Penance - Uncovering the truth, Secrets and confessions, and Twisted pasts

Chapter 75

Mason pointed his gun towards Alison. "Move away from him, Alison," he commanded, but she held her ground, her gaze unwavering. "I don't want to shoot you, Alison. Please, move."

"Why should I?" she snapped back, her voice laced with anger and frustration. "I heard what you said back at the hotel. You thought I was dead, so why does it matter if I die now?"

A flash of pain crossed Mason's face, but it was gone in an instant. He took a step closer, his voice earnest, "Because, Alison Emrys, I love you."

Alison couldn't help but smirk, her defiance showing in her eyes. "Well, if you really loved me, you should've brought me ice cream or flowers, not a loaded gun."

Mason smiled back, caught off guard by her humour in such a dire situation. He didn't know whether to be irritated or amused. "You're right; I did say that you'd be another secret to take to my grave. But I knew you were alive. I wouldn't let you die."

Alison tensed beside Grayson, her hold on his hand loosening as she absorbed Mason's words.

"Just like you," Mason went on, his voice softening, "I say things, bad things, about you sometimes because, well, you can be a real pain in the ass. But that doesn't change how I feel about you. I still love you, just like the first day we met."

He paused, his eyes locked onto Alison's. "We met in these very halls, remember?" Mason continued, gesturing the walls around him. "I dropped my English papers, and you helped me pick them up. But when I got to class, some were missing, and I knew you had them."

He chuckled softly at the memory. "I spent the whole afternoon searching for you, even skipped two classes," he admitted. "And when I finally found you, you were in the library, just leaning against the windowsill. Your hair was all loose, and you looked so bored."

He paused for a moment, lost in the memory. "I remember when I approached you, I tripped over that garden bed, and you burst out laughing. I swear that was the real reason they kicked you out of the library."

A warm, fond smile crept onto Mason's face, and Grayson could see the effect it had on Alison. She was slightly trembling now, hating the flash backs she didn't want to remember.

"You handed me the rest of my papers, with your own notes scribbled across them, editing and adding to my work. Then, you started telling me about a strange dream you had," Mason's tone softened, filled with nostalgia. "Can you imagine that? A complete stranger, not even exchanging names, yet chatting like we were best pals." Mason's voice grew softer, more tender. "But I listened to every word you said that day, and those words have stayed with me. The day I met you was the beginning of everything for me. I fell in love with you right then and there. I could write an entire book about how you make me feel, a million reasons why I love you, and it still wouldn't be enough."

He closed his eyes for a moment, collecting himself, and then spoke softly, "Alison, you've never left my mind since the day we first met. No matter how angry or frustrated you make me, no matter how many times we argue or how much we fight, I can't bring myself to harm you. You mean too much to me."

His gaze remained locked on her, and there was a sincerity in his eyes that was hard to deny. "I thought I lost you once, and I can't go through that pain again. So, please, just move away from him."

However, Alison stood her ground. She had been through so much, and probably had lots of happy memories with Mason, just like Grayson had with Emily. But Grayson knew that Alison had moved on. Just by looking in her eyes, you could see something had broken deep inside her, something that had been shattered long ago. She'd carried her family's burdens from a young age and endured isolation, so it was likely she expected people to come and go in her life. It made things easy for her to move on.