Author’s Note: Hope you enjoy <33333 Thank you for your request !!
———
“I’m so sure this makeup is going to look terrible by the end of the day,” You laugh to Madison as the two of you finish getting ready in the mirror.
“Girl, don’t worry,” She squeezes your arm, “We’ll be in it together.”
You were wearing a bikini top and long flared trousers covered in tassels - the kind of outfit you’d decided on after a quick coachella outfits pinterest search. It was your first time going to Coachella after Madison had been set on you coming with her. You’d spent the morning getting ready in her hotel room and then you’d be going to the festival with Mariyah and Drew, meeting the rest of the cast there. You and Drew had been dating for the past four months but had kept it private since. You were always seen out in a group with the rest or not seen at all, so without the public displays of affection it was easy to just make things look like you were just friends. It was easier this way - no worry for the public eye watching you. You could just be together and be private and be happy with that.
“Are you ready to go baby?” Drew pokes his head around the frame of the bathroom door, “Shit, you look beautiful.”
You blush underneath your makeup, “Thanks handsome.”
He comes over to you and wraps his arms around you from behind, perching his head on your shoulders so that he can look at the two of you in the mirror. He’s wearing a t-shirt and a baggy pair of Carhartt trousers with a bandana tied around his neck.
“Ready to go out and pretend to not be a couple?” You joke, placing your hands over his around your waist.
“Oh I can’t wait,” He smirks, pressing a kiss to the side of your neck, “I’m getting really good at it.”
You hum and squeeze his hands, “Alright, let’s go Starkey.”
~~~
To say the festival was overwhelming would be an understatement. Everywhere you looked there was something new going on, someone new to see. You’ve met up with the rest of the cast now and it felt like a relief to be in a bubble of people that you knew so well. Drew was stood on the other side of the circle to you - with so many people around it felt like a better idea to avoid being seen constantly so close together. It might seem silly but you’d learnt to remember the little things that people could pick up on about your relationship.
“Okay I’m just saying there’s no way I’m missing Rosalia,” You shrug your shoulders, sipping down more of the drink in your hand.
“Are you kidding? That’s like the only reason you’re here isn’t it?” Austin laughs, running a hand over the sweat on his brow.
You frown a little over the top of your cup, “Obviously.”
It was burning hot here and you were sure it was making the alcohol go to your head much quicker, you could feel the buzz already and the day had barely even started.
“As long as we see Frank Ocean I’m happy,” Drew comments, looking over at you from the other side of the group, “I’ve said this a thousand times.”
You roll your eyes, “Of course we’re seeing Frank Ocean.”
Before you say anything more, you’re tapped on the shoulder and turn around to see a couple of girls coming over to you. You’re pretty sure they’re influencers of some kind but couldn’t exactly place them. Then again, wasn’t everyone here an influencer?
“Hi, (Y/N), we’re so sorry to interrupt but we just loved your new film, would it be okay for us to get a photo?” One of them smiles.
“Of course we can!” You grin, “Thanks for coming over!”
They speak to you a little about your new film and how they were so excited that the sequel had been announced.
“We literally started watching Outer Banks because you joined the cast,” One of them smiles, snapping a photo of the two of you.
“Well, I’m glad I could help,” You giggle, “You’re so sweet girls, thank you.”
“Oh, and also, you and Drew would be so cute together!” The other one squeals, before they both say their goodbyes and head off back into the mingling crowd.
You turn around back to your friends and rejoin the conversation.
“What did they say to you? I saw them looking at me,” Drew narrows his eyes in mock suspicion.
“Apparently we’d be cute together.”
“Really?” He raises his eyebrows, his face giving him the expression of pondering for a moment, “I don’t see it.”
“Me neither.”
~~~
It’s a good few hours later and… well, drinks just seem to go down easier at festivals don’t they? You hadn’t thought about it much but as the sun was starting to set and you were watching one of the later sets before curfew, you were starting to feel the buzz even more. Drew was too, and you could tell as he came over to you.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look today?” He mumbles, dipping his head to rest on your shoulder.
“I think you might’ve mentioned it but a refresh couldn’t hurt,” You smirk, leaning your head into his.
Drew smiles lazily and turns his face towards you, kissing your neck longingly, “You’re beautiful.”
You hum, slightly ticklish against the touch, “Thank you handsome.”
With that, he puts a hand in your back pocket and turns you around to face him, his one hand catching your waist as his other still holds his cup of drink.
“Hi,” He grins, his eyes slightly glazed, just slightly.
“Hi,” You smile up at him as you put one hand on his shoulder, your opposite hand holding out your drink like his.
“I love this song,” He mumbles, not tearing his eyes away from you.
His hand guides your waist to sway with him, both of you moving in the same direction to the beat of the music. Drew mumbles along to the lyrics, his eyes brightening as he watches you dance with him. You don’t pay attention to everybody around you, or the hundreds of cameras all held up to the stage that could catch you. In this moment, the festival existed only for the two of you. His hand on your waist and yours up on his shoulder, your drinks threatening to spill over the lips of the cups. His head moves impossibly closer to you, singing along to the song as you do too.
With the start of the chorus, his hand finds yours on his shoulder and he holds it out to spin you, the tassels of your trousers twirling around as he pulls you back into him, hand back to your waist like a magnet.
And you’re sure the crowd has disappeared. It was him. It was you. It was dust kicking up and screaming choruses, it was kisses just inches away from happening and hands finding perfect place on bodies made for each other. It was everything.
The next song is slower and Drew turns you around to stand in front of him, his arms sliding underneath both of yours to wrap around you, drink still in one hand that he taps against yours in a cheers before taking another swig.
Drew sings the lyrics quietly as if meant for just your ears, swaying you back and forth as you lean your head back into his chest, breathing in the homely scent of him. You catch a glance of Austin and Madelyn stood next to you and they both clutch hands to their hearts jokingly as if you’re the perfect rom com couple.
“You two make me sick,” Austin nudges Drew’s arm and your boyfriend turns around to hit him back.
“Then be sick over Madelyn, not us,” Drew jokes, shooting a grin at his on-screen sister.
You lean back into him further, if even possible, and he tightens his hold around you, his chin perched on top of your head. You make mental note of the song - sure, in those minutes, that the conversation would come up in years to come and you’d suggest this exact song for your wedding. He’d hold you that night like he was doing now - like there was nobody else around.
~~~
You’re leaving the festival after curfew hits, thankful to be able to get away from the crowds as you follow the rest of the cast through VIP to get towards your waiting cars back to the hotel.
By now it’s late and there’s a chill running through the air. You’re walking with the group as Drew gets caught up talking to an old friend.
“He’ll catch up,” Austin rolls his eyes as the rest of you make your way out of the festival.
“I’m coming I’m coming I’m coming,” You hear from behind you, getting closer and closer as Drew’s feet pound on the dust, eventually catching up to you.
He wraps his arms around your waist and lifts you up, forcing you to squeal as your legs flail in front of you.
“Drew!” You exclaim, gripping onto him as he throws you over his shoulder, your face almost colliding with his back, “You’re going to drop me!”
“I’m not gonna drop ‘ya,” He laughs, gripping you tighter, “Just saving myself from you moaning about your feet hurting.”
You hit him jokingly and relax a little in his hold, waving as Madelyn gets out her phone to film the two of you. It’s then that you realise how many other cameras must be dotted around the crowds, paparazzi that would likely be posting about you and Drew in less than twelve hours. But you didn’t care. His arms were around you and you could feel yourself growing tired from the day, and it no longer mattered if people knew or not - this wasn’t changing.
Warnings: Fluffy as heck, maybe some tiny tiny sexual reference if you’re squinting
Author’s Note: Hope you enjoy <3 Thank you for your request, my requests are always open if you fancy giving me suggestions xoxo
~~~
It was a surprise to all of you that you’d managed to organise this trip and actually find time to do it - two weeks where all of you were free, and all of you up for a trip away. You’d flown out from New York in the early hours of this morning and had landed in the Dominican Republic an hour or so ago. Your flight had been a little delayed, the aeroplane was packed full and you were waiting at the airport now for your transport to the villa you’d be staying in. It was a lodge on the beach, overlooking the water, a spot where you’d be certain to get the best views and a couple of weeks of blissful break.
Drew had been groggy since you’d woken up this morning. He hadn’t slept last night because he was certain all of you were going to miss your flight, or one of you would be stranded at the airport. He hadn’t been able to rest at the airport because he had to make sure you all had your boarding passes and your passports and the information for your trip. He was like the holiday Dad of the group - keeping everything in check. He never slept on flights - his long legs were too cramped in the seat and he couldn’t settle for long enough to ever let him properly rest. So, by the time you landed in your location, he was overtired and yet to relax.
“Okay, car’s here!” Madelyn smiles, standing up from where you’d all been sat on the pavement outside of the airport.
She stretches in the heat and grabs her suitcase as a minivan pulls into the space in front of you all.
“Thank god!” Chase lets out a sigh of relief and follows after her, the rest of them following too.
Drew pokes open an eye and groans, stretching a little from where he was laying on his big backpack, “It’s here?”
“Were you sleeping?” You smile lightly at him, picking up your own bag.
