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chelseachilly · 1 year ago

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Author’s note: It’s crazy how quickly these weeks pass by. We’re at chapter 4 already which feels absolutely insane! Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read and comment/reblog. It keeps me motivated to finish it!

As always, feedback is very much appreciated. And now, enjoy! 🩷

Mason knew you weren’t counting the days, but he still felt awful that it eventually took him about two and a half months to finally find some time to spend with just you. He’d promised to make it up to you and whilst you’d told him countless of times you didn’t want him to, he really wanted to make sure to look after you too.

Little did he know though that all the things he’d started doing lately made you feel looked after already. You weren’t even sure if he did them intentionally or just subconsciously, but either way, you appreciated all of them a lot.

They weren’t big or expensive, but they were thoughtful and never failed to put a smile on your face. They were things like buying fresh flowers on every Sunday for the office Mason had set up for you in his house. Or preparing dinner for you at least once a week so you could take a breather and simply relax a little bit. And then not too long ago, he’d come home with a book he’d heard you talking about randomly.

You kept telling him he didn’t have to do any of those things, but Mason being Mason, he didn’t want to hear any of it. Usually, he just rolled his eyes, grinned and kissed the top of your head as some sort of gentle dismissal, before disappearing to change into some sweat joggers and a hoodie, leaving you no chance to argue any further.

And as Mason knew he would face the same type of ‘discussion’ had he told you about wanting to spend the whole day with just you, he’d kept pretty much quiet about it. He’d stuck to asking discreet questions to figure out what you were going to do on your day off without raising any suspicion and when you’d told him you weren’t doing anything other than spending the day wrapped up on your sofa, he’d been quite happy about it. It had made it all pretty simple for him.

It was half eight when you, dressed in cosy clothes, shuffled sleepily into the kitchen, ready for a cup of coffee, but before you could even press the start button on the coffee machine, there was a knock at the door.

“Go away.”, you mumbled, hoping that whoever it was would leave again if you were quiet enough, but the knocking continued. Thinking it might be one of your neighbours you made your way over to the front door, only to be greeted with a bright smile you hadn’t expected to see today.

“Mase?”

“Surprise.”, he grinned a little shyly before pulling you into a quick, warm hug.

“What are you doing here?” To say you were surprised would be an understatement. So far, he’d never come to see you on your day off, constantly insisting you needed at least a day to yourself to unwind and take care of yourself and him suddenly showing up this early in the morning had you a little worried. “Is Ellie okay?”

“She’s perfect, don’t worry.”, Mason explained softly as ushered you further back into your flat so he could close the door behind him. His heart warmed at your obvious concern for his daughter. “She’s with Luke and Anouska today.”

Those last few weeks, Mason had spoken a lot to Luke and his wife. He’d told them that he still felt a little guilty for bringing you into this mess and although the Shaw’s had reassured him like a hundred times that there was no need for that cause you enjoyed every second you got to spend with your best friend and his little daughter, Mason had been adamant. And as Luke was more than willing to support one of his best friends, he’d offered straight away to take Ellie for a day.

“I’m here for you actually.”, he chuckled, thumb gently brushing over the small crease that appeared between your brows at his admission. “Go get changed, we’ve got places to be. And don’t worry, you’ll like it.”

“Mase, I-”

“Please?” The moment he hit you with his puppy dog eyes and a little pout there wasn’t a single cell left inside of you that could’ve said no. Your overall willpower was pretty strong, and you usually knew what you wanted and how to put your foot down, but Mason was your weakness. In many ways.

“Fine.”, you sighed, your eyes rolling into the back of your head in jest. You hated when he made things about you, but you had an idea that today might be the day he would use for making things up to you. “I need a bit to make myself presentable though.”

“You always look beautiful.” His quiet admission had you blushing and you dropped your head as you didn’t want him to see how flustered he’d made you. “But yeah, maybe change into something less revealing. It’s still pretty cold outside.” Mason dropped a kiss to your forehead before shoeing you upstairs, his eyes following your every step.

“Make yourself a home.”, you called over your shoulder as you made your way towards your bedroom to get changed. And calm down a little.

