Ten Years

Chapter 9

"Did Dom share our schedule with you?"

"Yep" I say. "Today we walk to the camping site and get to know each other, do some games. Tomorrow we have a cultural visit in the morning, and then we go to the river. And on Sunday we have kind of a free day before we walk back to town after lunch."

"Alright, perfect" Edith says. She and Stefan are the other two adults going with Declan and I. They will take care of the older kids, while we take care of the younger ones.

"These days it feels like they become teens at 10, so trust me when I tell you that they will leave you shattered, but the little ones are the best" Stefan said when he explained everything to Declan and I.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"I've seen you at the pub" a little girl called Noa says to me while walking. She grabbed my hand when we left, and hasn't let go.

"Have you?"

"Yes. My mum says you are super pretty, and I agree. Do you agree, Declan?"

"On what?" he says. The moment the kids saw him, most of them wanted to walk by his side, constantly asking him questions about the Premier and other players. But since we told them that tonight we could have a Q&A around the fire, they've relaxed a bit and only a few haven't left his side yet.

"About her being super pretty" Noa says.

"I agree."

"He agrees" Noa says with a big smile. She starts rambling about her dog and how she tried to put a bow on him once, while I just look at Declan, trying to figure out if he was just following along, or being honest.

"Is there something on my face?" he asks.

"What?"

"You were staring."

"I wasn't" I say, my face burning.

Why do I feel like we are teens again? When I first started fancying him, this is what I would always find myself doing. Staring at him like an idiot, him noticing, me blushing, and the him answering with the same cheeky smile, the one he has on his face right now. When we said let's forget we know each other and start again, I didn't expect for it to actually happen.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Would you mind sharing a tent?" Edith says once we arrive ar the camping site.

"Me and Declan?"

"Yes. It's just... Stefan and I have something going on, and this is the first time we are gonna be able to be together and alone."

"I see..."

"I know you guys have history and that things have been a bit... Rough according to what people are saying back home. But today you've been very civil, so maybe you could keep it for the night too and help us a bit?"

"I don't know if he'll agree."

"Stefan is already talking with him, and he can be very persuasive" she says with a smirk.

"Ok, fine, yes. Just try to be quiet, we don't want kids asking certain things in the morning."

"Thank you!" she says, giving me a hug.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

After dinner, we all get together around the fire for the Q&A with Declan that all the kids were waiting for. They surprisingly have many questions for him, and some of them are very interesting.

"You should think about becoming journalists" he says. "Your questions are way better than theirs."

"I want to be a journalist" says Lucy, a girl from our group. "But I want to write on Vogue!"

"Do you want to be like Anna Wintour?" I ask.

"Yes, but younger."

"How do you know who she is? You are 6!" I was not expecting her to know who I was talking about.

"My mum likes Vogue a lot, and last year she dressed me as her for Halloween."

"Oh wow."

"Did you know that she was a model in Paris?" Declan says.

"Really?" Lucy replies, her eyes going wide.

"Really. She walked many fashion shows, and even was on Vogue once."

"You were on Vogue?" Edith asks.

"It was the Spanish issue, but yes."

"That's so cool!" Lucy says.

"Why don't we ask her to teach us how to walk the runway?"

"I don't think they are interested on that, Declan" I say.

"Are you guys interested on it? The one who does it better, gets a prize."

"What prize?" one of the kids asks.

"An England shirt from our favourite player!" another replies.

"Deal" Declan says. "Shall we begin?"

"God, I hate you" I say as I get up, him being the only one who heard me. "Ok, so this is how it goes. Shoulders back, gaze focused on a point that doesn't move, and walk."

When I'm done, everyone starts clapping, and I feel myself blushing.

"Just that?" Noa asks.

"Well, when you make it to the end, you can also pose for the camera, though not many people do it."

"Why? And why don't you smile?"

"That's something I've always asked myself" Edith says.

"The people who go to the fashion shows want to see the clothes, and if the model is smiling or doing twirls, they get distracted."

"Boring" Noa says.

"A bit, yes" I laugh. "Who wants to go first?"

"I will!" Lucy says. "But can I do something at the end of the runway?"

"Sure. The one who does the best pose, also gets a shirt. Right, Declan?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Edith, Stefan, Declan and I will be the judges. Unless you guys want to participate too."

"I do" Stefan says.

"I do too" Declan replies.

"Then we will be the judges" Edith says, asking me to seat next to her.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Who knew you were such a good model, Rice" I say after the show is over and it's time to sleep.

"I'm full of surprises" he says with a cheeky smile.

"So..." I say once we are inside the tent.

"So" he repeats.

"Do you still sleep on the left side?"

"I've started to do it on the right. Birgit didn't want to do it because it faces the door, and she was scared that if a killer walked in, she would die first."

"What?" I say, laughing way too loud.

"Yeah..." Declan says, scratching his head.

"That's just..." I say, still laughing.

"I know" he says, starting to laugh with me until we both are crying.

"Ok, stop, my belly hurts" I say.

"I'm trying!"

"Ok, ok. Deep breaths."

"Inhale..." But it doesn't work, and we are laughing again. And during the time we are like that, laughing, it feels like it hasn't been 10 years. It feels as if I didn't do what I did, as if there was no Birgit and we hadn't had a horrible argument just a few days ago. It feels good. It feels perfect.