Today was the worst. Mason had practice all day and I had to work all day. We were both so busy and I can't even see him tonight.

My phone sounds telling me I have a new text.

--------

Mason: Baby

Me: Mason. Hey, what's up?

Mason: I lobe you so fücking much

Me: I love you too hun. Is everything okay?

Mason: Nope

Me: What's going on?

Mason: Gota go. Kissesssss

--------

I stare at my phone, confusion covering my face. I quickly dial Mason's number. It goes straight to voicemail.

"Cody, I'm going to Masons" I grab my keys, water, wallet, and phone charger and rush out the door.

On my way I call Ellie, her voicemail greeting me.

I get even more worried. Ellie always answers everyone right away.

I hesitate to go faster than the speed limit, images of what happened last time flash through my brain.

I ignore them, seeing the huge hill that leads to Mason's house.

Soon enough I pull up to the house, rushing out to see a single car in the driveway.

The house is silent except for the silent hum of a television. I peak into the family room to see Tara anxiously sitting there.

"Tara? What's going on?" I ask, seeing her bloodshot eyes.

"Oh honey" She holds her arms out, quickly pulling me into a hug.

"Is everything okay?" My heart drops as the front door opens and Jim walks in, his head down.

"I couldn't find him" All the air escapes my lungs and I gasp for air, his gaze falling on me.

"Ellie's still looking. She's at Brooks now" Jim runs his hand through his hair.

"Someone tell me what's going on" I reach my shaky hand into my sweatpants pocket.

"Mason ran off somewhere. We can't find him" Jim sighs.

I quickly press Mason's number, rushing into my car.

"Pick up the dämn phone" I struggle to insert the key into its ignition.

Moments later two cars pull in behind me, one of them being Masons.

I leap out, rushing over to it. Brooks is in the driver's seat, his eyes wide as he glances over to a passed-out Mason in the passenger's seat.

"W-what happened?" I stutter, knowing what that means.

"He-um" Brooks stalls as Ellie gets out of her car, rushing over to me.

"Leah, it's um. It's Marios anniversary today" She whispers.

I immediately forget about my fear and hesitation and open the passenger door, gesturing for help from Brooks.

We bring him into his room and I sit with his head in my lap, lightly running my hand through his hair.

I can't help but notice the dark circle forming around his eye. I wonder what happened there.

He stirs a little, my heart rate picks up. "Brooks?" He mumbles, not waiting for an answer before continuing. "I'm gonna marry her, man" He slurs, barely audible.

His droopy eyes open, connecting with mine and he immediately realizes what he's doing.

"L-Leah?" He sits up.

"It's alright Mas. Shhhh, you're okay. I'm here. I promise" I pull him into a hug, knowing that's the best thing I could do right now.

Chills erupt my body when his arms wrap around my back as silent sobs escape his throat.

"I-I'm so sorry. I didn't know what to do" He fists my shirt.

"I know. You're okay" I brush his hair.

"Come on, go to sleep. It's late" I pull him to lay down.

I pull him to lay next to me.

"I'll go get you a glass of water" I kiss his forehead and hurry downstairs.

I grab the water and place it next to him.

He stares at the ceiling, his shirt in his hand. I place the glass on the nightstand and his hands find the back of my thighs. I refrain from flinching but I know my eyes are screwed shut in fear.

"I-I'm so sorry. Oh my gosh," Mason quickly let's go once he realizes.

"It-it's okay, Mason" I suck in a breath, building up the confidence to straddle his waist while he's drunk.

"Leah, no" He shakes his head, his arm over his eyes.

"Babe" I poke his cheek.

He doesn't answer.

"Mason, come on" I whine, tracing his abs.

"I can't overcome this without you. Please" I say, pushing his hair off his forehead.

"I-I'll get carried away" He blushes.

"We'll deal with that if it comes to that" I kiss his lips, trying to steady myself.

A few seconds later Mason gently pushes me away.

"Leah, you're shaking. Violently. I can't let you do this. Just change and let's go to sleep" He holds his shirt out to me.

I nod, my fear getting the best of me, and place his shirt in the hamper.

"Can you please wear it?" He takes a sip of the water, his eyes looking sober-like.

"Oh, yeah" I slip my tank top over my head, placing Masons' t-shirt over me. It reaches my knees, covering half of my sweats.

"Spend the night?" He asks, pulling me into him.

