Part Five

Spending time at the lake, Sara, Mason and Asa ended up spending the better part of the day there, enjoying the warm weather and the cool relief of the lake. Their time at the lake, allowing Mason and Sara to spend some time together where they quickly fell into their all-too familiar dynamic that made it seem like no time had passed. Eventually as the hour grew later, the trio returned back towards Sara's grandparents ranch however they agreed to meet later on that evening for the area's annual bonfire.

Arriving at bonfire, Sara and Asa found quite a few individuals already present, dancing to the music from the speakers or enjoying drinks and talking amongst each other as they stood near the large bonfire that had been lit. Glancing around for Mason who had already let Sara know he had arrived, they spotted the teenager sitting on a bench near the bonfire by himself.

"Looks like lover boy is waiting for you." Asa commented causing Sara to roll her eyes at the blonde. "What?"

"I have to hear this all the time from Anneliese and Molly and now you?" Sara responded.

"I'm your best friend. Of course you do," Asa playfully said. "Especially since my bestie didn't ever mention her summer best friend..."

"It was complicated." Sara defended herself.

"Clearly," Asa sarcastically replied. "Although can I ask you a question?"

"I have a feeling you're going to ask it anyway." Sara knowingly said.

"Well, you know me," Asa shrugged, her eyes glinting with mischief.

Sara sighed, bracing herself for whatever was coming next. "Okay, shoot."

"So, apparently you've known Mason for years and you always told me Peter was your first-ever crush," Asa said before pausing and adding on. "Be honest, was it really Peter or Mason..."

"It was Peter," Sara said, shaking her head. "But there was a little grey area where I was crushing on both."

"Sara Adelaide Rose and here I thought I was hiding a wild side." Asa said, pretending to be surprised.

"Like you ever kept that hidden." Sara fired back.

"True." Asa nodded, nudging her friend to go to him. "Well, best not keep lover boy, waiting any longer."

"Aren't you coming?" Sara said curiously.

"I was already feeling like a third wheel at the lake while you both were catching up. I don't want to do that again," Asa admitted. "Go be with your summer best friend. Have fun. I'll be fine."

"You sure?" Sara questioned.

"Yeah," Asa nodded. "There's plenty of hot girls to distract me from the girl I'm not supposed to be thinking about and Anneliese and Molly are here somewhere too if I get bored."

"Good luck with those two." Sara laughed.

"I'm friends with Peter Grayson. I'm sure I can handle those two." Asa commented. "Now go."

"I'm going." Sara said as she looked over at Mason, took one final look at Asa before making her way over to the teenager, saying to the teenager. "Hey,"

"Hey, Sara, I was waiting for you," Mason said, warmly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just got here," Sara responded. "And trying to enjoy the night."

"Same," Mason nodded. "And it looks like it's going to be a good one, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Sara said in agreement. "They always seem to luck out when it comes to the annual bonfire."

"Tell me about it. I mean, I know I haven't been here the last couple of summers but it's good to know that this place hasn't changed." Mason said as he looked over at the bonfire and some of the other partygoers who were dancing to the music.

"Speaking of change, you want to tell me what's going on with you," Sara curiously asked as she sat down next to him. "At the lake we talked about our families, school, Asa but we never really said much about what we've been up to. Wanna give me the rundown?"

"Oh boy, where do I start?" Mason jokingly responded causing to laugh a little as he began to recount what Sara had missed since they were last together.

Sara listened with interesting as Mason recounted story after while Sara found herself laughing at some of the more amusing ones while interjecting with her own stories that brought laughter and enjoyment to them both.

"God, that Hazel sounds like the worst which is weird because my friend Peter claims they're friends which is surprising from what you've told me..." Sara commented as Mason finished his last story about something that had occurred during the start of his senior year at high-school.

"Maybe they're more like... frenemies." Mason suggested.

"Could be. Peter has a knack for making friends with all sorts of people." Sara shrugged.

"But what about you, Sara? What's new with you?" Mason wondered.

Sara took a sip of her drink, feeling the coolness against her dry throat.

"Oh, you know, the same old. Relationships, friends, family drama." Sara replied. "Dealing with Anneliese mostly and helping Asa with her break-up."

"How's she holding up?" Mason wondered as he looked over the bonfire to see Asa talking with Anneliese and Molly. "At the lake she seemed happy when she was talking but..."

"It's complicated. She puts on a brave face, but I know she's hurting." Sara said while looking at her best friend.

"It's tough, huh?" Mason said.

"But she's strong. She'll get through it." Sara nodded.

"You're a good friend, you know." Mason said as he took her hand in his.

"Thanks," Sara murmured, feeling a warmth course through her body that she knew had nothing to do with the bonfire and as she glanced around at some of the dancers, Sara impulsively asked. "Would you like to dance?"

Surprised, not wanting to disappoint Sara and wanting spend more time with her, Mason nodded in agreement and got up from his seat. Making their way near the bonfire, Mason and Sara moved their bodies in sync to the music.

Immediately, Sara felt the electricity between herself and Mason return with the same intensity as their first kiss and as her eyes looked up at his, Sara found herself forgetting all the sadness and heartache from when they had fell out of touch and instead remember the good times.

And it was then that Sara found herself, leaning in and press her lips press against his, treating him to a soft but passionate kiss that Mason slowly returned, the crowd around them faded away, leaving only the sound of the crackling of the fire and their muffled breaths as their kiss grew deeper, more passionate, as if they were trying to make up for lost time.