You are more than ordinary Who: Kiley and Mason Where: Starbucks When: Early afternoon
Kiley didn’t do early shifts. She could set her alarm and wake up just fine, but being at work for 5:30 in the morning when you were used to being in much later sucked. Even though she knew she shouldn’t, she’d been drinking iced coffees all day just to keep herself awake, and by noontime she was getting borderline shaky, like she couldn’t eat enough food to keep up with the caffeine in her system. When she got home, she had no other plans other than to take a shower and take a nap. Maybe watch a movie or two. With everything that had happened to her in the last few days - seeing Alanna in the hospital and massively screwing things up with Mason - staying home was all she really wanted to do. In Kiley’s mind, it all made perfect sense, even if it meant she was reverting to her hermit-like habits again.
The only good thing about this shift was that she was out early, and she only had a half an hour left in her shift for the day. She was on bar, sneaking a drink of her coffee every few minutes, making drinks as they come in. She actually didn’t see Mason come in, but caught his scent first - and she had to stop the urge to panic and run for the back room. Not that she was scared of him, far from it, but she’d made things awkward and she wouldn’t blame him for not wanting to come back here and see her just yet. You’re just his barista, remember? No one else here will dare make his drink, so it’s gotta be you. Get over yourself already. Shaking her head as if to clear it, she reached over to grab a venti cup. “Hey you,” she said, giving him a little smile. “The usual?”
It took a lot for Mason to swallow his pride and confess he screwed up. Usually he was too full of himself to do that. But not hearing from Kiley for what felt like forever after what happened? That killed him. It was almost as bad as hearing the news that Donna was dead. They weren’t mates, but he still considered her pack and the last thing he wanted to do was lose her altogether. By the time lunchtime hit in the office, one of the officers made a comment about Mason looking mopey and then proceeded to get coffee spilt all over him. Mason couldn’t think straight after that and Kiley never left his mind. When he finally made up his mind, he called out for a break himself and headed on out to get that coffee from earlier replaced.
Then again, it was all an excuse to see Kiley. It had the be the only time that he walked into the Starbucks and could have cared less about caffeine. He was thankful to see she was on shift and gave her a small smile. He wished he looked better for her and be in anything but his uniform, but alas he couldn’t have everything in the world. “Uh, yeah. Sure. That’d be great.” Kiley could have made him some overly sweet frappuccino at that point. He really didn’t care. Seeing her? That’s what he cared about. And yet it was so painfully difficult to get the words right. He didn’t want to embarrass her at work. Or anywhere. Fuck everything... “So... how’ve you been? Haven’t heard from you lately.”
Normally, Kiley would’ve scribbled something on the side of his cup, something that would make him smile. It was her way of flirting with him, only he hadn’t realized it and right now it would come across as over the top. What would she write? “I miss you”? “Sorry I told you how I felt, can we go back to being friends now”? Yeah, no. Wouldn’t work. Perhaps it was better that the first time they saw each other was at work, in public. And he was in his uniform, which meant there was a chance that he was still on duty, and she didn’t want to keep him from that.
She nodded, steaming milk and going about her normal routine of making his drink. It took her a moment to answer his question, all the answers she could have given him filtering through her mind. In truth, she’d almost called him after seeing Alanna in the hospital, because she was that freaked out by it - not seeing Alanna like that, but the place itself. But she hadn’t. It had been too soon, and she didn’t think he’d want to hear from her. But here was, mentioning the fact that she hadn’t called. “I’m - okay,” she said, shrugging. Mason would know if she lied, and she didn’t want to lie to him. “Been better, been worse. Sorry for the radio silence on my part.” And she was, because she didn’t want to ignore him. She was thinking about him more and more these days. “What about you?”
