Binding 13

"I'm so sorry," Claire groaned down the line. "I didn’t mean to embarrass you today, I swear. I was just sick of listening to those two droning on about Joh

"Don’t worry about it." Grabbing Joh

"Can you talk right now?" she questioned.

"Yeah," I whispered, creeping towards the staircase. "Just give me two secs."

"Okay," she replied.

Holding my phone to my chest, I tiptoed up the staircase, avoiding every creak with expert precision.

"Okay, I'm back," I told her in a more audible tone once I was safely inside my bedroom with the door locked.

"You're sure you’re not mad at me?"

I shook my head and flopped down on my bed. "I’m really not."

"Oh, thank god," Claire sighed loudly. "I've been a wreck all evening worrying about it. I won't be in class tomorrow and I was afraid you wouldn’t pick up when I called."

My heart sank. "You're not coming to school tomorrow?"

"I have that hockey blitz with the school," she explained. "But Lizzie will be there."

At least there’s that.

"Well, I'm not mad."

"You're sure?"

"I have good news," I said, deciding on changing the topic. Otherwise we would end up going back and forth all night. "I forgot to tell you last week, but I think you'll like it."

"Spill your beans, Lynch."

"Mam signed the forms. I turned them in the other week." Exhaling heavily, I said, "I'm allowed to go to Donegal with you after Easter."

I had to hold the phone away from my ear for a few moments while Claire squealed her excitement out of her system.

"This is the best news ever," she gushed. "You have no idea how happy you've just made me. I thought I was going to be trapped in a foreign county for two days with Lizzie and Pierce," she continued to say. "And you know how screwed up their relationship is."

"A foreign county," I snickered, then grunted when a sharp pain ricocheted through my side.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just my stomach," I replied, stroking the curve of my belly. "It's been bothering me all day." Worrying my lip, I added, "I hope I'm not coming down with something."

"Then you better take some paracetamol and get the hell over it," Claire retorted chirpily. "Because we're going to Donegal, baby! Woo!"

"After Easter," I reminded her.

"So?" she shot back. "It's still the best news ever."

I laughed at her enthusiasm because, in all honesty, how could I not?

It was infectious.

"So, have you figured out how you're going to manage forty-eight hours in close quarters with Gerard?" I asked with a teasing lilt to my tone, thankful for the distraction from my life.

Claire groaned loudly. "He drives me crazy, Shan."

"He likes you," I told her. "And before you shut me down and tell me he likes everyone, I mean he really likes you, Claire. It's obvious when you guys are together that he's into you."

It really was.

At school, they watched each other's moves constantly.

He was always coming over to her, cracking jokes and making pointless conversation.

They behaved like an old married couple when they were together, with witty banter and quick retorts, and I couldn’t figure out why they weren't a couple already.

It seemed so inevitable.

"Having him carry on like that towards me is not a compliment," Claire grumbled when I called her out on it. Huffing, she added, "Any girl who walks past that boy turns his head."

"Yeah, but you haven't just turned his head, Claire," I told her. "I think you've turned his heart."

"You can't turn something that isn’t there, Shan," she replied, tone sad.

"I don’t believe that," I countered.

"That's because you don’t know him like I do," was all she replied.

"Well, I think you and Gibsie together make sense," I pressed. "A lot more than Lizzie and Pierce."

"That wouldn’t be hard," Claire chuckled. "Me and Mr. Mulcahy make more sense than those two."

"True," I mused.

"So, here's what we'll do," she said then. "You can keep me focused and away from Gerard when we're in Donegal, and I'll do the same for you with Joh

I exhaled a shaky breath. "About that…"

"Go on," she urged.

Clenching my eyes shut, I blurted, "He dropped me home again."

"What?" Claire shrieked.

I blew out a breath. "I know."

"Oh my god, Shan, what's this about?"

"I really don’t know," I groaned, scrubbing my face with my hand. "I'm so confused."

"Confused?"

Deciding to give her full disclosure, I whispered, "He didn’t just drop me home, Claire. I went over to his house again."

"Shut the front door," she gasped.

Nodding, I groaned into my hand. "And I kissed him."

"Shut the front door!" she repeated, louder now, and in a much more excited tone. "Where did this happen?"

"In his bedroom," I confessed, and then reluctantly added, "On his bed."

"Oh. My. God," she squealed. "Oh my bloody god, Shan!"

"He didn’t kiss me back," I admitted, grimacing.

"That bloody idiot," she growled, tone switching instantly.

"I'm the idiot, Claire," I hurried to say, feeling just as mortified now as I was in his car on the drive of shame home. "What the hell was I thinking?"

"Was he mean to you?" she demanded. "Because I'll kick his big, rugby-loving ass if he was mean to you –"

"He wasn’t mean to me, Claire," I croaked out. "He was…lovely."

"No, Sha

"I kissed him, Claire," I whispered. "Not the other way around."

"And he clearly didn’t deserve your kiss," Claire snipped. "You're too good for the big eejit."

"I thought you liked Joh

"I used to," she agreed angrily. "I used to think he was a good guy. I used to think he was better than that reputation of his," she growled. "Not anymore."

"It's my fault, Claire."

"No, Shan," she growled. "He led you on, and you deserve so much better than having some rugbyhead asshole do that."

"He really didn’t," I admitted. "It was all me."

"I don’t care," she snipped. "He's an eejit."

"What do I do now?" I asked, feeling unsure.

"What do you mean?"

"I have his jacket." I confessed. "I need to return it to him."

"Why do you have his jacket?"

"He gave it to me –" I paused before adding, "Actually this is the second one he's given me. He gave me his coat after school, too, but that one was soaked from the rain so he gave me another one."

"There you go," she snapped. "Leading you on!"

"I don’t think that's what he was doing," I argued weakly. "He was just being nice, Claire." Exhaling heavily, I added, "He's just a really good guy."

"Fine," she sighed, relenting on her anger a little. "Just give his coat back to him at school tomorrow and be done with the big ape."

"Okay," I replied, sad at the thought.

"He's a fool, you know," she added. "You're gorgeous, and kind, and sweet, and loyal, and a million other brilliant things he'll never find in whores like that Bella Wilkinson."