"What are you doing here?" I said, looking at Mason standing there awkwardly.

 

"I, um, well, I remember that you guys said you were having the movie night at Tia's earlier this week, and Tia told me you were watching Jurassic Park. Well, I know this sounds creepy, like I am stalking you guys, but I had nothing going on tonight, and I thought maybe I could chill with you tonight," Mason said.

 

I have never seen Mason so frantic trying to explain why he was here, let alone his appearance. His hair was pulled back into a messy bun with some strands out and framing his face. His clothes were what he usually wore outside of work a red flannel open revealing some anime he loved and random jeans, but this time it was a plain white shirt and black ripped jeans. It was like he was trying to look nice. He also looks like he walked here because I don't see his bike.

 

"Uh um," I manage to get out. I told Mason to make a move and do something spontaneous, but I didn't think he would do this. So I have to say that I am impressed.

 

"Hey Steven, what is taking you so long?" Tia walked out of the living room and stopped in the hallway, looking at the two of us. "You are not dominos," Tia said, starting at mason.

 

"Yeah, unfortunately not," Mason said, a weak laugh.

 

"What are you doing here?" Tia said, slowly approaching us.

 

"Um, I uh," Mason said, fidgeting again. Oh, for the love of god, Mason.

 

"I invited him," I said, grabbing Mason's arm and pulling him into the house.

 

"You did?" Tia asked.

 

"Yeah, is that okay?" I asked, and Tia fell silent.

 

"Uh, I can leave if you want," Mason said. Mason tried to pull from my grasp, but I tightened my hold, and Mason looked down at me, shocked.

 

"N- No, it is fine," Tia said, and I smiled at her. We heard someone approach us, and we looked over at the delivery guy staring at us and holding our pizza boxes.

 

"I'll get it," I said, letting go of mason's arm just for him to step in front of me, blocking my path of the confused pizza guy.

 

"Please let me. It is the least I can do since I crashed your night," Mason said, and before I could say anything, Tia latched onto my arm.

 

"Thank you, Mason," Tia said, pulling me into the living room.

 

Once we were safely in the living room away from Mason, Tia let go of my arm and smacked it as hard as she could. Then, I grasped my arm, looking down at the girl glaring at me.

 

"Okay, now why would you do that?" I asked, rubbing my arm.

 

"Why did you invite him? I told you I would make a move on my own," Tia said.

 

"Yea, and we would have been waiting for a month, so no, I just gave a gentle nudge. Besides, it is just a movie, nothing more, nothing less. It is not like we will be talking for most of it anyway," I said. Tia went to say something, instantly shutting her mouth, and looked at the ground. So I looked back and saw mason standing there with the boxes, looking confused.

 

"Uh, where do you want these?" Mason said, holding the boxes up slightly.

 

"I'll take them. Tia, how about you make Mason a bowl of popcorn?" I said, looking at Tia, and she nodded, rushing towards the kitchen. So I placed the boxes on top of the ottoman and felt like Mason wanted to say something by the sound of him shuffling behind me.

 

"Yes, Mason?" I asked, turning to him.

 

"Um, why did you say that you invited me?" Mason asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

"Well, to be honest, I just thought that saying that it would be the most painless route that wouldn't lead to many questions," I said, and Mason nodded and moved to a spot on the floor.

 

"Thanks," Mason said.

 

"Don't sit there," I said, and he stopped himself from sitting in Tia's spot and moved a couple of inches from her spot. I sat in my spot and watched Tia come back with the bowl of popcorn and froze, looking at where mason was seated. She walked over to him, handing him his popcorn before plopping next to him. Mason looked at the bowl giving it a funny look before shaking his head.

 

"Is something wrong with the popcorn?" Tia asked.

 

"Um, no, well, it is weird to ask. Do you have any cayenne pepper?" Mason asked, and I nearly choked when Tia gasped, looking over at me with her hand covering her mouth.

 

"No," I said, and Tia started laughing.

 

"What did I say something wrong?" Mason asked.

 

"Yes, Mason, you did," I said, huffing.

 

"Shut up, Steven," Tia turned to Mason happily. "You like Cayenne pepper in your popcorn?" Tia asked.

