Cassidy opened her mouth to speak, to pretend that nothing was wrong, to put on a fake smile, but was interrupted by Andrew.

"She is not feeling well, apparently. Please excuse us and hurry to your girlfriend's house. You don't want her to be waiting." Andrew said politely, yet coldly. He hated Mason's guts for breaking Casey's heart. And how dare he give Casey a nickname? He was the only one who called Cassidy by a nickname. And a good one. Case? It sounded like he was calling Casey a situation or a circumstance or something. Anyways, right now, he just wanted him to get out of Casey's and his sight.

Cassidy didn't know what to say to that, so she just kept silent.

"You're unwell, Case? Are you alright?" Mason asked, his eyebrows creased with worry.

"Obviously not," Andrew answered for her, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He couldn't help it. Looking at Mason's worried face just made him want to puke, especially since he was the exact reason why Case was feeling so sick.

Cassidy gave him a stern look. She had no idea why Andrew was being so rude to Mason when just a minute ago, he was so friendly and polite to him. Andrew glanced away from her, which made her even more puzzled.

"I'm fine, Mason," she said, turning back to Mason, and tried to give him a reassuring smile. "You're in a hurry, right? You should go on ahead."

Mason frowned. "You don't look okay. Your face is so pale. Do you need some water?"

"I have water for her," Andrew grunted, frustrated. Why couldn't he just leave already?

"Okay," Mason replied, undaunted by his rudeness. "Can you help send her home then? She looks like she needs to rest."

"I'll do just that shortly after you leave," Andrew answered, emphasizing his last word.

"Okay, I'll leave her in your good hands then-" Mason started to say, but was cut off by Cassidy.

"Wait!" she exclaimed in a hurry. "Before you leave, can you give me your number? It won't take too long."

Mason agreed, and they exchanged numbers. Andrew watched them silently, anger and jealousy growing by the minute. Was this guy Casey's mother? If not, then why act so concerned about her, even saying that he'll leave her in his good hands, like she belonged to him. She doesn't belong to you, Andrew thought, and she never will!

Just then, a female teenager around his age appeared from behind them. "Excuse me, but could you guys not block the way? People need to walk," she said haughtily.

"Excuse us, but we are in the middle of something here, so unless you want me to snap at you, you better go away quietly," Andrew snapped at the girl, then realized what he had just said and regretted his words. "I- I mean-" he stuttered apologetically as she glared at him.

"We're very sorry for the inconvenience, miss," Mason interrupted, shooting daggers at Andrew. He gave the girl an apologetic smile. "We will move aside immediately."

The girl turned her attention to Mason when he spoke, and her face softened immediately. She looked like her heart just melted. Then again, it probably had. Andrew, once again felt like he wanted to puke, and he hated Mason for charming girls so easily just by his looks.

Her voice turned as sweet as honey. "Oh, no, it's alright." She flashed a flirty smile at Mason. "I can pass through like this." She squeezed through Cassidy and Andrew, giving him a piercing glare as she passed by him. She nodded to Mason shyly and walked away quickly, her high heels clicking with each step.

Andrew's jealousy, if possible at all, increased by a load. How could that guy be so damn perfect and charming all the time?

"I'll be going then," Mason said, giving them a nod. Cassidy smiled politely while Andrew fixed a heavy glare upon him as they stepped aside for him to pass through. Mason turned to Cassidy and put his hand on hers. Her cheeks turned light pink uncontrollably. Andrew clenched his fists. Mason then said kindly, "Go home and have a good rest, okay? Call me up when you're feeling better."

Cassidy nodded, unable to say anything because of their sudden skin contact, and a curl of red hair fell in her eyes. Mason reached out to tuck it back in her hair gently while she blushed even harder, her cheeks turning crimson. Andrew gritted his teeth and looked away from them. Mason nodded one last time at them and walked away, his hands shoved into his pockets.

As Cassidy watched him walk away, she thought, only lovers or couples would do that, right? Does that mean that Mason really does like me after all? Maybe he just got a girlfriend because he felt lonely without a partner. Yes, that must be it! she convinced herself.

Andrew watched Cassidy's face closely as Mason walked further and further away, becoming a tiny dot in the distance and finally disappearing from view. She looked deep in thought, her head slightly lowered like she did whenever she was reading a book. The sun hanging high above in the sky cast dark shadows across her face. She must be feeling so heartbroken, he thought pitifully. Poor thing. Just then, Cassidy slipped her hand into his. Surprised by her gesture, he blushed beet red. Then, all of a sudden, she was running in the direction which had Mason headed, pulling him along. Shocked, he almost dropped his camera while stumbling clumsily and trying to match her pace.

What the heck is she trying to do? Andrew screamed silently while the wind breezed through his golden locks of hair, jumbling them in a mess. And I had spent so much time perfecting my hairstyle for Casey this early morning. He sighed heavily as they continued running through the streets, him still struggling hard to match her surprisingly fast pace and to get a good grip on his camera so it doesn't fall off his shoulder, dodging annoyed adults along the way.

Thanks for reading! I hope you like my story so far! I update slowly, so I hope you don't mind waiting. Please review, follow or share! :-)