I feel myself blushing as Bryce sets me down on the pavement of the parking lot. To my side is his truck, and he opens the door for me to sit inside.

I give him a grateful smile, sitting down in the seat where Bryce then closes the door for me, walking around to sit in the driver's seat.

I pull out my phone to leave Charlie a text message, just as Bryce buckles his seatbelt and starts the truck's engine up.

Charlie doesn't respond straight away, and so I drop my phone into one of the empty cup holders.

Bryce pulls his phone out of his pocket as he does the same, and just as he pulls out of the parking spot, his phone screen flashes with a text notification.

Bryce glances towards the phone, and just as he makes a right-hand turn out of the parking lot, he asks, "Who's that from, baby?"

I pick up the phone, examining the message again.

"It's from 'Asshole'. Asking if you're getting laid tonight," I respond, and Bryce groans inwardly.

"That's Jordan. Tell him to fuck off," Bryce instructs, and with his permission I respond to the message.

I decide to leave that message for Bryce to respond to later, and so I drop the phone back into the cup holder.

Bryce then reaches across to rest his right hand on the top of my thigh, giving it a tight squeeze before gluing his eyes back to the road.

We don't really speak at all on the ride to his house, and I would blame that predominantly on all of my nerves.

Bryce seems totally cool and collected though, all until we pull into his driveway.

The moment he parks the car, he lets out a long and shaky breath that I'm sure he's been holding in for awhile.

He then gives his head a small shake, grabbing both of our phones and slipping them into his pockets.

He unlocks the car, giving me a brief smile before stepping out of the vehicle.

I do the same, and when we meet by the stairs to his home, he links his fingers through mine. It gives me a sense of comfort to know that he cares about how I'm feeling in this moment right now too, and as we walk up the steps, I suddenly feel grounded again.

Bryce uses his key to unlock the door, pushing it open and letting me step inside the doorway first.

He follows behind me, locking the door behind us before hanging his keys up on a holder along with many other keys for surely expensive cars.

I take my shoes off and he does the same, before turning back to me with a nervous smile on his face.

"Let's go upstairs?" he asks, offering me his hand to take, and I nod, grabbing his hand before I follow him up the stairs.

I've never been more scared for anything before in my life.

I'm beyond thrilled when Bryce walks me into his own bedroom, closing the door behind us.

It reminds me of how he mentioned that he never usually brings girls into his own room, and it makes me feel special.

And then I remind myself that he loves me. He really does love me.

Bryce guides me across the room, closer to his bed, and he takes a moment to switch on one of the lamps, seeing as he didn't bother with the overhead light. He also pulls our phones out of his pockets, setting them down onto the bedside table.

When we're a few feet away from his bed, he bends down to kiss me.

He's much taller than me which makes it a little difficult, but there's still so much passion and fire in the kiss that it doesn't even matter.

I can feel Bryce beginning to unbutton his shirt as we kiss, but I reach to stop him.

He pulls away from the kiss, confused, but instead I begin to undo the buttons myself. This causes a small smirk to grow on his face, and he's quick to shrug the shirt off his shoulders once I finish the job.

God, his body is incredible.

I trace my fingertips along his muscles as I kiss him again, this time a little more gently.

I feel his hands reach around to my back, pushing my hair to the side before gripping the zipper of my dress in his fingers, slowly pulling it down.

Once the zipper is completely open, he reaches around to the front of the dress, using both hands to carefully pull the straps down.

Just as the fabric is about to fall down my body, I grip his wrists, stopping him from letting the dress drop.

He's going to see my scars, and he's going to freak out.

"Do you want me to stop?" Bryce breathes, and though he's trying hard to hide his disappointment, some of it still slips through.

"No, I want to keep going. But there's just something that I . . . Can you promise that you'll let me explain and that you won't freak out?" I ask him, and he nods at me.

"Of course, Blossom," he promises me before he pulls the straps of my dress off of my shoulders, causing the garment to fall to the ground.

