1.1 | Cherry Knots ✓

07 | moment

He barely glanced up from the plate. "Whenever I'm horny."

I shot him a very unamused look. "Perfect moments don't have to be constructed. Sometimes they can be spontaneous. Unless, of course, you're with the girl during a holiday festival, like Christmas, in which case you find a mistletoe."

Declan's head immediately snapped up, and he glanced quickly around the room for a mistletoe. True enough, there was one, just hanging over the threshold of the doorway. His eyes flickered over to me.

"I'm not going to kiss you under the mistletoe," I rolled my eyes. "That's just an example."

His lips lifted up into a wry grin. "Shame," He murmured, before returning to the cookies, wolfing them down at an alarming rate.

My forehead creased with worry as I watched him for about a minute or two. "Declan, as much as I love having you around, could you stop eating? I haven't got anything to give to my Grandma for Christmas, and I was hoping to give her some of those cookies."

He chuckled, and stuffed another cookie into his mouth. "You mean you haven't done your Christmas shopping yet?"

"It's my Grandma. What can you possibly get old people?" I shrugged, "And besides, I've been way too busy to do any Christmas shopping."

He rolled his eyes and stood up abruptly. "Get her a scarf from Primark or something, old people love those. Come on."

He stretched out a hand to me, and I stared at it, momentarily confused. "Now?"

"What, are you going to wait till Christmas? Yes, now."

"But the lesson – "

"Screw that, El. Christmas is way more important."

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Declan was already waiting in the car for me by the time I was done, and I sent a gust of wind rushing in after me as I threw myself in the passenger seat beside him.

"I'm so sorry," I gushed, shooting him an apologetic look. "I couldn't find my coat."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Why didn't you just wear one of the coats hanging on the stand? I saw a couple of those in the hallway earlier."

"Well, those belong to my Mum. Besides, the coats were blue."

"Ah, and blue coats aren't as warm as your white one," He finished, a mocking grin curving his lips.

We both knew that he was only joking, however, and I gave him a light-hearted punch. "No, because blue coats don't go with orange rompers."

He gave an exaggerated sigh. "I'll never understand girls."

"Then don't attempt to. Come on, let's go."

He turned the key in the ignition, but then paused as he glanced over at me. "Put on your seat-belt, El."

My parents had never been firm believers in the seat-belt rule, for they firmly believed that their excellent driving skills were sufficient to keep me safe. "I'm good, it's just a five-minute drive – "

"Put it on."

" – no one's even going to know if I don't, and – "

"For fuck's sake, Eloise, just put the bloody thing on!" He yelled, effectively cutting me off.

Silence descended then, and as I turned to face him. His posture was rigid, his fingers gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white. It was the maddest I had ever seen him, a sudden outburst of fury that completely threw me in for a loop. And frankly, I had no idea how I was supposed to deal with that. Emotions scared me – they all terrified me and left me at a lost as to what to do.

I hastily buckled my seat-belt and sat with my hands folded on my lap – model-student pose.

I felt Declan's gaze on me, and he sighed at last. "I'm sorry, El," He murmured, his voice apologetic. "I just – look, I want you to be safe, alright?"

I bit my lip and nodded mutely, but was surprised when he reached over, his fingers intertwining with mine.

His voice was rough, almost unsteady, when he started, "Remember how I said I'd tell you about Matt someday?"

"Yes," My reply was so soft I could hardly hear myself.

"It was an accident," He said, slowly. "My Dad left me and Matt in the car one day to buy something he forgot to buy, and I figured I could drive around without a license and not get caught. Only it didn't happen, because I didn't just get caught, I – "

"You don't have to continue,," I said, quickly, when he let out a staggered breath.

"It was the most selfish thing I did," He murmured, "when I realised I was in the wrong lane and I was about to crash into the truck. And I swerved to avoid getting myself hit," He continued, anger laced in his tone. "I guess a part of me didn't want to get hit and I was fucking willing to let Matt – who was sitting beside me – get hit instead. It was like, I was too fucking concerned with saving my own arse I completely forgot about my brother's."

"I – "

"You don't have to say anything," Declan cut me off, his eyes were cold, his expression impassive. "I'm probably the biggest arse ever and fuck if I don't already know it. Let's just go."

"Declan – "

"Just drop it, Eloise."