Always There

Chapter Ninety-Nine

She does as she's told, and I pull the sweatshirt down over her head. It's practically the same length as her dress that she's wearing underneath, which makes me smile a little bit wider as she pulls down the sleeves so that the material covers her hands completely too.

"I guess I'm just embarrassed because it makes me look pathetic. I seem like some crazy ex-girlfriend who'll stalk your social media pages even when you've moved on and begun dating someone new. And that probably will be me, because I'll always think of myself as yours, no matter how many years go by and how many other women you date," she tells me in a whisper.

She's standing in front of me with the softest, sweetest expression on her face, wearing a sweatshirt of mine that's so big on her it goes down to her knees, and there isn't a single cell in my body that can comprehend how anyone else in the world could ever be more perfect.

There is no one else out there that I could ever want to be with a fraction as much as I want to be with Lexi Brooks.

I open my arms and Blossom shuffles towards me, close enough that I can wrap her up in my embrace. She buries her entire face against my chest and wraps her arms around my waist so tightly that it somehow nearly knocks the breath out of me.

"I'm not going to move on, Blossom. I'm either going to be with you, or be with nobody. I'm working so hard right now to become better, to see what we were doing wrong in our relationship. To see what I was doing wrong. Because you mean the world to me, but I don't want us to be together all the time when it's just going to end in tears and lies. Therapy has been helping me understand myself a lot better, and so one day, when I feel ready to try this again, try us again, I'll let you know. Maybe, if you feel the same, we can start all over," I respond, trying to keep my voice just as soft.

Blossom remains quiet and nuzzles her face against my chest.

We stand here in silence for a little while, but then Blossom pulls away from me and reaches down to twine her fingers through mine instead. A gentle squeeze of her hand lets me know that she's ready to leave her room and face the world again, and so I follow her into her living room after kissing her hair and squeezing her hand in return.

The only seat available in Kennedy and Blossom's tiny living room right now is a white armchair in the corner of the room, and so Blossom guides me over towards it. With a gentle shove against my chest, she pushes me down onto the seat, and just when I'm about to open my mouth to ask where she's going to sit, she seats herself comfortably in my lap.

Knox and I make eye contact and he raises an eyebrow at me.

I glare at him, and he chuckles a little to himself before resuming whatever conversation he had just been having with his girlfriend.

Kennedy suddenly stands up from her seat and disappears into the kitchen. Blossom watches her curiously, but as soon as Knox notices that she's following Kennedy with her eyes, he asks her a question and effectively pulls her into whatever conversation him and Jane are having.

Sure enough, the lights flick off and the room is suddenly dimmed. Blossom startles and jumps a little in my lap, but when I place a hand on her thigh and squeeze gently, she settles back down.

Kennedy pops out of the kitchen, this time balancing a birthday cake in her hands. Nineteen pink candles are lit atop the cake, and at Kennedy's cue, everyone begins to sing happy birthday to Blossom.