unbreakable heaven • awsten knight

1.24 all the roses

houston tx
march 2009

Awsten, Zakk, Jawn and Dean all booked front row seats for the school musical for the first time ever.

None of them can ever recall ever having been to one of the school musicals before.

Awsten is a little nervous to watch Ellie and Nick perform together. He's sat in on a few rehearsals, but it was mostly out of protection when she was stressed about her scenes with Dorothea.

He hates seeing Ellie hold Nick's hand, and he hadn't realised that he'd begun clenching his fists each time he got too close to her.

"Awsten," Jawn whispers from beside him, grabbing his attention. "She's just acting," he reminds him. "Chill out," Jawn pats his shoulder, causing Awsten to let out a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding in.

He relaxes from that point, until they're on stage together again.

The audience coos as they step closer to each other, as if they going to kiss.

Awsten grits his teeth, wanting to close his eyes, but he can't quite look away.

They're close— really close, and he hates it.

But, then, the stage goes black, and the scene ends.

Awsten sits up, looking to his friends beside him.

"They didn't kiss, right?" He asks, in a hushed tone. "Was that supposed to happen? Weren't they supposed to kiss?"

Each of them shrug, turning their attention back to the stage when the next scene begins.

Awsten finds his mind racing for a few moments; he wonders if they were supposed to kiss. Maybe Ellie didn't want to kiss Nick, and she refused. Or maybe the teachers in charge cut it from the script.

Either way, he's glad he didn't have to watch Ellie kiss someone else.

When the show is over, the four boys are the first to their feet, clapping and cheering louder than anyone when Ellie comes on stage for the final bow.

She waves to them, with a bright grin on her face, only causing them to shout louder.

Once the cast begin leaving the stage, many of the audience members start to file out of the auditorium.

"I'll be right back," Awsten turns to his friends. "I just need to go grab something."

The three of them nod in response, watching as he swiftly weaves through the busy aisle.

Soon, Ellie emerges from backstage, her eyes immediately searching for Awsten.

She frowns slightly when she doesn't see him right away, but that expression is quickly replaced with a smile when she spots Zakk, Jawn, and Dean heading towards her.

"Elsie!" Zakk shouts, running quickly down the remainder of the aisle to hug her, boisterously. "You did so good! And you— I knew you could sing but like, the acting, too? Man, that was crazy," he rambles, animatedly, pulling away with wide eyes.

"Thanks," Ellie laughs sweetly at how endearing his reaction is.

"Ellie, that was amazing," Jawn steps up to give her a much more gentle hug than Zakk had.

"Yeah, you were so great up there!" Dean chimes in.

"Thank you, guys, really," she replies, sincerely. "Does anyone knew where—?"

"Hey!" Awsten pops up from behind Ellie, causing her to jump, startled by his surprise presence.

"Oh my god," she lets out an exasperated breath. "You scared me, you little shit!" Ellie turns to him, with a glare.