─☼☼☼─

-RAFE-

𝙎𝙃𝙀 𝙇𝙊𝙊𝙆𝙀𝘿 𝙎𝙊 beautiful beneath the sunlight, her head tilted up slightly as if to catch every ray that haloed around her. A light smile played at her lips as she basked in the heat, the waves beneath the boat gently lulling her to sleep.

Rafe could watch her all day. He would watch her all day given the opportunity.

Because she was his nows. Just as he was hers.

Whatever had happened with the Pogues had guided her right back to where she should be─with him.

They would sell the gold from the cross, be set for a while. They could move into Tannyhill, or buy a new place. He didn't really care, as long as he was with her. He would take over his father's company, save it from despair. He would marry Charlotte, watch her become a mother to his children.

He would heal from everything, from all of this. He would be the man she wanted, the man she had always deserved.

"Are you ever going to tell me what we're doing here?" Charlotte wondered, her eyes still closed as she spoke for the first time in a while, breaking Rafe from his thoughts. "Not that I'm complaining." She added, finally opening her eyes to reach for the glass of whiskey that sat next to her.

Rafe watched silently for a moment as she took a sip of her drink. Charlotte had never been a drinker. Sure, she drank socially, but it was extremely out of the norm for her to drink when it was just the two of them, especially on a Tuesday morning at ten am.

Deciding not to comment on the oddity, Rafe moved across the yacht, sitting at the end of the bench where Charlotte was laying. He lifted her feet for a moment before placing them on his lap. "I told you, I have something to show you."

Charlotte hummed slightly, smiling as Rafe gently traced shapes onto her bare legs. "I could fall asleep right now." She murmured, closing her eyes once again. "I slept like shit last night."

To the outside observer, her words help no connotation, but to Rafe they revealed something that had been gnawing at him. Swiping his tongue across his bottom lip, he spoke. "You were with them last night, weren't you?"

The blissful smile fell from Charlotte's lips as she reopened her eyes, sitting up slightly so she could face him. Rafe already knew the answer, but he was curious to see what Charlotte was going to say.

In a shock to both of them, she didn't lie.

"Yes." Her voice was raspy as she spoke, throat tight in anticipation of his reaction.

But again, shocking both of them, Rafe didn't react with anger, instead he nodded slowly. "Something happened?" He deduced. "Something that made you come to me instead." He wasn't angry or accusatory. Rather, he was curious what had actually happened. She'd been off since arriving at his doorstep two hours ago...sad.

Charlotte was silent for a moment as she chewed on her bottom lip. When she spoke, her voice was defeated. "I'm so sick of all this shit with the cross...you, them, them, you. I just can't take it anymore. And now Pope doesn't even trust me so─" She shook her head, voice breaking for a moment. "I just want to get rid of it, one way or another."

He knew he should have been happy that the Pogues had pushed Charlotte back to him, but a large part of him was sad for her...a bit pissed off too. He hated seeing her hurt in any way. Charlotte never deserved that.

"I'm sorry." He said softly, resting his hands on her legs.

Blinking away the tears, Charlotte shook her head. "I'll be fine." She promised. "It was always bound to end up this way."

"Well, all I will say is that I'm really turned on right now picturing you trying to steal that cross last night." Rafe declared, not always the best with staying on topic.

A shocked laugh fell from Charlotte's lips, the sadness vanishing from her eyes as she focused her attention on him. "You're such an ass."

Rafe grinned, reaching out to catch her waist, pulling her onto his lap. "Can't help it." He mumbled, pressing a kiss to the sensitive spot on her neck. Charlotte laughed, trying to shove him away.

He loved the sound of her laugh. Could listen to it for the rest of his life, really.

Leaning back into him, Charlotte pressed her lips to his. "I really love you." She whispered as if it was a secret. "Always have. Always will."

Rafe brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "I really, really love you." He responded, "Always have. And definitely always will."

"Jesus Christ!" Came a voice from the dock. "Do you two ever get a damn room?"

Charlotte's eye roll was instantaneous as she pulled back from Rafe slightly. He still kept a grip around her waist as he turned to greet their newest arrival. "'Sup man?"

"What is he doing here?" Charlotte gritted out, watching as Barry mounted the ship with an armful of cases.

"What am I doing here?" Barry repeated. "What are you doing here, Country Clubette?"

Rafe cleared his throat, standing up and bringing Charlotte with him. "Barry, she's in on the deal."