 

"Uh yea, one of my friends exposed me to it, and I can't get enough of it," Mason said, rubbing the back of his neck and Tia smiled.

 

"Well, it looks like we need plates. I am going to grab that with the pepper," I said, getting up from my spot and walking to the kitchen.

 

So what else do you like?" I heard Tia ask, and I shook my head. As I listened to those two chat away, I knew this would be a good movie night.

 

Okay, I have to admit Jurassic Park was actually pretty good. So now I know why Tia made such a big deal about it. It was a classic, and it was fascinating how they worked on stuff like CGI back then. Oh, how far we advance from then. Once the credits started rolling, I felt eyes on me, and I turned to Tia and Mason looking at me, waiting for my review of the movie.

 

"Well," Tia said, inching closer to me.

 

"Okay, fine, you were right. It was a good movie," I said, and Tia was bouncing with excitement.

 

"I knew you would like it, especially since this is how it started," Tia said.

 

"Yea, yea," I said, waving her off.

 

"So, who was your favorite character?" Mason asked.

 

"Well, I have to say the young boy Tim," I said, and Tia scoffed.

 

"Why?" Tia asked.

 

"What can I say? I feel for the boy. He went through it. Like the kid was pushed off a ledge in a car by a dinosaur, landing in a tree. He was electrocuted and almost died. He was almost eaten by velociraptors, fell from the ceiling, and almost squashed by dino bones falling from said ceiling. So the kid was basically dancing with death. You gotta feel proud for him that he made it to the end," I said, and Tia shrugged.

 

"What about you, Tia?" Mason asked, giving Tia a little nudge.

 

"Oh, Allen Grant, hands down. What about you?" Tia asked Mason, and he smiled at her.

 

"Oh, no competition Dr. Wu," Mason said.

 

"You know that he became evil in the Jurassic World trilogy?" Tia said.

 

"Oh no, the man was clearly misunderstood," Mason said, setting Tia off.

 

"Sir, I need an explanation," Tia said.

 

"Well, he was exploited by all the partners he had. All he wanted to do was create dinosaurs. But, yea, the decisions he made were terrible, but at least in the last movie, he was trying to right the wrong he created," Mason said.

 

"By kidnapping a girl and dinosaur's child?" Tia said.

 

"Hey, I never said that it was a good idea, but at least he was trying to fix the mess he created," Mason said, holding his hands up.

 

"You know I will never understand your interest in these movies," I said, smiling at the two.

 

"You will understand if you saw all the movies," Mason said, and Tia nodded.

 

"Okay, how about we do that next week?" I said.

 

"Are you sure I don't want you to feel like I am hogging our movie nights with my movies?" Tia said.

 

"Yeah, I and sure, but why don't we have this at my house? Will that make you feel better?" I asked, and Tia smiled.

 

"Yea, it would," Tia said.

 

"Great, and Mason, you are invited too," I said.

 

"I will be there with the cayenne pepper," Mason said, and Tia snorted.

 

"This was a fun night," Tia said.

 

"Well, the fun will continue tomorrow night," I said.

 

"Right, I can't believe you are going," Tia said.

 

"What is so weird about me going to a party?" I said.

 

"Well, no offense, dude, you don't seem to like people like Caleb Post," Mason said.

 

"Well, yes, I did think that, but that changed when I talked to him," I said.

 

"See, I told you he is just a normal guy," Tia said.

 

"Yeah, he is, and I should kill you for letting him use my music room to hang out," I said.

 

"Well, I was hoping that you like my surprise," Tia said.

 

"Was the big thing you were supposed to tell me," I asked, and Tia nodded.

 

"What did you want me to ask you?" Tia said.

 

"Yes! I would've liked that," I said.

 

"Well, it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission," Tia said, huffing.

 

"You are the worst," I said.

 

"But you love me," Tia said.

 

"Sometimes I wonder why I do," I said, and Tia threw a piece of popcorn at me.

 

"Well, come on, let's clean up," Tia said, and Mason nodded and got up to pick things up.

 

You know, maybe I should be thanking Tia. Without her, I would be just admiring Caleb from a distance without getting to know the guy. So for the first time, I am actually excited to see him tomorrow night.