⌗ 46
third person ✎ᝰ
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"Isn't it obvious?" Riley uttered. "I'm here because I can't live with you." She confessed. "I had the most sleepless night knowing what I did hurt you. I can't keep that up and not fix this."

Mason's heart feels less heavy than it did before. Riley knew how to hit all the right spots. "I can't say the same to be honest. I drove endlessly to the point that I felt numb and well...I had Mara."

The quizzical smile on Riley's face was apparent. "I think you need to spend a little less time with her." The veins in her temple were pulsing.

Mason frowned. "Why would I?" Her tone firm. She wasn't exactly sure why Riley felt the need to order her like this—she wasn't happy about it.

The latter's pinched mouth turned into downturned lips. "Are you that naive?"

Mason scoffed. "No. But you're absurd." She accused. "How are you to walk up into someone's house without notice and then order me to stop spending time with them?" Her voice raised warning towards the latter that stood firmly.

Riley clenched her hands into tight fists. There was a feeling that burned deep inside her that felt foreign. "I walked in here for one reason and one reason only—you. And I hope I can leave this place with someone by my side." Riley's piercing gaze shot right through Mason.

She stepped forward and shrugged her shoulders. "The only way I'm leaving here with you is if you decide to be truthful with me." She shared.

The latter nodded her head hurriedly. "I do. I want to be truthful. You have to know that." She spoke urgently. "I can't lose you like this..." Her steady gaze changed to one that faltered at the sound of Mara descending from the staircase.

Mara held a hoodie in her arms and a photo album perched underneath her arm. "Mace." She called gently. "I'm ready to go if you are?"

Mason turned herself to face the older girl behind her. "Is this it?" Her friend hands her an oversized hoodie and the photo album. "I can't believe you have all this..." She laughed.

Mara nodded happily. "I told you didn't I? All our memories are in there. Decorated by yours truly." A wide grin formed on her lips as Mason tucked between her arms and turned back to face her girlfriend. "Do you want me to wait with you or.."

Riley looked over at Mason expectantly as she played with the necklace her girlfriend bought her as a gift. "Mason we really need to talk."

Mason not Maisie.

She swallowed the lump that tried forming at the back of her throat. Mason felt uncomfortable with the name that left Riley's lips. She knew things were serious if Riley mentioned her that way. "I'm really trying to make this work."

Mason nodded. "I know..." She hands Mara the photo album and shows a small smile. "I'll be okay. Wait for me in the car?" Her voice soft.

The eldest nodded and walked away without another word. An uncomfortable silence hovered over the couple for several moments. Aunt Pat left the room with urgency and moved to the house keeping quarters to give them privacy.

Mason licked her bottom lip. It had gone dry from how long she had left them parted. She was unsure of what to say or how to begin.

"I need to know why you lied." Mason ordered. "I need to know why you felt the need to act like you were on board with all our plans when in reality..." Her voice small. "You want to leave."

The latter shook her head. "I don't want to leave."

Mason chuckled lightly. "That makes no sense, Riley. You say that yet you have plans to leave anyway? It doesn't match up at all." She uttered.

"I want to leave." Riley confessed. "But I don't want to leave you." She squeezed her eyes shut.  The sting that came from holding in her tears had soon taken over. "I can't live like that."

Her girlfriend blinked several times as she tried to comprehend what she just said. "Well why do you want to leave in the first place?"

"Andy told me about this great—"

Mason held her hand up to stop her. "Andy?"

"My best friend. She—" Riley was cut off by the scoff that echoed through the house.

"I know who Andy is." Mason breathed. "I can't believe this..." She shoved her hands into the pocket for her jeans. "Riley..."

The house falls silent once more. Mason tried to calm herself as much as possible before speaking. She would hate to cause such a scene. Mad or not, she would prefer not to lash out at Riley.

"Please say something." Riley mumbled. Her heart begun to ache. "What's wrong?"

Mason held her palms against her eyes as she shut them closed. Tears begun to roll down her face as she lowered her head. "I can't believe you." She tried her best to suppress her sobs.

"What..."

"How do you have the nerve to tell me to stop spending time with her when all along you have plans to go back home with her?"

"What?" Riley uttered once again.

"Riley, do you not hear yourself?" Mason chuckled. Riley was starting to feel scared. "Andy told you about some great thing and now you're ready to pack your bags and leave? What happened to never wanting to leave my side?"

"Baby, please hear me out." Riley begged.

"I am, Riley. I'm trying so hard to understand!"

The latter was taken aback. She'd never heard Mason speak this loudly before. "Tell me...." She begged. "Tell me so I can explain it better..."

"I just don't understand." Mason sobbed. The heaviness in her chest was coming back. The pit of her stomach felt like nails against her skin. "You told me you wanted us to be together."

"I do." Riley wept. "I love you."

"Then tell me why it's so easy for you. So, what? You're gonna pack your bags and leave tomorrow? Will you text me one Friday night to tell me you're never coming back here. Are—"

Riley steps forward and closes the distance that separated them like a body of water between two countries. Her lips were met with the faint taste of Watermelon and Strawberry.

Mason sighed deeply into the kiss. Her tears were never ending. All she could feel was pain. The kind that could not be cured with just a kiss.

She shook her head and pulled away. "No. We—we can't." She stuttered. The look in her eyes broke Riley a thousand times over. "Riley, I don't think I can do this." The words were quick to fall out. Yet each one felt like a bullet to the heart.

"Maisie, what are you saying..."

"I don't want to say it." A sudden expulsion of breath released itself as she wiped the tears away with the back of her hands. "I don't. I really—"

The latter feel to her knees and sobbed loudly. "Then don't. Don't say it. Just hear me out."

Mason looked towards the heavens and her body felt like it could give away in any given moment. Her breath hitched and her heart felt like it were ripped out and thrown into shreds. She could feel her limbs go numb as the tears fell down her face.

"Let me ask you again." Mason mumbled. She tried her best to sound firm. "Why do you want to leave? No excuses. No bullshit. Tell me why."

Riley's nails dug into the fabric of Mason's denim jeans. Her tears created a pool around the Run Star Hike's that were on her girlfriend's feet.

"Andy told me. She—I mean—we both wa—"

For the first time since Riley had walked into her life, Mason had felt as if they were inharmonious. Nothing was going the way that they wanted. They were constantly fighting like cat's and dogs.

Mason clicked her tongue and nodded. "Ok. I think you've said enough."She sniffled.

Their relationship was never perfect. But what relationship is always perfect? It ceases to exist. Inconsistencies are inevitable, but this continuous and destructive nature had gotten too much. Mason wasn't so sure about what she felt was right or wrong. She just knew that she had grown especially tired of being hurt all the time.

Riley was the last person she hoped. But it all happened right in front of her. It was a dagger to the heart. She wasn't sure what else could ever heal her from this hurt. She just felt broken.

"Maisie. Please say something." She begged.

Mason brought herself to the floor and kissed the top of Riley's head. "I don't have anything else left to say." She answered. "I'm sorry."