Always There

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One

Songs for this chapter:
• Everything Has Changed (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran
• pov - Ariana Grande

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One:

Lexi's POV

I pretend to ignore how Bryce's eyes are tracking my mouth's movements when I take a long lick of mint chocolate chip ice cream from my ice cream cone. "This reminds me of the dates we used to go on in high school. I love it."

Bryce laughs, and the sound is a deep rumble that I swear I can feel vibrate in my toes. Hearing him laugh and seeing him happy makes me so incredibly giddy, and his smile is so contagious that I can't help but to grin back at him as I lick some stray ice cream from the corner of my mouth.

God, I'm so happy.

I love being with Bryce. There's nowhere else I would rather be than at his side, and there's no place in the world where I feel more at home. Having him near me makes me so indescribably happy, and knowing that I can make him happy too?

It fills my chest with pride.

The past few days have made me feel horrible. No matter how much I wanted to, I simply couldn't speak. I would try and try, but the words wouldn't leave my mouth. So much was going on in my life, and I was so emotionally overwhelmed that talking just became too much for my overstimulated brain to handle.

Not being able to communicate with those I love was bad enough, but seeing how upset it made Bryce was the worst part.

I love him with every fibre of my being. Ever since he walked through the doorway of my apartment after waking up from his coma, I wanted to tell him. The words were right there on the very tip of my tongue, fighting to burst free from my heart and out into the world.

I couldn't bring myself to say it, though. I was scared that though I still loved him more than anything, he had lost his feelings for me.

I knew that if I said those three little words aloud and he didn't say them back, my heart would be broken beyond repair.

Because I was scared, because I was a complete coward, I didn't want to be the first of us to confess our feelings for the other.

And so I waited, and waited, and waited some more, hoping that Bryce would tell me how he feels so that I could share my feelings, too.

Bryce never did tell me how he felt, and so I continued to wait, but this time I wasn't looking for the words that would reveal his love for me.

I needed to decipher his feelings from his actions.

And so when he rescued me from Liam, from my dad's dreary hospital, and from myself, I knew he loved me.

"That was kind of the point, sweetheart," Bryce says suddenly. When I glance up at him, I find a teasing smile and sparkling eyes.

"Hm?" I'm still lost in my thoughts.

"You said it reminded you of our high school dates? That's what I was hoping for. Our relationship was so easy in high school. So happy," he clarifies.

I feel my cheeks heat. "We were happy. Very happy."

Bryce snorts. "Yeah. But then our lives became hell, didn't they?"

Before I can stop myself, I blurt out, "I'm sorry for leaving you."

Considering, Bryce takes a long lick from his own ice cream cone. It's mint chocolate chip, just like mine.