A Wall Between

Chapter 46

They headed inside, but before they went upstairs to look for Mason, Cooper pulled Sasha aside.

"Are you okay?" Cooper asked, his hand hovering over Sasha's arm. Cooper was a touchy person, but Sasha could be more particular about it when he was stressed. "My mum didn't say anything bad to you, did she?"

Sasha shook his head. "She wants you to adopt a child, but that wasn't really upsetting. A little funny, actually."

"Well, the conversation I had with her about all that was a little homophobic, so I'm glad to hear she didn't try that on with you. I'm sorry I didn't notice she was talking to you guys sooner. I was trying to keep an eye on you, but then I got distracted, and..." Cooper shrugged. "I hate it sometimes. It feels like an excuse and I should just do better, but I promise it's not because I don't care."

Sasha gave Cooper a pat on the forehead. "You know I know that."

"Yeah." Cooper let out a sigh. "Well, let's go check on Mason."

As expected, Mason was upstairs in his guest room. He was sitting on the bed, playing a game on his phone.

"Hey," Cooper said as he sat down next to him. "You okay?"

"Tch," Mason said. "Yeah."

"What are you playing?"

"Tetris," Mason said as he tapped away on his phone. "I saw this study that said that if you play Tetris after a traumatic event, it reduces intrusive memories. I was planning to just do it at the end of the day to cover whatever goes down, but this felt like it deserved its own special dose. I don't even fucking like Tetris, but that's the one that's scientifically proven, so here we are."

"Okay," Cooper said. "Mum seemed maybe slightly regretful for what she said. I think?"

"Don't care."

"Fair enough."

"It would just be nice if she could go one conversation without saying something shitty, but I guess that's just not possible."

"I guess not," Cooper said, booping his nose against Sasha's shoulder as Sasha joined them on the bed.

"I keep telling myself that I don't care what she thinks anymore, and I think it's even kind of true, but some things still hit hard."

"Yeah."

Mason sighed, pressed a button on the side of his phone to shut off the screen, and shoved it into his pocket. "Which is why playing Tetris won't do shit. Maybe if I'd liked Tetris more as a child, or I hadn't had an emotionally abusive mother, things would be different, but Tetris as a mental health treatment is only good for about a six hour window and this trauma is old. Let's get back outside before someone steals our picnic table."

#

When they got back outside, nobody had stolen their picnic table, possibly because Mason's laptop was still on it. He immediately sat back down and opened it up to return to his Sims game.

"I can just stay here if you want," Cooper offered. "I don't want my mum or anyone else bothering you."

Sasha shook his head as he sat down next to Mason. "It's okay. You can go. I liked watching you have fun."

"I won't let anyone give him any kind of shit," Mason promised. "I don't think anyone would, anyway. Even mum didn't go there. He gives off this aura where it'd be like kicking a puppy. You just don't, because if you do, you're a monster."

"Okay," Cooper said, but he still looked unsure. "I'll stay where you can see me, and Abra and Ellie are around here somewhere as well." Cooper checked his pocket. "I've still got my phone. I'll turn up the vibrate to make sure I feel it and if there are any problems you can just text me under the table, okay? I'll try to keep an eye out as well, but, you know..."