Always There

Chapter Thirty-Six

Songs for this chapter:
• False God - Taylor Swift

Chapter Thirty-Six:

Lexi's POV

"We're almost there, Bryce. We're landing really soon," I whisper, resting my free hand on Bryce's thigh.

Bryce has been squeezing my other hand impossibly firmly the entire flight. I've had to ask him to let go many times as I genuinely thought that I was losing circulation, but all he did was loosen his grip a little for a few minutes before going right back to squeezing tightly once more.

"Promise?" Bryce responds, whispering as well.

His eyes meet mine and I find him pouting slightly, genuine fear on his face. I give him a gentle smile, pressing a careful kiss to his cheek to comfort him.

"Yes, Bryce. I promise. How about you read a little bit more of your book?" I suggest.

He takes a deep breath and then nods at me, slowly. "Okay. Sure. I can do that," he replies, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose before opening up the book that had been resting in his lap, beginning to read once more.

He holds the book with one hand, using the other hand to hold mine. His fingertips are rough but his touch gentle as his thumb instinctively rubs soft circles against the back of my hand.

I lean my head against his shoulder and then he leans his head atop mine. I look out the window to my left, watching buildings and trees come into view as the plane slowly descends.

When I glance back towards Bryce, I find that he's already shut his book again. Instead, he seems to be finding great pleasure in watching me.

"You're so beautiful, Blossom. I don't know how you can't see it," he murmurs, then tucking his book into the bag by his feet before reaching to take both of my hands in his.

"Not everyone finds me beautiful," I say quietly, not necessarily meaning for him to hear me.

He clearly does hear what I say, though, as his eyes go wide. "Well, then they're fucking stupid because you're the most beautiful girl in the whole world," he retorts.

I give him a small smile, squeezing his hands. "You clearly haven't always thought that way or else you wouldn't have been with so many other girls. I know that I'm not pretty or beautiful or sexy and that's fine, I guess."

Bryce's face goes pale.

"No, baby, no. That's not why I had sex with other girls. I would've waited for you if I knew if I would ever see you again but I didn't think that I would. The only reason I moved back to Canada was because of my mom. If she hadn't gone mad, we wouldn't be together right now. I waited a year for you but then I started to lose hope. I'm so fucking sorry," he tells me.

I shrug at him, breaking eye contact. "Whatever. I loved you so much that I couldn't even bear the thought of kissing another guy. I just wanted you. This all makes me feel as though I'll never be enough to please you."

I watch as a tear slides down Bryce's cheek.

My heart breaks, knowing that I made him cry. He doesn't seem to be mad at me, though, but just genuinely sad as he immediately pulls me into his arms as best he can with the stupid seatbelts we have on right now.

"I'm so sorry, Blossom. You're more than enough, sweetheart. You're my everything. I love you with my whole heart and I wish I could go back in time and undo what I did with every single one of those girls. What can I do to help you forgive me?" Bryce then asks me, his voice quivering.