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| 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐞 |

Time flies by and before I know it, it's winter. More importantly, it's Thanksgiving.

Dad, Mom and I are supposed to make dinner tonight. A handful of people will be here, which makes deciding the dinner menu a bit stressful. We have all the ingredients piled up along with pots and pans arranged, except...Castle gets here early.

A loud annoyed groan drags out of my lips when he enters the kitchen. "You literally want to make me homeless, don't you?" I glare at him.

He gives me a look of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean" I repeat in a high-pitched tone. "Don't act so innocent."

He's still staring at me as if he doesn't understand.

The moment we start making dinner—here it starts.

"Want me to chop those for you?" I ask.

Ignore.

"Should I add more salt to this bowl?"

Ignore.

"Is this much dough enough?"

Ignore.

"Should I crawl into the oven and burn myself?"

Ignore.

I throw a glance at Mom showing her every ounce of my irritation. She rolls her eyes in return, sharing my feelings.

Camille is sitting in the living room with William. They weren't even supposed to be here until dinnertime! Castle brought them all early so he can "help" out.

After a few more minutes in the kitchen, I've had enough. I start pushing them out.

Both of them try to turn around and head back into the kitchen, but I give them a warning look. "You both are going to sit here and watch while we females work in the kitchen, got it? I've had enough of your ignorance!"

Dad starts, "But, Holly, it's Thanksgiving and—"

I shake my head. "Nope. Mom and I are going to make dinner. You both can handle decorating the house."

Both of them wear sad-puppy expressions on their faces as if I snatched away their candy.

After that, it's Mom and me in the kitchen having our mother-daughter time cooking, except...we're not exactly alone. Castle and Dad are both standing right outside the kitchen, watching us with wide eyes.

I'm trying to figure out how the hell to make the dip for the chips. I add onions to a bowl and pour sour cream on top of it.

Behind me, a horrified gasp comes out of Dad's mouth. "You're supposed to make a paste out of the onions first!"

"Oh." A sigh comes out of my mouth, and I carry the bowl to the mixer. After dumping the thing in the mixer and turning it on, I prepare the parsley.

More noises of horror and weeping come from Dad when I cut the parsley.

"That's not how you're supposed to cut it!"

I ignore him, cutting it in my own way.

When the time comes to arrange the chips and the bowl of dip on the plate, Dad practically falls to the floor, clutching onto Castle.

I roll my eyes at them.

It takes me three attempts at making the rice. The first time, it got all soft and soggy. Second, it burned. Third, the pot accidentally falls from my hands, spilling rice all over the floor.

I squeeze my eyes shut, looking heavenward. Cooking is really not my thing. I feel stupid now to throw Dad and Castle out of the kitchen.

When I move towards the main course of the Thanksgiving dinner, which is the huge turkey, Dad starts biting his nails and Castle covers his eyes with his hands, shaking his head.

Dramatic asses.

I pick up the knife, moving towards the turkey, and that's when a hand on my wrist stops me. I look up and see Mom, giving me a tight-lipped apologetic smile.

"I'm so sorry, child. But I think we can let the boys handle that."

I almost shoot her an offended look before realizing it's better that way. I don't know the first thing about making a turkey. With a loud dramatic sigh, I grit out. "Fine."

Dad and Castle waste no time, rushing into the kitchen, snatching the turkey and the knife away from me. I glare at them.

"You can do the decorations." Dad smiles a smile that shows that I'm dismissed.

I raise my chin at them before turning around and walking away.

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡

"Come on, Castle. I thought you were getting better." I sip my juice.

"You...gasp...can't possi...gasp...bly...gasp...expect me to...gasp...ARGH!"

"Come on, Castle! Come on!" I cheer for him.

"Shut up."

I shrug, taking another sip of my juice.

He squirms some more, wiggles a little, tries rolling around, but all his efforts are useless. Finally, he snaps. "Get off my back!"

"Mm-mm." I shake my head. "You've gotta get up on your own." I take another sip of my juice.

He gives another squirm beneath me. "You and your Dad have gotta stop sitting on me."

"Just push me off. It's not that hard."

"You're sitting on me with a fucking dumbbell in your hand." He throws me a glare.

Oh right. I momentarily forgot there was a twenty kg dumbbell in my other hand. I continue doing my arm presses.

"How many more of that are you going to do? Your arm's not tired yet?"

"Castle, I lift two girls on each of my arms every day while standing on another girl's shoulders. Does that answer your question?"

He mutters something under his breath, looking away.

For another fifteen minutes, Castle continues his squirming and whining.

