BLOOM • awsten knight

9

FEBRUARY 2018

Whenever Awsten isn't around, Elle finds that somehow, everything feels quieter, purely due to his absence; his music has always been a comfort to her, and now, spending time with him, his whole presence makes her feel more relaxed and safe - so, it feels a little more lonely when he's not by her side.

She's heard of the idea of someone being a 'comfort person' - someone that makes you feel at home, completely at ease; she thought Alex was that for her, but in reality, he just put her on edge constantly.

The way that Awsten dealt with her the other day, left her rethinking everything, along with how she should be treated and what she deserves.

Though, whenever she finds herself feeling alone, she can't help but miss her ex-boyfriend.

The rest of Elle's week breezes by, consisting mainly of work and her more than daily FaceTimes with Awsten whenever she can't see him; she finds herself waiting around for his calls, and he's always exactly on time.

He'd introduced her to Geoff over the phone, but has so far refused to let Jawn interact with her, due to him 'being a total asshole'.

More often than not, Awsten has been updating her on his neighbour's new dog, which he's desperately trying to make his own, and Elle is fully on board with the idea.

Today, though, she and Taylor are due to fly out for their trip home; their flight is later this evening, so Elle doesn't have much to do, since she's already packed.

Awsten and the rest of the band are due to be flying into the UK from Houston sometime tomorrow, but today is his busiest day so far.

There's only been a few fleeting text messages between him and Elle throughout the day, due to his long list of things to do, so she's surprised when her phone lights up with an incoming call.

"Hi," she answers, bringing the phone up to her ear.

"Hey! I feel like I haven't spoken to you in forever," Awsten starts, with a dramatic groan.

"I know," she giggles. "What're you doing?"

"Well, management called me," he says, and Elle can hear the noises from his car in the background, "saying I'm doing this livestream for Rock Sound in like, an hour or two, but I'm already busy as fuck, and I still have more to do so I've figure I'm just gonna have to do it while driving."

"That doesn't sound safe," Elle frowns, worry laced with her words. "Please be careful."

"I will be, don't worry," he assures her, his heart warmed at her worry for him.

"Hm, okay," she responds.

"Elle, I am the safest, and best driver, I'm not gonna be stupid," Awsten tells her, a lighthearted tone to his voice, which he hopes will put her at ease, noticing the hesitance in her voice. "I wouldn't do it if I wasn't confident in myself, okay?"

"Okay, I'm sorry," she apologises, shaking her head. "I don't mean to think the worst, I trust you're a good driver, I just know some people that aren't so great.."

The way her voice trails off, signals to Awsten that she's referring to a past experience with Alex; he ignores the trace of anger that runs through him, thinking about any possible bad situations that Alex could have put Elle in, and focuses on reassuring her.