Half an hour later, you were sitting opposite of Mason in a place you’d never been to before: Dishoom. An Indian restaurant he’d been to with his parents before and wanted you to try it too now. Especially as he knew how much you loved breakfast.

And you really wanted to enjoy it properly, but the lack of prices on the menu told you everything about how far from being lowkey this place was. You knew it probably wasn’t a big deal for him at all and he’d never held back from spending money on you, but despite the years of friendship, it still made you feel a little uncomfortable.

“y/n.”, Mason sighed. “I can literally see the cogs turning in your pretty head. Stop thinking about prices, it doesn’t matter at all.”

With a soft smile on his lips, he reached over and grabbed your hands in his, thumbs caressing your skin in a way that would never fail to calm you down and when you eventually smiled back at him, he felt reassured enough to keep speaking.

“What you have done in the last few months is worth more than all the money in the world. I never thought I would suddenly find myself as a single father and when I did, I was everything but prepared.”, he chuckled, but the sadness behind those words made your heart squeeze uncomfortably in your chest and you squeezed his fingers gently.

“Sure, my parents would certainly have stepped in too, but you are not only my best friend, whom I trust blindly, but above all a great role model for Ellie. In you, she has someone she can learn from without me having to worry. I can go to training without wondering whether or not she gets along with the nanny or if she might adopt values that I don’t share. You can’t imagine how much it means to me and how much pressure and worries you’ve taken from my shoulders those last months. Please let me do this for you, y/n.”

You sighed and stayed quiet for a while. Eyes solely focussed on his big brown ones and the way they were silently pleading with you, basically begging you to agree and enjoy the day he’d planned.

He knew you hated when he – or anyone for that matter – made things about you; let alone a whole day. Being the center of attention was quite literally the last thing you ever wanted, closely followed by someone else spending money on you, but Mason couldn’t help it. You deserved everything good in this world.

“y/n.”, he mumbled, fingers tightening around yours a little. “Please.”

You really wanted to say no and tell him off; to ask him to go to a normal priced place, but this was his way of caring for you and saying thank you. He hadn’t taken you here because it was expensive, but because he knew you loved breakfast more than anything and he wanted you to enjoy something new.

“You know I don’t care about you buying me stuff, Mase.”, you mumbled, causing Mason to chuckle cause you indeed had told him about a million times already. “Breakfast is fine, but no more spending money on me please.”

“I won’t make any promises I can’t keep.”, he laughed, and you shot him a warning look, but it only made his cheeky grin become even wider. “And now please choose whatever catches your eye.”

Still hesitant, it took you a moment to decide, but at the end your curiosity and empty stomach got the better of you. Mason smiled when you gave your order, happy you’d given in as he knew you’d love it a lot.

The two of you fell into light conversation whilst waiting for your respective orders, discussing what the next weeks were going to look like.

After his injury had prevented him from playing, he was buzzing to be back this weekend and you were more than relieved to see the childlike excitement shining in his eyes again. He’d tried his best to hide his disappointment and sadness, but you’d seen right through it. Mason was born to play football and not being able to always took a toll on him.

“I’m really happy you’ll be back in the squad.”, you smiled. “I already talked to Anouska. She’s bringing the kids, so Ellie and I will be there too. Did I tell you that I got her a new shirt cause she outgrew the latest? It was a little tight around her shoulders and it looked a bit short too, and I just thought that-”

The strange look he was giving you stopped you mid-rambling. The smile he was wearing was one you’d never seen before and for some reason it made you blush.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Mason dropped his head as a breathy chuckle flew past his lips, before eventually locking his eyes back on yours.

“Sorry, I just…I don’t know it’s such a normal thing to notice probably, but…it just made me realise how much you actually do. Not only bringing her to my games, but also noticing things like her outgrowing her shirt...I’m probably not making a lot of sense right now, just…thank you.”

He reached for your hand again, his fingers squeezing yours in appreciation, but you couldn’t help and roll your eyes.

“Stop thanking me all the time, Mase.”, you laughed. “I love her and I love doing this for you both. Also, she needs to be taught some proper behaviour, can’t really leave her with just you for that can we?”

“Oi, that’s just rude. I’m a great role model.” Slightly offended, Mason pulled his hand away from yours as he gave you a nasty look, but you could see right through him. Obviously he knew you were just messing with him and the glint in his eyes told you exactly that.

