Hey guys! Because I put a lot of work in to this chapter ( it's 3109 words) I would really appreciate if you could vote and leave some comments!. I hope you enjoy!

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It was midsummers.

The day Lolla had been dreaming of since she was a little kid.

"Now make sure you don't say anything embarrassing, please just stand there and smile,and when asked something, reply in the best way possible."

They were in the car driving to the country club.

Penelope was ranting, she would never admit it but she was so nervous to actually attend midsummers.

"Mom you know I can suck up to all the old people, it will be fine."  Lolla reassured her mother.

"I know honey, I know" she said with an uncomfortable tone.

"You don't have to be so nervous you know? You earned this" Lolla told her mother

"You think this dress looks good on me?"

"Mom for the hundredth time, it suits you very much" she said, giggling.

"I really love your dress on you actually lolla. How did you pick out this one I know you usually go for safer options." she asked her daughter.

"Rafe picked it out for me actually and it just stuck."

"Rafe? Wards boy? I though you were with JJ." she asked confused.

"I am with JJ mom. When I was with Sarah we just ran into Rafe Topper and Kelce and we all did our shopping together." she said, trying to save herself.

"Rafe is cute is he not?" Penelope asked with a mischievous tone in her voice.

"Mom! You can't ask me that I have a boyfriend"

"Yea yea JJ, I remember" she said with a heavy tone.

"What you didn't like him?"

"I never said I didn't like him"

"Then what?"

"We will talk about this later, we are here"

As they were walking into the country club, Lolla was speechless. The place was beautiful. The sun was setting and the fairy lights were visible. It looked like it was straight out of a movie.

Lollas heart was staring to pound harder and harder as they were getting closer to the outside area where everyone was. She could feel her heart thudding inside her chest, it wasn't enjoyable.

What if she tripped? What if people didn't like her dress? What if her hair got flat after she curled it? What if she said or did the wrong thing?

Lollas head was filling with questions, questions which she couldn't answer. Questions that haunted her.

Penelope turned around to look at her daughter, which was so obviously distressed.

"Honey what's wrong?" she said when she stopped walking.

"No mom nothing everything is fine."

"Honey I am your mother, and I certainly know when you are not fine. Now we don't have much time or we are going to be late so I will keep this short."

Penelope took a deep breath and held her daughters hands.

"Honey you look incredible, I don't think you have ever actually looked this good. Everyone will love you. Everything will be okay, you will be by my side. If anything happens through the night, you can always come to me" Penelope reassured her daughter.

"I love you mom" Lolla said while giving a hug to her mother.

"I love you honey, but we seriously have to go" she said. Penelope started moving Lollas hair around, giving it more volume. "There now you look great, let's go" she said while gently pulling Lolla by her hand, leading her into the crowd.

When people noticed them walking in, they started clapping. Everyone was looking at the mother and daughter.

"Whoa guys look at Lolla" Topper said, signaling his two best friends.

The moment Rafe turned around to look at Lolla, he felt his heart skip a beat. She looked so beautiful. The type of beauty that stops traffic. The type of beauty that stops Rafe Camerons heart.

"Man she is so hot" Kelce said, stunned.

Rafe didn't even bother giving a death glare to his friend. He didn't want to stop looking at her. It was as if his eyes were glued.

He was glad he picked that dress for her.

She was also wearing a headpiece with roses, that matched the dress perfectly.

She looked like she came out of a movie.

When Lolla spotted Sarah she smiled and walked towards her. Sarah looked shocked.

"Did this dress get even better since yesterday? You look incredible" Sarah said while giving her friend a hug

"Oh my god as do you! White was definitely the right choice"

"I know right! Oh my god please let's go a bit further away"

"Why is everything okay?"

"Topper, Kelce and Rafe are staring directly at us, and I'm not really in the mood to face Topper right now.

Lolla turned around and immediately locked eyes with Rafe. It was obvious to Lolla that Rafe had been staring at her for a while. She gave him a little smile before walking away with Sarah.

——

"You know you have to face him eventually" Lolla said while re applying her lipstick in the bathroom.

"Ugh don't even remind me." Sarah said before getting a text.

"Who's that?"

"John B. He's telling me that he might sneak in to see me, isn't that so cute?"

"He really does like you. Tell him to bring JJ"

Sarah stopped talking and just looked up at her friend "You and JJ?" she asked in shock.

"Yea we are together" Lolla turned around and faced Sarah, who looked surprised, but in a bad way. "Why are you making that face?"

"Nothing I just uh, I would have never guessed"

"You are being weird"

"No I'm not, I'm just surprised. I thought he had a thing for Kie"

"Well I hope not, considering that we are dating" she said laughing by herself.

"He texted back they'll be here in 10" Sarah said checking her phone

"I need a drink before that" Lolla groaned

"You read my mind" Sarah said while grabbing Lollas hand, dragging her out of the bathroom, making the other girl laugh.

