This is the last chapter, it's a little long… but full of Mason goodness…. Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Impossibility

Nobody said it was easy,
Oh, it's such a shame for us to part.
Nobody said it was easy,
No one ever said it would be so hard.
I'm goin' back to the start. - Coldplay

Rube sat deep in thought at his usual booth at Waffle Haus later that afternoon. He sat there, his coffee long since cold and his club sandwich untouched. The ring Daisy had handed over to him sat forlornly in his palm. Their new reaper, a thirty-something year old lawyer named Henry, sat silently across from him, unseen by the patrons of the restaurant. The boy had met a terrible end – it had involved a loose brick falling forty stories to nearly cave his head in half.

"So, when do I go to Heaven?" Henry asked in a low voice.

"No Heaven for you and no Hell. You're a reaper now, so shut the hell up and listen to your boss, okay then?" Rube told him without looking up.

"Well, what the fuck!" Henry began.

Rube was not in the mood. He looked up, giving him a look, and Henry shut up.

Rube looked up to see Mason and George walk in. He noticed that George had fallen behind Mason as if she was almost afraid to see what was about to unfold. Mason got about two feet from the booth before his face fell and a kind of terror came over him. He rushed up to the table and threw an accusing arm towards Henry.

"Who the fuck is that?" He demanded.

"He can see me…" Henry asked surprised, sitting up with a start.

"Shut up," Rube said, quickly, and then turned to Mason, his hand closed tightly around Daisy's ring.

George came up beside Mason and grasped his arm. "Mason …" she began.

Rube gestured towards Henry. "George, take our new friend out for some air."

George knew better than to defy Rube at this particular moment and gestured to Henry.

"Come on, new kid, let's go," she said.

Henry followed her from the restaurant.

"Sit down, Mason," Rube told him.

"No," Mason said stubbornly, shaking his head.

"Where is Daisy? Something is bloody wrong here and…"

"Mason, Daisy is gone – she moved on this morning."

Mason looked ready to faint. His legs seemed to buckle under him and his eyes went completely dark and lifeless.

"You're fucking lying," he said, through gritted teeth.

Rube opened his palm and lying there was the ring that Mason had placed on Daisy's finger only that very morning.

Mason sat down.

"Tell me you're lying – goddamn it, Rube – fucking tell me it's not true."

"I'm sorry, but it is."

"You bastard," Mason all but shouted, as he reached over and seized the ring from Rube's hand. "Do you know that I loved her – do you even care – all I did to have her … you can't do this, Rube. So, you talk to whoever the fuck you bloody need to talk to and you get her back."

Rube shook his head. "You know it doesn't work that way," he said simply.

"Make it bloody work." Mason all but shouted, slamming his fist on the table.

People were staring.

"Be reasonable. That is an impossibility that I cannot do," Rube whispered.

"Fuck reasonable and fuck you!" Mason shouted, and leapt from the table and stormed out of the restaurant just as George was coming back inside with Henry.

George looked from Rube to Henry and Rube nodded his permission for George to go after Mason. Turning heel, George ran after Mason.

--

"Mason!" George shouted, running to keep up with Mason's long strides. He acted as if he did not hear her and it was a good five or six city blocks before George caught up with him.

He was like a man possessed. His eyes were red and his face tear-stained. There was something – about his movements – that alarmed George. He seemed dazed and uncertain, as if he had no idea where he was or where he was going. He looked at George with the saddest eyes she had ever seen.

"Help me, Georgie," he pleaded.

"With what?" she asked reaching for him, to soothe him.

"I – I have to find Daisy," he said, and then turned and began calling for her. "Daisy! Daisy!" he shouted as George tried to shush him.

"You won't find her." George said, grasping his arm. "Please, let's sit."

"Fuck sitting, fuck all – I need to find her, she doesn't know – I need to make her know…that I love her," he raked his hands through his hair, his eyes glazed with uncertainty.

"She knew that Mason, she always knew that… and she loved you – I know she did."

