Cassie's POV

My eyes flutter open and I see that I'm in a hospital room. My eyes wander around and I see Kiara asleep in a chair next to me.

"Kie?" I croak and her eyes snap open.

"Cassie! Thank God you're awake" She gasps, jumping to her feet.

"What happened?" I mumble, trying to sit up but a pain shoots through my side and I groan "Never mind. I remember"

Kiara hands me a cup of water which I sip on slowly, the cold water soothing my dry throat.

"The guys are in the waiting room, we've been here for hours but they won't let the boys in" She tells me just as a nurse walks past the room.

"Miss! Hello?!" I yell and the nurse backtracks, popping her head into the room.

"Can you get my brothers from the waiting room, please?" I ask hopefully as Kiara puts my cup down at the side.

"Sure, sweetie. Names?" She asks.

"Pope, JJ and Johnathan" I tell her and she nods with a smile, walking off.

"Problem solved" I chirp and Kiara laughs, shaking her head.

"Mom and dad were here for a couple hours before they were advised to go home. The doctors didn't think you were gonna wake up today" My sister tells me.

"When you go home, tell them that I'm awake and I'm okay, but they shouldn't rush to the hospital tonight" I tell her and she nods.

The boys suddenly burst into the room and I grin at them widely.

"Cassie!" They yell in unison, rushing to my side.

"Hey, boys" I greet them.

"That is the second time today you've scared the shit outta me!" JJ snaps.

"I like to keep you on your toes, Maybank" I reply and he cracks a smile, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"We thought you were a goner back there" John B jokes and Kiara elbows him making me giggle.

"It's gonna take a lot more than a bullet to take me out" I joke back.

"JJ cried" Pope states and the blonde boy slaps him upside the head.

"Pope and John B cried too" JJ tells me matter of factly and I laugh.

"I love you, guys" I grin happily.

"We love you too" John B replies and the other two nod.

I hear the door open and I turn my head to see Sarah rush into the room.

"Cassandra Carrera!" She shrieks, pushing JJ out the way to pull me into a hug.

"Ah! Fuck, Sarah" I grunt, grabbing my side.

"Sorry" She squeaks, pulling away.

"We better get going" John B explains and I nod.

"I'll see you guys later?" I ask curiously.

"Later, babe" JJ nods, patting my leg.

The Pogues leave the room and I see Rafe standing at the door with Topper.

"How did you guys find out?" I ask in confusion as the boys take a seat.

"Anna told Rose and she told us" Sarah explains and I nod.

"What the hell happened? Rose said something about you getting shot" Topper asks.

"Was it Maybank?" Rafe asks with an angry frown.

I laugh at the stupid suggestion and they all look at me in confusion.

"JJ would like to have kids in the future, he wouldn't shoot me" I scoff.

"Then who did?" Sarah asks, sitting down on the bed next to me.

"I don't know who they were. Two men chased us into the marsh and started shooting at us. I don't even know why" I tell them.

"Shit" Topper mutters and I nod.

"Was it scary?" Sarah asks curiously.

"What, almost dying?" I ask with a laugh.

"Sorry" She frowns.

"No, it's okay. It was kinda scary. My life kinda flashed through my head and I thought about all the stuff I haven't done yet. I'm definitely not ready to die yet" I explain and they all nod.

"Who would be at such a young age?" Topper asks rhetorically.

I avoid his gaze and the rhetorical question, knowing if i'd been asked that question a couple years ago I would have answered 'me'.

"Wheezie wanted to come and see you but my dad said it was too late" Sarah states and I smile.

"Tell her I said hey" I reply to which my best friend nods.

"I better get home before my mom freaks" Topper says, standing up "Coming Sarah?"

She nods and turns to me.

"Get better soon, Cassie" She whispers, pecking my cheek.

"Get well" Topper grins, ruffling my hair.

"I'm still mad at you" I pout, slapping his hands away.

"Oh, don't be like that" Topper sighs.

"You tried to drown my best friend" I snap with a glare.

"I didn't try to drown Sarah" He says sarcastically.

"My other best friend, jackass" I retort and he sighs.

"Look, I'm sorry" He tells me.

The look on his face is nowhere near sincere but I accept the apology knowing this is just how it is and how it's always gonna be in the Outer Banks.

"I know you don't mean that, but whatever. We're good" I huff and the blonde grins happily.

"Get out of here" I groan, pushing him away.

He chuckles and takes Sarah's hand, exiting the room. I turn to Rafe who is already staring at me.

