midnight rain | mason mount

xxiv

CHARLOTTE POV.
JUNE 11, 2022

I sat with Sasha and Lauren— Jack and Declan's girlfriends— as we waited for the game to start. Phil's parents sat a couple seats away from me, and I noticed that Mason's parents weren't in attendance. I was delighted to see that Mason was in the starting lineup. 

The game was a fast-paced one. The transitions between the plays were quick, with each team playing on the counterattacks. Being in Wembley Stadium, watching England play against Italy, reminded me of the Euros and how England had lost in the finals. For the sake of the team, I crossed my fingers that they would be able to win, or at least draw. 

England was playing a set piece from a corner kick. The players all lined up in the box, eager to score. The three of us sat there, watching intently as the referee blew the whistle. The cross was a good one, and it went directly toward where Mason was. Hopeful that he would score, I found myself sitting at the edge of my seat, waiting for the ball to go into the back of the net. 

But instead, as he went for the header, he collided directly with one of the defenders from the other team, completely missing the ball and crashing on the floor instead. After a scramble in the box, the ball was eventually cleared by the opposition team, and just like that, the play was over. 

"Do you guys ever not watch the ball, but watch your boyfriend? Like, I know I should be watching the ball and the game, but I just end up watching Dec." Lauren said. Sasha laughed in agreement, nodding her head and saying that she did the same.

So was I. I was doing the same. Worried about the clash, my eyes were fixed on Mason. The referee hadn't called anything after the clash and he had gotten up quickly too, but I was worried about him. He kept blinking repeatedly, and as he ran back to press the opposition team, it looked like he was stumbling a little, running in jagged lines. 

Furrowing my brows, I got up from my seat and walked to where the fence was to get a better look. We were seated only a couple of meters away from the players' bench and the pitch, so I could see relatively well what was going on. 

"Charlotte, what are you doing?" Sasha asked, trying to get me to come back to my seat. I was probably blocking the seat of other families sitting in the VIP section, but I didn't care about that right now. Mason was still walking a little worryingly. Eventually Sasha got up and tried to get me to come back to my seat, but I pushed her arm away and pointed at Mason. 

"Look. Don't you think he's walking a little funny? I think it's that clash from earlier, he really needs to be subbed off." 

"I'm sure he's fine. If he needed rest, he would've told the manager," Sasha said, trying to reassure me. But I wasn't convinced. 

He was jogging to the halfway line of the pitch to get back and help with the defense, but he stumbled on the way, falling to his knees before getting back up quickly again. That was the last straw— I knew he wasn't okay. 

Losing all sense of rationality in that moment, I yelled toward the bench where the players and managers were, "Look at him! He can't even walk properly. Sub him off!!" 

Some of the players looked my direction, confused. Phil recognized my voice immediately and signaled for me to cut it out, but I completely ignored him and said again, pointing at Mason, 

"He needs medical attention now! For the love of God, get him a medic!" 

"Charlotte. You really, really, can't be yelling at the manager like that." It was Ben this time— he was injured so he hadn't been called up to the squad, so he was watching in the stands, like me. "I can go talk to Gareth if you want, but—"