Page 11 of Destined Lovers

Hoping for an easier day tomorrow.

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I jolt awake from a loud sound echoing through my apartment. Barely registering, it’s banging on my front door.

“Riley, sweetie, please wake up!” Agnes, my landlord, yells through my door. I look at the clock, which says it’s four in the morning, so I jump out of bed, nervous about why she would be here at this time.

I swing the door open, and she’s there with her keys about to open my door.

“What’s going on, Agnes? Is everything okay?” I ask, worried when I see her ashen face.

“Oh, sweetie.” she throws her arms around my body and hugs me tight.

“You’re worrying me, Agnes.” She doesn’t answer but lifts her hands to hold my cheeks.

“I wish you would just sleep upstairs with me,” she whispers.

“Agnes,” I say firmly, with a little bite. I don’t understand what the hell is going on right now.

“Sweetie, you were having one of your nightmares. I was so worried because you haven’t had one in so long. This one was worse than normal.”

“Was I?” I ask, shocked because I usually wake up from them.

“Please come sleep upstairs, child. I don’t want you down here alone. It doesn’t feel right.”

I groan, throwing my head back. “Agnes, we’ve gone over this a million times. I need my own space, and so do you.”

I’ve lived in a small apartment downstairs from Agnes for ten years, and she asks the same question every day. She’s become like a second nan to me. My granny died shortly after we moved to America all those years ago. She was my best friend besides Declan, so it’s nice to have someone to turn to.

“Just tonight, Riley, please. I’m telling you, it was the worst I’ve ever heard. Either you come up, or I’ll sleep on your couch.” She says indisputably.

Clearly, I have no choice, and I usually wouldn’t mind. But I don’t want to let on how nervous I am that I didn’t remember this nightmare. Or that I had one in general. With how she’s staring me down, I know she’s being serious and will stay, or worse, she’ll call Bennett. My overprotective friend and I don’t want to hear his shite right now.

I narrow my eyes at her. “You win this time, you old bat,” I say playfully as I press a kiss to the top of her head.

She wraps her arm around me and leads me upstairs into her spare bedroom.

“I love you, Nora,” she mutters as she kisses me good night.

“I love you, Nan,” I whisper.

She is one of the only people in my new life that knows my given name is Nora. I trust her beyond anyone, to never give out the information I wouldn’t want anyone else to know.

My mask instantly falls when she closes the door, and I grab a pillow to hug for comfort. I’ve built a thick wall around me to protect myself. But sometimes, just sometimes, a few emotions slip through a crack and break me down.

And that’s exactly what is about to happen, I can feel it, and it can’t be stopped, so I bury my head deep into the pillow and allow myself to cry. Really cry… for a long time.

The last time I cried like this was when my parents died, and I had to leave my life, my Declan, behind.

So, it makes sense that seeing him now triggered my nightmares and any emotions I’ve pushed way down deep.

I miss my mammy and daddy. I miss them so much that it hurts, even after all this time. But sometimes, missing Declan may be the hardest of them all. He is alive, well, and within reach, but not really, because I can’t touch him.Not yet, anyway.

When I explain everything, he has to understand. If he’s still my Declan, he will.

I know it.

In the meantime, I have to hope he doesn’t find anyone else because that will be the day I have to reveal a secret I’m not ready for. It’s that, or my mask finally comes off, and I officially break.

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