Songs for this chapter:
• boyfriend - Ariana Grande & Social House
Chapter Eighty:
Lexi's POV
"Habibti? Can I see the details about your flight?" Bryce asks me suddenly.
I blink up at him from where I'm laying down on the couch with my head resting in his lap. He smiles down at me and I can't help but to grin at the sight of his dimples.
He sticks his tongue out at me and I giggle.
"Sure. Let me find it. It should be on my phone somewhere," I say, grabbing my phone from where it's resting on the coffee table.
Bryce kisses my forehead before he continues doing whatever he's been doing for the past few minutes on his laptop. The TV is on, but I find watching Bryce's long, nimble fingers dancing across the keyboard much more interesting.
Especially since his nails are painted with sparkly pink nail polish.
I smile just a little bit wider at that fact before turning on my phone. I find my flight information before tapping Bryce's shoulder.
He looks back down at me with another smile, and I stick my tongue out before handing over my phone. "Here you go, sir."
Bryce barks out a laugh. He then takes the phone from my hand, and after taking a few moments to read the flight information on my screen, he hands the phone back to me with a ridiculously large smile on his face.
I drop my phone back onto the coffee table, raising my eyebrows at Bryce once I sit up on the couch and turn to face him. "Why so cocky all of a sudden? Well, more cocky than usual, I suppose."
Bryce chuckles once again. "We're on the same flight home. I figured we must be since we're flying out on the same day. I'm going to get you upgraded to business class so you can sit with me."
His smile is so damn wide and he looks so damn happy at the news that we're on the same flight that I can't help but to grin back at him in response.
"You're not upgrading me to business class, but I'm glad that we're on the same flight. That makes me happy. I don't like travelling alone," I say, reaching out to take Bryce's face in between my hands.
He merely stares at me in silence for several long moments.
Then, he grins wickedly. "Too bad. That wasn't a question. I want you to sit with me. Otherwise I'm going to steal you from your seat and make you sit in my lap for the entire flight."
I open my mouth to respond to that, but before I get a chance, Bryce has somehow tackled me backwards onto the couch so that I'm laying on my back while he hovers above me in the span of a second.
And then his mouth is on mine and he's kissing me fiercely.
🌸🌸🌸
"Hey, hey. It'll be okay. It's all going to be okay, Bryce. There's no need to worry," I say gently, brushing back a strand of hair that had fallen across Bryce's forehead.
He looks towards me with wide, teary eyes. His lip is slightly pouted when he says, "But what if we crash?"
I turn to the left to stare out the small plane window beside me. Our flight is nearly over and we're approaching the ground rapidly, probably only a few minutes away from landing.
Which means that Bryce is pretty much having a panic attack right now.
I turn back to face Bryce, sliding the window shut as I do. "We won't. I promise."
Bryce's eyebrows furrow. I have no clue how Bryce Bradshaw—who's nearly six and a half feet tall and is the hottest man I've ever seen—can look so small and scared all of a sudden.
"Pinky promise?" he asks me in a whisper.
I smile at him, reaching down to loop my pinky finger through his. "Pinky promise."
Bryce lets out a shuddering breath before leaning towards me, resting his head atop mine and shutting his eyes.
Sure enough, we land safely a few minutes later. I watch as all of the tension drops from Bryce's shoulders as soon as the plane hits the ground and begins moving slowly towards the gate.
"See? That wasn't too bad," I say gently, giving Bryce's hand a quick squeeze.
He scoffs, but doesn't respond.
Since Bryce went behind my back and upgraded me to business class, we're seated at the front of the plane and are therefore some of the first people to get off the plane once it comes to a stop at the gate. We both had brought a carryon suitcase as well as a backpack on the plane with us, and so after some maneuvering to actually get all our stuff off of the aircraft, we hurry through the airport towards customs.
Jordan and Mateo are here to pick us up from the airport, and I can't wait to see them both. I'm super excited to see my brother and my parents, of course, but I really missed Jordan and Matt and I can't wait to hug them both.
Because I'm so anxious to see those two knowing that they're finally in the same building as us again, it feels like getting through customs and immigration takes forever. I find myself anxiously gripping Bryce's hand the entire time, and I end up squeezing his hand a bit too tightly to the point where he has to ask me to loosen my grip.
We eventually do finally get to the baggage claim, and though it takes me a moment to spot them, I drop Bryce's hand and sprint towards Jordan and Mateo.
"Jordan! Matt!" I squeal, my eyes filling with tears as I drop my bags onto the floor and fall into their arms as they pull me into a group hug.