“No, trying to, but no,” He sighs, pushing himself up to sit, “Wait wait wait.”
You stop in your tracks and turn around to face him as he forces himself to stand, taking your bag from you, “I got it.”
“Ugh, adorable,” Madison grins at the two of you, her head sticking out the window of the car, “But please god just get in the van.”
Drew throws your bag next to his in the trunk and holds the door open for the two of you to climb into the back row of the van. Jonathan, Rudy and Madelyn were sat in the row in front of you, Madison, Chase and Carlacia sat in the seats in front of them, and you and Drew at the back, with Austin on the other side of you. Drew crosses his arms over his chest and leans his head onto your shoulder, snuggling into you like he was some sort of golden retriever.
“Woah, woah, woah, none of that,” Austin wiggles his finger in Drew’s direction, “We’re in holiday mode now! We need energy!”
“Shut up,” Drew grumbles, shuffling closer to you in his seat so that it urges you to wrap an arm around him.
He stretches out one of his hands and moves your hand up to his hair, waiting for you to run your fingers through it before he drops his arm back down.
“He’ll have energy once he’s napped, but you’re currently dealing with a very sleep-deprived Drew Starkey,” You comment, running your hand through his hair aimlessly.
Jonathan and Rudy look at each other and then turn in their seats, both poking above the height of the chair so that you can see them like floating heads.
“Do you need us to sing to you?”
“No,” Drew states.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Wait you do want us to sing to you?”
“No.”
“You don’t?”
“No.”
“So you do?”
Drew opens his eyes, “Please shut up.”
You laugh and wrap your other arm around him, running your fingers along the length of his forearm, “Leave the poor boy alone.”
Drew wraps his arms around one of your arms and buries his head into your neck, breathing in your scent as he wished for sleep to overcome him.
“Oooh I think we’re here!” Madelyn points out of the window, “That’s the villas, right?”
You glance up as the car is indicating to turn into the complex, where a row of separate villas are just visible across the sand. They’re bigger than you had imagined, which is a little bit of a relief considering how many of you there were.
“Come on baby, we’re here now,” You comment, nudging your shoulder up a little to move Drew’s head.
He grumbles and reluctantly pulls his head away from you, keeping his arms wrapped around one of yours.
“We can go straight to bed,” You encourage him quietly, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
He closes his eyes and hums at the contact, releasing a little sigh of relief.
“Come on lovebirds!” Austin grins, holding the door open, “No time to waste.”
~~~
The group of you all pile through into your villa once you’ve been checked in, all of you dragging bags through the door. It’s got a wide open plan lounge and kitchen, and a wall of glass windows and doors that go out onto the terrace. There, it’s decorated with two hammocks on either side, and a fire pit with a big couch before the floor dips and an infinity pool appears to spill down into the sea beyond it.
As the only couple on the trip, you and Drew take the master bedroom and the rest of the group split between the remaining rooms. They all tell you to be out at the pool as soon as possible, the group seemingly injected with energy now that you were finally here.
You follow behind Drew who’s carrying your bags into the room, dropping them down beside each other in front of the closet. Your room has a large window on one wall stretching down to the floor, giving you a view of the bay, quiet and tranquil. Your boyfriend instantly goes over to the bed and flops himself down, spreading out his arms either side as his legs dangle off the edge, bent at the knee as his feet rest on the floor.
“We need to meet the others,” You giggle, rummaging through your bag to find a bikini.
Drew pokes one eye open at you as you start to change out of your airport clothes, folding them on top of your suitcase as you pull your bikini on.
“Oi!” You wiggle a finger at him, “Stop looking.”
He laughs and rests one arm under his head to angle his head up a little, “Can we just sleep here?”
“No,” You raise your eyebrows at him, “Tie this up please.”
He pushes himself up to sit on the edge of the bed as you move to stand between his legs and his fingers come up to tie up the top of your bikini, fitting it neatly in a bow around your neck. When he’s done, he drags his hands down your sides until they’re at your hips and he guides you around to face him.
You lift up your hands into his hair and run your hands over it, watching him lean into your touch, “You can catch up on your sleep later.”
He wraps his arms tighter around you and rests his head against your stomach, pressing a soft kiss just above your belly button.
“I want to catch up on sleep now,” He mumbles, looking up at you with the closest thing to puppy eyes that he could give you, a pout on his lips.
You lean down until your lips are just an inch away from his, pulling away slightly before he can make any contact, “Then what’s the fun in me putting on my sexiest bikini if you don’t even get to enjoy it?”
He groans, from deep in his chest, as you kiss his lips quickly and pull away from his grip, glancing over your shoulder for just long enough to see him looking desperately after you, defeat hanging on his shoulders.
~~~
You’re out by the pool with everyone for no more than ten minutes when you hear the door of the villa slide open again and shut soon after. You’d managed to steal one of the netted hammocks in the sun, lounging back on it and basking in the relief of having the sun on your skin.
“Well look who decided to show!” Rudy grins from where he was in the pool with Jonathan, the two of them playing a makeshift game of water basketball.
Madelyn and Carlacia look up from where they’re sat with their legs dangling in the water, and Madison, Austin and Chase all look up from where they were squashed beside each other sitting on the other hammock.
You poke an eye open to see Drew closing the villa door, a pair of his new swimming shorts on and a navy baseball cap on his head. His torso looks even more defined and his skin looks desperate to catch a tan. He makes a beeline for you and grips the net of the hammock to stop it from swinging beneath you, towering over you to block the sun from above.
“Hi,”
“Hello,” You grin, “What made you change your mind?”
He rolls his eyes sarcastically at you before shifting himself to lay down on the hammock beside you, stretching out an arm so that you can rest on his chest.
“What you’re not going to join us? We’ve just set up a game!” Jonathan exclaims, splashing water in your direction that fails to catch you.
“Shut up,” You mumble in response and feel Drew’s chest shake with his laugh beneath you.
He draws lazy patterns up and down your arm as you rest on the rise and fall of his chest, and he moves his other hand up to knock down the cap from his head to cover his face.
“Good night,” He grumbles, his other arm wrapping around you to tighten his hold on you, making it certain you weren’t going anywhere.
You draw circles around his chest and torso as he starts to doze off, sleep overcoming him soon under the comfort of your touch.
The sleep deprivation felt worth it to fall asleep exactly like this, the rowdy noise of the rest of the group feeling forgotten when he had you in his arms.
Warnings: Slight references to sex, fluffy as ever
Author’s Note: Kind of a shorter one but this request was so wholesome to write! Thank you so much for your suggestion <3
There were a lot of perks to dating Drew. He was a good boyfriend in every sense of the word. He cared for you, he made you laugh, he checked all of the boxes. Oh, and he was obviously good in bed. But, wasn’t that kind of a given?
Your favourite part though, was always the moments after. The hours after, on more occasions than not. In those times it was like it was only you and him in the whole world. Nobody else. You saw each other in the way that nobody else did.
His legs were tangled with yours, you laying with your head on top of his chest. His arms were around your back, drawing lines up and down the smooth skin, forming goosebumps in their shadows. You’re sure that you could stay like this forever, both of you not needing to speak.
Drew dips his head down and kisses your temple and you lift your head up to perch your chin on his pecs, looking up at him with tired eyes. He smiles, the sort of fatigued smile he gave you in the mornings, his hair sticking flatter on his head now laced with sweat.
“Was it me or you that forgot to shut the window?” He comments, breaking the silence after so much time had passed that you were no longer keeping track.
You turn your head and only now realise the light spilling through, curtains swaying in the breeze as both sides of the wide window were open, “Oh shit.”
He laughs, a deep rumble in his chest, underneath you, “Let’s just hope we weren’t too loud.”
You hit his chest and sit up a little, a blush flurrying it’s way over your cheeks. You were almost one hundred percent certain that, with Drew, it was definitely too loud.
“It’s fine, babe, don’t worry,” He wraps his arms tighter around you to pull you back down to him, “We’re high up here anyway.”
You settle back onto him and he kisses the top of your head, stretching out one arm away from you to grab his phone.
“Plus,” He says, tapping the screen a few times, “What could be more perfect?”
Through the speakers around the room, the sound of the playlist he had made for you starts filling the space, quiet and floating through the air towards the open window. From the angle of your apartment, the moonlight was spilling through, a full moon tonight. From this high up, the sound of the city is almost completely drowned out, just a gentle hum in comparison to how busy it really was.
Drew hums along to the tune of the song, a deep rumble underneath you with his voice still thick.
"I never want this to end," He speaks out, and it makes you frown, pulling away from his chest just a little.
"What do you mean?"
"This, the way we are now," He smiles at you, cupping one side of your face with his large hands, stretching it along the space of your cheek, "Even in five, ten years time, I want it to be exactly like this."
You know he cherishes times like this, when you don't have jobs pulling you apart, or press taking you into two different countries. You could just be the two of you, completely immersed in each other. Every bit of time just stood still, even when it felt like your lives normally moved at a thousand miles an hour. Right now, right here, it all just seemed to stop.
"Exactly like this?" You smile, sure that you could stare at his eyes for as long as you lived.
