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| 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐞 |

The shock that goes through me wipes out the slight embarrassment of mom catching me snuggling up on the couch with Castle.

I jump down the couch and run, throwing my hands around her, almost knocking her off her feet.

She hugs me back, squeezing me tight. "Ooh, I missed you too."

"I thought you were coming next week." I pull away.

"I wanted to surprise you people," She says then a teasing tone comes to her voice. "But it looks like I'm the one surprised over here." She looks behind me at Castle.

Castle sits dumbstruck on the couch, his mouth slightly parted open and his hair sticking out in every direction. He glances at me from mom and blinks.

He looked cutely ridiculous that I let out a chuckle.

He looks slightly horrified too and I can almost figure out what he's thinking; that he and I were snuggled and cuddling on the couch two seconds ago, with me on top of him and his arms around me.

"Did you have a good sleep?" Mom asks, smiling at him.

"Uh..." Castle's face goes red.

"Does dad know you're back?" I interrupt.

"Nope." She grins.

I laugh. "Ooo he's gonna get a stroke."

"Want to film his reaction?" She asks.

"Hell, yes!"

She looks at Castle again. "Are you staying for dinner?"

"Huh...?" Castle's still looking confused.

If he looks like that every time he wakes up, then I would pay any amount of money to be there when he wakes up.

"He's shy," I whisper to mom.

"Oh." She nods and walks over to him. "Well, you have nothing to be shy of." She grabs his hand and pulls him up. "No one in this house is."

His eyes flick to me, and I can perfectly read what his face says: Clearly.

Mom looks him up and down, assessing him. She turns her head around and gives me an approving nod while Castle is still confused.

"Dinner?" Mom asks him again.

"I-I can't." He says, finally seeming to come out of his little bubble of haze. He blinks. "I have to get home. I've stayed too long."

"Stayed too long?" Mom questions. "How long exactly?" She looks between him and me.

"It's not even seven yet," I tell Castle. "And you'll have to be back in an hour anyway to tutor me."

He looks apologetically at my mom. "I'm sorry but I really need to leave. I'll be back."

"Will you have dinner then?" She asks, looking up at him.

"Um." He fiddles with his finger, eyes darting between me and mom. "Uh, okay."

Mom smiles at him. "Great."

Castle stares at her for a while before he gives her a quick nod and moves to leave. He walks with a stiff body as he grabs his bag off the floor where it was leaning against the couch and quickly walks out the door.

"Was that really Castle?" Mom asks, pointing a thumb towards where Castle left.

I nod. "Yup."

"Don't take this the wrong way but..." She furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "Doesn't he not...seem like your...type?"

I raise an eyebrow at her, picking up a couch pillow that had fallen off and fling it back on the couch. "What do you know about my type?"

"You know?" She shrugs. "Boys like...Sean?"

"I'm not interested in Castle," I tell her. "At least not in that way."

She tilts her head, her short blonde hair tipping just behind her shoulders, "That's kind of hard to believe with the scene I came home to."

I laugh. "I don't even know how we got into that position."

She hides a knowing smile. "Uh-huh."

"I'm serious," I tell her. "We fell asleep watching TV and must've probably scooted closer for the blanket."

"Mhmm." She nods, hiding a look that says she doesn't believe me.

I shake my head at her. "Just don't tell dad. He'll start threatening Castle then."

"Oh, I know," Mom says. "I won't even accidentally tell him."

I nod. "Thanks."

After helping mom take her bags to her room, we make sure that there isn't a single trace or clue of her being in the house. When the time nears for dad to arrive, I walk up to my room while mom sits calmly in the living room, sipping champagne, ready to surprise him. 

I'm entering my room when the sound of the main door reaches my ears. Not even a moment later I hear dad.

"What the fuck?" He yells.

Mom's laugh follows after his yell.

I shut the door of my room, letting them have their privacy.

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The sound of a ringtone stirs me awake in the darkness of the night.

I turn around and absentmindedly reach for my phone, answering the call.

"Hello?" I murmur, sleepily.

"Holly."

My eyes crack open. "Castle?"

My mind rises out of the sleepy haze in an instant once his voice registers in my head. I frown in confusion as I check the time.

3:17 AM.

What the fuck?

"Having late night thoughts about me?" I yawn.

He doesn't respond to my question. "Holly." There's urgent panic in his voice.

I sit up with a frown, "What's wrong?"

"I didn't know who else to call."

"What happened?"

"C-can you get a car?"

"A car?" I raise my eyebrows.

"It's-it's—"

"Calm down," I tell him, gently. "Breathe. What happened?"

"It's—" He inhales deeply. "It's my mom." There's silence for a while. "She fell a-and she isn't moving and I don't know what to do and I didn't know who to call—"

In an instant, I'm off the bed and down the stairs.

