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Mason helped me clean almost the whole house and finish all the chores in half the time.

"Thank you Mason" I say hugging him, grateful that he actually helped and didn't just sit and watch me.

"Of course Leah" He says as a knock sounds on my door.

I open it to see the last person I would expect to see.

"Leah, I know it's been so long but your parents are out and I just needed to see you" She says, tears flooding her eyes.

"Grace, Oh my gosh" I say hugging her, some tears falling.

Grace Hawkins, my 1st cousin on my moms side. Grace's mom is my aunt and we grew up together. She stands at 5'4, and is 18 years old. She has deep brown hair and eyes and her hair is past her shoulders.

"How are you? It's been so long, come in" I say pulling her into the now clean house.

"I've been great. My family moved to Florida, away from all the hectic family drama. How are your parents acting towards you?" She says.

"Hey, sorry to intrude. I'm just going to go. I'm glad I could help, text me later Le. Love you" Mason says hugging me, leaving a kiss on my cheek.

"Wait, Mas. I want you to meet my closest cousin, Grace. Grace this is my best friend Mason. I used to hang out with him and his sister and we just reconnected recently" I say explaining it.

"It seems like theres more than just a friendship" She says winking.

"But hi Mason, I'm Leah's favorite person ever so good luck competing with me" She says jokingly.

"Let the games begin" He says laughing, walking to his car.

"It seems the theres a budding romance" Grace says when we hear his car pull out of the driveway.

"Okay so maybe I have some feelings for him" I admit.

"Obviously, look at him. And he seems to treat you really well. I ship" She says laughing.

"But how are things with your parents?" She continues, sitting down.

"Oh you know, same old. I've been spending time with the Whites a lot though which is nice because I hate being here. I got a dog that stays at Masons but she's here today, BELLA" I say as Bella comes prancing in.

"She's so cute" Grace says and I nod.

"She's not good with new people because of her history with abuse. Like me" I say laughing.

"Still a problem?" She asks and I nod.

"Yeah, Mason asks me everyday to move in with them. I've considered it but I have only a little bit of time since I'm 18. I can suck it up" I say smiling, holding Bella.

"Le, can you come to Florida for the meantime? I'm not there but my mom is and she adores you" She asks causing me to shake my head violently.

"No, I need to keep up my grades for college. I need to get out of this hell hole" I say laughing.

"But, I will during a break and if not, definitely during the summer" I continue hugging her.

"How did you even get here?" I say confused. I live in California, Grace lives in Florida but is going to college in Arizona.

"I drove" She says laughing.

"Damn girl, thats a pretty long drive" I say laughing.

"Yes it is, now let's do something" She says and I nod.

"Alright, make yourself comfortable. Theres food in the fridge and pantry. I just cleaned the whole house with Mas so I need a shower. You can go in my room if you want. First door up the stairs to the right" I say running up the stairs, turning the water on.

I shower really quickly, taking care of my skin and hair care routine as well.

When I walk out of the bathroom Grace is sitting on my bed, on her phone.

"Hey cuz" She smiles, sitting up.

"Hey" I say brushing my wet hair into a high ponytail.

I sit down at my chair, getting my makeup out.

"Le, can I have your phone?" She says and I nod, opening it up for her.

I hear some rustling and turn around to see Grace playing a game.

I am quickly dressed, ready to go.

"I need to text Mason, let him know we are leaving" I say grabbing my purse and putting my wallet, and my other needs in it.

"Ohhh, gotta tell the boyfriend" She says, causing me to roll my eyes in response.

'Hey Mas, Grace and I are going out for a little. Shouldn't be long. I'm leaving food out for Bella. If you want to take her or just stop by or whatever, the key is in the flower pot. Talk to you later:)'

I turn off my phone, placing it in my bag and we head out to my car.

"Where to?" Grace says as I pull out of the driveway.

"The mall" I say smiling.

Grace and I used to always go to the mall as kids. We had a huge passion for shopping and fashion. Grace stuck with that passion and never failed to look flawless. But as my family started falling apart and it seemed that my life did, I stopped caring. I thought I had lost my cousin. I no longer wanted to do all the things I would with her, without her. So I stopped. But she's back, so we are going back to where our bond started.

"I can't wait. Please tell me you don't always wear that" She says causing me to roll my eyes.

"Oh shut your mouth Grace. I don't. Here" I say opening my phone up to my photos to show Grace the photos I've taken in the amazing outfits Ellie has mostly put together for me.

"Leah, these are gorgeous. I didn't see this stuff in your closet" She says and I laugh.

"Yeah, thats because they are Masons sisters clothes. They have been more like my family than my parents have so I go there like every day. I stay for holidays so Ellie helps me sometimes. Ever since you moved I didn't want to keep going shopping so my good clothes got beat to shįt and I just wore the same hoodies and jeans to cover the bruises every day." I say looking at her every now and then.

"Aw, Le. I'm sorry. I had no idea" She frowns.

"Its okay, things are better now. No need for the sad talk" I say laughing, turning the radio on.

"Leah, this is literally a couples picture what" She says flashing the photo of Mason and I at his football game" I laugh, shaking my head.

"It's a long story Grace" I say pulling into the malls parking lot.

"Hm, I got time" She winks, still looking through my photos with Mason.

"Fine, I'll tell you inside" I shake my head.