He could practically smell the tension that was looming about her. Part of Mason felt like that was his doing. Whenever Kiley wasn’t doing well, she had a tendency to lock herself up and throw the key out. Not like he was any better, but he hoped his visit that day would change all of that. He managed to fish out his wallet during all that and handed Kiley his Starbucks card before replying. “Busy.” He breathed out a chuckle. “Always am. It’s like it never stops. But uh...” He ran his tongue over his lower lip while trying to build up the courage to get the words across. “Do you have a break coming up or anything?”
Kiley could smell it too, whether she wanted to or not. She just wished she hadn’t said anything over the weekend, because then they wouldn’t be here. They’d be smiling and joking together like nothing was wrong. But hey, at least Mason cared enough to stop in and see her, right? That meant that he at least wanted to still be her friend, and she supposed she’d just take what she could get. Running his card through, she passed it back to him. “I’m actually out of work in like half an hour, maybe 20 minutes. I don’t want to eat up your break, though.” She gestured to his uniform, guessing that he was still on the clock.
...what? Ok, as much as Mason would have waited like a loyal puppy dog for Kiley to get out of work and do the ‘pay attention to me!’ running around in circles thing, he didn’t exactly have maybe twenty minutes to kill. Shooting her a blank look with a raised eyebrow, he just blurted out, “Really?” Twenty minutes wasn’t going to cut it for him. He felt like he was going to die from his heart beating too fast if he waited twenty freaking minutes. Realizing that he might have been a bit too harsh with his delivery, Mason did his best to take two with that. “Ok then... five minutes of your time. That’s all. I’ll make it quick and snappy. I promise.” If not, he was demanding for the manager so he could punch the fucker in the face and steal her.
For a moment, she just blinked at him. “Really.” Because like hell she had enough pull her to just walk out whenever she wanted, even if the only place she wanted to be right now was back home. Or with him, but seeing as that probably wasn’t an option, she wasn’t going to dwell on it. She glanced around the store as she finished his drink, taking it with her as she came around to the other side of the bar. “Fine,” she said, passing it to him. “I’ll try not to keep you.” She knew how impatient Mason could be, and she didn’t want to press her luck with him, not if things were ever going to get better between them. Kiley leaned against the pastry case, not even bothering to take off her apron. “So what’s up?”
Patience was totally not on Mason’s side, even if all it was consisted of Kiley coming around the bar to meet him. He would have much preferred a more intimate setting, but this was going to have to do. His eyes scanned the area while waiting for Kiley. Not too many people in the area. If it was lunch hour, he would have been on better behavior, but it obviously wasn’t. The second she gave him his drink, Mason immediately placed it back onto the counter, took a step towards her and cupped her face with one of his hands. He didn’t give her any time to react and quickly closed the distance between them to finally kiss her lips. He savored the hell out of that moment, holding it for as long as he could. Mason did his best to be sweet and gentle, but for fuck’s sake, he had been waiting to do that for who knew how long. There was a hidden hungry behind his actions and he just prayed that Kiley didn’t smack him for it.
Kiley wasn’t sure what to expect from him when he said he needed to talk to her, but kissing her wasn’t exactly it. She gasped a little against his mouth - was she dreaming? Was she making this up? Behind her, one of her co-workers whistled, and she was only vaguely aware that they were drawing attention to themselves. She could have smacked him, but considering how much she’d wanted this? Hell no, she wasn’t going to push him away. She could feel something else behind it, a hunger, and until he actually did it she didn’t realize how much she wanted it too. Ignoring everyone else, she stood up on her toes and kissed him back, one hand finding a hold on his uniform. “Please tell me you mean that,” she whispered after a moment, soft enough so he’d be the only person in the room to hear her.
The way she kissed him back and clung onto his outfit had Mason smirking a little to himself. Way better than a slap to the face. So far this was all worth it in his head. Even when they broke the kiss, he refused to pull away from Kiley and kept his forehead rested against hers. Besides, how could he say no to staring into eyes like hers? After hearing her whisper, Mason could only smile a bit more to himself. “I don’t just kiss any barista, Kiley.” Stroking her cheek, he kissed the corner of her mouth, unable to resist himself. “No, I save that for the barista I’ve had my eyes on since high school but always figured I was never her type.” Of course he meant it. He would always mean it.