Finally, pitying him, I get up. He immediately lets out a breath of relief, rolling over onto his back and rubbing his front.

He glares at me from the floor. "I don't have flesh like you. It hurts from my bones digging into them."

I give him an unapologetic shrug.

After resting for a while, he gets up, straightening his hoodie and the thick coat on top. He gets cold really easily. And I mean really easily. A gentle wind blows and he's shivering like an earthquake within seconds. I can't imagine what will happen to him when the actual winter starts.

While I'm busy sipping my juice, Castle thinks I can't see him slowly sneaking up towards me from the side, his fist clenched.

He charges at me when he's close enough, but I'm quicker, switching my glass of juice to my other hand where my dumbbell is, and grabbing his wrist, giving it a hard tug. A tug hard enough to make it seem as if I pulled it right out of his socket. He yelps, jumping away from me, grabbing his shoulder.

He scowls at me.

"You've gotta be sneakier than that." A grin slides onto my face.

I drop my dumbbell down and finish my juice, placing it on the table. Mom and Dad are in the kitchen along with Camille having adult time, letting me and Castle free from work for a while.

I'm refilling my juice again when something dark catches my attention from the corner of my eye. It takes two seconds to realize what it is—my heart drops to my stomach.

"Holy shit! No way in motherfucking hell—" I nearly scream, running to jump up on the couch.

Castle startles, looking around. "What? What happened?"

I aggressively jab my finger towards the table, heart racing in my chest. "It's a—"

"Holy crap! A spider!" Castle shrieks. Within a blink, he's scrambling beside me on the couch, staring at it with wide eyes.

The dark eight-legged giant spider slowly crawls on the table, taking its leisure time to get to wherever it wants to go. Hell probably.

I grab the sleeve of Castle's coat, not taking my eyes off it. "Kill it."

He widens his eyes at me. "Hmm?"

"Kill it."

"Why me?"

"You're the man. Kill it."

"You're the devil. Send it to hell."

"The devil appears only when it's warm. It hates winters."

"Give it your Satan-Smile. That'll scare it away."

"Why don't you shrivel it up with your sour look?"

"That's reserved only for you."

"Awww." I look at Castle with gooey eyes. Then I deadpan. "Now, kill it."

He shakes his head. "If that thing crawls up my arm, I'm going to kill myself."

"Stop talking about killing yourself." I glare. I'm seriously starting to get annoyed when people say 'I'm going to kill myself' for every small thing. Those words hold heavy meaning, yet this world turned them into an everyday phrase.

He mumbles an apology under his breath before looking back at the spider.

After a few seconds of gazing at it, an idea comes to my mind. My lips almost tug up mischievously before I control my facial muscles. I slowly inch towards Castle.

"There must be a way to kill it without touching it." He says, his whole focus on the spider. "Does it have to be so big? I thought these kinds of spiders only existed—"

I push him towards the table. A surprised gasp escapes his mouth. His arms flail about to regain his balance, but two seconds later, he falls onto the table with a loud thud. His face ends up exactly an inch away from the spider.

His eyes widen in horror, before he yelps, scrambling to get away. He ends up tripping on his own feet and falling at the foot of the couch. My stomach hurts by how much I'm laughing. I have to hold myself up by the back of the couch.

Castle shoots me a hateful scowl from the floor. "I thought the devil doesn't appear in winter!"

"It'll appear for you any second of the day." I give him a wink. "No matter what."

He gives me a fake smile before his hands shoot forward, grabbing my ankles. He yanks, making me lose my balance. I let out a surprised 'whoa' before I go tumbling down, landing on top of Castle. His eyes nearly pop out of his face when my ass hits his stomach.

My eyes narrow at him, and I slap his shoulder. He sits up, making me slide from his stomach to his thighs. We both look at each other and notice how close our faces are. Like a switch flipping on, my mind is filled with desire. Castle must've noticed the look on my face because he becomes prepared. I bring my mouth closer to his. Then the spider drops in between us.

Like banshees, Castle and I let out screams. We're half-stumbling, half-almost close to breaking our bones, while trying to get up. We're yanking at our clothes, tugging at them to dust off the spider if it somehow landed beneath them. Then we notice it's on the floor, so we make a run toward the couch.

The moment we're on the couch, Castle and I immediately start grabbing at each other, trying to throw the other one to the spider.

"I might accidentally kill him with my weight! Then he won't get to eat!"

"I'm just skin and bones! He won't eat either if he gets me!"

"Aww Castle, don't be shy. You still have your dick."

