Leave, Before You Love Me

Chapter Fifty-One

At the end of the trailhead, the footpath opens to a rare view of the mountain range. The view is outstanding. My mother wasn't lying.

"Holy shit." I hear Mason say, and I laugh.

"This is," I begin, "Wow." It is simply breathtaking.

I turn around in slow circles to take in the incredible view surrounding us... I walk along the ridge and am careful not to get too close to the edge.

When I realize Mase isn't with me, I turn to find him sitting along the edge of the cliff staring at the setting sun. He looks at peace, gazing out at the sky the way he does. Thoughtful. At peace.

"May I?" I ask him quietly, not wanting to disrupt this moment for him.

He nods but doesn't look at me, so I take the seat beside him and I let my feet dangle off the cliff and sit quietly next to him, enjoying the solitude of this moment between us.

"Ros?" He says my name affectionately. I look at him and raise my eyebrows at his question. "Thanks for asking me to join you this weekend," He says softly, and I lean into him, resting my head on his arm.

"Thank you for coming," I tell him, wishing he knew how much it means to me to have him here.

We sit and watch as the sun slowly fades behind the mountains in front of us— Mason puts his arm around my shoulders and holds me against him.

As the sun sinks lower behind the mountain range, Mason murmurs that we should get back before it gets too dark. "The way down should be much faster than the way up." He informs me, standing above me, dusting off the back of his pants.

Mason holds out his hand to me and helps me stand up, taking one last look at the sunset, and it's only then that I realize Mase, and I have never taken one picture together this whole summer.

"Mase," I say, my voice low at the embarrassment I feel at what I'm about to ask, hoping he won't turn me down. "Will you take a picture with me?"

Mason's lips twitch and then turn up into a slight smile. He nods at my question and holds his hand out for my phone. I'm so ecstatic, but I mask my excitement and bite down on my lips, hiding the immense satisfaction at him giving this to me.

I grab my phone, turn the camera on selfie mode, and put it into his hands. Mason turns us, so our backs face the sunset, and when he holds up the camera towards us, I smile stupidly at seeing the two of us together in the frame... giving myself away.

Mason laughs as he sees the giant smile on my face and hits the round white button to seize the moment. As I see the captured picture before it disappears off of the screen, I stare at him wide-eyed and cry at how terrible of a photo he took.

"Mase!" I whine at him, which makes him laugh harder. "That's not a picture! That's a disaster... what if I wanted to frame it?"

"Baby, you're just so cute!" He says tenderly and bends to kiss me on my lips, silencing my displeasure of our first photo together. When he pulls away from me, I watch him put the camera back in my jacket pocket, and he takes my hand, leading me back to the trailhead.

"You still owe me a picture!" I tell him, annoyed.

"Before this weekend is over," He promises me, and I am mollified for now.

We take our time walking in the twilight down the mountain and make it back to the cabin before dark. My mother and David sit on the deck, enjoying a glass of wine and ask us how the view from the top was.

"It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," Mason tells them, "Truly." He squeezes my hand as he says this, and I look up at him to see him looking down at me, his dark chocolate eyes staring at me.