In Transit

Mason stared wide-eyed at Harry, as if he just asked her the meaning of life. She was certain she wasn’t prepared for the consequences when she finally did answer.

“Have you ever made love? And I don’t mean it in the love sense, because I know you don’t believe. But I mean it like have you ever had slow, attentive sex? Have you ever had someone care for you?” He asked, frightening her more than any nightmare ever could.

“No,” she admitted quietly, her cheeks heating up rapidly as her eyes found the floor.

Harry took a step toward her, but hesitated when she flinched. She didn’t know how to handle herself, or him. Her heart was in her throat as he watched her, his feet moving forward again. Was this really happening?

Harry placed his hands on either side of her face and looked straight into her eyes. And her hands automatically gripped on his wrists so she felt like she had at least an inkling of control in the situation.

“You deserve to have someone take care of you, Mason. You deserve to have someone treat you like you’re supposed to be treated. And I realize that even I haven’t done that. You deserve so much better than what you allow yourself to have. And I know it won’t take away the memories of your first time, but I want to make love to you like it should have been during your first time,” Harry explained, making her heart squeeze painfully with the honesty of his words. Mason shook her head, trying but failing to fight off the emotion.

She pulled Harry’s hands off of her face, bringing them down. Her hands slid through his, allowing her fingers to linger at his fingertips. She didn’t want to even acknowledge what he was saying, because it made her so uncomfortable, but she knew he was waiting for her to speak, to respond. She knew he wouldn’t allow her to brush it off. She knew if she did, she would greatly offend him. And she didn’t want to do that – she couldn’t.

“People always think their first time is supposed to be so special – so perfect. But the truth is real life isn’t like that, Harry. We watch love stories play out in the movies and everyone wants that. But if you compare real life to fiction, all you’re gonna be is disappointed. It’s a fantasy. That’s all it is,” Mason told him as she shook her head, avoiding eye contact.

“Well, I want to make yours come true tonight,” he said, and the fierce honesty in his voice made her eyes dart up to his. His words terrified her thoroughly.

“I’m not sure I have one,” she said quietly, looking away unable to stare into his intense eyes any longer. Her head was spinning, her cheeks burning red, her stomach turned with a mixture of fear and anticipation.

“Look at me, Mason,” Harry said as his finger hooked underneath her chin to align their eyes.

Tears pricked the back of her eye sockets, and she wanted to be anywhere but there. She wasn’t the right girl for this. Her flaws held her back and she knew it, but she couldn’t control it.

“Let me do this for you. I want to show you you’re worthy of it all, Mason,” Harry whispered, looking her straight in the eye.

“I don’t deserve it,” she whispered through a half sob.

“But you do. You’re so beautiful and your heart is so big. I can feel it. You’ve helped me when nobody had – when nobody else could. You’ve been there for me, Mason. And I want to prove to you that sex doesn’t have to be a dirty secret,” Harry elaborated.

Mason’s eyes filled with tears. She couldn’t even blink them away. She just stared at him as he got blurrier and blurrier from the tears.

“Harry,” she whimpered as his hands came back up to her face. His lips placed a tender, want-filled kiss on hers. She never had anyone kiss her like that before. Ever. Harry was the only person to ever show any compassion in her sexual history of one night stands and random hook-ups. He was the only boy she ever slept with more than once. He was the only one she let underneath the invisible walls and guard she built around herself. Everything with Harry was different. And everything with him was changing.

His face inched forward and she knew what was coming next. She was so scared, she couldn’t even breathe.

“Harry,” Mason whimpered as her hands came back up to his wrists and her grip tightened around them.

“Shh,” he breathed against her lips before he quietly kissed them.

Harry’s lips moved slowly and meticulously as their mouths opened up to one another. His tongue felt like velvet with its listless rhythm against hers. She wanted to whimper. She wanted to cry. But she was too busy trying to keep her body from tensing up as his hands slid down her arms and over her hips.

