Chapter 48: Forty Seven

I walked up the steps to the East Stand of Stamford Bridge with my stomach in a knot of nerves.  A chilly wind hit my face as I emerged out in the open, and at once the atmosphere put a smile on my face.  Tinny music blasted from the stadium speakers and fan noise from those already there competed for the loudest sound.  Below me, on the bright green pitch, my teammates and our League Two opposition for the night warmed up.

I wandered down the stairs towards the dug out, glancing around for any sight of Mason and his sister.  We'd agreed to meet at the stadium; I'd wondered if there would be another request for dinner, but after my last refusal it didn't come as a surprise when there wasn't.  What did surprise me, though, was the twist of disappointment in my chest without it.

Reaching the lowest level of the stand, directly above where the subs would sit, panic welled up in my chest when I couldn't find either of them.  Biting down on my lip, the silly thought that he'd lied to me in his message appeared at the back of my head.  They were probably just getting a drink.  Or walking around.  Or popping down to the changing rooms to greet the team.  Or—

"Hey!  Hart!"

My heart rate calming, I looked down to the pitch with a smile.  Among the journalists and VIPs and mascots at the side of the pitch stood Mason, waving up at me.  Stomach warm, I lifted a hand to repay the greeting.

"Get down here!" he called.

With a nod, I spun around and hopped back up the stairs.   Down in the tunnel, there was almost more activity going on than there was on the pitch.  People swarmed around, flashing photos and shouting into walkie-talkies and standing in groups laughing.  After waving to the friendly guard outside the changing room and stopping to greet a familiar journalist, I walked out onto the pitch.

Despite the fact that I was merely a spectator tonight, and that I was dressed in a coat and boots instead of my kit, my stomach still leapt as I emerged from the tunnel.  It did the same when I eyed Mason ahead of me a moment later next to the Stamford Bridge stadium announcer.  As I watched, he glanced behind him and, as I'm sure mine did, his face lit up.

"Hi," I greeted, coming to a stop behind the pair.

Lee held out his hand for a high-five, but a call for him sounded from our right.  When he was gone, I faced Mason properly.  The wind left his hair attractively ruffled and, adding to his appeal even more, a Chelsea scarf was wrapped around his neck.

"Evening, Mitchell."  I tugged the ruffles on the end of his scarf and raised an eyebrow.  "Cute scarf."

Mason chuckled and pulled me in for a hug.

"Evening, Hart," he said, giving me a squeeze. "Nice of you to join us."

"You got here, like, ten minutes before me," I chuckled.

"I know.  I just missed you today, is all."

My cheeks warmed as I burrowed my head into his shoulder.  "Yeah, same. How was your day off?"  I pulled out of the hug and stepped back, remembering the thousands of eyes potentially on us.  At the same time, I realised the one pair that was missing.  Before Mason could reply, I frowned and spoke again.  "Where's Pippa?"

"With Abs," he replied.  "Pip wanted to see the stadium, so they went for a walk." A smile spread across his face. "I think she just wants a beer and knows Abby is more likely to get one for her than me."

I laughed.  "Sounds about right."

"But, to answer your question, my day off was barely that."  He rolled his eyes.  "Pip wanted to do, like, thirty different things.  She even made me do the London Eye."

I frowned.  "I thought you hated heights?"

"Yeah, well."  Mason glanced at the floor, a small smile spreading across his face. "Pip wanted to do it, so I took one for the team."

"That's... really sweet, Mase."

I stared at Mason as his cheeks blushed, overcome with a bout of affection for him.  When he looked back up from the ground and he met my gaze, he lifted a shoulder in a shrug.  Something passed over his face for a second, but it disappeared when he lifted a hand to fix his hair.  A week ago I was sure the meaning of it would have flown right over my head, but now the expression was verging on common.  And, like it had when I'd spotted it in that photo from the gala, it lit my insides on fire.

"Uh, anyway, how was your day?" Mason asked.

"Pretty boring," I admitted with a sigh.  "I did some admin, then some shopping."  With a grin, I lifted out a leg and held out my hands to present it.  "I got these jeans, though, which I'm stoked about."

Mason lifted his own leg and reached a sneaker-clad foot to poke my shin.  "They look great."  As I lowered my leg, he stepped closer.  His eyes twinkled with mischievousness.  "Your legs, not the jeans."

My stomach heaved as he raised his eyebrows. Deciding to play along with him, I rose up onto my toes, close enough to get a whiff of his cologne.

"They look even better without the jeans," I said in a low voice, unable to keep a grin off my face.

Mason let out an astounded laugh and raised his eyebrows.  I bit the corner of my lip as he glanced around, feeling my cheeks redden more when he set his bright eyes back on me.

"You want to do that here?  Really?" he teased, his grin growing.

I giggled and shook my head.  "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Very cheeky, Hart."  Mason lifted a finger and, before I could protect my still-tender stomach muscles, he poked me.  As I released a squeal, Mason poked me again.  "Abs still sore are they?"

