Chapter Ninety-Five:
Bryce's POV
"You said you have something in your car for me. Will you tell me what it is, Bryce? Pretty please? You know I don't do well with surprises," Blossom says, looking up at me with those wide hazel eyes of hers.
I smile down at her. She's skipping happily along beside me, her hand in mine, keeping so close that she's practically pressed up against me. I know that it's because the city sidewalks are busy right now and therefore Blossom is probably uncomfortable because of all the unfamiliar faces around her, but it still makes me feel a little bit proud to know that she still feels comfortable around me and that my presence is still assuring to her.
"Nope. We're nearly at your apartment, and I was able to park super close to your building. You'll just have to wait and see," I reply, my smile growing.
Blossom's bottom lip juts out as she pouts at me, but I simply have to press a swift kiss to her temple before her expression softens again.
Knox is walking beside Blossom, his hands still in his pockets. His eyes are mostly trained on the sidewalk ahead of us, but I can't help but to notice the way that he'll sometimes sneak a glance at Blossom. Then, when he notices the ginormous smile on her face, I watch as he's unable to stop himself from smiling as well.
Kennedy and Nathan are trailing along behind us, chatting animatedly about God-knows-what. I honestly haven't paid much attention to either of them at all, because my only focus right now is my girl.
Because fuck, she's holding my hand, and she's holding on to me as though nothing has happened between us and I'm still her boyfriend.
It's a wonderful feeling. It really is. I haven't felt wanted like this in a really damn long time.
We arrive on Blossom's street soon enough, and I pull her to the side once we pass my car as Knox, Kennedy, and Nathan continue a little bit further down the sidewalk and towards the apartment building. Blossom and I watch as the three of them disappear inside, but as soon as the door swings shut after them, I grab Blossom's hand and guide her towards my car.
"I have an actual present for you that I'll give to you later, but I still have a little something for you now," I tell Blossom, giving her another little smile.
She raises an eyebrow, but despite the quizzical expression on her face, she's wearing a smile.
I reach for the passenger door, and as soon as I pull it open, Blossom lets out a little squeak from where she's still standing beside me with her hand in mine.
I reach in and retrieve the bouquet of flowers that I bought for her on my drive over here. They're red roses because I know that they're Blossom's favourite for some reason, but I also thought roses would evoke some feelings of nostalgia for her considering that every time I bought Blossom flowers throughout our relationship, I always gave her roses.
"Pretty flowers for my pretty girl," I tell Blossom gently, releasing my grip on her hand and giving her the flowers to hold instead.
She eagerly takes the bouquet from my hands, and I watch as she immediately clutches it tightly to her chest. She shuts her eyes and buries her face into the petals, and I watch as she inhales deeply before letting out a little sigh of contentment.
She stands in silence with her eyes shut for a few moments, clutching the flowers to her chest so damn tightly. I gently close the car door so that I don't disturb her, but as soon as I press the button on my keys to lock the car, Blossom looks up at me with wide eyes and flushed cheeks.
"You really bought me flowers? Just for me?" Blossom asks me softly.
I nod at her. "Of course I bought you flowers, honey. Why wouldn't I? It's your birthday, and I—"
I'm cut off when Blossom comes crashing into my arms.
It's sort of an awkward side-hug because Blossom's only wrapped one arm around my waist so that she can continue holding her flowers. I can't help but to chuckle at the situation, but I still wrap my arms around her and hug her close.
"Thank you. No one has bought me flowers for a very long time and I sort of really miss it. No ones since you," Blossom whispers, her cheek still pressed against my chest.
I kiss the top of her head. "I'm glad I could make you happy, sweetheart. Let's go inside now, okay? Don't you and Knox and Nathan have somewhere to be?"
Blossom takes a little step away from me, and I unwrap my arms from around her. As she did in the hallway ten or so minutes ago, she quickly grabs my hand, intertwines our fingers, and holds on tightly.
"Yeah. We're going to the dance studio. I've started to take ballet classes again. I find that it really helps me clear my mind and just focus on the present for once. Knox is really really talented and so we like to dance together a few times a week and he helps me out a little bit," Blossom tells me as we begin to walk away from my car and towards her apartment building.
Jealousy suddenly flares up within me at the thought of Knox and Blossom spending so many hours together, and when I consider that "dancing together" probably entails Knox having his hands all over Blossom's body, my jaw involuntarily clenches.
But, when I notice my unnecessary reaction, I'm able to take a deep breath and push those thoughts away.