Barry's face paled for a moment before he vehemently began shaking his head. "Fuck no! I ain't sharing with her."

Charlotte's face flashed in distaste before she took a step forward, "Listen, YMCA, I was a part of this deal before you even knew what the deal was. So back the fuck off."

The proud smile that broke across Rafe's face could not be hidden for even a second. Charlotte was right, she had been a part of his quest to sell the cross from the beginning. And yeah, he had to admit it was pretty hot when she told people to fuck off.

Looking between the couple, Barry wore an incredulous expression. "Seriously?"

Rafe didn't give him the validation he was looking for. Instead, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to Charlotte's cheek. "Seriously, man. She's in on it. Like it or not."

Grumbling about how this better not impact his cut, Barry set black cases down on the table in front of him.

Giving Barry a smug smirk, Charlotte nodded toward the cases. "What are those?"

A shared look occurred between Barry and Rafe, one of apprehension. Barry, because he knew that once Charlotte saw what was in that case she was officially in on the deal. And Rafe, because he knew that once she saw what was inside, she'd think of him just a little bit differently.

Noting their expressions, Charlotte let out a laugh, one that was slightly different than her usual one. Rafe knew it was because of the alcohol she'd been consuming for the past hour. "Is it a dismembered body or something?" She joked, as if tying to pretend that that wasn't an actual possibility.

It was now or never, Rafe thought to himself. "Barry, open it and show her."

─☼☼☼─

-CHARLOTTE-

Charlotte's body was buzzing, both from the alcohol and suspense, as Barry let out a quiet curse before undoing the latches on one of the black cases. Rafe's hand had found her waist once again and she leaned into him, eyes trained on the case.

Barry opened the case slowly, too slowly for Charlotte's liking. "Okay, Vanna White, let's go." She taunted.

He shot her a look before pulling the case open haphazardly, gesturing toward what was inside. "There, princess. You happy?"

But Charlotte wasn't smiling anymore.

She felt Rafe's grasp on her waist tighten as she attempted to step away from him. But Charlotte barely even acknowledged that. Instead, she was focused on the gold disks and bars that sat in the case, staring back at her.

No words could be found right away, because really, Charlotte could not conceptualize what she was seeing. And even if she could conceptualize it, she wasn't sure she wanted to believe it.

"Rafe," When his name left her lips, it was jagged. His hand was still on her waist, warm against her hip.

Turning to him, Charlotte felt her chest heave slightly in disbelief. "Rafe," She repeated, throat constricting. "Is that what I think it is?"

She felt sobered up now. As if not a drop of alcohol had touched her lips.

Rafe didn't look ashamed, in fact he looked slightly proud.

"We melted that shit down." Rafe grinned, finally untangling himself from Charlotte to make a move to pick up one of the gold bars. "Do you know how much money we'll make from this."

"Rafe." She said his name for a third time, this time it was through laboured breaths. Charlotte felt like she was going to hyperventilate.

He turned to her, face dropping slightly. "Lottie, relax." He prompted. "You said yourself that you were done with the cross."

"I didn't mean for you to deface it!" Charlotte shot back, her voice startling everyone on the boat. Taking a deep breath, she readdressed her boyfriend. "It was a historical artifact." Pope's historical artifact.

Barry clucked his tongue, turning to Rafe with a shake of his head. "Told you it was a bad idea, Country Club."

Rafe's hand slammed against the table, causing both Barry and Charlotte to jump. "It wasn't a bad idea!" He argued, "This is the way we make the most money. This is the way we get this fucking cross out of our lives for good. If either of you want out, then go."

He didn't care if Barry left...but he cared a hell of a lot if Charlotte did. That's why his eyes remained on her, not wavering as he awaited her response.

But Charlotte didn't turn and leave, in fact, she barely even faltered.

"When are we doing this?"

─☼☼☼─

Their first deal was set for the next day at noon.

That gave Charlotte at least some time to come to terms with all of this before she had to put a game face on.

That's why she had been staring at the same glass of orange juice in her family's kitchen for the past ten minutes. Her mind jumbled with a million thoughts, her heart weighed down by just as many emotions.

"What are you doing?"

Kiara's voice came from across the kitchen counter, and when Charlotte looked up, she met the confused eyes of her younger sister.