"Well, maybe with a ring on your finger by then," He tangles his outer hand back into yours, brushing over the empty space on your ring finger, "We could be in a big house just out of the city, maybe a dog and a garden with a pool."
You can't help but look at him with adoration. As much as you wanted to live in this moment, you couldn't wait for your future with him.
"Tell me more," You mumble, resting your head back on his chest and letting your eyes flutter shut.
The moon was casting a glow onto his face but you were sure it was brightened by the excitement that radiated from him as he spoke. He told you about date nights, and decorating the house together, and picking out furniture for the nursery you'd eventually need. At some point, you could feel the sleep take over you and you drift off into a slumber wrapped up in him.
Drew stays awake a little while longer, listening to the rhythm of your breathing, the way it seems to blend with the slow beat of the music. He fixates on the way your hair falls over his skin, tickling every patch that it touched. The way your hands were tucked around the back of his shoulders like you were drawing him into you, the way your legs slotted between his as if they were the perfect fit. Every part of you made him certain that you were exactly the person meant for him. So he held onto these moments, sure that he wanted them for the rest of his life.
Summary: can u write an imagine with reader and drew starkey being at the beginning of the dating stage (met through friends and even though they both really like each other they haven’t revealed their love face to face) so during a party reader saw drew talking with a few actress, influencers, LA girls and she gets jealous and insecure so she starts distancing herself to him thinking that she doesn’t deserve him and she’s too ugly for him but she doesn’t explain herself and drew thinks that he had done something bad and after weeks decide to have a discussion annnnd they both revealed their feelings.
Warnings: Discussions of body image issues, alcohol use, I think that might be everything?
Author’s Note: Sorry this is so long - I started writing and kept going. It’s been a busy few days so I haven’t been writing as much but hopefully I’ll be back to it now :)
———
The thing about being in the celebrity world was that, eventually, everyone was connected. Whether it was a friend of a friend who worked with another guy on a film ten years ago, or it was a neighbour’s neighbour - everyone eventually got to someone else. That’s how you’d met the majority of the people that you considered friends in the industry. You’d released your first album three years ago but it still felt like you were taking your first steps in being ‘famous’. Thankfully, you’d met some good people - Kelsea had become like a sister to you and she’d taken you under her wing instantly. Since she’d started dating Chase, too, she’d been introducing you to more and more people - notably, Drew. She knew that you two would hit it off when she introduced you at a party and you clicked almost instantly, spending the entire night talking in a booth away from the crowd. Since then, he texted you everyday, he’d become the guy you rang when you were walking home or in a taxi on your own, the one you texted to say a quick ‘home safe’. He sent you stupid videos he found online, and facetimed you to listen to him run his lines, or when he needed help with what to wear to an event. Drew was just… nice, you know?
“Okay, sorry, I’m back,” His face pops back into the frame of the facetime call as he sits back down on the couch and picks up his phone from where it was sat pointing up towards the ceiling, “My food arrived.”
“What did you order?” You ask, propping your phone up against the coffee machine on your counter so that you could open your own bag of takeout food.
“I went for chinese food,” He grins, pulling out the boxes of takeout.
“Me too,” You laugh, “But the good place was closed so I had to order from the kind of shitty one.”
“You hate the kind of shitty one, you’re going to eat the chicken and say that it’s a bit dry and that your rice doesn’t have enough flavor, and then you’re going to complain that your takeout night was ruined.”
You narrow your eyes at him through the screen, “That happened one time! How do you even remember that?”
Drew chuckles and sets his phone down so that he can eat, leaning it against the lamp beside his couch so that he’s still visible in the frame, “I remember things (Y/L/N).”
“Okay, which film did you choose?”
“Oh, I picked a terrible one, you’re going to love it. And I think if we try a few times we’ll be able to get the timing perfect this time.”
~~~
“Okay so what are we actually going to tonight?” You ask Kelsea, laying back against the cushions on her bed as she potters around the room, deciding on her outfit.
“It’s a party, I don’t know anything more than that,” She laughs, “It’s meant to be good though, it seems like everyone in LA is going.”
“I don’t like these things, they’re so stressful,” You grumble, pulling the hood of your hoodie up over your head.
“Well maybe if you started getting ready you’d feel more up for it a-“
She’s cut off by the sound of a key in the door, followed by two familiar voices laughing as they walk in. The pair round the corner and you’re met with the sight of Chase and Drew coming into the apartment.
“Hey honey,” Chase grins when he sees Kelsea, going over to kiss her quickly, wrapping an arm around her waist.
“Hey (Y/N),” Drew wiggles his brows, slipping off his shoes and flopping down onto the bed next to you, he looks at you and puckers his lips exaggeratively.
“Grow up,” You roll your eyes, turning around so you can rest your head against his chest sideways, your legs dangling off the side of the bed as he stretches down the length of the mattress.
“(Y/N) I need you to talk some sense into Drew here,” Chase encourages, “He doesn’t want to come tonight.”
“I mean, I’m not up for it yet either,” You shrug, “I need like a shot or two and then I’ll be more in the mood to party.”
“Shots, okay, we can do shots,” Chase nods, “How about you two can start getting ready, and we’ll make dinner, and we’ll get some drinks. Sound good?”
“I didn’t agree to make dinner,” Drew points out, “Frankly I can’t think of anything worse.”
You reach a hand back to poke at his ribs and he flinches back from you, locking an arm around your neck and shoulders to trap you against him. He uses his other arm to tickle at your sides until you’re writhing underneath his touch.
“Drew!” You squeal, fighting to get away from him, your legs flailing.
Chase and Kelsea look at each other with a knowing expression, like they were watching the start of a film they already knew the ending to - a sort of inevitability that it seemed impossible to avoid.
~~~
You spend the next hour or two getting ready with Kelsea, changing your outfit three times before settling on one - a black crop top with spaghetti straps and a pair of wide leg black pants, heels underneath that were practically hidden by the excess length of the trousers.
“You guys ready to go? The uber’s here!” Chase calls out, knocking a couple of times on the door of the bedroom before poking it open just an inch or two before opening it fully, “Alright, good to go?”
“Yeah, yeah, let’s go,” Kelsea nods, smoothing her hands over her dress.
When she goes over to him, he wraps an arm around her and tells her she looks beautiful, kissing her shoulder. You follow behind and see Drew waiting for you as the other two leave just ahead.
“Well don’t you scrub up well,” He grins, reaching out his elbow for you to link an arm with his, still taller than you even with your heels on.
“Not so bad yourself, Starkey,” You laugh, holding your hand around his bent arm to help you walk with him.
“Okay, so, how long do we have to stay at this thing tonight?” Drew asks, stepping forward and reaching out a hand for you to take as you’re about to descend the stairs.
“Come on, it’ll be fine, at least we know a few people that will be there,” You point out, “Can’t be that bad.”
“You’ll be regretting saying that later, I promise,” He shakes his head, waving his hand a little more in front of you, “Come on, hurry up.”
He’s wearing a dark green button up shirt and black carpenter jeans, baggy around his legs. It seems to darken the features of his face, defining the freckles around his nose and cheeks, lessening the normal brightness in his eyes. His hair is growing out now from him shaving it for Outer Banks and you’re sure it gives him an innocence beyond what anyone else saw. You loved it most when it was messy, a hundred directions on his head, a sort of carelessness to it.
“Are you coming or what?”
It’s Chase that calls up from the bottom of the stairwell. And you realise for all of the time you’d been staring at Drew, admiring him, he’d been staring at you too.
~~~
The party is already busy when you arrive and there’s people queuing up outside to try to get in. Drew links arms with you as you get out of the car, like he’s constantly scared you’re on the brink of falling whenever you’re in heels. It’s in a club, already littered with tens too many bodies, and music that pounds from the walls, chatter drowned out by the noise.
“Let’s go get us some drinks,” Drew says into your ear and he moves his hand from your arm to press on the small of your back, guiding you in front of him as if he would shield you from the growing crowd behind.
You slip through non-existent gaps in the crowd until you eventually break through to the bar, waiting in the queue with Drew behind you. His hand falls to your waist, his body towering over you from behind and his eyes seemingly on full alert for everything and everyone around you.
“A tequila sprite and a rum and coke please,” You call over the bar to the server who nods at you with a smile, taking two glasses to prepare the drinks.
Drew shifts into the space beside you and leans his forearms on the bar, “Are you trying to get me-“
“Hey!” It’s a voice from beside him that interjects, a girl.
She’s about your age, you think, with makeup that you’re certain you couldn’t match even with the best products. She must be a model, and her outfit is like something straight from a runway. You’re suddenly aware of how itchy your top feels around your chest, and how your trousers don’t seem to be sitting in the right place on your waist anymore. But you ignore it, turning back to the bartender as he pours in the rest of your drink.
“Have we met before?” She asks to Drew, her hand falling to his upper arm.
He looks at her with a frown, “No, no, I don’t think so. I guess I would remember if we did.”
“Well, yours is a face I definitely wouldn’t forget,” She smiles in return, “Who did you come with tonight?”
“Just a few friends,” He returns.
You pause with the drinks glasses in your hand, suddenly hyperaware of how the condensation seems to scratch with the cold against your palms. A few friends. He wasn’t wrong. You and him were just friends, right?
