Her eyes were looking the man in front of her up and down. Every inch of his skin. But she had no idea, who he was. How the hell did he know her and why did he call her Mrs. Country Club. Who the hell is the man, holding a gun against her chest?

"I hope you only hear good things about me then", Anastasia cracked a confident smirk.

"I mean depends on who you ask", the stranger shrugged,"Country Club certainly loves it".

"I certainly don't", he rolled his eyes,"Having to listen to his stupid rambling about you".
Sounds like Mr. Stranger here is in love with Country Club then, Anastasia thought.

"What are you talking about?", JJ dared to speak up. The stranger turned around to face JJ and he crackled a laugh.

"A mutual friend", the stranger explained,"Lately he's been talking all about how your beautiful girl friend here has promised him she'd 'hate him forever'".

Country Club is Rafe Cameron.
Anastasia had told him she'd hate him forever at a party.

"And guess what?!", he laughed once again,"He was honestly trying to make me understand that she is actually still in love with him because she chose to tell him she'd hate him. Delusional huh?".

Aaron Warner type of delusional, yes.

"Well anyways", the stranger walked over to Pope, pressing the gun against his chest,"Go ahead and give me the gold".
He was obviously going to Pope because he was the weakest link. He was sweating, trying to breathe to avoid a panic attack.

Anastasia watched him walk over to the Twinkie, giving John B a sad look. But John B didn't react, he'd just be glad once this was all over. The gold didn't matter to him. At the end of the day his friend's lives mattered.

Pope handed the gold to the stranger, who forced him back into the line. But the masked man didn't leave right away. Instead he turned around to face Anastasia once again.

"One thing I have to admit: I get why he is so obsessed with you".
He looked Anastasia up and down.
The pogues watched the two in a nervous silence.

"Oh really?", Anastasia smirked and stepped out of the line, in front of the masked man,"I hope he told you that I'm very resentful".

"Indeed he did", the stranger winked,"Multiple times".

"Alright then", Anastasia smirked,"I'm looking forward to seeing you again then".

"What for?", he moved closer to Anastasia.

Anastasia moved even closer to him, staring right into his brown eyes. And he was staring into her green once, suddenly he found himself mesmerized by them.

"Payback". Her voice a silky smooth threat.

Anastasia knew she had the man in front of her wrapped around her finger just by her gaze. So she used her changed and hooked her finger around the cloth he wore around his face to mask himself.
Anastasia tore it down within the fracture of a second, revealing his face.

"Bitch!", the man hissed and quickly turned around, running back to his car with which he left.

"Jerk!", Anastasia yelled back. But once her gaze met John Bs she was pulled back into reality. This idiot stole their gold.

Suddenly Anastasia felt a hand on her waist, pulling her back. She saw that it was JJ, who was pulling her to the Twinkie.
"What are you going, JJ?".

"I need you to drive", JJ said seriously,"I know this guy and where he lives".

"-What?". John B asked but followed his friends.

"We are going to get our money".

-

No one dared to say a single word on the ride in the Twinkie. Except JJ was telling Anastasia the directions she should take. She was driving like their live was depending on it. John B had never seen his car driving so fast, neither did he have the abilities to drift around a curve without slowing down.

Once they arrived, JJ jumped out of the car and ran into the house this guy was supposed to live in. It rather looked like a she'd in the middle of nowhere.

"What the hell is he doing?", Kiara asked, her voice breaking from all the stress.

"Stealing from a drug dealer", John B answered and knew he had to stop his best friend from making a mistake he couldn't undo. He followed JJ inside.

"Is everyone okay?", Anastasia asked her friends, watching everyone nod slowly. She knew they wanted to ask her about the conversation she had with the stranger, who he was talking about.
But all that Anastasia could do was pray Sarah wouldn't connect the dots.

"Don't you try to talk me out of this John B!", JJ yelled leaving the house with a duffel bag in his hand,"I have 25k in this duffel bag. It rightfully belongs to us! He stole from us!".

"But we don't steal!", John B replied,"Thanks not what we do!".

"Well I do now", JJ scoffed,"I'm not gonna let anyone play me out like that!".

Kiara stepped closer to JJ, shouting:"Come on JJ?! Stealing from a dealer!".

"We deserve it and you know it!", JJ yelled back, clearly not enjoying this argument.

"What is wrong with you?!", Pope spoke up and suddenly JJs face dropped.

"Really Pope?!", he nervously ran his hands through his hair,"I took the fall for you man!".

"And I'll pay you back", he replied,"But this is enough!".

"What is it with you guys?! I thought you're my friends and now-".

"Yeah because we had enough of you shit!", John B yelled, hurting JJ clearly.

"-My shit?!".

"Yeah", Kiara snapped,"You pulling guns on people! That shit".

JJ stood there speechless. His friends just fell right into his back. The one time he was doing something for himself, and himself only.
Sarah watched them argue in silence.
It was Anastasia, who could hold back anymore.

"JJ, please", she spoke up softly, but his gaze met hers cold as ice. She had never seen him like this.

"No!", he shook his head,"No! Not you too, Anastasia".

"I'm just trying to-".

"I don't care!". His words hit her like a punch in the face. "I'm not going to let anybody of you talk me out of this".
He took a look around and his gaze stopped on Anastasia once again.

"Especially not you, Anastasia".
"-What?".

"Who was this idiot referring to? A mutual friend? What's his name?!".
Anastasia was speechless. She had never seen JJ like this. Like a manic hurting everyone around him.

