The Protective Heart ✔️

18. Protecting her from sickness

After the movie ended, Declan showed me to the guest room. I realized it was the same room I had woke up in a while back. It made me curious as to what Declan's room looked like. After I got myself settled into bed, my mind kept traveling to our conversations today. It had been such a long day; the funeral, the walk, dinner, washing dishes and the movie. I was exhausted from it all and yet when I laid my head on the pillow, I couldn't fall asleep. I stared up at the ceiling for what felt like hours, trying to convince my body to relax and close my eyes. Nothing worked though. My mind kept wandering back to Declan and I wondered if he was still awake. I wanted to go see him but if I did, I wasn't sure I would be able to resist him. So I stayed in bed and laid there, wide awake, despite my exhaustion. I grabbed my phone off of the nightstand and looked at the time.

11:56pm

Jeez, I really needed to get to sleep. I put my phone back and closed my eyes tightly, trying to will myself to drift off. After a few minutes I gave up and sighed. I pulled the blankets off and walked out of the room. I looked down the hallway towards Declan's room. I really shouldn't...but I just couldn't help myself. My feet moved of their own accord and I found myself softly knocking on his bedroom door. After a few moments, it opened to reveal a smirking Declan.

"You can't sleep either?" He asked and I nodded. He opened the door fully and stepped to the side so I could walk in. I looked around the room to see burgundy walls lined with plaques and other awards. I read one of them and quickly realized they were all from boxing.

"A little full of yourself, are you?" I asked, gesturing to the walls. He chuckled as he walked over to his bed and sat down.

"I thought you already knew that." He stated with a cocky grin on his face. I smiled and then sat down beside him on the bed. I looked at his nightstand and saw two pictures. One was of him and his dad and the other was of a younger looking Declan and a beautiful woman with the same colored hair as him. I picked up the second picture and touched the woman's face with the tips of my fingers. Her long brown hair draped over her shoulders and down to her waist as her arm wrapped around the small Declan. She was looking at the camera with soft golden brown eyes.

"Is this your mom?" I asked quietly as I kept examining the picture. Declan looked so happy in it, he was laughing as he clung to his mother's waist.

"Yeah." He whispered as I felt his arm wrap around my shoulders and pulled me to him. We looked at the picture together for a while before he took it from my hands and laid it back on the nightstand. I watched his face as he turned his attention to me.

"She was beautiful." I said and gave him a small smile. He returned it and cupped my cheek with his hand.

"Goldi, can I ask you something?" His voice was hesitant and nervous.

"What is it?" I asked, becoming concerned for him. He put his forehead against mine and closed his eyes.

"Stay here and sleep beside me, please." My heart jumped at his words.

"I don't think that's a good idea." I said, my voice quivering slightly.

"You're right." He responded quietly, his voice filled with disappointment. It made me heart ache for him.

"But..." I said it before my mind had a chance to process it. Declan opened his eyes and they widened in shock.

"What?" He asked as if he hadn't heard me.

"I trust you." I whispered to him, smiling slightly. I did trust him. The fact that he stopped himself from kissing me earlier proved to me he wouldn't do anything until I was ready.

"Are you sure?" He seemed worried and not confident at all which made me laugh a little.

"Yes, I'm sure. You have done more than enough to prove that I can trust you, Declan." I reassured him as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He was staring at my lips and I felt lust rise up in me. I wanted to kiss him so badly but I didn't want to make things more difficult for him than I already was. I moved my face and buried it into his shoulder so our lips weren't so close to doing what we both wanted to. He wrapped his arms around my waist and laid down, pulling me with him. Our legs entangled together as we pulled the comforter over ourselves. I cuddled into him further and felt my eyelids become heavy for the first time that night. I closed them and let myself drift off to sleep in his arms.