APRIL 2018
Awsten thinks that he's more excited for Elle's birthday than she is.
He knows that he hasn't gone overboard, because he's managed to refrain from hiring out a whole venue, or a garden of some sort, and filling it with flowers of every colour that reminds him of her - but he's still excited.
Part of him wishes he'd asked to stay over the night before, just so that he could stay up with her until it was finally midnight, and be the first to wish her a happy birthday.
The morning of her birthday, Taylor is awake first, and has laid Elle's presents out on the table; she's had to hide some in her bedroom for weeks, since Elle's family had all of the packages addressed to her, so that Elle wouldn't accidentally open any of them.
Awsten comes to the apartment early, and when Taylor opens the door, he's holding a large bouquet of flowers, in a fancy vase.
"Wow, all of those for me?" Taylor places her hand over her heart, gushing sarcastically.
"Oh, yeah, definitely," Awsten rolls his eyes, lightheartedly, as she lets him in.
"Seriously, though," she raises her eyebrows, "that could be the biggest bouquet I've ever seen."
Awsten smiles, feeling proud of himself, as he sets the vase down on the counter.
"D'you still have my other presents here?" He asks, looking over to the table.
"Yeah, right there," Taylor points them out to him. "She's gonna kill you, you know."
"Why?" Awsten laughs quietly.
"Because you spent a lot of money on her," she explains, and he shrugs. "I think you did pretty good, though."
"Thanks," he smiles, before looking over to Elle's bedroom. "Can I wake her?"
"You don't have to ask my permission," Taylor holds her hands up. "As long as she's not grumpy."
With that, Awsten heads to her bedroom door, knocking softly on it, as he pushes it open; Elle begins to stir, but she smiles as she notices his figure stood in the doorway.
Awsten closes the door behind him and flops onto the bed next to Elle, with a fair amount of force, causing her to groan.
"You're seriously not letting me sleep in on my birthday?" She rubs a hand over her face, causing Awsten to laugh.
"Nope," he moves himself closer to her, wrapping his arm around her waist, and plants a kiss on her cheek. "Happy birthday, beautiful."
"Thank you," Elle turns to face him, her hand resting on his cheek, and Awsten leans into her touch.
He wants to kiss her, but he really doesn't think now is the right time; it's frustrating, because recently, it never seems to be the right time - but Awsten thinks that trying to kiss her for the first time, on her birthday may not be the right route to go down, especially if it were to start a difficult conversation.
Instead, Awsten settles for planting another kiss on her cheek, then on the other, then on her nose, her forehead, and repeats the cycle; Elle giggles, her arms wrapping around his shoulders as she pulls him closer.
"Are you mad at me for waking you up?" Awsten questions, mumbled against her skin.
"I would be," Elle starts, cuddling closer to him, "but I think this is my new favourite way to wake up."
He grins at her response, moving slightly to lock his gaze with her's, and tucking a strand of hair out of her face.
Elle opens her mouth to say something else, but they're interrupted when Taylor starts shouting from the kitchen.
"No birthday sex while I'm waiting out here, that's gross!"
The two of them groan in embarrassment, Awsten burying his face in the sheets, before pushing himself off the bed.
"Come on," he nudges her. "I'll wait out there, so it doesn't look suspicious," Awsten mocks, as Elle laughs, rubbing her eyes once more as she tries to get up.
She changes into something that seems a little more acceptable, since she'd feel a little out of place in her pyjamas, while Awsten and Taylor are fully dressed.
When she comes out of her room, Taylor runs over, ahead of Awsten, and engulfs Elle in a hug.
"Happy birthday!" She shouts, squeezing her best friend tightly.
"Thank you," Elle giggles, as she pulls away.
Taylor ushers her into the kitchen, before there's a knock, and she hurries off to answer it.
Elle spots the large bouquet of flowers on the kitchen counter, and gasps quietly, before looking to Awsten. He offers her a sheepish smile, as she walks closer to them, examining the various colours of tulips.
"Oh my god," she takes in the scent, feeling a little overwhelmed at how many flowers there are.
"Tulips, because," Awsten starts, moving closer to her, "they're like, your birth flower, right?" Elle nods, smiling up at him. "Happy birthday," he adds, softly, and she tucks her arms around his waist, leaning into him.
"Thank you," she squeezes him, gently, as he plants a kiss on top of her head.
"I have a delivery," Taylor smiles, returning to the kitchen, causing the two of them to turn around.
"You got McDonald's!" Elle grins, as Taylor places the bags of food on the counter.
They eat breakfast before Elle opens the few presents on the table. She opens everything from her family first, before Awsten is far too eager to let her go any further without opening his.
"You're going to kill him," Taylor mutters, earning a glare from Awsten.
"You won't," he shakes his head. "Well, I hope you won't."
