I looked over at Bryce, who was staring off to the side, avoiding eye contact with all of us.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss it for the world," their dad said, as Kayla released him.

He reached over and shook Josh's hand. "Nice to see you again."

Again?

So they must be close. Or at least meet up every once in a while.

"You too," Josh said, with a smile.

And then he smiled at me, his eyes then looking over at Bryce.

Bryce was still staring off to the side as he crushed the cup in his hand.

Silence fell across the five of us, and I could sense the tension.

"Do you need a refill?" Bryce asked me, his eyes snapping over to me.

I looked down at my half-full cup.

"I'll get you one," Bryce offered, taking my cup before disappearing.

"Let me introduce you to some people," Kayla offered to her dad, leading him away.

Leaving just Josh and me.

Josh let out a nervous laugh, before tipping up the rest of his drink and downing it.

"I told her that it was a risky move," Josh said, with a sigh. "But someone's got to her walk her down the aisle I suppose."

"Are you guys close with him?" I asked.

Josh nodded. "He comes over for dinner quite frequently, and then we go over there sometimes too. He lives over in New Jersey, so it's not too inconvenient."

Why? Why Kayla and not Bryce?

"I should go find him," I said to Josh.

"It's a sticky situation," Josh explained to me. "So just be careful."

I nodded before heading over to the punch bowl, where Bryce was standing, his arms braced against the table and his head bent low.

I placed my hand on his back, causing him to jump a little.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, slowly rubbing his back.

He nodded, before looking away from me, his lips pressed together.

"Are you lying?" I asked.

He nodded again, looking back at me.

"I wasn't expecting that," he admitted.

"I wasn't either."

"I guess I knew he was going to be here, but I just wasn't expecting to..." Bryce trailed off, his jaw clenched. "I wasn't expecting..." He trailed off again. "Fuck."

"What's the matter?"

"I can't... I can't talk." He clenched his jaw for a few moments before releasing me. "That bastard's got me worked up to the point that I can't talk."

"Let's get out of here," I suggested. "Let's go get some dessert and relax for a little while."

He nodded, his jaw still clenched.

"It'll come back," I promised. "It always does."

~*~

"Good morning," Regina greeted, as I came out into the kitchen area.

"Good morning," I answered, with a smile.

"Is Bryce still asleep?"

I nodded.

"Well I cooked a breakfast for everyone downstairs, so you're welcome to go down."

"That's really sweet of you."

"That's my job as the mother of the bride."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I'll bring Bryce something back then."

She nodded and I went downstairs, still in my pajamas, back down to the room where we were last night.

There was a big breakfast going on, with blueberry pancakes, sausages, eggs, and bacon.

There were people I still didn't recognize, and I got some looks from people as I helped myself to a plate.

"Good morning," Josh said, with a smile.

"Good morning," I said, with a smile of my own. "Long time no see."

"Everything work out last night?"

I nodded. "We went down to that bakery you suggested and got some dessert."

"Was the red velvet cake the best you've ever had?"

"Better."

He laughed, helping himself to some eggs. "I know."

"Who're you?" a little girl asked me, around the age of 6.

"I'm Sophie," I informed her.

She just stared at me.

"She's Bryce's girlfriend," Josh informed her.

Her eyes lit up. "Where's Bryce?"

"Still sleeping," I said, with a sympathetic smile.

"Why?"

"Because he's sleepy."

She jutted out her bottom lip. "When will he be awake?"

"Leah!" a woman called. She came over to us. "Sorry."

"No problem," I said, with a laugh.

"This is Bryce's friend," the little girl informed who I guess was her mom.

"Hi, I'm Theresa," she said, reaching out to shake my hand.

I shook her hand. "I'm Sophie."

"Bryce is still sleeping," Leah informed Theresa.

"Well you'll have to find him later then. Come on now, leave Sophie alone and come finish your breakfast."

"It was nice to meet you!" I called after them.

