Page 118 of Relapse
Come on Harper, you can’t stop now.
“I forgot to tell my mom about it before I went to bed, so I looked for her that night.”
Mason didn’t say anything. He sat there quietly, watching me inch slowly closer to him.
Tears dripped down my face with my next words. “I found her. In my father’s office, and he was...”
It hurt too much to say it. I wanted to tell him. The truth was right there, but I couldn’t spit it out. All I could see was the cold empty look in her once vibrant eyes.
“He, um…”
“He killed her.” Mason finished for me. “Then he beat you to keep you quiet.”
I nodded and waited for him to tell me how pathetic I was. Seconds ticked on, thickening the silence in the air. I could feel his judgment weighing me down. It was so heavy and suffocating that I could barely breathe.
Mason’s chest rose with a huff that thundered through my ears like a drum. This was the moment that he cut ties. The time when my tiny spark of hope was squashed forever and I was sent back to my father for the treatment I deserved.
His hand lifted to give a small wave. “Come here.”
Of all the times I walked across this room, this one was the hardest. My mind was a whirlwind of emotions. The heaviness of my choices weighed my steps down, while my heart pattered with hope that made it flip anxiously. The thoughts running through my head only added to my internal storm.
Does he hate me? Does he care? Should he care?
By the time my foot flattened on the floor in my last step, I was ready to collapse. My knees were trembling so bad that the motion vibrated up my body, tensing every muscle I had.
“I’m going to be real with you, Freckles.” Mason pulled me in between his legs then smoothed his palms down my arms. “Whatever you tell me won’t erase the past.”
My heart dropped along with my hope.
“But,” he tipped my chin up, forcing me to look into his eyes. “You weren’t the only one at fault.”
What did that mean? How was he at fault? The only thing Mason did wrong was trust me.
As if he could read my thoughts, he said, “I could’ve asked more questions instead of abandoning you.”
“You didn’t–”
“Yes, I did.” He exhaled, causing his shoulders to rise and fall. “You need to understand something. I’m not that little boy anymore. He died a long time ago.”
“He’s still in there.” I could see him sparkling in the glint in Mason’s eyes.
He leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on my forehead. “Only the part that loved you.”
What? “You still love me?”
“I never stopped.” The corner of his mouth curled in a crooked smile. “Why do you think I was so mean to you?”
I didn’t know how to feel about that. People weren’t cruel to the ones they loved. But they also didn’t break their hearts either, and that’s exactly what I did to him. There was no stopping my tears. They burst forth like waterfalls as I flung my arms around his neck.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Shh,” he soothed while stroking my back. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”
But it did matter. Mason took on the boogeyman for me and I folded under my monster’s threat. He deserved better. He deserved someone who would stand up for him like he did for me. He deserved someone strong. Could I be that person for him?
“You need to understand something.” His grip around my waist tightened, pressing me up against him. “Your father’s going to die.”
Panic soared through my heart, thumping it loudly against my ribs. “No! You can’t. You have to leave him alone.”
