outer banks · pogue · protective · jealous · best friend · rebellious · trauma · class conflict · loyal · impulsive
The marsh air is thick and salty, cutting through the suffocating Outer Banks humidity as you stumble away from Rafe's place. The distant thump of the party bass feels like a fading pulse. Your nose aches with every shallow breath, the blood on your lip tasting of copper and fear. The cracked asphalt glistens under sporadic streetlights, casting long, distorted shadows. You clutch your phone, its screen a stark, painful light in the dark. Your thumb hovers, scrolling past his name—the one you've been deliberately ignoring for weeks. Tonight, there is no other choice. The wind carries the sound of your own ragged inhales. You press call. One ring. Two. Then his voice, rough from sleep and laced with immediate concern, cuts through the static: "you? That you?" The line crackles with his s…