As I went to turn around with both plates of food, I almost ran into someone.

"I'm so sorry," I apologized, looking into the eyes of Bryce's father.

"It's alright," he said, with a laugh. "We've all done it."

I nodded.

"You're here with Bryce, correct?"

I nodded again.

I was feeling slightly uncomfortable. After everything that happened last night, I knew that Bryce was at odds with his dad. And I didn't want to put myself in the middle of that.

"Is Bryce down here?" he asked me, looking around for him.

I shook my head. "He's still asleep."

He checked his watch. "Really?"

I nodded.

"Oh, alright." He smiled at me again, but this time it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Well, have a nice day then."

"You too."

I brought both plates of food back upstairs and into the bedroom, where Bryce was still asleep.

I took a running start, pouncing on top of him.

He let out a groan, peering at me from one eye.

"Good morning sleepy!"

"What?"

"I brought you breakfast."

He closed his eyes again.

"Come on," I said, reaching down and kissing his cheek. "Time for breakfast. And then we can do some sight-seeing."

I rolled off of him, lying down next to him.

"It's too early," he informed me, his eyes still closed.

"It's 10:00," I informed him.

"Way too early then."

"Up and at 'em."

He rolled out of bed, heading to the bathroom.

I grabbed my food, and he grabbed his plate as he left the bathroom, rejoining me on our bed.

"Why are we eating on the bed?" he asked, after a few moments of silence.

I just smiled.

He took another bite of food with a sigh.

I finished off my food, hopping up off his bed. "Say my name," I ordered.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Say my name," I repeated.

He swallowed the food currently in his mouth, taking a sip of his coffee. He pressed his lips together, waiting a few moments. He opened his mouth, and then closed it again, shaking his head.

"That's okay," I said, reaching over and kissing his cheek. "It'll come with time."

I turned away to throw away my food, humming to myself.

"Hey Soph, can you..." Bryce started.

I turned back, raising an eyebrow at him.

A smile spread across his face. "Guess I was just overthinking it."

"Say it again."

"Say what again?"

I just rolled my eyes.

"Sophie I think you're beautiful."

I shook my head, feeling a blush creep up on my cheeks.

"And can you get me some more coffee?"

"You're so full of it."

"Please?" he added, with a laugh.

~*~

"It's so pretty," I said, as I peered down off the Statue of Liberty.

Bryce's arm was wrapped firmly around my waist as he peered down as well. "Really?"

"You don't see it?"

"We're just on top of a really high ledge."

I shook my head. "You're useless to me."

He just smiled at me.

After a few more minutes, we made our way back down.

We'd opted not to buy the extra tickets for the higher part of the Statue of Liberty on Kayla's advice. You just got to look out of a window inside of the Statue, and it didn't sound appealing to either one of us.

Bryce paused at the bottom of the stairs, leaning against the side wall.

"Are you okay?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"These stairs are killing me," he informed me, a bit breathlessly.

I couldn't help but smile. "How do you ever expect to play baseball when you can't go up and down some stairs?"

"Shut up."

I just chuckled. "You've got to get your endurance back my love."

"I know," he agreed, pushing himself off the side wall. "But that's a challenge for another day."

"Are you hungry?" I asked Bryce.

He nodded. "Shake Shack time."

I rolled my eyes. "What's so great about it?"

"What isn't great about it?"

We rode the boat back to the mainland and a taxi over to the shack was.

There was a line to get inside the restaurant.

"Is it really this good?" I asked, with a laugh.

"Apparently," Bryce said, smiling at me. "You can't deny the evidence."

Being a vegetarian, the Shake Shack wasn't the most ideal place to eat lunch, but I ordered a milkshake and some fries, and Bryce promised to take me someplace else for a salad afterwards, and then we were tasked with finding somewhere to sit.

This place was packed.

"Bryce!" I heard Kayla's voice called.

I saw Kayla and Josh sitting at a table off to the side.

