Always There

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Songs for this chapter:
• Lose You To Love Me - Selena Gomez

Chapter Fifty-Seven:

Lexi's POV

Tears are streaming down my face relentlessly as I hurry down the hall of the Juilliard dorms where I used to live—where Kennedy still does live.

My heart hurts so badly that it feels as though I've been stabbed.

I've been crying non-stop since I left Bryce's apartment this morning with two suitcases brimming with clothes, two boxes of other things, and my stuffed unicorn, as I couldn't leave it behind no matter how hard I tried to.

Not to mention that I shoved several of Bryce's clothes into one of my suitcases, but that's besides the point.

I hauled all of my things into the foyer of Bryce's apartment, but after I slipped my shoes and jacket on, I paused before opening the front door and leaving the apartment for good.

I should say goodbye to Bryce.

And so quietly, I made my way through the apartment and into the spare bedroom, where I found Bryce fast asleep in the large bed.

My heart skipped a beat when my gaze landed on him, because he just looked so damn beautiful; a serene expression on his face and his dark hair an adorable mess atop his head.

I knew then that I couldn't wake him up, and so instead, I tucked him in to bed before kneeling down beside him.

Then, making sure to keep my voice low enough that it wouldn't rouse him, I whispered, "I think that deep down inside, I always knew that we weren't going to work out. You still deserve to be happy, though, and so please, for the love of God, don't screw things up when you find the right girl, Bryce."

Finally, I kissed him on the forehead before turning away from the bed, a new wave of tears pouring down my cheeks.

Just before I exited the bedroom, though, I turned back around to face Bryce.

"I love you. So much," I tell him.

Saying the words aloud just made me cry harder, and so I hurried out of the bedroom before he could hear me, glancing briefly at where my diary lay open on the island in the kitchen to the page where I had written him a note.

I don't know how he's going to react to what I've written. Maybe it'll just make him hate me even more.

I hauled all of my things out of the apartment and into the hallway before gently shutting the apartment door behind me, knowing that that was the final time I would ever step foot inside.

It took me two trips down to the lobby to get all of my things downstairs, where I sat down on one of the benches and called Knox to come pick me up.

The few seconds it took for Knox to pick up the phone were utterly terrifying, as if he couldn't pick me up, I would have to somehow drag all of my things to Juilliard, all on my own, in the freezing cold.

Thankfully, he picked up on the third ring.

I didn't give him a chance to even say hello before I blurted out that Bryce and I had broken up and that I need him to come pick me up from Bryce's apartment as soon as possible.

Knox told me that he would be there soon, and so reluctantly, I hung up the phone and waited in silence.

I'm sure that I looked certifiably insane to anybody who passed by: a sobbing eighteen-year-old girl clutching a giant stuffed unicorn to her chest with suitcases and cardboard boxes around her feet.