I find it hard to concentrate on my homework even with the little amount of liquor in my system. I guess I'm a light weight.

Soon time passes by and I hear a soft knock on my window.

"Leah, oh thank God you are okay" Mason breathes out when he finally gets into my room.

"I'm f-" I star to say but Mason hugs me and thats when it all goes downhill.

"Ugh, I'm such a baby" I say crying.

"Sh, no you aren't" Mason coo's pulling me over to my bed.

"What happened?" Mason says as I stare into his gorgeous eyes that I could get lost in, suddenly feeling calmer.

"I came home and told my parents about the game and they said I can go if I had some beers with them. I took a sip and absolutely hated it. How can people enjoy that? Anyways, I then went to the bathroom and poured most of it down the drain. My parents made me chug the rest so I had a little less than half of that bottle. Then they handed me another one that is right there actually" I say pointing to the beer bottle on my desk.

Mason stands up and picks the brown bottle up, his mouth drops.

"What?" I say wiping my eyes, confused.

"Leah, this is the strongest beer in the world. It literally has 68% alcohol in it" He says and I shrug.

"I don't know Mason. I had maybe half a bottle in total. I poured almost all of that out my window" I say wiping a tear that escaped my eyes.

"Okay, good. Do you want to come back to my house? And what did you mean when you said you lied to yourself?" He says and I take a deep breath.

"No, it's okay. Just please pick me up in the morning. For my whole life, ever since my parents became alcoholics, I promised myself I would never even touch alcohol, never mind drink it. I lied to myself, and I don't want to be like my parents" I say now sobbing.

Mason quickly pulls me into a hug and places me on his lap, rocking back and forth.

"Leah, you are never going to be your parents. You have such a kind and beautiful soul. This is not your fault, if anything its mine" Mason says choking out and I freeze.

"No, no it's not. You did absolutely nothing wrong" I say looking at his tear-filled eyes.

"I asked you to come to my game. If I never asked than you wouldn't of had to drink. I'm to blame for this" He says closing his eyes.

"Mason, look at me" I stare at him, worry apparent in my face.

"I know how important to you this game is. I know you would never do anything to hurt me. This is my parents fault, not yours" I say fixing his messy hair.

"Thank you for being there for me Mas" I smile and kiss his cheek.

I guess that was his trigger.

Because after those 8 words, the tears were pouring down his face like a fountain.

Shįt.

What do I do?

I'm not usually good in these situations so it comes as a shock to me when I immediately hug him and the roles reverse.

"Mason, you're okay. I'm okay, everything is okay" I coo, wiping some of his tears off his face.

"No, you aren't Leah. I put you in danger. I should have persuaded you to stay at my house better. You bent your morals because of my football game" He pulls at his hair, standing up.

"No, Mason, you're wrong. This is not your fault at all. They wanted me to have a beer with them even before I told them about the game" I say going to meet him in the middle of my room.

"Listen Mas, you did absolutely nothing wrong. You did everything right. And I honestly don't know where I would be without you or Ellie or your family. You guys have made me feel like apart of your family and without that I probably wouldn't be here right now" I say pulling his hands down.

"So stay with me. Please, I don't know why you wont" He pleads with tired eyes.

"My parents depend on me Mason. If I ever run into them if I move out, they will actually kill me" I say sitting back down, face in my hands.

"They'll just have to learn how to live on their own. You'll never be alone" Mason kneels in front of me, grabbing my hands.

"I don't know Mas. You have to understand how hard of a decision this is" I say holding back my tears.

"But I don't, why is it so hard if your parents hurt you on a daily basis?" He says dumbfounded.

"Whats to stop them from hurting me even more? What if one day, you and I get into an argument. God I hope this never happens. But what if one day we get into an argument and you kick me out and I'm forced to come back here? What makes you think that I will live another day after abandoning them. Leaving them with nothing. They will never forgive me" I say a few tears falling.

"There is nothing that we could fight about that would cause me to kick you out. I may be the quarterback and sometimes act like the guys, but I have a heart. I care about people and their feelings. I've never had a friend like you Leah. You actually seem to care about me and how I feel. Usually girls just throw themselves on me. You're different and I feel like I can be myself around you. I care about you a shįt ton, ask my mom, dad, Ellie, hell anyone in the school can see how much I changed once you came back into my life. I can't stand the thought of you being here, with people that hurt you and don't care about you like my family and I do. It kills me Leah. Please, please, please. Consider it. I'll pick you up in the morning. Goodnight Leah, I love you" Mason says kissing my cheek and exiting my window while I am left stunned.

I quickly pull out my phone and text Mason my response.

'I know you have a heart Mas, thats why I trust you. I trust you enough to tell you this! Of course I care about you Mason. Anyone who could get to know the real you, would. You're the best friend I have ever had and I'm so unbelievably thankful for you and everything you have done for me. I'll see you in the morning. I love you too'

I quickly down a bottle of water, suddenly feeling parched.

I pray, thanking God for Mason, Ellie and the rest of the White's.

After that I am about to be embraced in darkness and peace until I hear stumbling and something shattering.

I roll my eyes, thinking its my drunk father who had so much alcohol he can barely walk.

"You fücking asshole" I hear my mother say and then a girly giggle.

"Heather, it's not what it looks like" My father barely slurs out.

"Oh yeah, so who's that fücking whøre Fred?" My mother says and I brace myself for whatever comes next. This is surprisingly the first time this has ever happened so I don't really know what to expect.

"Who is she" My mother raises her voice, throwing something. I cringe, hoping I'm not next.

"Fred, isn't your daughter sleeping?" A girl says and my eyes widen.

"SHE FÜCKING KNOWS ABOUT OUR DAUGHTER? HOW LONG YOU PRICK" My mother says now screaming.

"A month maybe. And we don't give a shįt about her" He says, sounding tired.

"I-I had no idea. I promise" The girl says and I quickly grab my phone, typing a text to Mason, Ellie and I's group chat incase of emergencies.

"Get out here bįtch" A knock sounds on my door and I send the text and open the door, pretending to yawn.

~~~~~~~~~

Word count: 1373

~Leah