Chapter 2: The Space Between Us
Marissa couldn't breathe.
Not because the air in the café had turned thin, but because Mason Blake was standing too close. Too close, yet still, so far away. She could feel the heat from his body, the familiar scent of his cologne a scent she hadn't realized she'd been craving until now and the weight of his gaze pressed against her skin. It was all too much.
Too much, and yet not enough.
She could feel the walls inside her crumbling, the fortress she'd built around her heart slipping into the cracks between them. But she couldn't let it happen. Not now. Not after everything.
She tugged her hand back, but his fingers brushed hers, a fleeting touch, a spark that made her stomach flip. It was like a jolt of electricity—unsettling, familiar, dangerous. It was everything she had tried to escape.
"Mason," she whispered, not knowing if she was trying to warn him or herself. "You shouldn't be here."
He didn't pull away. Instead, he leaned in, the space between them tightening, drawing them closer. "I've been here all along, Marissa. You just never let me in."
Her heart skipped, and her breath caught. Those words..those haunting words echoed in her mind, stirring something deep within her.
She shook her head, pulling herself away from him both physically and emotionally. "That's not fair," she said, her voice sharper than she intended. "You don't get to say that. Not after everything that happened."
Mason stood silent for a moment, his gaze searching hers as if trying to understand what had shifted in her, what had changed between them. The tension was palpable, thick and suffocating, hanging in the air like an invisible weight.
He finally spoke, his voice lower now, almost regretful. "You left, Marissa. You walked away without a word. And I've spent every day since wondering what happened. Wondering if I could have done something different."
His words hit her like a punch to the gut, and she had to steady herself against the edge of the table to keep from falling. "You don't get to do this. You don't get to pull me back in with your guilt."
Mason's eyes softened, the storm inside them calming just slightly. He moved closer, and this time, there was no hesitation. "I'm not trying to make you feel guilty. I just... I need you to know that I never stopped caring. Never stopped wondering what went wrong."
Marissa swallowed hard, but the words she'd been keeping buried inside her throat felt too heavy to speak. The memories, the pain, the reasons why she had left it was all coming back in a flood.
"You think you know what happened," she said, her voice trembling. "But you have no idea. You have no idea what it was like, Mason. You have no idea what I had to do just to survive."
He reached for her, his hand hovering in the air, unsure, as if waiting for her to give him permission to cross that final line. "Then tell me, Marissa. Please. I want to understand."
The sincerity in his voice, the vulnerability, it broke something inside her. She couldn't keep running anymore. The truth was too heavy, too consuming.
But even as she opened her mouth to speak, the words escaped her. How could she explain it all? How could she explain the pain, the fear, the scars she'd hidden for so long?
Mason seemed to sense the struggle inside her. Slowly, he stepped around the table and stood in front of her. Without saying another word, he dropped to his knees, right in front of her, his eyes locked with hers.
It was a gesture so raw, so unexpected, it took everything inside her not to fall apart. But it was what he said next that truly shattered her.
"I don't need to know everything, Marissa," he whispered, his voice barely above a breath. "I just need to know you're still here. I need to know that you haven't forgotten about me."
Her breath hitched in her throat as tears threatened to blur her vision. She fought them back, though they were right there, just below the surface, waiting to spill.
"I never forgot," she whispered, her voice cracking. "But I had to leave. I had to."
Mason's hand found hers again, this time more urgently, and when she didn't pull away, he intertwined their fingers. "I don't want you to leave again," he said, his voice raw with emotion. "I can't do this without you."
Her heart trembled in her chest, torn between the desperate need to stay away and the overwhelming pull of everything she'd left behind. But in that moment, all the walls came down.
She leaned forward, her forehead pressing gently against his. For the first time in so long, she felt like she could breathe again. And maybe, just maybe it was time to stop running.
"I don't know if I can," she whispered, her voice barely audible, "but I'll try."
Mason's fingers tightened around hers, and for the briefest of moments, everything felt like it might just be okay.
But they both knew it wasn't that simple. The past was a shadow they couldn't outrun. And even now, the weight of their shared history hung between them like an unspoken promise one they were both afraid to keep.
But in that fragile moment, all they had was the truth between them.
And the truth was, they were both too far gone to walk away now.