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“I’m so sorry. Please don’t hate me. Please…”
“Hey,” Mason says firmly, holding my face to make me look at him. “I could never hate you, Sierra. Never. You hear me?”
“It got so bad. I just couldn’t…”
“Shhh. No excuses. You did nothing wrong,” he says, tears rolling down his cheeks. I can hear Mom sniffling. Mason helps me stand before hugging me again; this time I start calming down more. When I pull back, he wipes his face as Mom and Dad hug me.
“What happened?” Mason asks me.
“He just… It’s gotten really bad over the last week. I started hiding stuff in the crawl space, and I’ve been learning how the camera notifications work. Last night he… I just couldn’t do it anymore. I hid until he passed out and ran. I got a burner phone months ago, so…”
“So you called him?” Mason asks, almost coldly.
“I called you first,” I say with a frown.
“So you are just making her sleep on the goddamn couch instead of calling me hours ago?” Mason snaps at Beckett.
“I slept in his bed with him. I wasn’t…” I start to say, but his voice overpowers mine.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Beckett?!” Mason barks. “My fucking sister?”
I suddenly can’t hear him as I take a few steps back. My hands start shaking as it feels like all of the blood has drained from my face. All I can hear is his screaming, but I can’t make out the words.
“Stop it. You’re scaring her,” Beckett says simply before taking my face between his large hands. My body is violently trembling, and my breathing is coming in short bursts.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause problems,” I say tearfully.
“There is no problem,” Beckett says gently. “Okay? Everything is okay. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“But he was yelling. I didn’t mean… I’m sorry, Bex. I didn’t know…”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Mason says. He gently touches my shoulder, but I flinch away from his touch.
“Give her a second,” Beckett tells him gently as he pulls away. “Just breathe for a second, Sia. You’re okay.”
“I’m sor…”
“Shhh. Just breathe,” he says softly. I close my eyes and force myself to take a long, ragged breath. I blow it out and try again. Over time, it becomes easier, and my body relaxes. “Good girl. You’re doing so well, Sierra. Mason will be calmer now. Won’t you, Mason?”
“Yeah,” he says quietly. Beckett steps to the side, and Mason looks sad now. “I’m sorry, Sierra. I didn’t…”
“You don’t get to act like him,” I say firmly, tears still rolling down my cheeks. “You don’t get to act like the man who broke me just because you are fighting with him.”
“He…”
“I don’t care. You don’t get to treat me like that,” I snap back. Beckett answered. I called you first. I wanted you, Mason, but you didn’t answer. You don’t get to be mad at him. He is the one who brushed my hair because I was shaking too badly. He held me in the dark because I’m too afraid to be alone. He opened up his home for me, and you don’t get to be mad when you never fucking saved me. Do you know how long I sat and prayed for someone to save me? Someone to notice I was gone? He did. Not you.”
“I’m sorry, Sierra,” he says, his own tears streaking his face now.
“So if I want to let him help me. If I want to sleep in his bed and let him hold me through the nightmares, you will get the fuck over it or continue to sit across the road and pout all alone.”
“Ouch, little sister,” he says with a smirk.
“Shaw Customs, Mason? Are you a fucking child now?” I ask. “Don’t answer that. I already know you are.”
“Don’t be too hard on him, Kitten,” Beckett says. “We’ve played equal roles in this.”
“Well, then you need to grow the fuck up, too,” I say to Beckett.