He shook his head as if he did not hear her. "Bloody fuck!" he cried out soundly, attracting attention. George turned and gave a group of gawking teenagers a hard stare and they moved on. She turned back to Mason who seemed unsteady, ready to faint.

George hated seeing him like this, when just this morning he had been elated – walking on air – now he was devastated and lost.

"Just breathe for a second, Mason; I know this is a shock…" she tried to soothe him, get him to at least sit down and think this out. She couldn't take the way his eyes skipped over every face on the street – how desperate he was to find her. The woman he loved, who was now simply gone. It broke George's heart.

Mason was sobbing now. He sagged into her arms as if all strength had left him. George was ready for the curses, the wild anger, yes, even tears, but not this full on, full-bodied sobbing. It shook them both. She held on to him, wrapped her arms around his quaking shoulders and rested her cheek against his shirt, holding him as tightly as she could.

"Oh Georgie, I don't know what to do," he cried, and she shushed him with soft words, gentle hands. She gave to him now a part of herself that she had never really shown anyone before… she was tender and compassionate, a good friend.

Gradually, the sobbing tapered off and then as if waking from a dream, he stepped back from George and shook his head as if clearing his thoughts.

"I can't do this anymore, George."

"Do what?" she asked, "Cry?"

"No." He leaned over and kissing her on the cheek, he ruffled her hair. "This reaper business. Do me a favor, tell Rube … I quit."

"I can't tell him – no way. I won't."

"Well, then, fuck it – he'll figure it out …" Mason went on.

"Mason, you know you can't do that…" George pleaded with him.

"They took her from me; whoever the fuck they are and fuck them if they think they can still get poor piss drunken Mason to do their handiwork."

"Mason, you're upset, you have every right to be…" George said quickly, reaching for him. "But, you're fucking with the big guys – I mean, Rube…"

"Oh fuck Rube," Mason said.

"No, Mason." She held onto his coat.

He smiled down at her as he gently pulled her hands from his coat and kissed her fingertips. "I love you, Georgie – I always wanted a sister."

"Mason, I love you too … that is why you have to listen to me…"

Yet, he wasn't, he was backing away from her, slowly and with certainty. "Bye Georgie." His voice got quiet and his eyes were wet with tears. And then he turned and walked away from her. "Keep safe," he called over his shoulder.

George was dumbfounded. She just stood there and watched him leave. There was really nothing she could do; she couldn't throw him down and sit on him, could she? So, she simply threw up her hands and watched him until he faded as one into the crowd ahead and simply disappeared.

--

George made her way back to Der Waffle Haus. She pushed open the door and was immediately serenaded as usual by German folk music and the smell of grease and coffee. She found Rube sitting alone; which meant the whole Daisy situation must be getting to him if he had turned babysitting duties over to Roxie. She came over on aching legs, her eyes red from crying and with a heavy sigh she slid in across from Rube who greeted her with a weary expression and a half smile.

"Peanut," he said softly.

"Hi, Rube," she managed in a choked voice.

"Where did Mason go?"

George flagged Kiffany down for coffee and met Rube's troubled eyes.

"He quit," she said, as she reached for a menu, even though the last thing she felt like doing was eating. Rube was immediately concerned.

"What do you mean, he quit?" he demanded.

"Just what I said – he fucking quit and he is probably more than likely celebrating in some seedy bar."

"This isn't a fucking game, George," Rube said tersely. God, what was he going to do now? Mason knew the score; you couldn't just quit, could you?

"I never said it was, and besides this is your fault."

"Oh?" Rube said, raising an eyebrow. "How is that?"

"This didn't have to happen. It's not fair; they were in love," she said, feeling tears begin to whelm up in her eyes again. She just couldn't get the image of Mason and Daisy out of her head. How they had been this morning, hands all over each other, their huge smiles, and their high hopes. Poor Daisy. Despite George's initial downright loathing of her, she had found a sister, someone she admired and loved. Now, she was gone, just like that, in an instant.

