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I continue on, "Do you knohat it felt like to have to dress her Mase? She was fking helpless She couldn’t move, couldn’t even lift her head" I pound ot her dressed I told her I had to get her out of there I wanted to take her to the hospital but she wasn’t having it She begged ry tears slip fro girl, Mason I have for a long tis for me" I wipe more tears away "Every daet it out of e of my nose I laid it all out for Mason and while it hurts like a son of a bitch to relive that night again I feel a sense of relief A weight has lifted and I finally feel like the dark cloud is turning into a gloo wonder you pushed her away How the hell have you been dealing with this and not saying anything to anyone?"

I scrub my face with my hands "I just have There was no other way until now"

"Cooper," Mason says in a co tone "You shouldn’t have kept all that in" Mason places a hand onhis support "You should have coo Cooper That’s some heavy shit neither of you should have handled on your own"

"I made a promise I don’t break them"

"Like I said, some promises are meant to be broken"

"Mase, you of all people should knohat it’s like to protect the ones you love Look what you went through last year with Hailey I was doing what I thought I needed to do"

Maybe I should have told someone about what happened sooner Maybe I wouldn’t be stuck in the past I felt weak though; powerless, consumed by a memory I couldn’t shake

"How do you feel now?" Mason asks

"Relieved that I told you," I ad?"

"You should have" Mason looks over towards the TV, lost in thought "How did you go around ca he was still out there? Did you worry he would come back after her?"

I huff, "Nah, Eli and I took care of it"

Mason looks back over at ot what he deserved and s on him and called the cops He was expelled from school and we haven’t heard a word from him"

Mason cracks a smile "That’s how you handled it But wait, didn’t Eli ask questions?"

"Nope, apparently he had soh school"

"So what now?" Mason asks after a few silent , "I don’t know"

The corner of Mason’s mouth pulls up, "There is no place like home plate, Coop You need to talk to her; you can’t let her walk away I proret it for the rest of your life if you don’t at least try"

He’s right, absolutely right I want that houre out how to ain

Can I s? If I want my heart back then yeah, the past needs to be buried in the past I just hope it’s not too late