The First Rule

Chapter 5b: Battle of the Zodiacs

Despite your disappointment, in a blink you change your focus onto your makeup. His once stunned demeanor took a turn the moment he witnessed your brisk complete ignorance, already engrossed in perfecting your blush. He crosses his arms on his chest and looks down as an attempt to restore himself. Resulting in him shaking his head as he grins, and lets out an almost inaudible whisper,

"Man, you're such a Libra."

"Huh, did you say something?" you put a halt from applying more gloss on your lips, assuming to have heard him say something.

Eyes peeking between strands of his hair, he darts his eyes to you with a lopsided grin and whispers, "Nothing."

"Ugh—alright then, wait—one more second and I'm done," you continue perfecting your makeup as he chuckles and watches your reflection in amused disbelief.

Soon, you arrive at Wyatt's.

The moment you get off Tyler's bike, you're already greeted with shiny paving stones. As Tyler parks his bike at the basement, you look around to immerse yourself in the stunning view.

Wyatt's isn't as near as mine to Ty—well, no s**t—but it's still in the neighborhood. Nevertheless, everybody knows this was the biggest out of all of ours. Two story stone walls, an architecture which very much shouts Mediterranean.. Warm lights beautifully placed on the pavements, the gardens.. Wisteria hanging by the repetitive arch..

Damn, should I propose a renovation to mom and dad—

BOO!

Woken up from your reverie, you let out a little shriek. Hands firmly gripping your arms, you roll your eyes as you already know who the culprit is without needing to turn your head.

It's Tyler, letting out a loud satisfactory laugh. Most probably very proud of himself right now.

Of course he is—annoying me has been his established achievement since forever, remember?

"Ugh, why are you so fast?" you ask, questioning him, resentfully wondering how on earth, whenever you guys are late—still—he always gets a parking spot so quickly.

Letting you go with a smug scoff, he asserts, "I'm a VIP here, remember?" Then he swiftly moves to tousle your hair, a deliberate attempt specifically to annoy you further.

Tackling his hands and promptly fixing your hair, you respond with a scoff, "You're the special bro, not the VIP." Giving him a perfect roll of your eyes, you start walking down the pathways with eyes wandering around, leaving him behind.

Ignoring your sassiness, he shrugs and catches a little jog so that he's already beside you again. "Very much likely.. The VIP." But then as if he realized something, his expression transforms into disgust, "s**t—do not ever say ‘special bro’ again it actually sounds like we—"

"What? You are having a bromance situationship with Wyatt, remember?"

You reply dryly, still so focused on the beauty of the house whilst attempting to reach the stars of wisterias above you. Playing his keys in a rotation motion on his fingers, he shrugs and replies, "That's milder. Acceptable."

All of the sudden, you sigh dreamily and blurt, "Damn I could never get tired of this house."

That's when Cavill starts to take attention to his surroundings. Still, it's not like he's not impressed, but the feel of familiarity is more what's there to him. Maybe because he comes here much more often than you. It's true then. When you're too accustomed to great things, you tend to appreciate it less, right?

"Well, despite all of that fun exterior, always remember that Liam's the Wyatt Enterprise's only son. Right—please remind me everytime I start to piss him off too often, Winters,"

"I won't~”

You sing your disapproval—only to be played like a doll as he rests a hand upon your head, moves your head upside down and makes a mocking voice mimicking you, "Yes I will, My King."

You tackle his hands in annoyance and flash him a pout—only to be greeted with his charming lopsided grin. In haste, Cavill puts an arm around your shoulders and drags you to the main porch.

This is when you start to see people, scattered all around. Boys start greeting him like The King that he is. You see girls begin to whisper when he's near.. but when it comes to you, the girl's stare starts to change into a glare, and the boys’—it always starts with a sheepish boyish smile though, but when their gazes dart to the one beside you..

They end up turning away.