"Of course. But first, talk to me" I try and get comfortable.

"It gets harder every year. After practice, I tried to run off but Brooks stopped me. He tried to stop me but I just pushed past him. You were at work and it's the only other escape I could think of" He stares at the ceiling, tensing up.

The last time Mason came home drunk, it didn't end well for us. This time is different.

"You could have come in. I would have left work for this" I pull his face to look at me.

He sighs, shaking his head, "Are you mad at me?" He hesitates.

"No" I shake my head, kissing his cheek. "What happened there?" I trace the bruise.

"I got hit during practice" He bites his lip, avoiding eye contact.

"Bull, who did you get into a fight with?" I raise my eyebrows.

"Don't worry about it" He stressing.

"Mason, I'm worried. I'm worried about you, I'm worried about everything right now. Please, let me in" I sigh, feeling defeated.

Life has been coming in hard recently. I've hardly got time to catch my breath. Mason hiding things is the last thing I need right now. I've always trusted and counted on him to keep me in the loop. We can't stop now.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine, hørny but alcohol will do that to you when you have a girlfriend as hot as you" He winks, trying to sweet-talk me.

"Mason, I'm being serious" I stand up, crossing my arms.

"So am I. It's nothing to worry about, I promise" He sighs.

'I'm losing him' I mumble, my anxiety peaking.

"Excuse me" I fumble with the doorknob, rushing to Ellie's door.

I burst through the door, not even thinking about what's on the other side.

"Leah?" Ellie questions when she sees my face.

"I'm losing him" I breathe out, my vision getting blurry.

"What did he do?" Brooks shoots up, rushing to my side when I start to stumble.

"It's not him, it's-it's me" I feel for the ground.

"Let's not think about him right now, okay? Just breathe" Ellie kneels in front of me.

"Is she okay? What happened?" I look over to the door to see Mason's worried eyes.

"Come on, I need to talk to you" Brooks pulls him to the side.

Ellie and I sit in silence for a while until I calm down.

I explain what happened to her and she tells me all she knows.

According to her, when Brooks tried to talk Mason out of it, they got into a fight. Mason clearly isn't in the right mind, and he egged Brooks on. So, the black eye is from Brooks.

"I feel like he's losing interest in me" I close my eyes, needing an escape.

"He's definitely not. I don't think he ever will. I've never seen him act or hold so much love for someone. Not even Everleigh and they always have been inseparable" Ellie smiles. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. He would never do anything to hurt you, not if he had any say in it"

I nod, feeling a little better. "I think I just need to talk to him when he's in the right mind" I take a deep breath.

"So do I. That's always the best idea" She nods.

I know today is a hard day for Mason, I get it, but he's really testing me today. He's acting impulsively.

"What's up, bro?" I sigh.

"What's up? What's up is my girlfriend rushed out of my room after mumbling something to herself. I don't know what happened or if she's okay" He rolls his eyes.

"Stop being a fücking príck and take my advice for once. She's scared. She thinks she's losing you. That girl is the best thing that has and will ever happen to you. She brings out the best in you. She's hurting and worried about you. You need to stop pushing her away, you have people in your life who actually give a shít about you. She's one of them. Let her in, tell her what happened today or I'll give you another shiner" I know Mason doesn't have any ill intentions with Leah. Today has been a rough day for us all, especially Mason. But she's slipping and he needs to see that.

"I don't know what to do, man. I couldn't think of doing anything else. She was working today, so I couldn't use her as an escape. Alcohol was my only other option. Now she's scared and it's because of me" Mason pulls at his hair.

"You need to talk to her, Mason. That's all she wants. She wants to be let in, to know what you're thinking. That's all they ever want. As for her being scared, she's scared of the alcohol. She's experienced its effects first hand and doesn't want to lose you, especially to it" I whisper, not wanting the girls to hear us.

"She was shaking, like violently. I was sobering up, and I wanted to kiss her so I grabbed her waist and she flinched. She said she wanted to get past her fear but I couldn't. She looked like she was going to break. I feel like a dįck" He rubs his forehead.

"Did you stop after she flinched?" I ask.

He nods, so I proceed. "And then what? She told you she wanted to get over her fear and kissed you?" I ask.

"Yeah, she straddled me and started shaking like a leaf. I could practically hear her heart racing" He sighs.

"And then what did you do?" I ask.