“Well, maybe if your friends don’t mind you could come and dance with me,” The girl smiles, her hand not yet moving from his arm.
“Yeah, well, maybe I’ll see you around.”
With that, she disappears and Drew turns back in your direction, raising his eyebrows at you.
“Oh, um, here,” You clear your throat, stretching out an arm to give him his drink.
He takes it from you and smiles, taking a sip, “Alright, should we go find the other two?”
You nod and follow behind him in the crowd, he stretches an open hand back as if offering for you to take it but you pause before doing so. It was still undecided in your mind if that was a good thing or a bad thing that he’d been so completely nonchalant. Like that had just happened and it didn’t mean anything. Did it not mean anything because he wasn’t trying to flirt back? Or did it not mean anything because he didn’t think you should care if he was flirting?
After a second too long without your hold, Drew turns back to look for you, eyes flicking between you and his empty hand as if reminding you that he needed to know you were there. You place your hand in his palm and let his fingers wrap around you, not making any move to hold his hand back, just yet.
You meet up with Kelsea and Chase and end up on the dancefloor. Your drink is finished by now and so is another and another, and at some point you’d all done two rounds of shots. Drew is dancing beside you, his arm bumping yours as he moves, trying to make you laugh with every exaggerated dance, or every effort to shout the lyrics of every song he recognised.
At some point, a group of girls are dancing beside you and one of them reaches out to tap Drew on the shoulder. He turns around one another of the girls reaches a hand out for him to take, spinning herself around and starting to dance with him. Chase nudges you and points in that direction as if you hadn’t seen it in the first place, watching as Drew gets engulfed by the group, dancing with them as they laugh at his moves. Kelsea glances in your direction and her brows drop as if concerned, as if worried for your reaction. You force yourself to smile at her and tear your eyes away from Drew, taking a long sip of your drink.
This was silly. You couldn’t keep thinking about this. But the more you thought about not thinking it, the more you thought about it. And you found yourself looking to the group of girls more and more often. They were all in different dresses, and you were sure you recognised their faces from the TikToks that could come up on your for you page of ‘get ready with me’ videos or ‘get dressed with me to go to…’ videos, another two of them you’ve seen at a fashion week before. They’re gorgeous. Their makeup still looks pristine even after hours of being in this hot club. And you’re suddenly aware of how yours is starting to feel more obvious on your face, how your foundation probably doesn’t look as good as it did when you left. How the curl of your lashes has probably dropped by now, your lipgloss non existent. You’re thinking of everything.
When you look back again, Drew’s leaning down to the height of one of the girls so that she can speak into his ear. He laughs at something she’s said and pulls away slightly, his eyes catching yours as his gaze flicks away from her. He smiles but you find yourself looking away before you can think to smile back, feeling slightly less comfortable amongst the party of unknown people.
~~~
You’d stayed at Kelsea’s that night, sleeping in her spare room, and you’re up before she is, a cup of coffee in hand as you’re sat on her balcony.
“Hey, honey,” Her voice cuts in as you’re halfway through your cup of coffee, “How long have you been up?”
“Not long, the pot’s still full if you want some,” You smile, tucking your feet underneath you on the chair.
“I’ll grab some in a minute,” Kelsea responds, sitting down on the other chair, “So, how are you doing after last night?”
You look at her and ponder giving a dismissive response but her face is too genuine to try and lie to, “I- I don’t know how to feel.”
“Okay, well I’m just going to start this by saying you’re allowed to feel upset, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I don’t know if I am though Kels, like me and Drew are just friends - why would I think that I have any place to feel any type of way about him and girls from clubs, you know?” You shake your head, taking a sip of your coffee to stop your bottom lip from trembling, “I just… me and him… I’ve never seen him with girls like that, so I didn’t know what to think.”
Kelsea nods, knowing to let you speak before she says her piece.
“I know we’re friends, and that’s fine. But I just saw those girls and I saw the way they were with him and they looked so… and they had this like confidence and they just…” You take in a shaky breath, “I’m not them. I’m not going to be them.”
“Oh honey!” Kelsea comes off from her chair and crouches in front of you, her hands on your knees, “(Y/N) you don’t need to be them. Drew doesn’t want you to be them. Do you know that? I see the way he is with you, the way he talks about you, that’s not the way you talk about someone if you’re just friends. Those girls, the club, last night, they were coming up to him, he wanted to be with you. I know he did.”
You want to believe her. But even the mention of his name forces the thoughts of last night back into your head, cycling through them like snapshot images, each one a little clearer and stinging just a little more.
“I’ll be okay,” You reach one of your hands down to squeeze Kelsea’s, “It was just one night. It’s okay.”
She furrows her brows and rubs her thumb over your knee, “Alright, I’m going to go and wake Chase up before he’s late for his press stuff.”
Kelsea disappears back inside and you sip down the rest of your coffee, drawing your legs up to your chest and trying to breathe out the tightness between your lungs, blinking away the blur of tears from your eyes.
~~~
It’s a day later when you realise you can only go so long avoiding Drew - perhaps less time than you’d originally thought that it would take. He had texted you a bunch yesterday, originally a good morning text, then turning into a couple of videos he thought were funny, ending the video string with one about when ‘the one person you speak to doesn’t reply’. By the night, he sent you one message saying that he was starting to get worried now that you hadn’t replied, and that he just wanted to check if you were okay. Today, he had called you in the morning and then followed up from his other text saying he was probably just being stupid but he wanted to make sure you were good. You reply with a simple;
Just been busy, got studio sessions coming up. Speak soon
You debate sending a heart at the end but delete it before pressing send. He reads it straight away and responds;
Fuck me I’m just glad you’re alive, felt weird going more than a day without speaking to you!! Hope your studio sessions go well, superstar <;3
You like the message and lock your phone, the same tightness settling on your chest as you’d had at the club, as you’d had yesterday morning. Your breath turns shaky again and you try to ignore it.
The next few days go relatively the same - Drew texts you in the morning, sends you something that reminds you of him or tells you to listen to a song that he’s found. You reply a few hours later with a short response or just react to the message, not wanting conversations to carry on like they normally do.
Another couple of days in, he calls you as you’re leaving the gym and you wait for it to go to voicemail, listening to it as soon as the notification comes through.
“Hey, superstar. I wasn’t sure if I’d get through to you, but I’m guessing you’re busy, um, just calling to say… well, I don’t know what I’m calling to say. Just that I miss you, I mean it’s only been a few days but… I don’t know. Feels weird not talking to you, so call me when you get the chance, let’s make plans or something. Alright, I’ll leave you to… well, I don’t know what you’re doing, which is weird, it feels like I always know what’s going on with you… um … whatever, call me back, or don’t if you don’t want to, I don’t know I-“
It cuts off after that and you’re just met with the monotone voice of your voicemail asking if you want to repeat the message. You listen to it once, twice again, finding comfort in the sound of his voice for those digital seconds.
Your finger hovers over his contact as you think of calling him back but you shift it to the text button instead.
hey! sorry i didn’t get to my phone in time - just been busy with the new album so the days are just going too fast. not sure when i’ll be free, i’m sorry
He reads it instantly and the elipsis bubble appears to say he is typing, disappearing and then reappearing a couple of times.
i told you not to forget me when you were famous (y/l/n). I miss you!!!!
You bite your bottom lip to stop yourself from crying at the words, reluctant to try to come up with any response that would feel fitting.
speak soon !!
~~~
It’s another week later when Kelsea invites you over for dinner, one of those sort of ‘no isn’t an option’ invites. You turn up with a bottle of wine and she wraps you in a bear hug when she sees you, a hand on your shoulder before she lets you come into the apartment.
“What’s going on?” You frown, looking at the slightly panicked expression on her face.
“Okay, don’t be mad,” She winces, “But Chase didn’t realise you were coming tonight and Drew’s here before they go out for dinner with the cast. He’s been asking about you.”
You shrug your shoulders, shake your head, “No, it’s okay, don’t worry. We’re friends, it’s fine.”
She furrows her brows a little, “Are you sure?”
“Of course!” You force a smile that you’re certain is believable enough and she must believe you, leading the way into the kitchen where there’s already a dinner cooking on the stove.
“Hey (Y/N)!” Chase gets up as you walk in, hugging you quickly.
You hug him back and, over his shoulder, spot the sight of Drew standing from his chair at the kitchen island.
“Hey stranger!” He raises his brows, “Where’ve you been?”
“Just a busy couple of weeks,” You nod, tightening your grip around the bottle of wine, “Been a bit M.I.A I guess.”
“Yeah, just a little,” He smiles softly, his eyes seeming to yearn for a little piece of you to come back to him, “Well it’s good to see you.”
You clear your throat, “You too.”
You try not to notice the way he watches you as you cross the kitchen, taking your jacket off and finding a bottle opener in the drawer to open the wine. You avoid eye contact when he watches your move to grab a glass from the shelf, pouring a portion of the liquid into the glass and swirling it around.
When you take a seat at the island, it’s the one furthest away from him. And when his eyes find yours then, it’s like they’re full of worry for his defeat - like this had just confirmed every thought that had been going through his head for the past week and a half. You, once again, find yourself trying to ignore the tightness in your chest, the way it restricts your breath as if he’s pulled it into him. Your eyes turn away from him as soon as you can force yourself to.
