Something There

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Eight:

"Hey kids! How was your trip?" my dad asks the moment he walks into the living room.

Charlie and I both stand up from our seats on the couch, walking over to him where we're both pulled into a huge hug.

"I mean, I found it pretty boring but I think it was a little more eventful for Lexi," my brother grins, and I can feel my eyebrows fly up in surprise.

"What are you talking about?" I ask, accidentally sounding totally frantic.

Charlie and my dad both look at me in confusion, and I take an involuntary step back away from them.

Charlie blinks slowly at me in return, and I realize that I'm overreacting. There is absolutely no way that Bryce would've told him what happened, so there is no reason for me to freak out.

I take a deep breath in, shaking my head and saying, "Never mind."

"I just thought that you and Bryce got into a fight, that's all," Charlie shrugs, and I feel my dad grow even more confused.

"Why did you and Bryce get into a fight? I didn't think you two spent that much time together,"our dad says, and I have to bite down on the inside of my cheek.

He has no clue. No clue whatsoever about Bryce and I's relationship that wasn't really a relationship.

But I wish it was a relationship. I wish we had a label and I wish there was actually something there between us.

I wish I could fall asleep in his arms without worrying what it would mean, and I wish I could kiss him again; I miss his kisses, and the way he holds me close to his chest when I'm upset.

It hurts to know that I'm no longer going to experience any of those things, not at all.

I wish Malcolm was here. He gave me better love advice in the day and a half I was on that trip than most of my friends have given me over the many, many years I've known them.

I guess I can't blame them for how I deny my feelings, but I still wish that I had someone I could always turn too no matter what.

But I do have that someone; it's Bryce. I just can't seem to talk about my feeling for him with him, which is a major hurdle that it appears will be difficult to get over.

"It's complicated," I tell Dad, and I've lost track of how many times I've answered a question about my feelings that way.

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"You look like shit," Jordan says to Bryce the moment that Charlie and I walk into the hallway.

Mateo snickers from where he's standing a few feet away from them, and Bryce's head snaps to the side so that he can glare right at him.

Mateo immediately stops laughing, sticking his nose right back into the book that he's reading.

Bryce then turns to Jordan, raising one eyebrow at him.

I do have to admit that Bryce doesn't look the greatest. His eyes are faintly red and they lack their usual twinkle as he stares blankly at Jordan, evidently annoyed.

"Shut your fucking mouth, Thompson," he grumbles, slamming the door to his locker shut before taking another sip of the iced coffee in his hands.

He's wearing a black T-shirt and I find myself admiring his tattoos before I leave my brother behind, walking right towards them.

"He's hungover," I state, taking to both Bryce and Jordan.

I know that I'm correct by the way Bryce hangs his head down, refusing to look at me.