Chapter Fifteen:
Bryce's POV
For once, I wake up to an empty bed, Blossom nowhere in sight.
I feel cold and deserted without her here with me, and so I shove the duvet off of my body before standing up from bed.
Spotting the pair of sweatpants of mine that Blossom had worn last night, I grab them from the floor before pulling them up my legs. It leaves me mildly concerned that Blossom is flouncing around the apartment half-naked, and I find myself crossing my fingers that that isn't the case.
After that dream she had about Anders, Scarlett, and I last night, I have the feeling that she'll be even more uncomfortable around those two.
Pushing that thought aside, I head out of the bedroom and into the living area. I'm immediately greeted by the sight of Blossom, Anders, and Scarlett all sitting in the living room, Blossom sitting alone on the loveseat with a book in her lap.
She's twirling her hair around her finger as she reads the book, a satisfied smile on her face. She has her legs tucked beneath herself and she's wearing a satin black nightgown that's extremely unlike her, her hair falling in soft waves around her shoulders.
She's completely ignoring Anders and Scarlett, both of whom are watching her from where they're seated on the couch across from her.
They have looks of confusion on their face as Blossom innocently turns over to the next page of her book, tilting her head to the side as she continues to read. It's as if she's in her own literature bubble as she ignores everyone else in the room around her, but I'd by lying if I said that I wasn't disappointed that she didn't look up when she heard the bedroom door open.
"Hey, fuckers," I say as I walk behind the couch where Scarlett and Anders are seated.
Scarlett raises her middle finger up at me and Anders scoffs as I make my way around the couch, Blossom not responding as she knows that I'm clearly not speaking to her.
Taking a seat down on the loveseat next to Blossom, she still doesn't look at me. She just flips to the next page of the book, still reading peacefully.
I'm about to open my mouth to say good morning to her just as Scarlett interrupts me by asking, "Is she pissed at all of us or something? She's refused to say a single word to Andy and I."
I narrow my eyes at her, not answering her question as I turn back to Blossom, considering that I have no clue if she's still
upset or not.
"Baby?" I ask quietly, and Blossom finally looks up at me.
She has a slight twinkle in her eye that has my heart feeling weak. She looks so sweet and innocent right now, and all it takes is me to pat my lap for her to crawl across the couch towards me.
She curls up in my lap, pressing her face to the crook of my neck. I kiss the top of her head, wrapping my arms around her small body. I can't stop the smug smile from creeping onto my lips as I look back at Scarlett and Anders.
Anders' eyes are scamming Blossom's body in a gross way, and so I squeeze Blossom a little tighter as I mouth the word 'Mine' towards Anders.
He rolls his eyes at me and I smile, reaching for Blossom's chin. I tilt her face upwards so that I can look her in the eye, then asking her, "You slept all right last night? After everything, I mean."
She nods enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around me. I notice that she's ditched the book that she was reading, and it's now resting where she had just been sitting. It's my copy of Persuasion, the one where I had highlighted the line that I got tattooed for her, and I smile at the memory.
I had gotten all my tattoos done by the same artist in Orlando, and so I was fucking scared that the tattoo, though simple, would get screwed up. Thankfully, it looks perfect, which makes me even more happy considering it reminds me of my girl.
"I think that we heard you guys screaming last night. Were you fighting again, or just having some really hardcore sex?" Scarlett suddenly asks, and I scowl at her as she lets her hand fall to Anders' thigh.
To my surprise, Blossom is the one to answer by saying, "That's none of your damn business, Scarlett."
Anders lets out a low whistle, chuckling when Scarlett slaps him in the abdomen. Blossom grins secretly at this exchange, considering that she was the cause of all of this. Her smile seems to grow even wider when Anders chimes in to say, "Don't be that way, Carly. Sometimes you're loud as fuck during sex."
Before I know it, Scarlett has tackled Anders backwards onto the couch. He continues to laugh at this, even as Scarlett grabs him by the collar of his shirt, tugging hard as she threatens to kill him in his sleep tonight.
Lexi's POV
"Do you have plans for breakfast?" I ask Bryce nervously, shifting back a little in his lap so that I can look at his perfect face.
He raises on eyebrow at me quizzically, shaking his head as he asks me, "No, why? Do you have something in mind?"
