Fallen Love

Chapter 3

Mason

I can’t believe she agreed to stay. I wanted to jump around and yell at the top of my lungs with how excited I was. She held my hand through the whole tour. I felt bad because I forgot what she had gone through today and didn’t think about the pain she must be in. When I showed her to her room she looked so cute. She was very cautious when she was exploring it. Almost like a kitten taking in it’s new surroundings.

I had the maids pick up some more things for her while she was asleep. Lucas told me what was going on and that she would have nothing with her this weekend. He gave me her sizes and favorite brands of products. I had them set things in her room so she could sort through it on her own. I sat in the living room waiting for her to come out. After about 2 hours I decided to check on her. Her door was shut. I debated if I should knock or just leave her alone, but I heard a crash and ran in the door without knocking.

“Crystal!”

“Don’t come in!” She shouted from the bathroom.

“I won’t come in, but are you okay?”

I could hear some shuffling around as I made my way closer to the door. There was a long silence before I heard the doorknob turn. She opened it just a crack and her little face poked out.

“I need your help”

Looking at her she was so cute. Like a child who just made a mess and needed help cleaning it up.

“Okay”

She opens the door holding a towel to her chest. I swallowed hard. Her hair was still wet from the shower and she only had on leggings. I noticed the towel had red spots on it. Then it hit me that it was blood. I looked around the bathroom and saw little droplets of blood where she was walking around. The sink had a first aid kit opened and bandages that looked like someone attempted to use them.

“Are you okay? Are you in pain? How long has it been bleeding?

She put her hand up to stop my 21 questions.

“I’m fine. It only hurts a little bit. I can’t reach behind me to place the bandages on my back”

We walked to the sink and she faced the mirror. I didn’t notice how long her hair was. It went all the way down to her perfectly rounded backside. She pulled it all to the front giving me a full view of her back. I saw the deep cut across her back. I couldn’t help but put my hand on her back near her wound and sigh deeply.

“What’s wrong?”

She said as she tried to look at her back causing me to resales a small laugh. She looked up at me confused.

“You look so cute trying to look at your back” she turned around and I could see her blushing in the reflection of the mirror. I started to clean and bandage her back.

“I’m sorry this happened to you”

“It’s not your fault. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is nothing to me”

I started to notice some of the old scars on her back. I ran my fingers over them, becoming more frustrated and angry at whoever put these marks on her beautiful body.

“What are these from?”

She tensed up and I realized I was raising my voice. I placed both my hands on her hips and leaned my head on the back of hers. Taking deep breaths, smelling the floral aroma of her shampoo.

“I’m sorry I got angry. It wasn't towards you. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but I’d like to know what happened”

“I used to sleep at the parks around town. Some of these were from the places I chose to sleep. The others are because Annissa said I was being disobedient”

I couldn’t believe that they were treating her this way. My grip tightened on her hips, making her flinch. I didn’t want her thinking I was mad at her. I headed out of the bathroom and was just about to close her bedroom door when I heard her whisper.

“Thank you”

I closed her bedroom door.

“F**k”

I was p****d off, but she thought It was because of her. I was trying to think of how to fix this. I pulled out my phone calling the only person who knows anything about her.

“Mason? What’s wrong? Is she ok? It’s only been a few hours”

“Everything is fine. I was just wanting to know what her favorite foods and snacks are. She’s getting hungry and I wanted to make sure we have things she’ll like”

“Why don’t you ask her?”

“She’s in the shower. I guess I could walk in on her and ask. I’ll call you back and let you know how it goes”

I know I shouldn’t taunt him like this, but I still didn’t like him. I need to stop because I know it will just upset her if she found out I did this just to make him mad.

“Don’t even think about it Mason! She likes Chinese food. Mostly the noodles, but you have to get chopsticks with them or she doesn’t eat as much. Her favorite things to snack on are fruits. Her go to is green grapes with lemon juice on them”

“Thank you”

“How is she?”

“She seems okay. She needed help changing her bandages”

Silence fell over the phone and I decided to ask the question that was burning in my throat.

“Why does she have so many scars on her back?”

Lucas sighed and was quiet for a moment.

“It is not my story to tell. That is a question you’re gonna have to ask her. Whether she tells you or not is up to her”

This just raises more questions for me. I wasn’t going to push him any further and he was right. She has lived a life without me in it and if she wanted to share her story with me was completely up to her.

“I’ll let you know if anything changes”

“Take care of her”

I hung up the phone and started to search local Chinese restaurants near me. Hopefully I can make up for what an a** I’ve been today. All I want to do is protect her, but I don’t even know how far her scars go. Not just her physical ones, but her mental ones too.

Crystal

I was so scared when he saw my scars. The look on his face was pure anger. I felt the tears forming in my eyes. I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me, but I know he could if he wanted to. He didn’t press on with his questions which I was grateful for. It was a hard thing for me to talk about. Especially with someone I hardly know.

