Always There

Chapter Fifty-Two

When I look over towards them, I find that Kennedy has one of her arms slung over Blossom's shoulders. Blossom seems to be teary-eyed once again, and Knox and Nathan are staring at her with pity in their eyes.

Kennedy suddenly gives Blossom a swift pat on the back before she says, "All right. School. Juilliard. Let's talk."

When Kennedy removes her hand from around Blossom's shoulders, Blossom leans back against the armrest of the couch. She plucks one of the throw pillows up from off the ground and snuggles it to her chest, since she tucked the unicorn back into our bedroom as soon as her friends knocked on the door.

"Well, I have no recollection of the past two weeks or so before the accident. And I also missed a week of school, obviously. So I just need you to help me refresh my memory of what I've forgotten and give me a brief overview of the past week," Blossom says, propping her chin on the pillow.

I tune out of their conversation as soon as the talk about school commences. I manage to finish proofreading my own work fairly quickly, and once I submit the paper, I power down my laptop and stand up from the barstool that I had been seated on.

I lift my laptop up from the island, tucking it under my arm. I then head into my bedroom, shutting the door about halfway before I plug my computer in at my desk.

Finally, I slump back onto the bed, yank my phone out of my pocket and begin typing out a text to my dad.

Bryce:
Hey.
Are you busy right now?

I don't receive an answer for several minutes, and since I think that that answers my question pretty well, I nearly shut off my phone and pick up a book instead.

Just as I'm about to do so, my dad responds to my text.

Dad:
Nope.
Elena and I are sitting in the kitchen because she felt like baking cupcakes.
We're waiting for them to cool down so that we can frost them.
Pink and red, for Valentine's Day.
What's up, kid?

I snort at the image of my dad holding a piping bag full of pink frosting, trying to frost the top of a cupcake in a perfect swirl.

Elena has changed him so much, and I'm grateful as fuck for that.

Bryce:
Elena's really good for you.
You seem a lot happier.
I'm really worried about Lexi.

His response is shockingly quick.

Dad:
What's wrong?
Is she all right?

Bryce:
Nothing's wrong, and she's fine.
She's just been very sad lately.
She's been crying a lot more than usual.

Dad:
She never really used to cry.
Not even when you two were little kids.
Did you do something?

Yes. I destroyed our relationship.

Bryce:
Not anything in particular.

Dad:
Maybe her accident is taking more of a toll on her than she's letting on.
Talk to her.
You seem to be her safe place.

Bryce:
We had a conversation last night that involved a lot of tears.
I'm trying to be there for her but I don't want to push her to talk when she isn't ready.

Dad:
Are you sure that you didn't do anything to upset her?

The bedroom door slowly creaks open to reveal Blossom standing there, a sweet smile on her face.

"Will you come sit with us? I miss you," she says softly.

And as I stare at her, the best thing in my life, I realise that losing her is going to truly destroy me.

I type one final text to my dad.

Bryce:
I'm sure.

A/N: I worked really hard to get this chapter out for you guys!!! I have a really busy week with rehearsals and I have an audition for Into The Woods on Friday!

Anywho, I'm really hoping to post the next chapter on Valentine's Day, which is the one-year anniversary since I started Something There.

And it's also the birthday of everybody's favourite book-loving, dog-loving, Lexi-loving, tattooed liar!!!