We arrive at a small walkway, telling me that this area isn't very known to the public.

"Mas, where are we going?" I question, ducking under a tree branch.

"Here, walk next to me" He places his hand on the small of my back, guiding me on where to go.

We come across a small treehouse, just above a pretty large lake.

"Woah, you made this?" I look up at it.

"When I was little, my dad bought this property and we built this tree house. I've continued to keep it in almost perfect condition. Let's go up" He smiles a boyish smile.

I nod and climb up the ladder, slowing getting up.

Once I do, I look around, amazed. It looked a lot smaller down there.

"It's cool right? I come here whenever I'm upset or I need to clear my head. It's the perfect thinking spot. And over there, at sunset it gives you the most beautiful view" He points to an opening in the trees. "I assume sunrise is beautiful too, I've never gotten up early enough to witness it" He chuckles.

"It's amazing. I wish I had something like this when I was younger. Would have made things so much more bearable" I sigh, placing my hands on the railing.

"I'm sorry babe" He wraps his arms around me, placing his chin on the top of my head.

"It's okay, really. That's in the past and I'm okay. I'm feeling better each day, thanks to you" I kiss his cheek.

"You're the cutest" He smiles down at me, picking me up and spinning me.

We sit down on the bean bags and just talk for a while, enjoying our drinks.

"Are you having a good time here, besides the whole mishap?" He asks, nervously.

"Yeah, I am. It's beautiful here" I give him a reassuring smile.

"That's a relief. I had hoped that you would like it" He gives me an innocent smile.

"Well, I couldn't be happier Mas. Thank you" I kiss his cheek.

"And I neither could I. That is, until we're standing on the alter and you say 'I do'" He winks, my cheeks heating up.

"Mason White" I shake my head, smiling.

"What? You don't want that? Dämn, you really had me fooled" He shrugs, laughing.

"Oh shush" I hit his chest.

My phone rings and I answer the call, seeing it's Grace.

"Gracie" I shout as it connects.

"Leah, show me Italy. Is it everything we've ever dreamed of?" Grace beams.

"Right now we're in Masons treehouse so I can show you the view of the water, but yes. Everything plus a little more" I laugh, panning the camera to the view of the water and the afternoon sky.

"Hi Mason" Grace yells.

"Hey Grace" Mason laughs, waving to her. He walks back into the structure, sitting in the beanbag.

"So, how is it?" Grace wiggles her eyebrows.

"It's beautiful, really. Practically unreal" I chuckle a little.

"So tell me, what happened? I want to know everything" She claps.

"I'll tell you everything when I get back, okay?" I laugh, not wanting to get into it right now. "But, we did go on a boat ride which was amazing. We went to this little island with a bunch of hot-springs. And the water, the water is the brightest blue I've ever seen" I gush.

"That sounds so beautiful. I'm so jealous" Grace smiles, her eyes twinkling. "You know Le, I haven't seen you this happy since, well. You know" Graces smiles falters a little, the memories flowing back.

"I know, but things are getting better. My life is actually getting better. I don't know why I deserve it but I guess there was always hope" I sigh, finally finding some peace with myself and my past.

"I'm happy for you Leah. I'm truly happy for you. More than you know" She smiles and I walk back to Mason.

"Leah? Is that Leah's voice I hear?" Luke bursts into the room, a huge smile on his face.

"Luke" I smile, sitting down in Masons legs, his arms wrapping around me.

"Mason, how are you man?" Luke waves at him.

"I'm good, doings great. How are you both?" He kisses the top of my head.

"We're good. It's really nice to be home" Luke smiles, a genuine smile.

Life is turning around for all of us.

"Good, good" Mason nods. "How's Italy? I've seen pictures" Luke sits next to Grace as she scoots over.

"It's beautiful. The pictures don't do it justice. Here, let's go walk around the town a bit, Mas. I want to show them" I stand up, holding my hand out.

He gets up and we make our way down and into the town.