“Sure you are, Mase.”, you grinned. “The poor girl would grow up between your stinky shoes and-”

The waiter bringing your food cut your little dig short, but your best friend still kicked your leg beneath the table in jest, earning himself a scolding scoff.

Just like Mason had promised, the food was terrific, making you think you could never have breakfast anywhere else without leaving unsatisfied. The two of you made some light and joking conversation whilst munching away and you realised just how much you’d missed spending time with just him.

Not that he did it on purpose, but sometimes you got the feeling that around you, he was a different person. He seemed more relaxed and less troubled by all the pressure he usually felt and you couldn’t help the wave of pride rushing over you. He had always been your save haven and to know you could be the same for him was priceless.

“What would you like to do afterwards though? Any special requests?”

“I think I’d like to see the gardens.”, you admitted quietly, unsure if he was even up for it, but his smile just widened.

“Fletcher Moss?”

“Yeah, I’ve always wanted to go.”, you nodded carefully. “I know it sounds boring cause it’s just a bunch of flowers and bushes and stuff, but-”

“y/n.” Mason interrupted you gently. The tips of his fingers brushing against yours. “It sounds perfect, okay?”

And that’s how a little less than an hour later, the two of you were walking through the seemingly endless greenery. Side by side, with his shoulder brushing against yours every once in a while.

“I missed this.”, you said when you stopped to look at a quiet and slightly hidden pond. Water lilies gathered at the top, blooming in pink and light rose colours.

“I thought you’ve never been?”

“Not the garden you wally.” You bumped your shoulder into his arm. “This. Spending time with you. With just you. I don’t know it’s…I just missed it.”

Mason sighed quietly, before pulling you right in front of him. He placed his hands on your shoulders, thumbs brushing the soft skin on the base of your neck as his eyes bore into yours and just like that it felt as if the air had shifted.

“I missed you too.”

There was a tiny turmoil in your tummy, causing all sorts of emotions to run through you all at once and for the first time you realised that some of the feelings you were harbouring for Mason weren’t as platonic as you’d thought they were.

You tipped your head back slightly when Mason leaned in a fraction. Your thoughts were running a mile an hour, barely giving you a second to try and get your head straight, but Mason’s fingers slightly tightening their grip on your neck grounded you ever so slightly.

When his nose rubbed against yours softly, your breath caught in the back of your throat.

“Mase.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, y/n.”

You stared into his eyes before your gaze dropped to his lips the same second his dropped to yours. The air around you felt electric and whilst it scared you like nothing ever had before, the thought of feeling his lips against yours had your heart tripping over itself.

Mason leaned in a bit more; the beat of your heart echoing loudly in your ears as his breath hit your lips.

“Elliott!” And all of sudden the spell was broken. “Don’t get too close to the water!” A mother screaming after her son jogged past on the other side of the past, causing you to pull away from each other quickly, filling you with a heavy feeling of disappointment.

Shyly, you dropped your gaze to your shoes. You could feel the blush creeping up your neck and cheeks and, in an attempt to distract yourself from the slight humiliation you felt, you kicked a pebble into the pond; watching the tiny waves causing bigger ones in the formerly calm water.

For a moment, it was quiet with only the birds chirping away. It was rarely ever quiet between you two and you wondered if what had nearly happened a second ago had tarnished your precious friendship. What if it was going to be weird from now on?

With his flushed cheeks Mason looked adorable, but the awkward giggle he let out the moment your eyes locked gave away that he felt as embarrassed as you. In an attempt to hide himself away, he dropped his face into your neck, arms circling your waist pulling you flush against his body and after a moment of gathering yourself, you hugged him back.

You had no idea for how long you stood there, simply holding each other, but after a while you could feel his heart slowing down. He pressed his lips to the warm skin on your neck before pulling away slowly.

His cheeks were still rosy, albeit a lot less than before and the cheeky grin was back on his lips. “Let’s go and get ice cream?”

You nodded slowly, wondering how on earth you were supposed to get back to before what just happened.

