I was cast on the TV show Outer Banks in 2019. The show became a huge success in 2020, while the pandemic was still fresh, and my life changed almost overnight. I went from 2,093 followers to 1.4M in just a few months.

That’s where I met one of my closest co-stars, Drew Starkey. One glance, a few jokes here and there, and suddenly we were inseparable. We spent most of our time together—on set and off. And when we weren’t, he was usually with his other close friend, Odessa.

Fans went a little insane over us. They started shipping our characters, making edits on TikTok, and building entire Instagram fan pages about both our on-screen story and us in real life. Even our co-stars got in on it, constantly teasing us and throwing in a few jokes of their own. Still.. we are still friends.

Right now, we’re outside on a rare day off. It’s sunny, the kind of day that feels too perfect to waste. We’re stretched out in a wide, open park—him lying back in the grass, me resting my head on his thighs.

Drew: “Paparazzi, two o’clock.”