Always There

Chapter Ninety

And, of course, the thing I may love even a little bit more than all of my twinkling lights is the large painting hung beside my bed that Kennedy had bought for me while her and her uncle were out shopping a few days before Bryce and I flew back to New York.

I love it so much because it's a painting of a cherry blossom tree.

It's huge, taking up almost the entire wall beside my bed, which means that all the little flowers are so intricately painted, something you can immediately notice if you take a moment to look closely at the painting. Apart from the beautiful huge tree and the tiny pink blossoms attached to its branches in the foreground, it's possible to see little hints of the sky in the background, too.

It's the prettiest sky I've ever seen, I think. It's the loveliest shade of blue, a little bit lighter than powder blue, and there are little, butter yellow beams of light streaking across the sky in the background, barely visible, as though the sun is somewhere just out of the shot.

It's such a beautiful painting that I truly almost cried when Kennedy showed it to me.

It just means so so much to me. Having this lovely painting in my room, covering half of my wall, makes this little room feel just a little bit more like home because now, every time I roll over in bed, I'll see the cherry blossom tree and I'll be reminded of Bryce.

"Blossom? You look like you're deep in thought. Whatcha thinking about?" Bryce asks me softly, giving my hand another gentle squeeze.

I squeeze back. "I'm just thinking about how crazy all of this is. I can't believe I'm living in my own apartment in the city of my dreams. Not to mention that I'm starting my second year at Juilliard so damn soon. It's so surreal. Everything is so perfect, and it feels as though all of my dreams have came true." I pause for a moment. "Well, almost all my dreams. But you already know that."

I look up at Bryce to find him staring at me with a confusing expression on his face because he's smiling with his eyebrows furrowed, as though he's both confused and amused by what I've just said.

"What?" he asks innocently.

I giggle at that expression on his face, unable to contain myself. "Oh, stop. You already know that my life can't quite be perfect unless we're together again. We've had this conversation several times before, haven't we?"

Bryce's eyebrows remain furrowed, but his smile slowly turns down into a frown. "Yeah. We have talked about this before, but it still makes me sad. I want all of your dreams to come true, and it makes me so fucking upset to know that I'm standing in the way of that."

I sit up slightly, propping myself up on my elbows so that I can look directly into Bryce's eyes.

"It's not your fault," I whisper. "As long as I have you in my life, I won't complain. I'm just so thankful that we found our way back to each other again after all those years apart. I don't know where I would be right now if you had never left Florida."

Bryce considers this for a moment before he grins so wide that I can't help but to smile as well and roll my eyes at his sudden change in mood.

"I guess my mom being clinically insane has its perks, doesn't it? Thank God she got so pissed at my dad that she just thought murder was the best option," he says cheerily.

I playfully smack him in the arm, and he pinches me back in return.

I giggle again, leaning in to kiss Bryce's forehead. "You're ridiculous. You have the most twisted sense of humour, Bryce Bradshaw. I will never understand it."

Bryce snorts. "If you spend enough time with me, your sense of humour will become just as twisted as mine. Don't worry about it, honey. We'll get there soon enough."

I groan.

Bryce laughs, sitting up in bed so that we're level. He then pulls me onto his lap so that our chests are pressed together and our faces are a mere few inches apart.

"Can I kiss you again?" Bryce asks me lowly. "You've got to promise not to get so riled up this time, though. We wouldn't want Knox to walk in on that, would we, baby?"

I smack him again. "You're the worst. Wow."

He smacks me back. "You bet I am."

And then, there's a knock on the door.

Bryce lets out an obnoxiously loud groan.

"Speak of the devil," he mutters, clearly unimpressed.

I merely grin at him and jump off of the bed. Bryce turns to face me, his annoyance now evident on his face as well, and I pretend as though I don't notice his expression as I hold out my hand to him in an offering.

He groans again.

"Hey," I say. "I haven't seen Knox all summer. I really missed him."

Bryce huffs. "I still don't understand why you like that crumpet-eating bastard."

I give his hand a squeeze, tugging him up off the bed as soon as he places his hand in mine. I then begin to drag him out of the room, but just before we reach the door, Bryce feels the need to say one last thing.

"And I still don't understand who the fuck names their child Knox," he mumbles.

Truthfully, I have to try very hard to hold in my laugh.

A/N: Look at me!!! I actually got another chapter out on time!!! Yay!!!

Honestly though, guys, I'm super proud of myself. I'm having a really hard time writing lately (as you all know because I complain about my writer's block 24/7) which I still just don't understand because I have every single chapter of this book planned out, and so therefore it should be easy for me to write.

But nope. Here I am. Having an incredibly hard time. Let's all cross our fingers that I'm able to stick to this new schedule!!!