skinny love | solangelo

Valentine's

~Will

I smiled brightly up at Mason who was sporting a maroon button-up. My fingers smoothed over the generic, white-and-red, checkerboard picnic blanket that he had set out. Mason sat down in one fluid motion, plopping the wicker basket next to him.

"What have you packed?" I asked. I wasn't allowed to see; Mason wanted it to be a surprise.

He started rifling through the items naming them off to me. "Pickles, strawberries, sandwiches, apple juice..." I zoned out staring at him, still bewildered about how I managed to snag him as my boyfriend. He looked at me, mouth moving, and after a moment he stopped with an eyebrow arching.

I shook off the pink haze fogging up my head. "You were saying?"

"You didn't hear a sentence of that, did you?"

I laughed, "Nope." Mason smiled good naturedly and repeated what he said.

"There's gonna be fireworks tonight in honor of Valentine's. How do you feel about going?"

A flutter started in my chest. "Anytime with you I won't pass on." He laughed at that. Picking up an apple from the basket he placed between us, he questioned with his eyes if I wanted one. Instead of answering, I just lay down and closed my eyes.

The trees above us were green and lush, though spring and winter weather was still tossing back and forth. The grass below the blanket was also green and soft. We were on a hill looking over the camp, secluded from everyone else. The whole world around me felt like a dream, meant only for Mason and I.

Faintly, I heard him calling my name. Opening one eye to look at him, I was surprised to see a look on his face I've never seen before. Nervousness and a dash of fondness. At once I opened both eyes and sat up to look at him.

"Will, I-" Mason bit his lip, proving distracting. He swallowed and my eyes flickered down to the bobbing of his Adam's apple. "I've wanted to tell you something for a while now, but I'm not sure if I know how." He glanced down at his hands, quickly finding mine and squeezed. "No time like Valentine's, I guess. Well. William Solace, I love you."

At once, my world stopped. There was nothing but us, Mason's hand holding my own, and our tiny patch of paradise.

Before I could respond, yelling broke through paradise.

"Will, stop! He's manipulating you!" Out of the bushes ran none other than Nico di Angelo. "Mason is charmspeaking you! He's going to break your heart!" He ran over to where we were sitting, glaring at my boyfriend.

"Aren't you the one who broke my heart?" I snapped. Why can't I get rid of Nico? "Were you spying on us?"

Nico looked like I broke him as red traveled up his neck and filled his cheeks. "No. Uh, um. I - yes?" Wiping his palms on his jeans, he continued. "That's beside the matter. Aphrodite rite of passage is breaking someone's heart. Will, he's going to do that to you."

"No, he won't." I made every word a dagger, pressing them into Nico, making him feel my anger at being interrupted. "Mason lo-" a goofy grin spread across my face. I could barely even finish my sentence.

Mason said it for me. "I love Will." I giggled, giving our still entwined hands a squeeze. Mason was glaring at Nico with the intensity of a thousand suns.

I guess he didn't want to argue with that, because Nico scowled and sighed. "I warned you, Sunshine." He turned and headed back the way he came.

That word felt like it meant something. I didn't know what, but something rose in my chest as he said it. Sunshine. Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine.

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hey y'all murder isn't in my best interests right now. how bout we all calm down and eat some toast.