We walk around a bit, looking through clothing racks trying to find cute clothes. Grace puts a bunch of outfits on me and some are great, but not great for my bank.

"Dude, we need to find a new mall. This place is infected. The trash is everywhere and it smells. Oh wait, thats you. My bad" Patrick says stopping in front of Grace and I.

"Leah?" Grace questions and I shake my head.

I grab her hand and continue walking, trying to ignore him.

"Hey Leah, I hope you know that Mason is at Samantha's house right now. So much for being loyal huh? What about you and Samuel? Are you and Mason just friends with benefits? Because I'd tap that. Nerds are the easy target, he's smart" He says causing my cheeks to flush and Grace to stop right in her tracks.

"And who's that? She's fücking hot. I bet she's a loud one" He says, at this Grace explodes.

"You fücking ässhole. Treating girls like animals. Are you fücking serious right now? Do you talk to your mom with that mouth? Or did she kick you out already? You know, the trash has to be taken out, starting with you. Just because you don't feel highly about yourself and you're jealous of Mason having Leah as a girlfriend, doesn't mean you have to act like that. There's something called treating a girl with respect and thats what Mason did to win Leah over. Now you? You're a lost cause. You're washed up. Gone" She says infuriated.

"Oh, she's a feisty one" Patricks friend says, causing him to hit him.

"Just leave them alone" He says walking away.

"Leah, are you okay? Does that happen often?" She says and I nod.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Thank you. Yeah, usually Mason will tell him to shut up. He once punched him. Then I ended up getting a black eye" I say laughing as Graces eyes bulged.

"I tried to split it up and Mason accidentally punched me" I say and he eyes pop out even more.

"It wasn't on purpose Grace" I say and she nods.

Is Mason actually with Samantha? He hasn't answered my text.

"You okay?" Grace asks and I dig around for my phone.

"Yeah, give me one second" I say and she nods. I quickly dial Ellie's number and she answers right away.

"Hey Le. Whats up?" She asks and I gulp.

"Um, wheres Mason?" I ask and she pauses.

"He's in his room I think. Right Brooks?" She says and I hear him hum in reply.

"Did you want to talk to him?" She asks and I answer with a small yes.

"What do you want? What? Who is it? Leah? Oh okay, give me the phone" I hear muffled voices, mostly Mason.

"Hey Leah, everything alright?" He asks and I smile.

"Um, I hope so" I say nervously.

"What happened?" He says worried.

"Are you home? Like, with no one?" I say awkwardly.

"Yeah, its just me, and then my family and Ellie has Brooks here. Why?" He says, typing on a computer.

"Oh, just curious. You um, didn't answer my text so I didn't know if you were like with Samantha or something" I say, grimacing.

"With who? Samantha? Why would you think I was with the psycho bįtch? You texted me? I'm sorry Le, I've been so busy with homework. I didn't even hear it" He says and I nod.

"No, it's totally okay. Someone told me you were. No big deal. Have a good day, bye" I say quickly hanging up, not wanting to start anything with Patrick and Mason.

"Everything alright Le?" Grace says when I walk back to her.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Listen, we don't mention that to anyone" I say and she nods.

"Yeah, okay. Whatever you need Leah" She smiles and we walk to the food court.

"Let's get ice cream and head home?" I say and she nods.

We quickly get some ice cream, I pay for it and we head back to the house. When we get there Masons car is in the driveway.

"Not a word" I remind her as we walk into the house.

"Mas, I'm home" I say closing the door behind me as Grace kicks off her shoes, plopping on the couch.

"Just like when we were kids" She gushes.

Yeah, not much has changed. Maybe a couple pictures (and beer bottles when I haven't been home) but other than that, everything is the same.

"Leah, hey. How was shopping? Hey Grace" He says walking over to the fridge.

"It was good" I say scratching my neck.

"So I came over, to check on Bella and see what you aren't telling me" He says looking at me, intently.

Grace chuckles at this.

"So? Got any excuse for why you hung up on me so fast?" He searches my face for answers, now standing in front of me.

"Listen Mason, I-I'm not hiding anything" I stutter out. Mason can be pretty scary sometimes. Nothing compared to my parents but when he wants to know something, he figures it out.

He looks over at Grace, knowingly. Come on Grace, don't rat me out.

She shrugs, smiling and starts playing with Bella.

"Leah, come on. I won't get mad at you. What happened? Why did you think I was with Samantha?" He says grabbing my hands, concern apparent in his eyes.

"Mason, please. It's over" I say shaking my head.

"Tell me Leah. Please" He says causing me to sigh.

"We ran into Patrick at the mall and he said you were at Samantha's house. Thats it" I say lying through my teeth.

"Le-" He says and I pull away.

"Mason, Thats why I called you" Thats the truth.

"Okay, okay fine. I would never go over Samantha's. As for Patrick, he's a fücking dįck that literally never learns when to stop. When is it going to go through his pea brain" He says annoyed, sitting on the couch.

"It's fine Mason. Please, don't sweat it" I say and he nods.

I feel bad lying to Mason but I had too. He doesn't deserve me lying to him but I don't want anything to happen. It's better me getting hurt than someone else.

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Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I have a couple chapters already written but not sure when they are going to be published since they are just random thoughts I had at times. Don't forget to vote, comment and share! Thanks so much for reading!!

Word count: 2306

~Leah