BLOOM OF LOVE ❤️❤️🧡

BLOOM of LOVE ❤️❤️🌷 29

BLOOM OF LOVE 🌷❤️

** If Our True Love Be💞💓🙅

CHAPTER 29💞

By: Laura J.

Do Not Copy ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

City : Los Angeles

CHAPTER 29: Fever Dreams and Hard Truths 🌡️⛓️

Cheryl’s Apartment — Next Morning

Cheryl wasn’t surprised to find Ryan waiting in her living room. She had spent the night in a nondescript hotel, a desperate attempt to scrub the salt of the river and the weight of Ava’s confession from her skin.

The moment she crossed the threshold, Ryan was on his feet. The shadows under his eyes told her he hadn't slept either.

"Where have you been?" his voice was a low vibration of worry. "I’ve been calling you for hours. Why did you go dark on me?"

Cheryl didn't answer. She felt brittle, like glass that had been cooled too quickly. She walked past him to the fridge, her throat parched. She downed a bottle of water in a single, desperate go.

"Where were you, Cheryl?" he repeated, stepping into her space.

"A hotel," she said, reaching for a second bottle.

Before she could touch it, Ryan snatched it away. He drank it himself, his eyes never leaving hers, before handing back the empty plastic with a pointed look. "And your car? Where is it?"

Cheryl froze. The memory of leaving her vehicle haphazardly parked near the bridge flashed through her mind. "Oops," she whispered.

Ryan let out a long, weary sigh. "What really happened last night?"

She forced a practiced, hollow smile. "Nothing. Just a long night. I'm fine."

"Nothing?" Ryan’s thumb traced the line of her jaw, his touch lingering. "Because I just had to retrieve your car from the impound lot."

"Thank you," she murmured, her smile beginning to c***k.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" Ryan’s voice softened, his crystal-clear eyes searching hers for the truth she was so skilled at burying. "Whatever is bothering you... I'm here."

"I know," she lied, nodding.

Cheryl suddenly hissed, clutching her temples as a sharp throb blossomed behind her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Ryan was instantly alert.

"Just a headache," she said, followed by a sharp sneeze. "I just need sleep."

"You're sick," Ryan countered, his worry turning to frustration. "This is what happens when you stay out in the cold. You’re burning up, dummy."

His phone began to vibrate—a frantic, persistent buzzing. Ryan glanced at it and hissed in annoyance, swiping the call away.

"Your dad?" Cheryl asked.

He nodded, a grim set to his mouth.

"You should answer. What if it’s important?" She remembered the last time his father had sent guards to hunt him down.

"It’s never important," Ryan growled, gently guiding her toward the bedroom. "Just more pressure about that arranged marriage nonsense."

"Nikki is your childhood sweetheart, Ryan. You’re lucky to be engaged to a girl like that."

Ryan stopped, his grip on her arm tightening slightly. "Sometimes I feel like she isn’t the one I’ve been longing for. Rhett warned me about her, and now my father is pushing for a date.

I'm not ready. I’ll cancel the whole thing the moment I see him."

Cheryl’s head spun was Nikki really his "Hazel"? The girl from his past? Before she could press him, the pain in her head intensified. "Ouch... Ryan, you should go. Your father "

"Shhh," he hushed her, lifting her onto the bed with surprising gentleness. He disappeared, returning with a warm, damp cloth that he laid across her forehead.

Cheryl watched him through a haze of fever—his soft lips, his intense gaze.

"Why are you smiling?" he asked, a trace of amusement breaking through his concern.

"You look cute when you’re worried," she whispered, reaching up to touch his cheek.

Ryan smiled back, the tension in his face finally melting. He leaned down, his lips brushing her forehead, then her nose, before lingering just inches from her own. His thumb traced the curve of her bottom lip, a slow, electric touch. Cheryl wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer into the quiet sanctuary of the room.

The phone screamed again. Ryan groaned, pulling away with visible reluctance. He pulled the phone from his pocket and switched it off entirely.

"Ryan, your father will—"

"Sleep," he commanded softly, tucking the blanket around her chin. "I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here when you wake up."

He kissed her nose one last time and slipped out of the room, leaving Cheryl to drift into a heavy, medicated slumber.

Cassie’s Apartment

The air in the room was suffocating. Seth and Cassie sat like statues, the echo of Ava’s words still ringing in the silence.

"Pregnant?" Seth repeated, the word sounding foreign and ugly.

"This isn't funny, Ava. If this is a joke, it’s a cruel one," Cassie added, her voice high and unstable.

"Do I look like I’m joking?!" Ava snapped, her voice breaking into fresh sobs. "Do you think I wanted this? My life is a ruin, and now there’s... this."

Cassie’s heart broke. she moved across the seat, pulling Ava into a tight, shaking hug. "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry."

"What am I supposed to do, Cassie?

How can I raise a baby without a father? How do I tell a child they were born from... from that night?"

Seth stared at them, a storm of dark emotions brewing in his eyes.

Every time he looked at Ava, he saw the pain he couldn't protect her from, and now, a physical reminder of the monsters who had hurt her.

"What are you going to do?" Seth asked, his voice flat and dangerously calm.

"Are you keeping it?"

"I don't know," Ava whispered into Cassie’s shoulder. "I’m so lost."

Seth looked away, his jaw tight enough to snap. He thought of the life Ava was supposed to have. He thought of the scholarships, the dreams, the future that was being choked out by this tragedy.

"Abort it," Seth said. The words were blunt, cold, and final.

Cassie pulled back, her eyes wide with shock. "What?!"

Seth didn't blink. He looked straight at Ava. "Get rid of it.

Don't let that night take anything else from you."

TBC