“Perfect.”, he smiled and with a final kiss to your forehead, Mason pulled away fully. You missed his warmth and proximity immediately; longing for him to wrap you back up against his chest, but instead he headed towards where you knew the ice cream stand was.

Had he genuinely wanted to kiss you? Or had it been the spur of the moment? Maybe you’d imagined all that and he’d questioned what you’d been doing all along?

“C’mon lazybones.”, he laughed. “It’s not that far.”

The relief that filled you when Mason wrapped his arm around your shoulders to keep you tugged away against your body should be considered pathetic, but there’d never been a place you felt safer and after your almost-kiss it felt even more special.

You knew he was your best friend in the whole world, but after years of being in denial, even you had to acknowledge how the atmosphere had shifted a little.

The two of you eventually got the ice cream he’d promised. You knew he wasn’t supposed to eat any of it, especially not as he was about to make his comeback, but you’d known him for long enough to be aware that every once in a while, he allowed himself some happiness – at least that’s what Mason kept calling it.

You’d recovered from the previous situation – neither of you mentioning it again – and were walking towards the exit when all of sudden, a girl came up to the two of you.

“Mase, hi.”, she smiled brightly; showing off her perfect set of pearly white teeth. Her smile was as gorgeous as the rest of her. She looked straight out of a magazine, and you couldn’t help but pull your shoulders up and hide away in Mason’s jacket. The one he’d insisted you put on as it had got a little chillier a while ago.

You watched how she greeted your best friend enthusiastically, pulling him into a hug and the way he wrapped his arms around her waist had a bit of acid raising in your tummy. This wasn’t how you greeted someone you barely knew…

And when all of sudden she eyed you questioningly, no doubt judging your appearance, you felt small. And insignificant. You knew it was stupid and he’d slap you silly for it, but her looks made you feel like you weren't worth Mason's company.

“Hi.”, she smiled after a while, extending her hand towards you. “I’m Rebecca.”

“y/n.”, you nodded, eventually shaking her hand. You didn’t like her one bit and judging by the glint in her eyes, neither did she you.

“So, she’s the nanny then? Where’s your little one Mase?”

The nanny? Your heart dropped. What had he told her?

Mason’s brows formed a deep frown. He stepped a little closer to you, his arm wrapping around your shoulder. Not that it had any significance, but it certainly felt like a tiny win.

“No, y/n isn’t the nanny. She’s my best friend and my daughter’s god mother.”

“Oh, well.”, Rebecca laughed melodically. “I’ll see you around then, y/n. I assume you’ll be around as much as me then.”

Rebecca left a little while after, leaving you with a bitter aftertaste in your mouth, but as much as you were dying to know what was going on between her and your best friend, you were too much of a coward to ask. Too afraid what he would say could hurt you a little too much.

The way back to Mason’s car was quiet; the air around you tense, but for the first time neither of you really knew what to say.

Even the drive home started off in silence, with just the radio providing that ounce of sound in the small space. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d felt this awkward around your best friend – if you ever had – but the confusion about the almost-kiss and then meeting Rebecca, who seemed to be someone serious to Mason had caused some sort of brain freeze.

Mason though, was unsure as of whether or not he should explain who Rebecca was. He hadn’t planned to kiss you, but the spur of the moment had caught up with him back then by the pond. He knew you felt weird about it all, but he didn’t have any explanation or whatsoever to offer; he only knew he didn’t want to say goodbye yet.

“Chinese or Italian?”

Surprised by him suddenly speaking up, you turned to look at him. Mason stared straight ahead, giving you a great view at his side profile. He looked gorgeous, as always and for a second, your gaze dropped to his lips.

“What?”

“I’m talking about take away.”, he said, lips curling into a soft smile when he reached out and squeezed your thigh. “Thought we’d get some dinner on our way back and watch a film. Like we used to.”

“Oh erm…Italian, I think.” You were a little surprised that after the whole day he wanted to spend the evening with you too. “Haven’t had a pizza in way too long.”

“Gigi’s it is then.”, Mason nodded. He gave your leg another squeeze; his palm remaining on your thigh for the rest of the drive.

Having dinner on his sofa slowly brought back normality between the two of you. Mason obviously managed to lighten the mood with some of the worst jokes he could find and whilst they never failed to make you wonder what was actually going on in his head, you laughed at every single one of them.

