The Protective Heart ✔️

30. Protecting her from not having anyone to give a gift to

"Thank you for doing this, Isabel." I said into the phone quietly, trying not to wake Nikki up.

"No problem, John said I can stay with him all week if you need me to." She replied.

"I will let you know tomorrow what our plan is. I just know that she can't go back to her apartment right now." I explained.

"Of course. I'll talk to you tomorrow then. Have a good day."

"You too." I ended the call and then dialed Bridget.

"Hey, girly, what's up?" She answered.

"I have a favor to ask. Can I bring someone with on our shopping trip today?"

"Sure, who is it?" I paused for a moment, a little concerned for how she would react.

"It's Nikki." There was a long silence and I started to wonder if the call had been disconnected.

"Your sister, Nikki?" She sounded really confused and I couldn't blame her.

"Yeah, she came over last night and we talked."

More like had an emotional break down together but whatever.

"Oh...yeah, I guess that's fine. If you're ok with it?"

"I am."

"So you two made up?"

"Yeah."

"What about you and Declan?" I paused again, not sure how to tell her that our relationship was completely over.

"We're done."

"So you forgave your sister, who was the one who kissed him but you won't forgive Declan, who was the one that didn't want it in the first place?" I winced at how she explained it.

"Well, basically, yeah."

"Seriously, Crystal, I don't get you. He was the best thing to ever come into your life and you're throwing it away over something stupid."

"It's not stupid, Bridge. It's just...I put so much trust in him and he broke my heart just like my dad did. If we got back together, I would always be waiting for the other shoe to drop. I just can't do that to myself." I explained, realizing for the first time the real reason why I didn't want to get back together with Declan.

"He made you so happy, Crystal. He made you a better person. He did so many things right by you. Even now, he's putting aside his own feelings just so that he won't hurt you. Do you have any idea how much you've put him through?" My heart started pounding erratically and my eyes watered.

"Please, just leave it be." I whispered.

"Fine, I won't say anything else after this. You deserve to be happy and you deserve to let Declan make you happy. Alright, I'm done. I promise I won't say any more about it, now."

"Thanks."

"See you in an hour?" A tear fell from my eye and I quickly wiped it away.

"Yeah." I ended the call and looked over at Nikki. Her eyes were crimson and swollen from crying most of the night. I sat down on the edge of the bed and pushed a lock of hair away from her face.