I bite my lip for a moment, shrugging. "I kind of want to get to know Kennedy's ex-boyfriend, Jules. The one that we saw yesterday. I was going to see if they would want to go out for breakfast together but I also don't want to be a third wheel."
Bryce gives me a sweet smile, reaching up to cup the side of my neck. He tugs me back to him, close enough that he's able to kiss me on the cheek. "Of course, Blossom. Just us and them? We can leave those two dumbasses here if you want."
He cocks his head to the side, towards Anders and Scarlett, and I can't help but to smile. Scarlett is still on top of Anders and it's quite a hilarious sight, the way that she's spewing out death threats while he just watches her in amusement.
I don't know if I'll be able to forgive Scarlett. I really am extremely upset with her, and so though I'll do my best to not hold her poor decisions against her for Bryce's sake, I really don't feel comfortable around her.
She doesn't seem to have any common sense. Neither does Anders, but Scarlett also appears to be completely heartless. I don't know nearly enough about the girl to fully decide how I feel about her, though. She could've gone through some really hard times in her past, and though I don't think anything can justify how she's treated me and disrespected my relationship, it would make me dislike her a little bit less.
I recall her getting really offended when Anders brought up her sister, but I've gotten the impression that that's certainly not something that she'd like to talk about.
"I think that it'll be okay for them to come. If they want, that is," I answer, and Bryce glances towards Scarlett and Anders before hesitantly nodding.
🌸🌸🌸
"Hey!" Kennedy exclaims as soon as her eyes meet mine.
We had beat her and Jules to the restaurant for brunch, and so we sat down and ordered drinks while waiting for them. Anders, Scarlett, and Bryce are all drinking coffee, and I did my best to ignore the way that Scarlett rolled her eyes at me when I ordered a hot chocolate.
I wave back at Kennedy, smiling wide at her as her and Jules approach us. Kennedy is gripping his arm firmly, practically latched onto him, and I've never seen her look so . . . in love.
Even though I know that she likes Nathan quite a bit, I can tell for sure that she really does love Jules. She looks so carefree and happy as she walks with him beside her, and I swear that her eyes light up brighter than I've ever seen before as Jules pulls out a chair at our table for her.
"I just want to talk to Lexi for a minute. Is that okay?" Kennedy asks Jules, who glances to me for a moment before nodding at Kennedy. She smiles back at him before walking around the table towards me, tapping me on the shoulder.
"Can I talk to you for a moment, Lexi?" Kennedy asks.
Not sure what she could be getting at, I'm hesitant to agree, but I still say, "Yeah, sure. Alone?"
She nods at me, and so I push my chair away from the table. Bryce has had his hand on my thigh the entire time, and he squeezes my leg firmly before pulling his hand away.
Standing up from my seat, I follow Kennedy's lead away from the table. I could've sworn that I could feel Scarlett's eyes boring into the back of my head as we walk, all the way until we're out of their sight.
Kennedy immediately begins to speak. "I'm really sorry about ditching you yesterday. I still feel so damn awful, Lexi. I miss you and I don't want it to seem like I don't want to spend time with you because that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm just going through a lot dealing with Jules and Nate right now. I really want to spend some time with you as soon as possible."
This is certainly not the conversation that I expected for us to have.
I was a little bit upset about Kennedy becoming too busy for us to spend time together yesterday, but I don't think that I can blame her. If I was in a situation anything like that I doubt that I would act any differently, and so it doesn't feel right to judge.
"Don't worry about it, Kennedy. I totally get it. I just want to see you happy," I tell her honestly, smiling wide at her.
Her eyes fill up with tears as she closes the gap between us, pulling me into a tight hug.
"Thank you for understanding," she tells me. "I'm so glad that you aren't still mad at me. Jules is only here for a week, and so he'll be gone by the time you move back in. We'll have a ton of time together again."
I feel like a liar for not telling her about my plans to move in with Bryce right now, yet at the same time, I don't want to ruin the moment.
And so instead, I squeeze Kennedy back. "I can't wait." I tell her. "Bryce's friends are leaving then as well, thank God. It feels as though they're tearing apart our relationship. I know that it's probably not okay that it's so easy for them to get into our heads, but we'd just only gotten back together before they came along."
Kennedy pulls out of our hug, taking both of my hands in hers. "I get that, I really do. You guys just need a little bit of time to build your trust back up. You'll get there, I know it. You love each other too much to not be together," she says with a sad smile.