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I don't have my license and I barely know how to drive. The last time I drove was Sean's car and we were on the highway with no one around. I crashed his car into a tree.

But that still doesn't stop me as I sneak into my parent's room, ignore their sleeping figures and steal dad's car keys. With the same stealth I crept in, I creep out and dash towards the front door on my tiptoes.

An advantage of being a dancer is that you have the steadiest, quietest feet.

I slide into the driver's seat of dad's car while the door to the garage rises open.

It's 3:30 AM. I don't think anyone would notice a seventeen-year-old girl illegally driving to a random location without a license.

I always failed my driver's test no matter how hard I try. The curb and I just do not get along.

That doesn't stop me though from taking another test every three months. My next test is in two months.

This little night trip may count as practice.

I open the location on my phone that Castle had sent me.

For some reason, the location looks oddly familiar.

Putting aside all thoughts, I focus right now on safely reaching Castle's house without killing myself or anyone.

I drive the car out of the garage and onto the road.

What did he mean when he said that his mom fell and wasn't waking up? Did his mom have a heart attack? Did she fall off the stairs?

I kinda thought he didn't have a mom; with the way he acts all stuck up and reserved. That's how the guys in the movies act anyway when they don't have a mother.

It takes me almost fifteen minutes of painstaking concentration and effort to reach the house.

I look at it through the window—

And that's when it hits me.

Because it was dark, I hadn't realized it before. The streets, the other houses, the eeriness. I've been here before.

Stepping out of the car, I make sure to lock it first, while gazing at the tiny old house in front of me.

I double-check the address before walking up the creaking porch steps.

I lift my finger to press the doorbell when my phone starts ringing.

I fish it from my pocket and answer the call.

"Holly." Castle's voice.

"Castle I'm—"

"Holly, you don't need to come."

"What?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"She's fine." He rushes out. "She just passed out from exhaustion. I'm sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night. You don't have to come."

"Yeahhh." I drawl out, gazing up at his house. "Too late for that."

"What do you mean?" He asks in confusion.

"I'm standing out your door."

There's silence for a while on the other side of the phone before he lets out a low curse.

There's a second voice in the background a few seconds later.

My eyebrows furrow as I press my ear to the phone to listen better.

Castle's voice seems distant as he speaks to someone but it's too muffled and inaudible for me to hear even though the speaker of my phone is directly pressing into my ear.

"Holly."

I yelp, jerking the phone away from my ear at the sudden boom of Castle's voice.

"What?"

He's silent for a while before he lets out another low curse that sounded like a half-groan.

"Give me a minute."

"For what?" I question. "Castle? Hello? Castle?"

But he had already hung up.

I huff out a breath and put my phone back into my pocket.

Okay. So he wakes me up in the middle of the night. Makes me drive illegally (although the illegal part was me not him but who cares?) and leaves me stranded out his door.

Perfect.

Two minutes pass and I'm still waiting out the door with nothing but the chill of the night freezing my toes, nose and fingers. Right when I'm about to bang on his door, the lock clicks open.

I blink up.

The door slowly pulls open. I raise an eyebrow. Castle's standing at the doorway. My eyes slowly take in his form. He's standing barefoot in black sweats and a thin white t-shirt. No hoodie. My eyes can't help but gaze at him up and down looking so simple and snug. His hair is long and messed up, sticking up in every direction. His glasses are missing from his face and there are dark smudges beneath his penetrating blue eyes.

His lips are pursed as he looks at me. "You really came."

"Yeah, for nothing," I say.

He purses his lips further. Then he moves aside, opening the door. "Come in."

I blink at him. "In?"

He nods.

"You're really letting me in the house?"

"Don't make me regret it." He mutters. "My mom wants to see you."

I raise my eyebrows. His mom?

"I would've dressed up better if I knew I was gonna meet the parents already."

He looks at my clothing. A pair of sleeping shorts and a hoodie over my tank top. The shorts were longer tonight, just reaching below my mid-thigh.

"Parent." He corrects me, ignoring my clothes.

I frown in confusion. "What?"

He motions me to enter the house.

I do.

I don't even get the chance to take three steps in when something jumps at me. I almost stumble back, losing my balance.

I catch him just in time.

"Hey, you." A grin immediately comes on my face. I run my fingers through his soft golden fur.

He barks at me.

I look at the Golden Retriever in my arms.

He barks once more.

I smile at him. "How you doing, William Shakespeare?"

A frown of confusion comes on Castle's face. "How—"

At the same moment, a woman appears from a door in the far corner. She's wheeling herself forward on a wheelchair with pale bony arms. She notices me.

"It's you!" A look of recognition and delight spreads on her face.

