when i'm swallowed down. （ a. knight ）

seven.

The internet was a scary place. The things that people on Twitter found out about were never not amazing. Awsten didn't seem bothered that his entire fanbase was in flames after learning that he and Jessa were fake dating, which felt very odd. She expected him to stress out like crazy and pull all his hair out. Instead, he had fun posting pictures on Instagram of them together and keeping up the ruse.

It wasn't like they were doing it on purpose either. Awsten hadn't confirmed or denied anything, just carried on being silly on Twitter and posting occasional photos of them together in between his selfies on Instagram.

"This is getting worse, you know that, right?" Jessa said as they walked off the tennis court together, headed back to the parking lot to get into Awsten's car.

"I have no idea what you could possibly mean, Jessie." Awsten grinned at her, loving the way her face was flushed from exertion and her hair was sticking to her. He wanted to kiss her again.

"You're such a bad liar." Jessie jabbed the butt of her racket into his side, making him yelp. "You broke your entire fanbase."

"Hey, they've tried to fuck me up pretty hard at times, so maybe this is payback for all the times they've turned on me without warning." Awsten rolled his eyes and opened the passenger door, holding it as Jessa got in the car. "We aren't hurting anyone and I haven't said a damn thing."

Jessa pinned him with a look, ignoring the way his pretty mismatched eyes watched her so attentively every time she spoke to him. "No, you haven't said anything."

"Have they been giving you a hard time?" Awsten asked.

"Not really? Which I find very strange. They're all very protective of you, Awsie. Maybe I'm just not that much of a threat." Jessa shrugged mildly.

Awsten shook his head. "You're very much a threat. But I'm glad they're leaving you alone."

"Yeah, you and me both."

They went back to Awsten's apartment, took turns showering, and then jumped back into Awsten's car.

"I haven't been able to find Fandom at all in any of these Targets, so I hope having you with me this time will be my good luck charm," Awsten said idly as they got on the highway.

"I still can't believe you're so bent on trying to find this CD in Target. You made it. You all ready have it," Jessa teased him. She would never discourage him from this in a serious way. This was their first album that was being sold in Target. It was a huge deal.

"Shut up and support me, okay? Let me live!" Awsten laughed and then reached for her hand, which she gave him.

"Are we pretending again today?" she asked, a little softer.

He threaded their fingers together, resting their joined hands on the gearshift in between them. He didn't dare glance at her. If he looked, he lost and he needed to focus on driving and not his growing need to kiss her and do literally every other thing imaginable with her.

"Is that okay?" he asked, just as soft.

"Yeah, it's okay."

He wondered if he would ever get up the guts to tell her he didn't want to pretend anymore, that he wanted this to be real. The idea that she even entertained the idea that none of this was real made him want to be sick. It was real. He loved her. He just didn't know how to tell her.

They made it to Target and Jessa took Awsten's hand again as they entered the store together. Awsten ignored the steady drumbeat that was his heart as it pounded in his chest because she had initiated their contact, not him. It did something to him.

"Holy shit!" Jessa practically crowed, when they got back to the media section with the electronics and the CDS.

On the display TVs was the Dream Boy music video. Even though he'd seen it a few times all ready, it still made him so fucking proud to see himself and his friends being broadcast like they were some mainstream outfit. It made his hardwork matter a little more.

"Why are you freaking out?" Awsten asked her mildly and then danced out of range when she whirled on him and attempted to punch his arm. "Don't be vicious and just tell me!"

"You know why, you shithead!" Jessa said, her eyes wide. "That's Dream Boy! On the TV!"

"Awh, you know my music videos?" Awsten was getting a kick out of teasing her and watching her expression screw up into fake outrage as she went to try and punch him again.

"I'm really gonna murder you in this Target," she threatened. "You know I watch them! I saw Dream Boy when you were filming it!"

"Oh yeah, I did invite you to that shoot, didn't I? Must've forgot," he teased her and caught her hand before she tried to swing on him again. "You're so cute when you're mad, Jessie."

"I'm gonna kill you," she responded and then laughed. "This is so cool, Aws. You're, like, famous now or something. This is huge."

"Don't say the f word. I really hate it." Awsten nervously fidgeting with Jessa's fingers, still holding her hand after he'd stopped her from giving him a right hook. "But thanks, Jessie. I thought you knew."

She shook her head slowly and smiled. "Not at all. This is awesome. I'm really proud of you."

Awsten's face flushed so much that the tips of his ears went pink, which Jessa thought was very endearing. "Thanks."

"Okay! Let's see if we can find the album!"