"I don't know". She whispered back.

"Yeah exactly", JJ scoffed and threw the duffel back over his shoulder,"I'm leaving".

They all watched him leave into the woods.

-

Ever had that feeling of being torn apart. Ripped into different directions at the same time. Even though a force is pulling you somewhere - you never move.

Anastasia had been sitting on this barstool for over an hour after she had spent her afternoon helping her dad in the workshop. She was torn.

A part of her was angry. Like a fire was roaring on her insides, waiting to spread out to destroy everything.
Their gold was stolen. JJ and the pogues had a huge fight. And Anastasia felt like she didn't do enough. She should've yelled at the stranger, at JJ. She should've done something. Now she was angry at herself.

Though she also couldn't stop thinking about JJ Maybank.
One of her best friends, who she didn't recognize anymore earlier this morning. Pain, anger but mostly jealousy was in his eyes when they settled on Anastasia. She had never been looked at like that. Neither did she expect this from him nor understood any of this hatred towards her.
JJ didn't even let her finish talking.

'i miss you' was the third and last thing on her mind; the reason she was sitting at the bar in the Country Club.
Waiting to run into Country Club.

At dawn when there was nothing to do and Rafe finally slept out his high from last night he was ready to do it all over again. The plan was set: pregaming in the Country Club and then Barry's after. He desperately needed some new stuff.

Until his ocean eyes settled on the woman at the bar and he was starting to doubt his vision. Once he was standing right next to her, he comprehended that it was indeed Anastasia Hill sitting at the bar; drink in hand. Though she hadn't taken a single sip.

"The usual". Anastasia knew it was him. His voice, his smell; she knew him all too well.
He sat down next to her, his eyes scanning her entire body and Rafe knew something was up.

"Didn't expect you here", his voice sent shivers down her back and Anastasia was damning herself,"Especially since you're ignoring me".

A scoff fell off her lips. Of course he had to bring it up. Her eyes lifted and Anastasia looked at him. Their eyes met; he was already staring at her, smirking.
"Don't kiss and tell, Country Club".

Rafes smirk dropped immediately. Only Barry called him like that.
His mind started racing and Anastasia could tell. She looked away and her lips curled up into a superior grin.

"What happened, Anastasia?". His voice had changed completely. Suddenly Anastasia could hear emotions.

"Don't act like you care", Anastasia rolled her eyes, slipped a tip over the counter and left.
Rafes eyes followed her as she walked away. He knew that something was up. He could feel it in his gut. So he followed.

"Wait!". Anastasia kept walking.

Suddenly a big hand wrapped around Anastasia's elbow, pulling her off to the side. Her hip hit the fence behind her and Rafes huge body was blocking her from every other side. There was no way she was gonna get out of this now.

"Tell me what happened, Anastasia. What did Barry do?".

His ocean eyes were staring into hers. In a way that Anastasia could remember from the other night; when they were both out of town and it turned out Rafe Cameron was a romantic.

"He told me pretty interesting things about you", Anastasia smiled confident.

"Like what?". His voice was stern.

"You can't stop talking about me whenever you're with him. It's like you're-", Rafe blushed,"-obsessed with me".

A soft smile appeared on his lips.
"You should know by now that I am obsessed with you. With the whole contemplation of you".

For a single moment Anastasia held her breath. Her heart skipped a beat. She didn't know if he meant it or if this was just another game of his.
She avoided his gaze.

"I mean it, Anastasia", Rafe could see her fragility and he wanted her to know that this was the truth, that he meant every word,"I-".

His finger touched her chin, softly lifting her head, forcing Anastasia to look at him. When their eyes met, Anastasia knew she was going to melt if she wouldn't intervene right now.
And she didn't want to melt.
Not right now, not when her friends were fighting.
So she dropped the bomb.

"Anyways that's what Barry told me", Anastasia spat,"After he put a gun against my head".

Rafes face dropped. "-What?!".

Silence.
A thousand voices running through Rafes head.

"Did he hurt you?!", his hands ran up and down her body, checking,"Are you alright?".

"Y-yes". It was hard to find her words because of his touch.

"I'm gonna kill him".
His voice husky as his eyes darkened. Rafe was ready to destroy the guy he called a friend. He'd destroy anyone for her.

"-No don't!", Anastasia quickly intervened before Rafe would get all worked up. She grabbed his hand to calm him. Before his fight or flight response would kick in and he'd go wild.

"Don't hurt anyone in my name", she added, staring into his ocean eyes,"Not again".

"But-".

"-I'm fine, Rafe". Anastasia assured.

Rafe took a deep breath, remembering the last time he revenged someone in Anastasia's name; remembering the night Anastasia was driving the getaway car - the night she left him.

"I can't just let this go", Rafe shook his head, breathing hard.

"Talk it out", Anastasia intervened her fingers with his,"But don't hurt anyone physically. Please".

Maybe Anastasia was right. After all Barry was supposed to be his friend. Maybe he didn't mean to hurt Anastasia. Maybe he did all of this for something bigger.
Still he sucked at talking; communication over all. The only person who'd understand him blindly was standing right in front of him, holding his hand.

"Can you come with me?", Rafe asked, his gaze lowering. He looked at their intervened hands. "You know I'm not good at talking".

"I-". Anastasia quickly glanced at her phone to check the time.

    Three missed calls from: blondie💸