"Leah" Mason wakes me up. I groan, opening my eyes to see his perfectly sculpted face.

"What time is it?" I rub my eyes, searching through my suitcase. "6:40. I was going to let you sleep later but I figured you would have gotten mad because you wouldn't have enough time" He laughs.

"Well you thought right. Thank you" I smile, kissing him. I run into the bathroom with my clothes and quickly get ready, straightening my hair messily.

Crap, I still need to do some makeup. I can do it in the car if I need to. "Le, can I come in?" Mason asks, knocking on the door.

"Sure" I say applying some concealer, eyeliner, eyebrows and mascara. The absolute bare minimum.

"Stop with all the makeup" He wines trying to take the mascara wand out of my hand. I swat his hand away, continuing with the process.

"I mean it" He says trying to grab it, which causing me to pull it away. "Stop or you're going to have mascara all over that flawless face of yours" I tease, finishing my mascara up.

"Dude, lets go" Brooks calls causing me to grab my shoe, a hair tie and my bag.

I'm just going to have Ellie braid my hair in the car. A waist of straightening it but whatever. It won't be as frizzy now.

"I'm sorry, I'm still trying to get in the grove of it again" I mumble getting into the back seat with Ellie.

"It's all good. But here, eat. And are you going to put that up?" Ellie asks, pointing to my hair.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you could braid it really quickly" I say, hopeful. "Yeah, of course. I'll do a quick easy french braid. Sit on the floor" She says.

The braid turned out amazing, even with the short, bumpy drive. The only down side is that some bruises were visible since I didn't cover anything on my neck, hoping my hair would cover it.

"Don't worry Le" Brooks whispers, sensing my tension. "Let me know if you want the hoodie I have in my locker. I know whats going through your head. And just remember, you have nothing to be nervous about" Mason says, low. He grabs my hand, swinging it back and forth causing me to smile.

When we get to my locker Tim, Dani, Christine and Aiden are already there. "What happened to you?" I gasp seeing a huge bruise around Aiden's eye. "And you?" Mason says seeing his bandaged knuckles.

"We got bored so we had a fight" Tim shrugs, looking at Aiden. "Yup" Aiden agrees. I look at Dani to see her nervously looking down.

"Don't forget I'm the captain" Mason threatens them causing Aiden to crack. "Fine, we had to do something about Patrick. He's a little dįck and after what happened yesterday I couldn't let him get away. And I knew Leah didn't want you to do anything but she never said I couldn't" He rambles causing Tim to give him a death glare.

Aiden is really focused on hockey. It's his sport that he's dedicated so much towards. And it has payed off alright, he's an amazing player and is definitely getting a scholarship.

"We're sorry Leah, but we couldn't let him get away and think its okay to treat people like that. It's a shįtty way to be and we couldn't just stand around and let it happen" Tim explains. "I understand, but you guys really didn't have to do that. I'm fine" I say, placing my books in my locker.

I have PE today with Ellie and Mason. We quickly walk to class, saying goodbye to everyone. I quickly say hi to Coach Matthew. He's Masons football coach too. "Ms. Williams, how are you feeling?" He says reading my doctors note. "I'm okay" I say as he looks up smiling. "Okay, you can take a seat, White, you're team captain along with Mueller" He looks at his clipboard.

"I'm going to peg that ässhole so bad in the face" Mason mumbles, helping me to the bleachers.

"Mason" I say looking at him, causing his to hold his arms up in defense.

He gently lifts me up, placing me on top of the bleachers and away from harms way.

They quickly pick teams, Mason of course having the better team. He quickly huddles his team and dodge balls start being chucked across the room.

I finally get a good look of Patricks face. Its bruised and still a little bloody. His lip is swollen and split open, dried blood on it. Black eye and bruise on his jawline. Not to mention the minor limp he has every once and awhile. Tim and Aiden really did him dirty.

As I'm staring at him a ball hits him right square in the nose causing him to wince in pain. I guess his nose is broken too. I look back trying to find the culprit to see a huge smile on Ellie's face.

We lock eye contact causing her to smile and me to laugh. Mason winks at me, pegging the ball at Patricks stomach, a couple other people following suit as well. Practically the whole team is going for Patrick.

Gym goes by extremely fast thankfully. I get a couple glares throughout it but not too bad. Nothing compared to yesterday.

