A few weeks after Mason and Ana started dating she finally worked up the courage to tell her parents about it. While they had technically given their approval when the possibility of her dating anyone was brought up, she still knew their agreement had been reluctant at best.

Not surprisingly, they didn't pick up immediately so she opted for calling Lili instead. Mason was with her at this point, laying with his head on her lap and his arms wrapped around her waist. She had told him about having a little sister some time ago, and she wasn't too concerned about him hearing something he wasn't supposed to so she had asked him to at least sit in with her as she called Lili.

He had agreed more easily than she thought he might, but Ana wasn't going to complain.

"Hey-o," Lili greeted.

"Hey," she returned, letting her free hand run through Mason's hair. His grip tightened around her then and she could only assume it was from the sound of her voice or the feeling of her hand on his head.

She heard Lili sigh and resisted the urge to laugh at the clear impatience from just that brief sound. "You called for a reason I presume?"

"Not really," she decided to mess with her a bit. She could imagine her younger sister's eyeroll as she grumbled incoherently. "Just thought you'd like to know that Mason and I started dating."

Lili abruptly shrieked and Ana cringed as she pulled the phone away from her ear. "Damn," she saw Mason mouth when she glanced at him and she laughed softly.

"Did you hear that?" She mouthed back before flinching when she heard Lili scream again.

She brought the phone back to her ear, "Are you with him right now?" She looked back down at Mason, who was staring up at her confusedly.

"Maybe," Ana responded.

"Give him the phone right now," she practically demanded.

Ana shook her head immediately, "I'm not doing that." It seemed like an absolutely terrible idea. Mason looked even more confused at those words, eyebrows furrowing adorably as he pouted slightly.

"Are you serious," Lili whined.

The older princess rolled her eyes, "How about I put it on speaker?" Mason lit up at the prospect, lifting himself from his spot and pulling her tight against his side.

Lili agreed with no hesitation and Ana reluctantly put the phone call on speaker and set it on her legs, which had fallen asleep from Mason laying on them earlier. "It's on speaker," she told Lili.

There was the sound of a throat clearing and Mason gave Ana an uncertain glance. "So I heard you're dating my sister," Lili began. Ana snorted when she realized she was trying to be intimidating, before covering her mouth when she remembered she could still hear her.

"If that's what the kids are calling it these days," Mason winked at Ana. She laughed in return, lightly hitting his shoulder.

There was silence for a few moments and she was beginning to get worried before Lili's voice interrupted her thoughts. "How old are you exactly?"

"Fifty-four," he stated shockingly calmly. Lili gasped, sounding so horrified that it made Mason's façade break as he laughed. "I'm just fucking with you," Ana shot him a glare, "I'm twenty one. Definitely not a creepy old man; Paris can attest to that."

"You saw a photo of him too, why did you even believe that?"

Mason's eyes widened at that, turning his head slightly to face Ana and she only realized how close they when their noses brushed. "Is that why you took that terrible ass picture of me in the bathroom?"

She pulled away slightly to resist the sudden temptation to kiss him. He was a great kisser. "That photo is hardly terrible; I'm an amazing photographer thank you very much."

"I might have to disagree," he muttered before moving forward and gently pressing his lips on hers. Ana felt herself smile as he pulled away, her face growing hot as he tugged her closer so that their sides were firmly pressed together.

"Are you guys making out right now?" Lili gasped, "That's so gross. I'm telling mom."

Ana shook her head at her sister's dramatics, "We were hardly making out. Especially with you on the phone, that would be very disturbing."

"We could be making out," Mason whispered.

She ignored his flirtatious words, "Besides I haven't even been able to tell them that we're dating yet."

"Oh-," Lili didn't even sound surprised. "They're in the kin-," Ana nearly facepalmed at the slip-up, "the office; I can give them the phone if you want me to. They wouldn't dare ignore their favorite daughter."

"How presumptuous of you," Ana chided teasingly. "But sure, give them the phone."