"It's our lucky day," Bryce said to me, with a smile.

Until we rounded the corner and saw who was sitting across the table from them.

"No way in hell," Bryce said to me as he saw his dad sitting across the table from them.

"I'm just leaving," Kayla informed Bryce, with a smile. "I have to go with mom to do some last minute wedding stuff. But you and Sophie are welcome to these seats."

"I think we'll find our own table, but thanks," Bryce said, his voice tight.

"Don't be ridiculous," Kayla said, her voice dropping. "There are no more seats. Just sit and behave."

"No need."

I didn't want to take Kayla's side over Bryce's, but there really were no other seats in this entire restaurant.

Kayla looked to me for some sort of support.

"Are you sure?" I asked Bryce, raising my eyebrows at him.

He let out a long sigh, pressing his lips together.

"It's only long enough to eat our food," I added. "And then we're headed off."

"Only for a few minutes," he confirmed.

I squeezed his hand, and then Kayla smiled. "Great!" She turned and faced Josh and her dad. "I'll catch up with you guys later then?"

They both nodded, and she kissed Josh's cheek before leaving.

"Hey guys," Josh said, with a forced smile.

I took the seat across from Bryce's dad, leaving Bryce to sit across from Josh to help ease some of the tension.

"What have you guys been up to today?" Josh asked.

I looked over at Bryce, who was staring at his phone, clearly disengaging himself from the conversation.

"We went over to the Statue of Liberty," I said, looking back over at Josh and Bryce's dad. "And then came over here."

"That's all?" Bryce's dad asked.

I nodded. "We got a bit of a late start. But we weren't really in much of a hurry to go anywhere."

"Because Bryce was sleeping," his dad filled in.

Bryce looked up from his phone. "What about it?"

"I'm just really happy to hear that you were sleeping," his dad defended. "Did you find something that helps with your insomnia then?"

Yeah, it's called Chemo. It works wonders.

But Bryce just looked back down at his phone, continuing his game of Candy Crush.

"So what did you guys do this morning?" I asked, filling in the awkward silence.

"We had some wedding stuff we had to get done," Josh said, stirring around his milkshake. "And then we stopped in for lunch here."

Our buzzer went off, and Bryce practically shot out of his chair to go and retrieve the food.

"So what are you guys doing this afternoon?" Bryce's dad asked me.

"We don't really know yet," I said, with a shrug. "I want to go over to Central Park. But we still need time to get back to the hotel and get ready for the rehearsal dinner."

"That's not until 6," Bryce's dad declined. "You still have plenty of time."

Well Bryce needed to get back and get some rest before the dinner, because day three of Chemo took a toll on him physically, but I shouldn't say that out loud.

"Probably," I agreed, as Bryce came back with our food.

"Probably what?" he asked, handing me my milkshake and fries.

"We should have time to do more stuff today," I said, with a smile.

"Oh yeah, we're definitely going to Central Park," he said, retaking his seat.

"You didn't get anything to eat?" Bryce's dad asked me.

"She's a vegetarian," Bryce muttered.

"And you guys decided to come to the Shake Shack?"

"Bryce wanted to come," I said, flashing him a smile. "And I can always pick up a salad."

Bryce took a sip of milkshake, biting back a smile of his own.

"And he made me a veggie pizza the other week," I added, dipping a couple fries in my milkshake. "So I owed him."

"I thought you hated veggie pizzas," Josh said, with a laugh.

"I do," Bryce agreed.

"Hence why I owed him," I said, before dropping the milkshake-covered fries in my mouth.

"So are you coming to the reception?" Josh asked Bryce. "Your mom just needs a head count."

"I'm not sure yet," Bryce said, looking over at me.

I'd say no.

"With the rehearsal dinner and then the wedding, we'll probably just have to play it by ear."

"You're not going to Kayla's reception?" Bryce's dad asked. "Your sister only gets married once."

"Hopefully," Josh added, with a laugh.

