Always There

Chapter Seventy-Four

Songs for this chapter:
• Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

Chapter Seventy-Four:

Bryce's POV

"Yes. I'll be there in two weeks. I'm only coming the day after Matt and Vanessa, so you can't whine about it, old man," I say, rolling my eyes even though my dad can't see me.

My phone is resting in front of me on the island as I sit on one of the barstools, idling sipping the smoothie I just made. It's probably around eleven o'clock at night, and so I decided to get on the phone with my dad for a little while before I get in bed for the night and read until I fall asleep.

"I wasn't whining, kid. I just want to make sure that you're going to be here for the wedding. I'm not getting married unless you're there," my dad says in response.

I take another sip of my smoothie. "I promise I'll be there unless someone breaks into my apartment and murders me in my sleep."

My dad remains silent for a few moments, and I can practically feel him scowling at me.

"Don't joke about that shit, kid. You know that I worry about you living alone in that city," my dad then says solemnly.

I blink, speechless for a moment.

Dammit Bryce. Why are you such a fucking fuckup? You always say the wrong thing.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean it and I shouldn't have said that. I'll be okay. You lived alone in New York when you were my age too, and you were just fine," I say quietly.

My dad lets out an exasperated sigh. "It's all right, Bryce. I won't hold it against you. I'm just very stressed right now. I screwed up everything with Elena by not marrying her when we initially fell in love and so I want this wedding to be perfect. I feel like I owe her that."

I ignore the way my heart aches upon hearing him talk about how in love he is, because I know that I'll never feel that way myself ever again.

"I'm sorry that things didn't work out between you two before. I'm glad that you found each other again. I can tell that you two are really happy together," I say, trying my very best to hide the sadness that I'm feeling right now.

I must do a shit job of hiding how I'm feeling, though, because when my dad responds to me, he sounds troubled.

"I know that this is probably the last conversation that you want to be having right now. How's your girl doing? Is she holding up all right?" he asks.

I frown. "I don't know, Dad. I hope she's doing all right. God, I really do hope. She was supposed to fly home earlier today, actually, and so she's probably at home with her family right now. I'm sure that'll make her happy. I know that she missed them a lot. Especially her brother, since they have always been so close."

My dad lets out another sigh. It's midnight where he is, and I can tell that he's exhausted.

"Maybe you should go to bed, Dad. You sound tired. Go spend some time with your fiancée," I tell him just as somebody begins to knock rapidly on my apartment door.

I wait a few moments, expecting the knocking to stop after four or five knocks, but when it doesn't, I sigh and continue to speak before I'm able to give my dad a chance to respond to me.

"Someone's at the door. Maybe it's the murderer I was talking about. I should probably go," I say, standing up from my seat at the island.

"All right. Goodnight, Bryce. I love you, kid," my dad replies.