Songs for this chapter:
• This Town - Niall Horan
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Eight:
Bryce's POV
Blossom's small hand is resting in mine as she bounces nervously on the balls of her feet beside me.
The two of us are huddled together on the same step of the escalator as we descend to the airport's baggage claim. After an exhausting couple days of travel, we've finally made it home, and finally, I'm going to be able to bring Blossom to be with her family.
"You okay, sweetheart?" I ask her softly, leaning down to whisper the words into her ear.
Blossom's face tilts up towards me
and she gives me the slightest of nods, but her anxious bouncing doesn't stop until we reach the end of the escalator and have to step off and onto the cool marble floor.
I glance over my shoulder at Jordan, Aidan, and Sawyer as they follow Blossom and I off the escalator. "Lexi's brother is picking her up and taking her to the hospital to see her family. We'll get a taxi or something once she's with him," I inform them.
The only response I get is a few nods of heads as we step through a set of automatic sliding doors and into the baggage claim.
The wide, open room is filled with bustling bodies, families and couples and solo travellers hurrying through with luggage rolling along behind them as they try to get to their destinations. I scan the room, searching for Charlie's familiar face, but the only thing that seems to catch my eye is a flash of bright blue hair in the back corner of the room, as far away from the baggage carousels as possible.
I give Blossom's handle a gentle squeeze. "I see Charlie. Jasmine is with him. I'll bring you over to them and then I'll go find your suitcase so that you three can head to the hospital. Okay, baby?"
Blossom gives me a small, slight nod as we begin to head in Charlie's direction.
"Are the two of them still together? They're almost more confusing than us," I murmur as we slip through gaps in the crowd. I'm dimly aware of Jordan, Aidan, and Sawyer disappearing into the crowd and starting away from us, likely to find our bags.
Blossom grins a little to herself and shrugs her shoulders at me.
Once we finally break free from the crowd, Blossom drops my hand and sprints towards her brother. He looks different from the last time I saw him, older, with a close-shaven beard and his hair pushed back from his face for once.
I'm not sure when the last time Blossom and Charlie saw each other was, but I can tell that it was far too long ago for their liking by the way Blossom launches herself into his chest and Charlies's fingertips dig in his sister's back. A beat doesn't pass before Blossom dissolves into tears, and as she presses her face into his sweatshirt, I feel my heart clench in my chest.
"Oh my fucking God, Lex. These past few days . . . I needed you here so badly," Charlie whispers. His voice breaks on the last word, and I avert my eyes away from the siblings, feeling like this is a private moment I shouldn't intrude on.
Instead, I turn towards Jasmine. Her electric blue hair is piled in a messy bun atop her head, and dark circles are etched underneath her eyes. A small side smile turns up the corners of her lips, but it isn't enough to hide her deep exhaustion.
"Hey, Jasmine," I begin to say, taking a few more steps towards her and the Brookses. "How have you—"
And then, I accidentally gasp out loud, finally taking in Jasmine's appearance from head to toe.
Dumbly stating the obvious, I say, "Holy shit. You're pregnant."
Jasmine chuckles to herself, reaching to rest a hand on her very large stomach. "Very, very pregnant, and ready for this thing to get out of me. Everyone keeps asking if I'm having twins, but I'm not, and I still have two months until my due date."
I blink at her, confused. I can't imagine that this was a planned pregnancy, and as far as I knew, she wasn't in a relationship with anyone.
"If you don't mind me asking, who's the father?" I ask quietly. It feels like an intrusive question, but I can't help my own dumbass curiosity and I also want to distract myself to give Blossom a moment with her brother.
Jasmine snorts, and her eyes briefly flick towards the Brooks siblings before focusing again on me. "Who do you think? I've been stuck with him ever since, and we've been living together for a few months now."
My eyes dart to her left hand, checking for a ring. When I don't see one, I focus on her face again and say, "I didn't realize you two were together."
Jasmine scoffs. "We weren't." Then, she lets out an abrupt laugh. "Well, we still aren't, I guess. It's just . . . really complicated. Charlie doesn't want to make things official, but my parents really want us to get married before the baby comes, and—"
"Jazz. I never said that," Charlie cuts in. When I turn towards him, I find that his arms are still firmly around his sister, who has her face buried in his sweater. "All I said was that I don't want you to have to stress about a wedding right now, too. I love you, Jazz, and that's all that matters to me."
