The experience of living away from home is complicated. I miss my family every day. But I'm also excited to meet new people and have new experiences. And it's so magical to go back and forth! Weekends are amazing. Screaming out-of-tune songs at the top of my lungs, bus trips, and loving harder and deeper than usual.
I was so depressed that I had forgotten how good living is!
Summary: For Summer, going to the Outer Banks is like coming home. The sound of the sea, the sand beneath her feet, the giddy feeling of a new adventure, the escape from what they say she is or should be. But what happens when the company of an old friend starts to make her feel…different?
Disclaimer: Summer Fallis belongs to @unknown-axxount, Beatrice Routledge belongs to me, other characters belong to the OBX series
Content warning(?): SFW, Soft Yearning, mixed feelings, 🤨🏳️🌈, dense Bee, platonic crush + slow and late realization
The camera was charged, extra memory card in the case. At the first opportunity she said goodbye with a quick wave to her parents, heard a half-questioning from her siblings, rolled her eyes and left.
Seashells, hermit crabs and wildflowers were definitely not what she wanted to capture. The Pogues must still be working, so the shore was still full of tourists, maybe one or two scattered around. Today's vlog wasn't as interesting as she'd hoped, not interesting at all, but a loud, unmistakable laugh caught her eye and brought a smile to her lips. Princess Pogue, Outer Banks' biggest source of drama, surrounded by people, sat on the sand laughing at some probably lame joke.
"Summie!"
Bee stood up and waved. Summer couldn't help but smile. No matter what happened, the young Routledge girl's reception was always the same. She said goodbye to the group and (skipped) walked towards her. One of those awkward moments where you don't know whether to wait for the person to arrive or find them in the middle of it all. It felt like the sand had sucked her feet in. So she did the most natural thing she could and took a picture. Casual, the brunette girl smiling at her, her hair tousled by the wind as usual. It came out blurry.
Bee grabbed her, rocking both of them in a close embrace. She smelled of sea and wind and…passion fruit?
"You live here now, huh?" Bee smiles, stepping back to look at her, holding her shoulders.
"Is this you sending me away?"
"How sensitive!" – She grimaces – "How are you? How long are you staying this time?"
"Oh my God, so you do want me to go!" Summer exclaims, raising her eyebrows and placing a hand over her chest, feigning offense.
“Of course I want you to stay, you idiot. I was just surprised. You never let me know anything.”
“It’s more fun to show up unexpectedly,” Summer replies, adjusting the camera to hide her silly smile. “This place… you guys… are always worth it.”
Bee smiles, and the monotony of the day vanished as quickly as it seemed.
She just takes her hand and starts dragging her across the sand as if they hadn’t been apart for months.
“We could go to the docks! Actually, I got the keys to the boat. We could go for a ride before my brother gets back.”
“Bee! I literally just arrived.”
“So what?” Bee shrugs, smiling. “I’m excited.”
Bee is like that with everyone. Bee hugs everyone. Bee calls everyone.
But with her… it seemed different. Or maybe she was just imagining it.
“I missed you,” she says suddenly, as if commenting on the weather.
Summer presses the camera against her chest.
She was lost. “Me too,” she replies softly.
Bee lights up completely, like the midday sun itself. “Seriously, a lot has happened even though it’s only been a few months. I’ll tell you everything. Let’s go!” Bee insists, already walking backwards, smiling in that way that always disarms her. “You can record everything. It’ll look great on your vlog, I promise.”
Summer pretends to adjust the camera to hide the blush on her face.
“You promise, huh?”
Bee nods, serious for exactly half a second.
“I promise. I would never lie to you.” She says it naturally, without drama, like breathing. But the sentence hits Summer like a wave of cold and heat at the same time.
“Bee…” Summer tries to say something intelligent, or at least something that doesn’t give her away completely, but Bee is already turning her face to the sea, taking a breath to say everything at once. “You won’t believe what Kie did. And JJ? I won’t even tell you. And- actually, I will tell you. But first…”
She squeezes Summer’s hand. Strong. Firm. Warm.
“…Thank you for coming.”
Summer looks at their intertwined hands, at Bee, radiant and completely unaware of the effect she has. Of how her touch makes everything seem sharper. Of how her smile makes the world seem smaller and easier.
