Long Distance

Sleepover.

[Mason]

I sluggishly exit the hotel bar and hail a taxi. I felt a mix of emotions and the three beers I had weren't doing anything to help calm my nerves. It's a twenty minute drive back to my penthouse and all I could think about was Aria and how she ended things.

I thought she was the one for me- still believe she's the one for me and I refuse to believe that things between us are over for good. But a voice in the back of my mind says that maybe things really are over. So damaged that it's beyond repair.

Maybe it's the alcohol talking.

As the driver pulls up to my building I pull out a wad of cash and hand it to him with no idea how much I just gave him. The look of surprise on his face indicates that it's probably more than he's used to.

The door is unlocked when I finally get to the penthouse and since my dad is on a business trip I know that I probably forgot to lock it for the second time in the past 24 hours.

"Mason!" A voice squeals and my heart almost jumps out of my chest.

"Karina, what the hell? What are you doing here?" I scream. She was the reason why Aria hated me but my conscious tells me I couldn't put all the blame on her.

"Your door was unlocked," she says as she makes her way towards me. "And I wanted to see how things went with that girl. She was your fiancé right?" She looks up at me with her hazel eyes, confusion and worry filling her eyes and I sigh.

"Yeah. Was." I put emphasis on was and her face softens.

"Can I do anything to make you feel better?" She steps closer to me until there's nothing but an inch between us and snakes her arms around my neck. Slowly, she brings her face up to my mine and presses a soft kiss onto my lips.

Even then all I can think about is Ar, but she made it pretty clear she wants nothing to do with me anymore and maybe I should try to forget. Something inside me screams that I shouldn't be doing this and that it's the alcohol in my system that's taking over my decision making skills, but as Karina pulls me closer to her and presses her lips on mine again, I can't help but grab her waist and pull her towards me until there's no more space between us.

[Aria]

It was my last day in New York and I've never been more ready to leave. No matter how long I've been waiting to visit New York and all it has to offer, I can't help but feel that the city was now ruined for me. Tarnished by the memories of everything that went down between Mason and I. I missed my parents and Mads and craved the familiarity of being home. So as I stepped onto the plane I didn't look back.

I spent most of the plane ride watching through the window as we glided through the clouds. Madison would be waiting for me at the airport and I couldn't wait to just tell her everything even though it hurt me to think about it.

And how will my parents react when they find out what happened? As the plane landed and I quickly made my way through security and baggage claim I decided that I would have to think about it later.

"Ar!" Madison screams as she runs towards me and embraces me in a hug. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." I reply, squeezing her with just as much force. "Thanks for coming to pick me up. You've saved me from what would have been an awkward car ride with my parents."

"Was your trip that bad?" She asks solemnly and I nod, willing myself not to cry.

"Come on, let's go get some ice cream and you can tell me everything."

So there we were, thirty minutes later at my favorite ice cream shop as I recounted everything from my trip to New York. I could tell that Madison wanted to interject so bad but she waited until I was done talking.

"How could he do that to you?" she exclaims, her face heating up with anger. "He's such an inconsiderate, cheating asshole! I should kill him for everything he's put you through."

"I don't even know what I'm going to tell my parents." I sigh before taking a small bite of my ice cream.

"You need to tell them the truth. They should know about everything that douchebag has done."

____________

I had invited all the guys and girls over deciding they deserved to know what was going on. Matthew and Alex were cluelessly sitting on my couch eating some of the Welcome Home cake my parents had bought me while Madison and Kris sat next to me on the other side of the living room.

"So what's going on?" Alex breaks the silence and I look to all of them knowing that what I was about to say could affect our group greatly.

"Mason and I are no longer together," I say and I can feel a pressure on my chest as I utter the words out. Instead of being met with a swarm of questions, everyone remains silent.

"What happened?" Matthew asked and I close my eyes, all of the events flashing through my mind and I feel the urge to cry by that alone.

"He cheated on me." I manage to say, however by the way my voice was wavering, I knew the tears would start coming soon.

"I got to New York and I found his dad's penthouse," I begin to explain while everyone listens attentively. "When I got there the door was unlocked so I walked in and he was in his room on top of a half naked girl."

Matthew looks at Alex and they both shake their heads in disapproval at their best friend.

"Why would he cheat though?" Kris asks.

"The night of Mads' party, Ian's friend had taken a video of me and sent it to Mason saying I was sleeping around and that the guy in the video was Ethan."

"Owens?" Matthew asks.

"Yes," I nod and it was then I realized the only ones who really knew about all the Ethan drama were the girls. The guys had been oblivious to all beef.

"So Mase believed him and cheated on you," Alex finished my explanation.

"Yeah," I look down at my lap fighting the tears that were threatening to drop at any second. This breakup was becoming too much and I just wished this could all end. I hated knowing that such an enormous part of my future was ruined and taken away.

"I can't believe he'd so such a thing," Matthew shook his head again. I knew this hurt him too. Mason was like his brother, and hearing this had probably changed his entire view on who his best friend truly is. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

I stop Madison from going off on her boyfriend and answer his question.

"I'm not wearing my engagement ring. And you can ask him yourself if that's not enough."

I didn't blame Matt for questioning me. He was Mason's best friend after all. It was crazy to think Mason could even do something like that.

After receiving hugs from everyone and even letting out a few tears, they all leave my house except Madison and Kris who insisted on having a sleepover. I agreed, deciding I had to at least make an attempt to distract myself.

So as we binge watched Netflix while eating pints of ice cream, I decided I was going to move on. I was going to let Mason go even if it was killing me now. I was going to forget any love I ever had for him even if it seemed impossible right now.