the other side of us | ✓

2.12 | didn't mean to let you go

Charlotte woke the morning after her conversation with her father with a terrible headache. The skin underneath her eyes was puffy and tender, but she did her best to ignore it as she washed her face and tried to get ready for the day.

She couldn't believe that she'd called Mason last night. And worse, she'd argued with him. Over her father.

A glance at her phone revealed that her last message to him, the solitary I'm sorry, hadn't been opened yet.

Charlotte sighed. They'd never really fought before, even when they'd been dating. They'd had disagreements – whether or not Mason should go back to school (a no from him, an encouraging yes from her), or if Tara should be allowed to join in on their date nights (a firm no from her) – but they'd never had fights that made her as angry as she'd been last night.

She made herself breakfast, an omelet and her ever present cup of coffee, all the while keeping her eyes glued to her phone. Did she even want him to text her back? She knew that what he wanted from her was far more than simple friendship.

But it was Mason. She'd missed him, Charlotte rationalized, and there was nothing wrong with reaching out to a friend. He knew where she stood, and he'd said that he'd be whatever she wanted.

Charlotte brushed her teeth, jumping when her phone buzzed, but it was just Devin letting her know she'd be late.

Disappointment bloomed in her chest, but Charlotte tried to brush it off as she tugged on a pair of jeans and a sweater.

He could accept the apology if he wanted to. And if he didn't, she'd already had four years to get used to life without him.

*

"And then what happened?" Devin asked, her cleaning rag forgotten.

Charlotte was trying to explain her conversation with her dad the evening before while they cleaned the shop during a lull, but Devin had never been good at multitasking.

"He left." She said, shrugging.

Devin scrunched her eyebrows together. "He did?"

Charlotte shrugged again.

"Why didn't you call me? I would've come over."

"It wasn't a big deal." Charlotte hedged.

Her friend's eyes grew wide. "You're hiding something from me."

"What? No I'm not."

"Puh-lease. You've been staring at your phone all afternoon and you're completely ignoring your own rule about checking messages during your shift."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "You're imagining things."

"Spill." Devin demanded. "Otherwise, I'll call Patrick and have him nag you too."

"Fine." Charlotte huffed. "I...might have called Mason."

The resulting shriek that Devin released caused several customers to glance over in curiosity. Charlotte shushed her friend and smiled awkwardly.

"You called him?" Devin asked, her voice still excited.

Charlotte shifted awkwardly. Maybe telling Devin hadn't been the smartest thing.

"Don't make it a big deal." She warned.

"But what does this mean?" Devin asked, ignoring her.

"It doesn't mean anything."

"But you called him."

"And?"

"Did he answer right away?"

"Yes?"

Devin stared at her like she was missing something.

"He still loves you, Charlie. You have to know that."

Charlotte found herself nodding. "I know. He told me."

Devin did a double take. "Wait, what? When?"

"When he came to the shop to apologize."

"And you told him you want to be friends?"

"Yeah."

"But you called him last night instead of your best friend?"

"Yeah."

"And you love him."

"Yeah – hey!" Charlotte said, catching herself. "Don't put words in my mouth."

"Ha! You agreed!"

"Only because you asked so many questions!"

Devin rolled her eyes as Charlotte blushed.

It was too soon to let Mason back into her heart.

And yet, that evening, after the shop was closed and Devin had gone home, Charlotte found herself clutching her phone anxiously as she tried to watch television.

What if he never responded? What if he'd lied about loving her still?

Her phone buzzed, and Charlotte sat up, heart pounding.

A peak at the screen revealed Mason's name. She clicked on the message, her heartbeat in her ears.

all good

She smiled.

***

Mason held his breath before pressing the call icon under Charlotte's name.

She picked up on the first ring.

"Mason?"

"H-hey! I didn't know if you'd still be up."

"Yeah, um, I couldn't sleep."

"Me either."

There was silence.

"Mason? Was there something you wanted?"

"To hear your voice." He answered honestly.

"Mason," The warning in her voice was clear.

"Joking, Charlotte. I wanted to check on you."

"You wanted to check on me?"

"You were upset last night." He answered simply.

"Oh. Right."

"So, are you okay?"

"I'm...better. Thanks for listening to me."

"Of course."

"And for answering so late."

"Anytime." He reassured her, and he meant it.

The line went quiet again, and Mason listened to their combined breathing as his own slowed and he succumbed to the sleep that pulled him under.

***

Charlotte and Mason began texting more and more over the coming weeks. At first, Charlotte tried to tell herself that he was just checking on her after her fight with her father. She tried to convince herself that she was responding to be friendly, but as the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months, she knew that it was more than that.

Mason was slowly becoming an important person in her life again, and that worried her. Devin and Ash had assured her that he wasn't going to leave again, but Charlotte didn't want to get too invested. He'd promised that he wouldn't leave last time and he still had.

I love you.

I'm sorry.

She wasn't ready to get hurt again.