𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍
𝐏𝐎𝐎𝐋𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐒 𝐏𝐓. 𝟏

JULIETTES apartment complex's hallway was filled with hushed giggles between the two celebrities, Juliette containing her laughter as well as she could as she walked hand in hand with Drew towards her apartment door.

"Thank you for walking me to my door, Drew."

"Gotta make sure my girl gets home safely." He smirked down at her as they stopped in front of her brown door. "Your girl, huh?" She raised a teasing eyebrow, and he hummed, slotting his hands against her cheeks and slowly leaning in to her, whispering "Mhm. My girl."

He pressed his lips against hers again, which Juliette had come to realize she'd never get tired of. Not after the two they shared in the park, or the one they shared when he opened the car door door for her, not the one they shared when he parked in a spot outside of her apartment, and not now as she slowly backed herself up against the wood of her door to lean against it.

He smiled against her lips, brushing her hair behind her ears before reluctantly pulling his lips away, "I'll see you tomorrow?" Juliette hummed with a nod, keeping her eyes closed as she greedily chased after his lips with her own.

Drew chuckled, pressing one more kiss against the girls lips. Her lipstick and lipgloss had practically ceased to exist by now, and when she opened her eyes, she couldn't help but giggle.

She reached a hand up to cup his cheek, using her thumb to swipe at a small smudge of mauve lipstick on the corner of his mouth. "What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Whatever you want." She responded, keeping her hand on his cheek, "I'm down for anything."

Drew nodded, trying to hide the speed of his heart pounding under his ribs from just her touch, "Elaine and Rudy are having this thing tomorrow. I wasn't originally planning on going but Laci has been begging me. It's just gonna be the cast and a few friends. Feel like socializing?"

Juliette nodded, "Fine by me."

Drew smiled, swiping his tongue over his lips quickly before kissing her one more time. It was quick, just a peck, but Juliette shamelessly wanted more.

"Drive safe, please. And text me when you get home." She unlocked her apartment door before turning back towards him, "I will, swear it. Goodnight, Jules."

"Goodnight, Drew."

Juliette bit her lip, quickly sliding into her apartment and locking the door behind her. She set her keys down in the bowl by the door, flinging her purse onto her island and peeling her boots off her feet.

She inhaled, fingers fiddling at her sides as she processed the night. Then a squeal escaped her, the blonde yanking her phone from her purse before running through her bedroom into her bathroom.

Juliette opened her groupchat with Sadie and Noah and pressed the FaceTime button.

It rang for a few seconds, which Juliette used to begin removing her jewelry.

"Oh my, God! How was it!" Sadie appeared on the screen with a grin, before Noah appeared below her, "You're calling early. How was it?"

Juliette smiled and pulled her makeup remover out of her cupboard with some cotton pads, "Oh my, God. It was so good! We went to The Palm and I swear to God we talked for hours!"

"Yeah, I saw a picture of you two on DeuxMoi like an hour ago."

Juliette paused her movements, pulling the wet cotton pad away from her cheek, "What? Seriously, God I hate them."

"Okay, Jules. Spill! How'd it go?"

She smiled down at Sadie through the phone, "He paid for dinner—"

"As he should." Noah quipped, making the blonde roll her eyes, "And then he took us to get ice cream. He called me a heathen for liking mint chip ice cream—"

"He's right." Noah mumbled, Sadie shushing him and telling Juliette to continue. "And then he kissed me in the park by the parking garage—"

"Yes! Finally!"
"He finally grew the balls-"
"Was it good? Oh, I bet it was so good. Is he a good kisser, Juliette? You deserve a good kisser after Griffin."
"Did he use tongue—"

"Guys!" Juliette laughed at their rambling, "Chill."

The two glanced at each other on their own screens, before raising an eyebrow in sync at Juliette.