She was a virgin in all sense of the word when it came to this sort of intimacy level. When she first started having one night stands, they were fast and to the point – get in, get out. And then Harry came back into her life and they started sleeping together on a regular basis. You could say they developed with each other. They developed from their negatives, but she didn’t think they ever really bettered themselves because of what they were doing. They were just looking for a way to feel, or a way to numb, depending on the day. There was a mutual understanding between them, and with this all of that understanding was thrown out the window. Mason sure as hell didn’t understand it any longer. But Harry changed – he was changing every day, the closer they got to New Mexico and to his real father. She was certain by the time he found what he was looking for, he would be a completely different person. Would she even recognize him? Would she like what she sees in him? No, no, no – She was more afraid of him not liking what he saw when he looked back at her.

“Mason,” Harry breathed against her lips as his hands slid around to her back, just barely slipping up the back of her shirt to dance his fingers across her flesh.

Mason pulled back slightly to look in his eyes, giving him a questioning look.

“What are you thinking about?” He asked quietly, and all she could do was shrug her shoulders lightly.

“Is this okay? I’ll only continue if this is what you really want,” he whispered, asking for consent.

Wow, consent. Her heart flared with overwhelming admiration, her eyes filled with tears as she looked at him. Her hands slipped up, cupping his face as her lips pressed firmly against his. She wanted this. As scared and as inexperienced as she was with this type of sex, she still wanted it… with him. Her kisses were heated and nearly frantic, having only one emotion coursing through her body in the moment – lust. But Harry had other plans he was determined to see through.

“Mason, Mason. Please, let me,” he insisted, slowing her down as he pecked her lips.

“Harry,” she whimpered, impatience attacking her like a thorn in her side.

“Please, Mason,” he pressed on, looking into her eyes. She slowly nodded her head, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

Harry’s eyes devoured her, but not in a vulgar way. They held a worshipping quality as she stood in his clutches, completely frozen in apprehension. He quietly brought his hands up, softly gathering her long hair before sweeping it behind her shoulders, his eyes focusing on the skin from her chest up to her neck.

“You’re beautiful, Mason,” Harry breathed as his eyes came back to meet hers. Her breathing shuddered lightly as her brain automatically fought off what he said.

“You don’t believe it?” He questioned as if he could read her mind, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. Mason sucked in both of her lips, biting them together as she gave him a pleading look.

“I’ve always thought so, Mason. Since the moment I saw you. And that look, the look you’re giving me right now – the look of intense vulnerability, it only makes you that much more beautiful. You’re the type of girl who doesn’t know just how big of an impact you have on the male population,” Harry explained, smirking fondly at her.

“Harry,” she whimpered, letting out a weighted sigh.

“I only want to tell you the truth and have you believe it. I want you to know what you do to me,” Harry told her, leaning in to lightly kiss her lips. Mason stopped breathing. His words were too intimate, and utterly intimidating.

“Is it okay if I touch you, Mason?” Harry asked patiently, really going for the whole consent angle.

“Mm-hmm,” she hummed, biting her lip as she gave him the smallest of head nods.

To her surprise, his hands didn’t immediately fall to her breasts or any other private area. His left hand found her hip as his right gently gripped at the side of her neck, his thumb lightly stroking her clavicle.

“You don’t have to be fearful of me, Mason,” he told her, looking contently into her eyes.

“Never,” the word fell from her lips without a thought, causing Harry’s lips to turn up into a smile.

“Never,” he repeated to get his point across as his hand came up to cup her face.

His lips came back down, kissing her. Their mouths worked with one another’s, opening to tangle their tongues together in a pleasing rhythm. She found herself placing her hands on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her body, holding her against him. All her natural instincts were clawing to the surface inside of her. She was fighting herself to not take matters into her own hands and throw him down on the bed.

Mason felt Harry’s hand slip inside of her shirt, caressing the skin on her torso, causing her stomach muscles to jump and twitch. She giggled against his mouth, pulling back slightly.

“I wish I could make you laugh more often,” he said quietly, a small smile on his lips. Mason bit at her bottom lip, stifling her laugh almost immediately, looking back at him.

“I wish I could make you happy, Mason. I wish I could be the one who really helped you,” he said as his eyebrows furrowed almost painfully.

