Authors: Elisa Elliot
“Only when it’s easier to list which parts of you aren’t bleeding than those that are,” Lily joked but with a serious undertone that made Mason groan.
“Fine, but just this once,” Mason relented, collapsing down on the newly glass-free sofa.
“Now there’s a good boy,” Lily teased him lightly.
Mason’s brow rose as he took in Lily’s playful nature. “I’m not a golden retriever,” he said with an attempt at an offended voice.
“Shame, it would be an improvement, now sit still,” Lily smiled.
Lily unwrapped the package of wipes and gently took hold of Mason’s arm where the worst of the blood was. As carefully as she could she wiped away the blood from his arm, daring not to meet his eyes as she did. There was a gash worse than the one on his forehead under the blood and she knew if she met his eyes she would lose all her carefully constructed calmness. With the blood mostly gone she wrapped the bandage around his arm, aware all the while that there was no way the gash could have been caused by the glass.
Unwilling to break the peace that had formed she didn’t mention her suspicions and instead worked her way around the other cuts on his body. Where Mason’s jeans had torn there was another cut, one that looked as though the glass had caused it but every time she looked back to his newly dressed arm a frown creased her soft features. There had been none of the small scratches on his arm that were everywhere else, nothing that told her it was the glass, no, that cut had already been there. The blood had been drier, the cut was not as fresh as the others and it was far worse.
When all of the cuts had been dressed Lily let out a deep sigh and dropped the remaining bandages onto the table. “They weren’t all from the window were they?” she dared to ask.
The silence got thicker and Lily held her breath waiting for the response she didn’t want to come. She brushed her fingers lightly over the bandage, softly enough not to hurt him but enough to show him exactly what she meant. She could feel him tense under her touch; feel his reluctance to answer the most simple of questions. Then it came, the one worded answer she wished she had never heard, “No.”
Chapter Six
Wrapped in Mason’ arms Lily lay half dozing on the sofa where they had spent most of the day. To Lily it had been a perfect kind of day, one where nothing had gone wrong, it could almost be described as normal. In the days that had passed Mason’s cuts had almost healed and while the gash on his arm was still a violent shade of red there was no longer any need for a bandage. Lily nestled into Mason’s arms where he held her lazily to his chest in way that was not suffocating but never let her forget that he was there and so very close.
“It’s been nice, these last few days,” Mason said with a sincerity that surprised Lily.
She smiled to herself as Mason trailed a hand through her long blonde hair. “It has been,” she sighed contently. Days filled with nothing but time to be with each other, Mason had kept his promise and to Lily that meant the world.
“It’ll be strange not to be alone anymore,” Mason mused, more to himself that to Lily.
The smile that had so easily formed was washed from Lily’s face. She knew that there would be no time not to be alone, her dad returned tomorrow and then she left, this was their last day. “It will,” she whispered, daring not to say more.
Mason shifted a little and Lily pressed into him, scared that if she didn’t she would end up on the floor and not for the first time. “I have a surprise for you,” Mason whispered, his lips dangerously close to Lily’s ear now.
A small moan tumbled from Lily’s lips as she leant into the caress and the soft pressure met her lobe. “Yes…” she said quietly, her thoughts on his closeness now rather than his words.
“You need to go pack some clothes,” he whispered temptingly into her ear.
Lily pulled herself up from Mason’s arms and twisted on the sofa to stare at him. Worry bubbled in the pit of her stomach, erasing the arousal that had tried to claim it just seconds before. He couldn’t have forgotten he just couldn’t have; she silently pleaded praying that he wouldn't make her come out and say it. “Mason…I” she began despite being unsure of exactly what to say.
Mason’s soft smile didn’t falter as he held up a hand to stop the words that were not going to come anyway. “It’s just for one night,” he insisted.
Indecision settled on Lily’s face as she surveyed the sparkling blue eye that looked back at her; they were so filled with excitement and happiness that she could never have even imagined debating his thoughts. “Where are we going?” she asked slowly as a smile twisted at her lips once more.
“It’s a surprise, now go, it’s already starting to get dark,” Mason urged, pushing Lily from the sofa. With a loud thud she landed painfully on the floor.
“Jerk,” she mumbled under her breath as she pulled herself up and glared at Mason who was already starting to laugh.
“You look cute when you’re angry,” he laughed and a red blush coated Lily’s cheeks at his endearment.
“Get used to it,” she muttered as she stormed off towards her room.
It didn’t take Lily long to pack an extra set of clothes and barely any time had passed before she was back on the search for Mason who had once again seemingly disappeared. With only a little hesitance she hurried towards the garage, hoping that he would be there and that he wouldn’t have disappeared completely all over again. “Mason?” she shouted as she walked into the small garage.
“Here!” he answered quickly to her intense relief.
Bag in hand she jogged over to where Mason stood beside one of his bikes, her favorite shiny black one. “So… where are we going?” she asked, her excitement rising now that she knew they were clearly taking the bike. It had been a couple days since they had rode, not needing to escape the house now it was just the two of them. Lily had missed it; riding had never solely been a reason to be free of the house, to her it was something special, something they shared.
“It’s still a secret,” he grinned, taking the bag from her hands, “couldn’t you have packed a little lighter?” he questioned with an amused look.
Lily’s face screwed up, she had thought she had packed light. “Not everyone can live in t-shirt and jeans,” she scowled back at the now smirking Mason.
Mason laughed and shrugged off her comment, he replaced the bag he had taken off Lily with a helmet and leather jacket before strapping the bag to the back of the bike. “We need to leave now,” he urged as Lily took her time putting the jacket on.
“Maybe you should have warned me earlier,” Lily teased.
