outerbanks imagines.

just your drug dealer-barry

"what is he doing here?"
y/n had been staring at the bottom of her cup when sarah asked.
she wasn't listening though,
her mind was too distracted with the intoxicating memory of barry's touch to her.
"look!"
with the tug of her arm,
y/n looked up to see barry strolling through the crowd.
"oh, my god."
"did you invite him?"
"i...i did, yeah."
as the words left her mouth,
barry's eyes locked with hers and seemingly brightened.
when he was finally in front of her,
his lips were spread into that boyish grin he owned.
"house call,"
he informed her,
placing his index and middle finger beneath her chin and lifting it to be closed.
she hid her face that was burning hot.
"i just bought stuff from you,"
she forced herself to say.
"seems you forgot a couple things."
"seems like it."
y/n filled two cups with the strongest liquid she could find and handed him the extra cup.
"maybe tonight will change your mind and it'll become your scene after all."
barry slowly sipped his drink,
leaving y/n to watch in a fixed stupor as his adam's  apple moved up then down.
"maybe it will."
the rest of the night continued in a blur.
throughout y/n's continual drinking,
she ended up losing barry in the crowd.
though she could tell by the static in the air that seemed to follow the two that he was still around.
when she stumbled into the kitchen after a while of dancing,
she winced at her sore heels and looked to see blisters forming.
"you're pretty entertaining."
y/n turned to see barry walking into the kitchen with a suave manner.
she smiled as he appeared next to her.
"i try, thank you."
y/n then held onto his forearm to balance herself and fix her shoe.
"i think i should call it a night,"
she admitted in a sigh.
barry laughed.
"you should've called it a night five drinks ago."
"mm, true. take me home, will you?"
y/n looked up to him with bloodshot eyes that still held a trace of iridescent beauty that could never be hidden.
how could he say no when he was beneath such a sight?
"yeah, yeah. come on."
barry slung an arm around his shoulder and helped heave y/n to the car due to her numb legs barely able to support her.
she tried to fight the lazy smile begging to be pulled against her lips at this feeling of their close proximity,
but she ultimately lost that battle.
barry had hardly touched a drink since y/n offered him one.
he was surprised and wondered when he'd learned to do that;
attend a party without drinking much.
then he looked over to see y/n resting her eyes and still smiling.
he realized his focus on her the entire night had drawn away from any substances he might've dabbled in.
"barry?"
"what's up?"
y/n fell silent,
gathering her muddled thoughts,
then said,
"thank you."
"yeah...yeah, for sure."
the rest of the car ride fell silent.
but it was the kind of silence barry could understand and, quite honestly, grow accustomed to.
it was comfortable and full of a comfort he'd never known existed.
when they arrived to y/n's house,
barry was quite surprised.
after all these years,
she truly did live right behind him;
his neighbor.
how could he have grown so blind when an ethereal being such as y/n lived so closely?
"help me in?"
"just don't puke on my shoes."
y/n giggled and took barry's hand that was extended to help her out of the car.
"no promises."
barry carefully but surely got y/n inside to her room.
when he entered and laid her down to her bed,
he couldn't stop himself from looking around in amazement.
this was y/n.
not the version he created to understand her,
not the rich pretend kook,
not a poor girl who settled for what she could take.
this was her.
the girl who liked all kinds of music;
cds, vinyls, headphones, and posters of her favorite artist littered the room.
the girl who romanticized life as it was.
the girl who studied for further education.
barry couldn't believe such authenticity.
"you can stop gaping now,"
y/n whispered,
using her fingers to close his jaw like he'd done to her just hours prior.
he watched her grin up at him.
"you're interesting...you know that?"
"i do now."
she pulled onto his arm and brought him into the empty space on her bed.
before he had time to object,
if he even wanted to,
y/n had rested her tired head against his chest and muttered,
"goodnight."
what was barry to do?
ruin the one perfect moment life had finally gifted him?
the idea wasn't even plausible.
barry threw the blanket over the chilled girl and whispered back,
"goodnight."
***
when barry woke up the next morning,
he was met with the sounds of running water and gentle hum that must belong to the angel herself.
using this time as wisely as possible,
barry lifted himself from the bed and trailed home where he was free to ready himself just the same.
the whole time he was away,
all he could think of was her lingering warmth and how much he already craved it.
the horrible truth to addictive personality:
it only takes one time.
but finally,
they met again at the front porch of y/n's house.
barry stopped short,
looking at the girl and her prepossessing nature,
wondering what on earth had led her to him.
he couldn't possibly entertain the thought of a relationship with y/n.
what they had was strictly business;
supplier and buyer.
y/n had a future outside of the obx.
y/n had a knowledge extending beyond barry's most simple thoughts.
y/n deserved everything that he could not give.
what happened last night had been a choice of drunken matter,
he decided.
y/n eyed him from afar.
didn't he know?
didn't their time last night prove that she was stupidly, but somehow endlessly, in love with him?
didn't he see her eyes the first night they met and how they twinkled beneath his gaze?
she had been a client for years,
a neighbor for even longer,
yet they had never acknowledged the presence of one another until that fateful night.
why was he standing still?
why wasn't he confessing his love like y/n was so close to doing?
something was wrong.
this made her heart skip several beats.
"are you okay?"
she finally managed to ask.
"what the hell was that last night, y/n?"
y/n fumbled with her words but finally said,
"it was...it was nice, no?"
"look what you're doing to me,"
he said in a humorless laugh,
running a frustrated hand through his hair.
y/n took several steps closer to him until they were finally inches away from one another.
"y/n...if you step closer i don't think i'll be able to walk away again...please, don't do this to me."
"what am i doing to you, barry?"
"you're making me fall for you."
y/n took one step closer.
she was now close enough to lay a hand flat to his chest.
"what's wrong with that?"
his breath hitched under such closeness.
he could smell the remnants of her perfume from here;
he reveled in it.
"i'm just your drug dealer, y/n."
"then deal me something more,"
she whispered with her lips brushing his.
fervor filled his veins and made him run numb.
"you know what they say. love is life's greatest drug."
all the convincing in the world would never make barry think he deserved y/n.
but as they finally closed the space between them to indulge in a kiss so vehement,
making their blood warm with a foreign kind of ecstasy,
he knew he would never stop working to be deserving of y/n l/n.