"I'm very happy to hear that, Blossom," I respond, rather than commenting on the fact that I really fucking hate thinking about her and Knox spending time together.
She gives me a little smile, and I smile back at her.
Once we reach the door to Blossom's apartment building, I reach for the handle and pull open the door for her before she has the opportunity to open the door herself. I catch the way she rolls her eyes at me as she walks past me and into the apartment lobby, but I'm able to catch a little smile on her face too.
We take three flights of stairs up to Blossom's floor. Her hand remains in mine as we walk down the hallway, where we find the door to her and Kennedy's apartment still cracked open from when Kennedy, Knox, and Nathan had entered the apartment a few minutes before us.
Blossom pushes open the door and tugs me inside of the apartment. I immediately notice that the kitchen, living room, and little dining area look exactly the same as the last time that I was here, the day that I helped Blossom move in.
Kennedy and Nathan are sitting in the couch while Knox sits on one of the chairs beside the couch. They look up towards Blossom and I when they hear us enter the apartment, and Kennedy gives us a little wave before the three of them continue their conversation.
Blossom closes the door and locks it after us. She slips off her shoes and so I do the same, lining my shoes up neatly beside Blossom's pristine white Converse.
She stares at our shoes for a few moments, lined up against the wall. The size difference between our shoes is sort of comedic, and the fact that her shoes are the cleanest white while mine are jet black just makes the two pairs of shoes look even different.
Blossom is still staring, though, one of her eyebrows furrowed. I watch as she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, and she tilts her head to the side for a moment before she seems to realise that she's completely zoned out.
She blinks a few times, but since she's still staring at the shoes, I gently ask her, "Blossom? Are you okay?"
She slowly turns her head to face me, and when I get a glimpse at her face, there's a sadness in her eyes that wasn't there before.
"Yeah. I think I'm okay," she responds quietly.
I raise an eyebrow, and she just takes a few steps towards me before lifting herself up on her toes and kissing me on the cheek.
"I promise that I'll be okay. I'm going to go get a vase so that I can put my roses in some water, but you can go wait in my bedroom. I'll be there in a second," Blossom then tells me softly, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze.
"All right, baby. Whatever you want," I tell her, giving her hip a gentle squeeze before walking past her and towards her bedroom.
I push open the door and shut it behind me, just in case Blossom wants a little bit of privacy to talk to her friends. Kennedy, Knox, and Nathan all knew that I planned on surprising Blossom today, but I'm sure Blossom is a little bit overwhelmed right now.
I texted Kennedy last week and checked to make sure that Blossom didn't have any major plans for tonight so that I can take her out for dinner, and Kennedy confirmed that Blossom was free and said she would tell Blossom that the four of them were going out for dinner together so that Blossom wouldn't try and make other plans.
I told Blossom about the change of plans on our walk to the apartment, and she immediately slapped Knox and Kennedy playfully on their arms for lying to her about the dinner tonight.
She immediately snuggled back up against my side, though, and told me that she was very excited for dinner because she really missed me and would love to spend some time alone with me.
Hearing those words leave her lips made me indescribably happy.
I take the opportunity to examine Blossom's room. The room is nearly identical to how it looked a couple months ago, when I was last in this apartment, but there are a few minor details that I notice Blossom has changed about her room.
She's organised her bookshelf so that all of the books are in a rainbow based on the colour of their spines. There's something about the rainbow that just makes the whole space so bright and cheerful and so . . . Blossom.
The whole room just suits her so well. The white and baby pink theme seems to perfectly fit her personality, and all the little details, like the cherry blossom tree painting on the wall and the stuffed unicorn still siting proudly on her bed, make it impossible to doubt for even a second that this room belongs to Lexi Elise Brooks.
The main thing I noticed when I first scanned the room, though, wasn't the rainbow bookshelf, or even the lace black bra hanging on the back of Blossom's door knob.
Well, that's a lie. I definitely noticed the bra first.
But in my defence, when the fuck did she start wearing sexy ass black lingerie?
The other thing I noticed, though, is that she's hung photographs all over one of her walls.
Upon closer inspection, I find that the photos are all of people in Blossom's life. There are a few photos of her and Charlie,both current photos and photos from when they were kids, photos of her and her parents, photos of all of her friends from high school, photos of her with Knox, Nathan, and Kennedy, photos of her from musicals that she's been in over the years, one of the photos from my dad's wedding, a photo of me, her, Mateo, Vanessa, my dad, and Elena, and even a photo of just her and Vanessa that they must've taken together sometime during the summer.
