1.1 | Cherry Knots ✓

10 | sparks

1 0

s p a r k s

Declan was nowhere to be found after that. He wasn't in school, his desk was empty the whole of Monday. I knew that my worst fears had come true. The only person who meant the world to me had walked out of my life for good.

But I was so caught up with Declan's absence that I didn't realise there was one other person who had been absent from school.

Then I saw him. During the fourth lesson on Wednesday, Parker Collins entered the room, sporting a couple of bruises on his face, and a particularly nasty-looking black-eye. I could merely gape in surprise, as did the rest of the class. He ignored the rest, but then his gaze landed on mine. His eyes softened imperceptibly, but then he was looking away.

After the end of lessons that day, Joey came up to me as I was preparing to leave. "Hi," He grinned, planting his hands on my desk. "Eloise, right?"

"That's right," I replied, wondering what he was going to say next.

"So I met Declan this morning. He says if you're not too mad with him, maybe you might want to meet him."

My breath caught in my throat. "Now?"

"Well, he's waiting by the school gates, because he's not - "

I didn't wait for Joey to finish. Stuffing the remaining of my books into my bag, I left the classroom in a flurry, before racing towards the entrance of the school. It was then that I realised how much Declan's departure had affected me. How relieved I was to have him back into my life again.

I stopped short when I saw him. He was leaning against the wall, his arms folded across his chest, the same way he had stood the very first day we started the cherry knot challenge. It was funny how just one cherry knot could change the lives of two people forever. It had changed Declan, it had changed me.

I knew I had put Declan up on a pedestal the second he stepped into my life. He was sweet, funny, understanding, and so lovely that I never thought he had the potential to hurt me. Maybe he could. But he was right. We were going to get through anything together, and perhaps that was all that mattered.

He glanced up quickly when I stepped closer. He looked tired, as if he hadn't slept properly for awhile, and as my gaze travelled lower, I realised that his right hand was bandaged up.

"Please tell me you weren't the one who punched Parker," I said, shaking my head in disbelief as I gazed at him. "You know that'll only get you into trouble."

He shrugged, but looked sufficiently ashamed. "I already got into trouble. I got suspended for a week for fighting on school grounds. A teacher caught me while I was thrashing him on Monday morning."

I found it difficult to fight the smile that threatened to bloom on my face. "So what makes you think I'm mad at you?" I asked, instead.

"I left you that night," He pointed out, simply, hardly able to meet his gaze. "I guess at that time, I was just too pissed with Parker for what he'd done to you. But I should've stayed. I should've been there when you needed me most."

"But you were," I murmured. Reaching out to take his hand, I let our fingers intertwine. "You were there when I needed someone to listen to me. You were there when I needed a shoulder to cry on. And you were there to catch me when I fell."

His eyes widened in surprise. "You have feelings for me?"

I wrinkled my nose, even as my lips twitched. "Unfortunately."

"But when?" He seemed genuinely confused, and ran his fingers through his hair. "You never gave any indication that you did. And when I was talking about my feelings for you that night, you told me I couldn't have any of those sort of feelings - "

"Declan."

" - I mean, I get that you had a bad experience with relationships, so it's understandable if you don't want to rush into a new one. It makes perfect sense. And even if we - "

"Declan."

He stopped, and looked at me.

"Just shut up and kiss me."

And he did. Smiling softly, he looped an arm around my waist and pulled me to him. I had just confessed my feelings for him and it was one of the best moments - check. Slowly, carefully, he bent his head to mine. The perfect angle - check. My eyes fluttered shut - check. Our lips touched, softly, light as a feather, I could hardly believe he was kissing me. He tasted of mint, the slight scent of his aftershave was intoxicating. My senses were heightened - auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory - check. His tongue slipped between my lips, and he deepened the kiss. With passion - check. It was a moment, which felt forever yet like an instant at the same time.

Eventually, I lost track of time. Because screw the techniques. He had covered them all, everything I had taught him, but I hardly cared about that anymore.

His breathing was ragged when he finally pulled back. "While we're at confessions, there's something I think you should know."

My eyes widened.

"Don't look so worried," He smiled, pressing a light kiss to my forehead. "I just wanted to confess that I knew how to kiss all along."

I stared at him blankly. "What?"

The corner of his lips quirked up into a brief, amused smirk. "I knew how to kiss. The cherry knot - well, I knew how to tie one all along. I just pretended I didn't."

My eyes narrowed, and I pulled away from him. "You're an absolute arse, Declan Harte - "

"Hold on, just listen for a bit," He tugged me back to him, and I met his gaze reluctantly. "It was idiotic of me to do so, and I'm sorry. At first, I just had some stupid crush on this girl in my class. And Joey came up with the idea. But then I realised that it was more than that. You were more than just some girl, and it was more than just a kissing lesson, and it was more than just a kiss. And I don't regret it. Not one bit."

I shook my head, quite unable to stop myself from smiling. "You guys are weirdos. How desperate for attention were you?"

He shrugged, a mischievous smirk spreading across his face. "Very. I mean, when you want a girl to kiss you, you get her to teach you how."

And now it made perfect sense. That first day. That first kiss we shared was horrible, but there was an air of confidence to it which I had always puzzled over. Now I knew the reason why. Declan was never a horrible kisser to begin with. And I had basically spent weeks wasting my time teaching him. It was all for nothing.

Or maybe it wasn't. I gazed up at him, my brown eyes meeting his blue ones, and he was staring right at me, and that smirk was long gone, instead replaced with a soft smile that was purely him. So maybe all the weeks I spent with Declan Harte were not all for nothing. I wasn't going to be cliché and say that he saved me, because he didn't.  This was reality, not fiction. No castles, no fairy-tales, no happy endings.

All Declan had done was to, in his own odd way, teach me how to fall in love again. 

And as I pushed myself up on the tips of my toes to meet his lips, I realised that, maybe, I was perfectly fine with that.