Person Of Interest. [GoodGuyFitz]

The Devils Breath. (21)

"I won't tell if you don't," Mason snickered. He handed me a half-smoked joint with a smile.

"Deal."

~The devils breath

Mason and I's unintentional beach trip meet up was something I plan on remembering forever. He's not the goofy, autistic cunt he puts himself out to be. Well, that's still debatable. But the dude has a lot of good and wise aspects to his persona. He's great with words, a wiz with pep-talks. Overall, Mason is genuinely a great guy.

He was so open and honest with me. I learned plenty new things about him and his life. The one thing that really peaked my interest was him having a girlfriend. Apparently they had been dating for almost six months now, and he was stressing to me about how it's getting harder and harder to keep what he does from her. They have something great going on and I'm afraid Mason would lose himself if what he does resulted in them splitting up.

I empathized with him. In a way, I could relate. But I couldn't tell Mason that. With all this trust he was putting in me, I couldn't trust him in return. What Cam and I are doing could get the both of us in a lot of trouble, or even killed. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to tell Mason, but a soft, vulnerable moment with him isn't worth that risk.

He even apologized for the way he treated me when I first showed up at the warehouse. It was sweet.

"You know Rory, I'm sorry for the way I acted when you first showed up. I was a total dick. Now that I know you- I understand why you're in your head a lot. Talking to yourself, constantly having this inner monologue and conversation with yourself. It's beautiful, really," Mason hung his head and scratched the back of his neck, "I can be ignorant and shitty a lot of the time. I give you permission to slap me next time I get out of hand, yeah?"

"I'll keep that in mind, and it's okay. We all make assumptions, good or not, when we first meet someone," I forgave him. His body language and tone of voice told me he was being sincere, and that he was genuinely sorry for his mistakes and misjudgments.

Overall, the trip was a success. I got exactly what I craved- clarity. I have to accept my new normal of being with the lads and accepting them as my brothers. Because right now, they're all I've got. And I can't keep going on in life alone. I gotta buck up and deal with it. And from here on out that's what I'll do.

The past is in the past. There's nothing I can do to change it so there's no use in dwelling. All we have is the present and future, so I'll live in the present, ignore the past, and look forward to the future. My plans and life and direction changed in just a matter of three days and I'm going to embrace it. This is the new me.

Badass mafia bitch Rory is here to stay.

Mason and I slept on the beach. Although it was fairly cold and windy, the fire he had made kept us reasonably warm. We used dry towels, jackets, and spare clothes to keep us warm. It was a new experience in a different environment, and quite frankly both Mason and I needed that getaway to think.

We woke up later than expected the net morning. We needed to be at the warehouse by ten in the morning, and it was already seven. The two and a half hour drive back to Melbourne definitely cut it short, but we were able to make it back just in time.The other lads, aside from Ryan, didn't know we left. Ryan instructed us to leave our phones with him so they wouldn't be able to track either of us down.

I was thankful for that, thankful that Ryan would give us that little break. He can be a grade A twat but he still has a heart and soul like the rest of us. I mean for fucks sake, we're only human.

Since Mason and I had pretty much gone missing in action, the lads were stoked to see us pop into the warehouse. Hundreds of questions were sent our way as we sat down around the large table, but we ignored them. Ryan sent a nod my way, which I returned. It was a silent understanding between the two of us. I had built back some of the trust I lost during the Matt situation by keeping my word and getting to the meeting on time.