This was real. It was like the previous weekend hadn’t even happened, not when she knew he’d come back to her like this. That yes, he did feel the same way, and it just took him a while to say it. She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her, or how sweet that little kiss he gave her was. “Since high school?” she whispered, absolutely beaming at him. Mason Normandin had always liked her. Kiley leaned into his hand, completely forgetting now about how tired she was, or that she was technically supposed to be working. “You are my type, ps. In case you were wondering. I think I already told you that once.” And then she realized everyone was staring at them, and her giggles were buried into Mason’s chest. Oh god, she’d really just done that, like something out of a Hollywood movie. There was no way she was staying for the rest of her shift, it was all a matter of how she could talk her way out of it.
Awww, she was adorable when she got all giddy. It only made Mason smile more. And fuck everyone else that was watching. All that mattered at the moment was Kiley. “Yeah, you did, and I had to be the douchebag that took his sweet precious time to get his shit together. So for that? I’m sorry. It was just a stressful week and it felt too surreal to be true and I kept thinking about my family and crap and-” Mason managed to take a breath in between all of that. “-fuck it. I like you. They can’t change that. No one can.” He hoped the quick, quick version was enough for her. Lord knew he could go into detail and probably write a book on it, but he did promise to make it quick. “...so yeah. I think that’s it in under five minutes.” And yet he refused to let her go. His other hand somehow found its way to her hip to rest on. What? He was going to make the most out of his time.
It had never even occurred to Kiley that his family wouldn’t approve of her. All that mattered was him and the two of them together, and they’d figure out how to deal with the rest. Simple as that in her book. “Mason,” she said, “I don’t give a shit if they don’t like me. Really, I don’t. It’d be nice if they did, but I’m not them. I like you for you and that’s all that counts.” She had both arms on him now, completely forgetting that she’d planned to go out and check the condiment bar while they talked, one hand idly playing with the buttons on his uniform. “Don’t think after that you’re just going to leave me here,” she said, trying to look stern, but failing miserably. “I’ll see if I can get out of work early.”
“Hey, I support this!” the girl on register called over, and Kiley just turned her head to shoot her a glare. No co-workers ruining this happy moment for her, thank you very much.
Knowing that Kiley wasn’t out to impress his family made him feel better... sort of. They would jump over that hurdle when they got there and Mason was in no hurry. The abrupt kiss didn’t count. He waited to cash in on that for years. Worth it. And while he intended originally to just drop on by and get that off his chest, the thought of leaving with Kiley in tow brightened his day. It would be worth skipping out the rest of work for. Could blame it on his leg or something family related. He laughed a bit at one of her co-workers adding her two cents about the matter, then focused back onto Kiley. “You do that. If that doesn’t work, I can always drag you out in handcuffs for indecent exposure.” He smirked at that one.
Two things that felt wrong to be thinking about while still at work: Mason and handcuffs. Just sayin’. She bit her bottom lip as she thought, shaking her head, “That won’t be necessary. I don’t think, anyway.” Kiley giggled again, in spite of herself. Best way to end a work day ever. She had no idea when he was out of work, or if he’d skip in favor of spending time with her, but the point remained: you did not just walk in, kiss a girl, and then walk out like it hadn’t happened. Hell no. She’d waited how long for that kiss, and she wasn’t settling for just one.
Behind her, the girl from the register went out back, returning with Kiley’s bag and sweatshirt in tow, setting it down on the counter next to her. “See, there you go. You can go home now. Oh!” The girl ran over to get Kiley’s half-finished iced coffee, “Can’t leave without your drink, too.”
