them.

It's a little easier now that at least one of them is in a steady routine; Elle is spending every day at the studio, working ridiculously hard on writing and recording. Throwing herself into working on an album has made it a little easier to be away from Awsten.

She's taken some free time to spend with Taylor and Ethan, too, since she feels like she needs to make up for six weeks of absence.

Elle has brought Taylor down to the studio today; she'd finished recording the song she wrote for Georgia yesterday, and she wanted Taylor to be the first person to hear the finished version.

"I'm a little nervous to show you this one, okay, so, go easy," Elle starts, shifting her chair towards the computer, and adjusting the volume on the speakers. Taylor gives her an odd look, but brushes it off when she begins to play the song.

By the time it's over, Taylor is blinking back tears, attempting to swallow back the lump in her throat.

"Is that about Georgia?" She asks, her voice breaking slightly, and all Elle can manage in response is a nod. "Elle, that's beautiful."

The compliment causes a tear to escape Elle's eye, and she wipes it away quickly.

"D'you think she'd like it?" She questions, her voice innocent and quiet, which causes Taylor's face to soften.

"You know she'd love it," she replies. "You don't even have to ask."

This leads to the two of them crumbling to tears, quickly pulling each other into a tight hug.

They stay there for a long moment, their crying soon turning into slight laughter at how silly they feel, before Elle's phone begins to ring.

She pulls back, the two of them wiping their faces, before she checks her phone to see Awsten requesting a FaceTime.

"Shit, sorry, it's Awsten," Elle looks to Taylor.

"Go on," she nods. "You're just gonna have to explain to him why we're crying," Taylor laughs.

Elle tugs her sleeve over her hand, wiping under her eyes again, hoping it'll help, before answering the call.

"Hey—"

"Oh my god, what's wrong?" Awsten cuts off her greeting, leaning closer to the screen with a worried expression.

"Nothing, I'm—"

"Not nothing," he frowns. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Fucking hell, I didn't expect him to realise that quickly," Taylor comments.

"Was that Taylor? Is she crying too?" Awsten continues to question, his worried expression now mixed with confusion. "Are y'all okay?"

"We're okay, angel, I swear," Elle smiles at him, reassuringly. "I finished recording Georgia's song yesterday, and I wanted Tay to be the first person to hear the final version."

"Oh," his eyes widen in realisation. "Shit, yeah, sorry. I forgot you were doing that today," Awsten offers her a guilty look. "Y'all are okay, though, right?" He checks again, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, we're okay," she nods.

"Good," Awsten responds, looking a little more relaxed. "Sorry for interrupting, we're just about to start prepping for stage," he adds, panning the camera around him quickly. "So, I wanted to call you for a sec. But, can I call you once we're off?"