midnight rain | mason mount

xxix

AUTHOR POV.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

Mason was worried sick. He had flown in early from Croatia on purpose— before the rest of the team— but when he got home, she was nowhere to be found. It had now been a week since she had mysteriously disappeared. 

He knew she was receiving and reading his texts as the read recipient was turned on, and she would read all of his texts almost immediately after he sent them. But she didn't reply, not once. 

mase🤍 & char🧸❤️

MASE🤍
char please just come home
im worried sick about you 
please
or at least let me know that you're okay
char it's been a week
im going to report you to the police as a missing person 

CHAR🧸❤️
please dont

It was the first time she had replied in a week.

MASE🤍
are you okay?? 
are you hurt
please just talk to me 

CHAR🧸❤️
no im okay
i just need to take care of some things

MASE🤍
char you need to talk to me
we're in a relationship
you can't just shut me out like this 

CHAR🧸❤️
i promise im not shutting you out
im sorry
i'll be there at the game today

MASE🤍
you will? 
can we talk before kickoff

CHAR🧸❤️
i dont know
im sorry

MASE🤍
what do you mean you don't know?
charlotte please
are you safe?

CHAR🧸❤️
yes
im fine
i just need to take care of a few things
please dont worry about me 

Mason hated the ambiguity. But as much as he wanted to be mad at her, he couldn't. He couldn't quite put his finger on the reason, but he just couldn't. Mason arrived at Stamford Bridge ahead of kickoff and scanned the stands, hoping to find Charlotte there. She wasn't in her usual seat in the VIP section. Noticing that Mason was looking for Charlotte, Sophia walked over to him and said,

"She's not here. I saw her arrive, though. She's sitting higher up, in the normal stands." Sophia pointed in the direction where Charlotte was sitting, but before Mason headed off she grabbed his arm and added on, "She's with him. The guy from last week." 

He had to be smart about this. He needed to get her away from Luis, but it needed to be in a way that she wouldn't get hurt, and that attention wouldn't be drawn to them. Mason could see them sitting in the stands together. She was as stiff as a rock, but his arm was wrapped around her waist and his other hand rested on her thigh. Her hand was wrapped around his bicep. It pained Mason to see her with someone else— especially as she looked so miserable. 

Just then, Mason felt someone tap him at about his hips. He turned around and looked down to see a young boy— presumably a fan.

"It's Mason Mount!" The little boy exclaimed, in awe. 

"Yeah, it's Mason Mount." Mason's first instinct was to bend down to the fan's level and greet him, patting him on the head slightly. "You excited for the game?"