Castle in the City

4

"What are we watching?" Natalie smiled eagerly as she sat next to Nico and laid her head on his chest. Nico smiled and placed a kiss to her forehead and gently caressed her shoulder.

Justin shrugged, "A horror movie?"

Aria opened the top box of pizza and took a slice out the box before plopping down beside Justin. Even though they were cousins, they treated each other like brother and sister. Aria rest her head on Justin's shoulder, and Justin stole a bite of her pizza, causing her to punch his arm and scoot away from him. We all chuckled in response, and Justin started a movie.

"You guys sure you wanna watch a horror movie?" I asked as I grabbed the bowl of popcorn that Damien and I would be sharing. Damien was sitting beside me and eating candy while texting away on his phone.

Not removing his focus from his screen, Damien asked, "Why? You're afraid or something?"

Nico chuckled, "Definitely not that. She's a fucking maniac."

Damien put his phone down and playfully frowned, "What do you mean?"

Aria chuckled, "She laughs at all the death scenes. Parts where people watching the movie normally scream, this psycho fucking laughs."

I shrugged, "Not my fault they have silly deaths."

Damien chuckled, "Not gonna hold you, the deaths are sometimes type funny."

"See," I giggled.

Justin chuckled, "Weirdos."

Natalie giggled, "You chose the right person to sit beside then. The two of you will enjoy each other's company."

I looked at Damien and he lightly smiled before grabbing a handful of popcorn and throwing it in his mouth. He then focused on the movie, and I felt tempted to rest my head on his shoulder. Normally, I would rest my head on one of my cousins or on Nico, but they already had shoulder buddies. I looked over at Natalie and Nico, who were both now laying in the couch they chose to share and were cuddling beneath a blanket. They were so cute together and made me think of the relationship I would never have with Damien.

After about three or four movies ranging in genres, all of our snacks were done, and everyone except for Damien, Justin, and me were awake.

"I'm about to be knocked," Justin chuckled, and Damien and I chuckled as well.

I then admitted, "I'm a bit tired too. It's 4 in the morning."

"I'll be in the second guest room," he informed while slouching as he walked towards the second guest room to sleep.

"So...going to bed?" Damien asked, and I shrugged.

"I can do one more movie," I replied, and he nodded while putting on a comedy.

He lifted one of the pillows in the couch and said, "Hold this." I took it from him while frowning and resting it on my lap. Damien then lay on my lap, his head resting on the pillow. "Thanks."

I chuckled, "Nice."

"I know right," he chuckled.

"Who said I didn't want to lay down?" I asked playfully, even though I actually did want to lay down.

He looked up at me and asked, "Do you?" I nodded, and he sat up and put all the pillows on one end of the couch. I thanked him while laying down, and he lay behind me.

Immediately, his peppermint scent licked into my nostrils, reminding me of delicious candy canes and making me hum.

"You good?" he chuckled, and I blushed while nodding.

I then shyly explained, "You smell like candy canes."

"Do you hate them or something?" he frowned while studying my eyes, and I shook my head.

"Quite the opposite," I answered. "They're one of my favorite things to eat."

He slightly smirked, "Good." After a long moment of silence, I felt his hot breath in my ear as he whispered, "The next time you think about eating a candy cane, make sure you also think about me."