Trauma changes people. trauma changes everyone.
All rights for the 9-1-1 cast and all rights to most of the plot goes to ABC. New plots and new characters belong to me 🫶
Book continues in Apparition! 🫶
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LYDIA
The sound of laughter and music echoed through Athena's house, but I barely noticed it. I sat on the couch, knees pulled up to my chest, my chin resting on them. Mason was next to me, scrolling on his phone. His quiet presence was comforting, even if my mind was elsewhere.
I couldn't stop thinking about the case-the cages, the chains, the horrific torture that woman endured. It wasn't just the brutality of it; it was the darkness in people that kept me awake at night. What drove someone to commit such evil?
Mason noticed my silence and followed my gaze, which had drifted to the corner of the room where Miles was spinning Delilah in a mock dance move. Isabelle and Julian were laughing along, and Tyler and Nathaniel were talking animatedly. They looked so carefree, so far removed from the horrors Mason and I had been dealing with.
Mason scoffed quietly, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Miles pisses me off," he muttered, his voice low enough that only I could hear.
I raised an eyebrow and glanced at him. "What'd he do this time?"
He shrugged, his tone softening as he looked at me. "Just... everything. The way he acts like he's above everyone. And the way he looks at you like you're still his to mess with."
My cheeks flushed, but I quickly shook my head. "Don't. It's not worth it."
Mason didn't seem convinced. "What are you thinking about?" he asked, his gaze narrowing slightly.
I smiled faintly and shook my head again. "Just... thinking."
He leaned closer, his voice firmer. "Lydia, what are you thinking about?"
I sighed. Mason always had a way of pulling answers out of me, even when I didn't want to give them. "The case. It's just... hard to shut it off, you know?"
Mason's expression softened, but his tone stayed firm. "You need to let your brain have a break. We'll be back on it tomorrow. Tonight is about relaxing."
"I know," I murmured.
"Do you?" he pressed, a teasing edge to his voice.
I shot him a look. "You're thinking about it too, don't even try to lie."
He shrugged nonchalantly, slipping his phone back into his pocket before standing up. "Maybe, but I'm not sitting here moping about it."
I gasped, clutching my chest in mock offense. "I am not moping!"
Mason laughed, reaching down to pull me up. "Come on, let's fix that."
I didn't have much choice as he tugged me off the couch and spun me around. "What are you doing?" I asked, laughing despite myself.
"Stooping to your level," he teased.
I playfully shoved him, but he just laughed harder, twirling me again and again until I was dizzy. We fell back onto the couch, breathless and laughing. For a brief moment, everything felt light again.