Once the plates were cleared away, Mason flopped down on the sofa. He wasn’t an overly tall man, but for some reason he always managed to take up the majority of space on that huge sofa of his.

“Don’t tell me you forgot how to cuddle?”, he laughed, stopping you from stepping closer towards the shorter – and unoccupied – space of the sofa. “C’mon sweetcheeks. You know where you belong.”

Mason shuffled a bit more towards the edge before holding his hand out and although there was this tiny doubt holding you back, you eventually accepted his hand and flopped down in the small nook between his warm body and the back of the sofa.

“See, that’s not too bad, is it?” You felt his arm wrapping around your shoulder, encouraging you to snuggle into him further and place your head on his chest. His familiar scent and warmth surrounded you almost immediately, settling your heart and also some of your worries.

After all it was you, he was cuddling now. No one else.

It didn’t take long for Mason’s hand to start wandering. With gentle pressure, he ran his fingers up and down your spine, causing you to hum in content. It had been way too long that you’d spent so much quality time together and you only now realised just how much you’d actually missed it. And how you desperately didn’t want this day to end.

“When do you have to pick up Ellie?”, you asked, but apparently your words had been muffled by the hoodie Mason had thrown on after dinner.

“What?”

Begrudgingly, you lifted your head. Mason was looking at you already; his lips pulled into a sweet, albeit slightly tired smile.

“When do you have to pick up Ellie?”, you repeated.

“At round about 8. Luke said Anouska wanted to make dinner and offered to watch Frozen with them so I wouldn’t have to kick you out too early.”

“You’re unbelievable, Mase. Getting rid of your poor little daughter.”, you laughed, but your heart skipped a beat as you were quite sure the initial plan had been to pick her up before.

“What can I say? There’s two important girls in my life and whilst they get along really well, sometimes I need to get rid of one to spend some proper time with the other.”

The cheeky grin on his lips had you blushing nearly as much as him calling you his girl, but it was him reaching out to trace your jaw softly that sent your heart into a frenzy.

“On a serious note though, thank you so much for today, Mase.” The look in his eyes softened a touch, as did his smile. “I didn’t realise just how much I needed a day like this and I appreciate everything you’ve done. Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome, y/n.”, he hummed. “I know you think I did this to thank you for all the things you’ve done, but I genuinely missed spending time with you and needed today as much as you. Like…you’ve been around a lot, but I missed you. I…does that make sense?”

“Yes.”

You watched a faint blush coating his freckled cheeks and making him look rather adorable and you couldn’t help but stare. Obviously, you’d noticed before that he was an incredibly handsome man – you weren’t blind after all – but you’d never looked at him the way you were doing now.

Somewhere in between stepping up and taking care of his daughter and today’s visit in the gardens, something had shifted dramatically, and you found it hard to ignore it.

Especially, as he kept staring into your eyes. His big brown ones bore into yours, making your skin prickle with nerves and your fingers tighten around the fabric of his hoodie. You were still half on top of his body, propped up on one arm whilst the other rested on his chest, but when Mason reached out and pushed a lose strand of hair behind your ear you felt like melting into his body.

His gaze flickered to your lips before jumping back to your eyes and just like that, it felt like you were back by the pond. The look in his eyes was captivating, basically forcing you to keep yours locked on his whilst your heart was threatening to burst through your ribcage.

“y/n.” His voice wasn’t more than a hoarse whisper; contributing to the intensity of the situation. You wanted to kiss him, you really wanted to, but instead, you dropped your gaze to his chest with flushed cheeks, breaking the spell reluctantly.

Mason dropped his hand from where it was cupping the side of your face, allowing you the freedom to lay back down. He kissed the top of your head and wrapped his arm back around your shoulders before focusing back on the film that was still playing.

Part of you felt awful as you hid away in his chest, wondering if you should’ve just gone for a kiss and see where it would’ve taken you, but there was this nagging feeling of doubt in the back of your mind, making you question everything.

It felt like you’d gone from 0 to 100 in less than a day and you couldn’t help but think it was rushed. Maybe it was just you reading too much into these two situations. Maybe it was you seeing things that weren’t actually there.