I cling to the two of them, holding on tight as they hug me back in a tight embrace. I know that I must look ridiculous right now considering that I'm crying like a baby as I cling to them, but I just missed my two friends so damn much.
When we finally break apart, I sniffle and wipe some of the tears away from my face with the back of my hand. Jordan smiles down at me sadly while Mateo reaches out to tuck a stray strand of my hair behind my ears for me.
"I'm sorry for crying," I whisper with another sniffle. "I missed you guys so much. I'm so happy to be back home for the summer."
Jordan's smile widens. "We missed you too, Lexi. I really am happy for you, but it just isn't the same around here without you and your asshole boyfriend."
Mateo gives Jordan a pointed look.
Jordan goes pale, and he grimaces before looking from Mateo and back to me again. "Shit. Ex-boyfriend. Sorry, Lexi. I always forget. It's just really weird to think that you two aren't together anymore."
At this, he looks down at his feet with a sigh.
I don't know who told him that Bryce and I broke up considering that I didn't, but I guess that it does make sense that Bryce would've told him considering that they seem to be such close friends now.
Mateo gives his shoulder a gentle squeeze before taking a step towards me. He pulls me into another hug, and when he lets go he asks me, "How are you, Lexi? I haven't heard from you in forever."
I smile up at him. "I'm pretty good, I guess. I haven't texted you since everything happened because it just didn't feel right considering you and Bryce's relationship. How have you been?"
Mateo shrugs. "The wedding is coming up soon and so I'm super stressed about that, but I'm super excited for you and Bryce to meet Vanessa. You're going to love her."
I smile at him, but before I get the chance to respond, one of Bryce's large, strong hands is on my shoulder.
I lean back against him the slightest bit, not particularly caring what Mateo and Jordan have to say about that.
"Hey, you fuckers. How have you been?" he says, nodding towards Jordan and Mateo before resting his chin atop my head.
Jordan raises his middle finger at Bryce. "Fuck off."
Bryce chuckles, stepping around me so that he's in front of his brother. He gives Mateo a small smile before the two embrace in a brief hug.
I watch as Jordan's eyes widen. "Holy shit! You two don't hate each other anymore?"
"Shut the fuck up," I hear Bryce mumble under his breath as he pulls away from his brother. I watch as he opens his mouth to say something else, but with a quick glance from Mateo, he shuts right up.
Jordan grins, evidently satisfied. "Maybe I want a hug too. Why can't I get a hug? Everybody else here has hugged except for me and you. Give me some love, Bradshaw."
Bryce's eyes narrow. "What the hell is wrong with you? I don't like you."
Somehow, Jordan just grins even wider. "Are you sure about that? I think you like me and you just are too embarrassed to admit it."
Bryce blinks several times before responding. "Bullshit
Jordan laughs, clearly enjoying this conversation thoroughly. "You've hugged me before, so it's not like that's the problem. Maybe you don't just like me. Maybe you love me."
Bryce raises one of his eyebrows.
I then watch as he drops all of his bags and takes a few steps towards Jordan until they're only standing a few inches apart.
I feel my eyebrows furrow as Bryce reaches up and holds the side of Jordan's face with one of his hands.
Jordan stares up at Bryce with wide eyes, and I find myself holding my breath because I have absolutely no clue what is about to happen.
"You really think that?" Bryce asks softly.
Jordan blinks several times before eventually opening his mouth to respond.
Before he gets a chance to speak, Bryce leans in and gently presses his lips against Jordan's.
I inhale sharply.
Holy shit.
I glance to Mateo to find that he looks just as stunned as I am.
Bryce and Jordan only kiss for a few seconds before Bryce pulls away, smiling. He brushes his thumb against Jordan's cheekbone, just as he often does after he kisses me.
"You're blushing. How cute," he says, taking a moment to stare right into Jordan's eyes.
Jordan, who looks awestruck.
Then it's as if somebody flipped a switch because suddenly, Bryce drops the hand that was holding Jordan's face, picks his luggage up off the ground, and then begins to head towards the baggage carousel.
"Come on, Matt," he calls over his shoulder, not stopping to see if Mateo heard.
Despite the fact that Bryce doesn't even glance back in our direction, I can see him wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, clearly disgusted, as he walks.
Mateo did hear, though, and so he gives me another small smile before hurrying after his brother.
Now that it's just Jordan and I, I feel that it's acceptable to whisper, "What the hell just happened?"
Jordan doesn't respond, and so after a moment, I look up at him to find him touching his lips in bewilderment.
"Are his lips always that soft?" Jordan asks quietly, aware of my gaze on him even though he isn't looking at me.
