Chapter Twenty-Two
Declan
One Week later...
I must be fucking crazy doing this. She is going to make me suffer for sure. But if I want to do what I want to do, I need her help. So I'm just gonna have to win her over.
I know Sophie is working out her notice at the pub tonight, I'm just hoping Mia is home. I knock on the door and wait for my doom.
She looks through the window before opening the door, and her face drops when she sees me. Great. I hear her unlock the door, and then there is a very unhappy face looking out at me.
“What the hell do you want? She's not here.”
“I know. I want to see you.”
“What about? You’re not exactly my favourite person.”
I wince. “I know that. Please, Mia, let me come in. I need to talk to you and need your help on something.”
“You’re kidding, right? After what you’ve done to my best friend? Fuck off with your need for help.”
“It’s because of her I'm here, and if she's been half as miserable as me, you will be glad I'm here - that’s what I want to put an end to.”
She stares at me as though conflicted about what to do.
“Please, Mia,”
She sighs and steps back, allowing me to pass. Yes, I'm in.
I hover around, waiting for her to tell me where to go.
“Come through.” She walks into a kitchen/dining area and I follow her. She gets two bottles of beer out of the fridge and hands me one.
“So, what are you going to do about my friend being miserable?”
“I'm going to ask her to marry me.”
She nearly chokes on her beer, spitting it out everywhere. She slams down the bottle and grabs some kitchen roll to wipe it up.
“You'rewhat?”
“I want to marry her. I want to be with her full stop. I've been a dickhead, I know I've been a dickhead. I don’t know how much Sophie has told you about me - about my past.”
Her face softens a little. “I found out last week, she was upset, and I kept slagging you off – she didn’t like it, so she told me why you are the way you are. I get it, and I'm sorry that happened to you, Dec, but I don’t like my friend keep getting caught in the crossfire.
“I'm done with that. I'm done fucking around. I want her. I want her to be my forever. She wants that, right?”
She shrugs. “I'm not sure. She loves you, no question, but she doesn’t want to be terrified for the rest of her life that something is going to happen and you're going to run for the hills.”
“I get that, but that won't happen.”
“How do you know?”