Every time you're in this déjà vu, the urge of wanting to run to them and explain—to plead, "No! Hear me out—" but all you could do.. is move your hopeless stare to the boy beside you.. and thought to yourself—

Yeah, I always wonder why. We'll see what'll change after that damned rule is now thrown away, though! Anyway, he promised he’ll let me find a boyfriend tonight, so—

With Tyler leading at the front, you finally get inside the house. The room's already packed with oceans of social climbers, EDM music blasting through the rooftops—

The rooftops, yeah phew. If I could have a house nearly as big as this? I swear I'd be doing jumping jacks through the rooftops every single f*****g day.

Through the dancing crowd, you spot someone standing at the far end of the room, waiting. Dominic nods to the both of you in certain acknowledgement. And per usual, you'd hear Tyler announce, "Hey, I'm gonna go to Dom alright?"

"Yeah sure, have fun, Bro! Careful with the illegal transactions!" you playfully joke, only to be replied by his chuckle before he walks away. You see him reach Dom just when a girl walks past them, swaying her hips, trying to catch their attention. You roll your eyes to the sight, giving a 180 degree reaction to their smirks and so called bro code whispers.

"The girl's name again?" Tyler asks while warming his hands over the bonfire. The backyard's not that wide, but it's enough to fit 50 people to swarm around the flame.

Oh and when the author says backyard, she means a beach. You know, with the white sands.. and the shimmering ocean behind us? You know, that's why there's a bonfire? You know—

Yeah—that's what I meant, Winters. Ok back to stalking our main hotties—

Hunt follows to sit beside him, gulping a big amount of beer before hinting, "Taylor. And I assure you, she wants you to go to her," the same time he nods slightly to where she stands. The same time the girl shoots flirty glances here and there at them.

"And you, to call her again," Cavill scoffs as he sips the forbidden mix from his red cup, knowing exactly how the girls are when they're around them—just shooting shots on whom wants to be with them, because either option is way above their level of 'acceptable'. Way above their standards.

"Well that's my point bro, I'm giving you a chance. Do this now, or I'll steal that chance from you, again." Dom smirks while giving him the side eye proudly.

Tyler lets out another scoff before sneering in between his drinks, "Sheesh you're too confident I feel like throwing up. After the stunt you just pulled—"

"It's not confidence, Tyty—"

"f**k if you call me that once more—"

"It's a skill. You gotta elevate those before you're stuck like Wyatt right there," ignoring Tyler's complaint, he scorns at two figures standing on the other side of the big bonfire. Tyler chuckles when he sees Liam and Eve dancing carelessly, as though the world is theirs. But when his gaze moves somewhat further to the side..

He sees you.

With a red cup in your hand, also watching the two of them warmly. Left arm crossed against your chest, you stand there, recognizing the surroundings, until you find another pair of eyes across the bonfire. You both hold eye contact until Cavill nods along with him raising his eyebrows and gives you a charming smile.

You reply with a nod and a grin—but you feel another pair of eyes set on you. Not far.. just an inch to the side..

In curiosity, Tyler follows your gaze—to find you turning your attention to..

Dominic.

Also staring at you in an unknown expression, as he's always been the one no one can read. But there's a look of question.. of.. curiosity.

Tyler keeps glaring at him in suspicion, until Dom senses—hell anyone couldn't would be too f*****g dense—from the edge of his eye and turns to him. For a second he gives back the glare until he gives up and gives Tyler a disinterested side eye and asks in the most cynical reply, "What?" and switches his focus to his beer.

"Don't you even dare think about it."

Tyler declares, threatening his bro in a serious manner. Dom's tongue protrudes on his left cheek, signing his irritation. He knows damn well where this is going. As when Tyler about to continue his speech, "In our case, Rule #8—"

"You know what? I think I need a refill."

Leaving with a disinterested face, Dom walks away coldly. Tyler watches him in disgust as he yells, "What the—"

But not to his surprise, he finds Dom turns around—just to give him the finger. And he's back in business, making his way to the bar, already surrounded by a group of chicks. Heaving a heavy sigh, Cavill can only shake his head and mutter under his breath,

"You son of a bitch."