The Big League - Drew Starkey

chapter forty five.

THIRD PERSON POV

Champagne swished around in the tall glassware, some droplets of the alcohol spilling onto the floor below. The group cheered as Chase did them away with a toast, each of them clanging the glasses together.

"And most importantly," Chase continued after everyone took a sip of their champagne. "I'm so grateful for Outer Banks for letting us enjoy another year of working together. Here's to OBX3 baby!" He cheered as everyone held their glass in the air.

Everyone continued to make conversation amongst themselves, counting down the minutes until the ball dropped to ring them into the new year.

Drew held his girlfriend close, his arm secured around her waist as she went into conversation with Mads. He admired her beauty from above, standing about a foot taller than her. Their height difference was something he adored.

"Drew!" Mads snapped him out of his thoughts as he admired the blonde-haired girl in his arm. "You and Mal didn't make a toast yet. There's only ten minutes left before the ball drops. I need to hear what you guys have to say!"

Mallory looked up at Drew, that drunken haze in her eyes from all the alcohol they had been consuming since the early evening. She gave him a sluggish smile and he could tell she was getting tired.

"I'll say something." Mallory initiated and Mads clapped to encourage her.

Drew looked down at his girlfriend and lightly rubbed her back, a smile creeping onto his lips.

"I just want to start out by saying, this is the last place I ever expected to be when I moved to LA." Mallory giggled, causing a few other people to lightly laugh as well. "And though I was scared shitless for making the biggest life-changing decision ever, it ended up being the best decision I've ever made. I will still never understand how I managed to run into you on the street." She smiled as she looked up at her boyfriend, who's eyes were filled with nothing love for her. "You, of all people."

"I will never understand either." Drew agreed as he chuckled at her comment.

"If that never happened, I genuinely have no idea where I'd be right now. I would have never met any of you," She waved her hand out to the group of friends standing in front of her. "Some of the best friends I've ever made. I may not have gotten to experience what it's like to work on an actual set of a show. So much happened in the last half of this year and I'm just," Mallory paused as she looked at everyone before looking up at Drew. "I'm just so grateful for this year. It brought so much joy into my life, I didn't know I could ever be this happy."

Drew leaned down and pressed his lips to Mallory's at the end of her speech, everyone cheering and clapping.

"Here's to 2022!" Mallory exclaimed as her and Drew pulled away from the kiss, everyone taking a sip of their champagne.

"Drew," Mads nodded towards him. "Wanna say anything?"

Drew pursed his lips into a thin line as he thought of what to say. Of course he wanted to say something, this had been the best year of his life. It was just a matter of what to say.

"Where do I even begin?" Drew chuckled, shaking his head as he looked at the ground for a second to collect his thoughts. "Uh, this year started out incredible. I got to film two insane movies-"

"I'll believe it when I see it." JD jokingly cut Drew off at the mention of the two movies he filmed at the beginning of the year, which had yet to be released. "I still think you used that as an excuse to leave the country for a few months." He joked and everyone laughed along.