When I show them the streets, buildings and little café's, Graces jaw drops. "I thought that was only in the movies"

"That's what I thought" I laugh.

"You guys can come with us next time" Mason laughs, hugging me close to him.

"You're crazy bro" Luke laughs, I peel my eyes away from the screen to see some flashing lights.

"Are they serious?" Mason sighs, pulling me into a store.

"I get into a relationship and it's somehow the most important thing that's happening here?" He pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Well, I mean look at me Mas" I sassily hit my hair, trying to bring a smile to his face.

It works and a huge grin cracks upon his face. "That is true. In that case, let's let them just put you on the cover" He messes with me.

"You would never" I place my hands on my hips.

"What's going on?" Grace says from the line.

"My father and our family is very well known here, Leah will fill you in later and somehow, word spread that I'm in town with my lovely girlfriend and everyone wants pictures" He rolls his eyes.

"Do you think we could make it to Mrs. Russos?" An idea comes into my head.

"Yeah, probably. Let's give it a try. Then go back to the house?" He asks, I nod.

"Hey guys, I'll give you a call later, okay? Love you" I end the call and we head back out, I keep my head down and we quickly walk to Mrs. Russos store.

"You haven't gotten any less popular, that's for sure" She smiles when the door opens and we walk in.

"I guess not. I was kind if hoping I had" Mason laughs, shaking out his hair and fixing it.

"I'm sure. But look at you, you've only gotten better looking. And I'm sure everyone wants to know the details on your friend" She laughs.

"I'm sure we'll be seeing everyones opinions and feelings on it tomorrow" He rolls his eyes, sighing.

"How are you enjoying Italia, Leah?" She turns to me, her Italian accent making her sentence even more beautiful.

"It's absolutely gorgeous here. I wish I could stay forever, truly" I smile, meaning every word I say.

"I'll make sure we come back again soon" Mason kisses the top of my head, grabbing a cup and pouring some coffee in it. He hands it to me and quickly makes his, handing a twenty to Mrs. Russo.

"On the house" She tries to give it back to him and he shakes his head.

"Thank you, Mrs. Russo. We'll be back soon" Mason grabs the helmets and we head back to where we parked the bike.

"Here you go. Now hold tight but don't spill the coffee" He laughs, kissing my cheek and sitting on the bike.

I sit behind him and soon we're off home.

We pull up to the house to see an angry Alexis.

Oh Lord, please no.

I take the helmet off and Mason grabs it, quickly guiding me into the house so we can avoid her.

"Here, go wait in the family room. I'll get us something to eat" He kisses my cheek and walks in the direction of the kitchen.

I sit down on the couch, pulling my legs to my chest, sighing.

I flick the TV on and the news immediately comes into view. Theres some talking but I can't seem to make it out, since its in Italian. As I'm about to change the channel, I hear Masons name and I freeze.

"Mas, you're on the news" I call and he comes in, his eyebrows furrowed and popcorn in his hand.

He looks at the screen, seeing the news reported and listening to the words. Right on cue, a picture of us pops up and I let my head fall back, not even wanting to know what they're saying about me.

"They didn't even waste a second" Mason chuckles, shaking his head. "What did it say? Do I even want to know?" I laugh.

"It's nothing bad. They were just going on about how you're the mystery girl and a whole bunch of other rubbish" He gives me a smile, sitting next to me and pulling me into his arms.

"You're too beautiful for them to say anything bad about you" He kisses my forehead. "And somehow, I managed to get you all for myself" He says smirking, the blush covering my face even more.

"Stop, my gosh Mason. You're way too good to me" I shake my head, embarrassed.

"Nope, I'm not good enough. I'm still trying to find ways to make it up to you" He shrugs, placing some popcorn in his mouth.

"I could think of a couple" I blurt out, not even thinking.

Masons eyes widen and a huge grin spreads across his face. "Is Leah talking dirty?"

"I-I don't know why I just said that or why it came out of my mouth. I-" I stutter, extremely embarrassed.