After all, there was still Rebecca…the thought of her and how she’d greeted Mason made your tummy churn. No matter how obvious today’s moments had seemed, there was no way he’d go for someone like you.

It was too late to do something about it when you felt your eyes growing heavy and with Mason pressing a gentle kiss to the top of your head, you eventually nodded off.

The next morning, you were mulling about your coffee. Your thoughts pretty much still all over the place, but with Ellie around, you tried your best to be up to your usual standard.

After Mason had woken you up the evening before to go and get his daughter, he’d asked you to stay, but you’d refused. The thought of sleeping over after everything that had happened had felt wrong, so you’d told him to drop you off on his way to Luke’s. He’d seemed a bit disappointed, but for you, it had been the best decision.

You’d spent half the evening overthinking every tiny detail and ended up working yourself up in a frenzy, terrified of it being weird from now on, but when you’d showed up at Mason’s this morning, everything had been back to normal.

“What about a walk, Ellie?”, you asked eventually. The little girl looking up at you with the same big brown eyes as her father and nodded furiously. By now she knew that going for a walk also meant spending time with you at the playground – something that had become one of her favourite things in the world. “Let’s get you dressed then, munchkin.”

You held her hand as you walked to her room to put some outdoor clothes on and since she only cared about leaving as soon as possible, little Ellie didn’t make much of a fuss of what you’d chosen for her to wear.

By the time Mason came back from training, you’d prepared dinner for later and cleaned most parts of his house. It wasn’t part of your agreement, but whenever you’d put Ellie down for a nap, there was little to do so you’d started to clean or at least tidy up.

“Daddy!” Ellie all but jumped out of your hold when Mason showed up in the living room. She ran over – as best as she could at her age – and fell straight into his wide opened arms.

“Hello love bug.”, he smiled widely before pressing smootches all over her little face, causing Ellie to wiggle in his arms, belly laughter falling from her lips and you couldn’t help but stare.

Mason was always amazing, no matter who he was with, but when Ellie was around, he seemed like the most carefree person. It was as if he could get his inner child out in a way he never dared to around others and you couldn’t be more thankful to see it.

“So, what’ve you and auntie y/n been up to today, hm?”, he hoisted her up into his arms and strolled over to where you were still sitting on the sofa. The kid’s book you’d been reading to Ellie still sat in your lap. “Oh you’ve been reading, yeah?”

“Peppa!”, Ellie exclaimed as she pointed out the pink pig on the front of the book. It was her absolute favourite thing to do.

“Well that’s amazing, bubs.” Mason kissed the top of his daughter’s head before leaning a bit closer to you, so he could whisper without Ellie hearing any of his words: “Bet auntie y/n isn’t tired of this book at all, is she?”

You laughed when he flicked the end of your nose in jest and shook your head. “No, not at all. I enjoy being able to quote a kid’s book by heart.”

After a quick chat – one that relieved some of the tension you’d still felt because of the day before – the three of you had decided to go outside again to try and tire out the little girl in hopes she’d be out like a light once you’d be back home, but for some reason, nothing you tried worked so you ended up walking back home with Ellie still being her energetic self.

“Good luck getting that one to sleep.”, you grinned, pointing at the brunette kid jumping up and down right in front of you.

“It’s definitely going to be one of those evenings.”, Mason sighed. “I can see it right in front of me already…me sitting by her bed, reading about 10 books and her still not being tir-” He stopped talking when he felt your hand grabbing his arm. Turning to look at you, he found your gaze settled on his front door. “Wha-”

“Ellie? Munchkin come over here please.” The little girl came straight up to you, her arms reaching out so you could pick her up and as if she sensed the change in atmosphere, she snuggled right into the crook of your neck.

You could tell the exact moment Mason recognised the person standing in front of his door. His pace quickened and he cast a quick and worried glance back at you, ushering you to stay back. And you did, but you could still hear the harsh sound of his voice loud and clear.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

#im sorry I haven’t had time to read/review until now but i finally did last night and i’m so obsessed with this story ❤️#i love y/n and mase so so much and the way she’s such a good mother figure to ellie makes me 🥹🥹#i’m so excited for future chapters and to see where this goes 🥰 especially after that chapter ending!!#mason fic rec

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