POV: Hazel
To say I was confused, was an understatement.
In the past 15 hours, Me and Mason had almost kissed twice, and slept in the same bed. We had slept in the same bed before, but this time I woke up, with me wrapped in his arms. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not complaining, but it's very confusing. Just last week, I slept in his lap on the bathroom floor.
We were being very....intimate, I guess is the word I'm thinking of. The thing is, we'd never been like this before now, again not complaining because it was kind of nice, but then again, he was my best friend, and it was a little strange for it to come straight out of the blue.
I mean I can understand the fact that I nearly died at the hands of his father and he's just protecting me....but could it be something more than that?
I don't know if I'll ever know the answer to that.
After we ate breakfast, we both hopped in his car and went riding around. We had no destination, no plan, nothing, just the two of us on the open road.
As we rounded a corner, I saw a park that I hadn't been to before. It had a playground with a large slide, monkey bars, swings, all the works.
But off to the side, there was this beautiful open field, full of flowers and leafy plants. Mason must have noticed me admiring the park, because we pulled into the parking lot beside the playground. "Do you still have that blanket in the back of your car?'' I asked, smiling happily.
"Uh, yea, I should." he said, "Why?" he questioned.
He was acting kind of weird since this morning. Maybe it was the almost kiss or waking up with me in his arms. Who knows. "You'll see '' I said, still smiling, but offering a playful wink.
He slightly smiled, making his green eyes light up. I always loved seeing that.
I hopped out of the car, headed to the back, and popped the trunk.
Sure enough, the blanket we'd put in there a long time ago was still there. We'd used to go stargazing, for picnics, when we got cold, and so many other things. I grabbed it, shaking it out, just in case it was dirty, then started skipping my way to the field.
I found a flat spot in the middle, then spread out the blanket. I flopped onto my back, laying down and looking at the sky.
It was such a beautiful day today. I could hear the birds chirping, and the bees buzzing. I could hear the light breeze flowing through the leaves of the trees. The clouds were so fluffy and white. The smell of the flowers made all your stress melt away. It was picture perfect.
I saw Mason come and stand above me. His face was upside down, since his feet were beside my head, but that just made his puzzled look even more funny. I reached my hand up, grabbed him, and pulled him down beside me.
He laid there, our shoulders touching, staring at the sky just like I was. "Wow" Is all I could say. I'd always has this great appreciation for nature and everything in between the sun and moon. "So beautiful" is the only words that came to mind. "You have no idea" Mason said under his breath but with our close proximity, I heard it clearly
I looked over to see him staring at me. I blushed, knowing what he meant. We looked at each other, like we had done many times before, but this time it was deeper, almost as if there was a spark, a connection, between us.
We laid there like that for what felt like hours. My heart was pounding out of my chest, I was afraid he might hear it beating so loud. His hand brushed over mine, making me shiver. "What was that for? '' he asked. "It tickled,'' I quickly lied. "Oh, you're ticklish aren't you?" he said, smirking. "Don't you even th-" and before I could even finish my sentence, he sat up and started tickling me everywhere he knew I hated.
I laughed harder than I had in a while, and took in gulps of air, my ribs still sore, but I didn't care. In between the laughter, I playfully asked him to stop, or tried to tickle him back, but he had the upper hand. He finally slowed, allowing me to sit up and catch my breath, when suddenly his lips crashed against mine, in a passionate kiss.
For a moment I was in shock, but finally let myself deepen the kiss. My hands instinctively went around his neck, and into his fluffy brown hair, his snaking around my waist pulling me closer to him. Our lips moved perfectly in sync with each other, almost knowing what they were meant to do all on their own.
I reluctantly pulled back, my lungs screaming for air. He was catching his breath as well. In our distraction, we hadn't realized the clouds had covered the once blue sky, and started leaking raindrops onto us.
His hair was dripping onto his face, and mine was sticking to my body. Our clothes clung to our skin, as we got more and more soaked. As much as I wanted to continue, we had to get somewhere dry.
