Always There

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One:

Lexi's POV

I smile up at Bryce as I follow him out of the bedroom, down the hallway and stairs, and into the foyer.

My mom and dad seemed to have beat us there, and so the front door is already wide open by the time Bryce and I approach. Elena and Leo are already inside, greeting my parents before Bryce makes a beeline for his dad.

I watch from the bottom step as Bryce pulls his dad into a firm hug. Leo looks startled for a moment before he embraces his son back, whispering, "Hey, kid."

Elena watches the two with a huge smile on her face before my dad offers to take her jacket which she then slips off. When Leo and Bryce pull apart my dad takes Leo's jacket as well, heading to hang them up in the closet.

Bryce heads back over towards me, and he has a new twinkle in his eye. I smile up at him as he wraps his arm around my waist, tugging me close to his side.

I watch as Leo reaches down to hold Elena's hand.

This gesture doesn't go unnoticed by my mom, and I watch a small smile play across her face as her, Elena, and Leo head through the hallway and into the kitchen after Elena and Leo take off their shoes. Bryce presses a kiss to the top of my head before he guides me to follow after them, my dad heading into the room as well.

It takes Charlie, Uncle Michael, Adriana, and Addison a moment to look up from what they're doing as the six of us walk into the kitchen, but the moment that Uncle Michael sees Elena and Leo, he blurts out, "Holy shit!"

He looks Elena and Leo up and down, his eyes focusing in on where the two of them are holding hands. They seem to be staring right back at my uncle, and when I glance to my parents, I find them both sporting cheeky smiles.

Uncle Michael is the first one to speak, turning to my parents to exclaim, "I told you that they were screwing in college! You two never believed me, but now here they are!"

My dad's eyes widen as he turns to glare at his brother. "And we told you that that was an inappropriate comment to make considering that Elena was already married back then."

Bryce's arm tightens around my waist, presumably at the thought of his brother.

It seems that my parents had a much more eventful college experience than I'm having.

I suppose that I was aware that my parents and Leo knew each other back then, but since Leo is a few years older than my parents, I didn't think that they knew each other this well. I can also recall my mom making a comment about Jasmine's mom not too long ago, suggesting that they were close acquaintances as well.

Leo and Elena seem to be considering Uncle Michael's comment, and they make eye contact with one another for a moment before Leo clears his throat.

Charlie looks up from his phone once more, and all eyes are on Leo, even Adriana and Addison's. They seem to be trying to avoid conversation with anyone in the room other than one another, and a small part of me hopes that perhaps they're feeling a little bit guilty about what they had just said about Bryce and I.

"You aren't wrong, Michael," Leo says quietly, and my parents' eyebrows raise.

Uncle Michael seems to be confused by this confession as well, and I feel as though everyone in the room is deeply anticipating what Leo is going to say next.

Although Charlie already knows that Bryce and Mateo are half-brothers, I remind myself that my parents don't know. Uncle Michael obviously doesn't have a clue either, and so it seems that everyone is on the edge of their seats as Leo seems to tighten his grip on Elena's hand before he opens his mouth to speak.