Friends, lovers... and an orange

Chapter 9

"Morning, Adele."

"Good morning, Jacob" she said as walked into the kitchen.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I actually did, yes. You?"

"I slept alone, so I did not sleep as well as you did" he sighed. "Morning, Mason."

"Morning, guys" he yawned.

"Good morning, Mase" Adele smiled as he sat down next to her and poured himself some coffee.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Me? I'm not laughing, bro" Jacob said.

"You are laughing."

"I... Ok, I am. But it's just that... Guys, you don't have to pretend in front of me."

"Pretend what?" Adele asked.

"That you didn't shag last night" Jacob chuckled.

"That we did what?" she said, Mason almost choking with his coffee.

"Oh, c'mon. I saw you go upstairs together, neither of you came back to the party, you Adele stayed for the night, and today you've woken up at the same time."

"I stayed because of Jourdan" she said.

"And waking up at the same time is just a coincidence" Mason added.

"Sure, bro. Sure" Jacob laughed. "But I also saw the photos."

"The photos? What photos?" Adele asked.

"The ones of you two making out on the balcony. They look steamy even if it was dark."

"There are... photos?"

"Yep. Look" Jacob said, showing them his phone.

"You gotta be kidding me" Adele muttered as she scrolled down. The photos were blurry due to the darkness and the distance, but you could see it was them. And if you didn't know what was really happening, it definitely looked like they were kissing, her hand cupping Mason's face, his forehead resting on hers. And then when they had sat down on a big chair to just talk about whatever crossed their minds, cuddling to not get too cold, it also looked as if they had kept kissing.

"I can't believe it. I can't fucking believe it!" Mason said, standing up and starting to pace around the kitchen.

"How... How did they manage to get these photos? We were at the back of the house, you can't see that from the street" Adele said, checking them again.

"The neighbours' house."

"Isn't that empty?" Jacob asked.

"It is. But I guess they rented it for the night or something. Fuck!" Mason said, running his hands through his hair and making Adele fear he may try and pull it out. "They invaded my privacy. Our privacy. I can't fucking believe they went that far just to get some blurry photos!"

"Mase..." Adele said, also getting up from her chair. "It's ok, relax."

"No, it isn't ok, Addie. They were already crossing many lines when they were following us everywhere and harassing you, but this? This?"

"Mase, it's ok" she repeated, taking a step closer to where he was standing.

"It isn't, Adele! We should feel and be safe in our homes, and we can't anymore. We can't!" he cried.

"Oh, Mase" she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

"We aren't safe anymore. You aren't" he sobbed on her shoulder, hugging her back.