“I always come,” she murmurs. “I’ll always come.”
Bee doesn’t realize the weight of it. She just smiles even more, as if it were obvious.
“Then let’s go before John B shows up and wants to come along. Today you’re mine.”
Summer swallows hard, her heart stumbling.
“Yes. Today… I’m yours.”
AN.: Hello friends! It's my first time writing for someone else. I just wanted to say that I am very happy to do it. I know it's short but life has been crazy and I really wanted to make it cute and soft. I hope you liked it 💕
I’m 5’4 lol (the humiliation I feel when I have to climb the countertop just to get a coffee mug from the top shelf of the kitchen cabinet because tippy toes weren’t cutting it..)
Tags (no pressure!!): @thelesbiannextdoor, @tiredv0idd, @smelly32cat, @4ust1nnn, @unknown-axxount, @graceofgondor, @abs-blabs, @lil-sp1dey, @spidermansballs and anyone else who wants to join!! :D
Tw.: Triggers related to manipulation, toxic relationships and abuse.
“The cat loves the swallow.
It's soft and warm
and it purrs when petted.
But you don’t pet a swallow.
Swallows don’t stay in homes.
They die if trapped.
Even though the cat is a pet,
with owners and a safe place to be,
The cat loves the swallow.
So the swallow stays.
Because it loves
the cat’s love.”
“Loved and revered by all. The best of the best. The one all the old ladies love, the one all the men want their sons to be like and their daughters to marry. The good boy from Outer Banks. He doesn't go around getting drunk, but he drinks cause "he's not square," he doesn't get into fights, only when provoked because "he's not a pushover," and he doesn't buy into the Kook versus Pogue rivalry because "it's pointless." The most sour and fake smile ever seen.
There are few people who can get into your head the way Dawson does.
He does know exactly what to say and exactly when to say it. He’s got that whole nice guy act down to a science, but at the end of the day he’s just another stupid Kook.
The Dawsons are practically glued to the Camerons - two families, one giant ego shared between them. Owners of The Island. Yeah. The Country Club. And for that, Beck spends his days driving around in his fancy car, or his boat, or trying to look important.
And apparently, Bee likes him.
Or at least she likes the attention.
He brings her gifts almost every day - necklaces, flowers, whatever makes him look good and whatever makes her look less like...her. And somehow he makes her cry just as often.
He hurts her, crosses the line, and they finally break up.
And the worst part?
He snaps his fingers
And she always runs right back to him.
I love my sister. I really, really do.
But I can’t protect her from herself.
Not when she keeps choosing the wrong people.
Not when she clearly wants me out of it
When she shouts and says I'm ruining her life.
Even if her choice includes stupid guys with stupid hair.”
- John B. Routledge
“Me, cynical? I’m just being reasonable. Someone has to be.”
。*✧ Golden Boy ✧* 。
William Beckett Dawson Junior is the perfect shadow of his father: shallow, bland, trained to appear impeccable. He lives on handshakes that mean nothing and smiles that never reach his eyes. For him, people are goals. Bee is just another item on the list, right below Harvard, the boat, the new car, and the right social circle. A project. An achievement. Something to be conquered. It's a matter of honor. If he does everything right, conquers everything there is to conquer in Outer Banks, maybe he can get out of that pigsty.
---------- +゚*。. 🚩🚤⛳🪤 .。*゚+ ----------
Face Claim: Jacob Elordi
Age: 18 (S1)
Nicknames: Beck, Dawson, Pretty Snake (Pogues), Golden Boy.
Relatives: William Beckett Dawson Senior (father), Daphne Georgia Dawson (mother).
Sexuality: Straight
Gender/Pronouns: Male/he,his
Dynamics:
Bee: While in his mind Beck loves Bee, he wants her to be the Bee of his mind. Are gifts still gifts when they have nothing to do with the recipient? If she changes her clothes, her hair, wears makeup and expensive perfumes, he will have won the girl of his dreams. After all, he never loses. He's romantic and soft-spoken until she crosses the line he's set, then he starts breaking things, insulting and manipulating. Then come the tears, the apologies, the "I love you's." He thinks he owns her. That he loves her.
