new year's —
27. last day

three days later - charleston time

      They were leaving tomorrow.

It was Tuesday and they were leaving tomorrow afternoon at 12pm and Kira and her friends were currently on the set of the Outer Banks, being invited by the cast, to watch the behind the scenes before they leave. 

This idea came from Drew after his schedule changed and needed to be on set more hours and because of that, he decided to invite Kira so he could spend more time with her and for her to see the magic of the show. These past two days were spent spending time at the beach with Kira and all their friends, filming, surprising Kira with ice cream late at night and walking through the streets and just trying in general to be with her whenever he could. 

After his confession of feelings to her, he realized that, even after the kiss, she never said she liked him back. Of course that was kind of stupid of him to think that, Kira kissed him but he was still doubting that she didn't actually liked him in that way. Once again, Drew was stressing about something that didn't make sense, but for his sake, he was under a lot of pressure. The scenes he was in were intense and took a lot from him, so he was always exhausted and by the time the director yelled cut, he realized he needed a break.

"Ten minute break." He shouted.

Drew released a breath he didn't know he was holding and left the garden of his character's house, going straight to a table where he grabbed a bottle of water, drinking it.

"Hey, you were cool back there." 

He heard a familiar voice speak behind him and looked, seeing Kira. She had this white loose dress, with small sunflowers all around it that she sent a picture to Drew yesterday while shopping, seeing if he liked it. He liked it, a lot.

"Did you like it?" He asked and placed his water bottle back on the table.

"Of course, seeing an actor in action is so much different." She shrugged, smiling. "And you know that I study film so this is actually a dream come true."

Drew laughed. "How could I forget? I'm glad you enjoying it."

"Now I really need to watch the show." Kira laughed and got a smack on the arm provived by Drew. She gasped. "Hey!"

"How come you never saw it? I never got the chance to ask." He crossed his arms.

"Well, I don't know honestly. My friend Blair watches the show and she was always talking about it, but I never, like, saw pictures or videos about it. But I liked the way she was telling me the plot or just commenting about something a character did and I just, I don't know." She shrugged and looked around her, at the people working there, the scenarios. "I guess I didn't felt the need to watch it when I had this thing going with Blair, it was fun since I didn't know anything, so it felt like we were gossiping about people."

Drew smiled and he was actually glad, in some way, that she didn't watched the show. It was refreshing to meet someone who didn't knew him from the internet, someone who didn't took conclusions from his persona based just online and actually met him from zero. That made him less anxious.

"Well, thank you Blair for talking too much about it." 

Both laughed. "I guess she was somehow, a matchmaker."

Kira smirked and Drew took that opportunity to get close to her and with both hands, pulled her hair back, away from her face. He noticied her arms closing around his waist and then he did the same but around her neck. They stared at each other for a bit, feeling each other's presence, taking time to appreciate the time that they had together before she left.

"I guess she kinda was, but you don't know...You could still kissed me that night".

Kira shook her head. "Not happening. If I knew you from the show, I wouldn't kiss you." 

Drew frowned a bit. "Why's that?"

Kira shrugged. "Well, it would feel like an invasion of privacy and it would be awkward for me, I didn't want to take advantage of you." 

Drew laughed. "Well, you did take advantage of me."

Kira gasped. "Shut up."

"I'm joking, but I get what you mean." He kissed her cheek. "I'm glad you didn't knew me."

Kira smiled but before she spoke, someone from behind them called.

"Wrap it up, love birds." Kira looked and saw Madison wave her over. "C'mon Kira, I want to show you the rest of the set."

Drew hugged her closer and snuggled closer against her neck. "Don't go, I want to be with you every chance I get."

Kira melted at those words, Drew made her feel some type of way and she didn't want leave either. 

"You are such a baby." She laughed and stepped away from the embrace. "I will see you in a bit."

Drew frowned but didn't got a chance to argue, when he heard the director calling everyone back. He sighed and kissed Kira on her forehead.

"I will see you in a bit."

They smiled and both went on their ways, Drew feeling calmer coming back to the set than when he left.

. . .

      Kira and her friends decided to invite Drew and his friends to eat dinner at their place.

After they finished shooting for the day, everyone went down to the beach for a few last swims before they left, and during that time, Kira suggested that everyone go over to their place for dinner and enjoy their last night together.

