Castle in the City

21

I moaned within the kiss Damien and I were sharing, and he sank his fingers further into my waist. We were having a casual make out when a knock sounded on the door, startling Damien and me. We quickly broke the kiss as Nico entered my room.

Nico looked at us with narrowed eyebrows and shook his head, causing blush to form on my cheeks and Damien to shyly scratch the back of his head. "I-" Damien got out before Nico cut him off.

"No, it's aight. I just haven't gotten fully used to seeing y'all together," Nico shook his head. "It's just a bit weird catching my best friend tonguing my sister down, but it's cool. I'll get used to it. Anyways, Natalie and I wanted to know if you two wanted to go on a double date with us."

Damien looked to me and I shrugged with a light smile, letting him know that it was up to him.

"Uh...yeah, I guess," Damien nodded. "Where to?"

Nico answered, "Well, it's nothing big- just a night out on the beach. We could make it a bit bujee- chocolate covered strawberries, maybe ice cream, wine glasses with sparkling apple cider so we don't get charged for having two underaged people drinking, etcetera."

I chuckled, "I'm down for that."

"Aight, we can push out at 3," Nico finalized, and Damien and I nodded in approval. Nico then left the room, and Damien and I fully sat up while blushing.

"Well that was a bit weird," I chuckled lightly.

"Yeah," Damien chuckled lightly as well. "He'll get used to it eventually, but we probably should lay off a bit on this double date."

I nodded, "Yeah." I then checked the time on my phone and noticed that it was 2:30 p.m. "We should probably start getting ready."

"Right," he nodded. "Um...see you at 4." Damien smooched my cheek before leaving, and I blushed while caressing the spot he kissed. I then went into my walk-in closet and to the bathing suit area. I looked for one of my favorite bikinis that I thought complimented my skin color very well and quickly slipped into it. I then put on shredded ripped jeans and a white tee with white sandals. I packed a towel in one of my bags and some things for my hair before grabbing my phone and lip gloss and heading downstairs.

"Ready?" Nico asked. He and Damien were already waiting by the door that led to the garage.

"Yes," I nodded as I walked over to them. Nico led the way to his car, and we got in and packed the items we were planning to bring on the date.

2 hours later
"I love you too," Natalie giggled as Nico continued to trail kisses down her neck. I smiled at the sight of them before my mind trailed off to Damien. I wondered when...if...we'd be like that- so affectionate, and if we'd get to the point where we'd exchange I love you's.

I looked over at him, and he smiled down at me before staring out at the water. I took out two of the chocolate covered strawberries and plopped them inside my mouth. Damien looked down at me again, ready to say something before he burst into laughter.

"You look like a blowfish," he chuckled, and I giggled while chewing the strawberries.

"Leave me alone," I smiled as I stared into his eyes. He shyly reaches for my hand, and I blushed while reaching for his as well. The moment my index finger touched one of his finger tips, sparks ignited throughout my body. We connected hands, and Damien rubbed gentle circles into the top of my hand. I looked over at Nico and Natalie, who were busy kissing each other and decided that now would be a good time for me to talk with Damien about what happened two days ago on our date. "Um...can we go for a walk? I wanna talk to you about something."

With slight concern in his eyes, he nodded, "Sure. Let's go."

We stood and began walking away before Natalie called out, "Hey, where are you two going?"

"For a walk," I answered, and Natalie snuck a playful wink my way, causing me to playfully roll my eyes and Damien to chuckle.

Damien and I then walked away, and once we were a good distance away from Nico and Natalie, Damien asked, "Is everything okay?"

"I was actually wondering that on your end," I said while staring into his eyes as we slowly walked.

He nodded, "Yeah...why?"

I sighed before bringing up, "Um...well, on our date...you looked pretty shaken up when you thought you saw whoever it was you thought you saw. I just wanted to check in on you and make sure you were okay."

Damien broke eye contact and sighed as he shook his head. He then connected eyes with me again before informing, "That moment lingers in my mind too, City. I'm still a bit shaken up about it, honestly."

"Who did you think you saw?" I asked while searching his eyes, and we stopped walking and completely faced each other.

Damien twisted his mouth to the side as he stared into my eyes. He then released a shaky breath before answering, "I thought I...saw...my mother..."