strawberry scented surf wax | obx

f o u r

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𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫

Even with five people working on it, cleaning the spray paint off the side of the shack took longer that all of us thought it would. We were just about finished when the sky turned a beautiful shade of purple and orange, creating its own natural filter to the air. The scene was honestly beautiful— I find myself falling more and more in love with The Outerbanks everyday.

Over the last hour or three, I've bonded with the teens in front of me more than I ever had with anyone in my whole entire life. Yes, I had some amazing friends back in Australia, but for some reason, being here with the Pogues just felt different. It felt like this was always supposed to happen, like moving here was right.

All of us were laughing at one of John B's jokes as my Dad parks his car in the driveway, stepping out of the vehicle and looking at the group of us with a concerned expression. He then turns his direction onto the house, eyebrows furrowed as he walks towards us.

"What's happened here, Lav?" he asks me, running a hand over the small amount of spray paint left. He frowns at the mess.

"A bunch of assholes from the rich side of the island vandalised our property." I briefly explain. "They call them the Kooks. Apparently they're not good people."

"Kooks?" he sighs, shaking his head. "Did you say something to them for them to do this?"

"They came in the store and started mouthing me," I shrug. "I told them to piss off."

Dad slightly chuckles at this. "That's my girl." He then turns to John B, Pope, Kie and JJ. "And who are you guys?"

"Hi, sir," JJ smiles at him. "Were some friends of your daughters, we came for a surf when we noticed the damage, so we offered to help." he steps towards him, offering his hand. "I'm JJ, we met a couple of weeks ago."

"Ah!" Dad laughs, taking his hand. "You're the Juul boy!"

JJ laughs at his response. "Yes, the Juul boy. That would be me." he turns to the rest of the group. "This is Pope, John B and Kiara."

"Hi, Mr Amor," John B grins, offering his hand as well. Pope and Kie do the same. "Lovely to meet you."

"Please," dad starts, waving the group off. "Call me Steve. Are you guys hungry?" he asks.

"Oh, no," Kie says. "We're okay. Cooking for us would be a huge effort and Lav mentioned that you've been in meetings all day."

"No, no," he shakes his head. "It's okay, it's my thank you to you guys for helping my daughter. You can't say no."

Pope laughs at this. "Okay then, we'll stay. Thank you, Steve."

"Should be ready in the next hour or so," Dad smiles at us as he walks towards the front door. "Finish this up and go for a night swim or something, I'll call you guys up when it's ready."

* * *

"Can we just talk about how hot your dad is for a sec?" John B jokes as the five of us sit on our boards in a circle, floating freely in the water.

"Shut up!" I fake gag, splashing him with water. "Don't say that about my Dad!"

"You're lucky he's not single." Kie chuckles, making me frown.

I can't blame them for talking about it— I mean, they wouldn't know. Plus, Dad still wears his wedding ring and I haven't mentioned a thing about my mother to them. The conversation was bound to happen sometime soon.

"Oh yeah," Pope adds. "Where is your Mom, Lav? I haven't seen her yet and you don't talk about her much." he questions, earning a wide eyed glare from JJ.

"Uh..." I mutter, looking out to the horizon. "She passed last year. Brain cancer."

His expression immediately drops and he begins to stutter. "I'm so sorry, Lavender. I didn't me—"

"No, it's okay," I tell him, waving him off. "It's alright. You didn't know. We planned to move pretty much right after she lost the battle. We couldn't stay there, plus it was always her dream to live on a beach house... it's why we moved here."

"Well, you guys are handling it amazingly," Kie smiles at me with a look of sympathy. "I couldn't imagine life without my Mom."

"Thank you, Kie." I grin. "Anyways," I say, changing the topic of conversation. I point to the shack, watching Dad come out from the front door. "Dad's made dinner, let's go."

* * *

"See you guys!" I wave the group off, opening the door for them.

It was now pitch black outside. Dinner turned into dessert, dessert turned into a storytelling moment, and then the stories turned into a movie night with all of us. Dad loved them all, especially JB and JJ. It was sweet to see him getting so involved with my friends.

"Thanks for having us, Steve!" Kie thanks Dad again as she leaves the house, waiting for the boys to step out behind her.

"Dinner was amazing, so was dessert." Pope grins at him. "Thank you."

JJ follows close behind him, turning back around to blow a kiss. "Love you, Mr Amor! Thank you for dinner!"

Dad historically laughs at this, nose crinkling at the boys words. "Love you too, JJ. Thank you for picking a good movie for us."

"Oh, anytime!" he pretends to be flattered, holding a hand on his heart.

"Thanks for tonight," John B's the last one to walk out, shaking Dads hand on the way. "I'm sure we'll be seeing you soon!"

"I hope so!" Dad replies, waving at the group now that they're all out the door. "See you guys!"

"Bye!" We all call to each other, soon followed by the door closing.

I turn to Dad and go in for a hug. He wraps his arms around me. "Thank you for tonight, Dad."

"Anytime, Love," he responds, "They're some really good kids."

"I'm glad you liked them." I grin, stepping back from the hug.

"Liked them?" he scoffs. "I loved them! They shit all over those wankers from Australia."

I laugh at his response, thinking about my friends from back home. I haven't heard from any of them in a week and a half— it's like they've already forgotten about me. I knew we'd eventually drift but I didn't think it'd be this quick. Dad never liked them, neither did Mum.

"And JJ," dad makes a face, nudging me with his arm. "He's a bit cute."

"You're delusional." I deadpan. "Go to bed."

"What's the word you kids are using these days? Ship?" He asks, laughing at the grossed out expression I make.

"You know what— I'm going to bed." I roll my eyes, walking further into the house. "So should you— I think all that ice cream went to your head!"

"Nope!" he calls back cheekily. "I'm just thinking about my future son in law!"

Oh my God.

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bonus chapter that wasn't in the original bc i'm feeling nice :)