Tied to a Castillo I 18+

forty one

Castillo's, The Bar...

Natalie took Luca out of his car seat to hand him off to Gia. She had just come back from running a few morning errands when she discovered a text from Gia, saying that she wanted to see Luca today. Natalie went to the bar where Gia worked because she had the time and was already out.

"I haven't been here in so long," Natalie said, taking in the slightly changed surroundings. The atmosphere inside was still pleasant, Natalie spotting a few new faces, "I miss this place."

All of a sudden, she was recalling how the shut down on her old job was the reason she even discovered this place. She got the chance to reconnect with Sam, build a relationship with him, and have his son.

They could never truly escape one another, and she was glad that they couldn't.

"But do you miss me?" Cameron asks as he takes his strides over to her.

"Of course, I've missed you even though I saw you yesterday," Natalie said as she opened her arms and pulled him into a tight hug, Cameron swaying her side to side with a grin on his face.

Although everyone made her feel welcomed here, Cameron became a very good friend of hers. From the minute she entered this bar, they connected in the best way possible. She may have wanted to take his head off on a few occasions, like the Alex situation, for example, but his good was always better than his mess-ups.

He also always brought a smile to her face, Natalie remembering the very moment he stuck candles into a cake for her at work to celebrate her birthday, even though it was for five seconds.

"you got me a cake?" a grin evident on her face.

"Yes, I got you a cake because I like to celebrate people making it to another year," Cameron said with a little roughness in his tone, "please tell me you didn't spend your birthday doing nothin'."

She kept her eyes on him as he lit the candle, "there's nothing wrong with just relaxing on your birthday," she told him as Cameron lifted the cake for her to blow the flame out. He gives her this look, so she quickly says: "but I hung out with friends," leaving out the part about Sam coming to see her.

She didn't know why she lied about being with Sam because everyone knew she was feeling him, and they were able to see her getting into his car from the window every day.

He was an asshole, but she was into him.

"Where do I know you from?" Sam asks.

It was the first time they ran into each other at the bar.

His question threw her off guard, "huh?"

"Where," he started to speak slow, "do I.. know you.. from?"

Natalie rolls her eyes at him but says, "how should I know?"

"I thought babies weren't allowed in here?" Raphael, the best friend of Giuseppe, asked as he came from the back with a basket of fries in his hands.

Raphael had not only grown close with Sam but with almost all the Castillo's. He came around the bar often, and Richie found himself liking him around for muscle.

Raphael was a guy that was always on the go for a fight, and defending the Castillo's was something he was able to showcase in front of them. He would tell a lot of people off without it being on their behalf.

"Luca is the exception," Gia says, squeezing lightly on the cheeks of the little boy, holding him close.

Raphael smiles at Natalie and says, "you look amazing. How are you?"