The next day I woke up around 9.00 a.m. I felt a hand wrapped around my waist and realized it was Rafe.
He was still sleeping and I felt his warm breath on my neck which made me smile. I took a second to inhale his scent so that I would remember it.
"Rafe" I whispered trying to wake him up. "Mhm," he hummed still not opening his eyes. "Wake up," I chuckled at him and his eyes finally opened. He was slightly blinded by the light so he closed them as a reflex which made me giggle.
"Good morning sleepy," I said once he finally sat up on the bed. "Good morning," he said with a morning voice that gave butterflies in my stomach, it's weird but I found it very attractive.
Rafe came closer to me and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. "Should we have breakfast?" I asked him while getting up, I was already energetic as per usual.
"Sure love," he answered and also stood up. He came to me and hugged me from the back, wrapping his arms around my waist. "I love you," he said and I smiled.
"I love you more," I answered and turned around kissing his lips quickly.
He took my hand and we went downstairs, we were met by Sarah. "Sarah?" I said looking at her confused. "Oh my god you're still here! I wanted to tell you something." Sarah says with an excited mood.
I ran to her and hugged her and Rafe just awkwardly stood there. "Before you say anything can we go dress shopping for midsummer's today?" I asked her. "Yesss of course," she said and we started jumping up and down because we love shopping so much. We were kind of ignoring Rafe's presence but we're best friends so I don't feel bad about it.
"What I wanted to tell you is that a video of you two dancing went viral yesterday." Sarah said and I looked at her with confused eyes.
Rafe and I looked at eachother trying to figure out what she meant, our eyes connected trying to understand. "What do you mean Sarah?" Rafe asked her. "Look," Sarah said handing us her phone.
On it was a video of me and Rafe on tik tok. It was from last night, when we were dancing and didn't realise that the others had left.
It showed us looking at eachother, kissing, whispering in each other's ears and just hugging. It ended when we sat back down.
I took Sarah's phone from Rafe's hand and saw: 2.3million likes, 234k comments, 186k shares, 41.6 million views, the caption was: A young and happy couple in love at Bello Mare❤️.
I looked back at Rafe, both of our mouths were wide open. "What the hell?" I said, I don't know why but I didn't like this because it was a moment between us two and now millions of people had seen it.
Rafe clicked on the comments and we saw that they were mostly positive saying nice things that made me smile. "You guys are so cute, oh Lil do you want me to give you a ride to The Wreck after we go dress shopping?" Sarah said and I nodded before hugging her.
She said that she was going to get food for the Chateau. Rafe and I started making breakfast and we discussed the video.
We weren't famous or anything so we just blew it off and thought that people were saying nice things so everything was okay.
The video really made me see how in love we both were, the way we looked at one another was so magical and it made me realize how strong our love was. No one was ever going to tear us apart.
_________
Charleston SC
The room where the brown haired man was staying in was small. Full of empty pizza boxes, finished beer cans and a smell coming from the spoiled air.
There was a desk in the side of the room, on it was a black desktop computer. The man stayed there most of his day playing video games or looking online for someone's where abouts. Today, on his computer was a video of a blonde haired girl wearing a blue dress, dancing with a man.
The dirty blonde hair man was holding the girl tight, like his life depended on it. Both of them were looking deeply at eachother's eyes seeming as in love as two can be.
The man clicked on the comments of the video that had becomen viral: user245: does anyone know their tags? Its.me.duh: Reply to user245: @rafe.cam @lillian.jones I think that's them but idk.
The boy smiled at the sight of the tag of the man holding the girl that belonged to him. The man's tik tok page was empty, but in his bio was his Instagram user. The dark brown haired boy opened his Instagram account and looked him up.
There were a few posts of him and his friends, some he had met before. The most recent post made the boy's blood boil.
It was picture reel of him and a girl. Photos at them kissing, at the beach, at a restaurant, and so many more. The caption said the following: Finally my girl❤️ I love you @lillian.jones
____________
Rafe and I said our goodbyes, I went dress shopping with Sarah and he mentioned something about golfing with Top.