"That was their problem," Rube said, knowing he sounded cruel.

But he had to teach George the hardest lesson any of them ever had to learn was of all the things forbidden to a reaper. Love was the one that was most often ignored. Dead or alive, people yearned for connections with each other. In any case, it always ended badly – George was just too young and too naïve to realize that.

"God, you and your fucking rules. When do we get to feel – when do we get to be human?" she asked, as tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Never," Rube said quietly. "You see, peanut, we're dead. Get over it."

"Screw you," George said hotly, as she got up. Rube asked her to sit and keep her voice down.

"You didn't see them together like I did, Rube. It was real love – the kind they both deserved and you and your boss or whoever, has ruined that for them. And if we don't get the Mason back we know and love, the one you do nothing but insult, then so help me God, I will quit, too. And then you can tell God to personally go fuck himself on my behalf." With that being said, she turned and hurried from the restaurant, sobbing, nearly colliding with Kiffany, carrying her coffee.

"Is she leaving?" Kiffany asked, placing the cup on the table.

"For the time being – yes," Rube said quietly, while giving Kiffany a quick smile. "But, if you don't mind I'll finish this...on her behalf."

--

Mason had wandered for the better part of the evening. He had scored drugs of every imaginable sort, drank more then anyone alive could handle, and yet he still walked and he could not forget.

He relived every moment of last night. The smell of her skin, the hotness of her kisses, the words she had said. She had told him she loved him. He clung to that, to the realization, that for one shining moment, that beautiful woman had been his – his to hold, to touch, to love. He couldn't bear the realization that he would never do any of that again. He would never get to see his Daisy again, the only woman he had ever truly loved. This is your punishment, he told himself. This is Death's way of fucking you both for that Ray business. He felt doomed. He wanted to die and yet he was already dead. It seemed so cruel to not have that option. He only wanted Daisy; he wanted to be wherever she was and the fact that he could not be with her even in death weighed far too heavy on his heart.

It was in the early hours of the morning when he found himself outside Rube's door. He was going to wait – wait for Death himself to wander in and they were going to have it out. Of all the fucked up shit you made me do, he thought. You want to do this to me. You want to take from me the only person who ever loved me. Well, then, fuck you…

He sank down to the floor, bottle in hand and before he knew it he was fast asleep. He woke to Rube standing over him, taking the bottle from his hands.

"Did I miss him?" Mason asked, blinking into the harsh light of day.

"Who?" Rube asked.

"Death."

Rube shook his head. "Christ, Mason, is that why you are here?"

Mason struggled to his feet and nodded. "Yeah it is."

"I heard you quit."

"I guess I did."

Rube went to his apartment door and gestured for Mason to join him. "Coffee?" he asked. Mason nodded unsurely, and then, before he knew it, the enormity of what had occurred hit him like a punch in the gut.

"Oh my God – Daisy." He did not want to cry in front of Rube, but he could not help himself – the tears were falling and he could not stop them. Rube came over and took his arm.

"Mason, it will get easier. Not now, maybe never – but somehow you will manage. Now come in and have a fucking cup of coffee."

Mason nodded and followed him inside. Rube busied himself with the coffee while Mason sank into a couch and buried his head in his hands.

"This is my all my fault," he moaned. Rube nudged his arm and handed him a cup of coffee.

"That's bullshit," Rube said, sitting across from him.

"No, Rube – I fucked up."

"Yeah, I'm sure you did..." Rube answered with a wry grin.

"No, Rube, bloody hell … I am not talking about dumb Mason shit," Mason said, meeting Rube's eyes. "Something bad happened and that's why they took Daisy from me."

Rube saw the agony in Mason's eyes, the struggle for him to express what was paining him so deeply. "Get it out."

"I- I killed a man and there was no post it and then there was a graveling…"

"What!" Rube said as the words sank in. "You did what?"

"I killed Ray."

"Who the fuck is Ray?"

