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It was around midnight and Mason couldn’t begin to describe how he was feeling right now, other than he felt terrible. The one thing he knew for sure is he needed to talk to Ty as soon as possible.
He picks up his phone and presses on Ty’s contact, and before he knows it he hears the phone ringing, and he’s calling his best friend.
The noise stops fairly quickly as Ty picks up after only two rings.
“Hey man, what’s up?” Tyler says, and Mason immediately feels stupid for calling him this late on the verge of tears.
“H-hey,” Mason starts, having to take a breath to try and keep his voice under control. “Uhm… I-I know it’s late but could I come over…? I’m sorry- I probably sound stupid I just… I just didn’t know who else to ask. You can say no, don’t feel pressured- I’m sorry man, this is so dumb.” Mason takes a breath, about to continue his rambling, but before he can Ty’s voice comes from the phone; abruptly stopping him.
“Mason, if you’re this worked up over something, that means you calling me, or anyone for that matter, isn’t stupid or dumb.” Ty says with such care and compassion that Mason feels like he could cry. “I’m starting my car now, I’ll be there in five.” Is the last thing he says, his voice laced with concern.
Mason can feel himself falling apart, so he replies with a simple, “okay.”
He can hear Ty driving through his phone speaker, neither of them planning to hang up anytime soon. Mason sniffles occasionally, doing his best to cover the noise up, trying not to worry Ty more than he already had.
The familiar sound of Ty turning into his driveway is heard from where Mason sits on the carpet, the screech of Ty’s old car parking echoing in his ears.
He hears Ty unbuckle his seatbelt and open and close his car door. “I’m here,” he says, stating the obvious.
Mason stands up, albeit a little shaky, before heading towards his front door.
When he opens the front door, he’s met face-to-face with Ty; who takes one look at him and grabs his right hand, leading him to his car.
When Mason gets in the car he hangs up the call, considering the real person is to his right in the drivers seat.
The car ride to Ty’s house is silent, the only noticeable sound being Mason’s ragged breathing.
His and Ty’s hands are still interlocked together, the latter of the two being surprisingly good at driving one handed.
As the car pulls in the driveway Mason can see Ty unbuckle his seatbelt out of the corner of his eye. Mason starts trying to do the same, with little success because of the shakiness of his hand.
He manages after the 4th try, and the two walk towards the front door, Mason waiting for Ty to grab his key.
Once they’re inside they reach Ty’s room alarmingly quick, partially because it’s so late that no one else in the house is awake, and partially because Ty is still holding Mason’s hand; meaning they move more as a group than separate people.
After entering his room, the two of them sit across from each other on Ty’s bed. He seems to just only now realize that he’s still holding Mason’s hand, which Mason can tell purely because of the newly found blush dusting Ty’s face. Even though he seems embarrassed, he doesn’t let go of the other, choosing instead to address the problem at hand.
“Okay, what’s going on dude?” He asks, and Mason mentally prepares himself to somehow explain without breaking down, which currently feels impossible.
He takes a deep breath before speaking. “I… you know how I’ve talked about my parents a few times and…” Mason sniffles and wipes his eyes with his sleeve, “how their relationship wasn’t quite on…” He pauses again, “the best terms?”
Ty nods, and Mason can almost hear the gears turning in his head as he tries to figure out what he’s getting at.
“Well, today they sat me and my sister down and-“ Ty’s eyes widened in realization. “Turns out they’re getting a divorce.” Mason bit his lip, holding back a cry. “A-and, I know, I should have seen this coming- it’s not all that crazy considering how they’ve been acting for the past year. But I- I can’t help but feel so stupid for not being able to stop it- I tried so hard; But it still wasn’t enough to prevent it.”
“Mason…” Ty starts, and Mason can feel a tear slip down his face. He bites his lip harder, nearly drawing blood, attempting to suppress a sob.
Ty brings the hand that isn’t holding Masons to the other boy’s face, and he watches as he leans into the touch.
Mason looks off to the side, the only sound in the room being his sniffling and uneven breathing.
“I’m sorry... I shouldn’t have put this on you- it’s not your problem-“ Mason apologies.
His sentence is cut short byTy objecting almost immediately, “anything that’s your problem is automatically my problem, Mason. If you’re hurting then I have every right to help you, and you have every right to be helped.” He says, tilting Mason's head to look directly at him.
Ty stares at him, noticing the tears in his eyes. “You’re allowed to feel like this man, you can cry or do whatever you need to; I promise that there’s nothing you could do right now that I’d judge you for.”
And with that, the dam breaks as Mason lets out a gut-wrenching sob, which is immediately followed by him launching himself at Ty.
Ty’s arms come up around the sobbing teen, moving the hand that was originally holding the other’s hand and begins running it back and forth through Mason’s hair; his other rubbing his back in a soothing motion.
“I-I tried e-everything I c-could! I thought- I thought they were g-getting better!” Mason cries, followed by another sob; and Ty can feel his heart shatter when he hears the strain in the boy’s voice.
He wishes he could do more to help Mason, because he doesn’t know long he can hear the boys sobs without breaking down himself.
Mason keeps sobbing for what feels like hours until he starts to calm down, his sobs turning into less frequent cries.
“I’m sorry man, it’s not your fault. You couldn’t prevent this—no one could—please, don’t blame yourself.” Ty says, continuing to run his hand up and down Mason’s back, having switched his other hand to hold his head as the boy was now tucked into his shoulder.
“Thanks, Ty…” Mason replies with a yawn, his breakdown tiring him out. He doesn’t move before cozying up with a sniffle, deciding to rest on Ty.
Ty smiles at the almost-sleeping figure, brushing Mason’s hair up on his forehead to give it a light kiss, along with a whispered, “I love you man.”
He receives a lethargic smile and a kiss on his hand from the other, and Ty can’t help but smile back.