Mason scratches the back of his neck, eyes unblinkingly focused on his laptop screen with all the details of the guests that are going to be invited for the next event he has to assist Gwen in planning. The bow of his lower lip held between his teeth and his fingers hovering over the keyboard, his eyes narrow and go back and forth around the tabs, the only sound in the room being the tick of the clock.

And then his phone rings.

He has half the mind to ignore it because Mason doesn't pick calls during work. They're usually not important, since he doesn't have direct contact with the clients, and the only time he doesn't even consider screening the call is when it's Gwen.

Apparently, fate has decided to assign him another person who's growing surprisingly important to him in a very short time.

One glance at his phone screen and he doesn't even think before picking up.

"Ayaan?"

There's silence on the other end. For a split second, Mason wonders if the other guy called him accidentally, but scratches the thought away because Ayaan doesn't exactly seem like the type to buttdial.

Before he's about to say something else, the voice on the other end replies after a long breath.

"...hey, Mase."

Mason takes a pause, aware that there's something different about his voice. So he leans back in his chair and takes a moment before he replies. "Hey."

There's a shuffle and then a creek, and Mason assumes Ayaan is shuffling around in his bed. And then, silence.

"Is everything okay?" He can sense the awkwardness in his own voice.

"Everything's fine. I just... are you busy?"

Mason's eyes revert between his laptop screen, the list of locations lying on his desk that he needs to confirm with his clients, and the hundreds of emails and invites he has to write. Then, letting go of the bottom lip he had been subconsciously worrying between his teeth, he looks away from the screen and tips his head back.

"Not really, no. What's up?"

He tries to think of what this could be about, but he comes up with nothing. And then his finger that was subconsciously tracing the edge of his laptop stops in its place when Ayaan replies,

"I just... wanted to hear your voice."

Mason blinks once, then hangs his head, feeling the top of his ears heat up. "Are you drunk?"

"I'm really not."

"A little... tipsy, maybe?"

Ayaan breathes out a laugh on the other end. "Not that either, but I would love to use alcohol as an excuse tomorrow."

Mason can't hold back the smile that lifts his lips up, making the little dips in his cheek appear. He stands up from his seat and walks towards his bed. "And what would you need an excuse for?"

Ayaan's voice gets small when he replies next. "I just think I'm about to overshare and there's no one else I could think of talking to right now."

Mason lets the words sink in, not realizing when he ends up sitting at the edge of the bed with only silence as his reply. When he feels like he's been quiet too long, he opens his mouth to speak, but Ayaan beats him to it.

"I don't want to get ahead of myself and assume we're going to go out together, but..." Mason can tell this is hard for Ayaan to talk about. So he stays silent and listens, laying back until his curly hair is spread under his head and his eyes are on the ceiling. "...but if-" he feels the need to repeat, "if we do...I need to tell you what my family is really like."

Maybe it's the uncertainty in the older man's voice or the hesitant silence between them that makes Mason say what he says.

"Ayaan?"

A moment of silence, and then what sounds like a gulp, Mason hears Ayaan let out a soft, "Yeah?"

The curly-haired boy closes his eyes, letting out a breath. "I know I never said it back so I... I wanted to let you know..." His own voice grows smaller, cheeks warmer. "...that I like you too."

With how silent the line grows, Mason is pretty sure Ayaan has hung up on him. But he doesn't remember the last time he was this brave. So he speaks further.

"And just... just remember that you can talk to me about anything you want," he says without knowing if he makes any sense at all, with how fast his words leave his mouth. "I know any information you give me can be potentially used against you to hurt you and your family's reputation but I swear I won't do anything to-"

"Mase." Mason stops rambling. "I trust you."

He breathes out a relieved sigh that he didn't know he was holding. It doesn't go past him that he didn't even realize before that Ayaan now calls him by his nickname and it feels completely natural. Like they've known each other way longer than just a few weeks.

"And not to mention anyone who isn't blinded by the glass walls of our office can probably tell we aren't a normal family."

Mason presses his lips together, thinking about all of the articles published about the Sharmas that he's read despite countless warnings from Gwen.

Ayaan tells him about how his sister is the only person so far who's had the courage to leave the family to pursue modeling and marry a man that their parents highly disapproved of, solely because of his race. He talks about all of the times he went along with whatever his parents decided for him and Mason can't help but feel his chest ache with a lingering sadness for the kid that Ayaan never got to be.

Mason was kicked out of the house, but before that happened, his parents had been more than decent. His father had always been a little strict, but he wasn't made of stone. And his mother? He thought she loved him more than anything and anyone in the world.

Clearly, he was wrong.

And as he lays there, listening to Ayaan talk about things he's never said out loud, his throat tightens with emotion and the reminder that there's always someone out there in the world who's got it worse than you do.

"I took Tanvi to the family dinner with me today," Ayaan says, voice more relaxed now that they've been talking for a while. "I never knew my mother could look this unsettled."

Mason smiles at the little chuckle Ayaan lets out.

"Dad doesn't really sit at the table with us anymore. We're trying to divide the blow for her," Ayaan sighs. "Well... I am. Tanvi was going to tell her Avni and I called off the wedding, but I want to give them the time to get used to it. Or maybe I'm fooling myself... either way, I've made up my mind. I'm going to make them both accept that Tanvi is still part of our family. Then I'm going to tell them that I'm not marrying Avni. She's going to help me out with that one."

Mason turns to his side, the phone under his ear and his hands tucked between his thighs. "Do you... have any idea how that's going to turn out?"

Ayaan breathes for a few seconds, and Mason waits patiently.

Then, finally, he replies, sounding so small and defeated that Mason wishes they weren't just talking on the phone.

"Yeah," his voice is another octave lower, "...yeah, I'm pretty sure I know how it's going to turn out."

Mason stays silent.

"But I don't want to spend my life hiding," Ayaan continues, sounding a little shy and Mason's smile slowly returns. "Or wondering if I could have given them a chance but didn't. And most of all I... I want to tell them about..." His voice trails off, so Mason urges him to repeat the last part.

"About?"

"...you."

"Me?"

Mason can hear the smile in Ayaan's voice. "Mhm."

"What about me?"

Ayaan sounds like he shuffles again, and his voice sounds more relaxed now so Mason assumes he's comfortably settled in his bed, his eyes closed and a tiny smile playing on his lips. "I don't know. Everything."

Mason breathes out a surprised laugh. "Oh? There's not a lot you know about me, though... right?"

"Why did you say the last part like that? Do you think I ran a background check on you?"

Unable to hold back an eye-roll at the amusement in Ayaan's tone, Mason asks. "I don't know. Did you?"

Ayaan laughs, and the sound resonates in Mason's chest as if touching every nerve and making it tingle. "Good to know you think I'm a stalker."

Mason chuckles. "I didn't say that. Can you, though? Just asking."

"Really feeling the trust here, Mase," Ayaan teases. Then with another little laugh, he says, "I don't know. Should I get back to you on this after asking our security department?"

He still sounds amused, and Mason can't even find it in himself to be mad because the conversation he had with Gwen about how Ayaan has been happier since they met comes to his mind.

So instead of replying to his ridiculous question, he ends up saying, "Hey, Ayaan?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to go out with me?"