⌗ 58; third person ✎ᝰ

"I don't understand why you have to hurry home," Riley holds her coffee cup with a firm grip. It's eleven forty five and she's on the verge of insanity. "What does this mean for me?"

Renz loosens her grip on the handle of her suitcase. "It's just family stuff." It wasn't a lie. She was in fact, very truthful. "I need to sort it out. Mika will have my head if I don't." She could envision the nightmare she'd come home to if she doesn't leave this very second.

The fair skinned woman was terribly unaware of the events slowly unfolding; in front of her face and for all to see. "Listen, you have the duplicate key. I told you that what's mine is yours. I'm not kicking you out or anything it's-"

Renz finds herself swallowing her words whole at the mere sight of Kim Mara. She stands tall and firm by the conveyor belt that continues its rounds across the premise; delivering luggages to its rightful owner. "Babi, that's ours."

The sound of her cousin's soft voice echoes through her ears. She finds Mason sitting in the comfort of a wheelchair, a backpack carefully perched on her lap. "Don't let it get away!" The young woman is all smiles as she watches Mara use her strength to carry the suitcase off the conveyor. "We just need one more." Mara uttered. "I think I see it coming. Ah! Yes!"

Renz doesn't know what washes over her first; guilt or sadness? It was possibly a mix of both. Her heart starts to sink and the. a palpitation.

She rubbed her eyes dry of the tears that fell. It's been months of her tirelessly keeping secrets; hiding away in a foreign country with her cousin's ex lover. She felt miserable.

She couldn't believe her eyes; feeling deceived and mislead. "This can't be real." She muttered. Her heart thumped firmly against her chest.

"Is that..." Riley was wide-eyed. The older couldn't make out the look that was present on the younger girl's face—was it disbelief? Was it displeasure? "Renz, that can't be." Her gaze remained steady, reluctant to lose her glimpse of the girl she had kept close in her heart.

Her disbelief did not get in the way of her taking a step closer. "Did you know about this?" Renz was quick to shake her head. "Why is she here?"

The eldest stood firmly. "Trust me. I didn't even know they were coming." Her shoulders hung low as her suit case sits on the cold floor. "I was meant to go see Mason..." The truth finds its way out of her. It was bound to happen.

Riley watched intently as Mara wrapped her hands around the push handles of Mason's wheelchair. "She's in a wheelchair." Riley spoke. "Why is she in a wheelchair?"

Renz was quick to shrug. "I don't know either." Mason had cut contact after finding out the cold truth of why her cousin had left so suddenly. The modelling gig was nothing less than the absolute truth; only that it wasn't the full truth.

The 'couple' made their way towards the very spot where Renz and Riley found themselves. The ground felt like quick sand threatening to swallow them whole if they dared to move.

"If you're hungry we can grab something to—"

Mara comes to a sudden halt. Her eyes meet with the last person she wished to see. It had been no less than forty minutes since their arrival. It must've been fate and their damned plans to ruin her entirely. She knew full well that Mason would see Riley sooner or later. She just didn't think of it ever occurring this way; and not this fast. Her heart couldn't handle it.

The ground beneath her feet had now crumbled. Mara could feel herself drowning in an ocean of inevitability. This was her own doing. All for the sake of the girl she loves; for her to be happy as she so rightfully deserves. Kim Mara had flown too close to the sun—it would sent Icarus into hiding with how much she wished to drown of one's own free will, with little to no hesitation. Mara was ready to free fall.

She was ready. She was waiting for the harsh cold waves to come crashing down on her fragile body; to take her away and never back.

"Maisie." The name escapes Riley's lips like a mere breath of fresh air. "Is that really you?"

Mason sat still in the smallness of her wheelchair. It felt tighter than she last remembered. The sides felt like they were pressing against her skin. "Why are you here?"
She couldn't keep her eyes still. It switched rapidly between the two women in front of her.

Riley looked at her intently. Mason was covered in red skin patches. Her ex lover looked pale and weak; too fragile for this cruel world. This wasn't the Mason she left back home all those months ago. The Mason that walked out of her life that day seemed perfectly healthy.

The Mason that sits before her very eyes is not the same. Her best friend looks down at her with eyes that speak volumes. Riley couldn't help but question it. It felt weird and unsettling.
She couldn't help but feel insecure. Riley couldn't even fathom that feeling and why she was feeling it in the first place. There was something about the picture in front of her that stemmed an all consuming thought in her mind.

'What happened since I left?'

It swims eagerly across her mind, with little to no intention of ever leaving. It dug deep into the most vital parts of her mind, opening a door that would inevitably leave her full of worry.

She could feel her heart drum against her chest. It felt like a stampede threatening to run her over without question; they're brutal after all. This scene was brutal in itself however. She could sense the uneasiness that began to surround them like ropes in a ring match.

It felt like her own personal prison. One she could merely escape from. She could hardly let out a breath as Mara fell to her knees.

Mason could feel her body weaken. It was not merely her condition; it was a lot more than that. It was different this time. Different now that she finds herself in the proximity of the woman she had so desperately hoped to see. But what was that sinking feeling that threatened to form at the pit of her stomach? What was the feeling that rose up her throat? What exactly could she do in this very moment that could stop her from growing numb?

Her world fell beneath her feet. This wasn't how she pictured it. This wasn't how any of them pictured it. This love could not compare to the fairy tales or the teenage rom-coms. It was much deeper than that.It felt excruciating in every way possible. And yet, her lips part just enough for soft words to fall through.

"It's me."

Riley felt her tears run down her face. This was real. This wasn't merely a daydream. This was her reality slowly unfolding before her. After two hundred and forty three days, she felt something ignite within her. It was hope.