“Look, you’re all set to go.” Mason motioned to Kiley’s belongings that magically appeared. Good to see that her co-workers had her back in this scenario. He wasn’t the type to take advantage of something like that on a daily basis, but just this once would be perfect. What exactly they would do once they left Starbucks was unknown. Well, he knew he’d be calling out for the rest of the day. That was a no brainer. “Guess the only question now is your place or my place? And don’t worry, I took my own car out for break and not the cop car.” He took a sip on his drink while waiting for Kiley’s answer. Perfect, as always. He didn’t expect anything less from her.
Kiley just blinked for a moment, looking at all of her things. “Can you at least let me get my apron off? Jeez!” She was smiling though as she said it, knowing they all meant well. It was good to know at least someone was cheering them on, even while she was blushing the entire time. She pulled back from Mason just enough to slip out of the apron and tuck it into her bag, glad she’d stuffed a pair of jeans and a tee into it before leaving her house that morning. She’d change whenever they got where they were going. Grabbing her things, she swung her bag over her shoulder. “Yours,” she said. “If you’re driving. We can grab my car later. If it starts, that is.” Kiley wasn’t worried about that now. Mason had the bonus of living by himself, so there was no fear of Corwin coming home and asking all sorts of questions. She’d tell her brother when Mason wasn’t there to listen in, thank you very much.
Mason was about five seconds away from just swinging the redhead over his shoulder and lugging her out. Hey, whatever worked. Once Kiley was done, he gave her a nod, gave the girl at the counter a friendly wave, and began to walk with Kiley on out of the store. One hand held his drink while the other dared to rest on her shoulder. It felt right to him. People could stare all they wanted. He didn’t care - he was the one walking away with the girl. “If it starts?” He held the door open for Kiley, giving her a concerned look. “Why do I have a feeling I’m going to get a call from a certain somebody a week from now saying she’s stuck on the side of the road with a broke down car?” Then he gave her more of a smirk before adding on, “I mean, you’re free to call me whenever you want, but you don’t have to do much to catch my attention, Red.”
While Mason’s hand was on her shoulder, Kiley took the opportunity to wrap an arm around his waist, tucking herself against him. What? The whole store knew what just happened, no sense in being shy about it now. That, and she liked the fact that he was bigger than her, even if it did make her feel short at times. “It’s a 94 Chevy Blazer,” she pointed out as she climbed into his car. “It’s 15 years old, so I guess I should start looking for something new. I was just kind of hoping it would get me through until graduation.” She smirked back at him, “Trust me, if I’m stranding on the side of the road, I will call. But I will call you anyway, you know that.” Now that she knew she could, she was all smiles over the idea. And she was glad that he’d brought his own car, and she had the feeling he wouldn’t be fucking around getting back to his place. Speeding, in this instance, was totally allowed. While she waited for him to climb inside, Kiley took down her hair, shaking it out from the ponytail she’d had for work.
Mason always had to remind himself that not everyone could buy a new car every other year. Some people made due with older cars like Kiley. More power to her in that regard. “Sounds like a plan.” He slipped into his car along with Kiley and started up the engine. Instead of immediately pulling onto the road, he took advantage of the privacy they had and leaned over to steal a kiss from Kiley. Yeah, he was going to get used to that pretty fast. It still felt a tad weird, but definitely more right than weird. “I guess this means we’re officially an item or something like that?” Mason didn’t want to rush into anything, that was for sure, but there was no denying his feelings for Kiley. No turning back now. He didn’t plan on it, anyways.
Kiley had her Blazer since high school, and she was rather attached to it, beyond the fact that she did not have the money to play with like Mason did. Regardless, she was going to have to buckle down and cough up the price for a new car - but she wasn’t thinking about that right now. Not when Mason leaned over to kiss her again. As far as she was concerned, he could steal as many kisses as he wanted, seeing as it had been far too long since she’d had someone to steal kisses from. And she knew Mason wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. “I would say that we are,” she said. “I know I’d like that. A lot.” She wanted to see where this went from here, knowing how both of them felt. The future would take care of itself.
