Always There

Chapter Forty-Two

Now that it's just Blossom and I in the room, I'm free to cry as loud as I want.

I sob and sob and sob until I start wheezing from lack of oxygen in my lungs.

My heart is so beyond broken right now. I'm in so much pain that it feels as if I've been stabbed in the chest a hundred fucking times.

I wish I could turn back time. I wish I told Blossom about Brittany ages ago, right when I moved back from Florida. I've been hurting so badly and I know that Blossom would've understood if I told her right away. I mean, I'm sure she would've freaked the fuck out at first, and I wouldn't have blamed her whatsoever, but after she got over it, she would've been there for me. She would've held me if I needed to cry and she would've promised me, in that sweet, melodic voice of hers, that everything would be okay.

But I was a fucking idiot who couldn't talk to his girlfriend about the biggest regret of his life.

And now she's pissed at me. She's heartbroken and she feels like I don't trust her and she's unconscious in a fucking hospital bed, all thanks to my stupid mistakes.

Brittany told me she was on birth control. I asked her so many times, checking that she wasn't entirely sure we could have sex without a condom—since I was a dumbass who didn't have a condom with him at the time.

She said yes, that she was on birth control and that she didn't mind, and so like an idiot, I trusted her.

I don't even know why I was in shock when she showed up at my doorstep in tears, clutching three pregnancy tests. Scarlett was hurrying up the stairs right behind her, and when she reached Brittany's side, the two girls clung to each other like they were the only thing holding each other together.

We all sat down in my living room and I lost my shit. I'm sure that the things that I said to them were fucking terrible. I distinctly remember calling Brittany a liar and an attention-seeker, to which Scarlett held her tight and kissed her forehead.

Brittany said she wanted an abortion but she also seemed unable to tell her parents. I suggested that she tell them, and if they were to kick her out, she could just come live with me and my parents despite how pissed I was.

She agreed, and then her and Scarlett left. On their way out, I apologised to them both and hugged Brittany firmly despite how it was an extremely rare thing for me to say sorry back then.

Deep down inside, I was scared. I was fucking prettified, but I didn't want it to show

We were stupid and young and so we went to school for the next little while and completely avoided the topic. We all managed to keep the pregnancy hidden from Anders and in the end, it turned out that he hadn't caught on at all.

It all just went downhill from there, though.

I glance towards Blossom, who is still laying in that damn bed, unmoving.

My whole body is trembling as I make my towards her bed. I kneel down beside her, pressing my forehead to the back of her hand as I cry some more.

"I'm so sorry, Blossom. I'm so fucking sorry. You deserve so much better," I whisper.

When I remove my forehead from her hand, I take a look at her face. Sure enough, there's a small cut on the side of her head that doesn't look very deep but will probably scar nonetheless. Aside from that, she looks completely unharmed, and almost as though she's just taking a little nap.

Glancing towards the door, I confirm that nobody is there before I stand up from the floor to take a seat down on the bed beside Blossom. I stroke her hair, brushing it out of her face and tucking it back behind her ears, only to notice that her cherry blossom necklace isn't around her neck.

By some miracle, my heart shatters just a little bit more.

I have to bite my lip to stop from howling. I'm so fucking broken and so the fact that she lost the very cherry blossom necklace that ties us together hurts me so fucking terribly.

Even though there really isn't enough room for me to lay down next to Blossom considering that she's in the middle of the already-narrow bed, I still manage. I tuck one arm under her, draping the other across her stomach, all while being careful not to disturb the machine that she seems to be attached to.

I kiss her on the forehead before laying back so that her head rests on my chest. "I love you, Blossom. I won't be able to die happy if I never get to see you perform on Broadway. You're such a phenomenal woman, and you deserve to have all of your dreams come true before you die. I also really really want to marry you. I want you to be my Mrs. Bradshaw. I need you to wake up. If not for yourself, do it for me."

🌸🌸🌸

I'm awoken by the door to the hospital room flying open.

Johnathon and Kathleen Brooks dart into the room, both of them pale and shaky. They look as though they're one moment away from losing their minds.

When I look down at Blossom's still body, it almost seems that she's moved closer to me as I slept: she's now pressed right up against me.

Gently, I move my arm out from under her and slowly stand up from the bed, then turning to face Johnathon and Kathleen. "I'm so sorry."

Kathleen's eyes meet mine and the next thing I know, she's pulling me into a hug.

"This is so terrible. My heart is broken. She doesn't deserve this. I want nothing more than for her to wake up and be okay," Kathleen says against my chest, her voice shaking.

I hold her for a moment longer before she pulls away. "She has so much left to give this world. She has to be okay," I say, trying to reassure both her and myself.

We then turn to find that Johnathon has pulled one of the chairs from the corner of the room to the bedside. There he sits, holding one of Blossom's hands as he stares at her face with tears in his eyes.

Kathleen makes her way around the bed and towards her husband. To my surprise, she shamelessly takes a seat in Johnathon's lap, seemingly not minding that I'm present in the room as well.

They whisper a few things to each other before Kathleen turns to me to ask, "What have the nurses said, Bryce?"

I make my way towards the bed as well. Rather than pulling up a chair, I take a seat on the edge of the bed, taking Blossom's other hand in my own. "She's in a coma, I guess. They aren't able to say when or if she'll wake up. She doesn't have any other injuries apart from that little cut on her head, though."

Kathleen nods at me, a small but sad smile on her face. "Has anything changed since you've been here?"

I shake my head at her and she sighs, pursing her lips together. She then turns back to her husband to whisper yet another thing that I'm unable to hear.

My gaze falls to Blossom again and I feel my eyes begin to water once more. I feel so lost without her at my side, and the only sound I want to hear right now is that adorable giggle of hers.

A nurse walks into the room, the same nurse who had spoken to me before. As soon as she's noticed by Kathleen and Johnathon, the pair stand up from the chair they had been seated on to go speak to her.

As the three of them talk, I squeeze Blossom's hand, unable to look away from her.

It's then that I notice that both of her rings are also missing.

I let out an unidentifiable, choked noise.

"I'll buy you another promise ring. I know it won't be the same, but I want to make you happy. I can buy you another ring with my name on it too, but I don't think I'll ever be able to replace your necklace. I'm so sorry, Blossom. I promise that I won't stop using that nickname, though—necklace or not," I whisper to her even though I know damn well that she's unable to hear me.

A/N: Hi friends! I'm back from my Christmas break! I had the most amazing Christmas and got so many books that I'm super excited to read!

For those of you who celebrate Christmas, how was your Christmas? What sorts of presents did you get?

If you can't tell, I love Christmas a lot and am refusing to admit that it's over.