As they were walking, Lolla stopped and told Sarah that she would be right there, after spotting her mother. Lolla walked up to her, as she was talking to some people that she had never seen before.

"This must be her" The man told Penelope.

"Oh yes Lolla here you are! We were just talking about you. Let me introduce you to Mr and Mrs. Thornton."

"It's a pleasure to meet you"

"Pleasure is ours. We have a son your age Topper, I am pretty sure you are friends?" Mrs. Thornton asked.

"Oh yes Topper, he is really good friends with my friend Sarah, so I've seen him around."

"I'm sure you two would be great friends, he is also thinking of studying at Yale, your mother mentioned that you have sent your application there" Mr. Thornton spoke, with a light tone in his voice.

Lola was getting really bored of that conversation, but she had to keep her happy face on for her mother.

"Yes I have actually. I am not fully decided yet but I would love to go there if they accept me"

"Oh don't listen to her, she's a genius! She is definitely getting accepted." Penelope said while holding her daughters hand.

Just then, in the distance behind Mr. and Mrs. Thornton, Lolla spotted JJ, who was trying to signal her. Her face immediately lit up.

"Please excuse me, it was lovely to meet you" Lolla said before walking off.

As he was walking towards JJ, she accidentally ran into a large male torso, bumping her head.

"Oh excuse me" she said before looking up, being met with a familiar pair of eyes.

"Don't worry about it Lo" Rafe said smiling down at her. "How are-"

"I'd love to sit and talk but maybe later?" She said, remembering that JJ was waiting for her, and then walked off, leaving Rafe alone.

Rafe turned around went to, when he saw JJs face in the distance. He felt rage fill his body from head to toe. That should have been him, he thought to himself.

When Lolla reached JJ, she gave him a tight hug, which he wasn't expecting.

"I'm so glad you are here" she whispered into his ear.

"I won't be here for long if people can see me, let's go" he said before pulling Lolla into the Country club, trying to find a empty room.

When they closed the door behind them, the two teens ran to the couch, letting out a relieved sigh.

Lolla was looking at JJ, smiling, and he was returning the favor. They stared at each other, tension building up in the room.

"God you are so beautiful in red" JJ said before pulling her face towards him, connecting their lips.

The kiss started becoming more passionate, removing all of Lola's lipstick off her lips, transferring onto JJs, not that he minded. Lola sat on top of him, she wanted to be as close to him as possible.

JJ put his hand through Lollas hair and pulled it gently, causing her to let out a quiet moan into his mouth, which made him smirk. She started kissing his neck, and his collarbone.

Lollas dress had slid up from all the movement. JJ held onto her hips, gently moving her in and down his lap. Lolla then re connected their lips, before JJ attached his to her neck.

"You can't leave any hickeys, my mom will see them" Lolla said pulling away from him.

"She won't mind" JJ said confidently, reattaching his lips on to her neck.

Lolla pulled away again. "Yea but I can't be at midsummers with obvious hickeys on my neck"

"Alright then, no hickeys, whatever you want" he said before kissing her again. He then put his hands on her hips again, this time moving them more roughly.

"Can we not do this here? I have to go back soon" She said, pulling away from him for the third time.

"Oh yea because midsummers are more important then your boyfriend"

"You know I didn't mean that" she said, getting off his lap, sitting next to him on the couch.

"Right, you are just embarrassed of me"

"No i didn't say that"

"You don't have to say it it's obvious. You wouldn't want to be seen with your Pogue boyfriend"

"What are you on about? You know I don't care about any of that stuff"

"Maybe you should date the Kook king, Rafe Cameron"

"What does he have to do with anything" she said, unknowingly getting defensive.

"I saw the way he looked at you when you bumped into him. I've seen him texting you when we are together" JJ said with a accusing tone in his voice.

"Do you actually think that I am cheating on you?"

"I mean I don't know Lolla are you?" he asked angrily.

"I can't believe you are asking me that" she scoffed.

"Is that why you don't want to have sex with me? We have been dating for a few weeks and we still haven't had sex, that's pretty suspicious to me Lolla"

In that moment, Lolla got flashbacks from her ex boyfriend Nick, who kept pressuring her to have sex. He is the only person that she had slept with, and it wasn't by choice

"Because I don't want to have sex doesn't mean that I am a fucking cheater JJ, are you seriously listening to yourself right now?" she said, tearing up at the memory of her ex.

"You are getting pretty defensive there for someone who hasn't cheated."

"I'm not doing this" she said before standing up, about to walk off.

"Right go back to your Kook life, wouldn't want Pogue trash ruining your party"

"Fuck you JJ. Fuck you for ruining the night that I have been talking to you for days now. Fuck you for accusing me of cheating. Fuck you for thinking I care about money when you know damn well what I had to go through to get where I am. I have been nothing but loving towards you, and this is how you re pay me? Yea fuck you" Lolla snapped.

