Always There

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Four

Songs for this chapter:
• You & I - One Direction
• Ghost of You - 5 Seconds of Summer

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Four:

Bryce's POV

One of Jonathon's arms is around my shoulders as I help him up the front steps to him and Kathleen's home. His other arm and the corresponding leg were both broken in the accident, and so I understand why he groaned in frustration when Kathleen rolled his wheelchair to a halt at the base of the steps and told him it was time to stand up.

Blossom and I were left wincing as we watched Kathleen, Charlie, and Jasmine watch Jonathon push to a standing position and awkwardly balance on his unbroken leg. This left the three of them nervously chattering amongst themselves, which was clearly worsening Jonathon's own anxieties, and so Blossom and I sent them inside and insisted that we could help Jonathon on our own.

Jonathon and I are climbing the last step when he looks up at me and says, "You really are tall, aren't you? I've always known that, but it becomes more clear when I have an arm slung around your shoulders."

I can't help but to snort. "Trust me. Seeing only the top of your daughter's head most of the time is a constant reminder."

At the sound of Blossom's voice, I look over my shoulder to where she's still standing at the base of the stairs beside her dad's now-empty wheelchair. "Are you guys gossiping about me?"

Jonathon answers before I can. "Yes, dear. Your father and your boyfriend are saying absolutely horrible things about you right now. It isn't like either of us love you or anything."

Blossom scowls and plants both of her hands on her hips. "I will take your wheelchair and run, Dad."

Jonathon chuckles to himself a little, and I gently ease his arm off from around my shoulders.

As though she had been watching us throwing the windows all this time and waiting for the right moment to intervene, Kathleen swings open the front door and hurries to her husband's side. She takes his hand and kisses him hard, right on the mouth. I look away to give them a moment of privacy, but as I make my way back down the steps I hear Kathleen tell her husband, "I'm so proud of you, honey. You're doing so well."

Once I've joined Blossom at the bottom of the stairs, I look up to find Kathleen helping Jonathon inside their home. Jonathon is smiling down at his wife as he uses his grip on her hand for balance, but I can see the pain behind his expression as Kathleen shuts the door behind them.

A moment of silence passes where Blossom and I stand silently and stare at the closed door. I don't know what the appropriate thing is to say right now, and so I remain silent as Blossom reaches over towards me and slips her hand into mine.

"I'm going to go get Dad's bag from your car. Do you think you could bring his wheelchair inside?" Blossom asks in a tiny whisper.

I give her hand a firm squeeze. "Of course, angel. Anything for you."

Blossom releases my hand and skips back down the driveway to where my red truck is parked on the side of the road in front of the Brooks household. For a moment I watch her go, and I admire the lightness in her step, the relief radiating off of her now that her dad is alive, awake, and healthy.

It makes me feel good to know that she's okay. It's been impossible for me to find happiness, even with all of the time that we've been spending together, knowing that a part of her mind was always elsewhere, always stuck in a deep, dark place.

But now, everything is shifting back where it belongs. Blossom is happy, and she's mine, and in a few days we'll go back to New York together, move into my apartment with Matt and Nessa, and the four of us will be together again.