Sarah and I decided to go to the mainland because there were many more shops there than in the obx. My shift was around 7.00 p.m. so we had plenty time.
We took the ferry and arrived in not too much time. We started walking through the streets of the town and we found a few boutiques.
"Sarah, this one has so many dresses," I told her pointing out a boutique called Tracey's dresses.
"Oh that looks nice, let's go in." Sarah answered and pulled me in the shop by taking my hand. We went through the color coded racks, Sarah decided that she wanted to wear white, John B couldn't come with her because he was a pogue so she was going solo.
I looked at all the light blue dresses and found about 3 that I wanted to try on. Sarah also found 3 white dresses to try.
We went in the changing rooms and changing was one big fiasco.
My three dresses were simular models with different shades of baby blue. The first one was a satin long dress with a slit in the leg. It had thin straps and a loose neckline. It was a little too big on me so I decided against it. The second one was a simular model but it was much tighter making my body look much nicer than the first, although it was a dark shade of baby blue that would've clashed with Rafe's suit.
The last one was a little bit different from the two, it had a tight bust and a big flowy skirt. The color and fabric were perfect and it fit really nice.
"You look so pretty Lil," Sarah said looking at me once I exited the changing room. We already had chosen her dress and this one was the last one of mines.
"I love how it fits and the color goes really well with Rafe's suit." I said looking at myself in the mirror.
"You have to get this one, not up for debate." Sarah stated and I chuckled. "I think this is the one," I said taking one last look at myself before walking back inside the changing room.
"Give me the dress Lil, I'll start giving them to the cashier." Sarah said and I handed her the dress. Once I changed back into my normal clothes I left the changing rooms and went to the cashier.
I noticed Sarah outside with two bags in her hands and ran to her, upset that she had paid.
"Before you say anything, Rafe gave me money to buy you the dress, he said that he really wanted to." Sarah said and I stopped the rant I had planned to tell her that I had to pay her back.
"Aw, he's so cute," I said while pulling my phone out. Thinking that he thought of that made my heart melt. God I loved him so much.
Me
I just got my dress, thank you so much Rafe, you really didn't have to.
Rafe❤️
Ofc baby, I figured if I would be taking it off I might as well pay for it.
Me
...
Rafe❤️
Just saying
Me
I love you
Rafe❤️
I love you more
Me
Thank you again
Rafe❤️
Ofc darling
Jj's POV:
When I saw the video of Lillian and Rafe dancing I felt like going to Tanny Hill and punching Rafe in the throat right then and there.
He didn't deserve Lillian, I did. I should've been the one to look at her like that, I should've been holding her. Not him. He was just a drug addict who's solution to his problems was to get high. Lillian shouldn't have to deal with him and all his problems. I left my room where I had been staying for a few days now.
"So that's it now huh? They're in love guys, she's never going to hang out with us again." I said to John B, Pope and Kiara who were all in the living room.
They weren't in love, he would never be able to love someone. "Jj, stop it." Kiara yelled.
"No Kie, I'm not stopping. This monster has her mesmerised, I bet he's just like Daniel. Don't argue with me when he breaks her heart, I will be telling her I told you so." I continued on blabbering.
"Jj, you don't know what you're talking about." Pope said.
"I don't? Let's see what he has in common with Daniel huh? Drug Addict? Check. Physco? Check. Probably using her for sex? Check." The three of them just looked at me with their mouths open wide.
"I'm so stupid." Kie said which confused me.
"I told her that you were sorry. I fucking defended you. But you're not sorry. You almost ruined her whole fucking relationship and you still think you're in the right." Kie said to me which made me scoff.
"No Kie, you know what? Tell me, fucking tell me. What is their relationship like huh?" I told her. She scoffed and took her phone out. An audio recording started playing from her phone.
