Songs for this chapter:
• Forever & Always (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift
Chapter One Hundred and Six:
Lexi's POV
The clock is telling me that it's two minutes away from midnight.
Two minutes remain of my twentieth birthday.
Two minutes remain, and I haven't heard from Bryce all day.
Knox sits down beside me on the couch. He gently takes the half-eaten slice of chocolate cake from my lap and sets it down on the coffee table.
When he wraps his arms around me I melt into his embrace.
"I'm sorry, little one. There must have been a reason. It's so unlike the bastard to not come see you. I know for a bloody fact that he didn't forget," he tells me gently.
I've been blinking back tears all evening, and so I try and fail to hide a sniffle.
"I don't get it. He didn't even text me. Absolutely nothing. Something must be wrong. I should call him. Maybe he's in trouble," I whisper.
Someone suddenly knocks on the front door.
Kennedy, Nathan, and Jane are gathered in the kitchen, and so Kennedy, who is closest to the door, goes to answer it. Her body blocks my view of the doorway from where I'm sitting with Knox on the loveseat in the living room, and so I don't get a chance to see who knocked before she shuts the door.
When she turns to face me, she's holding a bouquet of red roses.
Knox gives my shoulder a soft squeeze as Kennedy approaches us. She carefully hands me the bouquet with a sad smile. "I think we all know who this is from."
I clutch the roses to my chest, ignoring the prickling of the thorns against my skin. "Was it him at the door? I couldn't see."
She shakes her head sadly. There's a sympathic smile on her face when she says, "No, Lexi. I'm sorry. I wouldn't have let him go of it was. It was some guy I've never seen before."
I have to squeeze my eyes shut to repress another wave of tears.
Knox smoothes a hand down my back, and it's enough of a comfort to get me to open my eyes and face Kennedy.
"Okay. Thank you," I tell her quietly.
She leans in to kiss my cheek before rejoining Nathan and Jane in the kitchen.
"I suppose this answers our question," Knox mumbles. "The wanker must be fine if he sent flowers."
I clutch the flowers tighter. I feel a thorn sink into the skin of my arm deep enough to draw blood.
"So he really just didn't want to talk to me. He saw me a week ago, but he didn't bother calling me on my birthday," I whisper.
Knox is silent.
I stand up from the sofa. "I'm going to put them in some water. They're too pretty to let them go to waste."
"Would you like some help?" Knox asks quietly.
I shake my head at him. "I'm okay. I need some space."
When I reach my bedroom, I check the time on the small clock resting on my bedside table.
One minute past midnight.
November fourteenth.
My birthday came and went without a single word from Bryce Bradshaw.
I grab a vase from the bottom shelf of my bookcase and set it on my bedside table. I pluck a pair of scissors off my desk top and am about to begin trimming the roses' stems to the proper length when an envelope suddenly tumbles from tucked between the flowers.
My name is printed across the front in Bryce's handwriting.
I toss the card in my small trash bin without a second thought and go back to trimming the stems.
A/N: Well. That was sad. Sorry about that. The next chapter isn't going to be much better, so sorry in advance. Lol.
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Always There
Romance'"You're a liar. You're a dirty fucking liar," I sob. Despite the fact that I want nothing more than to run away from the man standing in front of me, I know that my grip on his hands is the only thing that's keeping me stable right now. "I didn't l...
