Authors: Elisa Elliot
If she had anywhere really to go or anywhere she wanted to go Lily knew she would most likely have disappeared herself but she was stuck playing house by herself. Her dad had left a couple hours ago and she had been sure then that Mason would have at least come back to see them off, he didn’t; he hadn’t even sent her a text. She had given up weeks ago trying to text or call him when he wandered off, it had never done any good. Not that she would admit it to him but normally she knew she just waited for him to return. She had friends, she had hobbies and she had her college work but the summer was for Mason, she had come to accept that.
Bored of her endless roaming Lily settled in the kitchen and poured herself a fresh cup of coffee making it the fourth this morning already. “Jerk,” she murmured under her breath but still as she had gotten into the habit of doing she set a coffee out for Mason as well, it seemed she wasn’t the only one who used it as a lifeline.
On cue with the smell of the fresh steaming cup Mason strode into the small kitchen collapsing into the same seat Lily had first seen him in. Without a word but very much aware of Lily’s intense stare he downed the cup of coffee and jumped up to make himself another. Lily looked on curiously at the messy haired man that arose more intrigue in her than what she had previously known she was capable of.
With a groan Mason collapsed back into the seat and finally after minutes of waiting he looked at Lily, his Lily. He hated to see the confusion in her eyes and perhaps even a little betrayal but there was nothing he could do to help, at least nothing he could think of. He stared into her chocolate brown eyes, eyes he knew he could easily loose himself in if he ever allowed himself too. He sent her a half-smile, one that neither convinced her that everything was going to ok nor made her smile in return.
A gasp broke the awkward silence that had formed, a gasp that sent a shiver shooting through Mason’s body. He had hoped she wouldn’t notice, prayed that perhaps he could convince himself to stay away long enough for it to heal before she saw. “Mason,” Lily whispered, tears forming at her soft inviting eyes.
“It’s nothing,” Mason said briskly, shaking his hair back down in front of the ruby red gash that covered a large part of his forehead.
Lily shot up from the chair, almost spilling her coffee in the process. With a shaky hand she reached out towards him; Mason stared at the offering, a sign of peace and a sign of need. She needed him and this was her way of showing it; as he had learnt quickly he could only rarely say no when she needed him. “Everything is ok Lily,” he whispered softly.
Mason took Lily’s hand, pulling her forward onto his lap where he cradled her softly against him. He nestled her head against his chest, if only to stop her examining the gash, it was something he couldn’t explain; at least not yet anyway. It had been in a moment of anger that he had let himself get so careless, Lily didn’t need that, not now when their time was so precious. “What happened?” Lily questioned quietly as curiously as ever.
Running his fingers through her soft blonde hair Mason let out a deep breath. “Later sweetheart, later,” he hushed her, hoping it may calm the tears that shook through her small body.
It wasn’t often that Lily showed her weaknesses or her fears but Mason couldn’t begrudge her this moment, this small moment of softness before the storm that was yet to come. Lily shifted in his grip, bringing herself a little closer to his warmth. “You will tell me though?” Lily asked a little skeptically. She knew it wasn’t like Mason to be open about anything but there was still a hope she held, one that told her that things would always be ok.
Mason considered it for a moment before a smile broke out across his face, a smile thankfully Lily couldn’t see. “Of course I will,” she said softly, although when exactly he would tell her was a mystery still to him.
For now if only to make her happy he would play house, he would try to be the man she wanted. Everything else, the little things she didn’t need to know and the side of him he couldn’t let her see would stay hidden, it was better that way he thought, nobody would get hurt.
Chapter Four
There was moonlight filtering in through the open window when Lily slowly awoke from what had been a troubled few hours of sleep. Painfully she stretched her arms out and shook away the last of the sleep from her body. With a slight gasp she realized that she was still sat at the kitchen table, the remains of the evening’s pizza boxes scattered around her. The room was cold and dark and unlike when she had fallen asleep she was now completely alone. Her hands reached out for Mason but only the empty chair he had once occupied was beside her.
As she shuffled in the uncomfortable chair a small blanket fell from her lap and with a slight smile she picked it back up. She had no idea when she had fallen asleep, she had spent the day with Mason, talking and laughing in the kitchen like there wasn’t a worry in the world; but now as the moonlight shone its dim beam into the room the worries came flooding back all at once. Mason had disappeared again, she had hoped he might stick around for a day, maybe two at the least but it had only been hours since he had come back and now he was gone.
Lily drew her weary eyes around the room looking for a sign or a note that Mason might have left her but as always there was nothing. The only exception was the small blanket now folded on her lap that told her at least he had thought about her before he had left. A slight creaking sound disrupted the eerie silence and instantly put Lily on edge. Before she could bring herself to panic she quietly tip toed across the room towards the knife rack. As quietly as she could with her heart pounding she slipped the biggest one from the wooden block and clutched it tightly in her hand.
Adrenaline coursed through her as she held the knife, her hands shaking now as the same sound once again echoed through the room. It was late, she wasn’t sure how late but she was sure midnight had long past, there should be no noises yet. A loud crash pierced the room and panic now spread quickly through her. She thought about calling out, about announcing her presence but as the small amount of courage that had caused the thought to pop into her head disappeared she was left only with fear.
Gripping the knife tightly enough for her knuckles to shine a bright white she backed up against the wall and pressed herself as firmly as possible to it. Curses came thick and fast from somewhere in the living room as the piercing sound of shattering glass filled the kitchen. Blood rushed to Lily’s heart as slowly she followed the wall towards the living room, terrified to see what the noise was but even more terrified not to. Holding the knife out straight she curved around the wall into the living room and before her courage could completely fail her again she flicked on the lights.
