To Have, To Hold, and To Leave: A Bryce Hall FanFiction «completed»

32

-Bryce's POV-

My phone buzzed in my pocket for what felt like the thousandth time, but I continued to ignore it. "Are you sure that you don't want to answer that?" Addison asked. 
"Positive. The only place that I want to be is right here with you," I responded, reaching into my pocket to shut my phone off.
"And you're sure that someone else is gonna pick up the kids?" she asked. 
"Yeah. I'm positive. I don't know why you're worrying so much." 

She laid her head back down on my shoulder. "I've missed you since you went back to take care of the kids so that Kate could be on bed rest."
"I've missed you, too," I murmured, kissing her on the top of her head. What was I doing? Was I really risking my marriage again? 
"What are you thinking about?" she asked. 
"Nothing," I lied. "What are you thinking about?" 
"How much I love you," she whispered, leaning her head up to kiss me softly. 

I deepened the kiss, and Addison swung her legs over mine, climbing onto my lap. I kissed down her neck, and a soft gasp escaped her lips. "I forgot just how good you could be at this," she giggled. 
I didn't stop, but Addison wasn't the woman that was on my mind. Kate was. God, why did being so stupid feel so good?

She wrapped her legs around my waist as I stood, carrying her through her house and throwing her backwards onto her bed. "I love you, Bryce."
"I love you, too," I whispered as I hovered above her. It wasn't technically a lie. It just wasn't the whole truth. 

As I laid wrapped in her sheets, she rested her head on my chest and I ran my fingers through her hair. "Are you free for dinner tonight?" she asked. 
"I, uh, no, sorry. I can't. I'm still on kid duty. You know, bed rest and all. Actually, I should probably go. I need to relieve the babysitter," I stammered, rolling out of the bed and pulling my jeans on. 
"Aww," she pouted. "I'll miss you. Are you going to come by tomorrow?" 
"I might," I answered, avoiding eye contact. "Kate might have a follow-up appointment. I'll have to check the calendar."

I kissed her goodbye before heading back down the stairs and closing her front door softly behind me. What the hell had I just done?
I made the short drive across town to our house, and I saw Nessa watching the kids play in the front yard. "Hey, kiddos," I greeted them as I got out of the car. 
"Where the hell were you?" Nessa practically screamed. 
Owen and Annalisa had already wrapped themselves around me. "Hey, guys, can you give me and Auntie Nessa a few minutes alone? We need to talk."

They let go, and Nessa and I sat down on the porch while the kids continued to play. "What's going on?" 
"What's going on is that your wife is upstairs, battling yet another panic attack because her husband didn't show up to pick their kids up from school. So, I'll ask you again, where were you?" 
I couldn't think of a lie. "I, uh, I just got distracted at the gym."
"Yeah? In jeans? For hours?" Nessa asked, clearly not believing anything that I was saying. 
"Gym bag is in the back of the car. I changed. I was trying to blow off some steam after this morning. Did she tell you that she told me not to fuck any other women?" I asked, changing the subject. 
"Yeah, she did. That was a perfectly valid thing to say. She can be traumatized about the fact that you cheated on her," Nessa defended her. 
Okay, that was fair. "She cheated on me, too." 
"You're grasping for straws! She only went on that date with Griffin because she thought that you two were getting a divorce. You have taken her to hell and back, Bryce!"
"Alright, Ness. This really isn't any of your business. You can go ahead and take your kids home now. I've got it from here," I snapped back at her. 
"You know, Bryce, you will never learn," she replied, standing up. "Jasmine! JJ! Let's go home now! I love you guys," she said to Owen, Annalisa, and Isaiah before crossing our yards and entering her own. 

"Let's go inside, please!" I yelled out to the kids, opening the front door. 
"Daddy?" Annalisa said, trying to get my attention. 
"What's up, my love?"
"Why didn't you pick us up from school? You promised that you would see us after school, and then we had to wait for a really long time until Auntie Nessa came to get us," she asked. 
Shit. "I'm sorry, baby. Daddy got a little bit distracted today. I know that that isn't an excuse. Daddy really screwed up today."
"Yeah, you did," Isaiah interjected. "Mom was talking to Aunt Nessa on the phone, and she said that she left you some voicemails. From the sounds of it, she wasn't very happy. You might want to go talk to her about that."
"When did you get so wise?" I asked, turning to look at him. 
"When you moved out. You miss a lot when you don't live here," he replied. Wow. I hadn't truly realized how much this had affected the kids, especially Isaiah.

I went upstairs, leaving the kids in the living room. I knocked on the closed bedroom door, waiting for her to answer. "Come in," she called out. 
I opened the door, and she let out a sigh of relief. "Oh my, God! I'm so glad that you're okay! I thought that you were dead or something!"
"I'm really sorry that I scared you. I didn't mean to. I just lost track of time while I was at the gym. I turned my phone off to avoid any distractions. 
"That's okay," she murmured. "I'm just glad that you're okay. I just wanted you to be okay."
At that moment, I knew that she could never find out where I had really been that day. It might just kill her.