A sigh fell from Mason's lips as she crossed out the notes she had written in the blank page. Her frustration level was high and she felt a headache already growing.
Her stomach was grumbling, but she set a hand on in it to calm it. She couldn't be bothered to eat, she had too much work to do.
Mason had very few classes left to take before she would graduate with her Masters degree, but it didn't make things any easier. It had taken her years for this degree, balancing school life and personal life.
This was the first year that her personal life was getting the better of her school life. She had a million things to do, photoshoots for her album, press release for Hallow. She was being pulled in a million different directions.
Frustrated tears burned her eyes and she tossed the pencil aside. A sweaty hand ran through her hair as she let out the biggest sigh.
Typically this would be the part when Johnny would come in and force her to take a break. But he went home to Long Island for the weekend and as much as Mason wanted to as well, she had too much work to do.
Not to mention the fact that she was leaving for Los Angelos tomorrow.
The sound of Mason's phone vibrating against the wood surface caused her to jump, and then she came back into the world. She realized it was nearing six o'clock at night.
The name Bassy displayed on her screen and a smile appeared on her face; though it was one of tiredness and exhaustion.
"Hey." She answered the phone quietly.
Sebastian hesitated on the other side of the phone call. "I'm sorry, is this Mason Blue? I don't recognize that sad tone."
Mason smiled and leaned against the back of her chair. "What do you want, Bassy?"
He groaned at the nickname, though on the inside, he loved it. "You said to come over at six. I buzzed but you didn't answer."
"Oh fuck, I forgot." Mason said.
Her tired body moved from the desk and she walked out of her bedroom, then down the stairs. The setting sun brought shadows into the large living room of her Manhattan home.
"I figured as much. You feeling okay?"
"I am, yeah. I was just working on homework. Which I still have to finish, by the way." She told him as she walked to the large brown door. She pulled open the door and then hung up the phone.
"I didn't realize what time it was." Mason said as she walked out onto the steps and down the pathway to the gate.
Sebastian was sliding his phone into the pocket of his leather jacket, and in his other hand was a bag of food. A backpack was wrapped around his shoulder. "It's okay."
Mason opened the gate and then closed it behind them. "My homework is killing me."
Sebastian laughed quietly and followed her up the steps and into her condo. The door locked behind them and Sebastian looked around her home for the first time.
"Wow this is..."
"Really dark? I know. Johnny likes it. Wait till you see my room." Mason said. Then she realized how it sounded. "I meant like..."
"Oh, I know exactly what you meant. But I don't put out that easily." Sebastian winked at Mason before setting the bag down in the kitchen counter.
Over the course of the few times they've hung out, and the never ending text messages, Sebastian didn't get nervous around her very often. He had taken Johnny's advice and is going very, very slow with her. He did not want to scare her away.
"Anyway!" Mason yelled in embarrassment. "I'll give you a tour. This is the kitchen..." She pointed to the TV room with a wall of windows that overlooked Central Park. "That's my living room."
"Wow, it's almost like a normal place."
Mason ignored his sarcastic comment and walked towards the spiral staircase. "This is my favorite spot. I love spiral stairs."
Sebastian tried his best not to look at her ass as he followed her up the stairs.
"This is Johnny's room." Mason pointed to the brown door. "He's not here though. That's the bathroom, and then here is my room. Be aware of the mess."
She pushed open the door and walked back into her room, tossing her phone in the bed.
Sebastian followed her in and immediately looked around the room. One of the walls was made up of a window, with black curtains partially hiding it. The wall opposite of it was completely made of shelves and nearly a hundred books sat comfortably on them.
Her bed was enormous and high up, and the black blankets were a mess on top of her bed. Though the floor was clean, she hadn't bothered to make her bed.
"It's cute. It smells like you." Sebastian walked over to her desk and looked down at the mess on it. "Wow this looks..."
"Complicated? Not so much. That's actually the easy part." Mason moved to stand beside him. "Sorry it's a mess. I'm basically going insane with it."
"I'd offer help but..."
"It's okay, I know you're an idiot."
"Thank you, for that."
Mason laughed as she gathered up her things and held them in thin arms. "I'll do this homework downstairs and you can distract me. I need a break but can't take one so."
Sebastian was held captive by her green eyes for only a moment before he swallowed and nodded. "I brought dinner."
"What did you bring?"
"Well I have to cook it but it's a surprise."
Mason fakes a gasp as they started to walk out of the bedroom. "The Sebastian Stan is going to cook me dinner. I can practically feel all the jealousy from your fans."
Sebastian snorted as they walked down the steps. "I'm hardly a cook so there wouldn't be anything to be jealous of."
"Just say it." Mason said them, pausing on the last step. "You're going to poison me, aren't you?"
Sebastian, who's stomach twisted in a knot when she first started to speak, breathed a sigh of relief and forced himself to laugh. "You caught me."
"I can see the headlines now. Sebastian Stan killing America's Sweetheart Mason Blue. I think you'd get killed yourself." Mason poked fun at the title she used to have.
"I wouldn't even make it to my trial."
The sound of Mason's notebooks hitting the counter echoed in the room and she jumped up on the high chair. Her feet hung a feet above the ground and she swung them absentmindedly.
"Okay so you cook, I study. How domestic." Mason smiled before she turned to look at the homework that needed her attention.
Sebastian looked at her for only a moment; memorizing every detail of her face. He felt more than lucky that she had offered for him to spend the night here, so it would make getting to JFK easier earlier tomorrow morning. And of course, the fact that she had offered him to stay at the apartment she had in L.A. instead of wasting money on a hotel room.