In the instant that light flooded the room she waved the knife out in front of her, momentarily blinded by the brightness but praying that she would both hit whoever it was and that she would miss them completely. A loud groan full of pain met Lily’s ears and as her vision returned she panicked at the idea she had actually cut someone, even if it was someone breaking into her house. Then her eyes found him, sprawled on the floor surrounded by the remains of the window and covered in far too much blood was Mason.
“Lily please put the knife down,” Mason groaned as rolled over in the broken glass.
Without a second thought Lily let the knife slip from her fingers and dove over to Mason, landing painfully on her knees in the midst of the glass. “Mason,” she whispered, barely sparing a glance at the mess that was once her living room. Dread, fear, worry, anger and alarm filled her all at once in a barrage that she couldn’t cope with. Tears spilled from her still sleep weary eyes as she took in Mason, her Mason, covered in blood.
“Don’t start all that crying nonsense, I’m fine,” Mason grumbled as he started to pull himself up.
Lily winced at the crunching sound as Mason’s palm pressed down hard on the shattered glass and he pushed himself off the floor. A cascade of tiny glass shards fell from his black hoodie as he shook the worst off of him. Lily watched on in horror as he offered her a blood tainted hand but took it anyway, too uncertain on her own feet to dare to stand on the pit of glass. “Look I’m fine,” Mason exclaimed as Lily dropped his hand, examining the few smudges of red that now marked her pale skin.
Her worry disappeared momentarily as she finally let herself survey the room now filled with red tipped glass shards. “Well if you’re fine then would you care to explain, I could have killed you!” she shouted, not caring in the slightest if the neighbors could hear her.
Mason laughed lightly, only making the anger in Lily double. “I doubt you could have killed me with that thing, you’d be more likely to hurt yourself,” Mason said with a chuckle, gesturing to the discarded knife.
Lily glared at him and then the knife in turn, her barrage of emotions made her body shake. “Oh don’t be all sarcastic now after you come in at god knows what time covered in blood. Not just that but you ignore the perfectly functional door and decide to jump through the window instead. I’m pretty sure that deserves come kind of explanation, don’t you?” She shouted angrily at him.
Mason stared down at the floor trying to hide his amusement. “The door was locked,” he muttered, extremely thankful he was managing to keep his laughter at bay.
“And of course the next natural step is to go through the window!” Lily fumed.
Mason’s laughter finally broke free, only earning him a death glare from Lily. “I didn’t want to wake you, it seems my foot slipped and I ended up going through instead of well…over,” Mason said with a shrug.
“Yes it seems that way doesn’t it,” Lily groaned, this was not how she had imagined their time together to be, but he was here now and deep down she knew that was all that mattered; he had come home to her.
Chapter Five
With a firm grasp on her emotions Lily grabbed the bandages and wipes from the kitchen cupboard and walked back into the living room where Mason was clearing up the rest of the glass. She stopped in the doorway and a small smile crept onto her lips, washing away the frown that had been their solidly for the past ten minutes. The room was almost back to its normal state, other than the large hole in the window that was. Mason had managed to remove the hanging glass from the pane but there was little to be done to actually repair it in the middle of the night. At least, Lily thought, they could get it fixed before her dad ever even noticed and weighing even more in her favor it looked as though none of the neighbors had called the cops.
“Did you get it all?” Lily questioned as she pushed off the doorway and wandered over to where the still blood covered Mason was tipping the glass shards into a bag.
Mason turned to smile at Lily, more than grateful himself that she had calmed down a little. “Yeah that should be all of it,” he said casually as if nothing had happened.
Refusing to let herself remain angry Lily brought Mason into a hug, something she rarely did. The comfort the small short embrace brought to her was enough to make everything ok again, for now at least. “You’re not going to explain are you?” she asked quietly as Mason pulled away.
“Not now,” Mason muttered, diverting his gaze from Lily’s chocolate brown eyes and pleading look. He knew she would not let it drop completely not after this, he had hoped he could get in quietly but luck was definitely not in his favor.
“That’s ok Mason, I’m not going to push it because I know you will eventually tell me,” Lily whispered, she didn’t know but she hoped and like everything between the two of them, for now it was enough.
“You’re unrelenting confidence in me is something of a miracle, you know that?” Mason chuckled, bringing her back into his embrace. She welcomed his arms whole-heartedly and pulled herself into his warmth. When he was sure Lily couldn’t see him Mason let the smile drop from his face, he only had a week left of Lily and he had already almost screwed it up.
“I won’t lie, it’s not easy but just give me some warning next time you disappear please,” Lily whispered into the crock of Mason’s neck.
Mason’s arm’s tightened around Lily, gripping her firmly to his chest. He could feel the light beating of her heart when she was so close and it was something he was beginning to love, to feel the increase of her heart beat when he rubbed her back and how her soft breaths gently vibrated through her when she was held against him was something he had never thought he would feel. “The rest of this week is for us, that sweetheart is something I can promise you,” he whispered equally as quietly.
Lily smiled against his chest, this softness in him was so different to how he normally was; she had long ago decided she would take him as she found him, the good and bad parts, but the softness was something she would always crave. “I’ll hold you to that,” she whispered, ‘now about these bandages,” she added with a chuckle as Mason groaned.
He pulled away from her, a skeptical look on his face as he eyed the bandages unsurely. “I’m fine I told you that,” he said quickly, taking a step away from her and the looming white roll of bandage.
“You’re bleeding,” Lily stated bluntly, she was not going to let him off this, there was no hope of it and they both knew it.
“So? I’m used to it by now,” Mason said, trying to shrug his cuts off as nothing.
“Well I’m not and you shouldn’t be,” Lily scolded lightly.
“Telling me what I can and can’t do now are we?” Mason teased with a smirk.