Emma POV
My heart was beating impossibly fast.
A huge part of me wanted to burst into tears.
Mason was the last person to hug me, and he was the first person to do it after all these years.
Well, technically, it wasn't a hug. He pressed me against his chest, wrapping one arm around my shoulders, while he used his other hand to hold mine in a tight grip.
It was the closest thing to a hug in years, so I decided to call it a hug.
I was so shocked that Mason reacted the way he did, that I almost forgot what the girl told us a few moments ago.
Another girl has disappeared?
What the hell is going on?
"Who?" Mason asked the girl, digging his fingers into my shoulder.
I could feel his heart beating really fast.
"Daisy Lee." the girl said quietly, looking back down at her phone. "She is a junior.
"How the fuck did they take her?" Mason asked again, making the girl look up at him wide-eyed.
"People are saying that she was walking in the garden and she was taken there." the girl said quietly.
I looked up at Mason. His jaw was clenched tight, and his eyes were narrowed. He looked terrifying. The girl looked from him to me. She gave me a small smile before turning around and practically running away. I'm guessing that she was scared of Mason. It was hard not to be scared of him when he looked like he did at that moment.
I bit my lip, trying to muster up the courage to say something. I wasn't even sure if he was aware of how tight he was holding me. I wasn't even sure he was aware he was holding me at all. I was scared of his reaction when he finally figured that out. Would he push me away? Would he yell at me?
My heart hurt just thinking about him pushing me away. I wanted him to never let me go. I missed him terribly.
I gulped, trying to stop the tears from falling on my cheeks.
Mason looked down at me. His eyes softened, and I almost cried in relief. The softness in his eyes didn't last long, though. He narrowed his eyes again, unwrapping his arm from around my shoulders.
He didn't let my hand go, though.
That had to be a good sign, right?
He didn't yell at me. He didn't push me away. He kept holding my hand. All good signs.
Right?
Mason started pulling me away.
"Where are we going?" I managed to ask him.
He never responded, but I noticed that he was pulling me toward my dorm room.
"Mason?" I called him, trying to pull my arm out of his grip.
He remained silent, but his grip on my arm tightened.
We arrived at my dorm room, and he knocked on the door loudly. He didn't wait for Hazel to respond before he barged in. I heard Hazel gasp and jump up from her desk.
"Emma?" she mumbled my name, staring wide-eyed at Mason.
"She will never leave the room alone." Mason said sternly. "If she tries to, you will call me immediately. Am I clear, Hazel?"
Hazel glanced at me, confused and a little bit frightened.
"Hazel?" Mason called her. "Did I make myself clear?"
She looked back at him and nodded. "I understand."
"Good." Mason said as he turned to look at me.
His cold gaze made me shiver. I kept my eyes on his, trying to find that softness I saw earlier.
"You will never leave your room alone." Mason spoke after a few moments of silence. "Do you understand me?"
I simply nodded. I was unable to say a word. The lump in my throat was too big.
"Words, Emma." he said coldly.
He said my namel
Oh, my God.
He did! He really did!
My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. I took a deep breath and clenched my fists, trying to calm myself down.
"I understand." I said quietly.
Mason stared at me for a few moments before he nodded. He turned around to look at Hazel again.
"Good night," he said to her coldly.
"Good night." Hazel mumbled, looking shocked.
Mason looked back at me. He clenched his jaw and stepped around me. He left our room, slamming the door shut.
I stared at the closed door in a complete daze.
What was that? Does Mason really care? Is there a chance for us to talk and maybe work through whatever happened? Maybe we could never be as close as we were when we were kids, but maybe we could have a normal relationship. Maybe we could be friends. I would even be happy if he wasn't glaring coldly at me all the time.
"What the hell was that?" Hazel's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
I turned around to look at her.
She was staring at me wide-eyed with her mouth hanging open.
"Another girl went missing." I said as I sat down on my bed.
Hazel gasped. "Oh, my God! What? Who?"
"I don't know her, but she is from our school." I said quietly, staring down at my hands. "I think her name is Daisy Lee."
"Holy shit." Hazel mumbled.
"Do you know her?" I asked, looking back up at her.
"No." Hazel shook her head. "But I've heard her name before. She is in the debate club, and she is amazing. She is a junior, I think."
I nodded and sighed. "I really hope that they will find her."
"Do you know how she went missing?" Hazel asked quietly.
"She was taken from the garden." I answered.
Hazel gasped again. "The school garden?!"
I nodded, and Hazel's eyes widened again. She was staring at me speechlessly for a few moments. She blinked and furrowed her eyebrows.
Wait, how do you know all this?" she asked, getting confused again. "And what the hell was Mason doing here?"
"I was walking back to our dorm from the library." I sighed. "Mason saw me and wanted to know why I was alone. As we were talking, we heard people gasping and whispering. Mason stopped one of the girls, and she told us about it."
"Well, Mason went full-blown overprotective." Hazel mumbled.
I groaned and laid down on my bed. "I don't know what that means, and it is driving me crazy. Does he suddenly care? Does that mean that we could fix whatever is wrong?"
"He cares, Emma." Hazel said softly. "I've noticed the way he has been watching you."
"But why does he hate me, though?" I whispered quietly. "Why doesn't he talk to me and tell me what's wrong if he cares?"
"He seems hurt." Hazel said after a few moments of silence. "Have you thought about making the first step?"
"A hundred times." I sighed as I sat back up. "I get cold feet every time I just think about it."
"Are you scared of him?" Hazel asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "He is your brother. He would never hurt you. If you had any doubts about that, they should be gone after the way he acted right now."
"I'm not scared of him." I said, shaking my head. "I'm scared of him pushing me away and rejecting me."
Hazel remained quiet. I looked at her, and she seemed like she was in deep thought.
"I don't think he would do that." she spoke after a while. "He seems hurt. He wouldn't be hurt if he didn't love you, Em. And he wouldn't push away someone he loves."
"How do you know that?" I asked her. "You don't know him."
"You are right." she nodded. "I don't know him. But I've seen the way he is around you, Em. If what happened right now isn't proof that he loves and cares about you, I don't know what is. He wouldn't be this concerned if he wanted to push you away."
I bit my lip and looked down at my hands.
"You won't know until you talk to him." Hazel said softly.
She is right. I guess it is time for me to talk to my twin.