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SILENCE.

That's all that could be heard as Rafe's truck travelled from the beach back to Poguelandia.

Rafe and Charlotte had been in the truck together for a total of ten minutes and twenty seven seconds (Charlotte was counting) and nothing had been said between them. It was as if neither of them knew what to say to each other, how to start a conversation after more than three hundred and sixty five days of silence.

Charlotte could barely believe she had even agreed to get in the vehicle with him. It was almost surreal being so close to him after so long. So instead of focusing on her overwhelming feelings, Charlotte focused on her hand that had already begun to swell. She hadn't mastered the correct punching form, and part of her feared she may have broken a finger or two.

"You'll need to ice that when you get home," Rafe's voice finally cut over the song that was quietly playing on the radio. It was the first, well technically second thing, he'd said to her since the day they broke up.

Looking over to him, Charlotte said the first thing that came to her mind. "Guess you would know."

Rafe didn't even look remotely offended as he gave her a smile. "It was a nice hit," he commented.

"Doesn't feel so nice now," Charlotte muttered, lightly laying her hand on her lap. "Guess I need to brush up on my skills."

When she looked over, Rafe was smiling at her with pride, as if just seeing her exist gave him immeasurable joy. "You look good, Lottie." he finally said after a few passing moments.

Lottie. God, she had missed hearing her name come from his lips. The only person in the entire world who called her that was him, and she couldn't even explain how much she craved to hear it over the past year.

"You too." She answered honestly. "You look...healthy."

Rafe nodded, Adam's Apple bobbing as he looked back to the road. "I am." He confirmed. "I've been clean for twelve months."

Charlotte's breath caught in her throat slightly. She knew she should be elated to hear that, and honestly she was. But part of her wondered why he hadn't been able to do it while they were together. And why he hadn't reached out to her once since becoming clean. Was he afraid he'd relapse with her back in his life?

Pushing away the thoughts, she hoped they didn't show on her face when she smiled at him. "I'm really proud of you."

Rafe nodded, and it looked like he wanted to say so much more. But he seemed to stop himself, switching paths. "Did your boyfriend go back to Durham?"

Charlotte tensed slightly at the mention of Carson. Truthfully, she'd kind of forgotten he had ever been here. Part of her didn't want Rafe to even know they'd broken up, the winning part of her really wanted him to know. "We broke up actually."

With his brows shooting up, Rafe kept his eyes on the road. "Oh...sorry to hear that."

He wasn't and she knew that.

Charlotte's mind shot back to what Carson had said during their break up. Although she was slightly drunk, there was one thing that he said that she'd never forget. "He told me what you said." She declared, a new sense of boldness overtaking her.

Tightening his grip on the wheel, Rafe cocked his head slightly. "Guess the idiot didn't listen."

"Don't," Charlotte whispered, everything hitting her all at once. "If we're going to talk about idiots then look in the fucking mirror, Rafe."

She hadn't planned to take it this route, but the anger came from no where. One minute all she wanted was to be near him, the next all of her anger from the past year resurfaced.

But she needed this. They both did. Either for reconciliation or for closure, she wasn't sure which was it was going to end up going.

Once again not phased by her dig, Rafe finally looked over at her. "Lottie, I deserve everything you have to say and more. I deserve to be yelled at until you're red in the face, and I...I know that okay. I've looked at myself everyday in the mirror since that day you left and I've told myself what a fuck up I am."

Pain struck Charlotte's chest, tears welling in her eyes as she turned her head slightly. "I don't know if I'm ready for this yet." She admitted, her emotions not stable enough to peel back all the layers of what went wrong between them.

When they had broken up over two years ago, their first conversation after the breakup was nothing but vile. Rafe had belittled her outside of Topper's party, making Charlotte feel like she could be nothing without him. But now, now he was self-aware, respectful, and remorseful. Somehow this almost felt more painful.

Rafe was quiet for a moment as he turned down the street. "Open the glovebox." He instructed, his own voice sounding tight as if he wanted to cry.