“Good. I’d like that, too.” It was a pleasure to see the girl suddenly glow after the events that had just occurred. Mason liked to think that he brightened her day because of it. If that was all it took, he was going to have a blast giving the girl plenty of attention when she least expected it. He did have to pull back and sit properly in his seat if they had any hopes of getting somewhere that wasn’t the side of the road. Mason worked on getting the car on the road while he fished out his cellphone - the new one he just bought to replace his broken cell - and made a quick call back at the police station. No details were needed for why he had to take the rest of the day off except it was an “emergency.” Anyone who knew Mason well enough knew that either meant a family crisis or something with his knee. Totally not the case that afternoon. With that out of the way, he tossed the phone to the side and glanced over to Kiley. “I’m all yours for the rest of the day. Hope you didn’t have any plans for tonight, because I’m officially ruining them.”
Inside, Kiley was flailing around like an idiot, and all that got out of her in the moment was some more giggles. It had been a long time since she’d had a reason to be this happy, and she was going to take advantage of it while it was here. Sometimes it didn’t take much, and the little things, such as him coming to see her at work, meant more than anything else in the world. “Then it’s settled,” she said, beaming. “It’s official.” And she said that without squeeing, which meant she got a gold star. She sat back as the car took off, idly listening to his end of the phone conversation while digging her own phone out of her purse to shoot a quick text to Corwin, just so her brother knew she wouldn’t be home like she’d said. Kiley didn’t even wait for a response before tossing it back in her bag. “By plans do you mean the date I had with my couch and maybe a movie? Please, you’re free to ruin that whenever. This is so much better.” She gestured to the two of them. She didn’t even care what they did tonight, so long as she didn’t have to share him with anyone else.
“Well, you just got upgraded to a date with me and my couch, so I hope yours back home doesn’t get jealous or anything.” Kiley was so easy to joke around with. Had this been someone in his family, they would have raised an eyebrow at him. Whatever, they would deal with it. Cherryblossom Place wasn’t that far of a drive from the Starbucks or at least it wasn’t with how Mason was driving. In no time, he was pulling on up to the parking area. He didn’t exactly have a plan as to what they could do, but Mason had no issues with curl up on the couch and watching movies with her. Maybe order out some food and just enjoy the night. As long as Kiley was there, then all was well. “So, how was your day before I came along?”
She giggled some more. It had to be all the caffeine in her system, or the fact that she really was that happy. “We’ll have to trade off then. Your couch today, my couch next time. Can’t let anyone get jealous.” Kiley liked that Mason could joke with her; not everyone could always get her personality, just a little quirkier and nerdier than your average girl. She liked being that way, and she loved the fact that he liked it, too. “I’ll be honest, my day kind of sucked,” she admitted. “Been at work since 5:30 in the morning, hence the nap idea. I couldn’t have seen this as the end of my day, for sure.” They could get some food, they could snuggle, all she knew was that she really wasn’t keen on the idea of letting him go anytime soon. She grabbed her things to follow him up to his penthouse, remembering the last time she was here, and glad to be returning under better circumstances than when she’d left.
In the end, Mason didn’t care where they ended up, just as long as they got to be together and spend some time with each other. He had a feeling that they were going to be attached for quite a while. Mason didn’t mind. He liked the attention and Kiley certainly deserved it herself, too. Once he found a parking space, he was out of his car and heading towards the buildings with a close eye on Kiley to make sure she was keeping up. It made him sad to know she was having a crap day before he showed up. “Well, glad to hear I made it all worth while. Something tells me we should make some coffee and be lazy for the rest of the night. Maybe watch a movie or two.” One hand was busy opening the door for her while the other whipped out his cellphone again to scroll through his address book. “Your pick for take out.” He more or less had all the possible options plugged into his phone already. Well, all the good possible options.