Everything Mason had given me fit perfectly. I was happy to see a few shirts and sweaters that were 2 sizes too big for me. Since I wasn’t going anywhere I decided to not put on a bra because it would just end up irritating my cut and ruin the bandages. I left my hair down to dry. When I was dressed comfortably I walked back to the living room.

“Do you feel better?”

“Much better”

“How are the clothes?”

“Great. I like the bigger shirts to sleep in”

“I ordered some food. It’ll be here in about 35 minutes”

My stomach let out a loud growl. Embarrassed, I smiled awkwardly as we both laughed.

“I have some grapes we could snack on while we wait”

I sat on the couch next to him as he was searching through the channels.

“Anything you want to watch?”

Handing me the bowl of grapes, he placed his arm around me and rested it on the back of the couch.

“Anything is fine”

“How about a show while we wait for the food? We can watch a movie while we eat”

I nodded my head. He continued to flip through the channels, but his phone kept going off every couple of minutes. He finally stood up and took it out looking at it.

“Sorry, it’s the guys. If I don’t answer they’re just going to continue to text me”

“It’s okay”

He walked out of the room, handing the remote to me. I continued to flip through the channels and decided to watch the old Goosebumps series.

After a couple of episodes I heard bags rustling from behind me and someone walking in. It was one of the butlers. He looked so familiar but I couldn’t figure out where I had seen him before.

“Good evening Miss Crystal”

“Hello, Crystal is fine”

“Your dinner has arrived”

He sat the bags on the coffee table.

“Thank you… I’m sorry, I don’t know your name”

“I don’t expect you to remember me my dear. It’s been over 8 years since the last time I saw you”

“We’ve met before?”

“Indeed we have. I know you probably get tired of hearing this, but you look so much like your mother” he smiled.

“You knew my mom?”

“I did”

Reaching into his pocket, pulling out his wallet, he took some pictures out then handed them to me.

“This was your mother when she was born”

The photo was older and had a yellow tinge to it. There was a younger version of him holding a baby. He looked at her the way a father looks at his daughter. I moved to the next one.

“This was taken when you were born”

The second photo was newer. He was a little older. You could see the grey starting to show. His face was stained with tears and he had a somber smile. I moved to the last one and he let out a deep sigh.

“This was taken about a month before you were born”

The women in this photo looked exactly like me. She was leaning against a tree and had her hands on top of her swollen belly. She looked like an angel in her white dress.

“How did you know my mom?”

“I am her uncle. I am also your great uncle”

He looked at me with pride. Something I wasn’t used to. I ran my fingers over the picture of my pregnant mom.

“What happened?”

“When the family found out she was pregnant they kicked her out of the house,” looking down at his hands “I am ashamed of what they did, but she was never alone”

He pulled another picture out of his wallet. There was a couple leaning shoulder to shoulder laughing at the camera. The boy in this picture had a black shirt with light blue jeans. He looked just like Mason but with dirty blonde hair. The woman was very pretty. She had brown eyes and black hair that was cut into a short bob. She wore a light blue dress. They looked cute together.

The second couple was my mom in a pale pink dress. She was leaning on a boy's chest looking at the first couple and laughing with them. This boy had his back against a tree with his arms around my mom. He wasn’t looking at anything else but her and you could see the love in his eyes. He had on a white shirt and dark blue jeans. His hair was dark brown, but his eyes were gray.

“Is that my dad?”

“Yes. Those four were inseparable. You would never find one without the other. Your mom stayed with them when she was kicked out. At least till my sister came to her senses”

“Grandma never told me this”

“She felt ashamed for what she had done. Your mother was everything to her”

“What was my dad like?”

“He was a little rough around the edges, but he meant well. He adored your mother. Most people did. She had a big heart and a kind soul” he laughed.

“I wish I got to meet them before they passed away”

“They? Crystal, what do you know about your father?”

“Everyone told me he died in a car accident because he was drinking”

“What nonsense!” He began to raise his voice.

I had many more questions but just then Mason came back into the room.

“Perfect! The food is here. Thank you Benjamin”

Mason patted him on the back and sat down and began to place the food on the coffee table.

“Benny”

I whispered, making them both tense up. I looked at Benjamin. Handing the photos back to him.

“I used to call you Uncle Benny when I was younger”

He smiled wide and pulled me into a tight hug. I could smell his cologne that he’s used since I was little. I hugged him back. Looking over at Mason.

“It was your parents in the photo”

“What photo?”

Benjamin showed the pictures to Mason.

He looked at the photos then to me a couple of times before speaking.

“You look just like your mom”

I began to blush as they both stared at me. Just then my stomach let out an audible rumble. Now I was really embarrassed.Benjamin grabbed my hand and helped me sit back down.

“But, what hap-“

“Another time dear. Right now you need food and rest” he cupped my cheek “if you need anything don’t hesitate to ask” with those words he left.

There was silence between us as we ate. I had so many things running through my head. What did Benny know and why wasn’t he telling me? Maybe Mason would know, but how would I ask him?