Castle in the City

1

"Oh, I don't have you here with meee, but at least I have the memoryyy. I try to make it through the nighttt," I yelled while turning the shower off. "But I can'tttt control my mi-iiinnnnndddd. I'm just thinking bout youuu, I'm thinking bout youuu, I'm-"

The sound of the bathroom door being knocked on sent me jumping in fear while holding my chest, and because I had wet the floor when I was leaving the shower, I also slipped and fell on my ass.

"City, you good in there?" the person who knocked asked, and I just knew it was Damien at the door. Everyone else called me Sa, but he thought he was different and always called me City, despite the numerous times I told him to call me Sa.

The fact that he was here meant that Damien and my brother were already back from their last year in college. They were best friends since 16 when Rico, a friend of my parents, had brought Damien- Rico's nephew- to the house. Rico had been taking care of Damien and brought him over to my family's house one day to hang out. Damien and Nickolai, my brother, had clicked immediately, and now they were pretty much inseparable. They'd always hang out with each other, so it was no coincidence that they went to the same college.

"No, dip-shit," I replied as I stood up and held my aching cheeks. I was sore now and in a very grumpy mood. Recently, Damien and I were not getting along well with each other. We never spoke much to each other, but now, there was a bit of hostility between us that grew out of nowhere. Even though we didn't used to speak much to each other, he was always polite, but ever since I turned 17 last year, he'd been nothing but a jerk to me. Damien and Nickolai were three years older than me, and I just knew that now that I was 18 and they were 21, they'd be even bigger jerks to me. They were fully adults now, and I knew they wouldn't stop rubbing it in while here for the summer.

Damien replied, "Watch your mouth, City."

"Make me," I replied defiantly.

Challenging me, Damien replied, "Open the door, and I will."

I wrapped myself in my towel and swung the door open while crossing my arms and rolling my eyes.

"Hmph. Turned 18 and don't know how to act," he replied, and I finally took in his appearance. He looked a lot more mature than when I saw him during his winter break. He had grown more muscles, and his face looked more defined as well. His smooth, honey colored skin was very clear, not a sign of acne in place- which was how I had always known him to be. It was as if he had flawless skin. It was either that, or he was always wearing makeup, but the first seemed more appropriate. His lips looked smooth, soft, and plump, and I just hated that he looked so good. It wasn't fair, really.

I smartly replied, "Hmph. Turned 21 and don't know how to act. Get out my way."

"Make me," he smirked, using my own words against me as I had used his against him.

"Why are you even up here? You know there's a bathroom downstairs," I pointed out.

He nodded, "Yeah, but Nico's using it to shower."

I looked at the towel in his hands and frowned, "Why are you even showering here? Don't you have a home?"

"I'm crashing here for a while...maybe the whole summer," he answered, causing my frown to get even deeper. "I'm doing an internship at your father's company in the city, and since my house is three hours away from the company, while this house is only an hour and a half, your parents invited me to stay the entire summer."

"Oh, goodie," I replied sarcastically while stepping out of the bathroom. "The floor is a bit wet. Make sure you fall."

Damien smirked, "Eat shit, City."

"I'll leave that to you," I replied while walking pass him and into my room. I then closed the door behind me and got dressed into shorts and a large tee, as I wouldn't be leaving the house. I was more of an indoors person, even when it was summer.

When I was done moisturizing and getting dressed, I left my room and went downstairs to the kitchen for a snack. There, I found Nickolai, who everyone called Nico for short.

Nico smiled, "Hey, big head."

"Hey, ugly," I greeted with a playful smile.

"Thanks for coming to my graduation," he replied sarcastically, as I didn't go. It was yesterday, but I had school and a final to take that couldn't be made up.

I chuckled, "I had a final to take. I wouldn't miss you tripping on the stairs again for nothing."

Nickolai flicked my ear and chuckled, "Let's leave my 8th grade graduation in the past, please..." He went into the fridge and took out a bottle of water before gulping down half the bottle.

"Where's mom and dad?" I frowned. They were supposed to fly back with Damien and Nickolai.

"Well, it's their honeymoon in two days, so they decided that they'd start it from today. They're somewhere in France by now. They won't be back until August, as they both have a few meetings in France, England, and Italy in June and July and thought they might as well just stay in Europe for three months," he informed. "Of course, I'm left in charge."

I rolled my eyes, "I can handle myself."

"Still, Mom and Dad left me in charge, so no boys over-" he got out before I cut him off.

"I'm not dating anyone," I rolled my eyes. Nickolai was very protective of me, as was Dad, my two uncles, and my dad's best friend named Nathan. The five didn't like the idea of me dating, even though Nickolai had been dating since he was 8 years old.

"Good," Damien said from behind me, causing me to slightly jump in surprise. I was always on edge around him, probably because I had the longest crush on him, but I never gave any hints that I did. Now that he was so mean to me, I definitely wouldn't be confessing my feelings to him.

I turned around to face him and noticed that he only had his towel wrapped around his waist with water dripping down his well toned chest.

Again, why did he have to look so good?

"So I'm stuck with you two for three months?" I sighed, and Nickolai nodded.

"Natalie will be over from time to time though, so you'll have company," Nickolai said, and I eagerly smiled. Natalie was Nathan's daughter and was actually really cool. She and I had been great friends since I was born, practically, and I was actually happy that she and my brother were dating. They were a year into their relationship now, and I was sure that in about a three or four years, they'd be planning a wedding and maybe even kids. Part of me wished that I could've had a relationship like they had but with Damien, but I knew he didn't feel the same way about me as I did about him.

A/N: HELLOOOOOO and welcome to the spin-off of the Toxic Cure Trilogy (book 1: Toxic Cure, book 2: Bittersweet, book 3: Amazingly Awful). Welcome back everyone, and if you're new, don't worry- you don't have to read the trilogy to understand what's going on but I would recommend reading them anyways because....why not? Posting day will be every Sunday unless otherwise noted, but today is your lucky day because I'm posting this on a Thursday and Sunday's right around the corner! Yup, that's two chapters in one week to kick start everything and with that said, I hope you enjoy this book!