Always There

Chapter Two

Blossom sniffles, eyes now meeting mine. "I wish I had that level of confidence. I envy her for that."

She now glances back downwards, this time so that she can stare at her own body. She eyes her clothing in disgust, and I watch as she tries to pull her thin tank top up to cover more of her cleavage.

"I don't know why I'm wearing this. I feel strange and insecure. I just wanted you to look at me instead of her and so I tried to show a lot of skin but now I'm just uncomfortable. I feel naked," Blossom sighs, toying with the ends of her hair.

"You don't need to wear shit like this to get my attention. I love you just as much in summer dresses and oversized sweatshirts as I do in lingerie. Do you want to go back inside to change before we head out?" I ask her, and she shakes her head.

"Let's not go back in there. Can we please just go? I need to be anywhere but here. I don't care where," Blossom begs, her eyes filling with tears once more.

I can't let her go outside like this at the end of November, and so I pull my white sweatshirt up over my head, then telling Blossom, "Raise your arms up, baby."

"What? No. Now you'll be cold," she argues, and I roll my eyes at her.

"You're wearing fucking shorts, Blossom. Arms up," I repeat, failing to mention that I have sweatpants for her to wear in the car.

And so reluctantly, she raises her arms up. I pull the sweatshirt down over her head, and once her head pokes through she adjusts the sleeves, also tugging the bottom hem down so that it completely covers her shorts.

"Cutie," I murmur, and she just gives me a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"Let's go," she demands, and I watch as she turns on her heel, beginning to head down the hallway and away from my apartment.

I follow her to the elevators where we wait in silence. When the doors finally slide open, we step on, finding ourselves alone.

Blossom keeps stealing quick glances at me out of the corner of her eye. I can tell that she still has tears welling up, and I'm waiting for her to burst out sobbing any minute now.

I don't have to wait much longer as the tears soon begin to pour down her cheeks.

She's not sobbing, just crying silently, and it's somehow more painful to see. Her shoulders are shaking as the tears flow freely down her face, and she doesn't even make a move to wipe them away as the elevator descends.

I don't know how to handle this situation. I would usually scoop her up into my arms and cradle her as she cries, stroking her back as I promise that it'll all be all right, but she doesn't want me to fucking touch her right now, apparently.

"Blossom? Darling?" I ask and she chokes on something, coughing twice before falling silent once again.

She doesn't get a chance to respond to me before the elevator lurches to a halt. She steps out into the hallway with tears still falling, and I follow her helplessly.

When we reach the car, I unlock the doors so that Blossom can take a seat as I pop open the trunk.

I retrieve a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants, slamming the trunk shut before walking around the vehicle. I open the door, taking a seat before slamming the door shut while turning to my girl.

I find her with her head leaning against the window, still crying.

But now, she's sobbing.

She's hysteric. She's saying words that I can't make out. She's shaking her head at absolutely nothing, and she's tugging at the hem of the sweatshirt that she's wearing as if she's gripping her final bit of sanity.