Always There

Chapter Ninety-Seven

Songs for this chapter:
• Rewrite the Stars - Zac Efron & Zendaya

Chapter Ninety-Seven:

Bryce's POV

"When are you going to tell me where we're going? You've been keeping so many secrets from me today, and I can't handle all the surprises," Blossom says, followed by an adorable little sigh.

Despite her words, she's happily skipping along beside me. Her hand is in mine and she's holding on to me tightly, tucked against my side with her cheek pressed against my arm.

She opted to not wear heels tonight, and so she looks tiny walking next to me with only her white Converse on her feet. She had pulled her hair into a tight, low ponytail at the nape of her neck right before we left her apartment, and I'm truly grateful for it as now her curtain of hair is no longer hiding her body.

And fuck, her body looks so good. Her dress is so fucking tight, and I really just want to—

"Bryce? Hello? Are you going to answer me?" Blossom asks abruptly, giving my hand a little tug to regain my attention.

I blink a few times.

Damn.

"Haven't you figured it out by now? We used to walk this way nearly every week," I tell her with an innocent smile.

Blossom narrows her eyes at me, huffs, and then looks closely at the street that we're currently walking on. There's a blank, confused expression on her face for several long moments, but I eventually see something flash in her eyes when realisation dawns on her.

"Oh!" she squeals in pure delight. "We're going for sushi at the karaoke place! Of course! How did I not think of that? Thank you, Bryce. You're so thoughtful. It's just like when we used to go on dates. When we were still . . ."

Blossom trails off, her voice turning sad. When I glance down at her face, I notice that her eyebrows are furrowed as though she's deep in thought.

"Hey, honey. We're together right now. No need to be sad," I tell her gently, giving her hand a firm squeeze as we continue walking down the sidewalk.

Blossom is silent for several moments, and so when we eventually have to pause to wait for the light to change at a crosswalk, I lean in and kiss her forehead.

Softly, she whispers, "We both know that that isn't what I meant, Bryce."

The light changes on the crosswalk, and we begin to walk again. I don't say anything for a little bit longer, simply because I have no fucking clue what I can possibly say to make her smile again.

We eventually reach the sushi restaurant, though. I know that I need to put her in a better mood so that she can really enjoy her birthday and all of our time together, but at the same time, I don't really know if I can blame her for being so . . . upset.

I give Blossom's hand yet another firm squeeze, as this seems to be very reassuring for her today, and I keep my grip on her hand tight as I open the door to the restaurant for her. She steps into the restaurant first with a grateful smile on her face, and I follow her inside where we're immediately seated at a booth next to one of the many windows.

"Is this the same booth that we sat at for my birthday last year?" Blossom whispers into my ear as the waitress places two menus onto our table for us.

I scan the rest of the restaurant, counting the booths around ours. Sure enough, it seems that we've been seated at the exact same booth as last year.

"I think so, baby," I whisper back to her.

Her smile is sad when she looks up at me again.

The waitress disappears to go seat another pair of guests, and so I decide to take a seat at the table. I slide into one side of the booth, and Blossom immediately surprises me by taking a seat right beside me on the same bench rather than sitting across from me.