"Well, things are, things are great like really great. Like yesterday he dropped the L bomb," Lillian said. "What? Cameron said I love you? Hold up what did you say? Lil, do you love him?" Kie said."Yeah, yeah I do, he's just the feeling of home for me, like even if I had to move away if I had him I'd be fine. Don't get me wrong I would miss you guys but without him, I would never be able to move. He just knows me so well and I don't even know how he does because not even a month ago we hated each other. He can understand how I feel and he always knows the right thing to say. It's the weirdest feeling, like I feel completed when I'm with him. It's like every time I touch him I feel a weird spark, one that tells me we're meant to be together. Everything happened so fast, I definitely didn't expect him and I to fall in love. It's something I see, when I look at him I see the future in his eyes. I feel like our whole lives every mistake we ever made brought us to each other. When it's silent I can hear his love for me, I can see it when it's dark out and nothing else is clear enough to see. But I see him, I see us. It's like with the snap of a finger I understand why everyone in movies has given up everything for love. I love him, I fucking love him so much, and just thinking about him makes me smile. So yeah, things are really good." Lillian says. "You're so in love," Kie continues. "Guess I am aren't I?" Lillian answers, a chuckle escaping her mouth. "What's that ring?" Kie says. "Oh, it's a promise ring Rafe gave me," Lillian tells her. "How did he give it to you?" Kie whines."Nah it was just us in that moment I don't wanna spoil it, no offense," Lillian says. "None taken," Kie answered.
"There," Kie scoffed putting her phone back in her back pocket.
"Doesn't seem to me like he's using her for sex," Pope said, his eyes directed at me.
"Shut up Pope," I groaned.
"No Jj, I'm not going to shut up. I'm not going to let you say complete crap about Lillian and act like you're in the right. We all just heard that audio, if you don't understand that Lillian is in love, and the love is healthy and good than you are being delusional. You claim to be her best friend then fucking act like it, she is happy and the only thing you should be saying is congratulations or I'm happy for you. So if you're not going to do that do us all a favor and shut the hell up." Pope yelled at me.
Whoa. Pope had never yelled before.
I shrug, swallowing my saliva.
What the fuck though? Rafe had completely brainwashed Lillian into falling in love with him. She should be in love with me not him. She always comforted me when I needed her, we built a bond together and she just threw it away to be with Rafe.
So many guys were after Lillian, she has always been very pretty. But she never gave them much attention, at least not any serious attention. But with Rafe, with him she was sweet, kind, caring, she really loved him. I should be who she loved, I deserved it.
I got out of the Chateau. Heading towards the country club.
Rafe's POV:
Lillian left with Sarah to go dress shopping and I decided to go golfing with Topper.
We were there at the country club for a few hours and I enjoyed it a lot. I found golf very fun and interesting and even though it may seem boring to a new eye it can be thrilling if you ask me.
It was our final round and Topper's turn. He threw the ball out of the court which made me laugh loudly. We were walking together to go get it and we saw a pogue walking around the club, he seemed to be looking for someone. It was Jj. Great.
"Yo Rafe check it out." Topper said to me, his eyes directed to the pogue.
"Let's just let him be huh? Lillian wouldn't want us to beat him up." I said and Topper nodded.
"If you say so..." he sighed.
"Yo Rafe," Jj yelled. The boy was looking for trouble. Oh would he regret it.
"What do you want Maybank?" I answered.
"Stay away from Lillian." He demanded. A laughed escaped my mouth.
"What?" I said, still laughing at him.
"Stay away from Lillian or you will regret it." He said with a threatening tone.
"You want me to say away from my girlfriend? How can I do that?" I said with a sarcastic tone at how stupid he was being.
"I don't know, break up with her." Jj said. Topper and I looked at eachother and started laughing.
Was he being serious? Did he think he could tell me what to do?
"Now Maybank I knew you had a thing for her but I didn't know you were this delusional. Let me make things clear for you since you seem to have a blurry vision. Lillian is mine, touch her, look at her, talk to her and I'll kill you. Are we clear Maybank?" I said to him with a serious tone.