Either way, Kiley was definitely not sad now, the rollercoaster that was her emotions finally on the upswing. It had to work out for her sometime, right? She was right behind Mason, catching a glimpse of their reflections as they passed by a window, him in his uniform and her all in black. “And by we, you mean I’ll make you coffee,” she teased. “I promise I don’t mind. And that sounds perfect to me.” Whether or not they actually watched a movie remained to be seen, but Kiley wasn’t the kind of girl who needed things like fancy dinners or nights out on the town. Just getting to spend time with him was more than enough. With the door open Kiley ducked inside, taking a moment to think about all the places in town that ordered take out. “Pizza?” she asked. “That way we could always have it to snack later too.” Because like hell she was only here for the afternoon. Mason was Kiley’s only plans for the day.
“It’ll be a group effort! I can reach stuff up high on the shelves for you and... I’ll watch.” Ok, it would be mostly Kiley, but at least he tries. And once she settled on pizza, Mason was already calling up the local pizzeria to put in an order for three large pizzas: one cheese, one meat lovers, and one veggie. Covered all the basis and Kiley was more than welcomed to bring some home with her. While he made that call, he walked up several flights off stairs, and took a corner down the hallway before he came to his suite. By the time he put in the order for pizza, he propped the door open for Kiley to let her in. “Pizza’s on its way, my dear. Make yourself at home. I need to change out of this crap uniform and into something more comfortable, so don’t mind me taking a minute.” That said, he headed towards his bedroom to get right on that.
“You’ll be my go-go gadget arms.” She could barely get the words out without giggling, still finding it sweet that he liked the coffee she made best. Sometimes it was all about the little things with her. Following Mason up into his suite, she nodded in agreement with all the pizzas he’d ordered - it seemed enough to feed an army, but then again, she was pretty sure Mason could polish off a full pizza on his own. Hell, she’d seen Corwin do just that enough times by now, so it shouldn’t faze her anymore. “Sounds good,” she said, setting her bag and sweatshirt down as soon as they were inside. “I’m going to change too, so no worries.”
Grabbing her clothes out of her bag, she made her way to the bathroom, taking a moment to look over her appearance. What could Mason possibly see there that he liked? It didn’t matter, he did and that was the important part. She washed her face and arms quick, making sure she wasn’t covered in any sort of syrup or milk, and then changed into her jeans and a clean tee. So much better than her Starbucks clothes. It was only after she changed and went to grab her clothes that she realized she’d left her sweatshirt with her bag, and her shirt was short sleeved, so all her scars were visible. Kiley cursed under her breath. Maybe Mason wasn’t done yet, and she had enough time to grab it before he saw. Ducking out of the bathroom, she made a beeline for her bag.
See? This was why he liked Kiley. She always put a smile on his face. The little things she said never failed to amuse him and only earned her more bonus points in the long run. Mason didn’t want to trade that for anything and he hoped Kiley realised it. For now, he had to throw on something more suitable that wasn’t his uniform. After settling for a pair of old, comfy jeans and a tshirt, he stepped out of his room to catch Kiley booking it out of the bathroom like something was wrong. It didn’t seem to be in her nature to act that rushed over nothing. Plus, didn’t she say she had been up since ass o’clock in the morning? He imagined the last thing she wanted to be doing was laps around his house. Therefore, Mason was concerned... you know, more so than usual. “Hey, you doing ok?” He propped himself up against the wall while watching her. Hopefully if something was wrong, he could fix it.
The moment she heard his voice, Kiley stopped dead in her tracks, clothes still in hand. She turned to face him, a little sheepishly, trying hard to ignore the way her heart was beating fast. Again. He can already see it, and he’s not running away. And he wasn’t staring at her arm like she was some sort of mutant, either. All good signs, if her brain would allow her to acknowledge it. “I’m fine,” she said, reaching down to stuff her clothes into her bag. “I’d just forgotten my sweatshirt out here and - yeah.” Because even though it was August, she was still self-conscious enough to keep her arms covered at all times, and she was sure Mason hadn’t seen her in short sleeves since before she’d been turned.
