A Wall Between

Chapter 21

Cooper was feeling much less enthusiastic about his sleep deprivation based plans when Mason dragged him out of bed early the next morning, especially when Mason bought a coffee on the way to the print store and Cooper realised he couldn't have any if he wanted to sleep in the car later.

He was, admittedly, very little help with getting the albums together, but Mason didn't seem like he needed help anyway. He knew what he needed to do and he had a plan laid out in his head, and Cooper's involvement probably only would have disrupted his flow.

Cooper stared down at his text messages with Sasha from yesterday, but he resisted the urge to send any more. He didn't want to seem needy or annoying. He didn't want to be needy and annoying. He knew he had the potential, especially towards someone more withdrawn like Sasha.

A tap on his shoulder brought Cooper back to reality, and he realised Mason had already finished and paid for his stuff. Cooper yawned as he got up and followed Mason back out to the car.

It was hard to stay sleepy when Mason was buzzing with nervous energy, though. Mason was a stoic guy, but Cooper could tell from the way his fingers tapped on the steering wheel and the way he kept fiddling with the lid of his empty coffee cup that he was nervous.

Cooper considered reassuring him, but Mason wasn't really the type of person who took comfort from that sort of thing. Instead, Cooper stayed quiet and did him the kindness of not drawing attention to his nerves.

They'd had Bianca tell Logan that they'd gone out to grab breakfast and would meet them in a nearby park to say goodbye. Nothing would ruin this sweet family moment more than their parent's presence. They were already there waiting when Cooper and Mason arrived, Logan gently pushing Bianca on one of the swings.

Mason made a quiet sound in the back of his throat as he grabbed the bags containing the picture albums from the back seat of his car. "I take all these pictures, put them all together into albums, and these assholes have the audacity to do more cute, photogenic couple shit right in front of me like this."

"Very inconsiderate," Cooper agreed as they got out of the car.

"Hey!" Mason called out as they walked over to the happy couple. "Can you not do that shit on the play equipment? Children might see you and develop unrealistic expectations about their future relationships."

Logan smiled and shook his head. "Sometimes I feel like you say nice things by stealth so that by the time people realise how sweet you're being, you're already out of there."

"Then I guess that time wasn't stealthy enough. Here." He shoved one of the bags against Logan's chest. "I got you something."

"You got me... a gift?"

"Why is that so crazy hard to believe? Yeah, I got you a gift."

Logan reached into the bag and pulled out one of the albums, and when he opened it up Cooper saw that it was the one with the pictures of them as kids.

Logan slowly turned a page, and then another, and then he looked up at Mason. "You made this?"

Mason nodded.

Logan glanced down at the album and then back up at Mason. "For me?"

"Yeah," Mason said, his voice sounding slightly rough. "I thought maybe you'd want something to show your kid that wasn't that fake shit in mum's albums. And... I thought maybe you'd like to remember, too. That we loved one another even when we hated one another."

Logan stepped forward and pulled Mason into a hug, and Mason hugged him back. "Thank you."

Mason pulled out of the hug, dropped his eyes, and gave a shake of his head. "When we were kids, you were a real shithead. You said some things I don't think I'll ever forget. But... I'm sorry I stayed angry for so long. I should have realised you'd changed years ago. You went above and beyond to show me that you had, and I still thought it was a trick."