“You help me every day,” she whispered, her voice cracking slightly.

“I broke up with Casey,” he confessed, catching her completely off guard. She sucked in a huge breath in response, and felt light headed because of it. She gripped tightly to his t-shirt to steady herself.

“I broke up with her in Dallas, the same day she left you that nasty voicemail,” Harry told her.

“Oh,” Mason said quietly, her eyes looking away from him.

“I never loved her,” he admitted. Mason bit at her lip, but didn’t respond.

“She was just a way to… to, I don’t know… to feel normal,” he told her, shrugging his shoulders.

“Harry, you don’t have to explain anything to me,” Mason told him flat out. He didn’t have to answer to her on anything, and she was the last person on earth who would ever judge him.

“I know. But I wanted to,” he said as he pulled her a little tighter against himself.

“What are we doing?” She asked, pressing her hands firmly against his chest.

“I’m going to make love to you, Mason. And I want you to feel it,” he said sincerely, causing her eyes to dart up to his. He said it so nonchalantly, when it absolutely destroyed her, making her weak in his arms.

Harry kissed her and walked her slowly back to the edge of the bed, laying her down.

“Slide up,” he suggested, looking down on her as she looked up into his angelic face. Everything about it already felt so different.

As Mason slid backwards up the bed, she felt an unfamiliar feeling of butterflies in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t even remember the last time she felt that feeling, and she knew it meant something.

Harry knelt down on the end of the bed, pulling his t-shirt over his head before discarding it onto the floor. Mason watched as if she was in a trance. She watched every movement he made, and their eyes connected as he crawled up her frame, quietly leaving a kiss on her lips. He hovered over her, kissing her as his fingers tickled the exposed flesh right below her navel. His index finger hooked underneath the waist band of her yoga pants, sliding effortlessly back and forth, teasing her with every stroke. His intentions were made perfectly clear, and she couldn’t help but want him and need him with a mind-altering, body-wrecking burning passion.

Mason’s hands came up, sliding against his rib cage, feeling every perfect bone underneath her fingertips. She used what she knew about sex and tried her best to dilute it to appear as if she knew what she was doing in the slowed setting. She wanted to be good for him too – if this was what he wanted so badly.

She pulled her legs up against Harry’s hips once he pressed himself down against her body. He didn’t vulgarly thrust himself against her. He didn’t even move his lower half, even though she could feel his arousal against her. He focused on kissing her, which was surprisingly pleasant.

Harry broke their kiss only to trail his lips down the line of her jaw, kissing and nipping her flesh lightly, before moving down her sensitive neck. His scruff rubbed her roughly, but it only heightened the sensuality between them. His hand moved up over the flesh of her torso, bringing her shirt up with it as he buried his face in the nape of her neck, worshipping the skin all around her neck and shoulder blade. Goose bumps were erupting all over her body as her skin tingled from his touch. She wanted more. She was trying to be as patient as possible, but sex was always like a drug for her – especially sex with Harry.

“Oh, god, Mason. Your skin is so soft,” he moaned, pulling up to kiss her lips again as his hands cupped below her bra-clad chest.

“Please,” she begged.

Her body shook with sparse tremors as her breathing sped up. Harry quickly kissed her jaw, before he pressed his hands into the mattress on either side of her, looking down in her eyes.

“I could get lost in you, Mason. Tell me what you want,” Harry said as his eyes darted between hers, looking down at her contently.

Mason took in a deep breath. She had no idea he planned on having a Q&A session about what she looked for in the sex department. She was in no shape to answer something like that. She was the take-it-as-it-comes kind of girl. She didn’t throw her two-cents into anything regarding sex for a reason – and that main reason was because half the time she didn’t know what the hell she was doing. She was still learning – and this kind of sex was something she knew absolutely nothing about.

“Please don’t look so scared, Mason. I’m not going to pressure you or hurt you. I just want to know if you’re enjoying things,” Harry said, smirking down at her. Her lower half tingled with his words and she knew she very much enjoyed the things he was doing to her.