"That bloke, that asshole Daisy went with. He was hurting her and I just wanted to protect her but things got out of hand ..."

"Well, you can say that – Jesus Christ, Mason, of all the fucked up …" Rube stopped himself when he saw that Mason had begun to tear up again. Tears silently fell and his whole body shook has if his body was being cleaved in half.

"I don't know how it happened, Rube. It just did – I just wanted to keep her safe."

"From what – she was dead…"

Mason looked up, eyes red. "I know, but I just saw this asshole with his hands on her, choking her, and I snapped – I wanted to bloody kill him and, well, I guess I did."

Rube was nodding; he reached over and took the coffee cup from Mason's shaking hands. "It was more than likely the most fucked up thing you have ever done, in a long line of fuck ups, but I understand."

Mason was surprised. "You do?"

"Christ, Mason, I loved a woman once, a beautiful woman…" His eyes got glazed, his smile far away.

"Your wife…" Mason added in a small voice.

Rube looked at him and nodded. "Yes, my wife, Lucy. I died for her – so I understand what possesses a man to do anything – murder, steal – to protect the woman he loves."

"Jesus, Rube, I didn't know."

"Well… that is the past. Like I said, it doesn't ever hurt less, but you manage."

Mason was nodding. "Am I being punished, I mean, why the graveling?"

"It happens. A soul rots, no one came to get it, so it festers. It feeds on itself and then bam! That person turns evil, terrible, and then a situation is created where they die and then … graveling."

"Daisy had seen it before…" Mason said quietly.

"I don't doubt it. Daisy knew some not so nice men in her time."

She's gone, isn't she…"

Rube handed him back his coffee. "No, Mason, that Daisy is not." He leaned over and touched Mason on the chest. "She's right there, waiting."

Mason looked smiling. "I never pegged you as the sentimental type."

Rube smiled back, "You'd be surprised," he replied.

Mason sipped his coffee, it tasted good – hot – and he felt his head clear. He had really tied one on last night.

"Mason, before Daisy left us, she wanted me to tell you a few things."

Mason was saddened. "She knew…"

"I told her – thought she should prepare herself."

Mason was nodding. "Oh God, my poor Daisy, was she, you know, crying?" Mason could not bear the thought her being distressed and heartbroken and he wasn't even there to hold her and soothe the pain away.

"She did cry – mostly for you. In the end she surprised me, she was so brave … she surprised me – I never saw her as strong before…"

"She was, stronger than me," Mason added. "I loved that about her."

"Mason, Daisy wanted me to tell you that she loved you … said she would have married you if she could – you were the only one."

Mason stifled a small laugh. "Imagine Rube, poor bloke like me – winning the heart of a woman who's had men like Errol Flynn and Charlie Chaplin."

Rube had to laugh with him. "Don't forget Babe Ruth…."

"You think those stories were true?" Mason asked.

"I do. Daisy – amazing Daisy – beautiful girl like that, charming – yeah."

"I loved her, the very instant I saw her." Mason said, draining his coffee cup. "I just didn't know it." He stood, "Is Georgie girl all right?"

"Just being a pain in the ass… but yeah, sure, she's fine…"

"I kind of just bailed on her yesterday; I need to talk to her…"

"You get some rest, Mason," Rube said, walking him to the door. "Will I see you in the morning?"

Mason nodded. "Yeah," he replied.

"Good, good." Rube did something unexpected, he reached over and grabbed a hold of Mason and pulled him into a hug.

"You're a good kid, Mason…" He said.

"Yeah, you're all right, too," Mason replied and hugged back.

--

Mason went back to the house he had shared with George and Daisy. He found George sitting at the dining room table with a bottle of tequila and a shot glass. She was drunk and crying.

"Georgie…" he said sadly as he came in. He went to her and knelt by her feet and she threw her arms around him, pulling him close and began to sob. "I can't stop thinking about her and…"George whispered into his neck. He pulled back and wiped the tears from her eyes, there were tears in his own and his voice got tight.