"Aren't you gonna go too?" I ask curiously.

"Nah, I think i'll stick around for a while" He shrugs, sitting back in his seat.

I raise a brow in question and he smirks in return.

"You ran off the other night" He states.

"Yeah, my friends were trying to kill each other" I reply with a short laugh.

"You're always getting yourself into trouble, Cas" He tuts, shaking his head.

"Do you care about me, Rafie?" I ask teasingly.

"Do you want me to care about you?" He answers my question with a question of his own.

"Maybe I do" I shrug and he chuckles.

I pull myself to sit up and let out a squeak of pain that makes Rafe jump out his seat. He helps me up and sits down in the bed at my knees.

"You good?" He asks me, concern swimming in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm good" I nod "Thanks"

He shrugs and brings his hand up to tuck my hair behind my ear. His finger traces my jaw and he stops near my chin.

"What's this?" Rafe asks curiously, tracing the small scar I have next to my chin.

"I got it in a car accident when I was 16" I tell him.

"A car accident?" He repeats in surprise, dropping his hand into his lap.

"Yeah. My boyfriend at the time got behind the wheel high and crashed into a tree. I went straight through the windscreen, but I guess that's my fault for not fastening my seatbelt. I ended up with a fractured wrist, a broken leg and some nasty cuts bruises. He broke his arm and my friend in the backseat died on impact" I explain.

"I'm sorry about your friend" Rafe says with a frown.

"It's okay, she was a fake bitch anyways" I shrug and Rafe's eyes widen.

"What?" I ask.

"I just didn't expect that from you. You always seemed so nice" Rafe shrugs.

"I'm not a nice girl, Rafie. I never have been" I state and he chuckles.

A nurse comes into the room and I don't pay much attention to what she's doing until a familiar rush of euphoria runs through my body. I snap my head around and unintentionally grab the nurses wrist tightly.

"What did you just give me?" I ask desperately.

"Just some morphine, to help with the pain" The nurse tells me and I drop her wrist "Is there a problem, miss?"

"You didn't check my records, did you?" I snap and she rushes to the bottom of my bed to grab the clipboard.

She reads over the paper and her eyes widen.

"Miss Carrera, I-I deeply apologise" She stutters before running out the room to get help.

"What the hell is going on?" Rafe asks in confusion.

I ignore him, tugging at my hair and screwing my eyes shut as my body fills with the euphoric feeling of the drugs in my system. My eyes open and I see Rafe stood at the bottom of my bed with the clipboard in his hand.

"Do not give this patient strong opioids. Why aren't they allowed to give you pain killers, Cas?" He asks me, no sign of confusion on his face.

"Don't act stupid. You know exactly why" I reply.

"You're an addict" He declares and I nod.

"I prefer to use the term recovering addict. It makes me sound better" I try to joke but Rafe doesn't laugh.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asks, putting the clipboard down and retaking his place on my bed.

"I haven't even told Kiara. It's not the type of thing I want to tell people I haven't seen in a long time. 'Hey, I know I haven't seen you in 3 years but now I'm an ex-junkie with crippling PTSD from a relationship gone wrong'" I laugh emotionlessly.

"PTSD?" Rafe questions.

"Let's just say his car isn't the only thing he damaged" I answer.

Before Rafe can open his mouth to talk again, a doctor and the nurse from before rush into the room.

"You didn't even remove the drip" The doctor scolds the nurse who sheepishly looks at her feet.

"I am so incredibly sorry, Cassandra" The doctor apologises, stopping the drip and carefully removing the needle from my arm.

"I'll get your father down here immediately" He adds.

"No, it's okay. Don't call him" I state and the doctor looks at me hesitantly before nodding.

"Again, I'm sorry for the mix up" The doctor says before he and the nurse leave Rafe and I alone.

"Talk to me, Cas" Rafe sighs, grabbing my hand in his.

I look down at our intertwined hands in awe, the drugs in my system making me feel like I'm on cloud nine.

"You got hot" I blurt out and Rafe's brows shoot up in surprise.

"Oh, yeah?" He chuckles.

"Mmhm. Can I give you some advice?" I mumble.

"Sure" He nods.

"Stop using gel in your hair. It doesn't look sexier pushed back" I tell him and he laughs.

"I'll keep that in mind, Cas" He replies.

I stare up at the ceiling with a faint smile on my face, my body feeling like cotton candy. Rafe squeezes my hand and I turn my head a bit to look at him. Chills run down my spine when I see he's already looking at me, his cold eyes softening as he studies me intensely.

