Riggs

The ice cream shop was never very busy, but according to Bella, it paid the bills, and the best part was that if a self-entitled customer appeared, she could just tell them to shove it. Despite selling all kinds of drinks and food in the establishment, her passion was the homemade ice creams.

Mason noticed Nico’s stare on him, but he was too busy watching Bella greet an old couple like old friends before disappearing behind the counter. His shoulders slouched, and he melted a little in his chair, forgetting the world still existed outside and that Duke was about to make a stupid move if he hadn’t done it yet. The corners of his mouth lifted, and he put his fist in front to hide it; it was bad enough that Nico was naturally clumsy, and made him laugh without warning. He shouldn’t be smiling while he watched Bella work. She was charming and funny and beautiful, and if he could, he would watch her every day like a creep, making sure no one messed with that smile.

A few minutes later, she brought over a cup of coffee for him, a hot pressed tuna sandwich and a bowl with four different ice cream flavours. Until the moment the bowl was placed in front of Nico, his eyes were stuck on Mason. It wasn't the first time Nico stared for a long time, so it didn't bother Mason as much as the first time it happened, but the one time he asked Nico about it, the child shrugged and went back to playing.

Now Nico’s eyes were stuck on the ice cream, a bit of drool hanging by the corner of his mouth. "Go ahead," Mason told him, handing a spoon. Nico took a small bite of an orange ice cream that Mason doubted was just plain mango ice cream, because for Bella that was too normal and easy to find.

"Mango, carrot and ginger," Bella said as if hearing his thoughts. He gave her a look, and she explained. "I haven't had much time to come up with new flavours, and if I'm being honest, I haven't had any good ideas either." She loved coming up with different flavours, but more often than not, they ended up being too peculiar for most people.

Nico's eyes dilated the second the first bite hit his tongue, and his cheeks turned light red as he took a full bite before tasting another flavour. “Is this his first time eating ice cream?" Bella asked, smiling at Nico's reaction. It probably was. Nico had never tasted nuggets before, and when he did, he wasn't a fan.

"Should I bring him something else?"Mason shook his head because it was one of the few occasions Nico looked really happy. “You better be ready to deal with the sugar rush,” she teased.

“Sugar rush?” Mason had heard the rumours, but he never git proof it was a thing; he never experienced it. Besides, Nico was a child, so even if sugar rush were indeed real, it wouldn't be that bad.

“Good luck," Bella said, chuckling.

Mason laughed too. Whatever came his way, he would take it, if it meant seeing Nico so bright-eyed, swinging his feet with a loopy smile plastered on his face. “Happy, aren’t you?” Mason said, cleaning a bit of ice cream from Nico’s cheek.

Nico nodded fervently and ate a few more spoonfuls before turning to Mason. “Meih, ‘appy?”

It was a simple question that required a yes or a no.

A boulder grew in Mason’s throat and weighed heavily on his heart until it smashed it to smithereens and lit it on fire, and the tears that gathered behind his eyes were from its ashes because there was no other explanation why he felt like crying.

A stupid little question that shook him with the force of a tornado.

All his muscles contracted to keep the cool and collected look as he nodded with a forced smile. He didn't even have the strength to say yes. That was how hard Nico had disarmed him.

He wasn't unhappy; Mason was sure of that. It wasn't a punishment to get out of bed, eat or sleep. He enjoyed watching TV and going shopping and meeting up with Ty. He didn't hate taking care of his apartment, or the fact Nico was currently living with him. So he wasn't unhappy.

But he wasn't happy either– to the point that it made him cry when he was asked about it by such an innocent being.

His eyes found the door the second he nodded.

“I’m happy too,” said Bella, smiling at Nico. Neither of them noticed the storm in Mason's eyes; of course, they wouldn't. He hid a deep breath, soothing the embers until they cooled down. With time, his heart would be put back together, and if not, it was okay; he didn’t need it complete to carry on.

The rest of their time passed much too quickly for Mason's liking, but it was time to get back to reality. If Duke was indeed looking for him, sooner or later, with some savviness and time, he would know what Mason looked like, and after that, Mason wouldn't have the freedom of going around like he wanted.

As Bella had warned, Nico experienced a full-blown sugar rush and jumped around everything like a bouncing ball until the energy depleted and Nico fell asleep on the floor looking almost dead. Mason wanted to do the same after playing along with Nico. Instead, he laid Nico on the bed, cleaned up the war-zone and dialled a number.

"This can't be good," the voice on the phone mused.

"That's the first thing you say when you pick up?" asked Mason, his lips forming a smile.

"Call me fussy, but I haven't forgotten the mess you caused for me last time."

Mason laughed. He and Riggs connected right away on the first day as fresh army recruits, and since then their friendship grew to being close brothers. Having fought in wars and being at death's door helped a little. "If I remember correctly, I saved your bacon after all that fiasco."

"You caused the fiasco," Riggs accused, and Mason easily imagined the eye-roll Riggs was famous for.

"You got a good promotion out of it." He heard Riggs laugh on the other side, and even if he didn't acknowledge it, it had been too long since they talked. "Rest assured, I'm not looking to cause trouble this time. I just need help with something."

"You said the same thing last time," Briggs chuckled. "What do you need?"