chapitre final

bralex, final chapter written first. experimenting with methods.

 

Her feet crunched on the gravel as she walked up to the building. She stared in amazement at what she had done. What they all had done. And the newly risen sun offset it all beautifully. She sighed, and let the peaceful morning wash over her.

            The extension was finished. The entire exterior had a new face. A new paint job and some patch work here and there helped give it all a more modern look. It still held a bit of its prior legacy, though. The same sign stood in front of the orphanage, ‘Children’s Hope, est. 1870.’

            Alex jumped when she heard another pair of shoes crunch behind her. She whirled around. Bryce was there, standing a few yards away with her hands in the pockets of her jeans.

            ‘Sorry, Lex,’ Bryce apologised. ‘I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that. I didn’t know you’d be here.’

            For a moment, neither said a word. They heard a bird welcome the morning in the background. Alex broke the silence with a soft chuckle.

            ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘You did. But…I’m glad you came.’ She beckoned Bryce over with a nod of her head. As Bryce stood next to her, Alex felt her pulse speed up involuntarily.

            ‘Can you believe we accomplished all of this? It’s amazing!’ Bryce exclaimed softly.

            ‘I know,’ Alex said, just as softly. It was as if they were loath to disturb the calmness of the orphanage grounds. ‘Before working on this, I never really had a chance to feel like I belonged in a community.’ She swallowed against the lump in her throat and attempted to blink back the tears, but she could not hide the crack in her voice.

            Bryce shifted closer so that her left hand almost touched Alex’s. ‘Lex…’ she said softly. She was afraid to cross the gap that separated them. However close they were, it was still a long jump.

            Despite the heat suddenly flooding her body, Alex shivered. The morning was cool and crisp, and she was only wearing a tee shirt with her jeans. She could see the goose bumps on her arms. She was having a brief struggle inside her head. Again. Just do something, you idiot! Before you lose her again, a voice in her head shouted. She didn’t argue with it this time.

            ‘Walk with me?’ Alex said, jamming her hands in her back pockets and sticking her thumbs through the belt loops. She waited for Bryce to nod before she started off.

            It was a leisurely pace they set, not in any hurry. They walked around the building slowly and looked at the changes that had been made, going through before-and-after slides in their minds. There was a pregnant silence. There was so much that they both wanted to say, but neither could find the words!

            Again, Alex broke the silence abruptly.

            ‘When I heard you and Jake had been in a car accident, I felt like I was dying,’ she blurted. She stopped walking. Bryce walked on for a couple of steps but turned back when she realised Alex wasn’t there. Bryce walked back and stood in front of Alex, who was avoiding her eyes. ‘They said he’s doing better,’ Alex choked out as tears threatened again.

            This time the tears made good on their threat. ‘Lex…’ Bryce whispered comfortingly as she grabbed Alex’s hand with one of hers and wiped away Alex’s tears with the other thumb. ‘It’s okay,’ she cooed.

            ‘No! It’s not!’ Alex was sobbing now, and Bryce wrapped her arms tighter around her. ‘I should have been there for you! If I had taken you, or let you stay with me, none of this would have happened!’

            Bryce knew that that wasn’t true, but couldn’t think of a good way to dispute that topic at the moment. Instead, she tilted Alex’s chin up and looked her in the eyes. Startled, Alex stopped crying. ‘Nobody blames you, Alex.’ Bryce kissed away a salty tear from Alex’s face. ‘Least of all, me.’

            ‘Bryce…. Oh, God!’ For half a moment, both paused, unsure how to react, but instinct took over.

            ‘Freezing hell, Lex!’ Bryce exclaimed and crushed Alex in a tight embrace. ‘I’ve missed you so much!’ she muttered fiercely into Alex’s hair.

            ‘God, I missed you, too! I was such an idiot!’

            ‘We were both idiots…’ Bryce said when they had separated a little. She smiled wryly, though, and said, ‘But you were definitely the bigger one!’

            ‘Oy!’ Alex cried, playfully pushing Bryce away.

            ‘Ha! You sound just like Aunt Liz!’

            ‘Well, I do learn from the best.’ Alex smirked and Bryce raised an eyebrow, but Alex decided to save that insinuation for another time. Instead, she continued: ‘Speaking of which! I got my scholarship!’ She had wanted to tell someone, Bryce especially, but, before now, things had been too tense.

            Bryce’s eyes popped open wide and her mouth dropped down, then—‘Oh my gosh! Lex, that’s so amazing!’ Bryce squeezed Alex in another bear hug. She looked as excited as Alex herself felt. ‘So we’ll both be there together! California! It’ll be so amazing!’

            ‘I know!’ Alex sprawled out on the grass on the side of the orphanage, and Bryce followed. For a few moments, they both babbled excitedly about their plans for college, like how often they would see each other, and how perfect everything would be.

            They did come back down from their happy little cloud, though. Ignoring the dew on the ground, the lied down and stared at the real clouds drifting by. Alex cuddled up on Bryce’s shoulder, snuggling in between her body and jacket.

            ‘Look at us,’ Bryce whispered with a content smile. ‘We’re like two silly little kids who are excited because they’re going to be in the same class, pretending that reality isn’t going to sneak up on us from behind.’

            ‘Yep…sometimes, life is better that way.’

            ‘Jake’s going to be so excited when he finds out. You said he’s doing better?’

            ‘Yeah, he should be out in a couple weeks, the doctor said. He may be in a wheel chair for a bit, but with Jake, I doubt it’ll be long, if at all.’

            ‘That’s great. Then we’ll all be on the west coast.’

            ‘Mmm…but Bryce?’ Alex muttered, turning her face into Bryce’s neck.

            ‘Yes?’

            ‘He doesn’t have to meet us every weekend, does he? D’you think he’d be fine if we leave him at U of P with a million Starbucks © to keep him company? Because I could think of a couple things that I don’t need him around for. And going pee doesn’t have to be one of them…’ Alex finished suggestively, sticking a finger under Bryce’s shirt and tracing her belly button.

            Bryce’s breath caught, but then she smoothly said, ‘Nope. Coffee boy can handle himself well enough, I think.’

            ‘Ha! Yeah, right! Come here, you idiot!

And Alex yanked Bryce up for a fierce and passionate lip-lock. Bryce liked this idea well enough. Her hand trailed under Alex’s tee, leaving goose bumps in its wake, and Alex threaded her fingers through Bryce’s hair. After a very long moment and some rolling around, Alex asked breathlessly but seriously, ‘Where are we really going with this?’

‘I dunno,’ Bryce replied just as breathlessly, but kept punctuating her words with kisses. ‘As long as…it ends…somewhere…more interesting…than my car.’

‘Perfect.’

Together, the two scrambled from the ground and raced for Bryce’s car, leaving the orphanage behind. It sat there, as if watching the girls giggle and climb into the car and leave, while waiting for its other tenants to return. The sign out front swung placidly in the morning breeze.

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[Marie]

Can't wait to read more.