"I'm glad you're here, Rafie" I whisper.

"Me too, Cas" He smiles.

"G'night" I sigh, my eyes fluttering closed.

☁️☁️☁️

I'm awakened by the door opening and I peel my eyes open to see the Kiara and Pope standing at the door, looking at me with confusion. My eyes drift downwards and I see Rafe Cameron fast asleep, his head on my thighs.

"Can you guys give me a couple minutes?" I ask sleepily.

"Come on, Pope" Kiara huffs and they exit, closing the door behind them.

I turn my attention to the sleeping boy on my legs and pull myself up.

"Rafe?" I mumble, shaking his shoulder.

His eyes open and he looks up at me with sleep in his confused eyes.

"You stayed?" I grin teasingly, fixing his messy hair for him.

"I-I must have fallen asleep" He stutters, sitting up straight on his chair.

"You should probably get home" I tell him and he nods, standing up.

He walks towards the door but pauses hesitantly as his hand touches the handle.

"You good, Cameron?" I ask him curiously.

He spins around and walks towards me. I look at him in confusion but my brows shoot up in shock as he grabs my chin and connects our lips. Before the kiss got any more intense, Rafe pulls away with a smirk on his face and I sit there in complete disbelief.

"W-what the hell was that?" I stutter in confusion.

"I felt like it" He shrugs nonchalantly.

"I-I, uh, okay" I mumble, still in shock.

"See you later, Cas" He grins and exits the room, leaving me alone and speechless.

I reach up and touch my lips which are still on fire from the kiss.

what the fuck?

Kiara and Pope barge into the room and I drop my hand, looking at them for an explanation.

"John B and JJ went to speak to Miss Lana about what we found on Scooter's boat and my mum is at the Cameron's so I have to drop you off there" Kiara explains shortly.

"They're discharging me? Great!" I chirp throwing the blanket off me.

"Pope, help a girl out" I say, holding my arm out.

He helps me up and Kiara helps me into the bathroom. I take a quick shower and my sister helps me change the dressing on my wound before I pull on some clean clothes. I look at the red floral dress I'm wearing and nod in approval.

"Thank you, Kie" I whistle, slipping on my white chucks.

I sign my discharge form and we head to Kiara's car.

"Shouldn't they give you some sort of medication for the pain?" Pope asks curiously as Kiara starts the car.

"What was in the bag I found?" I ask, ignoring Pope's question.

The two Pogues share a worried look that I pretend not to notice from the passenger seat.

"It was big John's compass" Kiara tells me and my eyes widen.

"No shit? That's crazy" I gasp in disbelief.

"Yeah, it is" She nods.

"I know I'm not very useful right now, but keep me in the loop, kay?" I ask them.

"Of course" Pope agrees.

We listen to a little music on the radio before we pull up at the Cameron's house.

"See you guys later. Thanks for the ride, Kie" I grin, climbing out the car.

"See you, Cassie!" They both reply as Kiara drives away.

"Cassie! Thank God you're okay, sweetie!" I hear Rose yell and I smile at the woman happily as I approach her.

"Thank you, Rose. Where is Anna?" I ask curiously.

"Out back. Follow me" She calls me over and I do as she says, following her through the house to the back garden.

I greet Anna who tells me how happy she is that I'm doing better before walking over to my best friend who pulls me into a hug, making sure not to put pressure on my very painful wound. Sarah and I decide to head down to the pier where we find a little girl crying.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sarah asks the young girl, kneeling down in front of her.

"My teddy. She's over there" The little girl cries, pointing to a boat in a ditch.

"Oh, so you left her in the boat?" Sarah asks.

"Mmhm" The girl nods.

"Okay, can you tell me what she looks like?" Sarah then asks, standing up.

"She has a trunk and blue ears" The little girl explains cutely.

"Okay. I'm gonna get her for you" Sarah states, climbing onto a fallen down electricity pole.

"Be careful of electricity" The little girl mumbles sweetly as Sarah balances on the pole like it's a beam in gymnastics.

"What's your name, princess?" I ask the little girl, keeping her busy.

"Poppy" She smiles.

"Hi, Poppy. My name is Cassie" I grin, wiping away her tears.

"That's my friend Sarah" I add.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Poppy asks worriedly as Sarah shuffles down the pole.

"Can I tell you a secret?" I ask curiously and Poppy nods.

"There's no electricity in that pole. It's cut off" I grin mischievously and Poppy looks relieved.