I stood up, with my head turned toward the oncoming rain and stuck my tongue out. Stretching my arms to the side, I spun in circles, taking in the cool water. Once I had stopped, I felt hands on my waist, turning me around.
I faced Mason, looking up into his eyes, which held the same longing for more as I felt. Without thinking, I collided my lips with his, with the same passion as before, but this time filled with lust and hunger. His hands trailed down my back grabbing my legs and wrapping them around his waist. A crack of thunder that startled us both, broke the kiss, and sent us running to the car, with the soaked blanket in hand.
We got in the car, finally out of the rain, out of breath and out of words. "That was..." I said, still breathless. "...amazing" he finished. I checked the time on my phone.
It was twelve o'clock.
"Maybe we should stop and get some lunch." I said. my stomach growled in agreement. We both chuckled awkwardly, and he started the car, going to find somewhere to eat. On the car ride there, I started to get cold, and since the blanket was soaked, I couldn't use it.
I just sat there shivering. "Are you cold?" he asked me, with a worried tone. "Just a little" I admitted, still shaking. With one hand on the steering wheel, he reached the other behind my seat, and retrieved a grey hoodie.
He dropped it in my lap. I put it on, already feeling much better. Once it was on, I had more of a chance to look at it.
It was dark grey, with a Champion logo across the chest. It was two sizes too big on me, since I was a whopping 5'3 and he was 6 foot. I breathed a sigh of relief, and noticed it smelt just like him. I didn't know what the smell was, but I knew it was his, and I liked it.
I smiled at the thought, but immediately shook it away. He was my best friend. I couldn't do this to our friendship. But the way he makes me feel is so worth the risk right? He seemed to feel the same way about this...But until he openly talks about this, it's just friends. And besides, I had made myself a promise. To not worry about boys, and to have fun, even though the drama part was out the window.
We pulled into the parking lot of our favorite diner, and hurried inside so we wouldn't get any more wet than we already were. We went up to the front counter and waited for someone to come seat us.
"Be right with you" I heard a muffled male voice call. Mason visibly stiffened. "What's wrong?" I asked him. "I forgot Jackson works on Sundays..." he looked at me with a pained expression.
"Ok, but he's your best friend so why is it an issue?" I said, giving him a confused look. "Because while you were still in the hospital, me and Jackson got into a fight, and we haven't seen or spoken to each other since." He said, his face getting a mix of angry and sad.
"How can I help y- Hazel?" he said, looking shocked. "Uhh yea? That's my name last time I checked." I said, my voice dripping with annoyance.
I didn't know what they got into a fight about, but if Mason was mad at him, then so was I.
"Let's just go somewhere else Hazel," Mason said, leaning close to me, so Jackson wouldn't hear. His fingers grazed the side of my arm, making the places he touched tingle. Come on Hazel. get it together. "Ok, let's go, '' I said, glaring over my shoulder.
Once we were back in his car I asked "What was that all about?". "Once you get out of surgery, they let me go see you. That's the first time you squeezed my hand. I was so excited to tell Jackson and Taylen the news, but before I walked in, I heard Jackson saying you were never going to wake up. Taylen of course disagreed, and then I walked in and said a few things and told him that if we didn't believe in you then he should just leave. Taylen came back, but he never did." He said, anger written all over his face, from reliving the memory.
"Oh, Mason, I'm so sorry...'' I said quietly. "It's not your fault. It's his, so please don't be sorry" he snapped. Instead of finding somewhere else to eat, we just went home to change out of our wet clothes.
I pulled on some leggings and a t-shirt. I laid Mason's hoodie safely on my bed, heading outside to my favorite spot in the tree.
I hadn't been up there in a while, and I needed somewhere to think about the events of the day. The rain had stopped and the sun started to peak out through the clouds.
I climbed up to my normal branch, and closed my eyes, letting my mind wander.
This chapter was more of a filler chapter, so it was kind of short. I'm sorry if it was boring, but the next one will be longer, and more eventful.
Thank you for reading :)
Edited Feb 8th 2023