I stormed onto the tube and spotted an empty seat- an apparently rare find on the London Underground.
I made haste for it and plunked down into it, sitting between two men who looked up as they saw Mateo and Andreas scramble onto the tube behind me.
The doors promptly closed after they boarded and I could feel their glare in my direction, though I didn't give them a single drop of attention.
Not until Mateo walks up to stand in front of me and grabs my forearm, heaving me off the seat and towards the standing area by the doors, blocking me from view of the men sitting on the seats and sending them both harsh glares as he goes.
Andreas stood right in front of me with his hands gripping the railing above him as he looked down at me harshly.
"Car, you have to stick with us." Mateo growls out lowly, and I finally meet his eyes after an hour of ignoring them both. "London can be dangerous."
"Oh now she notices us." Andreas smirks, leaning forward slightly as his grip on the railing tightens.
My glare shoots in his direction, "I wouldn't be ignoring you if you hadn't called yourself my uncles in the car." I whisper-yell and glare harsher at the smirk that tugs at his lips.
"Why do I get punished for that? He said that disgusting shit." Mateo protests, looking between me and him.
"Oh come on, you smirked, you liked it you sick fuck-" Andreas begins to tease Mateo, who proceeds to elbow him fairly roughly, making him loose his grip on the railings and cradle his stomach.
I roll my eyes, "Because Mateo, anything your boyfriend does reflects on you. Don't try to act like an angel here." I narrow my eyes on him and he gapes his mouth in a 'who me?' sort of gesture.
"I'm sorry, Car." Andreas pouts, seemingly having forgotten about his 'injury' from earlier on, which Mateo glances at him sidelong for.
I assess his face, which he's made all cute and squishy to try win me over. I hated to admit it but it was kinda working.
"Don't do it again." I mutter and eye him as his pout turns to a grin.
He shakes his head, "Nuh-uh. Don't you worry." He says with all the confidence he can muster, but it only puts me more on edge of his lies.
I narrowed my eyes at him before smiling at his antics, "You're bipolar you know that?" I tell him and his grin falls.
Mateo scoffs a laugh of agreement and he smiles down at me, "So do you want to know where we're going now you're acknowledging us?" He teases and I smile shyly.
"Yes..." I mumble and feel their smiles burning my face.
"Thought we'd go see Hyde Park, and then give you your first pub experience." Mateo grins and I meet his eyes with my own excited look.
It's then that the doors to the tube open and people start unapologetically pushing past us to get out.
I look up at the Londoner of us three, "This us?" I ask and Mateo shakes his head.
"Next stop." He informs me and I nod, leaning against the door once they've closed again and the tube begins to move.
The boys stay rooted in front of me, blocking off anyones view and I internally scoff.
Guess they wouldn't let up on their protectiveness for one day.
It only takes around 7 minutes to get to the next stop before the doors slide open again and I get out of the carriage, walking onto the platform as two bodies flank my either side.
Mateo guides me to the exit of the fairly busy platform and we wind up a series of stairs and escalators to reach the ground level.
This was my first real glance at London, and I took it all in.
The big red buses, the large expansive buildings, the busy traffic and commuters wandering the streets.
"What do you think?" Mateo asks, leaning down to speak to me over the rush of traffic by the road we were next to.
"It's kinda ugly." I say back honestly and he laughs.
"Spoken like a true local." He shakes his head and puts his hand on my back as he guides me and Andreas down a pavement, heading for the greener landscape that is Hyde Park.
It was a warm day, and I found myself taking off my jacket and using it as a blanket to sit on when we found a place to sit down in the park.
Andreas, the sneaky fucker, didn't bring a jacket so he insisted on sharing mine.
Apparently his boyfriend's ass took up too much of his own jacket, which left me sitting between Andreas's legs and using his chest as a back rest, both of us sitting safely on the jacket to avoid the dirt and grass.
"Would you rather lose the ability to lie or believe everything you're told?" I ask the two boys and Andreas's chest vibrates as he 'mmm's' in contemplation.
"Believe everything I'm told." Andreas finally answers and I smirk, sharing a look with Mateo.
"Baby, did you know Maxim is asexual?" Mateo lies to Andreas who gasps behind me.
"No fucking way." He mumbles before speaking up, "I thought the kid liked pussy too much... the amount he talks-" He says and I grimace and cut him off.
"Woah, woah. First of all, point proven: you're already gullible as fuck," I turn around and tell him, to which he frowns at the both of us in realisation, "And second, that's my brother. Respectfully shut the fuck up." I say, making a disgusted face at the thought of them having had that conversation.
Andreas just sticks his tongue out at me and I shake my head, turning back around to lean on his chest.
I had to admit it was a comfortable position.
"I miss Arabella and Rodrick." I pout and Mateo looks at me sadly.
Andreas scoffs, "Gigi means nothing to you?" He jokes and I slap his knee.
"Of course he does." I grumble, "I miss him loads." I sigh, staring up at the cloudy sky.
"We do too." Andreas mutters, leaning his head on top of mine and wrapping his arms around me in a hug.
"We were thinking..." Mateo begins and I look over to him, "Andreas and I can get our own place back in New York." He says and my eyes widen.