"Thank you," I respond, to which she nods as she carefully drops my hands from her grip. "It really does mean a lot to know that you have faith in us. Sometimes it feels as if nobody else does."
Kennedy doesn't reply. She just continues to smile, giving my shoulder a squeeze before suggesting, "Let's head back to the table. I'm starving, and I really need some caffeine in my system."
We both chuckle a little bit at her words, then turning around and heading in the direction that we had just came in. We arrive at our table to find Bryce, Anders, and Jules surprisingly all having a conversation, Scarlett not associating with them.
She looks up from where she had been staring into her cup of coffee as Kennedy and I take our seats. Bryce's arm is around me in an instant, and I resist the urge to bury my face against his chest and inhale the warm smell of cinnamon as my gaze locks with Scarlett's.
I shoot her a small smile, and oddly enough, she smiles back.
Is she dying or something? I'm not sure if I've seen a genuine smile on her face since the moment that she arrived. Not to mention that she's smiling directly at me; not Bryce or Anders.
Anders seems to notice this, and he gently nudges Scarlett in the arm. "Did you get any updates?" he asks her, and she just nods her head.
"Bad news, I assume?" he questions, and she shudders before nodding again.
Bryce catches on to this conversation, and he glances at Scarlett to ask, "Do you need to fly home tonight?"
She shakes her head, wrapping her arms around her body. "I'm okay. My dad says not to bother stressing, and that she's probably fine. She just has a really high fever and has been vomiting thanks to the new medication."
Bryce frowns at this, and I watch as Anders reaches for Scarlett's hand. She lets him link his fingers through hers, to my surprise, and Bryce reaches across the table to briefly squeeze her other the hand.
I had never thought that I would ever see Scarlett this vulnerable.
I have no darn clue what could possibly be going on right now, but it doesn't feel like I should insert myself and ask. Instead, I glance to Kennedy and Jules who are just as confused as I am, smiling at them before the pair start up a conversation about some of their high school friends from France.
A waitress appears not too shortly afterwards, a different woman than who had taken our drink orders. She looks much younger, probably in her mid-twenties, with wavy blonde hair so blonde that it's almost white and piercing blue eyes the colour of the ocean.
"Hi, my name is Britney. Are you guys ready to order?" she asks in a soft and sweet voice.
Anders spits a mouthful of coffee back into his cup.
Scarlett curses under her breath, and she's gripping Anders' hand so firmly now that her knuckles are turning white. Her and Anders turn to look at each other, both of their faces suddenly pale, and I watch as Scarlett leans her head against his shoulder in defeat.
The waitress looks confused by the reaction that she had elicited, but she quickly regains her composure before pulling out a notepad and pen from her apron. Since Scarlett, Anders, Bryce, and I had all figured out what we want to eat as we waited for Kennedy and Jules, who seemed to be able to decide while Scarlett, Anders, and Bryce were busy acting strange, we're all able to order now. The waitress seems to be a tad bit frightened of us at this point in time, and so she's quick to scamper away as soon as she's done jotting down the orders in her notepad.
"B-R-I-T-N-E-Y," Scarlett says softly, and I can't help but to furrow my eyebrows at her in confusion.
Anders seems to understand what's she's getting at though, as he then says, "She would've laughed and claimed that that isn't the correct spelling."
Bryce chuckles, his eyes meeting Anders as he simply adds on, "Damn right she would've."
Anders get a sad smile on his face, and he begins to tell Bryce, "I don't b—"
"I know," Bryce says sharply, interrupting Anders' thought.
I notice his arm around me tense, gripping onto me in more of a possessive manner.
Someone is suddenly poking me in the leg, and when I turn to the side, I see Kennedy sporting a distressed look on her face.
"What the hell is happening?" she hisses in a whisper, and all I can do is shrug at her considering that I have no clue either.
A/N: I'm drowning in so much homework and I need to start learning lines like yesterday, but am I doing that shit? Of course not! Because I'm working on this damn book instead!
My chapters used to be way longer when I started writing, and I never let a chapter be under 3k words. Most chapters are shorter than that now, though, and though I really do feel bad about it, it's so that I can get content up every day for you guys.
This chapter has a lot of foreshadowing. Any guesses as of to what I was hinting towards? ;)