BLOOM • awsten knight

4

FEBRUARY 2018

Awsten leads her out of the building, and the pair decide against driving; Awsten says he'd much prefer to annoy Elle with random stories about their scenery as they walk, picking a cafe or Starbucks to get their drinks at.

Awsten steps aside, opening the door for Elle, which seems to surprise her, and that doesn't go unnoticed by him.

"This place is cute," she comments, gazing around the small cafe that they find, tucked in on a corner street.

"Yeah, it's nice," Awsten agrees easily. "It's usually pretty quiet, too," he continues, stepping forward in the short queue. "Spent a lot of time here when I got back from tour last year," he muses, a slight frown forming at the thought of that time, but he shakes it off quickly, not wanting to focus that right now.

Instead, Awsten focuses his gaze on Elle; she's studying the menu, with her eyes squinted, as if she can't read it properly from a distance. A subtle smile plays on her lips, as the sun is shining in from the windows behind them, despite the cold weather, leaving a warm glow on Elle's face.

"What're you having?" Awsten ducks his head down to ask her, suddenly aware of how short she is compared to him.

"Uh, I'm not sure," she looks up at him briefly, before returning her eyes to the menu board. "Maybe an iced tea."

Elle then reaches into her bag for her purse, but Awsten place his hand over her's gently.

"Don't worry, I'll get it," he smiles, pulling out his own wallet. "You could go choose a table, if you want," Awsten continues, before noticing her hesitant expression. "Or we could like, go for a walk, or something."

"I, uh," Elle clears her throat, attempting to shake off her confused expression. "Yeah, sorry, a walk sounds nice," she nods, meeting Awsten's gaze as he looks slightly worried. "Are you sure that you don't want the money for that? I can-"

"It's okay, Elle, I've got it," he smiles softly, and Elle feels like every ounce of worry she has seems to disappear.

"Thank you," she finally pushes her words out, her face relaxing as she offers Awsten a small smile.

Just as Awsten steps up to make their order, Elle's phone begins to ring; she sighs, glancing briefly at the caller ID to see that it's Taylor calling.

"I'll be one second," she offers him a small smile, before stepping away to answer the phone. "What do you want, Tay?"

"Fucking hell, that's a bit rude," Taylor feigns offence. "I just wanted to be nice and ask you how things are going."

"How things are going?" Elle repeats, flatly. "We've barely been in the cafe for five minutes, I can talk to you about it later."

"Fine, fine," she huffs on the other end of the line, still loud enough for it to ring through Elle's ear. "I just wanted to check in, make sure you're alright."

Elle suddenly feels a trace of guilt, realising she may have been a bit harsh, despite her comments being lighthearted; Taylor has always been one to mask her genuine emotions behind a tougher facade, when in reality, she really does worry about Elle.

"I'm alright," she replies, as confidently as she can, before glancing towards Awsten who is now waiting for their orders, and a tiny smile creeps onto her face. "Yeah, I'm alright."