I step to the side, out of the fabric pooled at my feet.

Bryce sucks in an incredibly sharp breath as his eyes roam my body.

His adoration never fades, but his eyes go wide with worry when he sees the small, thin, red scars along one side of my abdomen.

"You did this to yourself, didn't you?" he asks me, and I try to tilt my head away to hide my answer, but Bryce stops me by holding my chin in his hands.

All I can do is give him a small nod of my head, tears threatening to leave my eyes at all the memories of that awful time in my life.

I used to self harm, right after everything that had happened to me. My mom made me feel like it was my fault, and I thought that the only way I could release my self-hatred was through hurting myself.

"Never again. If you ever feel the need to do this to yourself, talk to me. I'll help you. I promise," Bryce says to me, and I press my lips together, nodding at him.

"Okay," I squeak, thankful that he didn't freak out on me.

Instead he presses the softest, most dreamy kiss to my lips, just for a moment, before pulling away to look me in the eyes.

It makes me feel a bit better about those scars, knowing that Bryce stills finds my body beautiful despite them.

His hands are on my waist now, holding me close until he raises one of his arms up to give me a look at it; his tattooed arm.

He twists his arm around so that I get a view of his forearm, and it isn't until he uses his finger to trace a line upwards from his wrist to his elbow that I notice the small scars of slightly raised skin, peaking through the tiniest bit because of all the swirls of black ink.

"This is why I got the tattoos in the first place. I kind of started to get addicted, but it started with a need to hide the scars. I was in a darker place then. When my dad found out, he helped me get though it all, and eventually I started healing the mental wounds," he whispers with a small smile on his face as he examines the tattoos.

How he's so open about these things is beyond me, but it makes me feel less alone to know that someone I'm close to can finally understand what I had gone through.

"I'm sorry," is all I can say to him, straining up to kiss him gently on the cheek.

He nods to me, but he seems to want to change the topic because he reaches for his belt, undoing the buckle before pulling it through the loops of his pants.

He sets it down on the floor before he unbuttons and unzips his pants, pulling them off and then picking me up in his arms.

He's only wearing a pair of black boxer briefs now, and my heart is hammering in my chest as he reaches around my back, expertly unclasping my bra. He tears the material away from my body, tossing it onto the floor behind us.

Now one less piece of clothing on my body, Bryce curses again before kissing me hard.

When he breaks his lips away from mine, he requests, "Lift your hips for me, baby?"

I do as he asks, and suddenly he curls his fingers around the waistband of my underwear, tugging it down my legs.

It joins my bra and dress on the floor, and I'm suddenly aware of the fact that I'm sitting on Bryce's bed completely naked.

"If something doesn't feel good and you don't like it, just tell me, okay?" Bryce requests, and I gulp, swallowing hard as he drops down to his knees in front of me.

He leaves a flaming trail of kisses all the way down my neck, chest, and my hips.

He gives extra attention to kiss over my scars, and it makes my heart leap a little as he does this.

He kisses my inner thighs, this time slowly as his mouth travels upwards.

I suddenly have to bite back a moan right from the back of my throat.

"Bryce," I whimper, immediately lost in the sensations.

I have to reach down to thread my fingers through his hair, trying to control myself, but I'm already on the brink.

His mouth moves expertly, and even just the sight of him between my legs is enough to send me.

He's suddenly back on his feet, taking that sense of pleasure away from me, and I look at him with wide eyes.

He kisses me gently right above my hips once again before he lifts me up, laying me down on his bed so that my head is on one of the pillows.

My breathing is fast because of all the anticipation as I wait for Bryce to join me in the bed. I hear the sound of a drawer opening and then closing before Bryce crawls in between my legs, now completely naked.

He's holding a condom in one hand, and he uses his other hand to tilt my chin up to look at him.

"Are you sure that you want to do this now? I'm okay with waiting," he asks me, and I nod at him before realizing that he's going to ask me for a verbal response.

