Always There

Chapter Ninety-Eight

Chapter Ninety-Eight:

Bryce's POV

"Oh my God, Bryce. Thank you! Thank you so so much! I haven't been able to relax and have fun like that in ages. I've just been so stressed lately, with school and with work, and I'm just a really anxious person too, so like—"

I cut Blossom off by leaning in to press a soft kiss against her pink lips.

I kiss her for a moment, and when I pull away, she's staring at me with wide eyes. Her cheeks have flushed a similar shade of pink to her lips, her eyes are wide with wonder, and her brows are furrowed ever so slightly, forming a tiny crease in the centre of her forehead.

I open my mouth to speak, but then a sudden gust of cool, autumn air hits us, and my mouth shuts as I feel a shiver run down my spine. I watch as the wind causes a few strands of Blossom's hair to blow across her face, and she lets out a soft puff of breath before raising her trembling fingers and attempting to smooth her hair back behind her ears.

Her hands are shaking too much, though, from the chill that seems to have settled over the city while we were inside the sushi restaurant. Her dress isn't keeping her nearly warm enough as we walk down the now-empty sidewalk and towards her apartment, and so I'm silently cursing myself for not having a jacket or sweater to give her right now.

I push her stray hair out of her face for her, tucking it behind her ears just as another gust of wind hits us. Her eyes squeeze shut as she shivers again, and so I'm quick to wrap an arm around her shoulders and tuck her against my side to warm her up.

We've been walking for a little while, and so we're nearly at Blossom's apartment, but it's still somehow gotten significantly colder since we left the restaurant. I didn't anticipate the drop in temperature since this afternoon, and so I'm regretting insisting on walking to the restaurant rather than driving.

"C'mon, honey. Let's hurry up so that we can get you home and warm you up," I whisper into her ear as we hurry across a crosswalk on the street.

She snuggles in a little bit closer to my side. "Okay," she says softly, her voice nothing more than a breathy whisper over the sound of vehicles zipping along the street beside us.

We continue to approach Blossom and Kennedy's apartment with Blossom still tucked in against my side. She doesn't say anything else as we walk, instead choosing to drift off into some sort of daydream while her eyes remain trained on her feet.

I don't initiate a conversation for awhile since she seems content with her thoughts, but eventually, I can't help but to ask, "Blossom? Why did you look so sad when I just kissed you?"

I glance down at Blossom, watch her tug her bottom lip between her teeth. It takes her a moment, but, voice barely over a whisper, she tells me, "I just miss waking up to your kisses every morning. Don't worry about it. It's just me being ridiculous."

I feel my lips turn down into a frown, but Blossom silences me with a little shake of her head.

"It's all good," she promises. "I'm happy. I swear."

The pain in her eyes is so acute that I almost wince.

🌸🌸🌸

"I had no clue that it was going to be this cold tonight. My fingers are blue. I honestly don't know if I'm going to be able to get my keys out of my purse," Blossom murmurs as we pause in front of the door to her apartment.

I slide the hand I have on the small of her back around so that I can give her waist a gentle squeeze.

"The door should be unlocked," I say, biting down on my lip to contain my knowing smile. I've done a damn good job at keeping this a secret all day, and so there is absolutely no way that I'm going to allow myself to fuck it up now.