She followed Mason’s lead and climbed onto the back of the bike she loved so much. It took her only a second to wrap her arms tightly around Mason’s chest, having surprising missed that most of all. She nestled against him like she had done so many times before as he pushed the bike out of the garage and pressed the button on his keys to lock it. “Hold on,” Mason shouted as he kicked the bike into life.
The day was already starting to fade as the bike thundered down the drive and into the open streets. Lily held on to Mason more for the love of it than the actual need, with her experience on the bike having grown she had learnt how not to fall off but that didn’t make her any less inclined to hold onto Mason as tightly as allowed. The bike surged into life on the empty roads and the speed limit was soon forgotten as they sped out of the town and into the open countryside where there was nothing to stop them except the bikes own limits.
Even through her helmet Lily could smell the fresh salty sea air and feel the chilling late summer breeze whipping at her body. The ride was exhilarating, Mason pushed the bike to it absolute limit and they were flying, each and every time on the bike, clutched to Mason was new and exciting for Lily, she loved every last second of the amazing trip. The ride was the longest yet, they bypassed their special spot and just kept going, something they had never done before.
Time flew by as it always did on the motorbike, it barely even existed with each and every new type of scenery seemingly coming and going in a mere breath. Even when the ache in Lily’s arms grew to an almost unbearable level there was no sign of stopping. She could feel her arms growing tired, her legs urging her to move them but she barely cared; if it was up to her they would leave everything behind them and just keep going.
Mason turned the bike off the road and into the trees making panic rise in Lily. The ride had been so calm, fast but safe and now they were thundering through the trees. Mason twisted the bike through the trunks that would likely crush the bike on impact if given the chance, all the while laughter tumbled from his lips. Lily’s hands tightened around him and he could feel the soft shakes in her body. Sensing she was scared he slowed the bike, cutting short his own thrill and covered the last few meters at little more, in his opinion, than a snail’s pace.
Slowly the bike rolled into a small clearing, one dressed in the last wild flowers of the summer. The sun shone its early evening rays directly into the center of the meadow where there was the smallest of spaces not claimed by the flowers. “We’re here,” Mason said excitedly as he tore his helmet from his head. His smile only grew bigger when he looked at Lily and in that instant he knew he would never be able to let her go.
Chapter Seven
Lily looked around the clearing and something new fluttered in her stomach, a feeling that had never been there before. To her it was the most beautiful place in the world, flowers of every color danced seamlessly together surrounded by the tallest of tree’s that secluded the space in its own world away from everything else. There was only one thing that shadowed the image and he was sat next to her. There was so much emotion in his bright blue eyes, so much excitement for her reaction and even under his messy brown hair she could see that everything was for her, he was here for her.
“Thank you,” she whispered, a small tear forming at her eye.
Mason’s carefully lifted her from the bike and held her in his arms like it was both the first and last time he ever would. “No need to thank me,” he whispered gently into her ear, just loud enough for her to hear.
“It’s perfect,” Lily said softly, she was unable to keep her eyes off the dancing meadow for long even when claimed by Mason’s most gentle of embraces.
“I know,” Mason agreed but unlike Lily he wasn’t looking at the clearing. He eyes never left her, never left her soft brown eyes or beautiful smile.
“Why did you bring us here?” Lily asked curiously, she didn’t really care why they were there though, only that they were.
Mason grinned widely, excitement flooding back to his shimmering eyes in an instant. He jogged over to his bike and pulled off the biggest package from the back. “We’re camping!” he exclaimed.
Lily stared back at him, shock outweighing everything else. “You like camping?” she questioned, more than amused at the revelation.
Mason laughed whole heartedly and for that moment he was more carefree than he had ever been in his life. “What about me makes you think I wouldn’t like camping?” he asked humorlessly.
Lily’s eyes traveled down the Celtic tattoo’s that marked his bronzed skin, the leather jacket now tied around his waist and the pure black biker boots that looked so out of place on the soft green grass. “Nothing Mason,” she chuckled, “nothing at all.”
Mason grinned childishly and tossed Lily the bag in his hands. “I’ll start a fire, you set up the tent,” he said with a laugh as he took in Lily’s startled expression.
“Um, I don’t know how,” she said, a little embarrassed.
She waited for the sarcasm, the smirk and the teasing reply but instead she was greeted with a soft smile. “Then we will do it together,” Mason proclaimed much to Lily’s confusion.
She thought over what he had said as she watched him gather dry wood from around the clearing, he had said ‘together’, they would do it together. Mason came up beside her, his arm now full of fallen branches. “When I said together I didn’t mean you watch while I do everything,” he teased, teasing was something that Lily was a lot more familiar with.
“But you’re so good at it,” she joked right back.
Mason sent her his best cheeky smile and together they got to work setting up the little campsite as the sun faded above them. Before the moon could fully take its place a roaring camp fire ignited the small clearing; it was far enough away from the tree’s not to pose a threat but close enough to cast the space in dancing shadows. To Lily it was even more beautiful now than it had been before. Together they sat cradled in the mouth of the tent just watching the flickering flames of the fire.
“This is perfect,” Lily whispered as she nestled into Mason’s side, comforted by the heat the fire cast over them.
The second the words passed through her lips the clouds opened for the first time in months. With a scream she dove inside the tent dragging the laughing Mason along with her.
“You just had to come out and say it didn’t you,” Mason laughed.
“Yes it was my fault it decided to rain for the first time in like two months,” she exclaimed as she batted Mason off her.
“Well I wasn’t going to put all the blame on you but yes it was all your fault,” Mason smirked.
“Well at least we have the tent,” Lily sighed as the last light of the fire died away and the tent was cast in darkness.