Actually, he couldn’t recall a time he ever saw Kiley without long-sleeves on. He just figured she was always cold. If that was the case, he was more than willing to kill the A/C for her. Mason knew better, though. He could hear her heart going out of control and smell the fear in the air. It was more than just forgetting her sweater. He blinked at her for a second before walking over to her slowly. “You sure? You don’t have any reason to be scared, you-” Once he was close enough, he could finally see why exactly Kiley didn’t walk around sporting a tank top - scars were all over her arms. As much as he wanted to know what the hell they were, he didn’t want to make Kiley’s day worse. You majored in psychology, idiot, you should be used to talking to people calmly. “Are you trying to hide these?” He gestured casually to the scars, keeping his voice as calm as possible. Seriously, if she was self-conscious about scars, he could show her his knee and call it a done deal.
Kiley wouldn’t lie to him. It was one thing to know she’d been bitten, and another to actually see the damage done. And she was scared to show him, yes, because she didn’t show anyone. Only Corwin had seen them all and she was pretty content to keep it that way - but she didn’t want to keep secrets from Mason. So she nodded, and she didn’t move to put her sweatshirt on. “You wouldn’t?” she asked, softly. “Right - right after it happened, people stared. And then they asked questions and it’s just better if no one knows they’re there.” Once Mason was close enough, he could probably see that they weren’t just from cuts, but teethmarks and claws. The actual bite around her thigh looked like it had been from an animal. “You were born the way you are. I was made this way.” Her eyes flicked up to his; would that change his mind about wanting to be with her?
Mason didn’t know enough bitten weres to see first hand the scars of the aftermath, though he was fully aware that a mark of some sort was left behind. Kiley’s scars were far greater than he expected for anybody. He didn’t wish that kind of experience on anyone. At the same time, he didn’t want to see Kiley ashamed of what she was. True, that would take time, but he liked to think that she would grow used to the scars. He didn’t look at them any differently. Besides, he had his own set of scars that changed his life. There was a sudden spark that went off in his mind where he thought he had an idea to make Kiley feel a bit more comfortable about this scar thing. “You know, I’m the last person who’s going to be intimidated by some battle wounds.” First off, he took a hold of her wrist and brought her arm up high enough for him to lean in and kiss at one of the scars. They didn’t change Kiley in his eyes and therefore he didn’t care. With that out of the way, he worked on removing his jeans. No, he didn’t have ulterior motives and was simply trying to get a point across. He didn’t think that just being in his shirt and boxers might put Kiley off, but what he wanted to show her was his knee, which had less scars than both her arms put together, but definitely bigger wounds. “This is what happens when you don’t heal correctly after a bad fall, so trust me when I say this isn’t new to me.”
There were a lot of pieces about her new life that Kiley hadn’t settled with, and Mason knew about all of that. She was okay with being a wolf, and once she’d accepted that, shifting had become a lot easier for her. The monster she became on the full moons, or the fact that she was so scarred, or that she lost her parents - that didn’t happen overnight. She was lucky she didn’t remember most of the attack, just bits and pieces and what Corwin had told her. But still, the last thing she’d expected Mason to do was to lean in and actually kiss them, something that sent a shiver running down her spine. And then he started taking off his jeans. “Mason, what are you-” His knee. Of course. She knew he had trouble with it, but not that it was scarred too. She tilted her head to the side a little, if only to see it better. And, you know, so it didn’t put her in an entirely compromising position. “I didn’t know,” she said, and strangely enough, it did make her feel better, knowing he accepted her as is. Dropping her sweatshirt - she didn’t need it now - she wrapped an arm around Mason’s waist, giving him a hug. “Thank you.” Slowly her heart rate was starting to come down, no longer worried about what his reaction might be.
