The Vanishing

"Sorry," she said softly, moving close to him and taking hold of his hand. "I remember that night. I didn't see the plate, I thought you were making fun of me, down in my face where you could see me crying."

"I know you did."

"And you didn't say you would take me to dinner, you said you were going to Peg's party and you would take me with."

"Said I would feed you and take you with."

"But you knew I hated Peg and her little sister Lillie."

"I did? Promise you I didn't. No idea."

"Lillie loved to bully me, called me 'Beanie Weenie' all the time."

"What? Why?!?"

"She assumed I was hispanic, she didn't understand the difference between hispanic and Italian. She started by calling me 'Beaner', then when everyone started growing and I didn't, it was 'Beanie Weenie'. She thought it was clever. Her friends did too, no one cared that it was racists and rude and didn't even apply. So yeah, I thought you were being a dick by asking me to go to my biggest bullies house with you."

"No, Shorty, no idea. Really. Peg was popular, so was Lillie. I thought you'd want to go."

"Well, now you know I wasn't JUST being hateful. I thought you were being mean to me."

He gave her a sad grin as he pulled in. "You were younger than me, I didn't know she bullied you. C'mon Shorty." He pulled her to the edge of the truck seat and leaned in to kiss her. She finally kissed him back, tentative, unsure, afraid.

His smile down at her, so pleased and hopeful, it was heartbreaking. He led her into his house by her hand, grinning.

Lydia watched his mom carefully as he looked over her shoulder at Mason and smiled, then her eyes went wide when she saw Lydia. Lydia was afraid she would be upset, the girl who had spurned Mason for so long. His mom smiled beautifully, pleased and hurried to Lydia, hugging her tight.

"I am so happy to see you! It's been so long! Mason, you ass, you worried me!"

"I texted you!" he said, grinning.

"This morning! Lydia, come in and tell me what happened here!" she said, motioning to Mason holding her hand.

"He... came to wait through the day with me. He knew it would be hard on me. We talked and... things just kind of happened," Lydia said, blushing. The lie was like bile in her throat, but she wasn't going to ruin his mother's image of him.

Mason leaned down and kissed her on the head, squeezing her hand, then let it go as he hurried up to his room. Lydia sat down at the island in the kitchen, like she used to with Halt. Mason's dad used to do all of the cooking until he had vanished. Now it was his mom and she was apparently awful at it. Lydia watched her pull a frozen lasagna out of the freezer and open it before putting it in the microwave.

"You two staying for dinner?" his mom asked.

"He promised me a date," Lydia said quickly. "Chinese in Browton."

"Oh, that place with the big buffet? Nice. His brothers will be jealous. Hey Mason, could you holler at Levi when you go outside? He's in the blue garage with that old truck. Tell him dinner in 30? Is that a bag? Are you sleeping over again?"

"Yeah mom, might sleep over quite a bit. Maybe stay there?"

"Oh, well, Lydia, you could come here!"

"No thank you, I am attached to my home. Also, I have other family staying with me now, I couldn't leave them."

"Oh, I didn't know that. Well, Mason. You two come and visit a lot? I will make you dinner?"

Mason laughed. "You don't need to threaten us, mom! Actually, maybe you could come out and see us. Lydia is actually a really amazing cook. Really amazing."

"You are?" his mom asked, surprised.

"I guess that's why Halt was hanging there so much around dinner time after dad..." he trailed off.

"Oh! That shit!" she laughed. "Oh. I am so glad you have finally moved on, Lydia. And Mason, he has been pining after you for so long!" she laughed, teasing him.

Lydia blushed, but smiled. "I see that now, looking back," she said softly, holding Mason's hand in both of hers.

"We are going to be late," Mason said, pulling Lydia out the door. "Later mom!"

"I love you! You too Lydia. See you soon!"

Mason yelled in at Levi, then tossed Lydia up in his truck, smiling at her again. "Thanks. Again. That was... really awesome of you to say that after what happened. I didn't expect you to have to lie for me, I just thought you would change the subject. Thanks."

"Yeah yeah, hush up and feed me!" she teased, embarrassed now.

She sat close to him on the ride to the restaurant, holding onto his arm as he smiled contentedly with his hand on her thigh. "Babe? I sort of almost feel like I am a Vanished and in my own version of heaven. Is that weird?"

She laughed. "Yes! In your heaven I would hope you didn't have this old junkheap with a fuel leak and a floorboard rusting out so bad I am afraid to sit over there! Also, there would be more chocolate. At least in my heaven."

"You ever wanted something for so long and then you fuck it up so completely and then somehow... get it anyway?"

"You may be sorry you got it. You don't really even know me Mason Barstow!"

"The hell I don't. I grew up with you, Lydia. I know everything about you, even the way you stick your tongue out when you try and text on a phone and how you bounce your foot in agitation when you have to be around people you don't like. Like Hank's girlfriend Misty from two years ago. How you have to sleep with one foot out of the blankets no matter how cold it is and how you hate flip flops with a passion. I know you hate reality TV and you love Sci Fi and Fantasy. You like some comedy, but you hate stupid slapstick comedy. You lean hard left politically, but you are pro-gun and you shoot like a sharpshooter. You can't drive, you don't have a license and you don't want one. They don't make cars for people as short as you and you can't get comfortable behind the wheel, so you let other people drive. There is no music you don't like, every genre, no matter what has something you like. No matter how weird, you can talk music with anyone and know who and what they are talking about, no matter how obscure the rest of us think it is. You can't..."

"Ok, I get it! I am saying you don't know the me who is grumpy and snipes for no reason and wants to be alone and needs space. You don't know the me I have grown into the last year."

"I will baby. Soon," he said gently, patting her leg.

"And Mason... if we do this... and it doesn't work out? You have to leave it at that, be ok with it. If I don't develop feelings for you like you have for me, you can't just go back to taking what you want. Ok?"

"I got it," he said, his voice going sad. "It would suck if that happened, but I will let it go. In the meantime, I will try. Ok?"

"Does this thing go any faster? I am seriously starved."

He laughed and pulled her in closer, hugging her against him.