BLOOM ? awsten knight

2

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It's late afternoon by the time Awsten wakes up again, now feeling like he can function a little better. His mind is still racing, though, so he decides to call Jawn, hoping for some reassurance that he's not going totally insane.

"I'm not crazy, right?" He asks, almost rhetorically, once he's finished explaining the thoughts running through his mind.

"First of all," Jawn starts, "I'm a little shocked that you're calling me, instead of Geoff, if you want to be told that you're not crazy," he laughs.

"I'm only calling you because you haven't lost a whole fucking day, both Geoff and I have," Awsten retaliates. "Don't be an asshole," he sighs, running a hand over his face.

"Okay, okay," Jawn's tone shifts, "I don't think you're crazy."

Awsten lets out a breath of relief, "really?"

"Really," Jawn confirms. "Although, it's still shocking that you, of all people, have fans," he comments, dryly.

"Wow, fuck you-"

"I'm not done," Jawn swiftly interrupts. "We both know that there's fans who live in Houston, this is where you started," he continues.

"Yeah, of course, I know that," Awsten responds, his eyebrows furrowed as he proceeds to listen.

"Houston may not exactly be the smallest place in the world, but it's not entirely unheard of to run into the same person a couple times, you know?" Jawn assured him.

"Yeah, yeah," Awsten nods in agreement. "I still can get my hopes up, though," he thinks out loud, his words more for himself, rather than for Jawn.

"You're right, but I'm sure it's not like you're never gonna find out," he points out.

"I guess you're right," Awsten mumbles. "I hate that, I can't make fun of you if you're being all logical and shit."

Jawn laughs in response, shrugging off the comment. "You should probably sleep off some more of your jet lag," he adds, "I can tell you're still tired."

"Hm, probably," Awsten hums in reply, half-knowing that he won't be sleeping again until much later.

Their call ends soon after, and Awsten lets out a sigh, pushing himself up off the couch.

He feels a little more energised compared to how he was earlier, but he still craves an extra boost; coffee.

His coffee trip is short, but definitely needed, along with another refreshing walk, and he feels more alive by the time he starts to head back home.

Out of pure curiosity and habit, Awsten takes the same route he did earlier, making sure he passes the street with the new flower store.

As he nears, he can hear chatter from inside, presumably from the same two voices he heard previously.

For some reason, Awsten finds himself hesitating, wondering whether or not to continue walking passed, or maybe introducing himself as he passes whoever is leaving.

He feels a sudden itch of nerves, before a figure steps out of the door, and his heart drops to the floor.

It's her, he almost thinks out loud; Target Girl.

She walks a couple of steps before looking up, to see Awsten stood in front of her. She opens her mouth to speak, but she quickly registers who is opposite her as they lock eyes, and she pauses.

"I- hi," she pushes her words out, after a moment, letting out a breath.

"Uh, hey," Awsten replies, his heart beating so loudly that he can basically hear it, and he just hopes she can't hear it, too. "Sorry, I'm like, in your way," he shuffles to the side, moving out of her path.

"No, no- it's, really okay, I'm sorry," she apologises, but Awsten isn't really sure what for, and neither is she. "You're uh," she continues, "you're Awsten Knight," a smile graces her features, as Awsten's heart skips a beat at how surreal it feels to hear her saying his name.

Being this close to her now, Awsten notices her eyes; they're a striking hazel-green, with small brown flecks around her pupils, and he can't help feeling like he's getting lost in them, as every detail is emphasised by the afternoon sun that's beaming down on them, even in the brisk February weather.

"Yeah, I uh, that's me," he nods slowly, bringing himself out of his thoughts. "You uh, sorry, I don't know your name. But, we, uh, Target?" He stumbles over his words, internally cursing himself for it, thinking he must look like an idiot.

"Target," she confirms. "I'm sorry I didn't like, say anything, or like, barely smile, I just kind of stared, which is weird, but I was-" she pauses her ramble, momentarily, "I just wasn't feeling too great."

A small part of Awsten has the urge to fumble himself into a rambling mess, telling her that she doesn't ever deserve to feel anything less than amazing, but thankfully, he refrains.

"I'm Elle, by the way," she seems to snap herself out of a thought, which brings Awsten back to reality, too. "Sorry, I probably should've mentioned that."

"Elle," Awsten repeats her name, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth; a genuine smile. "That's a really pretty name," he says, before he can really think about it.

"Thank you," she blushes, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You're pretty, too-" she starts, but quickly backtracks, "shit, no, I mean, yours is pretty, too- your name, your name is pretty, too."

"Thank you," Awsten smiles, letting out a light laugh as she sputters through her sentence.

Elle's phone then lights up, buzzing with an alarm, which grabs her attention. Awsten watches as her hair falls over her face when she looks down; his eyes follow her hair to where hangs over her t-shirt, and recognises he it to be 5 Seconds of Summer merch - clearly, she has good taste, he thinks.

Around her neck is a lanyard with a badge attacked, reading Hot Topic, along with her name, Elle, printed in the middle of it, in bold letters.

"Shit, uh," she shuts the alarm off, looking back up at Awsten, "sorry, I have to get to work," Elle gives him a sad smile. "but uh, do you like, wanna do something, sometime?" She nervously pushes her words out, twisting the rings she's wearing around her fingers, so much so that the skin around it turns slightly red from the pressure. "I haven't really met many people here yet, and I uh, it'd be really cool to like, hang out."

"Yeah, yeah, definitely," Awsten nods eagerly, causing Elle's face to relaxes. "D'you want my number?" He finds himself asking abruptly, without much thought. "You know, if you ever need anything," he tries to shrug off the anxious edge to his voice.

"I- yeah, sure," Elle's eyes light up for a moment, and Awsten's heart skips a beat as he looks at her; it's not long before he catches himself staring, and he fumbles to pull out his phone.

The pair exchange numbers, just before Elle's phone lights up with another alarm, with another reminder to leave for work.

She lets out a tiny groan, which makes Awsten's heart squeeze, as she shuts off the alarm. "I'm really sorry, I have to go."

"Don't worry about it," he smiles at her. "I'll uh, I'll text you?" He almost-questions, making sure that's what she wants.

"Yes, definitely, please do."

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