DREW'S POV

We arrived at the beach around 1PM, and it wasn't crowded since it was a Saturday in the middle of September. For the most part, we had the beach to ourselves, which allowed us to let loose even more.

We invited a couple more of our friends since we knew they were in town as well. Nick Cirillo, Carlacia Grant, and Lilah and Cooper Pate met us at the beach and it felt so good for all of us to be together again. We always had such a good time together.

Once we all got settled on the beach, we let the party begin by playing music on Lilah's speaker and each of us cracking open a drink. We all stood around talking with each other, catching up on what some of us have done in the past few months.

It was so good to catch up with Nick, it had been awhile since the last time we saw each other. I introduced him to Mallory and he seemed to welcome her with open arms.

I couldn't express how much love I had for this group of people. They all meant so much to me and they were always so fun to hang around.

Music was now blasting on the beach, everyone had a drink in their hand. Some of us were playing spike ball while others watched and cheered on the competitors. It felt so great to be around some of my closest friends as well as having my girlfriend there. We were all having so much fun just by letting loose.

I went over to the cooler to grab Mallory and I another drink. She was currently learning how to play spike ball with Rudy, JD, and Lilah. Watching her hang out with my friends like this made me feel so good inside. I was so glad that my friends accepted her and our relationship.

"Drewseph," I heard before I felt someone pat my back. I turned my head so see Chase with a drink in his hand as well. "How was your night last night?" He asked me before he took a sip of his drink. Nick followed Chase up to me so we were now standing together.

"Good," I nodded, not wanting to go into much detail. Though Chase knew about a majority of the night, since him and Mads helped me plan it out, he didn't know what Mal and I did once we got back to our place.

"Just good?" Nick asked me as he raised his eyebrows.

"Really good." I nodded, cracking a smile before I took a sip of my drink.

"I take it she said yes." Chase commented as he looked over at Mallory who was now playing spike ball. I nodded in response as I watched her as well. She was too damn cute. "So it's official then?"

"It is." I answered. Mallory was officially my girlfriend. That felt so weird to think about. It was definitely going to take some getting used to.

"It's about damn time." Chase chuckled. "I mean shit, the amount of girls I've tried to set you up with and all it took was for some girl to run into you on the side of the street?"

"None of them were her." I said softly as I continued to watch my girlfriend. Chase had tried to set me up with some girls over the last couple years, but I didn't feel a connection with any of them the way that I did with Mallory.

"Shit, man," Nick chuckled. "Don't be getting all sappy and shit now."

"Look at you, dude, you're already pussy whipped, I guess just minus the pussy." He chuckled as he took a sip of his drink and I looked over at him, not commenting on what he just said. "Am I wrong?" He smirked and I shrugged as I now took a sip of my drink. He was wrong, but I wasn't going to let him know that. "You're not denying it. Unless, you actually did get some." He grinned.

I tried to hide my smile as I took another sip of my drink. I did get some, and shit, it felt good. I hadn't been intimate like that with someone in so long, I wasn't going to deny the fact that I finally got some.

"Holy shit," Nick gasped as he realized why I wasn't commenting. "You finally got laid?" He questioned quietly so no one could hear us.

"Maybe." I chuckled.

"I was wondering how you got those scratches on your back." He chuckled as he clinked his drink with Chase's.

My eyes widened, completely forgetting about my back. They already figured it out, I wasn't going to go say anything else.

"Hey," I heard Mallory behind us and I turned around to see her walking up to us, out of breath from the game she just played. I watched her strut over to us, my breath taken away as always. She looked so beautiful in her light purple bikini that contrasted her tan skin. Her platinum blonde hair sat on top of her head in a messy bun. She was so effortlessly stunning.

"Hey," I breathed, a smile lifting on my lips which resulted in Mallory smiling.

"We'll leave you two alone." Chase said, patting my back once more before walking away with Nick.

I handed Mallory the drink I was supposed to bring her and she thanked me, cracking it open and taking a long sip.

"Chase doesn't like me, does he?" She asked after a minute. She looked up at me and though she was wearing sunglasses, I could tell she was squinting by the way her eyebrows were furrowed.

"What?" I nearly gawked, caught off by her question. "What the hell makes you say that?"

"I feel like every time I come near you guys, he walks away." She said as she looked up at me.

