"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.

"I'm here, now, Nikki. I promise that I will never let a guy get in the way of that ever again." I whispered to her. I sat there for a little longer until I decided to get ready. I took a shower and when I came back into the room, I saw Nikki standing on the other side of the room, looking out the window with her back to me.

"You're awake." I commented and she turned around to look at me.

"Yeah."

"How did you sleep?"

"Fine." She averted my gaze and I took a step closer to her.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright." I looked at her hands to see they were shaking.

"Are you having withdrawals?" I asked but she didn't answer. "Nikki, I know you don't want to hear this but I think we should take you to a rehab center." She looked up at me finally with a sad longing in her eyes.

"I'm scared, Crystal." I couldn't help but see my baby sister that I had taken care of since we were young. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into an embrace.

"It's going to be alright. I have some money saved up. We'll use that to pay for everything, ok?" I reassured her.

"Ok."

"Before we bring you there, though, I want to go shopping. Come with Bridget, Bailey and I, please?" I pulled away to look at her face.

"Thank you, Crystal, but I think I need to go straight to rehab. I can't stand even one more minute of feeling like this." She said determinedly. I smiled and suddenly saw the strong independent woman she had been wanting me to see.

"Alright."

We drove to the Right Path Drug Rehab Rockford Center and filled out all of the paperwork. When it was finally time to say good bye, my heart was pounding erratically.

"I will come visit you everyday, ok?" I hugged her tightly and her hands quivered on my back.

"I'm so sorry, Tally."

"I forgive you. It's all in the past now. We are going to get through this together." I said and pulled away so I could look at her. Tears were forming on the edges of her eyes and her bottom lip was tucked between her teeth.

"Bye." She said but I shook my head.

"No. No Goodbyes. I'll see you tomorrow." I said reassuringly and gave her a smile.

"See you later." She replied and put a small smile on. I waved as I walked out the door and got in my car. I drove straight to the mall, where I was supposed to meet Bridget and Bailey. As I walked up to the front doors, I saw them standing on the sidewalk talking. I waved and caught their attention.

"Hey! Where's Nikki?" Bridget asked.

"She decided it was best to go straight to the drug rehab center so I just dropped her off." I explained.

"I'm glad she's getting help." Bridget said. We walked into the mall and immediately went into a men's clothing store. Bailey said that she knew Ray liked wearing ties so she wanted to get a special one for him. Bridget was looking at wallets for Grant even though she already had a present for him. So that left me to look around the store by myself like the loser I was.

The glint of something silver caught my attention out of the corner of my eye and I walked out to it. It was a keychain with a golden pair of boxing gloves hanging from a chain. I picked it up in my hand and stared at it for a long time before bringing it to the register and buying it. I wasn't really sure why I bought it. Maybe because I wanted something that would remind me of Declan whenever I looked at it or maybe it was because I secretly wishes that I would be able to give it to him someday. All I knew was that I felt this uncontrollable need to have it.

I started walking up to Bailey but before she saw me, I stuck the keychain and receipt in my pocket.

"Hey, did you find something for him yet?" I asked. She nodded and then held up a black tie with white musical notes on it. I smiled and took it from her, inspecting it a little closer.

"I take it he likes music?" I asked her and she nodded.

"I'm sure he will love it." I said and then handed the tie back to her. We headed to the register and after she checked out, we went searching for Bridget. When we found her, she was on the phone.

"Ok, see you Friday, then." She said and I immediately became curious who she was talking to. We were supposed to open presents together and have a girls night on Friday. She turned around and saw us so we waved at her. She gave a small wave but she looked panicked.

"I gotta go, bye." She said quickly and then Hun up her phone.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Oh, just Grant."

"You're hanging out with him on Friday?" I asked and rose an eyebrow at her.

"Ah...yeah, sorry. I forgot to tell you, I invited him to go with us to the club." She said quickly and then laughed awkwardly.

"I thought it was supposed to be a girls night." I said with a slight frown.

I don't want to sound selfish but I really don't want to watch them make out all night while I'm still dealing with my break up.

"I'm sorry, he really wanted to come."

"Fine. Let's go get something to eat, I'm starving." We all walked to the food court and went our separate ways to what we wanted to eat. After we all got our respected food, we met up at a table and sat down together.

"Has Ray told you where you're going yet, Bails?" I asked and she shook her head.

"I bet he's going to take you someplace crazy, like the Himalayas or something." Bridget commented and Bailey's eyes went wide with fear. Bridget and I both laughed at her reaction.

"I'm kidding, and besides, it's seems like you've calmed him down a bit. He's not nearly as eccentric as he was when I first met him." Bridget said with a smile.

"You guys hang out a lot?" I asked, genuinely curious. I had only ever met Ray twice but it seemed like Bridget knew him a lot better than I did.

"Well, sorta, we went on a couple double dates." She said and then looked down at her food awkwardly.

"Why wasn't I invited?" I asked with a pout.

"Well, at first, it was cause you loathed men so we didn't want you to torture him but then you started dating Declan and then your mom and-"

"Ok, I get it." I mumbled.

"Crystal, are you sure you're happy?" Bridget asked and I rubbed my knees together uncomfortably.

"I'm fine." I insisted.

"But you're not." Bailey's voice made me look up at her in shock. She looked completely serious and confident as she stared at me.

"You're not fine at all, Crystal. I'm not saying you need him to be happy but I think that you would be happier with him than you would be without him. Until he came along, you were bearing this burden of never letting anyone into your heart completely. After you met him, you became a whole new person. You were happy and you weren't nearly as angry at the world anymore. Let me ask you just one question and you don't even have to answer it. Just think about it. Do you want to love anyone else other than Declan?" I immediately knew the answer to her question. I didn't even have to think about it. There was no hesitation and there was no changing my mind.

No.

I would never find someone who would love and take care of me the way Declan had. I would never love anyone else the way I loved him.

He was it for me.

He always was and always will be.