You’re just leaving Kelsea’s that night when you see the call come through. You’re almost a full bottle of wine in and it’s late as you’re descending the elevator to get to your Uber.
Your phone buzzes and your lowered inhibitions are the only reason you answer.
“Hello?”
“(Y/N),” His voice sounds slightly breathless on the other end of the phone, “You answered.”
“What’s happening Rafe?”
“Um…” He clears his throat and it crackles down the phone line, “Chase just said that Kelsea texted saying you were heading home. I figured you’d be getting a taxi.”
“I am,” You return, “I’m going down to it now.”
“I always call you when you’re getting a taxi.”
You swallow the lump in your throat, “No, you don’t need to-“
“I always do (Y/N). We’ve known each other for seven months, and I always call when you’re in the taxi, why wouldn’t I?”
“Have you been drinking, Drew?”
“Have you?”
Both of you are silent.
“Is that the only reason you answered?” He asks and you’re sure you can hear a shake in the words.
You don’t respond.
“What’s going on, (Y/N)?” There’s definitely a shake now, somewhere close to a tremble, “Why does it feel like I’m losing you?”
“You’re not losing me I’ve just been b-“
“Don’t say you’ve been busy,” He quips, “You’re always busy, but you always make time. This isn’t that, this is different.”
You’re silent.
“Answer me (Y/N),” He doesn’t raise his voice, but the tension in his words seems heightened, harsher.
“Are you free tomorrow?”
“I’m free now,” He responds, “I’ll be at yours in half an hour.”
It might be the remaining buzz of alcohol in your system, or the sight of your taxi driver turning into the road, your way home, to Drew, but you don’t think twice when you say;
“Okay.”
~~~
A painfully slow thirty minutes later, Drew buzzes your front door to come up to your flat. He lets himself in and you’re sat waiting as if counting the seconds of him ascending in the elevator. You’ve drank a bottle of water by now and the wait has seemed to sober you up quicker than usual. And then there’s a knock at your apartment door and you’re sure your heart stops as you open it.
He’s wearing a shirt that’s unbuttoned at the top, wrinkled around the bottom from where it had been tucked in but wasn’t anymore. He looks disheveled as if he’d rushed to get here before the minutes caught up with him, or perhaps before you changed your mind.
“Hi,”
“Hi,” He breathes out, “You look beautiful.”
You were wearing a baggy t-shirt that hung around your thighs, a pair of gym shorts underneath, your hair pulled back from your face in a bun with strands seeming to fall out on their own accord, no makeup on your face but your cheeks rosy from the wine in your system.
“Do you want to come in?”
He steps through your front door and you step past him to close it. Drew doesn’t make any effort to move further and neither do you. He’s just stood in your hallway looking at you and you’re stood with your back a few feet from the front door, somewhat feeling isolated now you knew he wasn’t leaving.
“What’s going on (Y/N)?” His shoulders drop as if he just needed to get the words off of his chest, a relief slipping over his features to finally say the words to your face.
“I-“ You take in a deep breath, “I just feel like things are weird between us.”
“They’re weird, yeah,” He scoffs, “They’re weird because you’ve been avoiding me.”
Drew laughs then and you find yourself letting out a little laugh too, the two of you gripping onto the pieces of normality that still remained.
“Did something happen at that party? Because I’ve been wracking my brain and that’s the last night I can remember where it felt like things were normal. And since then I’ve barely seen you. Did something happen? Did I do something? Did I say something?”
You shake your head and wrap your arms around yourself as if you’re cowering away from the idea of having to admit to anything.
“(Y/N)…”
“I hated it-“ You stop yourself, letting your thoughts gather, “We were at that party and I hated it. These girls were flocking to you and flirting with you and chatting to you and all I could think about was how much I hated it. Which is stupid because I have no reason to feel like that but I couldn’t help it and then I hated that I felt like that because I-“
“(Y/N), breathe,” Drew steps towards you, his hand reaching out and lacing with yours.
The contact seems to ground you, his eyes burning into your skin but somehow seeming to calm the raging fire of your nerves.
“I know I have no reason to be jealous, I know that, but I just,” You shake your head, “I was jealous.”
“You were jealous,” Drew returns, the corners of his mouth upturning with the slightest glimpse of brightness on his features.
“It’s stupid because I know we’re just friends and I know that I don’t want to lose that and-“
“You were jealous,” He’s really fighting back a smile now, but it seems to fight harder against him as his lips stretch into a grin.
You look up at him then, your eyes locking with his, you’re sure you forget how to breathe for just a second.
“Why didn’t you just tell me?” His brows furrow for a second but he doesn’t seem to lose the joy on his face.
“I just-“ You look down again, “I didn’t want things to be weird between us, or for you to lie and say that you felt the same way.”
Drew moves his free hand up and presses a thumb underneath your chin, his index finger bending around the front to push your chin upwards, guiding your eyes towards him, guiding you back to him. His eyes are sincere, flicking between either of yours.
“It wouldn’t be a lie.”
You open your mouth and close it again, words catching on your tongue as you’re sure your whole body is going to freeze in this exact spot. Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing - to stay in this moment.
“But maybe next time you’re feeling jealous, just tell me. Does that sound good to you?” He dips his head just slightly, his fingers not moving from around your chin.
You laugh lightly and nod your head, “That sounds good.”
He chuckles and moves his hand around to cup your cheek, his thumb rubbing over the skin, “And those girls? They’re not you.”
You feel your cheeks heat under his touch, his gaze, his words, “Not me?”
Drew shakes his head, “I don’t think anyone could come close,” He hums, dropping his head closer to you until his lips are just an inch from you, breath hot over your features.
In just a second, his lips press to yours, softly as if savouring the feeling of the first time. His hand moves from yours to instead drop to your hip, guiding you backwards until your back is flush against the door. With the contact, he deepens his kiss against your lips, his fingers slipping back into your hair.
When he pulls away, you’re both a little breathless against each other.
“God I’ve waited so long to do that,” He mumbles, pressing his forehead against yours, a smile crawling onto his lips.
“Next time please don’t wait so long,” You laugh, your arms moving to link your hands behind his neck.
“I don’t plan on it,” Drew smirks, dipping his head once again to kiss you, more sure of himself than before.
And, then, you’re sure. You’d stay locked in this moment if you could.
Warnings: Mentions of pregnancy, I think that is all
Author’s Note: Thank you for the support and your requests recently, I love you all <3
———
“I’m just saying, like, it’s a boy, it would be rude to not call it Drew, right?” Your boyfriend comments from beside you as he opens your door in the car, stepping back to let you get out.
“Please don’t suggest that they call him Drew,” You laugh, “Because then they’re going to be disappointed when they have to tell you his actual name.”
Drew scrunches his face in that way that makes him look pouty and adorable, “You’re crushing my dreams.”
The two of you were walking across the parking lot towards the hospital, on your way to see his sister. You’d got the call a few hours ago that she’d had the baby and Drew had been on the phone to the hospital straight away to find out when was the earliest time he could visit. You’d stopped at the mall on the way here and Drew now had a green stuffed dinosaur under his arm, a congratulations balloon bouquet floating up from one of his hands, and the biggest card he could find in the store. You had a bag filled with a grey blanket, the softest one in the shop, and a few outfits. Drew had picked out a pair of trainers too that matched a pair he owned - yes the baby wouldn’t care, but the look on Drew’s face was too priceless to turn down.
He’s keeping up with the pace of your steps beside him but you can tell he’s fighting off the urge to run off and find his sister’s room as soon as possible. Whenever the thought of what had just happened crossed his mind, a grin spilled onto his face.
“Are you excited?” You smile at him.
Drew turns around to you and grins brightly, “I get to be an uncle!”
You laugh at him and the two of you go through the double glass doors that lead onto the maternity ward.
“Okay she said they’re in room 215,” Drew mentions, tucking the dinosaur under his other arm so that he can lace his fingers with yours.
You lift your interlocked hands and point out a finger in the direction of a sign reading 201-250, “This way babe.”
When you two get to the right door, Drew pulls back on your hand a little as he stops in his tracks.
“What’s up?” You frown at him, “It’s this one.”
He lets out a breath, “Why am I nervous?” He laughs through it but you can see the slightest hint of worry in his eyes.
“Come on, Uncle Drew, you’ve got a nephew to meet,” You squeeze his hand, releasing it to knock gently on the door and open it.
His sister and her husband, are both in the bed, he is perched on the side with his arm around her. In her arms is a small bundle, all wrapped in blue with a tiny white hat just poking over the top. Drew is stood behind you and his face falls into the softest his features can become, his eyes bright like he is sure nothing can be more perfect.
“Hi!” Drew’s sister grins, looking insanely put together for a girl who had just given birth.
“Oh my god congratulations!” Drew beams and his brother in law gets up to give him a hug, “We bought you some bits.”
“Some is an understatement,” The man laughs, taking the balloons and the toy from Drew who goes over to his sister to give her a cautious hug.
“How is he? How are you?” Drew asks, speaking quietly like he’s terrified of being heard.