"Yes!"  With my non-broken hand, I gripped onto Mason's wrist and held it at bay from my core.  "Weakest core in the Prem; I told you."

"Yeah, and I told you that's bullshit."

I rolled my eyes, but before I got a chance to respond, an excited shriek sounded from behind me.  Releasing Mason's hand, I threw a glance over my shoulder.  Running up the steps from the tunnel was Pippa Mitchell, her face shining with a smile eerily similar to her brother's.  Also like Mason, a Chelsea scarf fell over her shoulders and flapped wildly as she loped towards us.

After (thankfully) slowing her stride, she threw her arms around my neck the instant I was in reaching distance.  I met the eyes of Mason over her shoulder as she squeezed me.  Amusement spread across his face from either the action of his sister or the shock that must have been on mine.

"Beck!" Pippa yelled into my ear.  "Oh, my gosh, it's so good to see you!  I'm so glad you came!"

Mason starting laughing and looked away as his sister continued to hold onto me.

"Yeah, good to see you too, Pip," I replied, holding back a chuckle.

Now, she did pull away.  Stood next to Mason, their resemblance caught me off guard: the same relaxed stance, the same soft brown eyes, the same laughter lines. Pippa threw one side of her scarf over her shoulder and carried on rambling.

"Sorry about your wrist, by the way.  It would have been so cool to see you play again. Mason, too, but he might need a lesson on how to tackle before that happens.  Oh, and especially after how good you were on Saturday."  Her face lit up and her hands motioned madly around her. "Oh, my gosh, your goal was amazing. Like, honestly, I think it's better than any goal Mason has ever scored."  She shot a sheepish look to Mason, whose frown from her first comment deepened.  "No offence, Masey, but you even said it could be goal of the season."

"Okay, Pip," Mason interrupted, laying a hand on his sister's head.  "Don't go boosting Beck's ego anymore."

I widened my eyes at Mason, who tried to hold back a grin.  When he turned his attention to me, though, it broke out across his face anyway.

"Goal of the season, huh?" I teased, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.

Mason rolled his eyes.  "Your goal of the season is what I meant."  I laughed as Mase turned to Pip.  "Where did Abby go?  She was meant to be babysitting you."

Pippa's eyes lit up with mischief as she side-eyed Mason.  "Babysitting me so you could be with Beck, apparently."

While I let out a snort of laughter, Mason shoved Pippa to the side playfully.

"Yeah, that's enough from you," he mumbled. His cheeks flushed pink as he snuck a glance at me.  When he looked back at his sister, he raised his eyebrows.  "Let's go sit down, yeah?"

"Wait!"  Pippa reached into her jacket pocket with one hand and held the other out in front of Mason.  "Can we take some pictures first?  I promised Mum I'd get some good ones."

Pippa handed me her phone and, despite the sigh that Mason let out, he didn't put up any more of a fight as Pippa clutched onto him.  I snapped away at Pip's phone; the matching scarves, the West stand in the background, the players warming up to the side: it was hard to stop the smile that took over my face.  By the time Pippa bounced over to look at them, my beam must have been almost larger than hers.

Mason joined us and looked at the phone over Pippa's shoulder.  As soon as she noticed his presence, she shoved the phone into his hands.

"Take some of me with Beck?"

The hopeful glance she shot me warmed my chest. I looked up to Mason, expecting him to be rolling his eyes or shaking his head at his sister, but instead he was staring down at me, a gentle grin on his face.

"Someone should have told me to bring a scarf," I teased, eyes trained on Mason's.  "I feel left out."

"Can't have that now, can we?" Mason replied. "Here."

In one smooth movement, he unfurled the blue and white scarf from his neck and brought it down over my shoulders.  As he wrapped one end around my neck, his brows furrowed in concentration, a fleeting moment where the urge to lean up and kiss him overwhelmed me.

It would be so easy, I thought.  I took in a deep breath and, to distract myself, dug my nails into my right palm. So easy, and so stupid.

"Beck?"

Looking past Mason, who still stood in front of me – still had his hands gripping the ends of his scarf – I saw Pippa standing expectantly, her hands on her hips.  Flustered, unable to look Mason in the eyes, I sidestepped him and moved towards his sister.  Luckily, unlike her brother, Pippa stood at just about the same height as me.  I threw an arm around her shoulder and smiled at Mason, who had his lip in his teeth in concentration as he studied Pippa's phone screen.

"Think there might be at least one good one in there," he teased after a few seconds.  With a grin, he offered Pip's phone out in front of him.

"Knowing your photography, probably not," she fired back.

I followed Pip back towards Mason and the tunnel, but he stepped in front of me to block my path.

"Hold on," he said, raising out a hand to stop Pippa at my side.  "Me and Beck still need a picture."

Cheeks warm, I smiled up at Mason.  "Want your scarf back?"

"Nah, it looks better on you," he replied, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"You're just full of flattery tonight, aren't you, Masey?" I chuckled, snaking my own arm around his torso.

Mason just raised an eyebrow.  "You're making it easy, Hart."