"Mallory," I laughed in disbelief. "Are you serious?" I couldn't believe she thought Chase didn't like her.

"Well, you aren't denying it, so," She shrugged as she took a sip of her drink.

"C'mon Mal, he loves you." I told her. "We all love you. You get along so well with everyone, it's like you were meant to be with us."

She cracked a smile up at me before letting out a small laugh. "Nice save."

"I'm serious!" I defended. "Were you not just playing spike ball with Lilah?" I asked her snd she nodded. "Now, if Lilah likes you, that's saying something." I told her.

Lilah was mainly the one who brought us all together, and if she didn't like someone, she made it known. I was glad to see Lilah interacting with Mallory. I knew Mal would get along with her.

"I guess," Mallory shrugged.

"Don't be silly, Mal. Chase doesn't mean to walk away from you. He probably just forgets he has a girlfriend of his own."

"They literally live together." She looked up at me confused.

"You know what I mean." I shrugged it off as I took a sip of my drink.

"I don't actually," She chuckled.

"Anyways," I said, wanting to change the topic. I hooked my arm around her as we looked out to the rest of our friends who looked like they were having a good time. "How was playing spike ball for the first time?"

"Uh, hard." She said as if it were obvious. "I don't know how you guys do it."

"You'll get the hang of it," I told her. "It's fun though, isn't it?"

"Yeah," She now admitted it. "If that's you're way of having fun on the beach."

I chuckled at her comment. It was our way of having fun on the beach.

I now walked us over to where our friends were, and we continued our time together laughing, having fun, and enjoying this beautiful Saturday.

It was now getting late and the sun was starting to go down. Mallory was with the girls, Mads, Bails, Elaine and Lilah. Chase and I were distanced from our friends and I figured it would be a good time to talk to him about Mallory. What she asked me about Chase not liking her stuck with me, and the last thing I wanted was for her to feel uncomfortable or unwanted.

"She's cool man," Chase replied when I asked him how he felt about Mallory. "Mads loves her, I'm sure it won't be long 'til you love her. She gets along great with everybody."

He didn't answer my question.

"Yeah, but how do you feel about her?" I repeated.

Chase looked up at me, a sly grin on his face. "I feel," He started before he took a sip of his drink. "That as long as you're happy, I'm happy for you. She's a cool chick, what do you want me to say? I like your girlfriend?" He asked me and I shrugged, not really knowing how I wanted him to answer my question. "What's this all about anyways? Why are you asking me this now?"

Chase was digging his foot in the sand and as I was about to answer him, I noticed Mallory come over to us, her phone in her hand.

"Wait, guys, don't move." She said as she held up her phone and I heard her camera click. "The sunset looks so pretty behind you guys." She said as she now showed me the picture.

Half of the sky behind us was dark gray from the clouds and it faded into a bright orange sunset going behind the trees. It blew my mind that the sky formed like that so quickly because just a minute ago, the sky was still blue and the sun was still up.

I asked Mallory to send me the picture and she did right away. I went onto my phone and looked at the picture more.

"Can I post this?" I asked Mallory and she nodded. "Do you want me to tag you?" I always made sure to tag the person who took the picture I was posting and I wanted to make sure it was okay with her.

"That's up to you." She shrugged.

I decided to post the picture and tag Mallory. My followers were going to have to get used to seeing her name around. Might as well start somewhere.

drewstarkey
Charleston, South Carolina

drewstarkey   idk what's prettier... the sunset or @hichasestokes
📸: @malhud98

Let the confused comments from fans begin...

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a/n:

sorry for the late update wattpad wasnt working on my laptop so i had to edit this chapter on my phone and i was dreading it bc i hate revising on my phone but its fine everythings fine

a few things:

1) i cant believe this has over 10k (almost 11k) reads???? im so shook thank u guys seriously i love y'all<3

2) i prob wont be updating again till wed or fri of next week. ive been super busy and i havent had time to write and i usually am like a few chapters ahead of the game but ive fallen so behind so i need time to get myself together and write the best that i can

and 3) u guys prob dont care but i usually dm the obx cast or swipe up on their ig stories or dumb shit like that right. well a few days ago i swiped up on nick's (barry's) ig story and he answered my dm last night?????? i was freaking tffff out and i just had to tell y'all bc wtf

ok i think thats all have a good weekend see y'all next week<3