I could see the slight fear in his eyes. Without saying anything Jj punched me, of course, it didn't hurt, not even a little but that's when I needed to teach him a lesson.
I punched him in the jaw and he started bleeding, I pulled away, not wanting to hurt him because I knew Lillian would be livid. Lillian is all I've ever cared about, she's the only thing that I care about.
"When you break her heart. Trust me, she will come to cry in my arms. And soon enough she will be mine, oh Rafe you don't want to know the things I'll do to her. I'll fuck her so hard she'll finally feel pleasure. I bet she's never felt that with you." Jj said coughing blood from my punch.
What did he just say?! How fucking dare he? Lillian is mine. Just thinking about the things he said brought rage inside me.
"You're going to wish you hadn't said that." I said before going to him and beating the shit out of him. Punch after punch, he bled more and more. He tried to hit back but he didn't even make me flinch.
After a few minutes of beating him up, Topper joining in after a while we both stopped and left him there.
"Never say that again you bastard," I scoffed before leaving him there.
Lillian's POV:
Sarah dropped me off at the Wreck just in time for my shift.
The restaurant wasn't very busy today which was good and bad for me. It was good because I didn't have to do too much work but it made Mike a little moody.
Around 8.00 p.m. a big group came in the restaurant. They had a reservation for 15 people and I was their server. Big tables always meant hard work but I didn't mind it. I took their orders and started cleaning a little.
Once the group had finished and left I started cleaning the table up and clearing the plates and cutlery.
As I grabbed a the last plate off the table underneath I found a napkin.
'Watch your back whore' was written on it in big letters.
Rafe's POV:
Topper and I went to Marble's Cove at 9.00 p.m.
Marble's Cove opened just a week ago. It's a bar, pretty close to the country club and we wanted to try it out.
Kelce didn't want to come which I was happy about, mainly because he was a dick to Lillian.
We arrived at the club and it seemed fairly fun, the decorations were done well and Topper said the drinks were pretty good. I didn't want to get wasted because I was driving so I only got a beer.
I thought back to the last time I went to a bar with Topper and it was the time Lillian picked us up. Wow. So many things have changed since then. That time at the bar it was my first time admitting to myself that I had a thing for her. I had it for much longer but always denied it. That time though, I talked to Topper about her and probably because I was drunk I admitted my feelings. I guess it's true that Drunk words are sober thoughts. And now, I was in love with the girl and she was in love with me. Wow.
"Bro, I saw the video of you and Lillian, even though you're totally simping you guys are cute not gonna lie," Topper said.
"Shut up bro, I'm not simping I just love her," I told Topper and he slightly chocked on his drink.
"What? You what?" Topper said loudly.
"Wait Lil didn't tell you about it?" I asked him.
"No?!" Topper said with the same tone of voice.
"Well, umh, yeah we said I love you, I mean I did but she said it back," I said nervously. I kind of hoped that Lillian had talked to Topper about it because normally me and Top never discuss Love.
Topper slightly opened his mouth at me. "Well I'm going to the bathroom to process that but yeah bro I'm happy for you two." Topper said and I nodded laughing.
I looked around the bar and saw two girls staring at me and whispering to eachother. I rolled my eyes at them but didn't think much of it.
That was until one of the two girls came up to me. "Hey I was wondering if I could get your snap," she asked while getting a little too close to me.
I distanced myself before saying: "No, I have a girlfriend," with a harsh tone.
The girl got closer to me, "it's cool, she doesn't have to know about us," she said with a trampy voice.
She got overly close and started playing with my chest. "Get off me, I have a fucking girlfriend bitch," I said loudly to her. "I don't care, you're hot," she said and I looked at her with a disgusted look.
"Get the fuck off me before you regret it," I said harshly and she finally got the hint. "Fuck you're so boring, live a little," she said before leaving and I scoffed.
Lillian was the only girl I will ever look at, even if we're not together. I will love her forever. I know that.
