Chapter 130: Hundred and Thirty

The sobs had finally left me drained, my body limp in Declan’s arms. I could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest against my cheek, the way his hand stroked slow, calming circles on my back. I wanted to stay there forever, but then my stomach betrayed me, growling loud enough to break the moment.

I froze. Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Oh my god,” I muttered into his shirt.

Declan chuckled softly, the sound low and warm against my ear. “That answers the question of when you last ate.”

I pulled back enough to glare at him weakly. “Shut up. Don’t make fun of me.”

“Too late,” he said, his lips quirking. “I’m feeding you.” He reached for the keys and started the engine before I could argue.

“I’m not hungry,” I lied, sinking into the seat.

He glanced at me, eyebrow raised, chuckling lightly. “Your stomach disagrees. Sit back, Willow. Let me take care of you.”

The words ‘let me take care of you’ lodged somewhere deep in my chest. Jacob had said them once, years ago, when I was fragile and scared. But when Declan said it, it felt different. Not like an obligation. Not like a promise he was forcing himself to uphold. It felt like truth. Like love.

He handed me his water bottle, and I sipped gratefully, downing more than half of the water in it. He began to drive, smiling softly to himself. Without asking, I played some fun pop girl music. I needed it to feel normal.

We pulled into a drive-through a few blocks away. I sat there, watching him place the order with easy certainty, the way he always did things: calm, efficient, protective. Its like I didn’t even need to think around him. By the time the paper bag of sandwiches was passed into his hands, the smell made my stomach twist with sudden, desperate hunger.

He parked in a quiet corner, the car idling softly. He handed me one of the chicken sandwiches and unwrapped his own. “Eat.”

I took a bite just to appease him. And suddenly, it hit me how long it had been since I’d eaten properly.. The first few bites filled me with warmth, grounding me, almost startling in its simplicity. It was just grilled chicken, lettuce, pickles, onion, mustard, hot sauce. I loved it. Declan knew what I liked. He always remembered. All the little things. Like how much I loved pickles on my sandwiches.

But halfway through eating, my chest clenched, the lump rising in my throat again. I set the sandwich down in my lap, shaking my head. “I can’t eat anymore.”

Declan didn’t argue. He didn’t lecture me or sigh in frustration. Instead, he reached over, plucked the sandwich from my lap, and broke off a small piece. “Open your mouth.”

I gave him a look, but he only raised his brows, patient. Something about the way he waited made me surrender. I opened my mouth, and he fed me the bite, his fingers brushing lightly against my lips.

It was ridiculous, childish even, but it broke something open inside me. Tears pricked at my eyes again.

“See?” he said softly, handing me a napkin. “You’ll eat, baby.”

I pressed the napkin to my mouth, my shoulders shaking. He fed me another piece, and another, until the sandwich was gone. And when I leaned back, finally full, finally calm, I realized there was something I hadn’t felt in years.

I turned my head, looking at him in the dim light of the car. His profile was sharp, illuminated in from the sunlight streaming in. His hand rested on the steering wheel, but his eyes kept straying to me, as if to check I was still there.

“Declan…” My voice cracked. I had to look away. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now. Noah. He’s my everything. And Jacob… for all the shit that has happened lately, he still loves Noah. And Noah thinks that’s his father.. He raised Noah with me. He loved him when you didn’t even know he existed. How am I supposed to walk away from that? How am I supposed to untangle all of this?”

His hand slid over mine, warm and steady. “You don’t have to have the answers right now.”

I bit down hard on my lip. “But…”

“No,” he cut in gently. His grip tightened, grounding me. “Listen to me, Willow. I’m not going anywhere. If you need time to figure this out, you’ll have it. If you need space, I’ll give it. But I can’t lie anymore. I love you. I’ve always loved you. And I’ll wait as long as it takes.”

Something inside me shattered at his words. The years, the pain, the endless ache of what we’d lost, they all crashed in the simple truth of what he was saying.

Tears blurred my vision again, but I didn’t look away. I let myself feel it, let the weight of his words settle deep into me.

“I love you too,” I whispered, my voice trembling.

Declan closed his eyes, his hand squeezing mine so tightly it almost hurt. When he opened them again, his gaze burned into me. “Say it again.”

“I love you,” I breathed, tears slipping free. “I love you, Declan, I still love you. I always have.”

He leaned across the console, his forehead pressing against mine. For a moment, neither of us moved. We just breathed together, the world outside the car falling away.

And in that small, ordinary space, with paper wrappers crumpled between us, the faint hum of the engine, the smell of warm bread and coffee lingering in the air, I felt something I hadn’t felt in so long.

Hope.