It had only been three days; three days since Ana had left; three days since the world had stopped spinning.

Okay so maybe Mason was being a tad dramatic. But even though it hadn't even been a whole week since they were together, it still felt like he couldn't even fucking breathe properly. The distance hurt. A lot.

Luckily he was able to find solace in their daily facetimes and calls, one of which she had given him an entire tour of the castle. It had taken at least two hours and Mason now understood why she was so accustomed to such lavish surroundings.

His door suddenly opened and he turned to face the noise to see his mom walk in. He had gone back home again and would be staying in the guest room until January eighth, when he would go back to the dorm to see Ana and prepare for his upcoming classes.

"What's up?" He wouldn't have asked, except for the fact that she had walked in without knocking. She never did that.

"Unless you know royalty," Mason forced his expression to remain impassive, "I think your girlfriend is calling." Okay, that made sense; he had changed Ana's contact name to Princess.

Mason grinned, setting aside the book he had been reading before practically jumping from the bed to grab his vibrating phone from his mom's outstretched hand. "Hey baby," he said as soon as he answered the call.

"Hello love." His face hurt from how wide his smile grew. He loved that. "Why didn't you pick up earlier?" Any other person would have thought she was being accusatory but Mason knew that she was only curious. Understandably so, he never missed her calls.

He gave his mom a small smile before lightly shoving her back through the doorway and shutting the door behind her. "I was a dumbass and left my phone somewhere, Mom brought it to me."

"Maybe you should start tying a string around your wrist and attaching it your phone," she giggled. "Just like a little kid with a balloon, it'll never get lost again."

"Not lost," he agreed, "Just completely ruined from dragging it behind me everywhere."

She laughed again; god he'd kill to hear that in person. "Don't worry, I'll just buy you a new one."

"Are you offering to be my sugar mommy right now?" Mason smirked and Ana snorted on the other end. "Tempting offer really," he continued just to hear another one of her sweet noises. "But aren't sugar mommies normally supposed to be way older?"

His efforts were rewarded when she squealed, "Stop it," before she started hysterically laughing.

He sighed as he laid back down on the bed, completely content to just sit there and listen. "I love you baby," he said because he didn't think she could even begin to understand how truly enamored he was with her.

"I know," she whispered in return. He was slightly surprised she was able to hear him over her own giggles. "I love you."

"I know," he repeated. And he did.

Ana suddenly gagged, "Ew. Now I know how Lili feels; we're so sappy it's disgusting," Mason chuckled. "Hurry, say something to ruin the mood," she urged.

Mason's eyebrows shot up, "Why do I have to do it?"

"Because you're good at it." How was it that she managed to say the meanest things in the sweetest way?

"Oh fuck off," he laughed with an eyeroll.

He could hear the smile in her voice when she said, "Perfect."

"You're a terrible girlfriend," he told her jokingly. "I'm just trying to tell you how in love I am with you and you're over there insulting me."

"That's what makes me a good girlfriend; someone needs to keep your ego in check."

"Ouch," he placed his free hand on his chest to emphasize the pain despite the fact that she couldn't even see him.

She sighed then and it was so full of bliss that it made him miss her even more. What he wouldn't give to experience that in person. "It's worked so far hasn't it?"

Mason snorted, "Not at all."

"Seriously," she deadpanned. "And why not?"

He imagined the look on her face, the way her eyebrows would furrow and the adorable crease that would form between them. He thought about the way she would be pouting, which in turn made him think about her lips, and the way she tasted, and the way she felt.

Fuck.

His body was suddenly hot, and he could feel his already pounding heart pick up speed. He swallowed unsteadily as he tried to remember what the hell they had been talking about. He couldn't - for the life of him - think of anything past the way her body molded to his, the way her curves melted into his skin.

God he wanted to touch her; he wanted so many things.

The sound of Ana clearing her throat pulled Mason from his thoughts and he finally remembered what he was trying to say. "Because my girlfriend is fucking royalty." It was slightly difficult to get out, his mouth was dry and his breathing was heavy, but he finally managed it.

"You have a point," she responded.

"Hey you've never had a boyfriend before right?" Ana hummed confusedly at the sudden change of topic. "It's just- I know you didn't have any public relationships but what about one like ours." A secret relationship. That's what it was, and - while Mason wanted to say it didn't bother him because he knew what he had gotten into - his mood dulled at just the thought.

It was silent for a few seconds before she said, "No. I've never really been interested in anyone before, and all the men my parents tried to set me up with weren't my type."

He was slightly scared to ask but, "So what is your type?"

"I'm not sure," Mason let his shoulders relax. "Someone like you I guess. You're one of the first men I've ever been attracted to so that must mean something right?"

"One of the men?" She had just said she hadn't been interested in anyone before didn't she?

She hummed in confirmation. "Well there was this one guy, but then it turned out he had been lying to me about everything. And that happened when I was fifteen, so you're still the first man."

"Oh okay." He didn't want to admit it but he was so fucking relieved. The idea that Ana had been in love with someone before him physically hurt.

"You've been in quite a few relationships before though haven't you?" Her tone was casual but the question still made Mason cringe.

He cleared his throat awkwardly before admitting, "More than a dozen."

"Oh," she sounded surprised, that was clear.

"Yeah," he shifted uncomfortably. "But my last relationship was over a year ago now, so don't worry about me still liking them or anything."

Ana giggled, "I'm not worried about that you idiot. It's just that," she trailed off for a brief second and Mason waited with baited breath. "You have a lot more experience than I do so I don't want to disappoint you or anything I guess."

"No I don't," Mason felt his own eyes widen at how quickly the words were said. "I don't have much more experience at all in terms of - ah - sex and stuff."

"Really?" He made a noise of confirmation. "Well I was just talking about dating in general," Mason facepalmed, "But that's good to know too."

He sighed in frustration. "Shit, I'm sorry baby. I didn't realize- I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"You didn't," she said simply in return and he relaxed at her assurance. "But I guess now if we ever do anything I know that it will be a first for you too."

He didn't want to focus on the way she said if but the idea that they wouldn't ever do anything had now presented itself and it made his throat tighten. He hadn't even wanted to do anything before but now that he had Ana, he wanted to do everything with her.

He wanted to experience everything with her, he wanted to feel everything with her, and he wanted her to feel it all with him too.

He knew he still wasn't ready to actually have sex yet - that was probably going to take another while - but there was other things to do and he wanted to be able to please Ana as much as physically possible.

He pushed the thought aside for now, making a mental note to talk about it when they were back at the dorm, when they were together and he could actually show her what he wanted to do.

He was a kinesthetic learner anyways.

~~~

It was later that night when Mason's phone rang again. He had gotten excited at first, assuming it was Ana calling for the second time that day (it happened more often than not) until he looked at the caller ID and saw a random number.

He answered despite not recognizing it at first, thinking that it could be for something important. He regretted it immediately.

"Hello," he greeted.

"Hi Mason." That voice was all too familiar, and he groaned when he heard the accompanying giggle.

He ran a hand through his hair, "Charleigh. Leave me the hell alone."

He promptly hung up, tossing his phone on the couch before resuming the video game he had been playing on the television.

And he didn't even think to question how she still had his number when he clearly remembered changing it.

~~~