With a sigh of resignation, Jasmine looks down at her stomach and begins to idly rub a large circle against the bump. When I glance over towards Blossom, I find her pulling away from Charlie with a sniffle. She begins to wipe away the tears streaking her cheeks with the too-long sleeves of the sweatshirt of mine she's wearing, but when her gaze settles on Jasmine, her eyes light up.
She takes a few timid steps towards her, but as soon as Jasmine meets her eyes and says, "She's kicking. She must know Auntie Lexi is here," Blossom rushes towards her and lets Jasmine guide her hand to her stomach to feel the baby kicking.
Charlie suddenly comes up beside me, and in a voice too low for Blossom and Jasmine to hear, he asks, "How are you? I saw that you . . . that you, y'know . . ."
I look towards Blossom, still eagerly fawning over Jasmine's baby. My eyes remain on her when, quietly, I tell Charlie, "Your sister is an angel. She's helped me more than I deserve."
When I look to Charlie, I find him also focused on Blossom. "She isn't talking," he says. "When did this start?"
I look down at my feet. "It started recently. She's in a state of shock. She's been through a lot of shit over the past couple days."
I look again at Charlie. One of his eyebrows is raised when he asks, "Anything that I don't already know about?"
I lift my shoulders in a shrug. "It isn't my story to tell."
Suddenly, Jordan chimes into the conversation from behind me. I look over my shoulder to find him, Aidan, and Sawyer approaching with all of our suitcases rolling along behind them.
"Who knocked Jazzy up?" he asks with a smile, nodding towards Jasmine and Blossom.
Charlie chuckles to himself and leaves my side to go stand beside Jasmine and Blossom. He slips his hand into Jasmine's and leans in to brush a kiss against her blue hair. "Guilty."
Jasmine looks up at Charlie with sparkling eyes, and he stares back at her for a moment before leaning down to claim her lips in a kiss.
Blossom's eyes widen, and she awkwardly takes a few steps away from her brother and towards me. I reach down to slip my arm around her waist, and when she looks up at me, her eyes are sad.
"You're going to be an aunt. Are you excited?" I ask her gently.
Her response is a small nod of her head and a sad, melancholy smile.
I frown and watch as her eyes flit towards Charlie and Jasmine. I see something different in her expression, something that looks like . . .
Envy.
And though she remains silent, I watch as every single thought in her head plays across her face.
Jasmine and Charlie's relationship was rocky, unstable, and they went through periods of being together and being apart. Then, Jasmine got pregnant, and the pregnancy brought the two of them together. Now, they have two things that Blossom wants; a stable, loving relationship and a baby.
I use my grip on her waist to tuck her in against my side. "You're only twenty-two," I murmur, lips brushing the hair on the top of her head. "You have plenty of time, sweetheart."
She lets out a sad sigh before looking back to her brother. He's no longer shoving his tongue down Jasmine's throat, and when he notices Blossom watching him, he glances down at his watch. When he reads the time, he frowns and announces to everyone, "The three of us should head out. We're going right back to the hospital. Do you guys have a way to get to your houses?"
"We have an Uber on the way," Jordan answers for me. "The four of us are heading to Leo's place right now. You three should get to the hospital." He rolls Blossom's suitcase towards her with one hand, and she takes the handle from him with furrowed brows.
I give her waist a final squeeze before releasing my hold on her. "I'll FaceTime you in a little bit, okay? And you know that you can always text me when you need me, right?"
Blossom blinks at me several times.
"I'll see you soon. Maybe tomorrow?" I suggest gently to fill in her silence.
She blinks several more times.
Charlie approaches us and casually slings an arm around his sister's shoulders. She flinches a little at the first contact, but doesn't push him away.
"C'mon, Lex," he coaxes. "Bryce, Jordan, and their friends probably have place to be, too. It was very generous of them to come with you here, but I'm sure they're busy. We should give them some space now."
Helplessly, Blossom's gaze darts between Charlie and I.
When her brother offers her his hand with a small smile, she shrinks right into my chest, digs her fingernails into my sweatshirt, and plants her feet on the floor.
I sigh. "Please, Blossom? Go with Charlie. You're going to see your dad now."
She shakes her head and her nails dig in even deeper.
I look to Charlie, helpless.
