Apartment No.4

Part 46: A very important question

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There was a weird air between Mason and I all through the afternoon, dinner and whilst we were lying on our backs next to each other in bed that night.

We sat next to each other at the dinner table and hadn't really said more than five words to one another since dad broke the news to us about Lucas. Instead of dwelling on the news for the rest of the day I found my attention drawn to my 15-year-old cousin, Amy, who was batting her lashes and giggle vivaciously at Mason's... I wouldn't even call them jokes, just small parts he added to conversations. I narrowed my eyes at her across the dinner table. The last time I saw her she was 13, she'd had the flu the last birthday bash and her birthday was on the second of January so she was a lot younger and less, uh, hormonal the last I saw her.

Mason saw it, of course he did. He could get any girl - as he'd so often proven in the early months of our living together - so he knew what signs to read and how to evoke them. Only this time, he was trying to avoid any attention to her to send the signal that he wasn't interested at all, and for good reason.

Questions were thrown Mason's way all through dinner about what he wanted to do, how many siblings he had and what his parents did - a conversation I had to divert very quickly - and how long we had been together.

To my surprise Mason had known every detail to that question almost to the hour.

"8 months and 27 days." He hit back like a swipe and I flared my nostrils to keep from laughing like an idiot.

He grasped my hand under the table then and gave it a squeeze. In that moment, I realised that despite how many arguments we have and how often we disagreed on the most minor things, he really was happy with me, and I him. It was as though it all hit at once that to him I was it. It was just me and no one else.

A sudden wave of emotions smacked me like a brick wall and I could feel my heart flutter like a butterfly in my chest.

"Mason how long are you up here for?" Asked Amy and Mason laughed awkwardly.

"Well, uh, Ashley and I will be here until we have to go back to uni for classes and stuff." He have er a tight lipped smile and returned his attention to his food.

"What day will that be?" She persisted, resting her chin in her palm and batting her brown eyes.

I snorted but passed it over as a cough as it drew the attention it Amy and her scowl.

"Tuesday?" Mason looked at me and I nodded.

Dinner continued with this awkward one way flirtation with Amy and Mason while everyone else had their own private conversations.

Lying in bed now the clock ticked over to 2am.

"You still awake?" I whispered in the darkness, turning my face to see Mason's illuminated by moonlight, his hands resting behind his head.

"Yeah,"

"Thinking about Amy?" I joked, my body shaking with laughter that I would let out.

"Oh god, don't you start." He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Just so you know, if you get stuck in a room alone with her I am not coming to help." I laughed and he rolled on top of me, squashing all the air from my lungs. "Okay, okay I'll help get off me!"

He chuckled and rolled off, taking me with him so I was tucked into his side.

"I was thinking bout what your dad said about Lucas."

"Me too," I sighed, pulling myself closer to him.

"It's finally over," he whispered into my hair, his breath tickling my scalp.

"It's finally over. Are you happy?" I was worried that he still felt the need for revenge but I was hoping that we could move on together.

"Do you mean am I disappointed that I never got to run him over with my bike? Yeah, of course I am... but," he sighed, "if he's not anywhere near the people I love, I suppose I can move on, I mean, Claire's going to be fine, you're fine. I'm just finally glad I can have you all to myself without having to worry about looking over my shoulder."

The next morning as I stretched across the bed like a cat I didn't feel anybody next to me. I sat up and looked around for Mason but couldn't find him anywhere in the room or the bathroom.

I pulled on a pair of fluffy socks and took notice of the time...6:37am is way too early to be searching your dads house for your rogue boyfriend.

I wondered down the halls listening for any rustling or footsteps but nothing.
The only place where I thought Mason would definitely be was the kitchen so I made my way down there, however, just past dads study I heard the murmuring of speech.

"Ask her." Came dads encouraging voice as I walked slowly towards the double doors.

"I want to but think it may be too soon, what with everything that's happened." Replies Mason. Through a crack in the doors I could see Mason sitting in one of the arm chairs and dad behind the desk.

"Just ask her, please son, you'll never know if you don't ask."

Mason deliberated before standing. It startled me so I backed away but hung about close enough to hear the rest of their conversation.

"She's stubborn," he started and I heard his footsteps move towards the doors, "but I'll ask her... god help me if she says no."
I dove behind a couch as the doors opened and in doing so managed to smack my elbow against the hearth of the fireplace and squeak in pain.

"Ashley?"

"Yes? Yes. Hey, I was just cleaning." I said, getting on my hands and knees so stand beside him.

"Cleaning?" He asked, his eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"Yes, cleaning. Heard of it? It's something you don't know how to do." I marched off towards the stairs to get back to our room.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him.

"I need to ask you something important later in the day."

My stomach plummeted a little and I watched him, wide eyed.

"But for now, let's go back to bed."