I'm terrified. Absolutely terrified that I might disappoint him, that he won't still want me after this, or that I'm never going to feel the same again.

But then, I remind myself that it's Bryce. He loves me and I love him, and being with him like this seems like the perfect connection.

"Yes, Bryce. I want to, more than anything. I'm just really scared," I say to him, and he gives me a reassuring smile before he wraps my legs around his waist and thrusts.

My head suddenly falls back because of the unfamiliar feeling suddenly shooting through my body, and I cry out without meaning to.

It's uncomfortable, to say the least, and Bryce must notice the way that my whole body goes limp as he leans down to whisper in my ear, "I'm so fucking sorry, baby. It'll feel better soon. I promise. Do you want me to stop?"

I shake my head at him as he kisses me carefully on the mouth, letting out a low moan as he wraps his arms around my body, holding me close to his chest.

I know that no matter what happens between us anytime soon, I will never, ever regret this.

"You feel so good, baby," Bryce grits out quietly, and all I can do is wrap my arms around him, letting my forehead rest on his shoulder.

His movements are slow, being really gentle with me, and I almost can't believe this is all real as I glance down to where our bodies are connected.

The sight makes me whimper, and I have to look back up at Bryce.

He's gazing at me with a tenderness that I've never seen before, and that look never leaves even as his movements become faster and harder. It knocks the air right out of my lungs, and I hold on to Bryce even tighter.

Accidentally, I let out a whine, unable to hold my composure any longer.

He lets out a sigh, before saying, "It's all right, baby. Let go. I love you so much."

"I love you too," I manage to get out as he buries his face into my hair, cradling my body close to his.

My legs suddenly go stiff around him as the craziest wave of pleasure I've ever felt washes over me.

I call out Bryce's name, my nails digging into the skin of his back as I shatter apart in his arms, in the feeling of him. A moment later, Bryce lets out one final groan, his movements becoming painfully quick before suddenly halting as all the muscles in his arms clench.

He whispers my name as he falls onto his back on the bed beside me, pulling away from my body.

We both lay there for a moment, struggling to catch our breath.

I soon feel Bryce reach for my hand, and right after he links his fingers through mine, I roll over onto my side to face him.

He's already looking at me with the widest, most ridiculous giddy grin I've ever seen, and when he reaches for my face I recognize that I'm smiling right back at him.

I surprise myself by the fact that I don't feel the need to cover up and hide under the sheets right now. Bryce's eyes on my body just make me feel more confident than ever, and I hope that he never stops looking at me this way; I've always been so ashamed of my body, especially by my scars, but right now I feel loved and adored.

"How was it?" he breathes.

"Good. So, so good. How was it for you?" I ask him and he shuts his eyes for a second, his smile growing somehow even wider.

"So great, baby. The best I've ever had," he tells me, and all I can do is smile at him.

It makes me feel so incredibly happy to know that I made him feel just as good as he did me, and I'm a little disappointed that this moment is over when Bryce sits up in bed, pulling me with him.

"Let's go get you something to wear, otherwise, I don't think I'll be able to keep my hands off of you," Bryce tells me, standing up off the bed.

I walk with him, stopping as he heads into the bathroom to toss the used condom out before he leads me into the closet.

"Choose whatever you like," he tells me, and I nod, pulling open the first drawer I see. It's filled with T-shirts, most of them black or white, and I go for a black one, pulling it over my head.

When I turn around, I see Bryce wearing a pair of grey sweatpants. His eyes go wide when he sees me, and I have to bite my lip as I admire his body for the hundredth time tonight.

We head back into the bedroom, both of us collecting our clothes up from where we seemed to have scattered them around the floor.

We then walk back into the closet, and Bryce tosses all his dirty clothes in a laundry hamper before handing me a clothes hanger for my dress. I give him a grateful smile before hanging my dress among some of his dress shirts, draping my bra across the hanger too. I pull my underwear up my legs seeing as I don't really have a choice, and as soon as I straighten myself back up, I feel Bryce's hands on my waist.