"You're so fücking cute" He laughs, pulling me towards his chest and kissing the top of my head.

We sit in this position for a while, just watching the tv, talking and enjoying each others company.

Ellie and Brooks walk in, looking around until their eyes land on us. "We're going in the pool. Want to come?" She asks, a towel in her hand.

"Yeah, we'll be down in a minute" Mason nods, grabbing my hand and pulling me upstairs.

I grab a swim suit it's a white high rise bikini that shows off my curves. Ellie gave it to me after she didn't like the way it looked on her.

"I'll change downstairs" Mason kisses me on the forehead and closes the door.

I quickly change into it, going downstairs with a towel to meet him.

He's texting something furiously on his phone, a stressed look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I stare at him, my hand rubbing his arm.

"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it. Ready?" He asks, I nod, still a little nervous.

We make our way down a flight of stairs, through an opening and into a room. It's absolutely stunning.

One wall has been turned into fish tank and there's a huge swimming pool right next to it. The walls and floor of the pool are illuminated by soft yellow lights and there are lounge chairs along one side.

"Do you like it? This is one of my favorite rooms. The architecture is beautiful" Mason smiles at my face.

"It's truly beautiful. Such a creative and different idea" I gasp as a small shark swims past the glass.

"That takes a little to get used too" Mason chuckles at my little scare.

"Get in" Ellie waves us in. I place my belongings on a table and within seconds, I'm hovering over the pool.

"Mason Rielly White, I swear. I will be so upset with you-ah" I scowl, letting out a small shriek and grip his arm as he teasingly lets me go and quickly catches me.

"Will you now?" He smirks.

"I won't do anything with you unless you let me go in by myself" I try and hide my smile, knowing I got him.

"You and I both know that's a lie. Don't make promises you can't keep sweet cheeks" He winks as I'm released from his arms and fall right into the cold water. Seconds later I feel the water splashing, signaling Mason joined.

"I'll show you" I wipe my hair away from my face, crossing my arms.

"Someone's mad. Man, you screwed up. Girls are stubborn. You aren't getting anything for a while. I sympathize for you" Brooks chuckles, glancing over at Ellie.

"Nah, she can't help herself" Mason decides to poke the bear. Brooks eyes widen and Ellie's mouth falls open.

"Is that what you think? Please hun, I have all the self control in the world. You on the other hand, that's a whole other story" I click my tongue, giving him a smug look.

"I agree with her" Ellie points at me, her eyebrows raised. "Dude, don't say anything else and apologize. We all know she's right about this one. I mean, you can hardly contain yourself right now" Brooks laughs, nodding.

"Okay, fine. I'm sorry for what I said and for dropping you in the pool. I shouldn't have done it, even though it was funny. I also shouldn't have said that about you, especially when it isn't true"

"Mhm, I'm sure you are" I laugh, shaking my head at his forced apology. "Just remember, don't try anything because it won't be happening" I shrug, feeling accomplished.

"Come on Le, don't be like that" He whines, hugging my waist.

"You shouldn't of thrown me in. You know I hate it when people do that" Naturally, I ease into his touch, not being able to help myself.

"I didn't mean to. I slipped" He lies. "And now you're lying? Add another day on" I smile, as Brooks erupts in laughter.

"Man, just stop talking" He tries to help him. Mason is not having it.

"Another day? Don't be like this" He drags on.

"Keep going and you'll get nothing until this trip is done" I sing, his mouth immediately closing.

"Okay" He silenced himself, I laugh.

I'm so sorry this took so long and that it's up so late! I've been super busy lately and have written whenever I got the opportunity too. I'm on break right now but it's still going to be pretty crazy. I hope y'all angels enjoyed this chapter, its a bit of a filler chapter. I hope everyone has a happy holidays. Thank you for everything! Don't forget to vote, comment and share.

Question: What holiday do you celebrate?

Answer: I celebrate Christmas!

20 votes and 250 comments

Word count: 2458

~Leah