"Declan I'm so sorry. But I know that Zoe would be proud of the wonderful daughter that you have raised for the past 3 years" I smiled a little as a shiver came over me.
Declan then took off his button down and wrapped it around me, just leaving himself in a black v neck.
"Better?" He asked.
"I'm supposed to be comforting you silly" I smiled a little.
"No, my mom always told me that whenever a girl gets a chill, the gentlemanly thing to do is put something around her...like a jacket" He smiled as he got up, bringing me in for a hug.
"Your mom taught you well" I smiled.
it was 11:30 so we started walking back to the shop. As we walked, I felt Declan's hand on my butt. His eyes widened a little while my plump lips tried to fight off a sly smile.
"Sorry Nellie, Complete accident" He said with a wink.
When we were about 5 minutes from the shop, the information that Frankie gave me about Mindy kept running through my mind....but I also remembered I got something for Charlotte.
"Hey Declan, I got a present for Charlotte" I said, handing him a little box.
"Awe Noelle that's so sweet of you" He took the box, "What's in it?" he said as he fiddled with the box, unwrapping the paper.
"She might be a little young for it right now, but she told me that she's always wanted one when we walked by the window" I said as I rubbed my neck, it was starting to heat up, along with my heart racing due to being nervous.
"Nellie....you shouldn't have" Declan said shocked when he saw the famous Tiffany blue box.
"No Declan, I should have. Char's a wonderful little girl and she saw it when we went shopping together while you and Mindy did wedding stuff" I smiled.
"But...but it's so expensive...."
"Declan" I giggled a little, "It's alright, I had money saved up anyway for a trip to Europe with Claire and Maya.."
"Do you still have money left?" His eyes bugged out a little as he kept gawking over the heart necklace.
"Yes, I saved a bunch of it over the past years"
"Well Noelle this is wonderful. You're wonderful. Thanks for spending so much time with my baby these past couple of months while Mindy and I were busy. Thanks for also being a great friend to her too" Declan smiled.
Shit...we were right in front of the shop.
I felt my heart racing, my hands get clammy, my head hurting. If I didn't tell Declan soon, I was going to explode.
Not only was my heart racing because of the whole Mindy thing, but also because I couldn't hide my feelings from Declan anymore. I wasn't one to hide feelings from someone.
"Hey" Declan said, lifting my chin up with his finger. "What's wrong Noelle?"
This was going to happen.
"I'm my happiest when I'm being myself, and that's always when I'm with you. I can't stop thinking about you and Charlotte" I began, watching Declan gawk at what I was admitting.
"You really have no clue how I feel about you, do you?"
He shook his head as he leaned against the shop window.
"Somewhere between all of our laughs, deep talks, and times hanging out together, I fell in love with you. Not just you, but also Charlotte. I'm head over heels in love with you, and I know it's wrong to tell you this because you're getting married to Mindy in a week, but I had to tell you because....."
"Noelle. Just stop" He whispered, gently taking my hand. He pulled me close, until my hips were pushing against his, and smiled. "You don't have to do this you know. Whatever it is you think you can't tell me, you can, no matter what"
Not so sure about that Declan.
I tried so hard to dig myself out but I was in too big a hole to escape now. The funny thing is, it's like you always kind of know that you're getting yourself into something that will end badly. There's always this instinctive gut-feeling telling you to stop now, save yourself before you fall too far in to make it out alive. But you never listen. We never listen. We're too content witht the way things are going, convinced that everything is finally turning out right and happily ever after is just around the corner. But it's not. It's that belief; that's how we get stuck broken, alone.
"When you were getting our food our food tonight, Frankie told me something about Mindy" I sighed, sitting down on the iron bench in front of the shop.
Declan laughed as he said, "What did he say this time?"
I sighed. "That Mindy's been cheating on you with an ex-boyfriend named Carson for a while now....and also Charlotte told Frankie that she was threatened by Mindy. Mindy said that she was going to hit Charlotte. Mindy doesn't seem like a good female role model for Charlotte-"
"You have no right to tell me what's good or not for my daughter! YOU ARE NOT HER MOTHER NOELLE!" Declan yelled at me. I could feel the tears starting to well up.
"I'm trying to help you Declan! But I am not your punching bag! I just don't want to lose you!" I yelled through tears, probably waking up neighbors.
And with that, Declan walked away, leaving me in tears.