"Let's go take your makeup off and then we can go to bed," he tells me, and I nod at him, taking his hand as he leads me all the way into the bathroom.

He lifts me up into the counter, making me giggle, before he reaches into a drawer and hands me a pack of makeup wipes.

"Why do you have these if you never have girls over?" I ask him, pulling a wipe out to begin removing my makeup.

I twist my body around a little bit so that I can see myself in the mirror, but it also gives me a look at Bryce, who appears really confused.

"What do you mean? We've already had this conversation," he answers, and I blink a few times.

I try and scan my memory for any other times that I've been in Bryce's bathroom, but I just end up drawing a blank.

"No, we haven't," I say cautiously, and Bryce's eyes go wide with realization.

"Shit, right. It was New Year's, when you were drunk. I had to take your makeup off for you because all you wanted was to get in bed with me. Anyway, I told you that it was because I hoped that you would stay the night with me sometimes," he explains, and it all makes sense now.

"Ah, I see," I tell him, and he gives me a small smile.

He then pulls open a drawer, grabbing two toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste. He hands one to me, explaining, "Yours from that night," and I nod, taking it from him.

I hop down off the counter, and we brush our teeth before heading back into the bedroom.

I'm just about to climb into bed when Bryce stops me, reaching up to unclasp my necklace from around my neck.

Right. I had totally forgotten about that.

"Thank you for wearing this tonight. It made me super happy," he smiles, placing the necklace down on the nightstand.

"I'm just going to go take my contacts out, but I'll be back," he then says, grabbing a small case from beside my necklace before heading back into the bathroom.

I watch him walk for a moment before crawling into the bed, wrapping myself up in the silky black duvet. I rest my head on the pillow, loving how soft it is, but also getting a little scared because of how natural this feels for me.

When Bryce returns, he climbs into bed beside me, and I move to curl up at his side. He pulls me close enough so that I can rest my head on his chest, but I adjust myself so that I can still look at him.

"You're going to go to bed, Blossom?" he asks me, and accidentally I let out a yawn.

He chuckles, picking up his phone from the bedside table. I see that he's responding to Jordan's earlier text, choosing choice words such as 'Go suck a dick, asshole'.

"Yeah, I am. Did I ever wish you a happy birthday?" I ask him, and he thinks for a moment before shaking his head, shrugging.

"Well, happy birthday. I hope eighteen treats you well. I didn't buy you anything though," I tell him, and he grins, pecking me on the lips.

"Thank you, Blossom. This was definitely the best birthday I've ever had. I usually don't celebrate at all, you know. And don't worry about buying me something; what we just did was a better gift than money could give," he says, winking, and I blush a little bit.

"Goodnight, Bryce. I love you," I remind him, shutting my eyes, and he pulls my body a little closer to his, holding me tight.

"Sleep well, my love," is the last thing that I hear him say before I fall asleep in his arms

🌸🌸🌸

I'm woken up a few hours later by a loud thud.

"Shit, sorry, Blossom. I dropped my phone," Bryce says retrieving the device from the floor.

"No worries," I say as Bryce switches off the lamp, bathing us in complete darkness.

He settles himself back into the bed, and I notice that he's pulled my body right on top of him sometime in my sleep.

"Your dad was blowing up your phone up until a couple minutes ago," Bryce tells me, and I immediately shoot up in bed.

How could I be so careless? Of course he was. It's definitely past midnight by now, and I'm sure he was less than thrilled to have Charlie tell him that I'm with Bryce tonight.

"Did you reply to him?" I ask, and Bryce shakes his head at me.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted me to, but you looked so peaceful sleeping. I didn't want to wake you," he tells me with an apologetic look on his face.

He looks genuinely sorry, and so I shake my head, brushing it off.

"Can you pass me my phone please?" I ask Bryce, and he nods, sitting up in bed to retrieve it for me.

Sure enough, the lock screen is flooded with text messages from both my parents and Charlie.