She furrowed her brows, "You guys are creepier than the Shining Twins. And yes, he's a very good kisser. Like, the best I've ever had. It was like my brain just turned off, you know that scene in A Princess Diaries when Anne Hathaways foot popped? Oh, my foot popped—not literally- but it was a foot popping kiss. And then I couldn't stop. Any chance I had I was kissing him-guys I kissed him at a fucking red light."

"Oh, she's whipped"
"She's so whipped."

Juliette rolled her eyes and placed a dot of cleanser in her palm, using the water from her sink to start rubbing her face clean, "I'm seeing him tomorrow afternoon-"

"Again!"
" Jesus, girl. Might as well move in together—"

"Funny, Noah." Juliette laughed as she dabbed her clean face with a soft towel, before yanking out the rest of her nighttime routine and placing it on her bathroom counter, using them in order.

"I really, seriously like him, guys. I'm almost worried about it." She put her skincare items away and grabbed her hair brush from the drawer, "I mean, the last time I liked a guy this much was Timothée and we all know how that worked out."

"Okay, you can't be upset about that, Jules. That wasn't his fault, plus you guys only talked for like a month."

Juliette sighed and nodded in agreement with Noah, "No, I know he didn't choose his filming locations, but—" She bit the inside of her cheek as she ran her brush through her hair. "I worry about when Drew inevitably has to go away to film too. Dating an actor is not all it's cut out to be."

She tossed her hair up into a ponytail, leaving her phone propped in her counter as she walked into the closet connected to the bathroom.

"Juliette, this guy is so into you, I don't think anything could yank him away from you now."

She sighed as she slipped out of her dress and into a pair of shorts and an old band t-shirt from high school.

"Just because he likes me doesn't mean shit doesn't happen. I'm going on tour in February, guys—" Juliette grabbed her phone and stepped into her bedroom, jumping onto her bed and sliding under her blankets. "And they start filming Outer Banks season 4 next summer. We will never see each other-"

"Juliette, babe."

Juliette looked at Sadie in her screen, the girl curled up under her blankets with her german shepherd, Bruno, laying his head on her chest. "You like him, he likes you. You mesh well. Don't overthink this one. Everything will be fine, you will be fine. Plus, he's older! He's not like the childish guys our age that we've dated. He's mature."

"Yeah, yeah you're right. I'm gonna get to bed."

"Juliette, don't think on this. You're the reigning Supreme of overthinking. Just enjoy it, babes." She nodded at Noah with a smile, "I love you guys, goodnight."

"Goodnight."
"Night, babe."

Juliette groaned, plugging her phone in and grabbing her tv remote as she turned off her lamp.

Juliette bit the inside of her cheek, scrolling through Netflix until she found the show, starting the show where she had left off.

She got through almost the first episode of season 2 of Outer Banks when her phone dinged twice. With furrowed brows, she paused the show and grabbed her phone, the screen illuminating her face.

drew 💋
home safe and sound <3

good.

i was about to put out a
missing persons alert

drew 💋
💀

i'll be at yours at 3
tomorrow

goodnight, popstar

goodnight drew ❤️

see you tomorrow

Juliette grinned widely as she set her phone down on her nightstand, playing the tv show to distract her from how excited she was for the following day.

She was shocked at how quickly her feelings moved around in her head. One moment she's ready to take his last name, then she's contemplating breaking it off to save the heartbreak, and then the next she's giggling to herself when she sees his name pop up.

But Noah and Sadie were right; she's so worried about the end outcome of things, that she misses the middle. It's caused her so many disappointments.

And she wants to protect her heart, yeah, but then she thinks about the way she feels when she's with him. How he makes her feel. And despite the fear, she doesn't want to let that go.

But as she sat and watched his character in her tv,  the only thing running through her mind was Please don't prove me right. Please don't embarrass me.

JULIETTE frowned down at her outfit in the mirror, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head. It was a cute outfit; her favorite loose low-rise jeans, a cropped red top with black mary-james with jewelry to accessorize.

Before she could FaceTime Sadie, her doorbell rang. Juliette's eyes went wide and she looked up at herself in the mirror, before glancing down at her phone on the dresser that had the time displayed.