“He’s good, we’re both doing okay, just tired,” The new mother smiles, “Do you want to hold him?”
Drew looks at her like she’s just asked him to take on his worst fear, that worry returning to his eyes, all words slipping away from him.
“Here, sit down, I’ll pass him to you,” Her husband encourages him and waits as Drew sits in the visitor’s chair beside the bed.
He holds out his arms as his brother-in-law hands over the baby, careful and delicate like he’s the most fragile thing in the world, the most precious. You walk over and stand beside the chair, putting an arm around Drew’s shoulders so that you can lean over and see the little bundle in his arms.
Drew looks up at you with tears spilling over his eyes, threatening to fall, “He’s so small.”
You laugh lightly and look up to both of them, Drew’s sister’s expression matching that of his own.
“So have you guys thought of a name yet?”
“Yeah, we have, actually,” He smiles, “His name is Leo.”
“Oh my god it’s perfect,” You respond, “Leo Davila.”
“Leo Drew Davila,” The Mom comments, pursing her lips like she is preparing for the reaction already.
Drew looks up and his lips part like he has lost his ability to reply, “Wh-“ He looks back at you quickly like he’s making sure he hasn’t misheard, “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, I mean, who better to name him after, right?” His sister laughs, “And… we actually have a question to ask you guys, if you don’t mind.”
You frown a little but there’s a weird fluttering in your chest like you’re certain of what’s about to be said. You knew how close Drew and his sister were, and how much he would care for this baby as if it were his own, but it is still a shock when you hear the words -
“We wanted to know whether you guys would be his godparents?” His brother-in-law smiles, looking between the two of you and then back to his wife.
“Us?” You croak out, sure that you’ll cry if you try to speak any more.
“Yeah, both of you. I know I couldn’t imagine anyone else being his godfather, and (Y/N) you’ve become like a sister to me, I couldn’t have anyone better,” She smiles, “Obviously you can say no but I just know that Leo would be in safe hands with you two.”
“Of course we will, we’d love to,” Drew stutters over his words, looking up at you again, “Godparents has a nice ring to it.”
“Thank you so much guys,” You say, going over to hug them both.
“Here, do you want to hold him, babe?” Drew offers, standing up cautiously and slowly from the chair.
You nod and take the baby from his arms, conscious as you rest his head over the crook of your elbow, his tiny form fitting into one of your arms as the other one draws around him to encase him in your hold. His eyes are closed and the hat on his head covers the majority of the dark strands of hair on his scalp. His lips are parted just slightly and there’s a little redness in his cheeks, like a warmth. You draw a hand up to his and tickle at his chest and arm. At the movement, his tiny hand moves just slightly and wraps around your finger. You can feel the tears in your eyes blurring your vision but you can’t bring your eyes to pull away from him.
“I think he likes you,” She grins, “Drew you might have some competition for favourite.”
Drew laughs, raspy like his voice is still laced with emotion, “I think I’ll accept the defeat to (Y/N).”
He steps over to you and wraps an arm around your waist. You settle your head on his shoulder and the both of you look down at Leo like he’s the most precious thing you’ve ever seen. Sure now more than ever that you would make certain he grew up knowing how much his auntie and uncle loved him - no matter what.
“You three look adorable,” His sister grins, “It has to be you two next, doing all of this.”
Drew looks down at you and you tilt your chin to look up at him as he says, “Yeah, maybe.”
You narrow your eyes at him, “You gotta put a ring on it first, Starkey.”
He laughs and it rumbles through his chest against your head, “Yeah, yeah, I’m working on it.”
In that moment, you can picture it all. Everything you’d seen from the sidelines for Drew’s sister and her husband, you could see it all for you and Drew. A lifetime forever that would be shared with your own versions of the little bundle of joy wrapped in your arms. You lean into Drew a little closer and he tightens his hold on your waist, like you’ve just confirmed your entire future together in no more than a few moments.
Author’s Note: This was so fun to write thank you for this request !! I hope you like it <3 Have a lovely day x
———
“Alright, quiet on set!” Someone shouts out and the room falls to a relative silence, everyone focusing on the scene about to play out.
It was Drew on his own, his character on the phone finding out that your character had just ended up in hospital. He was giving it his all, like someone had genuinely just given him the news about you.
You two had been dating for just under a year now and were working on the second film of the series that you’d worked on together when you first met. Your characters were dating and it hadn’t taken long for you to develop the same feelings for Drew. It was strange coming back to working together again, this time a couple. It was strange seeing the two of you act out scenes like you were pretending with your own relationship.
“And cut!” The director calls out, “Alright, Drew, let’s take a break for lunch and come back to it.”
The crew starts to disperse and filter out of the room, and you wait for Drew’s head to bob above the crowd for you to catch up with him.
“Hey,” You catch his arm when you spot him, “Good job, babe.”
He looks down at you and shakes his head, “I just couldn’t get it, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
You frown a little at him, “I thought you played it well, I think maybe they just want a bit more emotion.”
“Yeah, okay, I’ll wait for them to tell me what they want,” His voice seems cold, but you put it down to him just being stressed about the role, wanting to get scene after scene exactly right. He was dedicated to his work, you couldn’t blame him.
The two of you walk in silence back in the direction of your trailers and you follow him into his one, it being rare that the two of you ever split off into your own trailers anyway. "The two of you walk in silence back in the direction of your trailers and you follow him into his one, it being rare that the two of you ever split off into your own trailers anyway.
"You're not going to lunch?" Drew comments, not looking back as he hears the trailer door close behind him.
"Well, I'll wait for you," You shrug, sitting down on the arm of the couch against one side of the extended room.
"I'm not hungry," Drew returns, still not making eye contact with you - that's the way you always knew something was wrong, he wouldn't connect your gaze. It was like there was a brewing guilt in his eyes that he didn't want you to latch onto.
"You've got to eat, babe," You frown, watching as he paces the short length of the room.
"I'm not hungry," He raises his voice then, not enough to shout but enough for you to notice.
You flinch.
"Sorry," He says quickly, "I'm just stressed about this scene."
You stand up from the couch and walk over to him, dragging your hands up his forearms until they reach his elbows, your eyes trying to catch his gaze, "Hey, don't be stressed. You'll get it."
Drew clenches his jaw and turns his head away from you, staring at an empty spot in the cabin.
"It's fine, you know you can do it," You bring one hand up to cup his cheek and he instantly flinches away from you, pulling away from your contact like you'd been burning into his skin, "Okay what the fuck was that?"
He runs a hand over his short hairs, "Nothing, I told you, I'm fine."
"Drew it's one thing for you to be annoyed about the scene but don't take it out on me," You shake your head, watching the way he moves as if he was waiting to explode.
"I'm not taking it out on you," Still not looking at you, "This is all just different, isn't it?"
"What are you talking about?"
"This, us working together, it's weird don't you think?"
You pull your head back as if hit with a wave of inevitable confusion, "What? You think it's weird that we're playing a couple in a movie when we're actually a couple?"
He doesn't respond, and his eyes still won't find you.
"Drew is there something I should be worried about?" You can't fight off the quiver in your voice, the way it seems to shake the air between you.
No response.
"Okay what the fuck is this?" You question, "Seriously, what is going on Drew?"
"It's just different!" He shouts this time, no mistake in the way it seems to echo against thin walls, "We're together in the morning, and we come here, and we have to pretend to be other people, and we eat lunch together, and we go for dinner together and we go home together, and we fuck and we come back the next day. We're together here and we're together at home, and there's just... it wasn't like this last year."
You wrap your arms around yourself, feeling like it could stop the shiver from running down your spine, "Drew I-"
"We didn't have to think about this last year, we liked each other and it was new and exciting and it was just... different."
This time it's you who is speechless.
"I think that came out wrong, I didn't mean-"
"Maybe you'd be better off if I wasn't here," You say coldly, wrapping your arms tighter around yourself, "You know, just for something... different."
You hurry out of the trailer like the place is on fire, feeling the burn of the conversation lingering behind you, the way the words now seem seared on your brain like they were more permanent than an apology could ever seal.
~~~
You don't think to stay around on set for any longer, they didn't need you and you'd left in the first available car. You hadn't cried yet, even when the director asked you three times if you were okay, but you felt sick and dizzy and tired and weak, and everything bad that your mind could think of.
It got even worse when you got back to the apartment you were temporarily renting with Drew. You collapse onto the bed and sigh, like the first breath you've taken since you'd left him, your eyes drifting up to the one piece of personality in the room - a framed photo of you and Drew that he'd packed to bring with you. It was one of the two of you on set from last year, his arms wrapped around you from behind and his chin resting on your shoulder, you were laughing because his breath on your neck was tickling you, and he was looking at you like your giggle was the most angelic thing he'd ever heard.
You reach a hand away from atop the covers of the bed and pull the photo down so it faces downwards towards the nightstand, closing your eyes and willing to wake up to that exact scene.
~~~
Sleep must've overcome you at some point, because you wake up to the weight of a blanket settling over you, the material itching a little at your shoulders. Drew is leaning over you, pausing with his hands just grazing your sides when he sees your eyes opening.
"Shit, sorry," He says quietly, "I just thought you looked cold."
