Always There

Chapter One Hundred and Ten

Songs for this chapter:
• cardigan - Taylor Swift
• Vibez - ZAYN

Chapter One Hundred and Ten:

Lexi's POV

Bryce blinks at me.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

"Where the hell are your clothes, Blossom?"

I giggle and wrap my arms around his waist. "I'm wearing the same amount of clothes as you, silly."

Bryce wraps his arms around me, too, and lifts me up into his arms. I rest my head on his shoulder as he closes the door behind me and walks us over to his bed.

"The difference," he tells me, sitting down on the edge of the bed and placing me on his lap, "is that I am alone in my bedroom. You, young lady, are out wandering the hallways."

I laugh. "Vanessa is asleep. I'm sure Mateo is too."

Bryce sets me down beside him and rests a hand on my thigh. "Shouldn't you be with Vanessa and also asleep?"

I shrug. "Yes, but I've been thinking about our conversation earlier, and I feel like you're lying to me. At least partially."

A silent moment passes between us.

Bryce scoots back on the bed and climbs under the covers. He leans back against his headboard, and when he pats the spot beside him I crawl over and join him beneath the sheets.

He wraps and arm around my shoulders and draws me in until my head is resting on his chest. Calm as can be, he asks me, "Lying about what, habibti?"

I snuggle into his side. "You said that you stopped talking to me because my parents told you to. I have a hard time believing that. Since when have you ever cared what other people think of our relationship?"

Bryce is silent for a moment.

And then he leans in to kiss me on the top of my head. "You do know me quite well, don't you, honey?"

I giggle. "I do. Now please, tell me the truth this time. Why did you stop contacting me so suddenly?"

Bryce lets out a deep breath. "Well, it is partially because of your parents. But, it's mostly because of what you said to me. When I came to see you and you had been drinking. You told me that you wished we were back together and that you had never broken up with me in the first place."

I let out a small, forced laugh. "Trust me, I know. How could I forget? My question is why that made you stop talking to me."

Now it's Bryce's turn to chuckle uncomfortably. "Well, I knew that even if what you said was true, it wasn't something you would've said to me sober."

"And? It's too late for me to take it back now."

He laughs again. "True. My problem is that I don't want you to pretend that our breakup never happened. I don't want you to not hold me accountable for what I did to you. If we forget our mistakes, then how can we learn from them?"

"I guess that makes sense."

"Mmm."

"So what if I forgive you? What if I haven't forgotten what happened, but I've accepted it and moved on and now I trust that you'll never do that to me again?"

Bryce considers this for several moments before he reaches for my face and tips my chin up. My eyes meet his and I shudder.

"Well, then perhaps we should be having a very different conversation right now," he murmurs, leaning in to brush his lips against mine for just a fraction of a second.

A chill shoots down my spine. "Oh?"

"Oh," Bryce confirms with a grin. His smile is so big and wide that my heart practically explodes.

He leans in and captures my mouth with his.

I kiss him back for a second before gently shoving his shoulders back. "I have another problem, though."

His smile is gone within a second.

Bryce settles back agains the headboard. "Do share."

"I still work at the cafe."

Bryce snorts. "And? I have plenty of money. I don't care if you work a minimum-wage job. And I still wouldn't care if I didn't have lots of money. That shit doesn't matter to me. All that matters is you."

I sigh and lean my head back so that I can look at Bryce. "I know. But it matters to me. You're Bryce Bradshaw. You have a career. I don't. We're at completely different stages of our lives. I need some time to . . . catch up to you. I want to graduate university and start my career. I can't be reliant on you again."

"Why not?" There's a furrow between Bryce's brow.

"Because. I want to be independent, and I don't trust myself to achieve that if I'm dating you again. It's too easy for me to give up everything for you. I'm not done growing up yet. I need you to give me some time," I whisper.

When I glance up at Bryce again, I see a single tear roll down his cheek.

For some reason, the sight of Bryce in tears brings me to tears as well, and the next thing I know I'm in his arms and we're sobbing into each other's shoulders.

"I'll wait for you," Bryce whispers to me. His voice is raspy. "I've been waiting for you all this time, and I'll keep waiting. There haven't been any other girls since you. There never will be any other girl apart from you. I'll wait until you're ready. I'll wait until the day I die. Anything to spend one last moment with you."

This just makes me cry even harder. "I'll wait for you too. When I'm ready, I'll be knocking at your door."

Bryce takes my face into his hands and seals his lips over mine. I sob into his mouth as he rolls us over in bed so that I'm underneath his big frame and his arms are braced on either side of my head.

I use my heels to push his boxers down his legs. He lets out a soft moan into my mouth and so I slide my underwear down my legs and kick them off somewhere under the covers.

I part my legs for Bryce, but he mumbles the word "shoulders" against my lips and so I hook my legs over his shoulders and settle my hands on his face.

He pulls back from me for just a moment.

I give him the slightest of nods and my biggest, brightest smile.

He smiles back at me and captures my lips for another searing kiss.

He slides inside of me, so impossibly deep.

I whimper into his mouth.

He thrusts slowly, purposefully, and there are tears gleaming in both of our eyes as he moves inside of me. One of his hands is fumbling against my body, touching and grabbing and pinching as it slides down my chest and between my legs.

"Harder," I beg.

He grunts into my mouth.

And then he fucks me until I see stars.

A/N: Heh. Hehehe. Hehehehehehehehe.

Sweet, sweet goodbye sex.

Anyway. There's another year time jump between this chapter and the next! Also I don't think you guys are going to be very happy with me after the start of the next chapter so pls don't yell at me in advance :-)