Naomi's POV:
I knew the boys were lying to me about something. You'd expect lying to be one of their many talents, but they're actually quite terrible at it. Not only are they bad at coming up with excuses, but they make it so obvious that they aren't telling the truth with their stuttering and nervous glances at each other.
So of course, I didn't believe Declan had actually contracted typhoid and had to stay home at the base instead of going to school. I mean, typhoid? Really? How did they even come up with that? It was ridiculous. And honestly pretty entertaining.
I didn't miss the sly glances Jordan and Bennett sent towards each other as we drove home, but I also didn't push the subject, knowing I'd find out eventually. As we neared "the base," Jordan turned around to face me.
"To be clear, you don't have a date to prom, right?" That had to have been the fifth time he's asked today. In previous years, I honestly hadn't even thought of prom. Obviously, nobody was going to ask me, and there was no way I'd want to spend more time than necessary around my classmates. It hadn't even crossed my mind until Jordan had asked me about it a few days ago.
"Jordan, this is the fifth time you've asked me today," I said in a deadpanned voice.
"Sixth, actually. And I'm just making sure nothing's changed in the past hour," he said, raising his hands up in defense. I let out a long, exasperated sigh as Bennett pulled the car into the garage.
I grab my backpack and am the first one out of the car. I make my way inside with the others trailing behind. It was unusually quiet when I got in, and the two boys behind me, who usually couldn't keep their mouths shut, were dead silent. Something wasn't right.
I set my backpack down on the kitchen counter and looked around. Where was Declan? I turned back to Bennett and Jordan.
"Is this a prank?" I asked. They shared a quick glance before smiling back at me.
"Naomi, I think you should go look in your room." Realization suddenly dawned on me. Declan staying home. Jordan constantly asking me about prom. The boys' shared glances in the car. I immediately turned on my heel and ran up to my room.
The door was already open, and I stopped in my tracks as soon as I saw what was inside. There was a heart made of rose petals and candles laid out on the floor, along with a few scattered petals around my room. In the middle of the heart was Declan holding a bouquet of flowers and a sign with the words "will you go to prom with me?" His face was practically red, and he shifted on the balls of his feet as he made eye contact with me. I opened my mouth to say something, but he beat me to it.
"Naomi, before you say anything, I need to tell you that I love you. I have ever since you signed that contract three months ago, and I always will."
"Declan-" I tried to say something, but he held his hand up.
"I get it if you don't feel the same way. I know I'm not the greatest boyfriend. I'm impulsive, I start fights, and I get mad too easily. I'm a bad student, I don't try hard enough in school, and I'll probably be a janitor when I grow up. I may not come from a rich family like Bennett, I may not be good at art or school or hacking like Jordan, and unless I have some sort of secret superpower I don't know about, I'm pretty much just a kid with some serious problems and no answer to them.
"Declan, I-" he still doesn't let me talk.
"Hear me out. Naomi, I know I'm not the perfect guy. I probably can't make you as happy as others could, and you can do so, so much better than me. But I can promise you that you'll never find someone as desperate to have you in his life as I am, and I'll do whatever I can to make up for what I lack."
"Declan, listen-" my eyes are starting to water now.
"Please, I'm almost done. I just want you to know that you're my favorite thing in the world Naomi. You make everything better. Your smile is my favorite smile and your laugh is my favorite laugh and my favorite memories are the ones I share with you. I hate it when you're sad or upset or angry, and I hate it when you get hurt or are in danger. I want you to be happy. So please let me be the guy who makes that happen." I'm silent for a few moments, trying to process everything in front of me. "Naomi, please say something."
"Declan, I'm allergic to flowers," I finally say. All the color drains from his face.
"Shit," he mutters under his breath as he rushes to toss the bouquet of flowers out the window, along with picking up the scattered petals on the floor and tossing them out too. As bad as it makes me feel, I can't help but burst out laughing as I watched him hurry to dispose of any and every flower in sight.
When he's finished, he leans against the wall and lets out a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he tells me. "I fucked this whole thing up." My heart breaks a little bit when I see his defeated expression and, before I know what I'm doing, I throw myself into his arms, catching him off guard.
"Yes," I say into his chest. "Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes." After several moments, he wraps his arms around me and pulls me even tighter against his chest.
"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel obligated to say yes. If you don't want to you don't have to. I love you, and I want you to have what you want, not what I want," he says.
"You're what I want." I feel his heartbeat speed up through his chest. Is that for me? As I'm thinking this over, I feel a soft pair of lips against my forehead. I look up to see Declan smiling back at me as if I was made of pure gold, and it makes my heart do all kinds of crazy things.
"That's everything I've ever wanted to hear you say."
Hope you guys like it! It's not my best, but it's something.