“I’m fine, Harry,” she replied quickly.

“But do you like it?” He pressed, looking hopeful.

“Too much,” she confessed as her blush tried to eat her face alive.

“Good,” he said, smiling contently as he leaned in to kiss her lips again.

He let his body relax against hers as his mouth moved quickly down her neck and then down her chest, before he began to leave tiny little kisses against the flesh of her torso. With every kiss, Mason inhaled a sharp breath, trying her best to relax under his pleasing torture. His hands pushed up her shirt, exposing her blue bra as his mouth moved up through the valley of her breasts. Mason let out a low whimper as her eyes shut tightly, trying her hardest to regulate her breathing as well as the tensing of her body.

Harry kissed the top of each of her breasts before his left hand came up, pulling aside the cup of her bra, exposing the flesh of her nipple. Her back arched off the bed as Harry’s mouth wrapped around the already hardened bud, sucking and teasing it with his talented tongue and mouth. Mason bit her lip to keep herself silent as his quiet ministrations sent jolts of pleasure through her entire body. Her brain was a jumbled mess as Harry continued. She didn’t even realize he moved onto her other breast until she reached up to grip her fingers into his hair and his head was off-kilter from where she thought it was. The rush of feelings inside of her body was maddening, like she was drowning in a sea that was all Harry. He washed over her shores again and again – the pleasure so intense and inviting and she just wanted to lose herself. And she thought she might – she just might. And then she was letting out a low moan, coming from deep within her as her lower half sparked and her back arched once again. It was then she realized Harry just gave her an orgasm with just his mouth on her breasts.

“Jesus Christ, Harry,” Mason groaned, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. But Harry didn’t respond. He kept on his quest to make love to her, his mouth moving back down to the top of her torso, kissing and licking her flesh as his hands held her around her rib cage.

Mason worked her shirt over her head as he continued and she did as best she could to rid herself of her bra, it taking more than one attempt as Harry’s mouth worshipped her freely.

“Please, Harry. Just, please,” Mason whimpered as her fingers tangled into his hair.

He gripped onto the sides of her yoga pants and slowly tugged them down her legs, kissing the flesh of her thighs as he did. It took Mason a moment to realize he took her panties down with them, and when she did, a jolt of anxiety shot through her. The thought of his mouth on her down there was more than she could handle. She never had anyone do such a thing to her and it made her stomach turn just thinking of it. But as Harry quietly kissed up her thighs, she knew he had the plan set in his mind already. Her body tensed unwillingly and she knew Harry sensed it.

“Just relax, Mason,” Harry breathed against her skin.

“Harry, I can’t—” Mason whimpered as she gripped her fingers under his chin, trying to coax him upward.

“Mason, please. Just let me,” he asserted as he looked into her eyes.

“Harry,” she whimpered again, writhing slightly below him.

“Has anyone ever gone down on you, Mason?” He asked, a look of intrigue in his eyes.

“No. Just, please,” she said quickly, still trying to coax him back up to her.

“Mason,” he pressed assertively as he slid his fingertips feather-light across the top of her womanhood. She took in a sharp breath as he did and he smirked playfully at her.

“Please, Harry,” Mason pleaded.

“What are you so afraid of, Mason? You are so beautiful. Everything about you. I just want to please you,” he said, skating his fingers up, circling around her navel. Mason bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut tightly.

“Please, just let me. If you don’t like it, we can stop,” he said with a promise.

Mason’s body writhed again involuntarily. She felt uncomfortable in her own skin while he waited on bated breath for her answer.

“Please,” he begged against her lips, before pressing a kiss on them. With that, she took a deep breath and nodded her head lightly.

“Brave girl,” he whispered pleasingly, kissing her mouth again before he began leaving a trail of kisses down her body, stopping as he reached his destination.

“Open your legs, Mason,” Harry instructed in a soothing tone. She hesitated slightly, but finally did as he asked.

“Just say the word and I’ll stop,” he promised her, looking straight into her eyes, and she nodded her head in comprehension.