His face flames. "Don't make me say back something inappropriate!"

"I'm stating facts. The spider will be full to the brim if he gets your—"

"Shut up!" His face flames further.

"It's a compliment most guys die to hear."

"I never knew guys liked it when their dicks are compared to spider food."

"You have no idea what all guys like to hear nowadays."

He rolls his eyes. "It's so reassuring to me that you know all that."

We're still wrestling each other. A leg or arm will fall out of the couch, but we snatch it back up just as quickly. Between all the commotion, the adults walk into the living room.

Their eyes widen when they see Castle and me. Dad's especially.

"What on earth is going on here? Holly. Castle. Explain right now—JESUS CHRIST IS THAT A SPIDER?" Dad screams before he quickly jumps behind Mom.

Mom looks at the spider with a blank face, before looking back at all of us.

"Seriously?" She sighs, placing her hand on her forehead.

Camille peers at the spider, a furrow appearing between her eyebrows. "You're all scared of this? Back in my days, there used to be spiders the size of William."

Castle and I untangle our limbs, separating from each other. Dad grabs Mom's arm from behind, whispering in her ear to kill the damn spider.

Camille and Mom look at each other, sharing a look.

"Wanna do the honours?" Mom asks.

Camille shrugs. "Shrug."

Slowly, she makes her way toward the spider. It remains suspiciously still as Camille nears it. I'm pretty sure it's waiting for the right moment to pounce on her and mark her to death.

"Mom!" Castle's hands go to his face in agitation. "Don't go near it!"

But Camille ignores him. Then she does some superhero power shit where she unlocks all her powers because she's bending down and very gently, she picks up the spider in her hands. In her bare...fucking...hands.

Dad, Castle and I stare at her with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

Camille stands up to her slouched height. She looks at Castle and a smile appears on her face. She thrusts her hands in his direction and Castle jerks back. A satisfied laugh comes out of Camille as she walks away to the kitchen with the spider.

Collective breaths of relief come out of Dad, Castle's and my mouth.

"My family is a bunch of scaredy-cats." Mom shakes her head, finding her moment to make fun of us. My family no doubt includes Castle too. "Was the spider bigger or all three of you?"

Dad slowly unlatches himself from her, clearing his throat. "Dear wife, we never speak of this moment again."

"Dear husband," She pinches his cheek as if he's being silly. "I'm always going to speak of this moment."

He gives a regretful look.

The doorbell rings.

"I'll go get that." Mom walks to the door.

When she's gone, Dad gives me and Castle an awkward look. "Usually, I'd go for the spider with all my might. But I didn't wanna make Camille feel bad, so you know? Naturally, I had to pretend."

We just stare at him.

A few seconds later, Riley pops into the living room, dressed in a white knitted jumper dress and black tights.

"Ooo British Boy is here too!" She exclaims when she looks at Castle.

"Why does she call me British Boy?" Castle whispers to me.

Before I can reply, she slides up to my Dad, looking up at him through her lashes.

"How you doing', Elias?" She asks, sweetly.

Dad nods at her. "Good. There was definitely not a giant spider here just a few seconds ago. How about you? How's it going at the foster home?"

"It's going great. I'm so happy to be here during Thanksgiving. Thank you for having me and..."

I cringe listening to Riley talk all nice and innocent. Before she can go on further, I grab her arm and pull her aside.

"I'll be taking my best friend from here."

Dad nods.

Pulling Riley to the corner, I give her a warning glare. "You can't marry my dad."

She pouts. "Why not?"

"Holly, no one wants to marry Elias." Castle rolls his eyes.

"I do," Riley raises her hand.

His eyebrows shoot up. "Oh."

The doorbell rings again.

"I'll get that," Dad announces.

A minute later, a short lady with huge glasses walks into the room, followed by Dad. Castle halts when he looks at my aunt. His eyes widen in confusion and surprise.

She finishes greeting my dad with a hug. When her eyes land on Riley, Castle and me, she lets out a groan. "Great. Three of my students in one room."

"What is she doing here?" Castle whispers to me.

"Oh. I didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what...?"

"She's my aunt. Dad's sister."

His eyebrows raise in surprise. "Wait. Really?"

"Don't worry, Castle. You're actually my favourite student." Jules says, nodding at him.

He gets awkward all of a sudden. He gives her a nod back, mumbling. "Happy Thanksgiving."

When she leaves the living room to head towards the kitchen, Castle shoots me a look. "No wonder she tolerates you more than other teachers."

I narrow my eyes at him.