He knew that these next three days would go by entirely too quickly, especially because the third and last day, Mason would be very busy with her album photo shoot and he wouldn't be able to see her all day. Sebastian wanted to cherish every moment.
And the fact that Johnny, who always seemed to want to get between them, would not be with them.
Mason noticed his lingering stare, she felt the heat of it on her cheeks. Though she did her best to ignore it, and focus on her homework, she couldn't stop the blush that appeared on her face.
A comfortable silence grew over them, as Sebastian started to prepare dinner and Mason studied. Though even his calming presence was not enough for Mason to be calm.
Her frustration level was growing wildly at the assignment she had to complete, and she was fidgeting in her seat.
"You okay?" Sebastian asked.
"No!" Mason huffed. "I'm so stupid. I'm literally the stupidest person in the world."
"You are not."
"Yes I am. I could've just left it at getting my BA but no, my dumbass thought it would be a great idea to get my masters degree. Who does that?" Mason leaned against the chair and wiped frustrated tears from her eyes. "Sorry I just get frustrated sometimes."
Sebastian half smiled and walked around the counter to her. "You need an actual break."
"No, I need to finish."
Sebastian took the notebook from her and shut the laptop. "No, a break."
"Sebastian."
"Mason."
"Sebastian Stan."
"Mason Blue." He countered. Then he pulled out his phone and opened it. Music started to play and he smiled in the most innocent of ways. "Break time. You should dance."
Mason raised a single eyebrow at his song choice. "That's ironic you'd play that song while asking me to dance."
Sebastian's eyebrows furrowed together. "What do you mean? Is it not about dancing?"
The actress let out a breathless laugh. "You have so much to learn." Then she laughed harder as she watched him dance.
"Come on. You need to have fun."
She playfully rolled her eyes and hoped off the chair. "First off, if you're going to dance then you need to do it right." She grabbed his phone and changed the song. "I would rather not dance to the song I'm performing tomorrow night."
"I can't wait for that."
"Mhm." She hummed as she selected a song. "Alright if you want to see me dance so badly, you're about to get a lesson."
"What song is this?" Sebastian asked.
"Only one of the greatest songs to come out of a Disney childhood actress." Mason took a few steps back. "Okay, so I'm gonna teach you how to do this."
"I'm an actor not a dancer."
"Hypocrite. Here, watch."
Sebastian watched with wide eyes as Mason danced to the beat of the music in front of him. His mouth fell agape at the way she moved her body in an almost robotic way.
It was a small dance movement, something she had learned from an old friend. When she finished it, only half a moment after she started, she couldn't help but laugh at Sebastian's expression. "What?"
"How did you do that?"
Mason laughed again. "It's not that hard. Here, I'll show you. It's fun."
"Uh... I don't know about that."
"Don't be a baby. Put your foot out like this, this is the easiest part. No, stick your ass out a little more."
"Don't look at my ass."
"It's part of the dance!" Mason felt her cheeks redden. "Okay so now drag your foot back, and cross it behind your other leg." Mason moved slowly to show him.
Sebastian copied her actions, slowly, and terribly. Almost embarrassed, he started to shake his head. "I'm not a good dancer."
"No, no. You're doing great. Once you get the hang of it, then you can do this." Mason did the next step of the dance move, though she knew very well that Sebastian wouldn't be able to follow it.
When she finished she held up her hands. "Ta-da!"
"Wow, you're a really good dancer." Sebastian meant it too; he really believed she was amazing.
"Well, that's what I get for being a Disney star."
***
Mason sat at the center island, her feet swinging. Her small hand held a silver fork as she picked around at the food that was on her plate.
Her stomach was empty and heavy, and every other second she could feel it's claws ripping inside of her. She felt like her body was physically pulling her to the food but her mind couldn't tell her hand to lift the fork to her mouth.
Sebastian noticed it, of course. He noticed everything that she did. So when he saw her moving the food around on her plate, he thought back to when the last time he saw Mason eat was. And that was when they got lunch a few weeks ago.
Every other time they had hang out, if there was food involved, he never saw her eat.
"Do you not like it?" Sebastian asked, acting as if he hadn't began to fear the worst.
"Hmm?" Mason looked up at him. "Oh, no, it's really good." She brought a small forkful to her mouth. "What is it again?"
"Family recipe." Sebastian watched her take another bite.
"It's good." Mason said. It really was good. Her thoughts were just too confining.
Sebastian nodded slowly and watched her until the entire plate had been eaten; painstakingly slow. He then decided he would take to Johnny as soon as he could.
When they had finished eating, Mason moved to start the cleanup first. Sebastian helped her, even offered to do the whole kitchen since he had made the mess, but gave up after Mason waved him off.
They worked in silence. Mason's mind was concentrating too much on the food she just ate and how it felt heavy in her stomach.
Sebastian's thoughts were of Mason, of course they were. He was concerned and scared for her. He knew then that he would have to wait longer before he told her how he felt.
"What do you want to do? It's only seven." Mason asked him when the dishes were done.
"Do you want to watch a movie or something?"
"Yeah," Mason said. "I'm just gonna get in my pajamas."
Then she ran up the spiral stairs. Once she was out of sight, Sebastian pulled out his phone and sent a text message to Johnny. Hey, we need to talk when I get back from L.A.
Sebastian looked around the kitchen to make sure it was as clean as he had found it, before he flicked off the lights and went into the living room.
He sat down on the couch, fidgeting with his hands as he thought about Mason. He worried for her more than before. He knew very well that Mason had her own set of troubles, especially after his conversation with Johnny a few weeks ago. But he cared so much for her. He's only known her since May but he still felt very strongly for her.
He just wanted to protect her.