Bryce just took a bite of his burger.

"Well I'm pretty much done," Josh said, looking over at Bryce's dad.

Bryce's dad nodded, finishing off his milkshake.

"Alright, well I'll step outside real quick and call Kayla, see where she needs us," Josh said, standing up.

He shot me a look before stepping outside.

I looked between Bryce and his dad, the two of them silent.

"So was your flight here long?" I asked Bryce's dad, although I knew that he lived in New Jersey.

"I actually live over in Jersey," he informed me. "So I just drove on over."

"Oh, well that's nice," I said, with a smile. "What do you do?"

"I'm a lawyer."

Just like Kayla.

Bryce looked over at me, probably wondering what I was doing.

I was just trying to ease some of the tension at the table, help make it a little less awkward.

"So do you play any sports?" Bryce's dad asked me, after a few moments of silence.

Bryce smiled at that.

"No sir," I declined, with a shake of my head. "I leave that to Bryce."

"She's Valedictorian," Bryce piped up.

"That's impressive," Bryce's dad said, straightening up.

I think he was more excited because Bryce had just willingly spoken to him.

"And she's on A-Team," Bryce added. "So I leave the smarts to her."

I could feel myself blushing.

"So what are your future plans?" Bryce's dad asked me.

I think he figured out that by asking me questions, Bryce would more than likely jump in to brag on me, and then inadvertently speak to him.

"I want to go to Duke," I informed him.

"She wants to save the world," Bryce added.

"I want to study medicine," I corrected.

"And ultimately save the world," he said, with a smile.

I just rolled my eyes, sipping on my milkshake.

"That's great," Bryce's dad said, with a smile of his own.

"I just got off the phone with Kayla," Josh said, coming back to the table. "She's down at flower shop wrapping things up there, so she said that we could meet her back at the hotel to regroup with Regina."

"Alright," Bryce's dad said, standing up. "It was nice meeting you Sophie."

"You too," I said, with a nod.

He and Josh left, the two of them chatting as they walked out the door.

"Why?" Bryce asked me.

"Why what?"

"Why do you insist on interacting with him?"

"Well I wasn't going to ignore him."

"I was."

"I noticed."

"Whether you like him or not is your business," I said, picking up a French fry. "But the least we could do is chat with him. That's common decency."

"He doesn't have any," Bryce informed me, his voice tight.

"He seems to."

"Well he's good at that."

"Then next time we're sitting across the table from him I'll play Candy Crush on my phone and ignore his presence. Is that what you want?"

He tightened his jaw, and I raised my eyebrows at him.

"That was low."

"You're attacking me for no reason. All I did was speak to him. I didn't invite him to a tea party."

"You might as well have."

"That's your dad Bryce. I'm just trying to be polite."

"He is not my dad," Bryce declined, his voice tight. "He's a man who I happen to share genetic information with."

The hostility is strong today.

"Why do you hate him?"

"Because he walked out on me."

"Then why is he here?"

Bryce didn't answer.

"Why is he here?" I repeated.

"Because he wants to be."

"Kayla wants him here. Why is he here for Kayla but not for you? It's clear that he isn't hostile towards you. But you hate him. What happened Bryce?"

Bryce slammed his milkshake down on the table, storming out of the Shake Shack.

I was always under the impression that Bryce's dad had walked out on him, and they'd never had any contact afterwards.

This is the first secret he's kept from me in the duration of our relationship.

And I didn't like finding out about it like this.

So thoughts & opinions on Bryce's dad? What about Bryce's attitude towards him? I know we don't know much of the backstory yet, but deserved or nah? What about Sophie & Bryce's fight? Are we Team Sophie or Team Bryce?

So my Q&A video (that you guys tweeted questions for) went live on YouTube earlier this week. So go over and give it a look if you haven't already!

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Teaser: Sophie fulfills her dream of seeing the Central Park Zoo, without her best friend by her side. And it's time for the Rehearsal Dinner!