She walked off, pulling her dress down before he got a chance to say anything.

She couldn't believe him.

She could believe herself.

She felt horrible for making him think she's a cheater.

But she knew she shouldn't.

JJ was just insecure, she thought to herself. He didn't mean all that. Did he?

Lolla walked pass the party, to the outside of the Country Club, where there were no people.

She put her back against the wall and just slid down, pulling her knees close to her chest. She looked around her, making sure no one was there, before pulling out a small baggie of coke.

She just stared at it for a while, debating if she should do it or not. She had been clean for a few weeks. I mean, they were all gonna die anyways so fuck it, is what Lolla thought to herself before putting some coke on the back of her palm and snorting it. The sudden movement of the drug traveling down her nostrils was something that the brunette had forgotten, she forgot how much she craved the feeling of not being there.

After a while she pulled out cigarette from her purse and light it, needing more then one substance.

What she didn't know was that Rafe saw her walk past all the people. He could sense that something was wrong, so he followed her. So a few minutes after she sat down, she heard his familiar voice.

"Got another one of those?" Rafe said while approaching Lolla.

"Jesus you scared me" she said while flinching.

When she looked up and connected their eyes, Rafe could tell three things off of her expression. For starters, she was high, her eyes were red and puffy so it wasn't that discrete. He also made the assumption that she had just made out with someone, by the way her hair wasn't as smooth as it was when he first saw her that evening.

The last thing he could see was that she was sad, like really fucking sad.

Rafe sat down next to her, before she gave him a cigarette and a lighter. While Rafe was lighting the cigarette, he noticed how Lolla was bouncing he leg up and down, and how she was biting her nails.

"Trouble in paradise?" He stupidly asked

"Oh fuck off" she said in a serious tone before laughing, making him smile.

Just seeing her happy could make his whole day. Especially when he knew he was the cause of that.

"Seriously thought, what's wrong Lo?" he said before taking another hit from his cigarette.

"Do you ever feel like people except too much from you? Like even when you try your best it's still not enough?" she asked, staring at the ocean.

"Are you actually asking me that?" he asked, in a obvious turn, making her turn around in a shocked expression, like she didn't believe what she had just said.

"Oh shit sorry-" she tried to apologize before getting interrupted.

"Don't worry about it. Yes I obviously get that. I have like 100 people telling me to do different things all the time, it's exhausting." he said and also turned his head to face the ocean.

The same silence overtook the place where they sat, all they could hear is muffled music in the background and the sound of the waves hitting the shore.

"It's just problems with JJ, I know it's weird to talk about with you"

"Don't worry about it, if you wanna talk about it then talk about it" Rafe lied.

Of course it was weird to talk about her problems with JJ to Rafe, who still obviously had feelings for her. But Rafe would rather have her in his life as a friend, then to not have her at all.

"I've been telling him about midsummers and how excited I am for the past days and he completely ignored me by coming here and making me feel horrible"

"Horrible how?" he asked, thinking about all the ways he could hit JJ.

"In every aspect. Making me feel horrible for being richer then him, about not wanting to have sex with him, he even accused me of cheating"

No one in this world would be able to understand how happy Rafe was that Lolla and JJ hadn't had sex yet. He could've jumped up and down and threw a party from his happiness, but instead he tried to keep his game face on.

Lolla of course, noticed a little twitch in his face, as if he was switching from one emotion to the other in a matter of milliseconds.

"Cheating with who?" he asked.

"With you, he was telling me that he saw the way you looked at me when we bumped into each other, how you text me and all that sort of stuff, he is being insane right now and I can't deal with it"

"Sounds like he needs to get his ass beat" he said, Rafe in his eyes.

"Rafe" she said, putting him in his place while getting another puff from the cigarette.

"Alright fine, all I can say is that you deserve better then someone who makes you feel like you can't even be yourself without getting shamed for it"

The only person who she thought of in that moment was him, the guy sitting next to her, the guy who poured his heart out to her. But she couldn't stop reminding herself that he is also the guy who ghosted her after she told him her biggest secret, the guy who gave up all they could have had for a hookup, the guy who made her arm bleed.

Even after everything he did to her, the person he described was himself, even if he didn't know it. Lolla was always herself when she was with Rafe. Always. She never felt like she had to show up, like she had to be pretty. Everything with him just came naturally.

"I think I'm gonna talk with him"

"I think beating him up would calm you even more-" he tired justifying himself before getting interrupted.

"Rafe" she said with the same tone as before.

"Sorry" he said, sounding like a defeated child, making Lolla laugh and pulling him into a hug.

For the rest of the night, they mostly just sat there, talking about random stuff, doing cocaine, talking shit. He really did turn her whole mood around, even if he didn't know it.
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literally need them to be together already☹️
don't forget to vote!!