Ten Years

Chapter 12

"Will I see you again?" Noa says, her arms around my neck.

"Of course you will! I'll come back for the party at the end of camp."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"And Declan? Will he also come?"

"I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world" he says, showing up out of nowhere.

"Good!" Noa says, reaching one of her arms towards him and hugging him by the neck just like she did on the river. "I like these hugs. Just the three of us."

"Yeah" Declan says while I feel his hand moving to my rest on the low of my back, sending goosebumps all over my body.

"Noa, mummy and daddy are here" Edith says. Before I can put her down, she has already jumped from my arms, running towards her parents.

"Goodbye, Noa!" I say. But she is screaming at them, definitely not hearing me.

"That kid" Declan says with a smile. "Anyway, I spoke with my friend about the wolf."

"And?"

"They are coming to check the area and warn the shepherd we saw. His sheep are the ones who could be in actual danger, though he probably already knows."

"Deccy!"

"Oh, God. There goes the peace and calm I found this weekend" I say, rolling my eyes.

"Hey" Declan says, trying to hide a smile.

"Oh, Deccy" Birgit says, throwing herself at his arms. "I've missed you so much!"

"It was just three days, and you were in London partying with your friends. You probably didn't have time to miss me."

"I did. Very much."

"I better go, I want to check on Dom" I say, not wanting to risk saying something mean to Birgit. Declan and I have kind of fixed things, and she is capable of making me ruin everything again.

"Oh, I hadn't seen you there" she says with a disgusted look.

"Hi" I reply with a fake smile.

"I didn't know you were also part of this."

"I wasn't, but Dom got sick and he couldn't find anyone else to help."

"Poor you. You probably had plans with your boyfriend Benjamin."

"No, I didn't. He's out visiting his family, so I didn't have anything else to do" I shrug.

"I see... Anyway, Deccy. Should we go home? I've missed you so so much. All of you" she says, moving her hand all over his chest while looking at me.

"I still have some things to do, I'll meet you later" he says, putting her hand away. Now I am the one trying not to smile.

"Can't those things wait?" she says, pouting.

"I'm afraid not."

"I'll leave you to it. Goodbye, Birgit. Declan" I say, just looking at him giving and giving him my most charming smile, perfectly knowing that Birgit is looking.

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"Look who is alive and well! And not in jail!" Dom says when I arrive home.

"Why would I be in jail?" I say, letting myself fall on the sofa next to him.

"Well, you spent a whole weekend with Declan, and knowing what happened the last time you two were together... But you actually look happy" he says, looking at me from head to toe. "Happy and... relaxed? Calm? Please tell me you didn't do anything while the kids were sleeping."

"What? No! Stefan and Edith, on the other hand..."

"Ha! I knew they had something going on. But wait. If they did... That means you and Dec shared the same tent?"

"Yes."

"And you were fine with it?"

"At first I had my doubts, but then it wasn't that bad."

"It wasn't that bad... Oh, sis" Dom says, laughing.

"What I mean, is that it wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. You know how things were before this weekend and... Can you please stop smiling like that?"

"How?"

"Like that. You are... grinning."

"Am I?"

"Yes, you are, Dominic."

"Maybe it's because I'm happy about you and Dec finally fixing things and realizing that you still are in love with each other."

"We aren't in love with each other."

"Ok, ok. Fine. Step by step. You've fixed things, I should be happy just with that. Understanding your feelings comes next, I just need to be patient."

"You... you..." I say, not being able to find the right words, probably because my brain can only think about "you still are in love with each other." Because maybe (big maybe here), after that chat in the tent and everything I've been feeling this weekend, both physically and emotionally... Maybe I still am in love with Declan. And maybe he also feels the same?

"You are going through one of those moments of deep thinking, so I'll leave you to it."

"What?" I say, coming back to reality.

"You know what I mean. Now that you are home, I'm gonna go check on mum and dad, they are at the pub. Will you meet us later for dinner?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm gonna take a bath and get changed first."

"And think about Declan? Maybe while you are inside the bath?" he says with a smirk.

"I hate you, Dominic" I say, hitting him with a pillow.

"I love you too, sis."