Same Old Love

// twenty-three //

^reed^

I gasp as his fist makes contact with my cheek, clutching it the second his hand is pulled away.

"lise, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

"Get away from her." Mason stands in front of me and moves my hand away carefully. 

My eye is crying and I'm sure it's probably red around the area his hand made impact.

"I'm going to get you ice. Stay here." Mason glares at Reed before hurrying off.

I look desperately for Lauren and Ethan, yet they are nowhere to be seen. They probably slipped away for a quickie. I don't even know where Oliver could've gone.

"lise, I'm so so so sorry." Reed cups my face with his hand.

I turn away, leaving his hand to fall back to his side. "Please just leave me alone."

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Well, you did." I take a deep breath and sit back down on the ground.

Reed opens his mouth before closing it and sits down next to me. "I'm interpreting that has a double meaning."

"It's a frightening thought, that in one fraction of a moment you can fall in the kind of love that takes a lifetime to get over." I shift over to the right and stare ahead.

"But I didn't ask you to fall in love with me. Stop making me feel guilty." Reed huffs.

"I didn't ask to either! Just leave me alone and don't feel guilty. Asshole." I get up and walk to where Mason is, tears springing in my other eye.

"Hey, I was just coming over- Are you crying? Did he say something? I swear, I'll beat him." Mason places the bag of ice on my cheek lightly and peeks over my shoulder.

"I-I just want to go home if it's okay." I hold the ice instead of Mason and stare up at him.

He silently nods and places his hand at the small of my back. "Let's find Lauren."

We pass through the growing crowd and soon see Lauren laughing with Oliver and Ethan beside her. I don't see Reed and quite frankly, I don't care.

"Oh my gosh, what happened?" Oliver rushes towards me, pulling the ice bag away from my face. "Jesus."

"Anna." Lauren moves out from under Ethan's arm and tilts my head away.

"Who did this?" Ethan prods on.

Mason's arm wraps all the way around my waist, as if he's being protective. "Reed Lawrence."

"You're kidding." Oliver's jaw clenches.

"He was going to punch Mason. I stood in between and got the blow. Don't worry about it." I speak up.

"We're going home. Are you staying, Laur?" Mason huffs.

Lauren looks at me quickly before nodding. "You can stay at my house. My mom won't be home for a few hours. Late shift. You can sleepover, Anna."

"Alright." I nod. "Do you mind telling Mom, Olive?" I turn to Oliver and bite my lip.

"I'll tell her." He pats my shoulder. "Don't blame Reed. He is trying to not hurt you."

I roll my eyes and tug Mason away, ignoring Oliver. On the way out to the parking lot, I notice Reid with his head in his hands whilst sitting on a bench.

"I want to talk to him for a second." I shift awkwardly. 

"Be careful, Annalise." Mason sighs and gestures to the car. "I'll wait."

I slowly walk to Reed and sit down next to him.

"Seats taken." He mumbles angrily.

I hum. "Well that's too bad."

Surprised, Reed looks up. Our eyes lock and it's hard to turn away from his powerful trance. "I don't know what to say to you, lise."

"Don't say anything. I have to get over you. It's already obvious you have been getting over me." I pick at my jeans.

"I'm not o-"

I interrupt him, confidence flowing. "It hurts."

"What? Your cheek? I'm sor-"

"No. Pouring your best self into someone and still being their second choice, and maybe not even that? It hurts. Especially when you know their heart's gonna get broken, and they'll try to make you think you have a chance again." 

"I don't under-"

"I can't change your relationship with your father, Reed. I can't change your life after you choose soccer. You can't kiss soccer. You can't hug soccer. You need to focus on the things that make you happy in the long run. I just want you to be happy."

A tear escapes my eye as I look back up at him. "God, loving someone who doesn't love you back hurts."

I see something flash in Reed's eyes. I might never know what it was or what he would've said these past times I have interrupted him. All I know is that I have to go and leave him behind.

"Goodbye, Reed Lawrence." I cup his cheek with my small hand and gently kiss his other cheek. "Best of luck with soccer."

I stand up, tears bursting to break through. I ignore his calls and head straight for Mason's car, opening the door and sighing in relief. "Drive."

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"I'm sleeping here. You two can sleep on the air mattress in front of the TV." Lauren plops down on the couch. "I'm so pooped. Dress shopping was so hard."

I grin. "Did Ethan help you change?"

"Shut up!" She squealed, throwing a pillow at me. I caught it and toss it back at her.

"Let's watch Stranger Things!" Mason cheers, remote in hand.

I shrug. "If it's good."

"I'm going to sleep. Do whatever you want." Laur pulls the blanket over her head and faces the other way.

"You want to watch Stranger Things?" Mason prods.

"Yeah. I'm just going to get some popcorn." I step over Mason, only to feel I had my foot caught in the blankets. I slip onto Mason, my face centimeters from his.

His breath hitches, as does mine. We stare blankly at each other for a moment before Mason connects his lips to mine.

It's electric and I'm not sure why. We've known each other forever and never gotten this close. Our kissing is almost hungrily and I feel him wrap an arm around my back to stand up. Our lips don't break apart as he walks down the hall to their guest bedroom, locking the door behind him.

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Author's Note:

im sorry that chapter was bad. ok yikes. ummm does any1 still ship annalise and reed bc u better. but there's still annalise and mason ;) What will happen between Annalise and Mason from here? Will Lauren find out? What was Reed going to tell Annalise if she hadn't interrupted him or turned around when he called to her?

Find out in the next chapter of Same Old Love!

^^^^^^^^^^

hailey