What really catches my attention, though, is the fact that despite the large variety of photos she's selected, the majority of the photos are still photos of me and her, just the two of us.
There are photos from prom, photos from the wedding, photos from dates we went on in the past, and photos from so many other random occasions. We're grinning like idiots in some, kissing in others, and staring at each other with so damn much love in our eyes in the majority of them.
I let out a deep breath, hoping to stop the way that my heart is suddenly squeezing so damn tight in my chest.
I make my way across the room so that I can take a seat on Blossom's bed, even though it makes me feel a little bad because the pillows are perfectly straight and the duvet is impeccably smooth. Sitting here, though, I notice that there's one more photograph in the room that I hadn't noticed at first.
On Blossom's bedside table, in a silver frame, is the photo of her and I from dad and Elena's wedding, the photo of me kissing Blossom's forehead taken right after Elena jokingly told us to kiss.
I faintly hear the sound of the door knob being twisted, and when I glance in that direction, I see Blossom slipping through the doorway. She's holding her flowers, but now they're in a tall glass vase that she gently sets down on her desk.
I watch as she closes the door after her before making her way across the room and towards me. She must've noticed my attention on the photograph when she entered her room because she pauses before me and then turns her head to the side to stare at the picture as well.
A moment passes before her eyes suddenly widen dramatically and she reaches out to snatch a little piece of paper that had been resting beside the frame that I hadn't even noticed.
She hastily tucks it into the front pocket of the sweater of mine that she's wearing. She then looks back to me innocently, a sweet smile on her face as though she didn't just do something very bizarre.
I raise an eyebrow at her. "What was that?"
She purses her lips together momentarily. "Um, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"If it's just nothing, why won't you let me see it?" I ask.
She looks down at her feet. "Because it's embarrassing."
Blossom just continues to stand there, staring at the ground. To my surprise, when I reach out and stick my hand into the pocket of the sweater, Blossom doesn't stop me.
I retrieve the little piece of paper, which had gotten slightly crumpled when Blossom had shoved it into her pocket. It only takes me a second to smooth out the creases, and I'm them able to examine the piece of paper.
It seems to be torn off from a notepad, judging by the size, and in black pen, there are cherry blossoms doodled all around the border of the page, accompanied only by two words.
"Lexi Bradshaw," I read aloud.
Blossom makes a little noise, as though she's just let out a breath she had been holding for quite some time.
"I'm sorry. I told you it's embarrassing," she whispers.
I carefully set the paper back on the nightstand before reaching up to take Blossom's face in my hands. "It's in your handwriting. When did you write it?"
She shrugs at me, still avoiding eye contact. "I was bored at work one day, and I started to draw the flowers. I must've zoned out for a minute because I think that's when I must've written . . . that."
I brush one of my thumbs against her cheekbone. "I like how that sounds. Lexi Bradshaw. I like it a lot."
Blossom takes another deep breath. "I like it too. Very much."
A few moments pass by where we simply stand there in silence. Eventually, Blossom lifts her gaze from where it's focused on her feet, and she instead chooses to look me directly in the eye.
"Will you marry me?" she suddenly whispers.
My eyebrows involuntarily raise. "Are you proposing to me?"
Blossom shrugs again. "I don't know. I guess?"
I can't help but to snort.
Blossom sighs, and I slowly remove my hands from her face. I instead grip her hips and pull her down onto me so that she's sitting in my lap. She hooks her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck before snuggling up against me, her cheek pressed against my chest.
I wrap my arms around her before I kiss her hair and rest my chin on her head. We sit like this for several minutes, holding on to each other in silence, the only sound being the faint murmurs coming from the living room that we can just barely hear through the walls.
"I'm sorry," Blossom eventually says. "I just really want to marry you. I know I'm being ridiculous, and I don't want to get married right now, but I genuinely do want to marry you in the future. I know we've discussed this before, but now that we've spent some time apart, do you think you still want to marry me?"
I gently slide my hand underneath her sweatshirt, so that my palm is able to rest against her bare skin. The way that her entire body shivers doesn't go unnoticed to me.
"Fuck yeah, I do. And I already know exactly how I'm going to propose to you, so I would really appreciate if you left all of the proposing for me, you dork," I whisper against Blossom's hair.
She giggles, and I realise that that giggle is a sound I want to hear every single day for the rest of my life.
A/N: Helloooooo. I didn't take three weeks to update this time :-)
It's just really really hot where I live right now and so I kinda want to lay on the floor all day. It's honestly been really hard for me to be productive when I'm so overheated. I'm really trying my best, but I hope that you guys can understand <3