"What time is it?" You mumble, your voice croaky with sleep as you rub a hand over your eyes.
Drew looks down at the nightstand to check the old antique clock, his eyes falling to the photo of the two of you. It's like you can feel the air knock out of his lungs for just a second. He picks it up with his long fingers wrapping around the length of it.
"I love this photo," He can't resist the smile that paints his face.
You shuffle backwards and sit against the headboard of the too-big hotel bed, drawing your knees up to your chest. Drew sits down on the edge in the absence of your legs, his hands still gripping the photo frame.
"I'm sorry about what I said," He speaks slowly like he's ironing out every word, not wanting to speak too hastily like he had done before, "I was stressed about the scene, and about the film, and I just spiralled. You were there and I took it out on you. And I feel sick about what I said to you, I hate myself for it."
You take a deep breath and try to stop the ache in your heart from letting you reach out to him, "Drew, I need you to be honest with me. If that's how you feel, tell me. If I'm wasting my time with this, tell me."
"Hey, no, no, no," Drew reaches out for you, gripping your hand to pull it away from yourself, "I wasn't thinking straight."
The tears spill now, and they shake through your shoulders, "I can't stop thinking about what you said, it's just repeating in my head," Your voice breaks, the words croaking out.
"(Y/N) please," His voice matches yours, "Just tell me what I can do."
When your eyes meet his, feeling like the first time in forever, you feel like you're looking at a different boy. And the realisation hits you that your answer to his plea is simply nothing.
Warnings: Cursing, jealous relationship, some sexual hints at the start but it's barely there
Author's Note: Tried to make this a little more fluffy because I've been writing so many sad stories recently aha !! I hope you like it <3 Thank you so much for your request and for your lovely words x
---
"Babe are you ready to leave?" Drew calls out from downstairs, where he's tugging his shoes on.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," You say, throwing your necessities into your bag and slinging the small strap over your shoulder.
You grab your heels and hurry towards the stairs.
"We're going to be la-" He turns around to see you at the top of the stairwell, "Holy shit."
"Good shit or bad shit?" You laugh, hurrying down the steps and rushing to tug your shoes on at the bottom.
"Like the best shit," He smiles, "You look incredible."
You were wearing a burgundy red dress with a square neckline and a fitted bodice, the skirt with a high split on one side, with black heels and a black purse to match.
"Very sexy," He wiggles his brows as you stand up from getting your shoes on, smoothing a hand over your dress.
"Keep it in your pants, Starkey," You taunt, "We're going to be late."
You head out of the house and he follows behind you, opening the car door for you before you can get to it as you get into the passenger seat. He looked smart too, a grey suit that made his shoulders look broad and brought out the colour of his eyes.
"So, how do we know these people?" You ask him, checking over your makeup in the rearview mirror.
"I went to school with the groom, we were all in like one big group of friends," He explains, "Well, they were technically Freya's friends first but then I got to know them all obviously."
"Freya?" You frown a little, turning your attention towards him.
"Yeah," He nods, switching the car into drive and putting his hand on the back of your chair to start reversing off the driveway.
"Wait, hang on a second," You wipe your hands on the seat, "You didn't tell me your ex was going to be there."
Drew stops the car and looks at you, as if taken aback, "What are you talking about? You knew we still had the same friends."
You can already feel the lump in your throat, the way it seems to constrict against your attempt at any words, "I just... I don't know."
"Relax, (Y/N), believe me, we wouldn't be going if you had anything to worry about," He scoffs and starts reversing the car once again, one hand moving to find the aux cable that he reaches out for you to take.
You weren't sure why your chest still felt so tight.
~~~
The ceremony was a success and, of course, you cried - you couldn't remember the last time you got through a wedding without crying. Drew had sat through the entire ceremony with his arm around your shoulders on the back of the chairs, his fingers running over the curve of your shoulder aimlessly. You were now all mingling outside before the reception, both with a cocktail in your hand and Drew's eyes scanning everywhere to find food now that he was complaining about his stomach grumbling.
"Well, look who it is!" The voice seems to ring through you before you've even turned to see who it is.
You instead watch the way that Drew smiles at the sight, outstretching his arms, "Long time no see!"
A petite blonde hurries into his arms, her hair in big curls around her face and flowing down her back. She's wearing a blue dress that hugs her in all of the right places, shaping her curves like something you'd see as a Facetune final product.
"Oh its so good to see you Drew," She grins as she pulls away, "And you must be the famous (Y/N)!"
You force yourself to smile but you know it doesn't look natural, "Hi, it's nice to meet you."
"I'm Freya, but I'm guessing you've heard about all of us from Drew already."
"No, I don't think he's mentioned you," You shake your head, "Are you friends from school?"
Freya looks between you and Drew for a second and you can feel his eyes on you, a raise in his eyebrows like he's waiting for you to look at him.
"Yeah, me and Drew go way back," Freya continues, "You look gorgeous, I love this dress!"
"Thanks," You nod, taking a sip of your drink so you don't have to say anything else.
Freya takes a deep breath and turns to squeeze Drew's arm, "Well I need to go and find the happy couple, and do the rounds so I don't miss anyone. I'll see you two later, okay?"
She dismisses herself and Drew tilts his head to look down at you until your gaze catches him.
"Really?" He raises his eyebrows, less in surprise and more in irritation, "Are you kidding?"
"What are you talking about?" You shrug nonchalantly, moving your straw to your lips to take a sip of your drink again.
"Alright, not here," He glances around at the crowd before placing a hand around your forearm, pulling you with him as he weaves his way around the bodies.
The two of you break into a clearing just outside of the crowd, where you're out of earshot of the other guests.
"What the hell was that?" He questions, nothing but severity in his voice.
"Oh come on Drew," You scoff, "She was practically all over you. Well, look who it is," You mock her tone.
"Don't be like that, (Y/N)," Drew rolls his eyes at you, "You know we're friends, and she even told you that I mention you a load so what do you have to be worried about?"
"You don't have to deal with this, though, I don't speak to any of my exes, you wouldn't see them at weddings," You point out, "It's just weird."
"Jealousy doesn't look good on you, (Y/N)," He shakes his head, "I'm going to get another drink."
With that, he disappears back into the crowd of mingling people. You sip down the rest of your drink and take a deep breath, wanting nothing more than for the hours to tick down until you could leave.
~~~
You speak to a few of Drew's friends that you did know, and speak to the bride when you congratulate her on the day, doing whatever you can to avoid going over to where Drew was chatting to his other friends from school and a couple of the groomsmen. It was obvious that he kept looking over to you, his protective streak needing to keep an eye on you despite what he'd said. You find yourself looking at him too, willing for your eyes to catch onto each other at the same time.
Eventually, the two of you are sat down next to each other at one of the tables, surrounded by a group of people you didn't know. You sit down silently and watch as Drew does the same beside you.
"Hi, I don't think we've met before," The guy next to you starts, a man about your age with the typical features of tall, dark and handsome, "I'm Josh."
"I'm (Y/N)," You offer him a smile in return.
"How do you know the couple?"
You try to avoid looking over at Drew, "Just friends, you?"
"Yeah, I work with the groom," Josh explains, "You know, finance and all that boring shit."
You laugh and he turns around a little so that he is more centred towards you. Almost as soon as the movement happens, Drew reaches out an arm around the back of your chair.
"Do you want a glass of wine, babe?" He asks, leaning forward and towards you on the table as if making certain that Josh could see him.
You turn and glance at him momentarily, "I'll have a white wine please."
He smiles and presses a kiss to your shoulder, "Okay, honey."
Josh glances at the two of you and clears his throat, "I'm going to run to the bathroom before the food comes out."
You turn your head back towards Drew as he pours out the bottle of wine into your waiting glass.
"Really?" You try to fight back a smirk, "You know jealousy really doesn't look good on you, Starkey."
He doesn't look at you, but you see him clench and unclench his jaw, "That's not the same thing, that guy was all over you."
"Is Freya single? I'm sure they'd make a great couple, they have a lot in common," You taunt and he sets the bottle back down into the middle of the table.
He can't help but smile at your comment, leaning back into his chair.
"You're lucky you're cute," You mention, leaning to him to press a kiss to his jaw.
He smiles brighter at the touch, leaning into you just a little.
When you pull away, he brings up a hand to tuck a piece of your hair behind your ear, his gaze flicking between each of your eyes as if searching for confirmation that you are listening to him, "You know you have nothing to worry about with Freya, right? She's just a bit full on but we're friends, we just stayed friends because it was easier than trying to split the entire group when things ended. I don't know why I didn't tell you, I should've done. I just didn't think it would matter because you should know how crazy I am about you."
"Crazy, huh?" You fight back the smile tugging at your lips.
He runs his thumb down the side of your jaw, his fingers hooked behind the back of your head as his other hand brings your fingers up to his lips, "Something like that," He presses a kiss to your knuckles.
"Nothing to worry about?" You say and he draws his eyes back up to yours.
"Not with her, not with anyone. Not now, not ever, okay?"
"Okay," It comes out as a whisper as you smile at him, your cheeks heating up.
He leans in and kisses you firmly, longingly, as if solidifying his erasing of every worry you'd ever had, his confirmation that you were his and he was yours.
