Always There

Chapter Sixty-Nine

And so I don't bother trying to speak, knowing that I won't be able to say the right thing.

Instead, I slide out of my side of the booth, walk around the table, and sit down directly next to Bryce.

I watch confusion flash in his eyes for just a moment before I wrap my arms around his waist, bury my face into the crook of his neck, and hug him tightly.

I feel his posture go rigid for a few moments, but I don't let go. I just squeeze him tighter, nestling my face into the soft material of his shirt.

Sure enough, his arms eventually come around me and he hugs me back, holding me firmly to his chest, resting his chin stop my head.

I let out an involuntarily sigh of contentment now that I'm safe in the cage of his arms. Even though this is the second time in the span of just over ten minutes that we've hugged each other like this, I missed being in his arms so much that I don't want to let go.

At some point in time he begins to stroke my back, whether he's aware of what he's doing or not. His heartbeat has slowed significantly since I initially hugged him, and I can now feel the soothing, steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathes deeply.

"Thank you. This really helped," Bryce says softly, suddenly.

I nod my head against his shoulder. "No problem. It's helping me, too. I missed you a lot, you know. I wish I didn't have to leave."

A pause.

And then, quietly, Bryce says, "You didn't have to leave. You could have stayed with me."

Gently, I pull my face away from the crook of his neck and out from under his chin. I slowly unwrap my arms from around his waist, instead lifting my hands up to hold either side of his neck even as he keeps his own hands around my waist.

I smile sadly as I look him in the eye. "I did have to leave, though. If I stayed with you, things never would've gotten better between us. And if I stayed, I never would've matured the way I did over the past months. I'm better now because of it, and I can tell that you're better, too."

Bryce purses his lips together. I can feel the sudden frustration radiating off of him.

"If you're doing so well without me, Lexi, then why the hell are you talking to me?" he asks bitterly.

I flinch slightly at his words, but despite the fact that I can practically feel his skin burning against the palms of my hands, I don't pull away.

"Because you mean the world to me, Bryce. Just because we broke up doesn't mean that I don't still have feelings for you. I want to make sure that you're doing all right, which you clearly aren't," I whisper, not caring that my tone sharpens at the end.

Bryce's eyes narrow. "Why didn't you say goodbye? You clearly don't care about me very much if you didn't even wait for me to wake up before you left."

I immediately deflect his question by asking a question of my own, something that I've been wanting to ask since the first thing that Bryce said to me: Lexi.

"Well if we're asking questions, why are you calling me Lexi? You never call me Lexi, only when you're mad at me. Why the hell aren't you calling me Blossom?" I ask, letting all of my frustration out.

Bryce looks away from me at this. He takes a few moments to breathe deeply and calm himself before he turns back to me and says, "I didn't think you would want me to call you Blossom anymore."

I frown. "But I like it when you call me Blossom."

Bryce's eyebrows raise. "Do you?"

I nod. "Yes. I do. It makes me sad to hear you call me Lexi," I confess. "And to answer your question, I was too weak to say goodbye before you before I left. I knew that as soon as I looked into your eyes, I would change my mind and stay with you."

Bryce clearly wasn't expecting this answer from me because he falls silent for a few moments once again, as though he's processing my words.

And then, his voice barely a whisper, he says, "But you're my girl. I really wanted to say goodbye to you."

I shut my eyes because, sure enough, staring at Bryce's face is making me weak. "I'm not your girl anymore. I've already told you that I'm a completely different Lexi from the girl that you dated—"

Bryce cuts me off.

"You need to stop talking about all these different Lexis. You're still the same person that you were when we were together, and you're still the same person before we were together. You've just changed, Lex, but you're still the same deep down inside. You're still you," he counters, his voice far louder and far angrier than before.

I blink at him.

Once.

Twice.

"Oh," I say simply, stupidly.

Bryce raises an eyebrow at me. "Indeed."

"I . . . I didn't think about it that way," I say, and once again, I sound stupid.

And then, I am completely and utterly stunned when Bryce laughs.

He's not laughing at me.

He's laughing because he's genuinely amused.

And to my surprise, he suddenly looks . . .

Happy?

"All right, sweetheart," he says to me. "Let's go dance. I know I've essentially ruined your evening, so I'd like to make it up to you. I promise that I won't kiss you again."

I continue to blink up at him. Stupidly.

Bryce's eyes twinkle with mirth as he adds, "Well, not unless you want me to, of course."

A/N: I can't believe it's chapter 69 and there's no sex. Lmaoooo. So unlike me.

Anyway, I'm so pumped  for the next chapters and I just wanted to share this with you guys again to add to the suspense because I AM SO DARN EXCITED ;)

Also I just finished reading Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi which is the last book in my favourite series of all time so if anybody else has read it and wants to discuss it with me please let me know because I am a MESS.