[ON HOLD] - Sweet Creature - [Outer Banks] - [JJ]

One Direction

She had a crush on him back then.

When she mentioned he shared a name with Liam Payne of One Direction, the conversation snowballed into a mostly one-sided discussion about the band.

"Nah, I never listened to them, they were shit." He made a displeased face. The sunset was reflected in Liam's blonde hair, highlights appearing a pinkish-orange.

Remi scoffed, her track of mind moving a-hundred-miles-a-minute. Her face was hot from the alcohol and she absentmindedly dug her toes into the sand. Some kook had brought an expensive speaker, hooking their phone up to it and booming music throughout the now crowded beach.

"You just don't want to admit it." Remi joked playfully with the boy, loudly over the chatter of the beach. Though she was joking, she fully believed that many things were ridiculed solely for the reason that little girls enjoyed them.

"No, they just sucked." The boy disregarded what Remi said, looking around as if what he was about to say next would be shared between just them. "Hey look, I can tell where this thing is going to go. My parents are out of town for the weekend, we can go back to my place and get to it." Liam said, no emotion in his voice, just a vain attempt at appearing attractive.

"No?" She posed it as more of a question.

"Sure, yeah. I mean I spend the past half hour of my life-, but sure. I mean if we're constantly rejected, no wonder we get so angry when it happens, yet again." He shrugs.

Perhaps its because of the alcohol, but Remi's unable to help the way her face twists into a confused type of amusement, feeling like she's been hit with verbal whiplash. Her eyes squint and her brows lift slightly in annoyance as she watches the boy take a sip of his drink as if he didn't just speak something so offensive. Did he believe that he was entitled to something in return for basic human decency?

Red flags raised and waved wildly in her mind.

Not wanting to sour her night with shouting at someone like him, she decided to not let her anger get the best of her. It wasn't her job to spend her time educating others out of their ignorance.

"And this is why I don't date." She patted his back, letting her hand clap against him with force, lips pursed. Her eyes drifted to the empty cup in her hand. "I'm gonna get a refill." She muttered before standing up and hurrying away.

Remi weaved through the crowd, ignoring the few elbows that jabbed her. Some party-goers sway with their friends to the song that she didn't recognize, while others walked along the sandy beach as if it were the deck of a boat caught in a storm. It was as if they didn't quite anticipate their foot meeting the ground, the alcohol hitting them harder than others. Expensive cologne invaded her sense of smell as she passed a group of kooks. The redhead's mood lightened as soon as her eyes landed on friends.

John B leaned on a tree branch, a pretty tourist girl perched atop it as they seemingly flirted. Her friend, Lilah, stood next to JJ, the two carrying on friendly conversation as the boy manned the keg, filling her cup. A smile reached Remi's face when she noticed the braid she had weaved the girl's blonde hair into earlier that day.

It was the little things that brightened up her spirits.

Well-- that and alcohol.

While she was always one who appreciated the beauty around her, having alcohol in her system heightened that tendency. She took notice of the way the wind caught JJ's tousled blonde hair and the dimple that popped onto his cheek as he smiled at something Lilah said. He looked so strong as his backpack hung from his broad shoulders. He looked like he was right in his element, the calm ocean rolling in small waves behind him and beer in his cup. She had always wondered how he turned out the way he did, despite how cold his father, Luke, seemed.