⌗ 59; third person ✎ᝰ

Mara twists the bottle cap open and takes a tablet out and sets it down on the table along with two other antibiotics. "Babi, here." She hands Mason a bottle of water with the cap off. "Take them now before you sleep."

Riley watched intently from across the table. She chews the insides of her cheek as her fingers curl into the fabric of her denim jeans.

Mason takes the antibiotics in the palm of her hand without question. "I'll take them. But I'm not going to bed." She shakes her head while pursing her lips. "I'm not that sleepy." She said.

She takes her antibiotics and parts her lips just enough to let the mouth of the bottle press against her lips as Mara tilts the bottle downward. "Careful, you might spill, Babi."

Mason nods to signal Mara that she had enough water to drink. "Thank you." Her eyes turn into crescent moons. Riley felt her heart swell with the kind of feeling she had not felt in the last few months. Everything was coming back to her, catching up slowly the longer she spent in the presence of Mason, even when with Mara.

Mara beams happily. "I'll just put these away." She screws the bottle cap tightly and takes the antibiotics with her. "Try not to move, lovey."

The latter nods. "Can you bring me my hoodie? I'm feeling quite chilly." The heater runs at 25° degrees. "Is the heater actually working?"

Renz nods with haste. "I double checked. It's on. It'll warm up soon. It takes some time." She explained. Mason had yet to look her in the eyes. Meanwhile, Mara unzips her black oversized hoodie and ushers Mason to lean forward. "Should I turn it up?" Renz asks.

Her cousin shook her head. "No, don't worry about it." She insisted. Renz could only watch as Mara helps her cousin put on the hoodie.

Renz clicked her tongue. "You seem close."

Mara chuckled lightly. "I'm her best friend. That shouldn't be a shock to you." Her voice firm. Renz couldn't help but nod. "You've known me since we were little kids. Mason and I..." Her voice fades for a moment. "We've always been attached to the hip. Nothing new."

Riley stares at the cold marble floor. She couldn't help but notice how different their dynamic was. Mara was certainly not this intimate prior to her departure all those months ago. She knew they were close; always just as Mara had made sure to reiterate. But this was not like how Riley remembered it. Not even in the slightest. Something had definitely shifted.

Mason looks up at the doe eyed girl standing tall beside her. "Babi..." She cooed softly. The youngest tugs at the hem of her tee. "Relax."

Mara relaxes at Mason's touch. "Mm. I'll be back okay? I'll just put these away now." She leaves without another word. Quick to leave despite how inseparable she had been since the moment they collided at the airport.

She trods down the hall towards the guest bedroom previously occupied by Andy. Renz had been kind to clean up and offer new sheets and fresh pillowcases for her two new guests.

Mara felt her anxiety grow rapidly inside her, like a storm threatening to rage over a defenceless city. Her heart was weak. For the first time in her eighteen years of living, Kim Mara felt absolutely helpless.

Riley had been keeping tabs on her since they had gotten to Renz' studio apartment. The doe eyed girl did not need to look up; she could feel Riley's intense stare come right through her; like a red laser threatening to get right through.

Her back slides against the white panel door upon closing. The antibiotics roll out of her grasp as she clutches her chest with the palm of her hand. She had been built to withstand certain emotions; Mara does not cry ever so easily. But in the moment upon losing the one person you love most, there is no way to stop the tears from streaming endlessly down your face. It runs down seamlessly like a river emptying into the wide open ocean.

Here in these four walls so unfamiliar does she break down. Helpless and unable to find the capacity to catch a breath. No desperate plead could ever be enough to change the irreversible truth of who truly lies in Mason's heart.

No sonnet or poem could ever be enough to persuade a change that fate had already ultimately decided. The universe had always been one step ahead. Fully aware of the misery that would haunt Mara until her last breath.

She had lost someone once before. And here she finds herself losing another; even before it happens. The love she holds so deeply will remain her biggest ruination; she who had unknowingly created her own living hell.

And while the four walls hide her from the prying eyes of those who sit in the utmost corner of this apartment, she lets her misery take over her whole being. From the tip of her fingers and down to her very bones.

Her prolonged absence sends Mason into a form of curiosity. Renz had been working on a decent apology, and to no avail. Riley, on the other hand had kept her quiet. Unsure of what to say.

The night had unveiled nothing more than the bewilderment of many. Her heart yearned as it always had been. And so she parts her lips, desperate to hear Mason once again.

Riley fidgets in her seat. Mason had looked at her briefly. "Are you sick?" The words roll off her tongue. She was in disbelief at her ability to even mutter a single word in her presence.

A lot had changed in the last two hundred days. More than she could possibly fathom. Mason swallows the dryness that had built up at the back of her throat. "Hmm." Mason pondered for a moment. "I wish it was that simple."

Riley finally mustered the courage to look at the girl intently. "What do you mean by that?"

Mason rubs her palms against the fabric of her denim jeans. "I actually have a disease. Uh, Hansen's. It's um...curable so...yeah." Her eyes falter. She couldn't look Riley in the eye.

"Oh, that's a relief." Riley breathed. "I suppose you're taking treatments and such then?"

Renz fell silent. Incapable of throwing herself into the conversation. She felt as if she owed it to her cousin to just let them have their moment. It had been far too long after all.

Mason nods. "I am. I take antibiotics. Mara takes me to the hospital for frequent check ups. I'm improving thankfully." A small smile forms on her lips. Riley couldn't help but do the same.

Mara was once again brought into the conversation. She happened to everywhere, all at once. Riley remained just as curious as she was since they all gathered in Renz's studio.

She realised at one point that there had been a shift; drastic and ever changing. Not just one of them, but both. Riley had come to the conclusion that there were more than what the two had proven to be. More than friends that is.

"Has that affected your studies at all?" Riley couldn't help but be inquiring over this. She felt the need to dig deeper. To find out what really lies beneath those unspoken words.

Mason licks her lips. "In a way, yes. I feel too weak at some points. The university knows. I'll get the opportunity to catch up on my own pace. Mara's been a really great help too."

Riley nods. There it is again. She's heard that name more times than she had looked at Mason eye to eye this whole night. "That's great."

Silence reigns over the dining area for a brief moment. "How about you though?" Mason broke the ghostly silence. "Are you ok?"

Riley thought long and hard to herself. Sure she was ok. She was home after all. She was enrolled in an incredible school. She's somewhat happy. But there had always been something missing, and evidently so. And yet, that missing something happens to be in front of her.

She couldn't help but think of that all consuming question that sits in her mind like an impatient child.

If and/or when did things change so quickly?