"Come on, I told Cyrus to meet me at my house," Declan said as he nodded in a general direction.

"You wanna walk to your house in this weather?"

"You want to stay locked outside your car in this weather? Let's go get some dry clothes, my house isn't far from here."

"Alright, if you say so," I said as I followed close behind him.

He laughed out of nowhere. "You really locked your keys in your car after it broke down."

"Declan, it is way too early to tease me about this. Stop it before I cry." That only made him laugh at me more.

"Come on, we'll get there faster if we cut through here."

We were walking off the road now to cut through a grassy area. The rain was still coming down hard and my clothes had already been soaked. I was wiping water away from my face at this point.

"Our smoothies," I whined, only now remembering they were locked in my car along with my phone.

"They should still be good when we get back to your car. If not, we can get some more."

"Or we can make some more. You know what that just reminded me of? That I can make a killer milkshake."

"Are you trying to lure me into your yard?" I didn't get his reference at first, but when I did, I almost laughed. I decided to shove him instead though.

I made the mistake of shifting my weight on a slight hill, where the mud was extra slippery. So instead of knocking him on his ass with a shove, I almost knocked myself on my ass.

I gasped as I lost my footing. Declan grabbed my arm before I could fall and I grabbed him right back. As I rebalanced myself, he slipped his hand into mine, lacing his fingers with my own and helping me down the small hill.

"I'll just keep this until we're out of the mud. Good?" He asked, very subtly dragging his thumb over the side of my knuckle. The rain had matted his hair down, droplets falling from the ends of his flattened waves.

"Good," I nodded slowly with my response before he guided us forward.

But even when we made it out of the mud, he still kept my hand in his.

—————————————

We had kicked off our muddy shoes at the door and Declan got us both towels to dry off as best we could.

I followed him to his room where he handed me a dry hoodie to change into. He gave me a pair of sweatpants too, explaining that they were an old pair that he hasn't worn since middle school, so they should fit me fine.

He left me alone in his room so I could change, taking a fresh pair of clothes with him to change somewhere else.

I had to tie the drawstrings around me anyway to keep them from falling off my waist. I found the hoodie to be perfectly oversized, the gentle scent of his cologne wrapping around me.

I hope this wasn't a favorite of his, because he would never see this thing again.

I took the towel and squeezed it around my hair to dry it more, looking around the room I was in. It was the first time I had actually seen his room.

The first thing I noticed was a baby picture on his nightstand. I couldn't help but smile a little. He was in a woman's lap, her smile bright as she had her arms wrapped around him. She was beautiful... and he had her eyes.

His bed was unmade but it wasn't messy. In fact, his room was surprisingly cleaner than I had expected. The only thing that was cluttered was his desk, papers scattered here and there, and a shirt thrown over his chair.

He had a few soccer trophies placed on his dresser and another picture. This one must have been his dad. Declan was older in this picture, probably about six or seven, and his dad was crouched down behind him to meet his small height. He was in a soccer uniform with his thumbs up and a wide smile on his face, a few of his front teeth missing.

A knock sounded at the door. "Are you done changing?" Declan's muffled voice asked from the other side.

"Yeah, you're good."

He stepped into the room as I turned away from the picture, acting like I wasn't just slightly snooping, and gave him my best innocent smile instead.

"Julia insists you stay for dinner. I told her Cyrus was coming and then she insisted that he stayed too," He said.

"That's cool with me. Cyrus would never turn down food, so you can probably count him in too."

He nodded silently and came into the room, leaning against his desk. He looked at me for the first time and I followed his eyes down to his hoodie that I was wearing.

"That's a good hoodie." He said and then he seemed to frown at his own words. "I mean it looks good. You look good... in that hoodie."

"Declan," I said teasingly. "I think you sound nervous all of a sudden."

He cleared his throat and stood up straighter, suddenly finding some confidence in his next words. "No, I'm fine. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You blush when you're nervous. Don't think I didn't notice it when I took your hand out there."

"I didn't blush," I said, suddenly feeling nervous myself and wondering how he was able to flip this on me so quickly.

"Oh yeah? Give me your hand," He said as he pushed himself off the desk. He put his hand out towards me and a small smile found its way on the edge of his mouth.

I humored him, feeling stubborn and now eager to prove him wrong. He stepped forward, moving closer to me. I took a deep breath as secretly as I could and he took my hand in his, flipping it up and once again lacing his fingers through my own.

But it wasn't that hand that made me feel a flush in my cheeks. It was the way his motions slowed down when he was at the edge of my feet. It was how he steadily reached forward with his other hand and dragged his fingers along my jaw.

His gaze was locked heavy on my own and his dark eyes looked even darker now as they fell down to my mouth. His fingers brushed my hair back from around my shoulder and he gently held the back of my neck.

"I think you're blushing now, Row." His voice was so soft, yet it seemed so loud against the stillness of the moment.

"Declan, just do it already," I managed to let out breathlessly.

That was the last thing either of us said before he dropped his lips onto mine. He let go of my hand and instead wrapped it around my waist, pulling me closer by the small of my back. He dragged his hand from the back of my head to the side of my neck and for just the smallest moment, our lips lost contact until he used his thumb to tilt my head up more as his lips folded against mine once again. 

My hands had been curled up against his chest but now I moved them to his head, using one had to cup his face and the other to curl my fingers through his hair.

I thought I had known the feeling of butterflies in my stomach, but the concept didn't seem like it described nearly enough of what I felt right now. I was grounded and floating at the same time. Dreaming, yet more alert than I had ever been.

And maybe I wanted the moment to last forever, so when the doorbell rang throughout the house, it felt like a slap to the face. We pulled away, but our hands were still around each other.

"I should go get that," He finally said, sounding miles away.

"Mhm," was the only response I could work. We pulled away completely as he turned away to leave the room.

"Rowena," He said suddenly, pulling my attention once again. "You were right before, I was nervous."

I smiled at his words. "Not anymore?"

"Not anymore," He agreed, and that cushion of comfort was between us anew.

A/N: UUHHHMMM? Tell me what you think, I was very anxious about this chapter.

❤️Thanks for reading!❤️