Always There

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Three

Songs for this chapter:
• 17 - Pink Sweat$
• No One Compares To You - Jack & Jack

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Three:

Bryce's POV

I hold Blossom's hand as we walk through the hospital hallways. She doesn't ask me to do it, but I can sense from the tightness in her shoulders and the rigidness in her posture that having me beside her is a comfort she needs right now.

"I don't know why I'm so scared," she confesses to me as we step off of the elevator that has just deposited us onto the floor where Jonathon's room is located. "It's not like anything has changed since yesterday. If it had, my mom would have called me."

When I look down at Blossom, I find that her teeth have sunk into her bottom lip, hard. Before she can draw blood, I lift my free hand to her face and free her lip from the grasp of her teeth. "Hey. Don't do that. I don't want you to hurt yourself, sweetheart."

Blossom glances down at her feet, embarrassed. We've paused in the middle of the hallway, and I pull her off to the side as a hurried nurse rushes past us.

"I'm sorry," she says shyly. "I didn't realise I was doing it."

I give her a little smile and press my lips to her hairline. "No need to apologise, my girl." I pause, considering the furrow between her brows and the vulnerability in her big brown eyes. "Are you sure that you're in the right headspace to be here? I need to keep you happy, and so if you can't be here, you can just come to the children's hospital with me."

Blossom gives a small tug on my hand, and we begin to walk again. "I'll be okay here. I promise," she says firmly. She shuffles a little bit closer to me as we walk and then asks, "Why are you going to the children's hospital, anyway?"

"News got out that I was in the city. Someone who works in the cancer unit at the hospital reached out to Aidan and asked if I could drop by and talk to some of the kids who are fans of me," I answer her.

She's quiet for a moment, considering. "That's very generous of you."

I shrug. "Is it? They have cancer. They have to live their lives stuck in the hospital. I'm just some twenty-three year old drug addict who has a face pretty enough to make the world pay attention to him. I got really fucking lucky in the life lottery, and they got really fucking unlucky. Visiting them is the least I can do."

I don't dare look down at her, but I feel the sudden tension in her body. "You're not a drug addict."

I wait for her to elaborate, but she doesn't.

"Are you sure about that, Blossom?" I prod.

She nods, only once, but I can see the surety in the singular movement.

"Would you love me even if I was an addict, though?" I continue.

She purses her lips together, but only for a moment before she answers. "Of course I would. I'd love you no matter what. I never stopped loving you all these years. I don't think anything could make me stop loving you."

Finally, we round one last corner of the winding hospital hallways to find some of Blossom's family huddled around the door to Jonathon's room. Michael is on his feet and pacing back and forth along the hallway in sharp contrast to Kathleen, who is slumped on the floor with her head against the wall, fast asleep.

At the end of the hallway, standing in front of the large window and giggling at something on one of their phones, is Adriana and Addison.

Inwardly, I groan at the sight of them.