When his mouth met with her sensitive flesh, it was like a spark ignited deep within her. The warm wetness of his mouth, mixed with the skilled intensity of his tongue as it lapped against her flesh was transcendent. He was fully consuming her, and oh god, all she wanted in those fleeting moments was to be consumed. It was scandalous and torrid, but she felt absolutely alive and so completely unashamed with his mouth on her. She wanted more – just more of everything. She wanted him so badly. She needed him like she needed the rush of blood through her veins. Her fingertips gripped tightly to the bed sheets as a wail of pleasure escaped out of her throat. Her back arched as her body writhed under his blissful torment, and released another pleasing orgasm.

When her body stilled, Harry slid up her naked frame, his mouth attaching to her neck as he kissed just below her earlobe.

“I love being responsible for that,” he hummed in her ear, and she couldn’t help the content giggle the escaped her lips.

“And that,” he smiled, pulling up to look in her eyes.

“You know, I can do that for you too,” Mason offered, undoing the fastening of his jeans.

“Mason,” Harry said, gripping onto her hands.

“I don’t expect anything in return. I want to show you that trust and sex can go hand-in-hand,” he said sincerely, looking deep into her troubled eyes. She took a deep breath and dropped her hands away from him.

“This is for you, not me,” he reminded.

“Please don’t treat me like a charity case,” she whispered as tears pricked her eyes.

“Mason, no. Is that what you think?” He asked, looking rather offended.

“I don’t know,” she confessed, looking away from him.

“Please don’t ever think that. Please,” he pressed, moving her chin with his fingers to align their eyes once again. She nodded her head lightly because she couldn’t handle him looking at her like that anymore.

“You deserve a lover who cares about you, Mason,” he told her, and her cheeks reddened under his gaze, from his words.

“Someday you’re going to realize your worth, Mason,” he continued, his words making her uncomfortable.

“I want to make love to you,” he hummed against her lips, kissing them softly.

Mason watched as Harry pushed his pants down his body. He sat down on the mattress momentarily as he kicked out of them, before he slid back up her body. She did her best to swallow back the fear of the unknown as he leaned in to kiss her again.

“I don’t want you to be afraid,” he whispered. Mason shook her head lightly as he slid his hand smoothly up her side, sending her skin into a frenzy of tingles.

She watched as his head dipped to look down as he gripped himself, quietly finding her entrance. She held her breath and she knew she shouldn’t. She knew if she didn’t relax her body, his entrance was going to be harsher than expected. So she slowly let out her breath as he aligned himself with her body.

“Are you ready, Mason?” He asked and she nodded her head, not trusting her voice.

Harry leaned down to press a kiss to her lips as he slowly pushed himself inside. Mason’s mouth dropped open against his as a quiet gasp came out. He nipped her bottom lip before he kissed down her jaw line. Harry pulled out slowly and entered again a little faster than before – back and forth as he slowly built up a pleasing rhythm inside of her. Her body was reacting perfectly to his after already orgasming twice. Her breathing came fast as her mouth sat agape, feeling all the pleasure race through her body. Harry’s mouth concentrated solely on her neck as he pumped in and out of her. Her hands held him at his rib cage as his back arched with each thrust.

There was something so entirely enchanting about this kind of sex. It rivaled all other forms, in her opinion. She was slowly losing herself in Harry’s thoughtful rhythm. There was a constant hum of pleasure vibrating through her whole being. It didn’t even have to build up, like usual. It was just there, thrumming through her, intoxicating her. She wanted more and more – she never wanted it to end. Her mind and body were hooked, and for a few moments she quietly resented Harry for bringing her there, to a place she might not ever find again. She knew she might be searching for this feeling for the rest of her life, and it was all his fault.

Mason’s body shook with unapologetic tremors and she knew she was about to come apart at his hand. She wanted to. She wanted to so badly.

“Oh, Harry. Oh my god,” her voice came out ragged and breathless as her arms gripped around him, pulling him closer and closer to her.

She let go, letting out an uncontrolled moan, her body becoming tense before it completely let loose underneath him. The pleasure was entrancing, almost bringing tears to her eyes. This boy – this stupid man undid her thoroughly, and she wanted to be angry about it, but the beating of her heart and the rhythm he still kept on top of her continued to possess her and she couldn’t hold that against him.

