ISSUES 2 II OUTERBANKS S3/S4

pair

"Let's have a partnership and build an empire."

❥

"Why were you talking to Topper?", Rafe asks me a bit too harshly for my liking. I furl my eyebrows. He's been away for the whole day and sees me talking to someone on the phone now. No reason to freak out. Well, I forgot it's Rafe. He could freak out for nothing. "Because I asked him to help Sarah", I answer honestly but can't help myself for a harsh reply, "Plus he's my friend. No need to worry about everything, Rafe." 

"You're mine, Bella", Rafe claims and I give him another annoyed look, "Don't look at me like this." "Then don't talk to me like I'm an object", I hiss rolling my eyes. Seems like our conversation last night was too good to be true. "This is me trying to take care of you." "This is nowhere close to taking care." 

"When are you meeting him at the club?" "I don't know. Tonight. I guess I'd leave in an hour", I shrug surprised by the sudden change in his voice. "I'll drive you", Rafe decides but I shake my head. "I can go there myself." "Let's have dinner at the club together, Bella", Rafe insists. "Rafe-" 

"No, please. Let's have dinner together like we used to. You and I." "Fine", I sigh. Rafe's way too stubborn for me not to give in. He tends to be a pain in the ass sometimes. A pain in the ass that I can't and don't want to let go of. "Come on, Bells, don't look at me like that", he says in a raspy voice as I'm about to walk past him. He also lays his hand on my upper arm as I stop next to him. 

"Don't talk to me like that", I counter. "I don't mean it like that." "God, Rafe-" "Dinner's on me", he grins at me and gives me a kiss on my cheek before he lets me go upstairs so I can change my clothes. If I hadn't loved this boy, I probably would have pushed him off a cliff already.

"Mr. Cameron, Ms. Scott", the head waiter greets us as soon as we arrive at the reception to ask for a table, "We've been all pleased to hear that you've survived and back in Figure Eight." "Thank you", I nod politely. "A table for two, please", Rafe continues and lays his arm around my waist, "In a quiet spot." "Of course. Please follow me."

"Where have you been today?", I ask Rafe interestedly as I take a sip of my drink. He hesitates a little too long. "Rafe?" "You wouldn't want to know." "I wouldn't want to know a lot of things. Still, I know a lot more than I'd expected to a few months ago", I argue. "Don't hate me", Rafe tells me so I play the game once more. "Don't make me hate you." 

"You're driving me insane", Rafe mumbles, "Barry." "That drug dealer psycho?", I whisper-yell at him, "Are you buying from him again?" "No, I'm not", Rafe hisses quietly trying to let this stay between the two of us. I want to trust him and I know that I actually do so but he's giving me reasons to overthink his behavior over and over again. 

"Do you know what you'd like to have for dinner?", a waitress interrupts my thoughts making me look up. It's Sofia. She lives on figure eight as well because her parents own a house here but she needs this job besides school to do typical kook activities. I'm pretty sure she's going to do this job forever. She never talked about anything else. 

There are kooks who live a normal life, Kelce used to call them the lower kooks. And then there are kooks like Topper, Kelce and Rafe who own boats and live in huge houses. Then there's me. A kook by blood, pogue by heart. It's just that no one accepts it. 

"I'll have the usual, the roasted salmon, and the truffel pasta for Bella", Rafe orders for us. I smile about Rafe remembering what's my favorite. I couldn't have decided between all these good options so I chose a classic meal. "Bet you missed this pasta on the island", Rafe says to me. I chuckle but before I can reply, Sofia looks between the two of us. 

"I haven't seen you in long time, Bella. Where have you been? Most kooks were worried", Sofia speaks up to me nicely, "You don't live on the cut now, do you?" Dear god, curious kooks always asking about the cut first. "No, she's staying at Tanneyhill", Rafe quickly states. He's right. Still, I don't kooks to think that I dumped the pogues. They should know that I can be both. 

"I've been stranded on a lonely island for month", I tell her honestly, "My home's the cut as well as figure eight. John B needs some time with his dad so I stay at Tanneyhill." I actually stay at Tanneyhill for many other reasons but I don't owe her a concrete explanation. Rafe gives me an angry look. I can literally hear his thoughts. So you're here with me because John B needs daddy-time? No, I'm not. I'll make sure he understands the look that I give him. 

"On a lonely island for a month?", Sofia gasps, "God, it must have been horrible. Thank god you're back in Figure Eight. The pogues pulled you into some shit. I mean I saw it coming and I've heard Topper warning you but JJ was a bad option-" 

"Enough", I snap at her loudly and beat my hand on the table forcefully. Some people around us watch us and the club manager already storms over to us. "Mr. Cameron, Miss Scott", he greets us politely, "Is everything alright?" I can feel Rafe's amused look on me but I concentrate on the staff. 

"It's alright", I nod calmly, "I'll have another whiskey sour." "Of course." They don't even ask for an ID. As long as you pay enough money, you get everything that you want. Those are the rules in Figure Eight. Sofia is quiet around the club manager and follows him back to the bar after making sure that we're alright. 

Kook life can be quiet amusing. You can be a complete dick to someone and still get asked if you're alright just because your parents pay a great monthly fee to have dinner in a certain restaurant. "Still a kook", Rafe comments. "God, shut up or I'll show you how much of a kook I am", I mutter hating myself for freaking out instead of telling her to leave in a more polite way. I'm not such a kook. 

Rafe leans forward to put a strand of my hair behind my ear and smiles at me in a flirty way. How can he be such a dick in one second and an angel the next second? "You're the kook princess, believe it or not. You just proved that you belong to me. You know exactly why you're at Tanneyhill and it's not about the pogues. When I was on my way back, you slept in my bed already, not Sarah's. Mine."