Castle in the City

6

I drove into the Carters' garage and parked my car before hopping out. I then entered their house using the key that Mr. Carter, Nico's and City's father, had given me after graduation.

The house was silent and dark, giving me the impression that no one was home. I had just had my first day interning at Carter Industries and was very hungry and tired.

I washed my hand and then started preparing pasta. When the food was almost done, City came walking down the stairs.

"Hey," she smiled lightly. "How did you get in?"

"Hey," I replied as I checked the pots. "Your dad gave me spare keys to use during my stay here."

She gave a gentle nod and walked over to where I stood. She then peaked in the pot and hummed. "Is there enough for me?" City asked while looking at me with a hint of hope in her eyes, causing me to chuckle.

I confirmed, "I made enough for you, Nico, and myself."

"Good, it smells delicious," she complemented while walking to the fridge. "Nico and Natalie are on a date at the beach and recently left, so I'm not too sure he'll eat anything when gets home later at night." She took out a bottle of water and drank about half the bottle before walking to the cupboards and taking out two wine glasses. "Bordeaux?"

"Bored of what?" I frowned, and she chuckled.

She smiled, "It's a type of wine my parents have in their wine cellar. I prefer the vanilla one, but if you want classic, we can do that one instead."

I shook my head, "Vanilla is fine."

She gave a gentle nod before leaving the kitchen. After a minute or two, I turned off the pots, and Sagacity was back with the bottle of wine. "Are you eating in your room or are we eating together in the dining room?"

"Together," I answered because I'd get to see her more.

"Good, I was hoping we could get to know each other," she smiled lightly while taking out two plates and forks. I took them from her and dished out the pasta into both of our plates, and she took up the two glasses and wine before we went to the dining room. She dimmed the lights, and I couldn't help but be curious about what this girl had up her sleeves. We sat down after fixing our plates across the table from each other and pouring wine into both of our glasses.

With a curious brow raised, I asked, "Well?"

She blushed while shyly shrugging, "Umm...what's your full name?"

I thought about whether I should be completely honest with her. Many knew me as Damien Cill, but that was a fake name I was using to protect me from my past.

"It's just Damien Castle," I informed before digging into my food. "You?"

I hadn't felt comfortable telling anyone my real name in a long time, but for some reason, I found my self telling Sagacity.

"Sagacity Fiore Carter," she answered.

A/N: Fiore is pronounced as fee-your-a or like Dior but with an f and -aye ending.

"Fiore? Where does that name come from?" I asked with genuine interest as I continued to stare at her from across the table.

She shyly answered, "It's Italian for flower. My grandfather was Italian, so my dad wanted to cherish that."

I complimented, "A beautiful name for a beautiful person."

"Thank you," she blushed with a shy smile on her face. I didn't know why I was so addicted to this girl, but I unfortunately was. I wasn't shy about admitting my feelings to her anymore, I just didn't wanna end up looking stupid- especially because we'd be living together for the entire summer. "Um...do you have a favorite hobby?"

If thinking about her was a hobby, it surely was my least favorite thing to do. Even though I had a crush on her, I hated thinking about her because it would only make me long even more for what I couldn't have.

I shrugged, "I guess drawing."

"Really? Me too!" she smiled eagerly at our connection. "As you already know, my dad is a professional artist, but I wasn't taught by him. Drawing came naturally for me. When he saw my passion for it, he decided that he'd teach me how to paint, and I've been learning since a month ago."

"That's dope," I smiled lightly. "I don't know how to paint as well as I can draw, but I'm getting better through practice."

She then offered, "We should make an art piece together someday...just for fun."

Knowing that she wanted to spend time with me made my heart accelerate at an unsteady pace, and I felt a smile tugging on my lips.

"Yeah, that would be fun," I said as casually as I could.

"Great," she replied with a gentle nod before eating some of her food. "This is really good, Damien."

The way my name rolled off her tongue was like music to my ears. It sent butterflies fluttering in my stomach, and I couldn't help but feel like a little bitch.

Man the fuck up, guy.

"Should I burn the house down more often?" I asked, referring to the other night when she assumed that I couldn't cook.

Sagacity chuckled in response, causing a smile to form on my face, as I always found her hideous laughter weirdly cute.

She smiled, "You should. Also, if you have any questions for me, you can ask too."

Not sparing any time, I questioned, "Why now?"

Sagacity slightly tilted her head to the left while frowning, "I don't understand."

"Well, we've met each other 4 years ago, but you've never took the time to try to know me- except two years ago, but I was the one who was planning stuff to get to know each other," I pointed out, and she nodded in response while biting her bottom lip.

Sagacity shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe it's because we're going to be living together for four months, or maybe it's because of some other motive that I'm unaware of. I don't know...I just don't want for us to be jerks to each other. I like this- being able to talk and laugh with you."

"Me too," I admitted.

I didn't want to think too much about getting closer with City. The last time, I ended up hurt, and she didn't even know it. For now, I wanted nothing but a friendship with her. Life would be better off that way.