Charlotte quickly reached up to wipe the tears from her cheeks, not wanting Rafe to know she'd been crying, despite the fact that it was blatant. Hesitantly, she reached forward and opened the glovebox.

"Grab the journal." Rafe instructed, nodding toward the leather bound journal that sat inside. Charlotte recognized it instantly, she had given it to him for Christmas years ago, encouraging him to write any jumbled thoughts into words.

Glancing over at him for a moment, Charlotte reached in and grabbed it, running her fingers over the smooth leather. "What is this?"

Rafe pulled into the driveway, and it wasn't lost on Charlotte that he had taken the long way home in order for them to spend more time together.

"In that journal are all my thoughts over the past year." Rafe answered her questioned, putting the truck into park. "I'm not going to bombard you with everything right away...so I want you to read at your own pace." He ran his hand over his buzzed head. "A lot of it is embarrassing, I'll be honest. But I want you to read it. I want you to know everything that went through my head since the day we broke up."

Charlotte clutched onto the journal like it was her lifeline. Her eyes fell downward, taking in the appearance of the thing that would seemingly give her all of the answers she had been longing for.

"Did you ever think about reaching out?" She questioned, voice small.

Rafe's answer was instantaneous. "Everyday." He admitted. "I'll explain more later." He promised. "Just read it, please."

Nodding, Charlotte finally looked up toward the house.

"Oh, fuck." She whispered, her entire mood changing. Rafe was no longer her biggest issue. "Shoupe's here."

Shoupe's truck sat out front, and Charlotte knew his presence was likely to do with what happened at the beach.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." She muttered, in the process of undoing her seatbelt. She needed to get in there before JJ said something that got himself arrested. She was sure it was bound to happen.

"Lottie," Rafe called, scrambling to follow her out of the truck. "Just slow down for a minute!"

Charlotte ignored him, all but running toward the house with her heart beating in her ears. She really hoped she wasn't about to get arrested.

When she burst into the house, the first thing she noticed was that it was only JJ and Shoupe in the living room. She wasn't sure where the rest of the Pogues were, but she didn't have time to worry about. The next thing that she noticed was that the couch had been moved, which was...odd.

Rafe stepped in behind her and JJ's eyes instantly darkened. "What the fuck is he doing here?" He demanded, shooting to his feet.

"Sit down," Shoupe demanded, pointing a warning finger at him before turning back to the estranged couple. "Well, it must be my lucky day," the he exclaimed. "Just the two I was looking for."

Great.

Charlotte forced a sweet smile onto her face. "What's up, Shoupe?"

A humourless laugh fell from his lips. "What's up? I think you know, Charlotte. Why don't you and Rafe take a seat." He motioned to the couch where JJ was seated.

Knowing she didn't really have any other option, Charlotte tentatively sat down next to JJ who was still staring down Rafe, who begrudgingly took a seat on the other side of Charlotte. Somehow, that might have been the most awkward situation Charlotte had ever been in, shoved between Rafe and JJ as Shoupe stared them down.

"So," Shoupe began, hands on his hips. "I got some reports about somethin' that happened down on the beach earlier today."

Charlotte and JJ shared a look, each of them feigning ignorance. "Huh," Charlotte marvelled. "That's weird...we didn't see anythin' happening."

Shoupe pursed his lips. "Didn't see anythin'," he repeated, reaching to his chest pocket to pull out his phone. "Here's some, uh, at-home entertainment for you three. Take a gander." He held the phone out in front of the three of them, and Charlotte didn't even have to wait until the video started to play to know what it was.

Sure enough, the video that the annoying ass Kook had taken was on Shoupe's phone. It started when Charlotte stomped over to the group, included her giving Ruthie a less-than-friendly shove, her also less-than-friendly words to Ruthie, JJ's threat to "kill every single one of them," but luckily cut off before Charlotte broke Ruthie's nose. She could thank Rafe for that one.