"I pushed her away and told her I couldn't. Not with how she was" He looks down.

"Okay, so you did nothing wrong, Mason. You didn't go against her, you were looking out for her. Why do you feel so bad about that?" I ask, getting confused.

"Because she wanted to but I told her no. She probably thinks I don't want her anymore" He kicks the wall.

"No, Mason. That's ridiculous. You're thinking too hard into this" I shake my head, following him to his room.

"I really fucked up this time, bro" He throws his phone on his bed.

"Don't do anything stupid Mason" I warn him, knowing what's to come.

"I need to do something" He looks around his room.

"Mason, don't. The season starts in a few weeks" I stop him from walking out of his room.

A soft knock sounds at the door before Leah opens it up. She looks timid and tired, like the girl she was before. I can tell Mason thinks the same, as his expression completely changes.

I quickly exit the room before heading back to Ellies.

When I open Masons' door, I can tell the air was tense.

Brooks quickly leaves and Mason sits on the bed.

"Brooks gave it to me. I was pushing him" He looks down. I slowly walk over, sitting next to him.

"You don't have to" I whisper.

"I want to" He looks over at me.

The next few minutes are spent listening to Mason fill me in on his day.

"I don't want to be a burden to you" I whisper, playing with the hem of Mason's shirt.

"A burden? You could never be a burden, Le. What are you talking about?" His voice cracks as he lifts my head to look into his eyes.

"I just-" I stop talking, my lip starting to quiver. "I'm sorry" I laugh, shaking my head.

"Can I give you a hug?" Mason whispers, almost scared of the answer.

I nod without hesitation. He immediately pulls me into a hug. His hand holds my head, the other snaked around my back.

All my nerves disappear as I remember this is Mason. It's not some random guy at the bar who is intoxicated and wants to take advantage of me. It's not my abusive and alcoholic father who is threatening to rápe me. It's Mason White. It's the boy who rebuilt me, piece by piece. It's the same boy who I was childhood best friends with. I'm okay. I'll always be okay, because of Mason White.

He pulls away, brushing the hair out of my face. "What happened?"

"I love you" I smile, cradling his face in my hands.

"I love you too, more than anything" He smiles, his eyes starting to droop.

"Can I get you anything? Are you hungry?" I lay on top of him, staring at his face.

"I'm okay" He smiles, his eyes glossing over. "Come on, let's go to bed"

I get off his chest and turn off the lights. I quickly brush my teeth and slip my sweatpants off. I hate sleeping in pants, I always wake up all sweaty.

"Baby" I hear Mason call, causing me to chuckle.

"Yes, hun" I poke my head out, smiling.

"Are you almost done? I'm cold" He smiles, holding his hands out.

"Pull the covers up. I'll be out soon" I shake my head, laughing.

I quickly finish and get under the covers with him, desperately needing a good night's sleep.

"Le" He whispers, his hands finding their way under my shirt to draw shapes on my back.

"Mhm," I mumble.

"What if I don't get drafted," He says, no emotion in his voice.

"What are you talking about? Why wouldn't you? You bring so much to the table. I seriously don't understand why any team wouldn't want you. I mean, you're an incredible quarterback. You have it all, seriously. You have the whole package. You have amazing arms. Look at these things" I squeeze them, smiling. "Those legs, you can run the whole field. You're a great leader, you have so much passion for the sport. You're so incredibly driven to achieve great things. You have phenomenal hair. I can never stop touching it. It's practically calling out to be worshiped. Your face could have been made in a lab. You're in incredible shape and keep working towards building more muscle. Not only will you be wanted on every team, but so many brands will also want YOU as their face" At this point I'm sitting up, staring at him.

"You're too fucking good for me" I laugh. "You really think so? Do you think I'll make it? You're not just saying that?" His arms wrap back around me.

"First off, I most definitely am not too good for you. Second, you're going so far Mason. I believe in you, we all do. It's time for you to start believing in yourself. Get drafted, get those stats up, and then buy me a huge ring" I smile, laughing.

He smiles at me, his eyes sparkling. "I'm counting down the days, baby"

If you like this book, make sure to go check out the other one on my page, It's a Thin Line, Darling.

Question: What is your dream vacation place?

Answer: Australia has always been at the top of my list. I would also love to visit Hawaii and Greece. My absolute dream is to travel the world. I love traveling more than anything!

Word count: 2771

~Leah