Tied to a Castillo I 18+

part two

Everyone's got feelings...

Elias was completely fine with the interruption of their date, taking her to the destination that was shown on her phone. Natalie knows it was just a pacifier causing him to cry, but it bothered her. She wanted to make her baby stop crying in any way she could, and if that meant putting an end to a date for it, then so be it.

She was truly understanding of Charolette now—baby over everything.

Natalie also had to admit that she was missing Luca and felt a little guilty for going out on a date. Even though she knew it was fine, it still made her feel a certain way. She spent the entire drive to the bar earlier staring at her lock screen with Luca on it, wondering if going out with Elias was the right choice tonight.

Was she even ready to date again, or was she trying to one-up Sam over something she had no understanding of?

"This the place?" Elias asked, pointing over to the building before bringing his attention to her.

"Yes. I know this isn't what we had planned, but my son is crying, and I need to check on him," Natalie explained.

Elias shook his head and said, "no need to explain. I get it."

"You do?" she questioned with shock.

He nodded with a small shrug, "I mean, I'm not a parent, but I can see that Luca is a priority. We can do this again in a few days."

"We can?"

"Mhm," he smiles and means it. She was a beautiful woman, and for the time they had, it was decent, "want me to wait for you?"

"If you don't mind," she said, removing her seatbelt to get out of the car.

It's been a while since her last visit, and taking the route felt slightly nostalgic as she rode up on the elevator. In one month, it would be a year since they'd split, and Natalie noticed that as she walked down the hall to his apartment.

The last time she was here, they had that big fight, and she remembered rushing down the hall to her mom's car to leave. She got shivers just thinking about it.

She kept walking even though it felt like the walls were caving in as the memories took up a large space in her mind. Knocking on the door, Natalie waited patiently until Sam opened it from the other side.

He stared now at her with confusion as Natalie slowly brought her attention up from the floor.

With his tone coming out calm, Sam asks, "what are you doing here?" taking in her appearance, "I thought you were out with what's-his-face?"

"I wanted to give you this," she said, handing him the pacifier, which Sam took into his grasp, "is he okay?" she asked, not picking up any sounds of a baby crying.

"Yeah. I put on some white noise to get him to calm down," he watches her as she nods, "you didn't think I could've handled it?"

She shook her head and said, "no, I did. I just know how it can get when he cries, and I was only a few minutes away," she motions towards the door, "can I come in? I'll only be five minutes."

Sam pushed the door open more, "yeah," allowing her to walk in. As she moved her way around him inside his place, he kept his eyes on her as she took in the newness of his home.

A few things have changed around his place, and Natalie instantly knew that Elena had something to do with it. There were more splashes of black now, the color creating a sense of depth and focus. Turning her attention to his view, she smiled because it still looked as beautiful as ever.