Harry let out a low groan as his body stilled, his face buried deep within the nape of her neck. He found his ending much like she did. His ragged breathing whirred passed her ear as he tried to catch his breath. Mason’s hands slid down his back and then fell at her sides as he pulled himself up, looking down into her eyes. They stared into each other’s eyes, and neither of them looked away. Not until Harry’s lips came down and covered hers. She kissed him back with quiet desperation. She wanted to consume him the same way he consumed her, but she knew she’d never be able to do it with such perfect accomplishment.

Harry rolled onto the mattress next to her without a word. Mason lay there looking at the cracks in the ceiling as it plagued her to ponder what he was thinking about.

“Was that okay?” She heard him whisper in her ear as he turned toward her body.

“Yes,” she replied honestly.

“Good,” he hummed and she could hear the cracking of a smile on his lips.

A few moments later Harry leaned over to turn off the lights, leaving them in utter darkness. And Mason was left there wondering how he felt about what they just did.

When Harry’s arms reached out, pulling her body back into his, an involuntary smile formed on her lips through the darkness.

“You were amazing,” he whispered in her ear and she could feel the swelling of the butterflies in her stomach for the second time that night.

Silence fell over them, and Mason laid there for a long while replaying in her head what just happened. She never felt so close to another human being in her entire life. It scared her, but also pleased her so much. Harry never ceased to surprise her.

“Harry,” Mason breathed through the darkness a little while later.

“Yeah?” His voice was quiet and excessively tired sounding.

“Can I tell you something?” She asked, her heart beating in her throat, her nerves trying to get the better of her.

“Anything,” he responded immediately.

“When I met you—you know, in the club that night?” She stammered.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“When you took me home, you were… it was… you were the first person after—” She choked out, unable to actually finish the sentence.

“After you were raped?” His voice shuddered with realization as he sat up slightly to look at her.

“Mm-hmm,” she hummed, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall, moving to lie on her back as he hovered above her.

“Mason,” he breathed, his voice almost a whisper.

Her throat tightened up with emotion as tears began to streak down her cheeks. Harry let out a sigh as he lay back down against the mattress, still looking over at her.

“Was I good to you?” He asked after a few weighted moments.

“You were good,” she managed to say as she wiped at her tears.

“Was I—was I good to you though, Mason? I remember you. I remember your face, your body, your being, your everything – but there are some things I don’t remember. Was I good to you?” He asked, his voice almost desperate.

“You were good to me,” she said simply, remembering every detail of that night, despite the overabundance of alcohol she had in her system at the time he took her home with him.

Harry didn’t say anything and he didn’t move or even make a sound and Mason silently wondered if maybe he fell asleep. But just as she was about to turn over to him and find his face through the darkness, she heard him sigh and slip his arm around her middle, pulling her tightly against him once again. His face buried in her hair for a moment before he moved it aside.

“You deserve better,” he whispered, his breath skimming across the skin of her neck, cascading goose bumps down her body.

.

.

When Mason woke up in the morning, Harry’s side of the bed was cold. She sighed as she turned over to see for herself that he wasn’t there. Her eyes were met with a small piece of paper on his pillow. It was a receipt from the last time they got gas, but on the back side was Harry’s unmistakable scrawl.

M-

If I’m not back by the time you wake up,

I’ll be back soon.

-H

Mason took a deep breath as she set the note back down on the pillow, feeling the sense of abandonment seeping from her veins. He would be back.

Her eyes shot to the door when she heard the familiar beep of the lock and the click of the handle. Moments later Harry strolled in with a plastic Target bag in his hand.

“Hey,” he said, beaming a smile at her as she watched him from the bed, the covers pulled up over her chest.

“Hi,” she squeaked as he shut the door.

“I had to make a run to the store,” he clarified, shaking the bag slightly.

“I just woke up,” she told him.

“Did you get my note?” He asked, pointing to his pillow.