"Why are you drinking alone, darling?"

"It's – I wanted to feel numb. Isn't that why…" her voice trailed away as he averted his eyes from hers and stood.

"It's a bullshit cover, Georgie…" he said, looking sadly at the bottle. It's poison. How many times had he turned to it – craved it and depended on it to mask all emotion, all the pain. Fuck it! He was going to feel this one, every fiber. He was going to mourn Daisy properly, not through a fog. He reached for the bottle and hurled it against the wall where it shattered.

George jumped, startled. "Mason!" she cried.

"George, fuck numbness – fuck the pain!" He screamed at her and he saw her shrink back in her seat, as if frightened of him. She turned her head and cried harder. He went to her, hugging her, and told her that he was sorry for frightening her. She looked up and touched his face with soft fingers, wet fingers from her drink and her tears. He clasped her hand, kissed it and smiled.

"We'll be okay, Georgie. Daisy wouldn't want us like this – a couple of drunks, disheveled and badly rinsed."

George chuckled at that and he was happy to see a real smile on her face.

"You're really all I got now, George – just us…"

"I know," she said and then paused.

"Mason…"

"What is it?" he asked.

"I never – well… I … love you, Mason." He saw the pain in her eyes, the truth and he felt frightened. Did she mean?

"Darling, you're drunk – it's the booze…" She leaned over and kissed him. It was a soft kiss and he let her kiss him. Her lips tasted of tequila and strawberry lip-gloss. He wanted to be noble and stop things before they got out of hand, but all he could see was Daisy. It was Daisy in his arms. It was Daisy's hot tears mixed with his own. It was Daisy saying that she loved him. He pulled George closer to him, burying his hands in her hair as he pulled her roughly against him. Then he opened his eyes and saw that the girl in his arms was not Daisy but George. George, the girl he saw as a little sister barely eighteen and drunk. This was wrong. He pulled her away from him and got to his feet, unsteady and unsure.

"Mason." He put up a hand to stop George's words.

"No, please… I should never have…" He backed up and into the living room, hurrying to the front door. George followed him.

"I'm sorry," she said as tears fell down her pretty face. He turned at the door and stopped and looked at her. "Please don't dismiss me as a child, Mason… I love you, since the moment we met. I was so jealous of Daisy – so insanely angry – and now I feel so ashamed… you never once looked at me like you looked at her."

He went to George and hugged her and held her as she cried, he kissed the top of her head.

"Come on now, Georgie… I think in the morning, later, we'll talk all right?"

"You hate me!" she wept.

"Never don't be silly, you're all I got now, remember?" George nodded and stepped back, wiping at her eyes with her hands.

"You know why I was drinking – why I was really crying?" His voice was hollow when he responded.

"Why?"

"I finally knew, finally realized that you would never love me. I could not compete with Daisy when she was here and now I know I will never measure up to her ghost."

It was true, but he could not say that to her, not when she was looking at him with such desire, such want. It reminded him, painfully of the way in which he had loved Daisy. The agony of not having what he wanted so desperately and then he had gotten her, somehow he had won her heart and now she was gone.

He reached into his pocket and took from it the ring he had given Daisy, the token of all the pain, desire, and passion he had felt for her – all that he wanted from her that he did not get. The enormous agony of it all and he saw the depth of George's love deep in her expressive brown eyes. She really was beautiful and so God-awful funny, sweet when she wanted to be and he handed her the ring and closed her hand around it.

"Mason…" she said as she looked down at the ring in her hand.

"Georgie – Georgia," he said. "Keep this. Wait for me, okay?"

She nodded, more tears spilling down her cheeks. He hurried from the house and down the front steps and even though he could feel his heart breaking, he knew that one day – maybe not now – it would mend and he would walk back into that house and he would take a beautiful girl, a girl that he loved, in his arms. And life – unlife – would be worth living, after all.

I know kind of a twist at the end… did you love it – hate it! Let me know – thanks!