unbreakable heaven • awsten knight

1.6 a place in this world

houston, tx
november 2008

Jawn spots Awsten walking through the hall, at an oddly swift speed, which piques his curiosity.

"Hey, man," he manages to catch his attention. "Where are you going?"

Awsten stops, blinking a couple of times, until he can see Jawn a little more clearly.

"Uhm," he frowns, his eyebrows knitted together. "I can't find Ellie."

"She's just in the music rooms," Jawn informs him, seeming to relieve some of the tension on his face.

"Oh," Awsten responds, quietly, before pausing for a long moment. "I'm gonna head there then, I think," he nods, and Jawn watches him walk away.

Jawn shakes his head, and chuckles quietly at the worry etched into Awsten's features, and at the way he looks like a lost puppy, simply because he doesn't know where Ellie is.

She's sat in the music room by herself, and doesn't even hear Awsten knocking softly on the door, at first. But, when she turns around and sees his face leant up against the window, she ushers for him to come in.

"You didn't have to knock, you know," Ellie offers him a small smile, and he looks at her, sheepishly. "It's not like it's my room."

"I know," Awsten shrugs. "I just didn't wanna interrupt anything," he gestures towards the guitar in her hand.

"You're not, don't worry," she shrugs with a sigh, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"You sound annoyed," Awsten observes, moving closer to her.

"Just frustrated," Ellie shifts to face him, as he sits on the table beside her, crossing his legs beneath him. "I'm not very good at guitar," she frowns.

"You were literally just playing guitar," Awsten makes a face.

"No, but, like...I need to be better," Ellie insists. "I really struggle with bar chords— that's what's bothering me. I can never get them right, it's so stupid."

He hesitates for a moment, before standing from his spot and picking up the guitar she'd set down.

"Hey, now— You're so much better than me, this is just gonna be embarrassing," she mutters, but Awsten ignores her protests, placing the guitar in her lap, as he takes a seat behind her.

"Here," he takes her fingers, cautiously, and places them on the neck of the guitar, hovering them over each fret. "You gotta arch your hand a little more," Awsten instructs, helping her to do so, as Ellie shuffles in her seat.

He doesn't notice at first, but she's watching him, as his gaze is fixated on the chord that he's helping her to play.

She admires the way his eyelashes almost brush against his cheek when he looks down, and the way he presses his lips together when he concentrates.

She's so purely enchanted by him in this moment, that she almost forgets to breathe.

"You're not even looking at this," Awsten mumbles, lightheartedly, causing Ellie to snap out of it.