Songs for this chapter:
• 2002 - Anne-Marie
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty:
Bryce's POV
I deposit a sopping-wet Blossom onto one of the couches in the living room. If Dad wants to have a fit about the water ruining the sofa, we can schedule it for a later date.
"I know you have a flair for the dramatic, but we aren't in a movie. We could've had that conversation inside, where it's warm and dry," I tease, pulling my damp sweatshirt up over my head and tossing it on the floor behind me.
Blossom smiles up at me sweetly, a twinkle in her eyes that could make me forgive any wrong she's ever done. "Oops."
I snort and reach for Blossom's sweatshirt too. She lets me pull it up and over her head, but after it joins my sweatshirt on the floor, I recall that all she had on underneath the sweater was a bra. She shrinks back into the couch cushions, insecure, and folds her arms across her chest to hide.
I frown and pull my T-shirt off. I hold it out towards her. "Put this on. It even smells like me. Lucky little lady."
Blossom beams up at me. She gingerly takes my shirt from me and pulls it down over her head before reaching out for me and pressing one of her open palms flat against my abdomen.
"Lucky, indeed," she whispers with a small, sweet smile.
I gingerly take a seat down on the couch beside her. When I lay one of my hands atop her thigh with my palm opened upwards, she sets her hand on top and slips her fingers through mine.
With my free hand, I reach for her chin and tilt her so that she's looking directly at me. "I missed hearing your voice. Will you tell me how you've been? Malcolm and James said you were doing well, but it would make me very happy to hear it from you."
Blossom tilts her head to the side. Her eyes are sparkling when they meet mine. "I've been doing really well, actually."
One of my eyebrows raises. "Is that so?"
An enthusiastic nod of Blossom's head. "Yes. I've been eating lots. And I'm happy. Really, really happy. I love my job, and it feels as though all my dreams are coming true. I've wanted to play Christine on Broadway for almost my whole life, and it sometimes still doesn't feel real that I get to do it now. Everything feels . . . almost perfect. My life is so, so close to perfect. But then Dad got into the accident, and you're . . . you're still . . ." She takes a deep breath, holds it for a few seconds, and then slowly exhales. "You're still not mine. And I can't stand it."
I can't help but to shake my head. "Blossom. Don't be ridiculous."
She frowns at me. "What did I say that seems ridiculous to you?"
"That I'm not yours? I've always been yours, Blossom. I thought you knew that."
She simply stares at me, with those huge brown eyes, and all I can do is stare back.
Until she leans in and kisses me fiercely.
A surprised sound leaves my throat, muffled by her mouth against mine. Her hands reach for my shoulders, fingertips and nails digging into the skin, and when her hands can't find anything to grab onto they slide up into my hair and begin to fist on the strands closest to my neck.
Oh my God. I missed this. Missed her lips on mine and her hands all over me. Missed the way her fingertips dance across my skin, the way her nails dig in as though she's scared to let go, the way her hands never settle in one place for too long like she's trying to touch every square inch of my skin.
Kissing her is intoxicating, better than any drug I've ever taken. I would give up everything to have this feeling one last time, and I would give up the world for her to be all mine again.
"You need a haircut. It's gotten long," Blossom whispers against my mouth.
Overwhelmed in the feelings, in the way my heart is racing a million miles an hour, I just nod and pull her back to me for another kiss.
🌸🌸🌸
"This was a stupid idea, Bryce. Remember when we went ice skating together? I almost died. Are you trying to kill me? I thought you loved me," Blossom pouts.
I roll my eyes and offer her one of my hands. "Ah, damn, baby. You've uncovered my secret. I've been wanting you dead all along."
Blossom huffs and emphatically crosses her arms against her chest. She tries to further emphasize her annoyance by crossing her legs, but as soon as one of her feet leaves the ground, her other foot rolls out from beneath her thanks to the roller skates strapped to her feet.
She squeals, arms flailing as she tries to grip the wood of the bench on either side of her. Once her feet stop rolling around on the ground, she glares right up at me. "Wow, Bryce. You're so funny."
I skate a few paces backwards. "And you're so dramatic. Up you go, Miss Brooks."
She shakes her head. "I don't think I can do that, sir."
I roll a few paces back towards her. This time, when I offer my hands out, she places her much-smaller hands on top of my palms.
I link our fingers and squeeze her hands firmly. "Come on, babe. You'll be okay. I'll hold your hand the whole time. I promise."
Blossom's eyebrows furrow. "Pinky promise?"
I release my hold on one of her hands and close all of my fingers into a fist except my pinky. Blossom links her pinky through mine, and I lean in to kiss her forehead. "Pinky promise."
I take both of Blossom's hands firmly in my grip and gently pull her to her feet. She loses her balance, legs flailing helplessly beneath her, but I crush her against my chest to hold her tight until her legs straighten.
"You ready, my love?" I whisper into her hair.
She nods, and so I unwrap my arms from around her tiny body and reach down to take her hand. Slowly, with Blossom practically wrapped around my arm, we skate through the benches and towards the outdoor rink.
During the months other than winter, the outdoor skating rink her and I went skating at together all those years ago is converted to pavement and roller skates are able to be rented rather than ice skates. I knew I needed to get Blossom out of the house for some fresh air and do something that would take her mind off of the situation with her dad, and I figured that having to put all her focus on staying upright and not falling on her cute little ass would distract her well enough.
Together, we slowly roll onto the concrete, circular rink. Blossom uses one hand to hold onto the barricade around the outside of the rink and her other to hold on to my arm, and even though it makes me snort, I roll along beside her at the slowest pace possible as she gets acclimated to the roller skates.
