Mason Walton

"Bullshit!" Jason laughed shaking his head "Do you remember when he had a crush on the new Spanish teacher?"

Adam burst into laughter "How can I forget about that? He wouldn't stop babbling about her! He always had his homework done! But hey, you have to admit, it was adorable."

I rolled my eyes as they kept teasing me and laughing at me just because they wanted to humiliate me in front of Kat. I glanced at her and she met my gaze with a wide smile. She'd been listening to Adam and Jason for the past hour with the cutest grin ever. It felt so good and most importantly, so right to be here with her. Spending time with the most important people in my life. And I loved that they got along with her so well and welcomed her to our group with open arms.

I rested my hand on her thigh and squeezed a little, earning the cutest blush I've ever seen on her. I leaned into her ignoring the boys who were still talking shit about me and inhaled her perfume.

"Are you having fun?" I whispered in her ear as my hand climbed higher up her thigh.

Kat cleared her throat and turned to look at me with longing in her eyes. I loved that I could affect her so easily. She held the same power over me. She could set me on fire with just a smile, but I wasn't complaining.

"Yes, I'm good, but I have to take blacky to the vet so I'll be leaving in a few."

"Yes, I remember, I'll take you."

"Take her where? We just got here!" Helena whined.

"We're taking her cat to the vet."

"Oh? You have a cat?" Helena asked her suddenly interested in our conversation.

Kat showed her pictures of Blacky and the conversations around me shifted to pets and animals. Helena kept letting out awes here and there each time she saw a photo of Blacky. She wanted to adopt a cat herself but was worried the twins would hurt it somehow. I watched them with a smile as they seemed to have broken the ice between them and started talking about other things.

I felt Adam's gaze on me and looked up only to find him smirking. He was happy for me, there was no denying that, but his look said more. It showed me how much he cared for me and how much he wanted me to succeed in everything.

"So what are we doing for Christmas this year?" Tara asked looking at us. She and Helena were the Christmas queens of our group. They always wanted to throw the biggest party and took the holidays pretty seriously.

"Last year you spent it without me!" Johny D accused us.

"No one told you to fly to Istanbul!" Helena rolled her eyes "Christmas is special. I wasn't going to miss it for you!"

"Don't be a bitch Helena, I was with Kayra you know it."

"Don't call her names Johny D." Adam said lazily before taking a sip of his drink.

"We're spending it all at my parents' house." I cut off their bickering.

"Since when do you get to decide?" Tara glared at me, "Why not go to the mountains? And rent a cabin or something?"

"Look I've been in a near-death experience, and I really want to spend the holidays with my parents and with you all. So I'm asking you to please say yes. The house is huge, there is enough room for everyone and mom will love that we're spending Christmas with them."

I met Helena's eyes and she was smiling from ear to ear, "Adam and I are in."

Johny D nodded, "Kayra and I are in too."

We all looked at Tara waiting but she kept quiet. "Look, we can leave the day after and go to the mountains if you want. And think about all the food" I chuckled when I saw her grin.

"Alright, I'm in. But I get to choose the Cabin! And we're staying for a week!"

"Thank you all."

"Katrina you'll be with us right?" Helena asked Kat and all eyes were on her.

"I... Well, I would love to but usually, I spend Christmas with my family. I don't think I can get out of it, but I can join you on your trip to the mountain."

"Oh..." Helena seemed disappointed but she quickly hid it "Yeah I guess family comes first."

"Don't be upset Helena, she'll be there. Her family as well."

Kat looked at me with raised eyebrows "What?"

"I asked Noah if you'd like to all spend Christmas with us this year and he checked with your parents before saying anything. They agreed. I just didn't have the chance to tell you until now. Thanks to Tara."

"If my parents said yes then there's nothing keeping me away from you on Christmas." She leaned in and kissed my cheek softly.

It wasn't until I was on the main road that I started looking through my playlist and shuffling between songs stopping on 'unity'. Kat looked at me and giggled shaking her head.

I reached out and held her hand in mine while singing along with Alan walker. "Don't laugh, this song brings out good memories. It was the first time I saw you drunk. It showed me a whole other side o you. And I think it became my favorite song."

"Is it now," She leaned in and rested her head on my shoulder. "Mason, are you as happy as I am?"

"Baby, you don't even have to ask me that. Just look at me, and you'll have your answer. I'm probably the happiest man alive right now... I got the girl of my dream next to me and everything is falling into place perfectly... what would I want more than that?"