John B: For him, manipulating John B is almost as easy as manipulating his sister. Of course he can't show it. Unfortunately, he can't express how much that ridiculous pogue pose bothers him. He has a reputation to uphold, a girl to win over. Sometimes a conversation with the Pogue is all he needs to keep the other idiots away.
JJ: He is much more volatile than the Routledge family. While John B is easier to convince, JJ is a bit more hostile. But a little weaponized empathy might be enough to make him come on strong. Every good guy needs to be disliked by someone to gain the audience's empathy. Even though JJ's punches hurt, sometimes they're the best tools to reinforce how gentle Beck is.
Pope: Another one who falls for the nice guy act. Just be nice to him. Agree with him. They meet frequently because of the deliveries his father makes for The Island Club. Beck always does his best to defend him, to make the Kooks stop picking on him. If necessary, he'll even help unload the deliveries.
Kiara: And of course, there's always that difficult person to deal with. It would be harder if she were another person. But since she has a reputation for generally picking on others (at least in Beck's opinion), it shouldn't be that big of a problem. Bee herself would attribute her advice to nitpicking without even being guided to that idea. But if he can choose distance from her, that's much better.
William (father): The need for acceptance is a mask. He needs to meet his father's expectations, to be perfect like him - no - to be more than him. If he succeeds, if he surpasses this pathetic and short-sighted man, he will achieve everything he wants. Absolutely anything. From his father, Beck learned that you only receive affection recognition when you do the right things. And the right thing to do is to do what he says.
Daphne (mother): Perhaps the only person he cares about at all. She's naive, but she truly loves her son. She even falls for his manipulations as well. Her problem is that she'll always side with the father, like the good wife she is. Perhaps Bee reminds him a little of him, hence the obsession love.
Rafe: They're not friends. Definitely not. But Rafe is an important connection. They've known each other since they were kids, and Rafe is certain that Beck will always be by his side. He goes so far as to consider him the brother he never had. But there's a rivalry there. While Rafe is the troublemaker, Beck is the perfect one. Rafe is jealous, and Beck thinks he's stupid. But not every tool is pleasant. He won't stress about Rafe, except when Rafe is stupid enough to mess with what's his.
Ward Cameron: Ah, yes. Somehow he knows who Beck really is, but falling into his game helps maintain his reputation. Ward's approval only helps Beck maintain the compelling position he's in. Yes, Ward approves of his friendship with his sons and is very grateful that Beck always keeps Rafe out of trouble.He has mentioned Beck as a good option for Sarah a few times.
Sarah: If playing with Bee wasn't so much fun, Sarah would be a great alternative. Ideally it would be Sarah, but aside from Topper (and potentially John B in the future) there's no real challenge. He's just the nice friend of her idiot brother.
It's a sketch and I used lots of refferences from the cannon characters. Tho I'm very happy with the product. I think it's a little close to the anime's style. What do you think?
"Once upon a time, there was a seashell. Although it's destiny were to be sand, it dreamed of being picked by someone, anyone. Even without a pearl inside. Just because they liked it."
"Bee? Man... where do I even start?
Look up 'huffy in the dictionary - yeah, that's her.
Sweet kid. Total chaos.
Somehow she's the biggest drama in my life, and trust me, my life already comes with... plenty.
She's my headache, my heart... and the kind of hurricane you don't see coming.
The kind of girl who enters your life like someone kicking down the door-without knocking, without asking permission, without realizing she broke the doorknob.
And, for some reason, you let her.
Blink and she already jumped on the boat, leaped into the sea and gotten into a fight with someone twice her size.
She's always with a notebook tucked in her pocket; she says it's nothing. But I've never seen a person have a box full of nothing in their closet and treat it like it's a treasure.
Everyone on the Outer Banks has seen her sprinting along the shore like the world's ending.
I have no idea what she's running from.
Honestly? Sometimes I think she doesn't, either.
She keeps acting like she can outrun the whole world.
But between us?
- John B. Routledge
Bee is... Bee.
And the whole world would be a lot funnier if it had a little bit more of her."
✧*。゚The Pogue Princess ✧*。゚
"Sometimes I think that if I don't run, the sand will swallow me whole."
