A muffled giggle awakened me from my slumber.
I opened my eyes to see an afternoon sun.
Jesus, I really slept in.
The laugh came from Cam's room. I guessed it belonged to Jaren.
Jay and Mason weren't in the room. I feel surprised but grateful I wasn't woken up by the two.
I quickly clean up my appearance before going into Cam's room.
"Ah, (Y//N)!"
Jaren greets me as soon as I walk in.
"Good morning," I respond with a smile.
"Uh- afternoon," Jaren corrects me.
"Whatever," I grunt.
As the other guys are talking, Jaren walks closer and whispers in my ear, "I'm sorry about last night... I know I fucked up things with you and Mason, which was stupid of me."
I shrugged. "I forgive you. I'll fix things, don't worry."
He gave a relieved smile and walked toward one of the beds where Cam, Ezra, Eric, and Toby were sitting down eating food. I followed and the two of us sat down, too. The bed was very cramped now.
I avoided sitting next to Cam, so it wouldn't piss off Mason even more. I'm facing the other bed now. On the bed sits Jay, John, and Mason. Mason is facing the other way, and he seems to be staring down at his hands. Jay and John look like they're trying to talk to him, and they're patting his shoulders here and there to cheer him up.
I look next to me at Jaren. He's looking at me with a sad expression, as he knows I was staring at Mason. I shrug, letting him know there's nothing we can do about it yet.
I steal some of John's fries that they'd gotten from McDonalds, and he flips me off with a bitch face on. Normally, I would've laughed obnoxiously, but I only smiled and ate one of the the fries. I still felt guilt floating around me, mainly in my stomach.
I look up to Cam. He gives a gentle smile before looking back down at his food. I want to talk to him; he's the only one that can help me at this point.
Eric brought up the topic about going home in two days. Everyone started discussing where they'd be going, whether it was home or back to New Zealand with Cam and I. Jaren decided he'll just go back to Canada, while the others were still deciding.
I couldn't help but keep glancing at Mason. He had just told me last night he might go to New Zealand with the two of us. Now- I'm not so sure.
To distract myself, I fiddled with the ring on my thumb gently. Ezra, who was sitting next to me, must have noticed.
"Are you ok?" Ezra asked.
"Uh... ya. I'm fine."
"Then why are you so fidgety?"
"I'm just bored," I insisted.
He shrugged, not wanting to argue.
I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Mason was walking towards the door.
Everyone turned their heads when they heard the door open and close. I turned my gaze to Jay, who was staring at the door as well.
"Jay, where's he going?" I ask.
His head turns slowly towards me as he responds, "He said he was going for a walk."
I sigh in understanding. Mason had looked sad when he was walking out: head down, hands in his sweatshirt's pocket. I needed to fix this.
⎨ ☆ ⎬
"Alright, I've decided."
John's voice boomed over everyone else's conversation. Next to him was Jaren.
"I'm gonna go to Canada with Jaren," he stated. John put his arm around Jaren, and a small blush covered his cheeks. I smirked at him and he only glared.
Everyone was still at the hotel eating pizza for dinner. Well- everyone but Mason. Mason still hadn't come back from this morning, and it made me worry something happened.
It was getting late, so I decided it was time to text him.
Opening my phone, I went into Mason and I's texts.
Mason
hey mason
can we talk?
come back to the
hotel. i'm getting
worried.
hello?
please let me know
you're ok
i'm sorry for what
i did
mason?
I look up from my phone. I feel my stomach tighten in fear. I move my gaze towards Jay.
"Jay? Can you text Mason and see if he answers you? He won't answer me."
He nodded and grabbed his phone.
After two minutes, he looked up. "He hasn't answered, and he usually responds immediately."
This got people's attention and some looked worried.
"Jay, come with me to find him."
"Ok," Jay agrees.
After leaving the hotel with Jay, we stand outside.
"Where do you think he could be?" Jay asks me as we look around.
I start thinking long and hard, but since he doesn't live here and doesn't have a favorite spot, Mason could be anywhere.
Then it hits me.
"Come on," I mutter to Jay, grabbing his wrist and leading him away. He doesn't question where we're going and continues to follow.
Letting go of his wrist, we reach the place.
"The... the forest?" Jay asks in disbelief. "Why would Mason be here?"
"It's hard to explain. But my gut is telling me he's here."
Jay shrugs and we continue walking through. We reach the clearing. Surprisingly, the picnic blanket and the pizza box are still there, but the lights that were hanging from the trees were now on the ground and dead.
Mason was nowhere to be seen.
"What happened here?" Jay asks again.
"I'll explain later, but let's just keep going through."
We continue to walk deeper into the forest. Suddenly, as I'm walking, I feel myself step on something hard. I look down to see a phone. It didn't crack, which was good.
As I lift it off the ground, with Jay to my left watching me, the screen turns on automatically. I see multiple texts. Both from me and Jay.
"This is Mason's phone..," I whisper, half to myself and half to Jay.
"Oh God," Jay curses. "Something happened to him."
I continue walking more and more and Jay copies, keeping a few feet behind me.
We reach another, smaller clearing. Then I see him, lying on the ground cut and bruised and half-conscious.
"Mason," both Jay and I whisper.
i had time to write more cuz i'm sick and got to skip my practice today so yEET.
also i hit 4k reads wtf why are people still reading this it's not even that good lmao. thank u though!