Always There

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Two

Songs for this chapter:
• my hair - Ariana Grande
• EX - Kiana Ledé

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Two:

Bryce's POV

My eyes open to find Blossom staring directly down at me, hazel eyes huge as saucers.

I nearly jump out of my skin.

"Jesus Christ, woman. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I mutter, squeezing my eyes shut.

Blossom giggles. She's seated on my abdomen, both of us still entirely nude, and she reaches up with both hands to tousle the hair at the top of my head. "You're so dramatic. You're not going to have a heart attack at twenty-three."

My hands reach out for her now, settling on her hips. I stroke one of my thumbs in a small circle against her soft skin, and she shivers.

I smile a little. "I feel like the music industry has aged me ten times quicker than normal, babe."

She frowns, and I watch a crease form between her eyebrows. "Don't talk like that. You're young and healthy and we are going to have a long, happy life together."

My smile dissipates at the sudden emotion in her eyes, the emotion I can hear clogging her throat as she speaks. "I was just teasing, Blossom. We are going to have the very best life together. I pinky promise."

When I hold up my fist and extend my pinky finger towards her, she loops her finger through mine without a moment of hesitation.

I chuckle and pull her hand to my face, where I press a gentle kiss to the back of her hand. "How long have you been awake, my girl? You never wake up before me."

"Not very long," she whispers. Her smile is shy, and her eyes leave mine. "I was trying to wake you up. I thought that maybe if I stared really, really hard right at you, I could will you awake. I think it maybe worked."

I can't help the burst of laughter that escapes me. "You're such a dork."

She beams, clearly very satisfied with herself, and snuggles up on top of my chest. I tuck her head underneath my chin and snuggle her close.

"You've done so much for me over these past few days, Bryce. Thank you. I think it's my turn to do something for you now, though. You stay here and relax and I am going to go downstairs and make us breakfast. I'll bring it up and we can eat in bed together," she whispers to me. Her small, soft hands are gently stroking my biceps as she speaks, and all I can do is press my head back into the pillow and breathe deeply to calm my racing heart.

"If you keep touching me like that, you won't be leaving this bed for another three days," I hiss.

Blossom giggles, and in one fluid motion she's rolled off of me and is now standing beside the bed. Her hand ruffles my hair, and with a quick peck to my nose, she spins around and disappears into my bathroom.

Since she didn't bother to close the door, I watch as she rummages through my drawers. She lets out a little victorious noise from the back of her throat when she finally locates a small grey face towel, and I watch her with a small smile as she dampens the towel with warm water and begins to wipe between her legs with a small wince.

"I usually do that for you. I was tired last night. I'm sorry," I say, rolling over onto my side and propping my head up with my hand so that I can have a better view of my girl.

She glances down at the towel before bundling it up in her fist. "It's okay. Yesterday was a really long day. We flew into the city, went to the hospital, had a date night, and then stayed up late. I was tired too. Don't worry, though. I can handle it myself."