In the back of his mind, Mason wasn’t sure if showing off his own wounds would be helpful for Kiley. It turned out that it was the right choice to make, seeing that he now had a certain redhead in his arms. Mason smiled to himself while welcoming the hug and held her, because awkward situation aside, he was glad to put her at ease and make her comfortable. He took a moment to listen to that lovely heart beat of hers before saying anything. “Hey, you know I’d do anything to make you feel better. You got nothing to be ashamed of.” Smoothing out her hair with one hand, Mason leaned in to kiss her forehead before looking down into her eyes. “I like you just the way you are and I’d like to think my screwed up knee isn’t going to make you think differently either.... or you just like giving me hugs.”
If she was being honest, being held was one of the most reassuring things Kiley could think of for him to do right now. Mason might have already knew that, seeing her reactions on the full moon and how he’d been there for her then. And that kiss to the forehead? Seriously, she was going to be mush in his arms, and she didn’t care how potentially awkward the two of them might look at the moment. What mattered was that they were together, and she stood up on her toes so she could press her forehead against his. “You’re here, that makes me feel better,” she assured him. “And I love giving you hugs.” Now that she knew she was able to, anyway. Kiley didn’t want to think how awkward the past few days had been without him. “Your knee doesn’t change who you are. I just - I got worried. It’s still a big thing for me.”
“I know, Red, but you don’t need to be worried around me. I’m here for you.” Because if anyone had the balls to say something about her arms while Mason was around, he was going to go up one side of them and down the other real fast. Kiley was officially his girl now, which meant he was going to be even more protective of her. She deserved the attention, anyways. “So... how about we take this cuddlefest over to my couch and we can figure out the rest of our night from there?” That and he was sort of wanting his pants back. Truth be told, he was blushing slightly over that, but it didn’t seem to bother Kiley. Hey, it worked in the end, and that was all that matter. No more frowny Kiley.
“You have no idea how much I appreciate that.” And she did. Mason had always been there for her, this was true, but now it meant so much more. She was his now, and not just part of his pack, it was closer than that, and that was all Kiley needed to know. Corwin was probably going to shit a brick when she told him. It was only after he mentioned moving to the couch that she really remembered that, oh yeah, he was in his boxers. Her face flushed a little, but in a good way, and she nodded. “Couch works,” she said, letting him go long enough so he could get his pants back on, trying to resist the urge to watch as he did so. What? He was good looking! She was totally allowed. Kiley collapsed on the couch, glancing over at his TV. “Oh hey, I forgot I left my Wii here last time I came over.”
She could stare all she wanted, but Mason was still going to blush. At least she wasn’t pointing and laughing. Once that was out of the way, he quickly joined Kiley on the couch and smiled. “That you did. Was planning on returning that to you eventually. You know... after I aced Mario Party so I could kick your ass at it.” Last time they attempted the Wii, it seemed like neither of them were in the right mind set to do it. Now they both couldn’t stop smiling. Nothing could sweeten the deal with some mindless games. “Care for a round while we wait for the food to come along? I promise to go easy on you.” He even threw in a wink for good measure, though Kiley had to know Mason was competitive in just about anything that was thrown his way.
Kiley was just giggling in her head at the image of Mason in his boxers, and the fact that she could say she’d gotten him out of his pants on the first date. If this counted as a first date. Whatever, it was still funny to her, damn it. “I just imagined you playing rounds and rounds by yourself to unlock all of the mini-games,” she teased. “I think that sounds awesome, but I’ll have you know, I am an ace at Mario Party. You’re in for a challenge, Mr. Normandin.” She tried to sound stern but failed miserably, probably because she broke out laughing halfway through. “Here,” she passed him a controller, “you ready for this?” Last time had been made of epic fail, but they were both in a better spot now. And Kiley was going to enjoy the crap out of this.