"Oh, God."  I laughed as his façade cracked and his face broke out into a grin. For a second, as I laid my free hand on his chest, I wondered if he saw in my expression what I'd been seeing in his all night.  It felt impossible to hide, at least.

"Oi, you two done?"

Still grinning, I faced an amused looking Pippa, phone raised in front of her and hand on her hip.  Mason pulled me closer to his side and, almost as a reflex, I rested my head against his shoulder.  The temptation to just shut my eyes and stay where we were for the rest of the night passed through my mind.  Did the same idea come into Mason's mind?

Embarrassed at my own thoughts, I snuck a glance up at Mase.  He still smiled for Pippa's picture, his eyes scrunched up in that way I loved.  My chest swelled with tenderness.  Again, I thought of just stretching my neck up and kissing him.  It would be one way to confirm all the rumours I'd been reading: perhaps the worst possible way, but still an option.

However, reason forced me to look away and, as soon as Pippa lowered her phone, to step away from Mason.  If this was going to be my body's reaction to being so close to him, I clearly needed to keep my distance.

"These are adorable."  Pippa's voice brought me back to reality, and I realised with a start that she'd walked over and stood right in front of me.  "Mind if I put these on my story, Beck?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"How come only Beck gets an opinion?" Mason huffed jokingly from my side.  Despite my efforts to move away, he'd crept close enough for his arm to brush against mine.

"Because I know you won't mind."

How much does Pippa know about us?  I looked from Mason to Pippa, at the silent stare they shared, and wondered if the siblings were close enough to have discussed us.  Was that the reason for Pippa's question?  Or was she just generally polite enough to ask permission before posting?

"Hey, players are heading inside," Mason said. "We should get up to our seats."

I nodded and looked over my shoulder. Sure enough, the Grimsby Town players travelled towards us from across the pitch, and the Chelsea players seemed just about ready to head in, too.

Pippa entered the tunnel first, disappearing amongst the mascots that huddled around the entrance.  I hung back for a second, waiting for Mason to follow after his sister.  Instead, though, he stood with his back to the tunnel, watching the proceedings on the pitch.

"Hey, Mitchell," I said, drawing level at his side.  Upon seeing the bleak expression on his face, I rested a hand on his shoulder.  "You okay?"

"Yeah, all good."  He flashed me a grin, but his attempt fell flat.  "Just feels weird standing over here watching when I should be out there, you know?"

Mason wasn't one to get injured, nor was he one to really be benched.  I'd become accustomed to the sidelines during my year out, but for him this must have been a shock.  I squeezed his shoulder.

"Yeah, I get it."  His body rose and fell with a sigh.  "It's only a couple of games though, Mase."

With a shake of his head, Mason turned away from the pitch.  "Yeah, I'm just being silly."  Before I could get a word in, he flicked his head to where Pippa had disappeared. "Shall we?"

Back up in the stands, I greeted Abby with a hug and waved at the injured duo of Lucia and Elena.  Pippa had taken a seat already, and Mason followed her into the row and sat in the seat next to her.  I glanced at Abby, who rolled her eyes.

"Seriously?" she asked.  "Go sit next to your man, Beck."

"Not my man," I mumbled.

After elbowing Abby in the core and throwing her a teasing grin over my shoulder, I shuffled into the seat next to a Mason who still seemed down.

"It's a cup game against a League Two side," I said.  I bumped my knee against his as he turned to look at me, eyebrows raised.  "I think you'll survive missing this one."

"Still a chance to play," he teased, his eyes lighting up a bit.

"Yeah, but then you wouldn't have a chance to hang out with me all night."  Now, Mason smiled properly.

"All night?  Is that a promise?"

My insides twisted as his knee knocked against mine.  Forcing myself to hold back a grin of my own, I just shook my head.

"Thought I was the cheeky one tonight, Mitchell."

I held his eyes, my face burning more and more with each passing second.  Pippa called his name a couple of seconds later, though, and it was almost a relief when he turned his attention to his sister.  I turned mine to Abby and found her already staring at me with cheek written all over her face.

"Don't you say anything," I sighed, biting back a laugh.

"I wasn't going to," she replied. Pointedly, she cleared her throat. "Anyway, reckon any of the academy kids will get a chance tonight?  I saw that Ben Harrods guy on the bench."

As Abby continued to ramble about the match, Mason's fingers brushed against mine on the armrest we shared. Swallowing back the aching desire to clutch onto his hand, I just nodded along to Abs.  When Mason pressed his knee against mine and kept it there, though, my mind blanked.  If Mason kept this up, his all night suggestion was seeming more and more likely.

As the Liquidator echoed around the stadium minutes later, I realised for the first time that the routine nagging voice in the back of my head had barely made an appearance all night.  When I snuck a look at Mason and felt nothing but a swell of fondness in my chest, I smiled to myself.

Maybe it's gone for good,I thought.  Good riddance.

***

Quick A/N:

Sorry for another long wait! Life is busy and mental health comes first sometimes but don't give up on Mason and Beck - the end is in sight 😎💙