2:57

"Shit." She hissed, rushing out of her bedroom and to the front door, swinging the wood open to reveal Drew. He had a hat on, a gray, worn down WCU t-shirt, bright blue swim shorts that were...shorter than she'd expected, a black hoodie draped over his arm and sneakers. Her eyes caught on his exposed biceps for a moment, clearing her throat as he stepped in and pressed his lips to the top of her head, slipping past her into her kitchen.

"What are you wearing?" Juliette gaped, turning towards him and closing the door behind her. "What are you wearing? Are you bringing your suit?"

Juliette's mouth fell, "Suit?"

"Your bathing suit. I told you Rudy and Elaine have a heated pool, didn't I?" Drew chuckled and leaned his back against her island, crossing his arms over his chest. Juliette's eyes drifted to his biceps once more, clearing her throat as he involuntarily flexed when he laughed.

"You didn't say anything about swimming, Joseph." Juliette glared at the man, his face falling in surprise, before morphing into amusement, "Joseph? Oof, government name drop. I could've sworn I said we'd be swimming-"

"You most certainly did not!"

"I'm sorry, J. By the way, we'll be swimming." He smirked as she groaned and started stomping towards her bedroom, "I'm gonna kick your ass, Starkey. Give me 10 minutes."

She closed the door behind her, peeling the jeans off her legs while hopping over to her bathroom and into her closet. "Shit," She hissed, tossing the jeans into a corner and grabbing her felt box full of swim suits.

Swimming? In October? Yeah, it's 85 degrees in LA today, but swimming? These people are out of their minds.

She pulled a couple options out. An all red one; too exposing for the amount of people that'd be there. A dark blue seashell print tank-ini that she uses in public; not happening. And a pale yellow suit with chain detailing; that'll work.

She clumsily pulled the bathing suit on, slipping on a pair of jean shorts and throwing on a grey I ❤️ Hot Moms t-shirt.

She slid her feet into a pair of Nikes and glanced in the mirror.

Fuck she had been so focused on her outfit that she didn't do her makeup or her hair.

She haphazardly threw her hair into a clip and applied some lipgloss, slipping the gloss into her pocket and grabbing a pair of sunglasses.

She huffed, yanking a large bag from her closet and stepping over to her cupboards to throw in sunscreen, tanning lotion, aloe vera gel and her hair brush.

She shrugged with a heavy breath, accepting the state of herself and walking out of her room. "Hey, that's more like it." Drew teased, shoving his phone in his pocket and stepping towards her.

"You gotta be clearer about the happenings of your friends' events from now on, Starkey."

Drew chuckled, cupping her cheeks and bending down to slot his lips between hers.

Bliss.

Juliette hummed, fingers reaching up to grip the bottom of his shirt as she smiled against his lips. She pulled back from him, glancing up at him through her lashes, "You know you can't just get away with shit by kissing me."

Drew's lips quirked into a downturned smirk, before leaning back down to kiss her, "I can try."

"Mm." She pulled from his grasp, leaving him hanging with his mouth agape. She smiled at that, grabbing her purse and tossing it into the pool bag before placing her sunglasses over his eyes. "We gotta get going, Starkey. Traffics a bitch."

"Rude." He muttered, grabbing his keys and stepping out of the apartment past her. Juliette gave a quick glance at Lyla's full bowls of food and water before closing the door and locking it.

"C'mon, popstar." Drew smiled, throwing his arm around Juliette's shoulders.

THE BLONDE smiled widely at Elaine as the girl opened their door, reaching out to hug her. "It's so good to see you again!" Elaine mumbled, pulling back from Juliette to allow her and Drew inside.

Drew smiled down at Elaine, gripping Juliette's pool bag in one hand and using the other arm to give her a half hug, "Hey, Elaine. Who else is here?"

