"How does it look?" Mason held up the pie, struggling slightly before realizing that he was being a fucking idiot. "Shit- wait a second."

He set the pie back down before reaching for his phone that he had propped up on the windowsill earlier. He flipped the camera, pointing it down at the dessert on the counter and adjusting slightly to get all of it in the frame. 

"Why are you making a pumpkin pie again?" Paris's voice drifted from his phone and Mason moved his eyes from his own floating box to her much larger one on the screen. 

Jesus fuck, she was gorgeous. 

He froze for a brief second, taking in her appearance before he remembered that he was supposed to be doing something. "Thanksgiving," he responded. "I'm in charge of the dessert this year."

He had explained this at the beginning of the facetime call but, after almost two hours of Mason failing to follow directions, it wasn't surprising that she had forgotten. "And - just to clarify - you want it to look nice?" 

"It does look nice," Mason frowned. At least he had thought it did. But judging by her expression, it apparently didn't.

Paris laughed, "I mean it certainly has character." She snorted then and Mason had to suppress a grin at the noise (she was just so fucking cute). She tilted her head suddenly, as though she were trying to look at the pie from a different angle. "Like that whipped cream right there; it kind of looks like a heart."

The fuck?

Mason looked back down at the messily decorated pastry, trying to figure out what part of the whipped cream she was talking about. He had sort of put it everywhere. 

"How the hell are you seeing a heart?"

She giggled again and it felt as though Mason's own heart fell to his stomach. "Look at it from the side, and it's kind of upside down, but that's definitely some sort of shape right there." He followed Paris's instructions, bending his head slightly to the right to mirror her. 

At first glance it looked the same - a sloppy attempt at decorating - before he noticed two lumps connecting at a dull point. 

Mason snickered before clearing his throat. "I hate to break it to you, sweetheart," the pet name had slipped before he even had a chance to think it over. "But that looks more like a dick than a heart."

"Mason Whitlock," his mom's voice sounded from behind him. He flinched at the noise, turning around so quickly that he got slightly dizzy. 

"Oh-," he shifted uneasily, "hi mom."

She gave him a warning look, "I know you didn't just use that word in my house."

"Hi Ms. Whitlock," Paris chimed in after an uncomfortably long silence. Mason's shoulders sagged with relief as his mother's eyebrows raised from shock. 

He lifted his phone to see the screen, switching to the front camera so Paris too could see his face now. She snorted again upon seeing him and Mason pouted. "Don't laugh at me," he practically whined.

"Sorry," she shook her head softly and he found himself watching her curls bounce from the movement. "You just looked so awkward."

"Fuck you," he chuckled before abruptly realizing how that might have sounded, especially considering the whole I want to kiss you fiasco. Something she had seemingly forgotten about; Mason was both upset and relieved that she hadn't brought it up at all. 

On one hand he was wondering if she was interested in the idea too. And on the other? Well let's just say he wasn't exactly looking forward to a possible rejection. 

His mom gasped in front of him and he grimaced. "Mason," she scolded. "We just went over this."

"Sorry," he mumbled in response. 

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes teasingly. "Now who's on the phone?"

Paris took the opportunity to join the conversation once more, "I'm Paris," she introduced. "It's wonderful to meet you Ms. Whitlock." 

"Oh, Paris huh?" Mason's mom smirked at him and his eyes narrowed before he remembered that the girl in question could still see him. "Hand me the phone," she mouthed to him.

Mason's first response was to shake his head, making his mom glare at him and forcing him to give in. He handed the device to her, worriedly fidgeting as she held up the phone. "Ah- hello," Paris greeted upon seeing his mom now instead of Mason. 

Mason cringed. "Oh my goodness," his mom suddenly exclaimed. "You look so much prettier in person." And cringed again. "Well not in person I guess but you know what I mean." His mom laughed and he groaned quietly. 

"You've seen me?" She sounded worried now, her voice hesitant and small. 

"Right, yes! Mason showed me an adorable photo of you sitting on the couch." Thank fuck he had thought to show her that photo specifically, any other one would have probably revealed his obsessive nature of taking pictures of her. 

"Oh okay," she laughed and Mason mentally cursed at not being able to see the smile that he knew would accompany the noise. 

He shuffled forward, moving around his mom to look over her shoulder at his phone's screen. He felt his chest grow warm at Paris's bashful expression; it wasn't something he was able to see very often.

God she was so fucking perfect. 

He reached forward to take his phone back. "Hey," his mom pulled away before he was able to grab it. 

"Mom," he grumbled. 

"We're having a conversation here!"

Paris interrupted before Mason could object any further, "Yeah Mason. You should really stop being so impolite," he saw her smirk.

"You're kidding," he was absolutely flabbergasted at her words. She actually wanted to talk to his mom?

"I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but I'm not."

That's what did it. 

He was done for; doomed; never to be considered anything but completely smitten ever again. 

~~~

After celebrating Thanksgiving with his mom over a late (but sizeable) lunch, Mason decided to drive back to the college to put his prank on Paris into motion. After hearing her call him such an affectionate nickname (granted that it was mostly sarcastic), he had decided that it needed to be done sooner than later. 

He stopped off at three different stores to get the necessary supplies before finally making it to their dorm. But upon opening the door, he noticed that the lights were on. 

He set the bags down on the coffee table, calling out a brief greeting to see if anyone was actually home or if someone was being a dumbass and left the lights on. Both were very possible. 

Carly emerged from the hallway, a piece of chocolate in hand and Josh trailing after her. "Why are you back so early?" She asked, mouth partially full of the candy.

"I needed to do something," he responded with a nod at the coffee table. "What about you guys?

Josh stepped around Carly, slumping on the couch. "I missed my flight," he explained simply with a sheepish shrug. 

Mason's eyes widened. "Didn't you book that three fucking months in advance?"

"Yeah," he scoffed (Mason assumed it was directed at himself). "Imagine how fucking pissed my parents were when I had to call and tell them I was a screwup. Again." Josh had never really had the best relationship with his family; constantly acting out as a kid to get attention from his overly strict and emotionless parents had given him a bad rep.

Mason pitied him slightly, he couldn't imagine his mom being so unsympathetic. His sperm donor was already bad enough. 

Carly moved forward to rub Josh's shoulders comfortingly. "I wouldn't worry about it too much," she told him. "Even if they're as disappointed as they seem, we know how hard you're trying." 

"Yeah," Mason agreed. "At least you remembered to book the flight this year," he joked with an awkward laugh. 

Okay so he wasn't exactly the best at cheering people up, fucking sue him. 

Thankfully they both laughed and Mason mentally sighed of relief. "And I'm here because it was too expensive to travel all the way back to Canada," Carly added. She was originally from Winnipeg and almost all of her family still lived there but she was going to UPenn on a scholarship. 

"I always forget you're literally from an entire different country," Josh chuckled. "Anyways, what are all the bags for?" He gestured to the multiple plastic bags Mason had brought in earlier.

Mason resisted a smile at the thought of their other roommate, "To prank Paris." He smirked as he raised an eyebrow, "Want to help?"

Josh grinned deviously, "So the prank war continues."

~~~