The first present comes in a large box, and Awsten makes sure that she opens it before the others; when she takes the wrapping paper off, it reveals a pale lilac record player, and Elle's jaw drops.
"How did you even-" She pauses looking up at him. "I never even told you I wanted one of these."
"I saw you had the Entertainment vinyl, and a few others, but no record player," Awsten shrugs, wearing a proud smile.
"This looks expensive, Aws-" Elle frowns slightly, but he interrupts.
"No, no, shhh," he hushes her, placing a finger over her lips for a moment, before pulling away slowly; Elle doesn't argue her point anymore, she simply thanks him, and hugs him tightly, before she opens the rest of her gifts from him.
He's bought her a few more vinyls to add to her collection - now that she finally has something to play them on - and Elle thinks it's more than she could have ever asked for.
Reaching Taylor's presents, the first gift is a canvas, of a drawn image of various flowers, stating their names and some information about each of them - the next, leaves her a little more emotional.
Elle unwraps the paper, revealing a photo frame; she turns it over, and tears up immediately.
In the frame, is a picture of Elle, Taylor, and their late friend Georgia, from a weekend away they'd spent together, just over a year ago now.
"Please don't cry," Taylor says, as Elle looks at the picture, but a tear slips out anyway, causing both Taylor and Awsten to come to her side.
Taylor wraps her arms around Elle, cradling her head, and Awsten rubs circles on her back soothingly. She feels crowded by comfort, and she's unbelievably thankful for it.
"Oh, god, okay, okay," Elle wipes her eyes of any tears, and takes a deep breath. "Sorry, I love it, thank you so much," she turns to Taylor, hugging her tightly.
Awsten and Taylor clean up, while they push Elle to go and get ready, properly.
The rest of their morning is relaxed, before they head out in the afternoon, making the rounds to see some people; the main stop is Awsten's house, to see his family, and Jawn meets them there.
Elle doesn't expect it, but the Knight family get her a birthday card, and it's even signed from Gracie, although she's only ever spoken to her via FaceTime; it makes her insides feel warm, the way Mrs Knight smiles proudly, handing her the envelope.
It's late afternoon when Taylor takes Elle back to their apartment, but this time, without Awsten.
She feels a little disheartened to be leaving without him, but she doesn't mention it; she thinks he must have better things to do for the rest of the day.
Though, Taylor seems far too calm for Elle to be inauspicious of it.
Taylor knew she had to make this birthday special for Elle, since this time last year, was just one of the times that Alex had broken up with her; on her birthday.
It was rough, and Taylor doesn't want to give Elle even a second to allow herself to think about it, so she keeps conversation going, casually, until they reach their apartment.
"I might just go chill in my room for a bit," Elle says, nonchalantly - trying to make it seem like she isn't just wishing Awsten was with them.
"No, you're not," Taylor laughs, earning a quizzical look. "Come on," she takes her hand, leading her into her bedroom, and sitting her on the edge of her bed.
She moves over to the wardrobe, and Elle feels a strong sense of deja vu.
"What's happening?" She questions, but receives no answer; just a mischievous smile, as Taylor lays out an outfit on her bed.
Without another word, Elle puts the clothes on, before doing her hair and makeup as instructed by Taylor; and when she's done, there's a knock at their door.
"You can get that," Taylor nods, to which Elle stands up at heads over.
She opens the door, to reveal Awsten, now dressed in a floral, buttoned up shirt, paired with this black skinny jeans and boots.
"Wow," he lets out a breath, as soon as he lands his eyes on her.
"Wow to you, too," Elle blushes, though, still trying to keep her sassy facade. "I didn't realise I'd be opening the door to Leonardo DiCaprio," she comments, referencing his shirt, earning a soft laugh.
"Yeah, well, I didn't think-" Awsten pauses, trying to come up with a comparison that's equally as witty, but he falls short. "Sorry, I've got nothing," he shakes his head in defeat. "You're beautiful."
Elle's attempted facade quickly crumbles, as her lips spread into a grin - her cheeks tinted pink as her eyes flicker to the floor briefly, while Awsten's eyes are glued on her.
"You two haven't left yet?" Taylor emerges, peering over Elle's shoulder. "Come on, get a move on."
"Okay, okay, yeah," Awsten glances down to his watch, briefly, before offering his hand out to Elle.
"Where are we going?" Elle's eyebrows dip together, but she trustingly takes his hand anyway.
"Nice place to eat," he replies, simply, as she steps out into the hall with him.
Taylor hands Elle her handbag, offering them a small wave, before closing the door.
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ellewright
liked by awstenknight and 865 others
ellewright i'm feeling 22 💗
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purpleparx omg who got you these?!?!
entertainmentvhs happy birthday !!!!!
5secondsofparx omg happy birthday 💓💓
awstenknight HEY! LIKE THE TAYLOR SWIFT SONG!
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