I beam at her. "How are you doing?"

"Uh...what?" Castle looks even more confused looking between William, me and the weak lady. "Am I missing something?"

"It's her!" The lady smiles at me. "She's the one who brought Will back that day."

Castle's eyes widen and his gaze snaps to me. "You?"

"I didn't know you had a dog." I ruffle William's soft fur, earning a delightful noise of out him.

"Where did you find him?" Castle asks.

"I was walking home one day when he started following me out of nowhere."

He gives me a suspicious look.

"What?" I question. "You think I purposely kidnapped him from your house and brought him back home?"

His skeptical look remains.

"Are you kidding me?" I scoff. "I didn't even know where you lived until today."

"Don't be rude to her." His mother warns him. "She returned back Will and even came here in the middle of the night because you called for no reason." She huffed.

"You fainted and fell," Castle mutters, tiredly.

She waves her hand around as if it was no big deal. "Things happen." She looks at me. "I'm sorry he called you so late at night. He panicked."

I look at Castle.

I didn't wanna imagine what a panicked look Castle would have. For some reason, it feels too...agonizing.

It might be because he still had a slight boyish face or the constant tiredness wearing him down.

"How are you feeling now?" I ask his mom.

"I've never been better knowing that he now has someone to actually call." Her eyes crinkle. "Especially a girl."

"Oh wait!" A realization dawns on me. "This is the friend you've been talking about?" I hold up the dog. "Will? Him?" I burst out laughing.

Castle scowls at me.

"What?" His mom has a confused look on her face.

"I asked him once if he had any friends and he said he had one named Will," I answer.

His mother bursts out laughing. "He has no friends."

Castle rolls his eyes.

Will jumps out of my arms and goes to rub his head against the lady's calf. She reaches down to pet his head.

I take a look around the house. It looks well-kept with an old couch in the corner and a small TV in front of it. There's a wooden dining table with papers and books scattered on it. The living room could fit in my bedroom twice.

Castle catches me looking around his house. He glares at me before looking away.

I frown in confusion. What did I do now?

"Do you need something to drink? Eat?" His mother asks.

"Oh no that's unnecessary, Ms...."

"Camille." She tells me her name.

"Ms. Camille," I say.

"Just Camille." She corrects me.

I nod. "Just Camille it is then."

"If you're done with the introductions, Holly can leave now," Castle says.

"Don't be so rude." Camille scolds him. "She drove all the way here in the middle of the night because you—"

"Yeah, yeah, because I panicked. You don't need to keep saying that." Castle scowls.

She turns towards me. "You can stay here for the night and leave in the morning."

"No!" Castle and I say at the same time. While mine was a polite and calm response, his was panicked and horrified one.

I would really like to remain at Castle's house and explore a bit, get to know him better but... "I have to get home or else my dad will throttle me."

"Oh, that's bad." Camille gives a bummed look. "Will you visit then? It's been long since I've seen Castle with a friend."

"She's not my friend." Castle grumbles.

"Girlfriend?" His mother perks up, excitedly.

"No!" A horrified expression comes on Castle's face. His face turns the slightest bit red. "I already told you that." He hisses.

"He's really shy to get a girlfriend." I point out.

"Oh, that I know." Camille nods.

"I'm not shy." Castle rolls his eyes.

"Why is your face pink then?" Camille asks.

"It just is!" He glares.

My eyes flicker to the small wall clock. "I should leave before my parents realize I'm not in bed."

"Castle can drop you," Camille says.

Castle stiffens.

"It's alright." I wave my hand. "I drove here, remember?"

"Okay then, see you soon, hopefully," Camille says.

After bidding her and William goodbye, Camille forces Castle to at least walk me to my car.

We get out of the house and I unlock dad's car.

"Call me again if you need anything." I turn around and face him.

He doesn't reply, waiting for me to get in the car.

Behind the front door, I can barely make out the slightly hidden figure of his mother watching us.

"Your mom's watching," I tell Castle.

"Of course." He mutters, rolling his eyes.

"She's over-protective too?" I ask.

"More like interested. She's waiting to see if we...do something."

"Like kiss?" I grin.

He presses his lips into a thin line.

"Don't worry," I assure him. "We'll kiss when we have to."

He splutters. "No, we won't!"

I nod at him. "Goodnight."

He glares at me.

"I said goodnight."

"Whatever."

I shrug and open the car door, sliding inside.

Turning on the engine and shutting the door, I wave once more at Castle and his mother's hiding figure. She shuffles further inside to remain hidden as if she wasn't obvious at all.

With an amused shake of my head, I drive back home.

★・・・・・・★

If you were a mythical creature, what would you be?
I'd be a Dragon or a Vampire.

Words: 2,800

Date of publishing: 13th March 2023