The two of them had yet to speak since Pope's blowup at Charlotte the night before. She had been so quick to head to Tannyhill that morning, mostly in an attempt to avoid her sister. She hadn't even wanted to come home this afternoon, but knew she needed at least a bit of time away from Rafe to gather her thoughts.

"Nothing." Charlotte lied, reaching out to take a sip of her juice. "What are you doing?"

Kiara shrugged as she pulled herself onto one of the barstools across from Charlotte. "Mom and dad are pissing me off."

Subconsciously, Charlotte let out a sigh of relief at the topic. They didn't have to talk about what happened last night...not yet.

"Why?" Charlotte wondered, resting her elbows atop the counter.

"They're being such narcs about everything." Kiara vented. "I mean, the way dad attacked JJ's character yesterday. And then Sarah showed up her like an hour ago asking if she could stay and mom and dad told her no."

A spark of anger flared in Charlotte's chest. Resentment for her parents seeped through her entire body. She was sick of this. All of it. They were no better than JJ, certainly no better than Sarah, so why did they act as such?

The anger that flashed across Charlotte's face was enough to cause Kiara to recoil slightly. Her older sister never usually got this worked up, especially over something their parents had done. Charlotte had always been the golden child, absolving her parents' wrongs with excuses and understandings.

But if anything had come out of the past few months, it was Charlotte's new lack of restraint. She was pissed off and tired of pretending she wasn't.

"Charley," Kiara levelled, voice gentle. "Are you okay?"

Charlotte downed the rest of her juice, turning to place her cup in the dishwasher with a bit more intensity that she had intended. "Fine."

Kiara was silent for a moment, as if fearful to approach the topic. "Do you wanna talk about what happened last night?" She questioned, suspecting that that was the root of her sister's current aggression levels.

Slamming the dishwasher, Charlotte turned to Kiara. "Talk about what? The fact that we almost all got arrested over that stupid fucking cross, or the fact that Pope accused me of betraying all of you?"

Isn't that what you're doing right now? She thought to herself. Betraying them all.

No. That wasn't what she was doing. She was pushed to this point.

Kiara spoke again, interrupting Charlotte's internal battle. "Look, what Pope said to you wasn't okay. But..." She trailed off for a moment, prompting Charlotte to shake her head.

"But what, Kie?" She challenged.

Not even able to look at her sister, Kiara traced the lines on the marble countertop. "Did you?"

Charlotte didn't want to believe what her sister was saying. So she didn't. Not right away at least. "Did I what?"

"Tell Rafe." Kiara answered, looking up at her sister with a pained expression. "I know you two are back together and ─"

"Fuck you." The words flew from Charlotte's mouth faster than she could stop them. "I can't believe you right now." Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. "I've been fucking tearing myself in half for the past few months. I did everything you all wanted me to do. I cut him off. I told him to turn himself in. I─"

"But now you're back together with him!" Kiara argued, "Charley, don't you see? It's happening all over again."

"I'm not doing this." Charlotte muttered, turning to make way for the stairs. "I'm so fucking sick of all of this."

"Charley!" Kiara called, rushing to follow after her. "I'm sorry, I just─I had to ask."

Charlotte marched into her room, throwing open her closet door before grabbing a handful of clothes. "No you didn't." She bit back.

Kiara followed into the room, "What are you doing?" She watched as her sister launched a duffle bag onto the bed, just narrowly missing hitting Kiara in the head.

"Well, since you don't trust me, I figure I should probably stay elsewhere." Charlotte explained, disappearing into her bathroom to gather toiletries. "I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable in your own home."

Seeming to catch a whiff of something, Kiara screwed up her face. "Have you been drinking?" She accused, ignoring Charlotte's theatrics.

The half bottle of whiskey Charlotte had downed that morning seemed to flip in her stomach. "No." She lied, finishing her packing in a hasty manner. "Why are you being so accusatory?"

"Why are you being so delusional?" Kiara fired back.

Fixing her sister with a withering glare, Charlotte hiked the duffle bag over her shoulder, already pulling her phone out of her pocket as she bounded down the stairs. "We had a good run, Kie." She called as she reached for the front door. "Too bad it had to end like this."

"Stop being so dramatic!" Kiara called back from the top of the stairs. "You'll be back in like a day, Charlotte."

She was probably right. But Charlotte did have a flare for the dramatics.

The text she had sent as she left her room had already been answered, much to Charlotte's relief.

rafe: im on my way. be there in five.

─☼☼☼─