ROYAL. ( OUTERBANKS )

001.

See, Cassidy Blaire was the epitome of pure wealth and you had to be blind or just outright stupid to try and prove that any different. She had never seen a day where her Daddy didn't hand her his black card to as she pleased and she couldn't even remember the last time that she had ever worn something that wasn't from that very season.

The thing was, Christian Blaire and Ward Cameron had known each other since highschool and the two men had used each other to build and build until there was simply no more room to get any bigger.

There was no arguing that the two families were essentially royalty, the wealthiest individuals that any of their neighbors had ever lived to see.

And that's where their children made their grand appearance; the only things important to the two men other than the numbers that were scribbled on their checks.

That's where Sarah and Cassidy's infamous friendship had grown to start. They were, in the closest possible way, sisters from birth. There hadn't been a day in the past sixteen years of their lives where the two girls went a day without seeing each other.

Once upon a time, Sarah had thought that Cassidy Blaire was the ideal role model to look up too. She would hand out the money in her pocket to whoever needed it, no matter the fact of whether she knew them or not. She was raised on the basis of kindness and she had never shown different; one of the most adored women on the whole island.

But then, not far after the untimely death of her mother, Cassidy's ideals changed and she slowly began to fall into the stigmatized view of how the rich were expected to act. She began to party far more than Sarah could keep up with and her attitude took the dramatic decline from the most kind girl she had ever seen to one of the most vile and awful people she knew. She began to look down on those who had less, alienating people that she had once adored. But she was still Sarah's bestfriend and the fact would never change.

Of all the aspects that Sarah had grown to hate about Cassidy, those were the very things that Rafe had grown to worship. He loved the way that Cassidy carried herself, especially in his view of the way that she surrounded herself solely with people who had exactly what she had.

"She's just playing hard to get," Rafe scoffed, glaring as Kelce shrugged and refilled his cup, holding the bottle out for his friend to take. His smile returned to his face as he watched Rafe chug, hollering loudly as he urged the boy to continue on.

Halfway across the house, Cassidy leaned against the doorway to the kitchen and watched as Topper unlocked his parents liquor cabinet before he grabbed a bottle that she knew half of the population could probably never afford. He turned it in his hands before grabbing a glass from his pristine white cabinets, pouring a shot for himself.

"Got enough for me?" She finally spoke, swaying her way towards him as he shrugged and smiled, sliding the glass towards her as he grabbed himself another. She ran her fingertip along the rim, her eyes following the movement as Topper watched with amusement.

Cassidy looked up and raised her glass to meet his, clinking together before they both threw the alochol back and into their mouths. The blonde boy took the shot much more gracefully than she could muster, a small cough escaping her body as she tried to handle the burn in her throat.

She glanced down at her cup and began the same motion of tracing the rim as Topper laughed softly. Cassidy looked up at him and felt the blush invade her cheeks, the heat only intensifying as her grabbed her free hand softly.

Cassidy squeezed his fingers with her own, her heart dropping as he gently pulled away and leaned back against the counter. She jumped up and took a seat on the island, waiting to him to speak but her wishes went without being granted and he just stared at her in silence.

The girl finally sighed and ran a hand through her hair in aggravation, as she fought for the words that she wanted to say to him. "You know we have to tell her—"

And then Topper was infront of, her body between her legs as his hands found their way to the base of her neck, his fingers tangling up in her hair as he pulled roughly to make sure she was looking at him. He stared at her with dark eyes as she swallowed harshly.

In an instant, his lips were on hers and they moved far less than gently, his hold tightening on her hair as she relaxed into the kiss. Her own hand found its way to his neck, perfect manicured fingernails digging softly into his skin.

Topper's right hand left her back and dragged its way up her thigh, stopping momentarily at the base of her skirt before his fingertips gently dipped under. At the movement, Cassidy gently pushed him away and she looked up at him, her breath so trapped in her throat that she felt like she was about to explode from the pressure.

"Top, we have to tell her."

Topper looked at her for a moment before laughing softly, his breath hitting her face as she smelled the alcohol along with it. "The minute you open up those pretty little lips, this is over. Do you get that? You will ruin everything," he spoke to her like she was a child, his voice soft and light but there was no missing the malice that was laced behind every single word.

Cassidy had seen how quickly Topper's mentality switched between his mind and she had been on the wrong end far too many times to be blind of where this was begining to lead. 

He let go of her hair and began to trace along her jaw, the smaller girl flinching as his hand gently wrapped around her throat. If she had felt like she was crazy before, she was on the brink of insanity and she had no idea how to escape the feeling.

Topper looked down at her with nearly black eyes and tightened his grip, no emotion crossing his face as her own began to grow red at the hold he held. Her fingers flung up to his arm, her nails digging into his skin much harder than before.

He leaned down, tightening his hand even more than before, and gently kissed just below her ear. "If you try to do anything, I will kill you," he whispered, placing another kiss as her vision began to fade.

And just like that, he smiled and let go as he leaned down to press a kiss to her trembling lips. He refilled his glass and took a step towards the door, freezing to turn back towards her.

"This is fun, Cass. Why ruin it?"

He gave her a wink and then disappeared from the room as he made his way back towards his friends and she remained frozen on the counter. She couldn't find the strength to move, instead she blinked back tears and gently brought her hand to the tender skin on her throat.

She dropped her face into her hands and quietly sobbed in overwhelming isolation, her body on a never ending cycle of exhaustion and fear from what she had gotten herself into.

The thing about Cassidy Blaire was that she was just too damn stubborn to ask for help, even when she knew how it all would end.

i'm so fucking excited to write
this book like i'm crying