Bee Routledge is a girl with a soft heart—a Pogue who dreams like a Kook. Naive, dreamy, and desperate for affection, she runs from pain like she runs along the shore: too fast, feeling everything at once. She lives in a constant back and forth between being "Princess Pogue" and the girl who lets anyone in because she's afraid of being alone. She's clingy, impulsive, dramatic, extremely sweet, and easy to manipulate, which always puts her in the worst places with the worst people. She loves her friends, argues with John B as if it were the end of the world. She has a hideout in the docks where she goes when her heart aches too much. She loves Dr. Seuss and always carries a notebook and pen in her pocket; she loves writing little poems and children's stories. She's avaliable, giving thr wring ideas to the wrong people, always believing that someone, somewhere, will see her worth first.
------------♡*。.✨🐚📒🌊.。*♡------------
Face Claim: Cailee Spaeny
Age: 15~16 (S1)
Nicknames: Little Bee (Big John), Bee, Bibi (John B), Trish
Relatives: Big John (father), John B (older brother), Unnamed mother.
Sexuality: Straight (questioning?)
Gender/pronouns: Female/she,her
Dynamics:
Big John: Bee spent her childhood watching her brother and father grow closer and more alike. She could see her father's obvious love and favoritism towards her older brother. It wasn't that Big John didn't love his Little Bee. It's just that with John B, everything was easier. Bee was very delicate, very sensitive, and had very large eyes that saw much more than he showed. She was just like her mother. And trying to live with that was harder than going out sailing all day with John B.
John B: She's John B's little sister, if that wasn't clear. And like any pair of siblings, they fight all the time, about anything. After Big John disappeared, John B takes care of himself and Beatrice. It's the two of them against the world, and her life revolves around him. What is a Tuesday for him is the end of the world for Bee. He tries very hard but fails spectacularly. He smothers her with protection when it's not necessary, but when she needs him, he disappears. He dismisses her in favor of his friends, makes promises and doesn't keep them.He acts like he knows everything, but in the end he's rude to a girl who has a heart of glass.
JJ: If John B gently suffocates her, JJ is like the second brother who makes her smile and always convinces John B to let her go out, have fun, and be a real pogue. She's always clinging to him, over his shoulders, under his arm. But don't mess with her or you'll get punched without warning. He doesn't let Bee show concern for him, he puts himself in the protective position and ends up hurting her, always keeping her within arm's length.
Sarah: They met when she was dating Beck. Beck and Topper were friends, so it just happened. They're at the same parties, sometimes she invites her to the Cameron mansion, and Bee always accepts, much to the disapproval of Kiara and more than half of the Pogues.
Kie: Oh my God, the drama. They both love and care about each other deeply, especially Kie. But in a way that hurts Bee. Always demanding maturity and responsibility. She'd even say Kie nags her. They fight, yell, and make up. She completely disapproves of her relationship with Beck and her friendship with Sarah.
Pope: Pope understands Bee's silences. He doesn't demand answers, he doesn't push, he just stays. Something Bee appreciates immensely. But her clingy nature never fails to embarrass Pope.
Beck (OC): He has that good-boy look. That calm vibe. He knows how to smile and knows exactly what to say to make Bee give in. But in the end, he's just a kid. Their history of breakups is immense. He manipulates, smiles, gives her the attention she craves, and makes a thousand promises. He treats her like a project. Control in the form of gifts. He gives her dresses and clothes that "make her look prettier" less pogue. Perfumes, shoes, flowers, jewelry. He takes her to the country club, introduces her to his friends. But Bee is too much, she is everything, and even if she fits into his mold, she ends up leaking out the edges.
Rafe: They meet at the country club, at parties, kook hangouts, places where she shouldn't be. And she acts like she belongs, like she's not from the other side of the island. She'll respond if you provoke her and worse, if you smile she'll smile back. That irritates him. Intrigues him. Beck likes to brag, so Rafe knows all the ways to make her give in. Somehow she thinks she understands him. Trying to be accepted by her father and living in the shadow of a brother. She understands that loneliness. She's naive. She thinks it's just silly male rivalry and that Rafe just needs a real friend. That is, until he starts crossing boundaries, following her, becoming obsessed. Then she understands: they are not the same. Rafe Cameron is dangerous, and she had let him in.