BLOOM • awsten knight

23

APRIL 2018

Elle and Awsten both seem to thrive in their own little bubble while in Los Angeles.

Awsten feels more at ease to be there with her company, which is a nice change. He's used to be being on edge about where he goes, and who he might see; he's still mindful, but much less anxious with Elle by his side.

They end up at the studio everyday; and whenever they aren't at the studio, Awsten is taking Elle out to explore.

One day, they take a trip to Santa Monica for a whole day, another evening they go to a comedy show in a club in Burbank, and one afternoon, they walk through Brace Canyon, until the sun sets.

There's so much more that Awsten wants to show her, but with their limited time, he knows he can't do it all; plus, he likes spending time with Elle in the studio, too.

For their last day together in LA, Awsten tries to pull Elle out of bed slightly early; part of her doesn't like it, but a bigger part of her would only get out of bed for him, anyway.

"I'm only doing this because it's you, you know," Elle comments, as she brushes her teeth, trying to shake off her remaining tiredness.

"Good," Awsten smiles, placing a quick kiss on her cheek. "It'll be worth it, it's fine," his hands graze her waist as he moves out of the bathroom, and Elle almost freezes at the contact, as she watches him in the mirror.

"Are you not even going to tell me where we're going?" She asks, after taking a deep breath to compose herself.

Awsten just shakes his head in return, earning a lighthearted eye roll that causes him to smile.

Once Elle is ready, she presses for any answers, but Awsten still won't budge and simply leads her out of the hotel.

The walk is nice in the morning, and the streets are the quietest that Elle has seen so far.

She still doesn't know where they're going, while Awsten leads her to the centre of Burbank; he begins to slow his pace as they draw closer to their destination, and a bright grin spreads across his face.

"Where are we?" Elle gives him a confused smile.

Awsten holds up a finger, guiding her around a corner.

"Burbank Farmer's Market," he comes to her side, his hand loosely holding her waist. "Now, okay, I know it might seem kinda lame, but I definitely have my reasons-"

"Not lame at all," Elle interrupts him with a smile. "But I still want to know your reasons."

"Well, flowers," Awsten points towards the various stalls selling and displaying vast amounts of flowers. "Flowers are your favourite, and they have so many here, and it's so cute here, so," he shrugs, looking back at Elle to find her already looking at him.

Everyone seems to disappear around them for a moment, and Elle suddenly feels like something clicks in her head; her heart feels heavy, yet lighter than it has in a long time and for a split second, she feels herself leaning in.

"Uh, you-" she clears her throat quickly. "Thank you, angel," she smiles softly, hugging Awsten's side, as his arms fall over her shoulders.