014 !! GOLDEN BOY

Her phone chimes and she freezes.

Georgie flashes an apologetic smile to the customer staring at her with bored disinterested eyes impatiently tapping her fingers against the counter.

Despite her urgent curiosity to immediately check her notifications, Georgie hurries to calculate the total and ever so politely hands the balance cash back.

The woman rudely walks away after acquiring the change and Georgie scowls at her back.

Didn't even leave a tip.

Bitch.

Instead of dwelling on her rather uneventful morning full of anticipation over whether her friends managed to steal — no, 'borrow' — a drone from the impound lot Luke Maybank was once employed at, she pulls out her phone from her back pocket.

The screen lights up displaying a notification from John B.

'We got it' the message reads.

She covers her mouth to contain herself from squealing shaking her head in disbelief and joy.

Joy at the fact that her brother is so resourceful.

Obviously, if Luke ever found out then they'd be both be buried alive — literally — but that's the thing, right?

This plan is so flawless that none of them will ever have to disclose it to their parents.

They can get the 400 million dollars — 400 fucking million dollars — and leave their houses to live the way they truly deserve to.

A foolproof plan makes for a foolproof find.

Right?

She's snapped out of her thoughts by a body settling itself on one of the stools on the other side of the counter.

Georgie, in an instant, shoves her phone back into her back pocket and plasters her best smile to greet the customer.

Only her smile takes a nervous hit when it is met with the calculating blue eyes staring intently at her.

Nevertheless, she clears her throat and smiles even wider.

"Hi. What can I get you today?".

He doesn't respond for a few seconds which gives rise to an anxious bubble slowly and gradually taking form inside of her.

She's worried about something, though she has no fucking idea what it is.

What could she possibly be worried about in Rafe Cameron's presence?

"Why so formal, Maybank?", he drops her eyes plucking out a menu from the nearby rack and throwing her a small glance before looking back down at the list in front of him.

Georgie swallows.

"I work here. I'm supposed to be professional".

"Hmm".

He continues surfing through the menu and only looks up a minute later simultaneously pushing the soft cardboard towards her.

"I don't it like it though".

"Huh?", she frowns.

"I don't like it when you're professional. Come on, yell at me. Roll your eyes, be sarcastic".

She blinks as his lips twitch into a half smirk not quite being able to comprehend what's going on.

"You haven't done anything to earn that", she mumbles shaking her head and putting the menu back on the rack.

"What I gotta do then? Impersonate Kelce, hmm?".

That earns him a short laugh from the blonde.

He looks back almost smiling at the way her laughter sounds so synchronised.

So rhythmic, just like a cute little melody.

"No, god no. I like you just as Rafe Cameron".

The second the words leave her mouth, she realises what she's done.

Well, fuck.

And now, he's smirking.

Completely smirking.

And also leaning forward.

And her eyes are growing wide.

And she almost stops breathing.

"You like me, Maybank?", he inquires with a devilish grin.

Oh lord, have mercy on me, what have I done.

"No. It's a.....way of speaking", she shrugs downplaying her nervousness.

"So you don't like me then? You hate me?", his brow perks up.

"No! I mean", she clears her throat tipping up her chin and fiddling with the signet ring on her left pinky finger, "I don't really know you enough to form opinions about you".

"Is that so?", he smiles.

He. Smiles.

Rafe smiling is a rare sight these days, there was a time when his smile was the single most infectious gesture in the whole of Kildare County.

The Cameron boy with the shiny brown hair tinged with hints of subtle blonde was the heart of the town.

As a kid, he had issues but to the residents of Outer Banks, he was their golden boy.

Born to be the best, the overachiever and the one who'd always always succeed in making them proud.

As a teen, he grew up to be . . . . not so perfect.

But he was still Rafe Cameron and that was enough for everyone to fall prey to his charm, his smile.

The thoughts, eventually, became a little too much for the oldest Cameron kid to suppress and soon enough, all of his PTSD had lead him to some pretty questionable . . . . coping mechanisms.

He was still their golden boy — to some extents — but Outer Banks knew that there was something quite not right with him.

It was okay though because most of the stuff he was doing was something that almost all privileged teenagers were participating in.

He was to graduate high school and go on to UNC, a fresh and brand new life awaiting him.

But then the news of his dropping out hit town.

Halfway through freshman year, Rafe Cameron had grown tired.

He couldn't keep up anymore so his oh so beloved father pulled him out of university and brought him home in hopes of grooming him to be the next caretaker of the family business.

He still tries but somehow, the demons in his head have lead him astray and sometimes he makes mistakes.

Big bulbous mistakes.

Like today which ultimately lead to him driving his motorcycle to The Wreck after he'd taken care of the 'mistake' in hopes of seeing the short blonde with the adorably painful smile.

He just knew that talking to her or even simply seeing her from a distance would elevate his mood.

And my god was he right.

It's weird because he hates Pogues but this . . . . this specific girl, Luke Maybank's daughter, JJ Maybank's twin — he often wonders if she was maybe misplaced at birth and maybe she's not a Maybank after all because really, to him the Maybanks are a fucking pain in the ass — is different.

She has been different since the first time he met her in the garden of Tannyhill when she'd been helping Heyward deliver commodities along with his one and only son, Pope.

Actually no, that was the first time Rafe had talked to her.

He'd seen her countless number of times throughout the island and at the common public elementary school both the Kook and the Pogue kids shared.

But he never realised how . . . . lively and full of joy she was until nine year old Rafe stumbled upon Pope and Georgie solving math puzzles in his garden while his dad talked to Heyward inside.

It was a surprise to see them there as he'd been dragging his bicycle along with him and just out of curiosity, he'd walked up to them and innocently asked what was it that they were doing.

Pope — having long been intimidated by the 'golden boy' of Outer Banks — had only gawked as Georgie had replied with a smile.

"We're trying to figure out this matrix puzzle".

They'd been suffering with getting to the end result and so being chanced with the fact that a fourth grader was standing in front of them, she decided it'd be wise to ask for his help.

"Nah, I ain't good with math", he'd replied in disappointment with a small head shake.

He'd expected her to question him, to ask him why he, the presumed 'golden boy' was not good at something like all the others — especially his father would normally ask — but what she had said instead had shocked him.

"That's fine. My brother's not good at math either", she had giggled.

And ever since then, Rafe Cameron became truly awestruck by Georgie Maybank.

***
stop this is so cute i wanna die