Ballet And The Beast

Chapter Twenty Two

The next week goes by painfully slowly and I have to admit, I am feeling a lot better. The doctor and I have agreed that I will go to therapy every Tuesday until I feel more normal again. Dad has also been to visit me which was strange but nice.

Today is an exciting day though; I'm finally allowed to go home. Goodbye to the smell of chlorine and bleach with the sight of hospital grey and funny gowns. Although I know I had to be here, that doesn't make it any more enjoyable. The nurses and doctors are lovely, but no one wants to be in hospital.

"Hello Brooke, how are you?" Ms Richards asks as she enters my room. She insisted upon picking me up from hospital herself which I don't mind, saves an awkward car ride with Mason.

"I'm good, all ready to go back home." I state with a smile as I pick up my small bag of belongings Alice had kindly brought me. She smiles with a nod and takes the bag off me as we walk to her car in a comfortable silence. It doesn't take too long to get back to campus and I thank her for picking me up.

"Brooke wait." She starts and I turn back to face her.

"Is everything ok?" I ask cautiously, praying she isn't going to kick me out.

"You know you can always talk to me, about anything." She tells me and I think this is the softest I have ever, or will ever, see her expression.

"Thank you. And I'm sorry about this, I really didn't realise how out of control it had become until it was too late." I tell her looking down and the handbrake between us.

"I've been there, I know how difficult it is. My door is always open." She smiles and gets out the car with me following behind. "Here's your bag, I think your friends are in your room waiting for you." She chuckles before heading in the opposite direction.

"Thank you." I respond and head back to my room. She told me my friends are waiting, does that include Mason? I hope so. We still haven't spoken things through but he's been to see me every day and has been a huge support. I open the door to my room and am greeted by all my friends, including Mason, and surprisingly my father.

"Dad?" I ask astounded that he's in my room. With my friends. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were ok coming back. Plus I haven't had the chance to see your new room yet." He responds slightly awkwardly. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate this whole new supportive dad thing, it's just going to take time for us to get used to each other again. We've become almost strangers this past year.

"Thank you Dad." I respond with a smile giving him a hug.

"Anyway I better get going, I have a meeting that started fifteen minutes ago. See you guys later." He smiles before walking through the door.

"What did you guys do to him?" I ask once I know he won't be able to hear.

"Drugged him." Shane chuckles at his own joke whilst I just roll my eyes.

"He's actually a really nice guy when he's not being an asshole." Mason mumbles the last part causing me to smile. I really have missed him. His voice. His touch. His deep green eyes. The heart palpitations whenever he looks at me.

"I'm so glad you're back Brooke." Alice comments with a grin bigger than a Cheshire cat.

"We all are." Chase adds and Shane nods.

"I've missed you guys, all of you." I reply, aiming my sentence mainly at Mason.

"Anyway, we have a date to go on Alice." Chase states as he grabs her hand pulling her away before she has chance to answer.

"And I..um...have to finish my washing." Shane excuses himself extremely awkwardly.

"Anywhere you have to be?" I turn to Mason with a chuckle. It's obvious the three of them left to give Mason and I some time alone. Either that or I really am a freak.

"Only right here with my favorite person on the planet." He tells me with that knee buckling smile. The smile I have completely and utterly fallen in love with.

"Good " I smile back and he steps forward to give me a crushing hug that almost stops me breathing. I don't mind though, it's nice to be in his arms again.

"I love you babe." He breathes, almost too quiet for me to hear.

"I love you too." I just about manage to get out as he squeezes me tighter, if that's even possible. "We need to talk." I state when he finally let's me go. He stiffly nods and leads me over to my sofa where we both take a seat.

"I'm sorry about what I said and I'm even more sorry about the way I treated you after, especially in regards to Shane.  I know you would never do something like that and neither would he." He confesses after placing my hand on his lap.

"Why didn't you want me to know?" I ask the question that's been at the back of my mind since his mum first told me. Does he not trust me?

"I know you've got a lot on your plate, I didn't want to add to it. Plus I wanted you to come to me for support,  I thought if you knew then you wouldn't." He tells me, breaking eye contact.

"I'm not that unstable that I can't listen to your problems. I may not be the poster girl for positivity but that doesn't mean I can't be here to help you as well. A relationship is about both people, not just one." I slowly pull his chin up to meet my gaze and am met with an unreadable expression. It's not often I can't tell what he's thinking but it's never a good sign.

"Are we still in a relationship?" He asks in a surprising soft tone that doesn't match his now hard exterior.

"Are you going to talk to me about things now?" I ask and he snatches his hands away and gets up. I'm pretty sure I heard a growl.

"I'm not a pity case Brooke, I don't need to talk about my shit." He shouts back at me as he gets up and storms across my room. Here we go again.

"I didn't say you were but if you want me to be your girlfriend then you need to let me. It's what I'm here for." I snap back with my arms folded.

"I don't need you to look after me." He growls out, eyes darkening by the second. I get the impression he's even worse at talking his shit through than I am.

"What because that would be weak? How do you think that makes me feel about having to see a shrink every week? I don't give a shit about your ego Mase I just care about our relationship." I march over to him, my nostrils flared. Why can't he understand that I'm just trying to help?

"That's different, we're not the same." He retorts with a scoff which infuriates me more. "You have a reason to be the way you are, something you can talk about to get over it. I have nothing. What am I meant to say? I feel shitty and depressed even though I have the most incredible girlfriend and lead a great life." For a second he let's his stone cold demeanour lift and shows me just how difficult this is for him.

"You think I can just talk about my parents and my problems go away? Jesus christ I thought you were smarter than that. What helps them go away is knowing I'm not alone, having someone that understands the way I feel. I fucking love you Mason but you're such an asshole sometimes." I sigh while burning my eyes into his, full of fury.

His lips crash to mine as he backs me into the wall with force, taking me by surprise. One hand protects the back of my head while the other firmly grips my waist. Once I get over the shock of his actions, I kiss back with just as much force. Let's just say we took our anger out on the bed after that.