Ellie runs over to me with Mason trailing behind. "Ellie White, you pegged him right in the nose" I gush, attempting to get down by myself.

"Hey, hey, hey, no. Leah" Mason says jogging over to me. "What?" I question as his arms restrain me from moving. "Stop moving. You're going to hurt yourself" He says picking me up and gently placing me on the ground.

"Thanks" I say placing the strap over my shoulder. "We have Spanish now. By Mason" Ellie says grabbing my backpack. "I can hold it" I laugh, taking it out of Ellie's hands. "I can too" Aiden grabs it, throwing it over his shoulder. "Bye Mas. Love you" I kiss his cheek.

"Keep an eye on her and don't try shįt man" Mason warns Aiden. "Yeah, of course" He nods as we walk to Spanish. Mrs. Garcia, the devil incarnated. I definitely didn't miss her.

"Hola Señora Garcia" I walk up to her desk, nerves wracking my body. "Ah, Ms. Williams. How are you?" She asks, placing her glasses on the desk and crossing her arms. "I'm doing okay. How are you?" I ask politely.

"I'm good. Heres some work you missed. You don't need to worry about anything else thats not in here. You're a good student so I'm not worried. Take as much time as you need and if you need help I'm here" She smiles, handing me some papers.

"Thank you for your understanding" I smile taking the papers and sitting at my desk next to Ellie and now Aiden. I guess he switched with someone.

"How was it?" Ellie asks, staring at my face. "She was nice" I say shrugging, placing the work in my purple folder. I've decided to use it as my missed work folder.

"Lucky you" Aiden mumbles as she yells at him to quiet down. I mouth a sorry and turn my attention to the front of the classroom.

Spanish went by weirdly fast. It usually crawls. "Ready for lunch?" Ellie laughs, rubbing her hands together.

"Yeah" I cough, almost running into someone. "I am so sorry" I apologize, looking at the small girl. She must be a freshman. "It's okay, it was my fault. I'm sorry" She apologizes, scurrying away.

When we get to lunch, Ellie and Aiden try and draw attention away from me, making me less panicky.

"Hey" I smile, no longer nervous. "Hey, how was class?" Mason smiles, putting his arm around my shoulder. "Oh you know, perfect for her. All the teachers adore Leah and hate Aiden" Aiden mumbles stuffing a chip in his mouth causing everyone to laugh.

"Do you want anything? I can go get it for you" Mason points behind him. "No, I'm okay" I say, getting my work out of my bag. He nods, kissing my temple.

"Hey man" Two guys walk up to the table with sandwiches. "Hey guys, this is Ben and Richie. They play hockey with me. Guys, this is Aiden, and Tim. Obviously. Tim's girlfriend Daniella, my sister Ellie, Brooks, Christine and my girlfriend, Leah" He smiles, rubbing my arm. "Hi" I smile, waving.

"Hey, Mason invited us to sit with you guys from now on if thats okay" Richie smiles at Christine, causing her to blush. "Um yeah, sounds great" She says, taking a bite of her lettuce.

I look at Mason to see him smirking. I laugh, leaning into his chest. "Fry?" He questions, wagging one in my face. His other arm around my upper body. "No thank you" I squeak out as the fry hits my nose.

"Mason" I whine, wiping my nose, trying to get the extra grease off. "Whatttt? Its just a fry" He laughs. "My face is already oily enough. It doesn't need the fries help" I say, looking at him. "Sorry" He laughs.

"Mas, its 11:30" I say checking my phone. "Hmm?" He questions, confused. "You gotta go to the doctors. get those stitches removed" I smile kissing him on the cheek. "Alright fine, I'll pick you up after school, yeah?" He says causing me to nod, smiling.

"See ya guys" He waves, placing his strap on his shoulder, running to the main office.

I watch him disappear in the crowd, turning to look at Ellie who has a small smile on her face.

Well today should be interesting.

The bell rings soon after and I limp to math. When I get there I go up to Mr. Murphy and he just hands me the work I missed, starting todays lesson.

He doesn't really care about anything but keeping his job. Thats one of the reasons why I dread this class.

Math took way too long to finish. I grab my bag and go into the room next door to see Richie in my seat next to Christine. Of course.

I take the seat in front of her, not wanting to interrupt the conversation. Soon class starts and thats when Christine notices I'm there. Mr. Avery was late so I'll wait till we have time to work to go up to him.