I make myself laugh even though it ends up sounding incredibly forced. "Yeah. He has the softest lips."
At this, Jordan turns to face me. "And does he always taste like cinnamon?"
I nod. "He chews cinnamon gum a lot. He was chewing some during our flight, actually."
Jordan lets out a shaky breath, taking a few steps towards me. I must still look shocked because his eyebrows furrow in genuine worry.
"Hey, Lexi. I'm sorry. I wouldn't have provoked him if I knew he would do something like that. I really am sorry. I know that you probably didn't want to see that," Jordan says gently.
I stare up at him, and it's then that I realise that my eyes are filled with tears all over again.
I hold back a sob. "Is he into girls, Jordan? I don't know how he could've faked everything that happened between us, but I can't tell with him anymore. Is he really into guys instead?"
Jordan suddenly looks so overwhelmingly sad that I immediately feel bad for voicing my feelings.
To my surprise, though, I soon realise that he's sad for me when he says, "Oh, Lexi. God no. He's into girls. More specifically, he's into you. He's told me all about his sexual conquests back in Florida, and it's always been with girls. He's never been interested in guys. None of what happened in Florida even matters, though, because he's in love with you and you alone."
I sniffle, relief washing over me. "So there's nothing going on between you two?"
Jordan suddenly goes even more pale. "Fuck, Lexi. No. Of course not. We're just friends. Well, Bryce likes to pretend that we aren't even that much, but I was just joking around back there. Bryce was too."
I feel my cheeks turning a flaming shade of red, and so I stare down at my feet as I nod at Jordan. "Oh. All right. Thank you for clarifying. I'm sorry for freaking out. I was just really not prepared to watch him kiss someone else, even if it was a joke. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever be ready, but definitely not this soon after we broke up."
Jordan gives me a small smile of acknowledgment. "I understand. I'm sorry that that just happened. I know you feel like you can't talk to me anymore because you and Bryce split, but I think maybe we should sit down and have a little chat sometime soon. I think you really need that. For now, let's go find your suitcase so that we can get you home to see your family. Charlie misses you like hell, and he's an absolute dick when you're not around."
When I laugh this time, it's genuine.
I reach down to pick up my backpack off the floor, slinging it over one of my shoulders just as Jordan reaches for the handle of my small carryon suitcase. I give him a grateful smile, and he wraps an arm around my shoulders as we make our way towards the baggage carousel.
We park ourselves next to Mateo and Bryce, but they seem to be deeply absorbed into a conversation about Leo and Elena's wedding and so Jordan and I don't interrupt them. Instead, we set my luggage down and stand quietly while we wait for the carousel to start up.
Just as it does, I feel a tug on the bottom of my dress.
I look down to find a little girl, who's probably not that much older than five years old, standing beside me, her tiny hands fisted in the purple material of my dress.
The little girl is wearing a pastel, floral dress and adorable baby blue sandals. She has her blond hair in two pigtails, and she's staring up at me with huge blue eyes that are far too big for her face.
"Hi!" she exclaims in the sweetest voice I've ever heard as soon as she realises that she's caught my attention.
I grin, kneeling down on the floor in front of her so that I'm closer to her height. "Hi!"
If a child had approached me like this two months ago, I probably would've immediately tried to find their parents to avoid conversation. I've never really like kids at all, and I especially never wanted kids myself. Everything has changed since finding out about my fertility issues, though, and the girl that I am today could never even consider not chatting with this sweet little girl in front of me.
"My mom said not to come talk to you, but I ran when she wasn't looking," the little girl whispers, a mischievous glint lighting up her eyes.
I giggle at how satisfied she looks with herself.
"Where's your mom?" I ask her. "Should we go find her?"
The little girl shakes her head, and I giggle again.
"Why did you want to come and talk to me?" I ask her softly.
She beams at me. "You look like a Disney princess! Your hair is so pretty and so long!"
"Livia! I told you not to bother the nice girl!" a woman suddenly exclaims.
When I look up from the little girl in front of me—Livia—I see a frantic young woman who is probably no more than ten years older than me standing beside us, one of her hands smoothing down Livia's hair.
"Sorry, Mom. She just made me think of a Disney princess and she made me happy. I wish I had hair like her so that I can be a princess too," Lydia says softly, sadly.
Her mom sighs before turning to face me. "I'm so sorry about this."
I give her a small smile. "Don't worry about it. I don't mind at all."
The woman smiles back at me before reaching for her daughter's hand. "All right, Liv," she says. "Let's go find Daddy. I'm sure he's looking for us."
Livia pouts, and so before her mom can drag her away, I look her right in the eye.