She pecked my shoulder and squeezed my hand gently before closing her eyes with a sigh. I wasn't lying, everything was perfect. She was perfect.

"Do you know how much you're changing me?"

"I don't want you to change Mase, I love you the way you are."

"I know that but... it's true that I've never been the playboy everyone thought I was but I still had my fair share of women..."

She pulled away with a playful glare on her face "And you're telling me that now because?"

"Because I want you to know that I've changed. I'm better than I was before you came into my life, and I want to promise you that I'll never mistreat you or cheat on you or even hurt you." I wanted her to know how much I had changed, I wanted her to believe in me and always feel safe around me. I wanted her to know how much she meant to me. She was my childhood best friend, my high school crush, and the love of my life.

She's my world.

"Mason..." She whispered "I know you won't hurt me. I admit I was scared to get close to you, really scared. But I know now that you won't hurt me. You won't do what my ex did... and I feel safe around you Mason. Don't overthink everything, and let us live each day as if it was our last. I want to have a great life with you, filled with funny moments and love and friendship and trust and everything... But I also want you to stay the same. I want this Mason I have right now."

I parked in front of her parents' house and shifted in my seat to face her. "I'm glad you think that way because that's exactly what I want Kat." I leaned in and cupped her face gently before capturing her lips in a teasing manner. She let out a groan making me chuckle before I actually kissed her.

We were so immersed in our kiss that we didn't notice her sister standing on the sidewalk watching us with a smirk. She tapped on Kat's window making us both jump and look at her. Kat had texted her mom on our way to their house asking her to ready Blacky and put him in his carrier bag. Scarlett had Blacky on the sidewalk next to her.

Kat pulled down the window "Scar! You're home!"

"And you're kissing the hot/ jerk/ playboy!"

"Shut up" Kat got out of the car and hugged her sister tightly, "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean what I'm doing here? Christmas is around the corner, you know I never miss it." She looked past Kat and grinned at me "Hello, and we meet again."

"Hi Scarlett, how are you?"

"Happy for you two and well." She smile and looked at her sister "Pablo came with me. He said he wanted to spend Christmas with us this year since he's not going to Spain."

"Pablo? He didn't tell me!"

"He's been calling you for the last week but you never called back. And now I know why." She gave me an accusing look and I just shrugged.

"So Pablo is staying here at your house?" I asked Scarlett, knowing all too well that my voice was laced with jealousy.

"Yeah... He'll be sharing Noah's room. My parents wouldn't let him get a hotel. What is Christmas without family and friends right?"

"Right." I pressed my lips together and tensed.

Kat must have noticed, "I'll come to see him tonight, but I'll be staying with Mason." This woman never ceased to amaze me.

"Why? Have you moved in together? Mom didn't say anything about that..."

"No we haven't, but I want to spend some alone time with him. Oh and has mom told you we're spending Christmas with the Waltons this year?"

"I can't believe this! How did they agree to spend Christmas out of the house?"

"I'm pretty convincing," I smirked.

"Uhu... I can tell. Here's Blacky, and make sure to come back and say hello to Pablo. He came all the way here for you."

We both rolled our eyes at Scarlett before I drove away silently.

"What's bothering you?"

"Me? Nothing, why would you say that?"

"Your brows are about to kiss and you're awfully silent."

"Pablo came all the here for you" I mimicked her sister's voice and she burst into laughter. She wouldn't stop it was contagious and I found myself laughing with her.

"You should change careers and become a humorist or a mimic or something..." she pulled my hand into hers and placed it on her lap, "Pablo is my best friend Mason. I love that you're being jealous but... I think you should better place your jealousy. He's harmless, and has been in my life for so long..."

"Yes but he loves you. If not love then he likes you. I'm not an idiot; I saw the way he looked at you at Mr. Williams' party. You were pretending to be in love with him but he wasn't. It was all real."

"I don't know where you got that from but seriously he never made any kind of move on me. That has to mean something."

"Oh yes, it does. It means you did a great job friend zoning him that he never dared to make a move."

She laughed looking out of the window, probably still not believing me. I was a man, after all, I knew that look all too well. He was in deep.

"Look, you may not believe me, but one day you'll come to me and tell me I was right."

"Maybe..." She shrugged.

"And I don't care if he has feelings for you as long as he keeps them hidden and doesn't act on them, coz the day he does, I'll kill him."