Inked

15

Finally, when I pulled into the parks parking lot, the dense silence was broken.

"I knew. When you called me that night." Mason spoke without meeting my eyes. "I knew that you must be my soulmate. I wrote my number on my hand to see if you would connect the dots."

I remained silent, not knowing how to respond. Suddenly anger began to bubble inside me.

"You asshole! You knew this whole time, but still lead me on to think that you weren't my soul mate! Do you know how many times this has happened to me? You made me think you would abandon me, just like-" I hesitated, deciding whether or not to continue. "Just like everyone else."

"What do you mean?"

"I-Look it's not important now. You're still a dick and Callie needs me, so I'm leaving this car with or without you." I violently opened the car door and slammed it for effect before hurrying to where Callie and Mia were going to be.

Near the parks small pond sat a table and chairs where the two were supposed to meet. Callie was currently pacing back and forth in front of the table.

"There you are! Wait, what the fuck happened to you?" Callie gently sat me in one of the empty chairs and examined my face for injuries. I swatted her hands away and stood up.

"I was pushed down the stairs, but it's fine. Where's Mia?" I questioned urgently.

"She's on her way, but are you alright? You seem really upset, Ro." She spoke softly.

"I-It's not the most important thing right now. I'm fine, Cal. Just focus on proposing to Mia, okay?" I flashed a hopefully convincing fake smile before going back to the parking lot to escort Mia to where Callie was. I went over to a great big oak tree and sat down.

I had been waiting for over ten minutes when someone walked over and stood in front of where I was sitting.

"Rowan, I'm sorry. But if you would just hear me out-" Of course it would be Mason.

"Fine." I replied bluntly, without looking up at him. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed before sitting in front of me.

"I would have loved to just drop everything and be with you-to drop Keith and be with you, but I couldn't have. Honestly, as long as I live with Keith I still can't. There is no way in hell he will ever let me move out of the apartment. Especially if it's because I'm leaving him. I really like you, Ro. But... it's not safe. Please tell me you understand, I don't want to say it out loud." He begged quietly as tears ran down his cheeks.

I gently placed his hand in mine and nodded before pulling him into a hug.

"I understand. I'm sorry for yelling at you in the car. I was the dick, I should have put two and two together instead of reacting like that."

"It's okay. Let's forget about it." Mason smiled at me sadly. "Speaking of back in the car, what did you mean? About me 'abandoning you like everyone else'? Sorry, if I'm prying."

I fidgeted with my hands a bit.

'Do I trust him?' I asked myself. Suddenly, I was taken back to that night on the rooftop.

"Well? What do you think?" Mason prompted. I smiled widely at him in reply before tilting my head back up towards the sky to continue gazing. He slowly guided me to the middle of the roof and gestured for me to sit down. I quickly obliged and laid down on the cool concrete. The moon was huge and glowing with a subtle mauve tone while the tiny stars shone white light across the sky. I was so absorbed in the stunning picture above me the I didn't notice that not only was Mason still holding my hand, but he was resting his head on my shoulder watching me. I looked into Mason's blue eyes as if they would give me a hint as to what was going through his mind. Mason gently placed his lips on top of mine.

"I used to search for my soul mate. Constantly. I went out with a lot of people, but nothing lasted more than a week, or even a night, before they found their actual soul mate. They were happy. I never was and I got so frustrated I just gave up. On top of that, my parents gave up on me and left when I was twelve. Both of them." I looked at the ground not wanting to see the look of pity on Masons face. "Then I met you and I was so fucking sure that this time would be it. You gave me hope and then ripped it away." I gave a half laugh. "Not that I wasn't used to it by then anyway."

Not even letting a millisecond of silence go by after I finished my second, Mason pressed his lips onto mine.

It wasn't sweet like the kiss on the rooftop. There were tears and unreadable emotions mixed in to where anyone observing would probably assume we were broken. Sure, alone we were two boys broken by the people we thought cared about us, but together we weren't. We fixed each other.