I saw a guy around my age eyeing the situation and walking over to me. "Yo I saw that, you good?" He asked me.
"Yeah I'm cool man," I said. "Are you new to the outer banks?" I ask him as I haven't seen him before.
"Yeah man, just moved here, my name's Max by the way," he told me. "Rafe, Rafe Cameron," I say and we shake hands jokingly.
"So I hear you got a girlfriend'" he tells me and I smile at the thought of Lillian.
"Yeah, I do," I say happily. "Cool, what's her name?" He asks me and I slightly frown at how interested he is in Lillian but I let it go.
"Lillian," I say shortly. Just as I do that I get text from Topper that lights up my screen.
Top:
Yo, the malibu sunk, igtg my mom's up my ass rn
Me:
Shit man, okay, u get home and text me with updates on how it sunk and shit like that yk
Top:
K I'm going now
I turned my phone off and noticed Max staring at my screen slightly. His eyes on my wallpaper.
My wallpaper was a picture of Lillian sleeping in my arms, once when she fell asleep watching Rapunzel. "Is that her?" Max asks me pointing at the wallpaper.
"Yeah," I say with a smile looking at the wallpaper. Just thinking of her makes my heart full, there's this void when she's not here and just thinking of her fills the void up for me.
"Cute. For how long have you two been together?" Max says. "A few weeks, not too long yet." I say.
It's so weird to think that in this small amount of time Lillian and I had gone through so many ups and downs, the one thing that stuck, was our love for one another.
"That's pretty new," Max said interrupting my thoughts.
"Yeah I guess but it's been a long time coming," I say.
"Where are you from? You mentioned that you're not from the OBX." I ask.
"Charleston, so not very far I guess." Max said. Before I could answer he called the barista over. "Two shots of vodka please," The barista gave him the shots and Max passed me one.
"No thanks I'm driving," I attempted to say. "It's fine just ask your girl to take you or something," Max said putting the shot back in front of me.
"Ah fuck it," I said and we took the shots. One lead to the other and soon it was midnight, we had about 5 shots each and we decided to call it a night. I decided to drive home myself, I was sober enough.
Lillian's POV:
'Watch your back whore' was written on the napkin in my hand.
I looked down to my phone and all the messages spamming from the pogues group chat.
I wipe the tear off my face and try to collect myself.
Just then I hear someone coming in my window. Quickly I grab my hairbrush in attempt to defend myself from an intruder, stupid I know, but I didn't have weapons in my room.
"Woah, woah woah," I heard Rafe say. My body relaxed. I turned my head to the bathroom where I just had my panic attack and realised that the note was still out in the open. I ran in there and hid it. Rafe looked at me funny,
"What's in there Lil? And were you crying?" Rafe says with a worried tone. "No I'm fine." I say firmly.
I could tell he didn't buy it but I didn't care.
"Why the fuck did you beat up Jj?" I ask him, he clenches his jaw.
"Topper and I were golfing. We saw him and I told Topper to leave him alone for you. Then he called my name and started to say things," Rafe says and I see the rage in his eyes. What could Jj possibly have said?
"What did he say Rafe?" I ask him.
"You'd rather not know." He tells me and my body tenses, could he have written me the note? I take a minute to take everything in and then I just hug Rafe.
I could feel he didn't expect that but I really needed a hug. Today was a long day. Rafe hugged me back tightly.
"Do you want to stay over?" I ask him. He just nodded his head. We changed and got ready for bed. He told me about his day and how he met a dude named Max. After a while we kissed eachother goodnight and fell asleep.
Notes from the author:
Heyyyyy, before ANYTHING I need to thank all of you for 1.5 K, this book is growing so fast and everything I get a vote comment or simply a read it really makes my day! So thank you so much!!!
I have SO many things planned and now I'm going back to posting every one to two days!!
In this chapter we got new mysteries, new characters and new obstacles. Let's see how it all goes!!!
Thank you so much for reading.
Love you all so much! X