He tips his head back and closes his eyes. "Do you have a few hours to spare so that you can come with us, Bryce? She's not going to let go of you. I should've seen this coming."
I glance down at Blossom one final time before reaching for her thighs and lifting her up into my arms. Her legs hook around my waist, and I press her face into the crook of my neck. Her warm breath fans against my neck, and when I give one thigh a small squeeze, she makes a content little sigh.
I look to Charlie and Jasmine for the final time. "You guys know I would do anything for Lexi, don't you?"
🌸🌸🌸
"Lexi! Oh, thank God."
Blossom and I follow Charlie and Jasmine into Jonathon's hospital room, and as soon as we come into view of Kathleen and Lexi's uncle, Michael, Kathleen shoots up from her seat at her husband's bedside and rushes towards her daughter.
I drop Blossom's hand and take a step away as Kathleen embraces her with trembling hands. When her arms come around Blossom, she flinches slightly, and I can tell by the look on Kathleen's face that she notices immediately.
She pulls away from Blossom and instantly reaches to take her daughter's face in her hands. Blossom's flinch is even more noticeable this time, as though she's scared of being slapped again, but Kathleen's grip is firm when she turns to glare at me over one shoulder.
"I know exactly what this means," she hisses. "She's acting the same way I did after I was raped. She's flinching whenever people touch her. Was it you? I swear to God, Bryce Bradshaw, if you did anything to her, I will—"
Blossom is rapidly shaking her head, eyes wide and desperate as she stares at her mom in horror. Kathleen notices her reaction, and when she turns to face her daughter again she drops her hands from Blossom's face.
"Who was it, sweetheart? Who did this to you?" she asks desperately, her voice barely above a whisper as she stares right into Blossom's eyes.
Blossom looks to me, helpless, and so I answer for her.
"She isn't speaking," I tell Kathleen quietly. "She's in shock from everything that's happened over the past few days. My overdose, Johathan's accident, Lia—"
I cut myself off and look back to Blossom, searching for confirmation. "Can I tell them?" I ask in a whisper.
She nods her head. In my peripheral vision, I'm dimly aware of Michael standing from his seat and beginning to cross the room towards us.
I inhale deeply. "It was Liam. He's been hitting her since they got together about a year ago, and then a few days ago he tried to . . . you know . . ."
Kathleen's eyes are like lasers as she stares right at me. "You knew about this, and you didn't do anything?"
I flinch at the harshness to her words. "Christ, of course not," I say defensively. "I dealt with him as soon as I found out. He won't touch her ever again if he wants his heart to continue to beat."
Kathleen looks down at the floor and expels a long breath. "I know. I . . . I know you wouldn't have let it happen." Then, she looks up to her daughter and asks, "Lexi? Why didn't you tell us? Why did you keep seeing him even though he was . . . he was . . ."
Once again, Blossom glances to me for help with wide, scared eyes.
I answer Kathleen for her. "She was lonely. She wanted a boyfriend to replace me. Even though he's a disgusting piece of shit, she was desperate to find someone to . . . fill the void."
I watch a singular tear slide down Kathleen's cheek.
"You really do love him, don't you?" she asks her daughter in a whisper.
Blossom's eyes meet mine again, and hers are filled with tears.
When the eye contact becomes too much, the sheer emotion in her gaze becomes too much, I glance away, to the back of the hospital room.
Blossom's gaze follows mine, and together, our eyes find Jonathon Brooks, still unconscious in his hospital bed.
A sob breaks free from Blossom's throat, and she rushes over to her father's bedside.
When she drops to her knees on the floor beside him and reaches with fumbling fingers to take his hand, I follow after her and kneel beside her.
So when she slumps to the side in grief or exhaustion or a combination of both, I'm there to catch her as she falls.
A/N: So......
Ahah. Ahahahhahah Aha.
It's been awhile. I have been struggling. School sucks. I would like to drop out. It is so boring and takes up way too much of my time.
And homework... exists. And takes a long time when you're an idiot who still can't use a graphing calculator properly.
Anyway. Give me some time. I will figure out a writing schedule. I promise I will never ever give up on this series and that I will finish it for you all as quickly as I can.
Thank you for your patience and I love you all. So much.
But I do also love Squishmallows and looking at photos of them on Reddit does take up a lot of my free time so maybe I'll try to do less of that and more of writing. Lol.