Chase, JD and Flynn were engaged in a conversation about instruments and music, Lucas was chatting with Rudy about his skate tournaments while eating some appetizers, Marcus was preparing some drinks with Drew, each other sharing their knowledge about the subject and Madison, Madelyn, Carlacia and Kira were outside, enjoying the summer breeze with their glasses of wine on their hands. They were having the familiar girl talk, switching the topics between friendships, alone time and relationships, this topic soon focusing on Kira.

"I don't want to be cliché, but I never saw Drew this happy." Madelyn commented and sipped on her wine. 

Kira shook her head, nervously. She expected this topic would come up and she didn't mind, because they were Drew's friends, they knew him better than her, but it made her nervous, because of the same reason. They knew Drew better than her.

"Agree." Madison interjected. "I don't remember Drew being with someone these past year, I guess he kinda gave up on that." 

Kira frowned. "What do you mean?"

"When the season of Outer Banks came out, everything changed for all of us. We really did got famous over night, everyone knew us but even though that was something good for our career, it also came the negative parts and that was something that Drew couldn't handle that well." Madison took a sip of her wine and looked at Madelyn to proceed.

"Yeah." She agreed. "Everyone dealt with fame on their own way, but Drew kinda disconnected from everything related to the online world, the constant evasion of his privacy cost him someone on his life that he adored and he never forgave himself to listen to social media instead of her. He doesn't post as much, he doesn't want people to know his online, that kinda stuff. I know that if he's comfortable with you, which he is, he's gonna tell you more about this, because it also connects with the start of his anxiety and I guess I want to live that part to him."

Kira nodded apprehensively. She noticied that being famous wasn't something that celebrities braged about, she saw their privacy being ripped away and the constant eyes on them, and she understood why Drew was more kept of himself. She noticied the way he's frequently taking deep breaths and moving his rings on his fingers or just turning off the wi-fi. These simple gestures that made more sense to her now.

"But." Madison started to smile and nudged Kira with her shoulder. "He posted you and that was something I didn't expect." 

Kira looked down, shaking her head smiling, her cheeks getting red.

"That was nothing..." She added, but she knew that wasn't nothing.

"Nothing?" Carlacia gasped, shocked. "Girl, that was something out of character from Drew."

The girls nodded and Kira was left speechless. She didn't know what to say.

"Listen." Madelyn grabbed her hand. "He likes you, really likes you. Like we said, Drew gave up on relationships a bit, he was scared that everyone only wanted to be with him because he was famous and the fact that you showed up, treating him like a normal person...it changed something in him. As cliché as it sounds."

"You guys are leaving me without words." Kira laughed nervously. "I just,...I like him but I feel so overwhelmed, because I never felt this way about someone, these feelings were so fast that it scares me sometimes. I'm all in the moment person, but this scares me." 

The girls got close to her, Madelyn placing her arm around her shoulders and Carlacia and Madison grabbing Kira's hands.

"Listen, we understand." Carlacia started. "We understand these feelings, I guess at some points on our life we all felt that, but it just like you said. Just try to live in the moment, enjoy this passion that you having. You guys have something unique happening."

"And Drew is the happiest that I ever seen him, he looks more relaxed." Madelyn completed.

Kira smiled at each one of the girls. She never thought that meeting Drew, would also bring her people that was slowly creeping into her heart.

"Thank you, so much." Kira smiled.

The girls all hugged each other, smiling and laughing, trying to not spill the wine, before Drew opened the balcony door smiling at the scene in front of him. 

"Why are we all hugging? I want a hug." He spoke.

The girls untangle themselves and looked at the person in question, everyone smirking when they noted.

"Nothing of your business, Starkey. It's called a girls talk for a reason." Carlacia stated and everyone nodded.

He raised his hands as if in defending himself. "Take it easy on me, please. I just wanted to tell you guys that the food is ready."

Madison, Madelyn and Carlacia got up and went inside, Kira took her time and before she got in, she hugged Drew. He went still for a moment, but managed to wrap his hands around her, smelling her lavender perfume.

She looked at him. "Here's your hug, handsome." 

She winked at him and went inside, leaving a smiling Drew behind.

author's note.       next chapter is their final goodbye :(
gonna miss them being together, but things have to move on and quickly!
maybe too quickly is gonna to cause something we dont know!

thank u for the 40k i love u <3