Sea You Soon // An Outer Banks Fanfiction

9- Boardwalk

The next few days passed quickly. For the first time in months, I felt at peace. I knew that John B and Sarah were alive and in the Bahamas, and I had Kiara back. It was so nice to have someone else other than JJ to confide in. I went to work everyday, and I would see Braeden. We would flirt with each other during our shifts, and during our breaks or after our shifts, we would just talk and get to know each other more. We weren't officially together, but it was clear that we liked each other as more than just friends. Everyday after work, I went surfing with Pope, Kie, and JJ. It was nice to finally have a sense of normalcy in life. 

About a week after Kie and I made up, Braeden and I were working the closing shift together. Neither of us had ever closed before, so Kie was still here, making sure that everything got done correctly. 

After the restaurant closed, Braeden and I were listening to music and wiping down tables. We were dancing around and just having a good time. I snuck up behind Braeden, whipped him across the backs of his legs, and ran for my life. 

He turned around quickly and started to run after me. Because I'm absolutely stupid, I ran right into a corner of the restaurant, and Braeden trapped me.

"I got you," Braeden whispered softly, looking down at me. We were both panting slightly. 

"I guess you did," I said, meeting his eyes. "But I'm not upset about it."

Braeden started leaning down and I stood on my tip-toes to make our lips meet. My first thought was about why I didn't let him do this sooner. It felt like an hour had passed when we heard a voice yell, "Hey, what are you two doing? You're supposed to be cleaning tables, not each other's faces."

We jumped apart and turned around to see Kiara standing in the doorway, laughing. 

My face flushed bright red. "We already finished Kie, we were just, uh, saying goodbye."

"Oh, okay, I get it," Kie said, giving a sarcastic nod. "Well, you two are free to leave whenever you wrap up whatever is going on here," she waved her hand in our general direction.

I grabbed Braeden's hand and dragged him out the front door. "Can I get a ride home?" I asked awkwardly once we reached the parking lot.

"Of course," Braeden responded, walking over to his truck and opening the passenger door for me. He closed it behind me once I got in. "Okay, so where were we?" Braeden said, giving me smile. He gently grabbed my face, turning it toward him and kissed me again. I don't want to sound like every teenage girl in a coming-of-age romance movie, but it really was magical. 

After a few minutes, we were interrupted by the sound of of one of our phones ringing. I reluctantly pulled away when I realized that it was mine. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw that it was JJ. I mentally cursed him. His timing was the absolute worst.

I swiped to answer the call and said, "Hello?" in an annoyed tone.

"Paisley, where the hell are you? I thought you got off work at 6," JJ's voice was filled with worry. I looked at the truck's display to see that it was just a few minutes past 9. No wonder he was worried.

"Shit, I forgot to tell you that I was working the late shift tonight. I just got off, and now I'm heading home," I said quickly.

"Okay, you had me really worried there. Do you need me to come pick you up? I don't want you walking home alone in the dark."

"Braeden's actually going to bring me home," I answered.

"Okay, sounds good. I'll see you soon." With that, JJ hung up.

Braeden started up the truck, having heard the whole conversation. "I'm really sorry about that," I said, lightly laughing. "His timing was really bad."