Watching their expressions, Shoupe rose his brows. "Is that y'all?" He questioned, looking between JJ and Charlotte.

JJ scratched at his brow, pushing his lips out. "A.I. has come a long way."

If Charlotte wasn't so worried about being arrested, she would have laughed.

Shoupe shook his head, re-pocketing his phone. "I'm told that the reason the video cut off was because you," he addressed Rafe for the first time, "Hit the phone out of the girl's hand."

Rafe shrugged, "I don't know what you're talkin' about, man."

Clearly wanting to wring all of their necks, Shoupe exhaled deeply. He refocused on Charlotte, deciding she would be the easiest to break. "I'm also told that when the video went down, you physically assaulted Ruthie Vandenberg."

Subconsciously, Charlotte clenched her bruised first. But before Shoupe could even glance at it, Rafe had coyly placed his hand overtop of hers, hiding the marks that clearly denoted it had been used for violence. Charlotte shot him a quick glance as JJ looked over at them, his jaw clenched as he leaned further into the couch in discontent.

Knowing she had to be strong, Charlotte shook her head. "What's your proof, Shoupe? Have I ever, in all the years you've known me, done somethin' like that?" She was bluffing her little heart out, terrified of the repercussions. Ruthie would press charged on her, she knew that.

"Cut the crap, Charlotte." Shoupe warned. "All of you need to cut the crap."

Charlotte glared at him while JJ leaned forward. "They came at us with a truck, alright? Ran over a turtle hatch, almost killed Kie!" He argued.

"You said you were gonna kill 'em all," Shoupe shot back. "And Charlotte, you assaulted someone."

"Yeah!" JJ confirmed. "In self-defense. Neither of us did anything wrong."

Shifting slightly beside Charlotte, Rafe spoke, and what he said was perhaps the most shocking thing to come out of that day. "They're tellin' the truth, alright? Ruthie almost ran all of them over. I saw it with my own two eyes."

Shoupe turned to him. "And I'm supposed to trust you? Word on the street was that you laid hands on Topper after Charlotte hit Ruthie."

"What, was I supposed to let him beat on Charlotte? 'Cause that would have been okay with you, right?" Rafe argued, anger growing.

Charlotte watched Rafe's face, watched how protective he was of her. She didn't want to admit it, but her heart swelled slightly. The fact that he had even come into the house, let alone sat down and defended her and JJ was completely shocking, and not at all what the old Rafe would have done. It was small in the grand scheme of things...but it was evident that he had changed at least slightly.

"You know what?" Shoupe snapped. "Rafe, you can go. I'm done with you today."

Rafe stared him down, not moving.

"Now." Shoupe ordered.

Charlotte turned to her ex-boyfriend, giving him a small nod. "It's okay," she whispered, already in the process of pulling her hand away from his. She tucked it under her leg, hoping Shoupe wouldn't notice. "I'll talk to you later, alright?" She affirmed, letting Rafe know they weren't done which each other for the time being. They still needed to talk through everything, no matter how painful it was going to be.

Rafe cleared his throat before standing up. "Alright," he nodded. "I'll see you later, Lottie." Charlotte didn't miss the fact that he glanced at JJ as he said it, as if trying to get a rise out of him. Okay, that was the old Rafe.

"Ignore him," Charlotte muttered to JJ as Rafe left the house. "He's trying to piss you off."

JJ cracked his neck, "It's workin'," he gritted out.

"Look," Shoupe reasoned once it was just the two Pogues left. "Do you know how many calls I got from parents? And then I get a call from the ER, saying you," he looked at JJ, "vandalized a hyperbaric chamber. What the hell was that?"

JJ raised his hands in surrender. "That was a huge misunderstanding, because they kept me in there far too long. I was cooked like a chicken, like, uh...there's an Improper Patient Care for a Patient Act, where like it protects me from--"

Shoupe cut off his rambling, and Charlotte was thankful for that. She didn't want to know what the hell was about to come out of JJ's mouth next. It would only get them deeper into trouble she was sure.