If that was the only way she would be able to talk to the King and Queen then so be it. "Meeting the parents too? Damn, moving awfully fast aren't we Paris?" Mason winked at her again.

"Oh please, I met your mom before we even started dating."

"Hey I had no fucking choice in that okay? She practically stole my damn phone from me."

They both laughed at that, and she kissed his cheek almost instinctively. He was so sweet, even if he wasn't trying to be. "I'm going to take it off speaker for a second okay?" Mason's eyebrows furrowed, his grin suddenly falling.

What's that about?

Ana brought the phone back to her ear, "Don't worry, I'll tell them that someone is on the phone with you." She relaxed at Lili's statement.

"Thanks," she bit her lip as she heard movement on the other end and then the faint sound of Lili's voice. She couldn't exactly pick up on anything said so she could only imagine the current conversation they were having.

"Who else is on the phone dear?" Her mother's voice interrupted Ana's train of thought and she froze for a brief second.

She put the phone back on speaker, setting it down once more before clearing her throat. "Mother, father," she greeted after a moment. "Meet my boyfriend, Mason."

"It's great to meet you both." Ana wondered if Mason was as nervous as she was.

There was only silence, so deafening that it felt as though the walls were collapsing in on her. "So you actually started dating then," the king mused.

"As I said I would," she stated. She was practically shaking now - worried about what her parents might say - to the point that Mason had seemingly felt it and decided to wrap his arms around her. He cradled her against him and she stuffed her face into his neck. Why was she so scared?

"Yes," her mother laughed uncomfortably. "Well it is lovely to make your acquaintance Mason. I must say though that I haven't ever heard about you before." Mason suddenly froze, his body stiffening at the words.

"Oh," he sounded so upset. She pulled away slightly, noticing him swallow under her gaze. He was avoiding her eyes now, looking below them and focusing on her comforter.

Apparently her father picked up on it. "Don't worry, our daughter doesn't usually tell us about silly things like crushes and boys," he chuckled.

"I see," he muttered.

Ana wanted to continue the conversation, to see how her parents really felt about it, but Mason was suddenly in such a bad mood that she wanted to end it as soon as possible to figure out what was wrong.

She gripped his hand in her own, noticing that he didn't squeeze back like he normally would.

She felt sick to her stomach, "I actually need to go to class soon. But shall we continue this later?"

At the sound of their agreement, she quickly bid goodbye before hanging up. She pulled her hand from his loose hold, placing both her palms on his cheeks and forcing him to look at her. "Hey what's the matter?"

He was staring at her now, only it was so emotionlessly that it felt as though he was staring right through her. "You don't talk to your parents about me?" Mason's voice was so small, so insecure, and so different from his normal happy self that her throat tightened.

"We have a weird relationship," she desperately tried to explain.

"Do you even like me?" She couldn't believe he was even asking. "Because you never actually told me you know."

"Of course I like you!" How absurd it was to think that she didn't; they were dating.

Mason shook his head, pulling away from her hands in the process. Ana's heart dropped. "It doesn't seem like it. The only person who seemed to know about me was your sister, and even then she didn't even know my age. Aren't you guys always talking? How did she not know that?"

She was panicking slightly now, eyes widening when he stepped off her bed and started pacing in front of her. "I didn't mention your age because I hardly thought it was relevant. I mean, why should it matter how old you are? I like you, and your age has almost nothing to do with it."

"But how do you like me?" Mason suddenly exploded, stopping in front of her and grabbing her hands with desperate eyes. "Fuck. You're so amazing, and I'm nothing compared to you. Why the hell do you even like me?"

Ana shook her head, trying to tug him closer by using their hands. "I'm not amazing, if anything you're the amazing one. You're always so sweet and caring and so perfect to me."

"That's such a fucking lie," he muttered with a scoff. He pulled away again then and she had to remind herself that he was upset when he purposefully crossed his arms over his chest.

She shook her head with confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Just- how can you say that when you're literally a fucking princess?"

~~~