Page 163 of Mason

“That’ll be him,” she says quietly.

I wipe my face with the sleeve of my hoodie, like it’ll erase the tears that have already stained my skin.

She doesn’t comment on it. Just rises slowly, still giving me space.

A moment later, the door creaks open.

Mason steps inside.

And everything in meshifts.

He looks like hell. Shadowed eyes. Jaw clenched tight. His shoulders are coiled, like he’s either just come from a war or about to start one. There’s something haunted in his expression—but it softens the second he sees me.

Not completely, but just enough.

He stops just a few steps in, as if unsure of what he’s allowed to do now.

Maxine glances between us, and I feel the tension in the airchange. Heavy. Unspoken. Waiting.

She grabs her jacket off the armrest and shrugs it on without a word.

Then she turns to me, her voice steady but warm. “Call me if you need anything, okay? Don’t wait until you’re falling apart.”

I nod, and it takes everything in me not to reach for her hand again.

“I’ll check in on you tomorrow,” she adds, voice softening. “Promise.”

I whisper, “Thank you.”

Her eyes flick briefly to Mason. “Be gentle with her.”

He nods once, tight. Silent.

And then she’s gone, the door clicking shut behind her like a period at the end of a sacred march.

The room is too quiet again.

But this quiet feels different.

Mason doesn’t move right away.

Neither do I.

I sit there, tucked under the blanket, knees pulled to my chest, like I’m bracing for a storm I can already feel building behind his eyes.

Mason hesitates, then walks over and drops onto the edge of the couch across from me, elbows on his knees, hands clasped like he’s trying to hold himself together.

Finally, he speaks. His voice is low, raw. “You okay?”

It’s such a simple question. So stupid. Soimpossible.

I open my mouth to lie, to give him something easy—but the words lodge in my throat.

A sharp noise outside—a dog barking, maybe a car backfiring—makes me flinch.

And that’s it.

The dam breaks.

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