Chapter 31

Happiness's POV

The next morning, I woke up to the warmth of Mason’s arms around me. His steady heartbeat was a comfort I had grown addicted to. I lay still for a moment, enjoying the peace, but the quiet didn’t last long. The weight of the secret we were carrying pressed heavily on my chest.

Our relationship wasn’t supposed to happen. Not like this. 

Carefully, I slipped out of Mason’s embrace, wrapping the blanket around me as I walked toward the window. The morning light bathed the room in soft hues, but it did little to calm the storm brewing inside me.

“Why are you up so early?” Mason’s groggy voice broke the silence, making me turn. He was sitting up, and even with his hair tousled he was still handsome, a sleepy yet concerned look on his face.

I gave him a small smile, though it didn’t quite reach my eyes. “Just thinking.”

“About what?” He swung his legs over the side of the bed, standing and walking toward me.

“Mason…” I hesitated, my fingers tightening around the edge of the blanket. “How long do you think we can keep this,” I pointed to the space between us. “a secret?”

His brows furrowed as he stepped closer, his hands resting gently on my shoulders. “As long as we need to,” he said simply.

“But doesn’t it bother you?” I asked, my voice wavering. “Hiding from everyone? Lying to our families, our friends?”

Mason’s jaw tightened, and he dropped his hands, running one through his messy hair. “Of course it does, Happiness. But what choice do we have?”

I turned back to the window, my reflection staring back at me. “I just… I don’t want to lose you. But I hate feeling like we’re doing something wrong.”

Mason moved to stand beside me, his gaze fixed on my face in the glass. “We’re not doing anything wrong,” he said firmly. “We’re protecting what we have. It’s no one else’s business, not until we’re ready to share it.”

I sighed, leaning my head against his shoulder. “And what if we’re never ready? What if we lose everyone because of this?”

His arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer. “Then they’re not worth keeping. What we have is worth fighting for. It’s worth protecting, Happiness.”

His words, as comforting as they were, didn’t completely ease my fears. Keeping our relationship a secret felt like walking on a tightrope, one misstep away from disaster.

“Mason,” I whispered, “what if someone finds out?”

He turned me to face him, his hands cupping my cheeks. “If they do, we’ll deal with it. Together.”

The conviction in his voice made my heart ache. Mason always had a way of making me feel safe, even when the world felt like it was falling apart.

“I love you,” I blurted out, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

His expression softened, a small smile tugging at his lips. “I love you, Happiness. More than you’ll ever know.”

As he leaned down to kiss me, I felt a flicker of hope. Maybe we could keep this secret for a little longer. Maybe, just maybe, we could find a way to make this work without losing everything.

But deep down, I knew secrets had a way of coming to light. And when ours did, everything would change.

***

I leaned against the kitchen counter, scrolling through my phone absentmindedly. It had been a long day, and all I wanted was to collapse into bed. The house was silent but I had grown accustomed to it. 

I sighed, as I placed the kettle on the stove. Mason wouldn’t be home until tomorrow, and though I missed his presence, I cherished the solitude. My phone buzzed, pulling me from my thoughts. A text message lit up the screen, from an unknown number.

“You’re not as alone as you think.”

I frowned, my thumb hovering over the screen. A prank, surely. It had to be. I typed a quick reply: “Who is this?” and hit send. Seconds turned into minutes with no response. Shrugging, I set the phone aside, dismissing the unease curling in my stomach.

The kettle on the stove began to whistle, and I poured myself a cup of tea. As I moved to the living room, my gaze caught something off, a small detail, but enough to make me pause. The vase on the windowsill was turned the wrong way.

My brow furrowed. I could have sworn I had left the flower pattern facing out since I first came here, and it has always been that way. Shaking my head, I muttered, “You’re imagining things.”

Tea in hand, I sank onto the couch and turned on the TV, letting the noise fill the quiet house.

Hours later, the message had all but slipped from my mind as I got ready for bed. But as I pulled back the sheets, a shiver ran down my spine. The air in my bedroom felt colder than usual. I glanced at the locked tight window, just as I’d left it. 

Still, the feeling lingered, the kind that prickled the back of my neck, and made my heart beat faster.

“Paranoia,” I whispered to myself, climbing into bed and pulling the covers tightly around me.

My phone buzzed again.

I reached for it with a smile on my face, thinking it was Mason wishing me goodnight. My pulse quickened as I read the words on the screen. 

“Sweet dreams, Happy.”

The phone slipped from my hands.