"Livia?" I ask quietly.
Livia perks up at the sound of her name.
"Yeah?" she replies.
I smile at her. "You don't need to have long hair to be a princess. That's not what's important. You just have to be kind. Lucky for me and you, we both have kind hearts, which I think makes us both princesses."
I watch as Livia's eyes widen even further. "Really? I can be a princess when I grow up? Just like you?"
I laugh, nodding at her "Of course! But you're still young. You don't have to choose what you want to be when you group up yet. You still have so many options."
Livia beams at me once again, and at that, her mom scoops her up into her arms. I expect her to hurry off, sweeping her daughter away from the strange girl talking about princesses while kneeling on the filthy airport floor, but she instead looks at me for a second time.
"What's your name?" she asks me.
"It's Lexi," I reply.
She tilts her head to the side. "Well, thank you for making my daughter's day, Lexi. I hope you have a wonderful day as well."
At that, the young woman carries her daughter away. I watch as they beeline for a tall man standing a few metres away with two suitcases parked beside him. He looks up when he hears them approaching, and the smile that lights up his face when he embraces the woman and their daughter splits my heart in two.
I'm thankful that Livia and her mom left when they did because now I must look even more pathetic because I'm kneeling on the filthy floor and crying as I watch the family head for the airport doors.
I let myself cry for a few seconds, knowing that there's no point in wiping away my tears when more are just going to fall. Bryce seems to disagree with this logic though, because he's suddenly kneeling on the floor in front of me and brushing away my tears for me.
When our eyes meet, I instantly know that he understands the loss that I'm mourning right now.
How do I know that, you may ask?
Because I can see that he's mourning the exact same loss.
🌸🌸🌸
"Blossom?"
I look up at Bryce. "Yeah?"
We're standing on the front porch of my parents' house, and I was just about to knock on the door before Bryce said my name. He insisted on helping me carry my things up the stairs, which I think was because he really wanted to say goodbye to me in private.
"I know that you're anxious to see Charlie and your parents, but I just wanted to ask you something really quickly. Do you want to stay in touch, or would you rather we continue to go our separate ways? I know that you only came to see me two weeks ago because you had nowhere else to go, so I don't expect you to want to see me ever again, but I just thought that maybe I should ask to be sure," Bryce says shyly.
My bottom lip quivers, but I ignore it. "Maybe that's for the best. Maybe we should stop spending time together. I loved living with you for two weeks, but I think that the universe is telling us that our time is up."
Bryce looks down at the ground. "All right. I understand. I won't contact you. I promise. But if that's going to be the case, I just need to say one more thing."
At this, his eyes meet mine.
I nod at him, encouraging him to continue speaking.
He exhales. "I saw what happened at the airport. I just wanted to tell you that you will be a mom one day, Lexi Brooks. I promise. Even if you never end up getting pregnant yourself, there are other ways, and one day you'll be a mom."
He doesn't give me a chance to respond before he leans in and kisses me on the cheek. "Bye, Blossom. Take care of yourself. You know where to find me if you need me."
As simply as that, Bryce sticks his hands into his pockets, walks down the stairs, and climbs back into the car that Jordan and Mateo had driven to the airport in.
I wave goodbye to Jordan and Mateo, who are still in the car, before turning back to face the front door.
I raise my fist to knock, and just as my fist hits the door, the door comes swinging open to reveal Mom, Dad, and Charlie all waiting there for me.
They pull me into their arms before we even get a chance to shut the door behind me.
I hold onto them, hugging them back with everything that I have. I faintly become aware of the fact that I have tears streaming down my cheeks yet again today, but I don't even care because I'm finally with my family again.
I needed them so badly over these past couple months. I know that having them with me would've made the breakup so much easier, and seeing all three of them in person is so much better than just talking to them on the phone.
When everyone notices that I'm sobbing, they slowly release their hold on me. This leaves my mom standing right in front of me with Dad and Charlie on either side of me, all of them wearing concerned expressions on their faces.
My mom places her hands on my shoulders. "Lexi? Hi, sweetheart. Did something happen today? Are you okay?"
I whimper. "No. I'm not okay. I miss him. So much."
A/N: Hi friends!!! I really enjoyed taking a few days off from Wattpad, but I'm super excited to be writing again! I really enjoyed writing Lexi and Bryce's reunion with Mateo and Jordan, and I promise that you'll be hearing from more characters from Something There in the next chapter.
And maybe you'll be meeting somebody new, too ;)
Since I took a break from writing last week, I was able to read a lot. I started reading the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco and I've really been enjoying it! What have you guys been reading lately?