There's still time for dinner, so Riley, Castle and I move towards the couch with me in the middle. Castle fidgets with the drawstrings of his hoodie, nervous and awkward in front of Riley.

"I need to tell you something." She starts, looking serious.

"Oh," I say, knowing there's some drama going to unfold. "I'm listening."

She opens her mouth but before she can speak, Castle interrupts, unsurely. "Um, should I give you both privacy?"

Before I can assure him, Riley asks, "Are you going to tell anyone?"

"No." He shakes his head.

"It's alright then. Sit down." She gestures towards the couch and Castle takes his seat again.

"Okay, so..." She speaks. A hesitant look comes on her face, and she starts playing with her fingers. "Remember how I went to get Blake's number that night?"

"Yeah." I nod.

"Okay so, we started talking, and we exchanged a few heated kisses in the last two weeks. He said he doesn't want anything serious and you know me? I'm the same. It's all just fun and passing time for me."

"Yeah, I know that."

"But then..." She bites her lip. "It just doesn't feel enough."

I raise my eyebrows at her.

She continues. "I want more than a few kisses from him. It's not even something physical that I want. God, this sounds ridiculous, but I just want him near me. Like even if we're not touching, I guess I want that." She purses her lips as if she's going against the universe by saying that.

"Is it like the Cale thing? Where you need to fuck him once to get him out of your mind?"

"That's the thing..." She squeezes her eyes shut. "I fucked him twice."

Castle and my eyebrows shoot up at the same time, our mouths dropping open.

"What?" I ask, probably voicing Castle's thoughts too.

She shakes her head, putting her hands on her face. "This is so ridiculous. Even I thought this was like the Cale thing so I fucked him twice, but I still want him. I swear to god, feelings are one fucked up thing."

"You're saying you fucked a guy twice and you still want him?" My mouth refuses to close.

"Don't give me that look. You haven't even fucked Castle and you're still psycho-crazy about him."

I shoot Riley a glare while Castle raises his eyebrows at me, his face tinting pink.

"I don't know what to do." She groans. "We formed a sort of routine. We meet every night outside the foster home when the kids and Isabelle go to sleep. We fucked right there behind the bushes—" An awkward look comes on Castle's face and he looks away from her for a beat "—he's just so hot and amazing."

"Did you both have any conversations?" I ask.

She shrugs. "We talk but I don't think we had any personal conversations."

"Just give it time then. Maybe it's like the Cale situation where you want something from him to get him out of your mind. Or maybe it's something...more?"

She gives me a worried frown. She opens her mouth but then closes it, shaking her head. "Let's change the subject. British Boy. How's your day going? Any man lurking around your house lately?"

Castle gives a confused look as he slowly shakes his head. "Uh, no."

She nods. "Good. Good." She opens her mouth but then a sudden thought comes to her because she's suddenly bouncing in her seat. "Ooo, you know what happened?" She asks, then starts rambling about random people from school.

While I'm perfectly familiar with those people and the stuff they do, Castle clearly isn't. His reactions are minute but still visible. Sometimes, his mouth drops open a bit. Sometimes his eyes widen. Sometimes he frowns or gives a 'what did you even expect would happen?' look when Riley recalls what dumb shit those people did.

I nearly laugh at all his mixed expressions.

Finally, a call from Dad comes from the kitchen saying that dinner's ready.

Riley immediately stops whatever she was saying. "Coming!" She calls back then gets up and walks towards the kitchen without even a backward glance at me.

I don't even bother to act annoyed.

"Riley is an orphan?" Castle questions once she's no longer visible.

"Hmm?" I look at him. "Oh. Yeah. Kind of. Her parents are in jail."

Surprise flashes in his eyes. He doesn't say anything for a while. "Can I ask why...?"

I shake my head. "I don't think she'd like me telling anyone."

He nods, convening that it's no problem.

I sigh. "She's been on her own since she was fifteen. But she's better this way. She got her life together after separating from her parents."

"That's great," He says.

I nod. "It is. Let's go for dinner now."

★・・・・・・★

I know this was sort of a filler chapter. But it did show the development between Holly and Castle and how free they're getting with each other.

We have maybe 3-4 chapters before we get to the CLIMAX of this book. I'm guessing there are gonna be approximately 80 chapters.

Updates might be even later cuz I wanna make sure the ending is PERFECTTT and I really don't wanna mess it up since there's gonna be a lot going on during the ending of this book. Updates might not appear even for a month.

Have a wonderful time my lovely readers!!

Words: 3,500

Date of publishing: 11th June 2023