𝐇𝐈𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐔𝐍 (𝙰 𝙵𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕)

❽ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝

•••

Mason

Saturday

Waking up, submerged in Vinnie's chest, was one of the nicest feelings I've received in a while. It was a little claustrophobic, considering that we had to squeeze both of our bodies onto the small seats in the back of the car, but I welcomed it. You rarely get the chance to have someone hold you as gently and as appreciative as Vinnie does.

The sun was gazing through the sunroof, hitting us directly. The heat from the ray was beginning to make my fur, and skin underneath, boil, plus the heat radiating from Vinnie's embrace, plus the heavy hotel room blanket, plus the leather seats... long story short, it felt very uncomfortable. I was getting all sweaty and gross, and I didn't want Vinnie to wake up to the mess of a fox I am.

I tried to shift my way through Vinnie's entangled puzzle of a hug and attempt to reach up and grab the shade on the sunroof. My limbs weren't fully awake and they hurt like hell, but I still managed to reach it and pull it closed. The car was then darker, which is why I jumped a few feet when Vinnie's hand emerged from the darkness and grabbed my arm that was stretching to reach the shade.

"Hey, don't freak out on me, fox," His deep, raspy, yet calming voice sounded as he pulled me back into his embrace. My head rested against his arm that he wrapped around behind me. 

We both decided to just stare into each other's eyes, lying down, our heads sideways to the car seat. I never noticed how much his eyes could say, the stories they could tell. They were big and open, carefree and warm. Our arms were around each other, our legs intertwined.

I heard an exhale breathe out through his nostrils along with a soft, low moan as he caressed my left cheek, moving his fingers and tracing his claws from my black whiskers to my chin.

"You fell asleep before I could say it back." He whispered.

"Say what back?"

"I'm in love with you, too."

I suddenly felt a sinking feeling in my gut once he had said those words to me. My eyebrows tilted downward and Vinnie picked up on it right away. Our faces were only centimeters apart, anyway.

"I... Vinnie..." I began to tremble. "I don't know why I said that to you last night..."

"Wait, what?" I could see the sudden doom in his facial expression. "Did you not mean it?"

"No, I did—I do, I, just... I don't know why I admitted it."

"Well... were you planning on keeping it a secret or something..?"

"Yeah... and for a long time, too." My eyes left his, staring at his chest since there was nowhere else to look. "I got your hopes up, and now you're in love with me, too. This isn't going to end the way you think, Vinnie. I shouldn't have told you."

"Mason, I've been in love with you for a while, what you said didn't cause me to immediately feel the same—"

"How could you have loved me for a while? We met five days ago. You know nothing about me. You don't know what I've done or what I'm capable of. I got your hopes up and I made you believe that you could trust me. This won't end the way you think it will—"

"I'm willing to take the risk for you, Mason. I don't care what you might've done or what you might do to me... But, the past is behind me now. You didn't ruin my life. You simply opened a door. A new chapter." Somehow, Vinnie had managed to pull me in even closer to him. Our lips were so close, atoms apart, our teeth drawing towards each other like a magnetic pull. "You were right. My life was miserable before you came into it. And now you've freed me. And I'm willing to take the risk of moving on with you, a new chapter, a new life. And no matter what happens, I won't regret this journey. Because it will be infinitely better than anything I could've done in that beat-up, rundown town. So, yeah, I don't know you, but I do know that we can do this if we do it together."