Inferno

~178~ Tension

Sasha's POV

The ride home is quiet. Nobody is saying anything at all. We pull up and Dylan gasps.

"How can you afford a house like this?!? You're just a teacher!" he says in an insulting tone. It's obvious he has heard his dad say that many times.

"It's not my house. It's her parents house. We live in the apartment upstairs" he says.

"So you live with your girlfriend's parents?" Dylan asks in disdain.

"Yup" Mason says simply.

Dylan says nothing, but the rude noise he makes under his breath shows what he thinks. Mason ignores it.

We go inside and the kids look around. I see Josie stiffen the moment she sees Luke. She thinks he's cute.

"This is Ellie and Taylor, Sasha's parents. Guys, this is Dylan and Jocelyn" Mason says, completely stressed.

Mom comes up to them and gives them her best 'Ellie smile.' "We're so glad to have you here" she says gently.

Josie immediately relaxes a little.

"You guys hungry?" Mom asks softly.

They both just shake their heads. Mom nods. "Well, if you are, grab whatever you want. The pantry is always stocked with way too much junk, and I'm completely obsessed with soda, so there's always a ton" she smiles.

"Yeah, we really need to break you of that habit, Ellie Jane" dad says, giving her a smile.

"No you don't. A girl's gotta have one bad habit, thank you very much" she smirks, shoving him lightly.

He chuckles and rolls his eyes.

"The knucklehead behind me is Luke, and Emma will be here in a bit" dad says with a smile.

The kids say nothing.

"Your beds just got here, but we wanted you guys to be able to pick out some things for your rooms. We can go shopping tomorrow if you want. Mason, Sash, why don't you give them a tour of the house. I'm sure this is overwhelming" mom says gently.

Mason nods and leads the way upstairs.

When we get up the stairs, and start walking down the hall, Dylan talks under his breath. "I see why your girlfriend is so hot. Her mom is a knockout" he says appreciatively.

Mason says nothing as we continue down the hall. We go up the other flight of stairs to the apartment. Dylan scoffs and shakes his head. "My bathroom is bigger than this dump" he says, rolling his eyes.

Mason ignores that too.

"Dyl, your room is in here. I really hope we got the things that are most important to you. I grabbed what I thought you would like, but I don't know. I'm sorry if I didn't" he says sadly.

Dylan goes in and just looks around, saying nothing.

Then Mason turns to Josie. "Jos, Ellie packed what she could. I'm so sorry, girly. I wish you could have packed yourself" he says, fighting tears. She goes in silently and shuts the door.

Mason looks at me, unsure of what to do. "Should I go in?" He whispers.

I shake my head. "Just let her be" I say.

We sit on the couch and wait for them to come out. Dylan comes out about twenty minutes later. "Of course you wouldn't have grabbed my AirPods" he grumbles.

"I'm sorry, Dylan. I'll replace them for you eventually" Mason says softly.

"They're only like $120. Why can't you do it now?" He snaps.