Elaine smiled and closed the door, glancing between him and Juliette, "Uh, basically everyone. We're missing Nick and Austin, but they'll be here soon. Juliette, where's Sadie and Noah today?"

Juliette smiled and shrugged, "I'm not too sure, why?"

"Invite them!" Elaine grinned, squeezing Juliette's arm lightly, and the blonde beamed at her, "Are you sure? I'm sure they'd love to come but I'd hate to impose-"

"Yes." Elaine laughed, "Invite them! Tell them there's booze!" Elaine flicked her wrists up and stepped towards the sliding back door and stepped outside as Juliette pulled out her phone, sending an invite and address to the groupchat.

"Put your stuff down, grab a beer and get in the pool. It's heated!"

"She's tipsy." Drew laughed once Elaine closed the door, making Juliette giggle and turn towards him. He gestured towards the backyard, "Ready to make your entrance, gorgeous?"

Juliette rolled her eyes, and grabbed a pink pool towel from the stack on the kitchen island, "Flattery still doesn't negate the fact that you didn't tell me, Starkey."

He laughed at that, following Juliette into the backyard.

"Hey! They've arrived!"

Juliette grinned at Laci as the woman approached them, wrapping her arms around her. She was in a pink bikini, dark skin warm to Juliette's touch.

"So glad you made it, and convinced this asshole to come. " Laci winked at Drew before dragging Juliette over to where the other girls were.

Juliette laughed, before her stomach fell. Madison, Mariah, Madelyn, Elaine, a pretty girl with short dark hair and Odessa sat around the pool. Odessa was in the pool with Madison and Moriah, while the other girl, Elaine and Madelyn sat on pool chairs. They were all conversing, and Juliette gave a quick glance back at Drew, who was accepting a beer from Chase and smiling with him, JD, and Rudy.

Drew hadn't glanced over at her in time, and she smiled down at the girls once they were standing in front of them. "Juliette!" Madison squealed from the pool. "Hi, Madison." Juliette beamed down at her before looking over at Odessa, "Hi, it's good to see you again!" Juliette used as much pep in her voice as she could muster, smiling brightly down at Odessa before moving her gaze to the dark haired girl sitting on the edge of a pool chair.

"Hi," Juliette beamed, putting her hand out to her, "I'm Juliette."

"Hi!" The girl stood and ignored Juliette's attempt at a handshake, instead pulling the blonde into a hug, "I'm Fiona! Drew told me a lot about you!"

Juliette chuckled and hugged the girl before pulling away with a raised eyebrow, "Has he?"

"Girl you know he doesn't shut up about you. Be for real." Madison teased, winking at Juliette, causing the blondes cheeks to warm, "Shut up."

"Jules!" Juliette turned back to look at Drew, who was bent down over a cooler and looking over at her, "Beer?"

She smiled with a nod, glancing down at the girls, "Anyone want anything?" The majority of them shook their head, but Odessa nodded, "Could you grab me a beer?"

Juliette nodded with a smile,, "I'll be right back." She spun on her heel, eyes widening for just a second before making her way over to Drew and the guys. "Hey, there she is! Hey, Juliette." Rudy grinned, pulling her in for a quick hug before she turned to JD and greeted him.

"Hey, are you swimming?"

She glanced over at JD and shrugged, "Maybe, I'll probably just lay back with the girls. Noah is on his way, though. Sadie had an audition, unfortunately."

Rudy clapped, "Fuck yeah, I've got giant Jenga." Juliette laughed and grabbed the beer from Drew's outstretched hand before bending down and grabbing one more beer from the cooler. "Wait, Sadie's not coming?" JD spoke, making the girl raise an eyebrow, "No. Why? Got a crush?"

JD scoffed and gently, playfully pushed Juliette's head, "Shut up."

She giggled, turning her attention to Drew, "I'm gonna go sit down." The man nodded, pressing his lips to the too of her head before continuing his conversation with Rudy. She nudged him again, "Could you slip the bag on my arm for me? My hands are full."