"Hey, there's 14,000 volts in those wires!" The little girl's mother screams as Sarah stumbles a little.

Poppy giggles and her chubby little arms wrap around my thigh, making a small grin tug at my lips as I play with her hair.

"Hey, Sarah, be careful!" I hear Topper holler and I turn my head to see Topper standing with Rafe and Kelce.

Rafe lifts his glasses and winks at me. My heart skips a beat and I turn back to Sarah, ignoring the blush spreading over my cheeks.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me. Sarah, get down now!" Rose shrieks.

"Rose, calm down! I'm an athlete! I got this" Sarah states confidently and I shoot her a mischievous grin which she returns.

"You're gonna get electrocuted! Get down!" Rose scolds her.

Sarah starts shimmying her shoulders as she crab walks down the pole and I let a giggle escape my lips, Poppy doing the same.

"Are you kidding me? Oh my...No!" Rose gasps.

"Sarah, that's not funny!" Topper yells at her.

"When I tell your dad about this, Sarah.." Rose drawls off as Anna shoots me a look that screams 'don't do anything stupid!'.

"I see her!" Sarah shouts back to Poppy as she reaches the boat.

"Sarah!" Rose snaps.

Sarah let's out a scream and dramatically falls into the boat.

"Sarah! Sarah!" Topper barks worriedly as the boy runs to where I'm standing, Kelce running behind him while Rafe strolls over, not a care in the world.

Sarah lifts up a frayed wire and twirls it around like a lasso with a big smirk on her face. Kelce, Poppy and I laugh along with Sarah while Rafe scoffs and Topper frowns angrily.

"It's disconnected" Sarah laughs.

"Holy shit" Kelce chuckles.

"For the love of God" Rose mutters, storming into the house with Anna.

"She got you good, Thornton!" I giggle.

"Absolute sucker!" Sarah squeals, grabbing the stuffed elephant for Poppy.

"Topper, you should see your face!" The dirty blonde adds, laughing loudly.

"Yeah. Okay, yeah, I'm sorry that I care! All right, guilty!" Topper retorts.

"Congrats, pussy, you're officially her bitch" Rafe declares as Kelce laughs "Officially, did you know that? You're officially her bitch, all right?"

I giggle at the boys teasing Topper and Rafe looks up at me again. He smirks at me playfully and I bite my lip, looking down to the young girl still attached to me. Sarah climbs back over to us and hands the stuffed elephant to Poppy who squeals happily.

"Thank you!" She gushes.

"You're welcome" Sarah smiles.

Poppy hugs her elephant tightly and runs off towards her house. I turn to Sarah who grabs my hand and tugs me gently in a familiar direction that makes me smile widely. We skip past the boys who eye us suspiciously but we ignore them and make our way to the biggest tree in the Cameron family's backyard. I climb my way up the ladders into the treehouse Ward had built for Sarah and I when we were kids. I let out a quiet groan as I take a seat on the pillows next to Sarah who gives me a concerned look.

"Are you okay, Cassie?" She asks me worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm good" I wave her off looking at the drawings and pictures stapled to the walls.

"I haven't been up here in a while" She tells me, looking around the small wooden treehouse.

"That makes the two of us" I jokingly mumble and she smiles.

"I used to come up here when I missed you" My best friend tells me "I think Rafe did too"

"What makes you think that?" I ask curiously, grabbing a pink stuffed giraffe and holding it to my chest.

"I found this" She answers, pointing to a picture stapled onto the wall.

A smile spreads across my face as I remember the midsummers of 2011. It was a big year for me, Rafe had asked me to walk in with him and the other Camerons because his dad had told him to ask a girl in his class but he thought they were all annoying and so he asked me. Near the end of the night 10 year old Rafe came running up to Sarah and I, sweeping me off my feet and telling Sarah to take a picture. He put 9 year old me on his shoulders and a 7 year old Sarah laughed at us, taking a picture. We both have huge smiles on our faces and I'm throwing up peace signs while Rafe holds onto my thighs to keep me from falling. I was wearing a pale green sundress covered in pink flowers with pink flats and a pink headband on my dark curls that would make Blair Waldorf proud. Rafe was dressed in an adorable black suit with a green tie to match my dress and his hair was all messy from me trying to fix it the whole night, something he pretended to hate even though I know he loves me playing with his hair.

"Are you crying?" Sarah's voice pulls me out of my daydream and I shake my head, wiping the stray tears running down my face.

"I'm fine" I reply.