Fi had told me that she was waiting for me at her condo. We were going to the mall in the afternoon, and I couldn't say no to that.

I was just entering her room, searching for her everywhere, when I heard the voice beside me.

"Holly J., I need to talk to you," he said in his usual deep, low and inevitably sexy voice.

"Declan?" I said in awe. "What are you doing here?"

"My mom was going to make her usual visit to Fi this weekend, but I insisted to come instead of her. Fiona said that she missed me and wanted me to come here. Her words were pretty much the only thing that convinced my mother to let me come," Declan said.

"Oh, don't you have to go to school this week?" I asked, desperate to start a conversation away from his feelings for me.

"Not exactly, most of the senior students are busy in some international competition of public speaking that I'm sure you would enjoy," he grinned.

"Oh, well." I couldn't find anything to say. The silence between us was getting awkward. We had a lot to say to each other, but we didn't exactly want to confess it.

"Are you still going to Yale?" he asked me as he stood up from his chair in the far side of Fiona's bedroom to sit on the bed.

"I think so, I'm not sure now," I mumbled. Things had been so confusing lately, and I didn't want to annoy him with all my drama the first time I saw him after so long of being separated.

"Holly J, Fiona already told me about your operation. I'm really concerned about you," he said. I could see a tear forming in his eye.

"We're figuring things out." I couldn't find anything else to say at the moment. Partly because it was an extremely hard subject to be treated, but mainly because I didn't want him to see how fragile and weak I really was. For him I had always been the strong and steadfast Holly J. Sinclair… and I didn't want him to change that image of me in his mind.

"I'm sorry for all of this," he said hesitating. "I want to tell you that I'm sorry for the way I acted before. For trying to own you, for thinking you only had the choice of being mine and no one else's. I'm sorry. I've grown and I want to let you know that I still love you, and that I always will, even if you're not with me. And I care about you. I have been worried about you, I can't get you out of my mind."

I had no words. I felt the warmth in my chest that had shown me before that I really loved him. No matter what he did, I knew deep inside that my heart would always belong to him.

I sat beside him and hugged him for a long time. We didn't say a word. We were there, telling stories between us that could not possibly be expressed with words.

After a while, he pulled away from me. My head was aching a little bit, but I tried my best to ignore the obnoxious feeling my body was transmitting me.

I wanted to say that I still had feelings for him but I didn't have the courage necessary to tell him. I did not want to rush into things.

My sickening feeling was getting worse and it wasn't long before I puked in Fiona's bathroom.

"Do you want me to take you to the doctor?" Declan asked as he was helping me out of the bathroom and into Fiona's bed.

"No, I'm fine. I just need to get some rest," I replied.

"Fiona's not coming for now. I will stay with you until my sister comes home," he announced her. "I hope you don't bother," he continued, saying this in a shy and apologizing manner, very unlike the Declan Coyne style.

"It's perfect. Thanks, Decks." I leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek.

He smiled.

I wonder if he planned all this on purpose, even though I'm not sure he's making plans of getting me back. He really does seem sincere.