Drew nodded, sliding the pool bag onto the crevice of her elbow, avoiding the beer in her right hand before she smiled, "Thank you."

Once back over to the group, she handed Odessa the beer, "Thanks."

Juliette nodded at her, not surprised at the girls lack of enthusiasm before setting her bag down on the ground. She spread the towel out over the pool chair beside Fiona, before slipping her tennis shoes and socks off and into the pool bag.

Juliette smiled down at Fiona as she peeled off her jean shorts, followed by her t-shirt.

"Ooo, girl! That bathing suit is to die for!" Madison gasped, making Juliette chuckle, "Moeva, on sale for 100 bucks. I had to."

The girls laughed, falling into conversation as Juliette sat on the pool chair and pulled out sunscreen. "I like your music, you're really good." Juliette looked up at Fiona with a surprised smile, "Thank you, so much. You look slightly familiar, are you an actor?"

Fiona nodded as Juliette began applying the sunscreen, "Yeah, I'll be in season 3 of the show. But I was on also a Spanish show called Control Z, it was on Netflix."

Juliette clicked her tongue and nodded, "That's what it is. My best friend Sadie, her adoptive parents are Spanish and she grew up watching a lot of Spanish tv shows. She was watching that show as it was airing. Who do you play on Outer Banks?" Juliette smiled

"I play Sofia, a pogue that Rafe is...sleeping with." Fiona's voice softened at the end of her sentence, making Juliette smile, "Good. His character needs a hot girl to calm him the fuck down."

Fiona's face slowly lit up, the two girls slipping into shared laughter and conversation.

Juliette smiled down at Madelyn as she walked away from the side of the pool, nodding as she memorized the different drinks she was grabbing for the girls.

She kneeled down, opening the cooler with a disappointed frown at its empty state. She huffed, standing to her feet and walking over to the sliding glass door and opening it.

The cool AC hit her like a brick as she entered, cold tile under her feet sending chills up her back. She could hear the guys in the other room laughing in conversation, making her smile as she popped open the fridge.

At the sight of a fridge full of beers, Juliette clapped triumphantly.

"Hey."

Juliette turned around with a few beers in hand, grinning like an idiot at Drew, "Hi. I'm the beer runner, apparently." She joked, peeling her eyes away from the man's bare chest.

"Need some help?"

She shrugged and placed the three beers on the island, "Yeah, that'd be nice. Everyone but Fiona and Madison are getting one." She passed him two wine coolers, which he was quick to put on the island.

Drew groaned as Juliette closed the fridge and turned to look at him, "What's up with you?"

"I like this bathing suit." He mumbled, reaching out and placing his hands on her bare sides. Juliette's cheeks grew hot at the skin contact, allowing him to move her back against the fridge door. The metal was cold, shockingly cold against her bare back, and she instinctively gasped and arched forward, inadvertently pressing herself against his warm chest.

"I swear to God if you don't keep it in your pants in my kitchen I'm gonna kick your ass, Starkey."

Juliette jumped from Drew's hold, eyes wide and cheeks flushed as she smiled guiltily as Rudy, the blonde boy standing in the kitchen with a smirking JD, Chase, Austin and another guy, which Juliette recognized as the guy who played Barry on the show.

She cleared her throat with an awkward laugh, "I—I'm just." She swallowed, grabbing as many beers as she could in one hand and the other two in the other, before spinning on her heel and quickly walking back outside.

liked by madelyncline and 163,179 others
juliettecarter 💙☀️
October 15th, 2022

user IN OCTOBER !!?

sadiejune_ literal babes 😍

smittynoah toes
-juliettecarter i'll strangle you in your sleep

madelyncline take that down NOW 😭💀
-juliettecarter no

user i'm living for the content of the cast that juliette is feeding us

user drew has GOTTA be there with her oh my god
-user four days in one week hanging out, they're def dating

carlaciagrant once upon a time, there was the baddest bitch in all the lands
-julliettecarter and her name...was carlacia grant

user post drew

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