Chapter 109: Bryn

“I know. I was stupid, but what if I really screwed things up. They’re all gone. Even Sawyer left.” My voice cracks and I feel my eyes burn.

I thought I couldn’t cry anymore but I guess I was wrong. The tears burn even more this time and there is this pain in my chest strong enough that I have to rub it.

“Sis, they love you. This is just a blip in your relationship. There is no way this is it. You just have to call them and tell them you miss them and they’ll come running.” She says with confidence.

“What am I going to do?” I ask her.

“Do what I said. Call them, and kiss Henry for me.” She says.

“I will. Love ya, sis.” I tell her.

“You too.” She says before she hangs up.

I sigh and drop my head back on the couch and close my eyes. My head snaps up when I hear the sound of something just outside the door. Immediately my heart starts to race and I glance over at Henry who’s sleeping on the couch next to me. Another sound comes, and I slowly pick him up and hold him close to my chest.

Not having any of the guys here and being in a new city has me on edge. We were supposed to have the security system set up before we got here, but there was a delay. So not only am I home alone with a baby, I don’t have any other ways to protect myself. I grab my phone and type in 911 getting ready to call when the door opens and Sawyer walks in.

Relief like I haven’t felt in a while forces a shakey breath out of my mouth. He stands just inside the door and our eyes lock and the tears are back. I stand and walk around the couch heading his way. He moves to meet me halfway and immediately wraps his arms around me. I break down and cry. Henry follows soon after and I have to step back from Sawyer to rock him back to calm.

My eyes are still on Henry because I’m too scared to look at Sawyer. “Why’d you come back?” I ask him.

“I was a fucking idiot for leaving at all.” He says which makes me want to see his face.

He looks as broken up as I feel. As if being away from us even for a short time actually affected him. Maybe my sister was right.

“I pushed you guys away,” I say. “I’m sorry I-“

He shakes his head. “You were scared.”

“I was stupid! I can’t seem to let this go. Even Poppy said I was being ridiculous, but it’s like no matter what I tell myself…I always feel guilty. I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me, and when this stuff happens it always feels like my fault. Because I want all of you…because I love all of you. And because of that anytime our names come up in the news, this relationship is always added in. You and Maddox starting here is amazing and you guys deserve to be praised for all your hard work, but instead, they're talking about all our personal stuff. Because of me.” I tell him and start to move away from him but he rests his hands on both my shoulders to stop me.

He leans down so that we’re eye to eye. “You have done nothing wrong B. Nothing. You have let yourself be happy, and that is never wrong. It’s them. They enjoy hurting other people because it means they get a good story. They don’t care who they hurt because they make money from other people’s discomfort. They’re the ones who should be ashamed. Not us.”

“He’s right.” My eyes snap up to look over Sawyer’s shoulder and I get a flutter of happiness in my stomach at the sight of the rest of the guys walking inside.

I guess Sawyer left the door open.

Jaxon smirks at me, Maddox looks so sad, and Nolan looks slightly pissed but also happy.

“What are you guys doing here?” I ask them softly.

“What do you mean? This is our home too.” Jaxon says before sauntering in with his cool swagger that makes the girls swoon.

He really is too handsome for his own good, and he knows it.

More tears break free from my control at seeing them all.

“Don’t ever leave again. Please? No matter how hard I push. I was stupid, but it killed me not having all of you here.” I tell them.

“Won’t happen again, sweetheart,” Maddox says before they converge on Sawyer and me wrapping us in a group hug.

I laugh when Sawyer starts to complain, but none of us let go. It was such a small amount of time apart, but it’s clear that we should never be apart again. No matter how stupid I’m being I know they won’t let me push them away again, and I’m glad. This won’t be the last time I do something stupid out of me trying to help but now I know they won’t let me destroy this.

“Now that we’re all united again, I’m starving,” Jaxon says and we all finally break apart.

Sawyer playfully brushes off the hug cooties which only makes Jaxon grab him around the neck and try to hug him again. “You don’t like our hugs brother?”

“Get the hell off me!” Sawyer yells but he loves it, we all know he does.

He misses his brother, and these guys have slowly helped weaken that hurt of not being able to see his brother much. Not that they would ever replace him in either of our lives, but it helps a little.

“How does plant burgers, fries and non-dairy milkshakes sound?” Jaxon asks cheerfully.

It’s hard to get him down, and I can always count on him to lighten the mood.

“Sounds perfect. Let me grab Henry’s stuff.”

“I got it,” Maddox says before jogging upstairs.

Jaxon and Sawyer walk over to the living room shoving each other and laughing. Nolan watches me for a long minute making me a little nervous. I bounce slightly trying to sooth Henry but he’s the calm one between the two of us right now. The one who needs soothing is me.

“Nolan I-“

He doesn’t let me finish before he moves closer and wraps one of his hands around the back of my neck and pulls me forward into a deep lingering kiss. Once again Henry protests being squished between me and one of the guys so we break apart which is good. I’m aching for more than just a kiss from all of them, and I curse my body for taking so long to heal.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again.” He growls and I quickly nod. “Good girl. Let’s go eat.”

I swallow and nod again because holy hell. Who knew being called a ‘Good Girl’ could make me feel hot all over. Okay, I admit I've read a spicy book or two so the phrase isn’t new to me but hearing it coming from a sexy TA with a deep voice like Nolan has…well you can guess how I’m feeling right now.

“Yes sir,” I say and he smirks at me.

Wow. Okay, that’s something we’ll have to dig into later.

Maddox comes down the stairs with Henry’s diaper bag thrown over his shoulder and an extra blanket. Although it’s winter, it hasn’t been all that cold here. Still it’s better safe than sorry, and he’s like me. We like to be prepared for everything.

The six of us head out and walk down main street to the old-school diner they have here. When we walk inside the place is thankfully pretty much empty. We walk over to a booth in the far corner and slide in. There’s a jukebox song picker, menus, napkins, ketchup and utensil carriers on each table. The guys slide in on either side of me and sandwich me in. Jaxon sits on my right side and wraps his arm around the back of me and leans in.

“I missed you, Angel. I couldn’t sleep without you. How are you going to repay me for my lack of sleep last night?” He purrs in my ear before nipping my ear.

I let out a small yelp and my face burns when I glance around and see the few people in the restaurant glancing our way. My reaction makes Jaxon chuckle and I smack him on the stomach hard. He grunts and wraps his arm around my waist to pull me closer to him. Maddox, who is sitting on my left side grabs Henry from me and Jaxon wastes no time pulling me nearly on his lap and covers his lips over mine. I immediately melt into him and forget all about the world around us.