"How are you so good at this?" Blossom asks through gritted teeth. Her knees are wobbling like mad.
I shrug. "We used to go roller skating back in Florida. Me and my friends. I'll let you ask me more questions about it if you let go of the rail and only hold on to me."
Blossom whines, but then releases her grip on the railing. She stumbles, and her legs begin to slide out from beneath her until I slide an arm around her waist and pull her back upright. We begin to skate along the edges of the ring together, and now that Blossom isn't dragging herself along the wall, I'm able to get us skating at a steady pace.
"Which friends did you go roller skating with? Brittany?" Blossom asks.
I chuckle and pick up our pace. "Jealous?"
"Very much."
I try to snuggle her closer to me, even though I'm already squeezing her against my side. "Not just Brittany. Me, her, Carly, and Anders. Brittany was never very good at it, though."
I feel Blossom's grip on me loosen. "Did you let her hold on to you, too?"
I exhale loudly. "Fuck no, Blossom. I was obsessed with you even then. I didn't touch other girls. I couldn't even if I wanted to. After the . . . the Chelsea thing, I couldn't stand to be touched. I vomited every time anyone tried."
"I felt that way too. Because of Liam. I guess I got out before anything really happened, though. Your trauma is worse than mine."
"There's no need to compare trauma, honey. We've both been through hell, but we're going to work through it together, right?"
Blossom's grip tightens again. "Right."
A moment of silence passes. All I can hear is the sound of our skates rolling against the pavement.
Then, Blossom says, "You don't need to call it 'the Chelsea thing.' You were raped. You don't need to try and hide the ugliness of it all."
My eyes fall shut, but I force myself to open them again so that I don't make us skate into an elderly woman or a small child. "I know."
"I wish I was there. I could've helped you find better ways to cope with it than—"
"Than having sex with half the girls at my school and pretending I liked it because I wanted to get the image of Chelsea riding my dick out of my head?"
Blossom is quiet for a moment.
And then, she whispers: "You took the words right out of my mouth."
This makes me howl with laughter. "I'm sure that I did."
A small smile flicks up the corners of Blossom's lips. "We're a mess, aren't we?"
"Damn right we are."
"I love you a lot, Bryce. More than anything."
"And I love you, honey."
We continue to skate in silence, but then an idea strikes me.
I pull us to a halt. Blossom looks up at me quizzically, but then I take one of her hands in mine, lift it above her head, and twirl her in a circle.
She squeals in delight and collapses into my chest. I hold her tight and laugh right along with her, feeling lighter than I have in months.
"I think you should move in with me," I whisper, brushing my lips against Blossom's forehead.
"I think I would like that," is Blossom's response.
I hook an arm around her waist and we begin to skate around the rink again.
There are so many feelings bubbling in my chest as we skate in silence, my arm around her waist and her cheek pressed against my shoulder.
Joy.
Adoration.
Love.
And, for the first time in awhile, hope.
Hope that everything is finally settling into place, hope that the timing is finally right, hope that this is just the start of forever for me and Blossom.
There are butterflies in my stomach, and it's a foreign fluttering sensation that I don't know how to handle. There's a lightness in my chest that makes me feel free, free to love her however I want and whenever I want to.
She's gotten the hang of this whole roller skating thing now. The movements of her feet are more sure, more confident, and I have the feeling that she would probably be able to stay upright on her own.
Despite this, her grip on my arm doesn't loosen one bit.
🌸🌸🌸
"I could take you the the nicest restaurant in the world and you would still order a grilled cheese sandwich, wouldn't you?"
Blossom shrugs at me from across the table when I raise an eyebrow at her.
"Are you saying that this is the fanciest restaurant in the world?" Blossom asks, dipping the corner of a piece of grilled cheese into her bowl of tomato soup before delicately biting off the corner of the sandwich. She gently sets the sandwich back on her plate, and after she finishes chewing and swallows her mouthful of food, I find myself tracking the movements of her mouth when her tongue peeks out to swipe a stray crumb off her bottom lip.
"No, but it's the nicest restaurant in the city that'll serve us considering how sweaty and disheveled we both look," I mumble under my breath, eyes still glued to her mouth.
When Blossom's teeth come out to gently bite into her lower lip, my reaction is physical. I feel my spine straighten, and my eyes are hyper-focused as they continue to watch her.
"That's fair, I guess." There's a long pause before she continues and says, "I haven't heard anything from Mom yet. Which is probably a good thing. She would've called if something bad happened."
Finally, at the mention of Blossom's hospitalized father, I'm able to force my attention away from Blossom's mouth and towards her eyes. "Can I see your phone for a second, honey?"
Blossom's eyebrows shoot up in surprise, but she doesn't hesitate to dig inside her pocket so that she can retrieve her phone.
She slides her phone across the table, and I quickly grab the device and pocket it. "No more phone tonight. If your mom calls, we'll answer, but I'm trying to distract you from the real world. You don't need to be checking your phone every five minutes."
Blossom blinks at me and then crosses her arms with a huff. "Whatever."
I laugh and nod down towards her food. "Eat up, my girl. Our night isn't over yet. I still have a lot more I want to do with you."
A/N: I'm sorry this chapter took so long ahahhaha I'm a wreck. I have no time for anything except homework but I promise I'm trying my best to write for you guys.
We're also only a few chapters away from the end of the book which is making it harder for me to write because I really don't want Lexi and Bryce's story to be over. It's going to be so so hard for me to say goodbye to them.
I'm trying my best, though, and I hope the next chapter can be out soon.
I <3 u guys :)