When I do go up he tells me the same thing all my other teachers have except for Murphy. World Studies isn't terrible, he doesn't lecture which is always the worst.

I make my way to my locker, seeing the normal group there. "Hey" Mason says coming up to me. "Hey, how was the doctors?" I lean against the locker, looking up at him. He places his arm on the locker next to my head, and the other one on his backpack strap. "Torture" He mumbles, placing his lips on mine.

"Oh-Okay Mason" I laugh pushing him away with my good arm. "Damnn" Aiden laughs. "Mr. Golden boy just got rejected" Ben says causing Mason to give him the death stare.

"Do you have practice today?" I turn to Mason, grabbing the books I need from my locker. "Em, yup. Why?" He asks. "I have work at 6 and I need a ride. Well, because" I say laughing.

"Shįt, we have the doctors at 4. Alright, I'll try to get to practice today" Mason says thinking. "Alright, we'll figure it out. Bye guys" Mason smiles.

He grabs my bag running to pull the car up for me. "Good luck, text us" Christine says causing me to nod.

Mason drives home and in the car I make a group chat with our whole friend group, including Ben and Richie. Mason gave me their numbers.

"Leah Williams" The lady calls us and we go into the room.

"Come with me, we're going to take x-rays. How is everything feeling?" The nurse says leading me to the x-ray machine.

"I have not had any pains. Its just such a hassle" I laugh. "Okay, well we'll see how everything is healing?" She smiles, taking my boot off and positioning my leg.

We take a couple x-rays and go back to the room where Mason is waiting.

"Yup, perfect, now lets see these stitches for you Ms. Williams" He says. I show the doctor the gashes, a big smile spreads across his face.

"Well would you look at that. Amazing. Those were deep gashes. Now, I can take them out today but you need to wrap it and put some special medicine on it in the mornings and night with lose clothing" He says causing me to look at Mason.

"That works" I smile.

He checks my ankle and wrist briefly before going to get the x-rays.

"Everything's going good so far" I smile up at Mason.

"Yeah, it is baby" He smiles, placing a gentle kiss on my lips before the doctor comes in.

"Alright, the wrist is almost completely healed. You will just need to wear this brace. As for the ankle, it seems to have not gotten much better. So, I'm thinking maybe the boot for another month. But if you come back in two weeks we can check on it again and I'll tell you what we are doing for the rest of the time" He says handing me the brace.

"Your ribs are healing incredible fast. They are almost completely healed. So we are going to try and speed up the process a little more. Try and ice it whenever you can. Also, continue wearing lose clothing. It helps more than you know. The break was pretty severe and at this healing rate, you should be better in two weeks" The doctor smiles.

"Okay, thank you doctor" I say. He nods, answering, "The nurse will be in soon to show you how to use that brace"

"Fück" Mason mumbles under his breath. "Its okay Mason" I say, putting my boot back on.

"Why did this have to happen to you?" He pulls on his hoodies sleeves. "Mason, listen to me. My biggest set back is my ribs, and those should be healed in two weeks. By wrist is going in a brace so I'll be out of it in no time. The only bad news is my ankle and it could be ten times worse. Everything is fine. I feel better knowing all this. I do" I say grabbing his face, looking in his eyes.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I just-" He starts to ramble before I cut him off by gently placing my lips on his.

"Don't apologize, you did nothing wrong" I smile.

"Okay, so brace instructions. Correct?" The nurse comes in. "Yup" I smile, handing her the brace.

Its very easy to use, I should have absolutely no problem.

"Thank you so much" I thank her as we walk out, making an appointment for two weeks.

"I can drop you off at work now" Mason says looking at his phone.

"That works, thank you" I smile, happy to be able to make money again.

Soon we are at Starbucks and I go to talk to Sydney.

"Leah, honey. How are you feeling? You're early" She smiles, hugging me. "I'm feeling better. Happy to be out of that environment" I smile back, putting my uniform on.

"I'll pay you a little extra today for showing up early" She winks causing me to laugh and thank her.

"Cody" I sneak up behind him, causing him to shriek like a little girl and the whole Starbucks to laugh.

"That was so mean" He sulks before a huge smile spreads on his face. "I missed you little sis" He hugs me.

"I missed you too. But lets get to work before Sydney gets upset" I laugh causing him to nod.

"You do the register, I got everything else" He smiles. I nod, thanking him.