"No, no." I protest, "I'm not kicking you out of your own penthouse." I frown deeply and Mateo smirks back.
"As much as I love hearing you and Gigi do the nasty every night, I'd like to fuck my boyfriend in private as well." He says cheekily and my cheeks heat in embarrassment, Andreas's arms squeezing me once to add injury to insult.
"Besides, you have Lorenzo and Romeo to add back to your dysfunctional family now." Andreas grins behind me and I lean back to give him a look.
I narrow my eyes at him, deciding to pull out the big guns.
"I have a list." I say.
Mateo frowns in confusion, "A list?"
I shrug Andreas's arms off me and sit up straighter, "Mhm." I confirm, "A list of everything you've done and said to me since Gigi has been gone." I clarify and I swear their faces physically pale.
"A list?" Mateo mutters again, looking as if he'd just seen a ghost.
"Gigi wouldn't want his little girl being harassed by his best friends when he wasn't there." I say sweetly and they glower at the threat, but are still too defenceless to fight me on this.
"You wouldn't." Andreas says apprehensive and I turn to look up into his eyes.
"Oh I would." I confirm, tugging the metaphorical leash I now held on them tighter.
"You're a little snake, you know that?" Mateo comments, narrowing his eyes on me.
I smile, "Welcome to the mafia."
~~~
Mateo offered to buy me a beer at the pub to pacify my threats- which obviously affected them considering how careful they were being around me now.
I just liked to see them squirm.
I got excited when I remembered the legal drinking age here is 18 and I could buy a beer without my fake ID.
Something about it just tastes nicer when you know the ID is legal.
Mateo led both Andreas and I to a chain called 'Spoons, which are apparently dotted all over the UK.
It was fairly busy, bustling with different people enjoying drinks and food, and we find a quiet booth towards the edge of the pub.
Mateo wanders off to order our drinks and Andreas slides into the opposite side of the booth.
"He's hot when he's all British right?" Andreas comments, looking over to where Mateo was.
I snort, "Head out of the gutter Andreas." I tell him and he scowls at me, flipping me the bird.
"When are you meeting Silver tomorrow?" He asks a little more seriously and I sigh, resting my head in my hands.
"Midday. Just a quick exchange though, he can't stay." I explain and Andreas nods. "What do you think of him? Silver I mean?" I ask him out of curiosity and Andreas contemplates the question.
Mateo returns then, and slides in next to Andreas, "What are we talking about?" He says as he places the three beers, or pints, on the table in front of us.
I smile at him in thanks and Andreas answers him, "Car wants to know what we think of Silver."
Mateo scrunches his nose slightly, "I don't like how close he wants to be with you. That's our job." He says, pointing between himself and Andreas.
I smile, "I could never replace you guys."
They both smile back, taking sips of their beers, "But in general I'm not too sure. It's hard to decipher his motives." He adds on more seriously.
"I agree. Somethings off though. You can't say it's not weird that a guy so heavily invested in the legal royal world would also have such high interest in the Underground. His loyalties must lie somewhere. And that either makes him an underworld member on a royal throne or a snake circling ours." He eludes.
I nod, "I agree. I like him, but there must be something else going on there. How does a crown prince get involved with the Underworld? And fuck, have the willpower to poison his own mother?" I say in a quieter tone.
They both shake their heads, "I don't fucking know." Andreas groans, "But we drop him after we get Gigi and Rome, we go home and live our lives." He says sternly and I nod.
Though that may be hard after Silver practically publicly claiming Romeo-
"C'mon, enough talk about that depressing shit." Mateo waves off, bringing an amused smile to my face, "I ordered shots as well." He grins and I gape happily, Andreas doing the same.
As if on cue, a waiter comes round to our table and deposits three shots, bright green in colour.
"Can I check your IDs?" He asks, looking at the boys and then over to me, smiling slightly.
I grab my purse and pull it out, the boys having already shown theirs by the time I'm ready.
I smile politely and hand it over to the waiter, his fingers brushing mine as he takes the card and looks at it, then me.
I pull my hand away, not liking the unfamiliar.
His lips tilt up and he hands the ID back to me.
"You're fit." He nods at me, before winking and wandering away.
Is this how English boys flirt?
I only wanted a Greek boy to flirt with me-
Mateo is half out of his seat when Andreas tugs him back down. "Let it go." He chastises.
Mateo clenches his jaw, but reluctantly sits down and glaring at the table.
I clear my throat and pick up my shot glass to try to ease the tension, "To Gigi and Rome?" I ask them, and they look up from the table with dark eyes.
They seem to remember our current location and pick up their shot glasses and smile softly at me, raising to a toast and knocking the tangy substance back in one foul swallow.
I splutter a little but laugh nonetheless, the two boys having drank that shit like it was water.
They look at me amused before the waiter from before approaches the table again, a single shot in his hand.
He places it down in front of me as Andreas sets a hand on Mateo's thigh.
"On me gorgeous." The waiter nods again and turns to leave, glancing over his shoulder as he returns to the bar.
I look at the pale blue shot, smelling of raspberry flavours, and morbidly think of how similar in colour it is to the little bottle of cyanide tucked in my bedside drawer.
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filler chapter type beat. hope you enjoyed reading!
ily all. <3
see you next time :)