Disabled.

Fifty-Six

Fifty-Six

The sound of a phone ringing caused Nadia and Mason to snap their eyes open. Nadia looked around, slightly confused, as Mason reached for his phone.

And as she looked around, she realized that she and Mason had fallen asleep on the blanket; they were still at the park. 

"Hello?" Mason said once he had answered the call. Nadia couldn't hear what the person on the other side was saying to him but as soon as the call ended he turned to her with an apologetic expression.

"I may or may not be in trouble with your parents," he said as he looked at her.

"Was it my mom that called?" she asked, earning a nod from him.

"What time is it?" she asked, attempting to reach for her phone. But before she could pick it up, Mason looked at his phone and said,

"It's midnight." 

How long were they asleep? Nadia thought to herself as she watched him beginning to pack the picnic away.

"We better get going before she decides not to let you see me ever again," Mason chuckled.

"Did she say she would do that?" she asked him, beginning to worry. He shook his head as a smile took over his lips.

"It's just a joke, Nadia."

She chuckled slightly before helping him to finish packing away most of the picnic until he picked her up and put her in her chair. And when he had finished packing everything away, they made their way back to the car.

During the ride home, Nadia couldn't stop thinking about what Mason had said to her.

"I know we haven't been together for long and... This might be too early for me to say and I don't expect you to say it back but I just have to tell you that I... I love you Nadia."

I love you Nadia

I love you Nadia

I love you Nadia

Those last four words played in her mind over and over again. 

When she had first heard those words, she was beyond happy to know that that was how Mason truly felt about her. But a small part of her caused her to hesitate when she had tried to speak.

A large part of her felt the same way towards him. But the small part that was nagging at her was the part that was still hung up on Jackson. It hadn't been a year since she had lost him. And already, there was someone who she had the same strong feelings for.

Was it too early for her to start loving someone again? 

Did she deserve to love someone so soon?

Even though Jackson's mother had told her to move on, the fact that it hadn't been Jackson himself that had told her that, made it hard for her to truly do that--move on.

She was forced out of her thoughts when she heard the sound of her name. She turned towards Mason to find him looking at her for a few moments before looking back to the road.

"Did you say something?" she asked him.

"What are you thinking about? Are you okay?" 

She slowly nodded her head. And not knowing what else to say, she said,

"Yeah I'm okay."

---

A few minutes later, they arrived at her house. They both took in a deep breath as they looked at each other, trying to brace themselves for what her mother would say. She knew that it wasn't a crime for her to be out so late. But since the accident, she had noticed that her parents had become more protective of her. Initially, when she had been staying at home she hadn't noticed it as much. But as she had slowly started to spend time outside the house, now that she had a reason to, she couldn't ignore it.