"Stop," the sheriff pleaded, "Just stop." He looked between the two of them. "Look, I don't want to charge you for this shit, either of you. But I'm going to need you to help me on somethin', alright?"

JJ and Charlotte shared a silent exchange of words, knowing that helping Shoupe might have been their only way to stay out of jail at that point.

"I need your help puttin' this together," Shoupe began, pulling a pile of polaroids out of his pocket. "I need the two of you to look at these, tell me if you know anything about them."

Charlotte took them into her unbruised, leaning closer to JJ so that the two of them could look together. She flipped through the pictures, he stomach clenching slightly at the contents of them. The first one was the picture of a man's face, and it didn't take a coroner to deduce that he was dead. The next was a picture of a tattoo on someone's arm, presumably the man from the first picture. She continued flipping, wincing slightly at the picture of the man's neck covered in finger-shaped bruises. He had been strangled to death.

"You know him?" Shoupe questioned, genuinely hopeful that the two could help him.

"No," Charlotte answered honestly with a shake of her head.

Shoupe narrowed his eyes. "Ever seen him around?"

"No," JJ repeated Charlotte's previous answer. "We ain't ever seen him in our lives." He took the polaroids from Charlotte's hands, reaching to pass them to Shoupe. When he accidentally dropped one, JJ sat up faster than Charlotte could even fathom, reaching down to grab them before Shoupe could. "I got it." He assured, quickly handing them back before turning so he was standing next to the couch in a rather odd manner.

Charlotte knew something was going on.

Trying to hid the suspicion on her face, she followed suit, pushing herself up to her feet which prompted Shoupe to do the same. "Is that all?" She questioned, praying that it was.

"Yeah, no further questions officer?" JJ added, shifting again once Shoupe stood.

Shoupe ran a hand over his mouth. "Listen..I'm lookin' further into the death of Wes Genrette."

"Of Wes?" JJ echoed.

"Mhm." Shoupe nodded, eyes focused on the Maybank boy. "So what were you doin' on Saturday night?"

Charlotte scoffed. "Shoupe, we've been over this." She argued, recalling the excrutiating conversation they had had two days earlier over on Goat Island. "We had nothin' to do with that."

Shoupe kept JJ's gaze. "I haven't had a chance to speak to JJ yet."

"Seriously, Shoupe?" JJ muttered, giving his head a small shake. When the sheriff didn't back down, JJ forfeited. "Alright, we were here. We were here...made a campfire, fried up some fish, sang some songs."

His story was close enough to the one that everyone else told, that Charlotte thought they could get away with the fact that they weren't actually at home, but rather diving for treasure.

Shoupe clucked his tongue, and Charlotte couldn't tell if he was fully buying the story of not. "Fryin' fish and singing' songs." He nodded. "Alright."

"Exactly like we told you the other day." Charlotte interjected, partly trying to gaslight him.

With a final stare down of the two of them, Shoupe clapped his hands against his leg. "All right. That's all I need from you. For now." He patted JJ on the shoulder, giving him a small smile.

"Happy to help," JJ muttered.

Just as he turned to leave, Shoupe looked over at Charlotte. "Charlotte, I suggest you smarten up. You're better than all of this."

Charlotte bristled slightly, his words hitting harder than they should have. "I'm fine." She assured, not really agreeing with what he was saying. No one had forced her to do any of this. No one but herself.

Shoupe dipped his head slightly, not saying anything else before closing the door behind him.

Neither Charlotte of JJ dare say a single word until Shoupe had pulled out of the driveway. Even then, they were quiet for a few more moments.

Finally, Charlotte let out a deep breath. "Fuck," she muttered, watching as Shoupe's truck turned onto the road. "That was way too close."

When she turned to look at JJ, he was looking at her with a pained expression.

"What?" She asked, heart dropping into her stomach. "JJ, what's wrong."

He scratched at the back of his neck. "I got somethin' to tell you, Charley. And you're not gonna like it."

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