“Yes,” she nodded.

“Good,” he said as he moved toward the bathroom sink that was in the room instead of in the actual bathroom.

Mason slipped out of the bed quietly and tip-toed to her bag sitting on the small dresser. She looked up quickly to see Harry’s eyes watching her from the mirror. Turning back toward her bag, she pulled out some clothes as a smile spread on her lips. She took a deep breath, evening out her features as she slipped her clothing over her body and quietly slipped passed him into the bathroom.

When she came back out a few moments later, she stood next to him as she washed her hands. Her eyes scanned over his purchase of a pair of hair cutting shears.

“You’re going to give yourself a haircut?” She questioned as she dried her hands.

“I was hoping you would,” he said, looking up at her with a shy smirk on his lips.

“Oh,” she breathed.

“Unless… unless you don’t feel comfortable,” he stammered.

“No. Uh, I can. I can try,” she told him, causing him to smile once again.

Nearly a half an hour later, most of Harry’s messy curls were lying on the floor of the hotel room and Mason was quietly trimming the hair on the back of his neck. He had a cleaner look to him, which made him look more polished. Not that he looked bad before.

“There. I think… I think it’s good,” she told him as she set down the shears.

“Thanks,” he said, mussing up the front tuft of his hair.

Mason looked at him through the mirror, taking in his entire appearance. If she thought him attractive before, then she didn’t even know what to think now. He was enthralling. The shorter hair made him look older, sexier even. And man, did it fuck with her hormones. She had to look away, washing her hands again just so she had something else to focus on. Harry quietly cleaned up the countertops and picked up as much as he could from the floor. Mason moved to pack up her suitcase, as today was the day they’d finally make it to New Mexico if all went as planned.

Five hours passed in a flash and they found themselves in the confines of Albuquerque, New Mexico that afternoon. As Harry drove through the city where he was born; the city in which his biological father still lived, Mason could feel the tension radiating off of him.

“Harry…” Mason breathed.

“Hm,” he grunted, not taking his eyes off the road.

“It’ll be okay,” she told him, trying her best to sound believable. Truth was, she was as nervous as he was. She didn’t want the outcome of this trip to break him even worse than he already was.

“Thanks,” he said as he turned into a suburban neighborhood.

“We’re going to his house?” She questioned incredulously as house after house passed them by.

“Where else would we go?” He asked, momentarily looking over at her.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, feeling sick to her stomach.

The car quietly came to a halt as Harry parked against the curb. His vision stayed focused out the windshield as he cut the engine. He just sat there staring, the silence engulfing them.

“It’s right there,” Harry pointed out as Mason’s eyes met his line of vision.

All the houses on the quiet street looked similar. They were all adobe style houses with red tiled roofs, but her eyes focused on the same house Harry was looking at – the house with the minivan in the driveway. She swallowed hard, knowing what a minivan usually represented – a family. Harry was about to walk in on a guy who had a whole other family and announce he was his long lost twenty-something-year-old son. Mason’s brain raced with one scenario after another on how it all could play out.

The sound of Harry’s door opening broke her out of her thoughts.

“Harry,” Mason breathed as he pulled himself out of the car.

Holy shit. This was happening.

Mason opened her door and stepped out of the car, and stood there. Harry was already a few strides up the street and she wasn’t sure if he wanted her to follow until he turned back to look at her.

“Come on, Mason. Don’t leave me now,” he told her, swiping his hand through the air to signal her to come along.

Mason took a deep breath and closed the passenger door. She jogged toward him to catch up as he held out his hand for her. She slid her hand smoothly into his. Her heart was in her throat as they walked up the driveway. It was the middle of a Saturday afternoon and they were about to drop an atom bomb on this family.

Mason’s hand squeezed Harry’s tightly as he stuck out the index finger of his free hand and plunged it into the doorbell. Harry stood silently with Mason hovered at his side as they waited on bated breath for someone to answer the door. And when it slowly opened, a man stood in front of them looking surprised and flustered all at once.

“Harry,” the man gasped.

And Mason was certain she had never been so stunned in her entire life.

Notes