An hour goes by and then a guy comes up, seeming to look for someone. "Hi, can I help you with something?" I ask him. "Yeah, this might sound weird but usually there is a guy that works here. Tall, tan, blonde hair, green eyes" He describes Cody.

"Ah, yes. That would be Cody. I'll go get him for you" I smile.

Is Cody-?

"Cody, theres someone looking for you" I limp into the back, a huge smile spreading onto his face.

He hurriedly goes back up to the front, taking the mans order and talking to him. I shake my head, laughing while walking over to take the next customers order.

Work goes on very long and by the end my whole body aches.

I grab a bag of ice, taking it for the ride to place on my side.

"You ready to go?" Cody asks, taking my bag from me. "Yup" I smile.

We quickly get in the car, turning the radio on and singing along to the music a little.

"Hey, so I have a question. I know you are probably looking for a place now, and I was thinking about renting a bedroom out in my apartment. It's yours if you want it. I'm very flexible with rent" He says smiling. 

"Are you actually? That would be amazing, I need a new place desperately. I feel bad living in the Whites. How much?" I say, a smile on my face now.

Living with Cody would be great. Very convenient for work and all. "I was thinking like around $500 a month. But again, I'm flexible and won't hold anything over your head. I know how hard its been and you're only a senior in high school" He says pulling into Masons driveway.

"Cody, that would be absolutely amazing. I can defiantly do $500 a month without a doubt. I'll also pay for groceries. I'm interested. You can stop the search" I laugh getting out of the car.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow and from there we can go back and check it out if that works for you" He smiles causing me to nod.

"Perfect, thanks for the ride" I smile, waving at him.

I grab the key from the flower pot next to the door. Mason has been trying to give me a key but I refuse, I don't want to intrude even more. 

When I walk in the house is empty, not a person in sight. Bella comes running up to me and follows me into the guest bedroom that I'm supposed to be using. Oops.

I pick her up, placing her on the bed and start the shower in the hallway bathroom. I don't want to intrude and just be in Masons room while he's not home and didn't tell me I could. I find it a little rude.

I shower quickly, turning the water off and heading back to the room. The half bathroom in it has a hairdryer which I quickly use, getting the heavy water out if my hair. I grab my laptop out of my bag and lay down on the bed that is decorated beautifully. Bella cuddles up next to me, right in front of the screen.

I smile, placing the ice on my side again. A text flashes across the screen. Its from Mason. 'Running a little late. I'm sorry' I frown, not sure if I can stay up much longer.

'Don't worry, I'm home and safe. <3' I turn my phone off, plugging it in next to me.

I don't even have the energy to press play on the laptop screen before darkness consumes me.

I know Leah was supposed to get a ride with Cody but I feel bad that I'm not home yet. Coach was talking to me and he extended the practice an hour. He won't even let me do half the stuff.

I quickly text Leah, making sure she's alright. She hasn't answered my last text. Ellie's with Brooks and mom and dad are on a date. I hope everything is okay.

Terrible thoughts run through my head, causing the room to start spinning. "White?" "Mason, hey man" I hear people saying.

Aiden skates over towards me and helps me off the ice. "Dude, what happened?" He asks, staring into my eyes. "No ones home with Leah" I say, concern evident on my face.

"Okay, practice is going to end any minute. Come on, lets skate a lap, it could distract you. I bet everything's fine" He nods, patting my back.

"Yeah, everything's okay" I take a deep breath heading back.

A couple minutes practice is over. I quickly take my padding and equipment off, not caring how gross I probably look. I need to get home.

I race home, seeing theres still no cars in the driveway except Leah's.

A couple lights are on and there isn't a sound from anywhere. Shįt.

I rush upstairs into my room. Everything is as I left it, Ellie's room the same as well. "Where is she?" I mumble, hearing footsteps walking down the hall. I peek my head out, seeing tired looking Bella running towards me.

"Hey Belle. Wheres Leah?" I ask causing her to look in the direction of the guest bedroom. Obviously she's there, I'm a dumbäss.

I carefully open the door, seeing her laptop open, the bed still made and her lamp light on. She must have fallen asleep by accident.

I smile, taking the ice out of her hand and heading downstairs to find a quick snack.

I'll let her get some sleep tonight.

I head into her room, leaving a gentle kiss on her temple.

I head to my room, getting under the covers, missing Leah's presence.