Author’s Note: Hope you like this !! Let me know if you have any other requests.
———
“Alright (Y/N), we need you on set,” One of the crew knocks at the door to tell you and you push yourself up from the couch to follow after them.
This was your second season working on Outer Banks and you had still not managed to get over the fact that the entire thing felt like one big vacation rather than actual work. It was a few months of working out in the sun, with a bunch of your best friends, and your boyfriend - what more could you want?
The majority of your scenes were filmed with Drew and you’d be lying if you said that wasn’t inevitably how the two of you had become so close filming together last season. By the time filming had wrapped, the two of you still spent every day together until eventually you realised you were essentially already dating. Now, you could come back to work and act out being a couple with the guy who was your boyfriend already. Though, dating Drew was a far cry from dating Rafe - the two were polar opposites in most ways.
“There she is!” Drew grins when he sees you, makeup around his eye to make it look like he’s got a bruise, “Don’t worry you should see the other guy.”
You laugh and let him wrap his arms around you, kissing the top of your head.
“Are you excited to do some stunts?” You ask against his chest as he runs a hand up and down your back.
“You mean am I excited to watch both of us get flung across the room? Yes, I can’t wait,” He jokes, pulling away to look at you, “Time to pretend we’re toxic and probably shouldn’t be together.”
You frown at him, “Isn’t that us normally?”
Drew rolls his eyes and takes your hand in his, the two of you walking towards the waiting set.
For context, your character and Rafe had started dating at the end of last season - his first proper love interest for the show. Your character opted to forgive everything that Rafe did, becoming an apologist for him on the island, and so they’d started seeing each other. They argued and screamed and broke everything in their sight when they were in the middle of a fight. You and Drew couldn’t remember the last time you argued, and the biggest fight you’d ever had was over which film you should watch on date night.
“Alright guys we’ve got everything set up for you,” The director comes over to explain, “If you guys want to get into the places like we rehearsed, we’re going to run the argument scene first and then get you guys wired up and go straight into the explosion - we’re going to do it as one big sequence if we can.”
The two of you agree and get into your places, the two of you in a hut on the water, one that would soon go up in flames.
“Alright, quiet on set!” Someone yells but, by now, all of your attention is on Rafe in front of you, “And three, two, one, action.”
“What are you doing here Ally?” Drew drags a hand through his buzzcut hair, his face seeming to shift as soon as his Rafe side comes out, darker and more menacing than Drew could ever be.
“What do you think I’m doing here? Did you think you could just walk out and leave me there?” You wave your hands in his direction, “What do you think this is?”
“I don’t care what this is, Ally, I don’t give a shit,” He returns, his eyes burning into you, “Why can’t you get that into your head? This isn’t fucking happy families.”
He turns his back on you and drags a hand over his face, tension growing in his shoulders.
“You can’t keep doing this Rafe,” You return, injecting the character of Ally into every one of your words, “You can’t keep pushing me away and then dragging me back in when it suits you. That’s not how this works!”
“THEN THIS DOESN’T WORK, DOES IT?” The words bellow deep in the space between you, seemingly shaking the wood of the hut as you flinch back in shock.
You cower away from him slightly, tucking your arms around yourself and for just a second you see a glimpse of Drew in the regret between his eyes. But this is Rafe, and so he turns his back on you once again, a wild hand swinging towards a lantern on the table, knocking it down and shattering it over the floor.
“And cut!” The director yells and you seem to switch back to reality almost instantly, “Great job guys, we’ll get set up for the stunt now.”
“Wow, almost believed that you hated me then,” You wiggle your brows at Drew and he comes over and grabs both of your hands in his, lacing your fingers together.
“I hate doing these scenes now,” He shakes his head, “It feels so weird.”
“But you didn’t mind yelling at me before?” You joke, squeezing his hands.
“Oh, it was much easier,” Drew laughs, “I found it a lot easier to be a psychopath before you came along.”
You shrug your shoulders, “Don’t blame me babe.”
You turn around and he wraps his arms around you from behind, perching his head on your shoulder as you wait for the crew to set up the rest of the layers of the stunt. The storyline of the scene was that Rafe was about to burn down the hut, covering it in gasoline before you’d arrived, as the lantern knocks, the whole place is supposed to go up in flames - leaving you and Rafe hating each other and trapped together.
“Alright so we’re going to have you two coming out of the flames, the plan is that you’ll fly back, hit into the wall and that’s when Drew you’ll be trying to get (Y/N) out of the fire because she’ll have hit her head. Make sense?” The stunt coordinator explains, “We can have a few runs but like they said, we ideally want this as one sequence so it might take us a few tries.”
“Sure, sounds good,” You nod, “I can play dead for a while.”
“And I can pretend to care,” Drew nudges your side and you hit his arm jokingly.
“Alright, lets get into places guys,” The director calls over the speaker and you walk onto your spots as the scene is set to begin, “Three, two, one, action!”
“What the fuck have you done Rafe?” You yell, hand coming up to your face to shield you from the fake flames.
“Get out! We need to go!” Drew bellows, his voice thick with fear.
You turn and the fake explosion sets off in front of you, blocking your exit. Drew stumbles back from it, his arm up to shield his face. But, as he does, he trips and falls further back, his arm colliding with your face. Your head knocks back and you stumble slightly, hearing the director yell cut within a split second.
“Oh shit!” Drew exclaims, turning around to face you, his hand gripping your arm, “(Y/N), I’m so sorry, are you okay?”
Your hand grips at your face as you start to feel blood pool beneath your nose, “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay, you just caught my nose, it’s okay.”
“Shit, fuck, I’m so sorry, I don’t-“
Before he can say anything more, the on-set medics rush over and try to get between the two of you.
“(Y/N) come with us,” One of them says and you try to blink the blurry vision out of your eyes, “We need to get that looked at.”
They’re holding you from either side to guide you away from set before Drew can say anything more. But he watches you leave, dragging a hand over his head as his eyes start to blur with worry.
“Alright, let’s all take a break guys,” The director comments, “Are you okay Drew?”
But he’s following after you before he can think to respond.
~~~
They fix you up in the medics tent and assure you that it’s not broken but you’d likely be left with a healthy bruise. They tell you to leave ice on it but that they were happy you didn’t need any further attention and you take that as an ideal reason to get out of there.
As soon as you open the door to the medics’ trailer, you see a hunched over form sat on the few metal steps leading up to the entrance. He turns around as soon as the door opens.
“Oh my god are you okay?” Drew scrambles to stand up, “They told me not to go in but I-“
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” You half-laugh, “Don’t worry, they said it’s just bruised.”
“I just didn’t even realise you were stood there, I don’t know why, and then I don’t even know what I tripped on but it shouldn’t have been there and then I-“
“Drew!” You put a hand over his, your other hand still holding an ice pack over your nose, “Stop worrying! It’s fine, I’m genuinely okay.”
He furrows his brows, his lips parting and then closing again like he’s re-thought what he’s just about to say, “Let me see it.”
You pull the ice away from your face and he winces instantly, examining it like he wasn’t certain with the medic’s decision.
“(Y/N) that looks painful!” He grimaces, squeezing your hand.
“And that’s what medication is for,” You wiggle the pack of ibuprofen in his face, “I’m genuinely okay, I’d tell you if I wasn’t.”
Drew furrows his brows, contemplating it before deciding to believe you, “Okay, let’s go get some lunch, come on.”
He wraps an arm around your back and guides you across towards the makeshift cafeteria.
When you both get in, the rest of the cast are already sat down but they hurry over as soon as they see you, worry plastered across all of their faces.
“(Y/N)! We heard what happened, are you okay?” Madelyn frowns, scanning your features like she’s checking you over.
“Yeah, I’m okay I’m okay,” You nod your head, “It was just an accident.”
“God Drew how did you manage that?” Chase jokes, hitting him on the chest.
Drew rolls his eyes and squeezes your waist, “I’m going to get you some food.”
Rudy frowns as he walks away, “What’s up with him?”
You shake your head, “I think he just feels guilty, but I genuinely am okay. It could’ve been worse.”
Before they can say anything else, Drew comes back over to you with a full plate of food, stacked up as if he thinks you haven’t eaten in days.
“Here, come on, let’s sit down,” He encourages, guiding you over to one of the tables.
Drew sits down beside you and puts an arm over the back of your chair, rubbing your back up and down.
You can feel his eyes watching you, focused on your face as you start to eat, like he’s worried part of you is about to break in an instant.
“Drew,” You set down your fork and turn to look at him, putting a hand on his leg, “I promise you I’m okay.”
“Wha- no, yeah, I know, I was just-“
“You’re watching me eat,” You smile a little, “I love you, but I’m fine, honest.”
He sighs and nods his head, bring up one of his hands to cup your cheek, his eyes flicking between each of yours, “I just can’t believe I hurt you.”
“Drew, you didn’t mean to. It was an accident,” You lean into his touch, “I would tell you if something was wrong, it’s just going to be a bruise.”
He nods like he’s finally agreeing with you, turning and resting his head on your shoulder, his hand moving to your thigh and resting there. One thing was for certain now that the two of you were acting together again, Drew was as far from Rafe as you could possibly get.
