A couple of days have passed, and things have almost gone back to normal. Alina is starting to feel better; she still has the bandage on, but it's slowly peeling off on its own; she has also begun talking a bit, but her voice is still very hoarse; and she's still eating liquid food to avoid putting her throat in more pain.
There have been many visitors, including Ben, who had promised Mason he would visit Alina. Declan and Lauren had come to visit, and Mason's family too, of course.
Club football was slowly coming back, and Mason was back in training. Although he did strain his calf lightly, it's not an injury to worry about, and he was secretly happy about it, knowing he has an excuse to be with Alina.
Alina is currently on the couch in her apartment, alone, because her parents had to go grocery shopping. Mason had turned up just minutes later, which surprised her.
He hasn't told her about his strained calf because he doesn't want to worry her. But visiting her earlier than she expected probably wasn't a good way to hide it.
"How's my beautiful girlfriend?" he asked as he walked over to her. Alina looked up surprised. "I left training earlier," Mason said, knowing that she was wondering.
"Why?" she whispered, not feeling any pain in her throat.
"Nothing to worry about," he smiled before placing a kiss on her lips. She looked at him with a concerned look on her face.
"Tell me," she whispered.
"Just a light injury, nothing to be worried about, I promise," he assured her.
She leaned over to him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and hugged him. "How about we go for a walk?" he suggested, before placing a kiss on top of her head.
She nodded, relieved that he asked her. She's been suffocating, staying in her apartment for so long with her parents constantly looking after her, she felt like she was in a prison.
"Let's get you changed into warmer clothes then, ok?" He said as she leaned back from the hug.
"Okay," she nodded.
They walked over to her room, he opened her wardrobe, pulling out warmer pants and a hoodie for her to put over her shirt.
He looked back at her, noticing that she was staring at her bed, "You ok?" He asked
She looked back at him with a smirk, "No Ali, I told you this many times, no sex until you're completely healed," he looked at her.
"Just a quick one," she said, desperate.
He cupped her face in his palms and placed a kiss on her lips. "It's too risky right now, baby, I'm sorry," he said, pulling away from her.
She sighed and let him help her change her clothes. Soon enough, they were both outside, holding hands and walking. Alina had also managed to grab her camera; it's been a long time since she used it.
"Stand there," she said in her hoarse voice, and pointed to the old tree that was covered in snow. Mason didn't ask any questions; he just let her take the pictures she wanted to take.
She bent down to take the picture from a different angle, showing a thumbs up afterward. He walked over to see the pictures. "How are you so good at this?" He smiled as he looked through the ones she just took.
She smiled, appreciating his comment. "It's easy when you have a good model posing for the picture," she said, making him look at her with a smile.
"You're too cute," he chuckled as he placed a kiss on her cold cheek.
