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"I THINK YOU should stay with me tonight," Rafe announced, his truck kicking up dust as they drove toward the surf shop. "I have the space, and I have a security system. You'll be safe there, Lottie."

They'd received a call from Kiara not five minutes after fleeing from the hospital. They'd found JJ, and he was alive, but Groff had tried to kill him. Charlotte felt absolutely sick knowing that all could have gone a lot worse than it did. 

So, while Rafe's offer was extremely tempting, she needed to see JJ. To make sure he was actually okay. 

"I need to make sure my friends are okay," she answered, her voice sounding like nails on a chalkboard. Clearly, the swelling hadn't gone down enough and her jailbreak from the hospital likely wasn't going to help in that regard. 

Rafe glanced over at her, his face morphing into sadness at the sound of her voice. "Lottie, your friends are fine. You need to worry about you." He shook his head. "You almost fucking died, and now what, you're gonna go engage in another day of runnin' from the cops?"

He wasn't wrong, that was almost certainly what they were going to be forced to do. Shoupe was already after JJ for the destruction he caused the other night, and now he was going to be looking for her too. 

"Good thing I wore my sneakers," Charlotte muttered, trying─and failing ─ to earn a laugh from Rafe. 

"I'm worried about you," Rafe said softly, blue eyes veering fromt he road to meet hers. 

Charlotte felt her heart stutter from the way he was looking at her, from the words he was saying. Everything he'd said and done in the past few weeks chipped away at the wall that she had put up between them. "I'm okay, Rafe," she assured. "And I appreciate you looking out for me, but just...trust me, okay?"

Rafe exhaled, focusing back on the road as he pulled into the driveway. He parked his truck, killing the engine before turning in his seat so he could fully face her. "Lottie, I don't think you understand what I would have done if you..." he trailed off, unable to say the words out loud. "I can't live in a world without you. I won't."

"Hey," Charlotte whispered, leaning across the console to lightly wipe the tear that had trailed down Rafe's cheek. "I'm right here. I'm okay."

He reached up, cupping her hand in his own, mouth open to speak. 

But something caught Charlotte's attention before he did. 

"Shit," she muttered, instantly pulling away from Rafe and throwing open the truck door. She was out of the vehicle before Rafe had a chance to blink. 

"What is he doing here?" JJ demanded, marching toward them with the other five Pogues hurrying after him. "You don't just get to keep showing up here, man," he snapped at Rafe who had followed Charlotte out of the vehicle. The older boy wore a slight smirk, always finding amusement in how much he seemed to piss off JJ Maybank. 

"Relax," Charlotte demanded, stepping in front of JJ before he could reach Rafe. "He was just giving me a ride home from the hospital."

JJ's face clouded in confusion. "Why the fuck were you at the hospital?"

Charlotte glanced back toward her sister who wore a sheepish expression. They clearly hadn't filled JJ in as to what had happened in his absence, meaning Charlotte had the task of doing so. In the split moment that Charlotte had taken her eyes off JJ, he hadn't taken his off of her, and in doing so had spotted the angry bruises that encircled her neck. She was just looking back toward him when he lunged, face flaring in anger as he sidestepped Charlotte and delivered a single punch to Rafe's face. 

"Did you fucking do that to her!" He yelled, readying to hit Rafe again if he decided to retaliate. Charlotte could tell it took everything in Rafe not to hit JJ back. But he didn't. Instead, he just wiped at his bloody lip, chest heaving in anger. 

"Hey!" Charlotte snapped, throat screaming in protest at the pain. "Back off, JJ. It wasn't him." She stepped in between them again, eyebrows pinching as she noticed the way JJ doubled over in pain as if Rafe had hit him, which she was sure he hadn't. It was then that she realized how pale her best friend was, realization dawning on her. "What's wrong?" She demanded, scanning him for any sign of injury. 

JJ clutched at his side, shaking his head as he turned away from her. "Get him out of here, Charley. I'm serious."

Charlotte scoffed, not at all impressed with his hostility. But she wasn't about to hash it out with him in front of everyone, especially Rafe. 

Speaking of.

"You okay?" She questioned, turning back to Rafe. Her eyes snagged on his split lip, blood pooling on his teeth. "I'm sorry."

Rafe shook his head, wiping at the blood again. "Not your fault, Lottie." He shot daggers in JJ's direction. "You sure you want to stay here?"

"Yeah," Charlotte exhaled, knowing that was not what he was wanting to hear. "I've clearly got some things to sort out."

Seemingly not in the mood to argue, or get punched again, Rafe conceded. "Text me off your sister's phone if you need anything, you hear me?"

Charlotte gave him a small smile, leaning forward to wrap her arms around his torso. "Thank you," she whispered. "For everything."

Rafe gave a small nod, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Come by and see me tomorrow, yeah?"

She knew it was so he knew that she was still alive, still okay.

"Yeah," Charlotte nodded. "Of course."

With one final look toward the Pogues, a silent warning to keep her safe, Rafe returned to his truck. Charlotte watched as he pulled out of the driveway, her heart clenching slightly with the worry that maybe she should have gone with him. 

"Listen guys, I know we have a lot to talk about, but we should really get going," Kiara announced, nodding toward the boat. "The cops, or Groff, could show up here at, like, any minute."

"Yeah," Charlotte muttered. "I might have Shoupe on my tail now."

John B furrowed his brows. "What did you do?"

Charlotte looked to JJ who still wouldn't meet her eyes. "I'll explain on the way."

─☼☼☼─

They had decided that their camp at March Point was the best location for them. They were sure Groff didn't know about it, and hoped that Shoupe didn't either. 

"I still can't believe you broke out of the hospital," Pope snorted as the five of them gathered around the fire. John B and Sarah were out on the dock, and Charlotte had come to the conclusion that she must have told him about the baby. 

Charlotte shrugged, forcing a drink of water down her throat. "It was that or tell him what really happened and there was no way that was going to happen."

JJ scoffed, in the process of bandaging up the wound he had been given by Groff. "So now Pope's a fugitive, you're runnin' from the police, and I have not one, but two, piece of shit fathers." He shook his head. "And now we have nothin'"

He stood, turning his back to the group of them. "Fucking ridiculous is what this is."

Charlotte waited for Kiara to follow after him, but when all she did was stare at the fire, the eldest of the two stood up. 

Wordlessly, she followed JJ to where he'd stopped by the water. His eyes were set forward on the dark night, bottom lip pinched between his teeth in contemplation. "Groff did that to you, didn't he?" He questioned, not even needing to turn to know who had followed him. 

"This isn't your fault," Charlotte asserted, telling by the tone of JJ's voice that he was blaming himself for all of this. 

He turned to her, face full of anger. "I brought him into all of this. I did that! And then he tries to fucking kill you, Charlotte. Explain to me how it's not my fault."

Charlotte stared back at him, unwavering. "Did you try to strangle me?"

"What?" JJ demanded, shaking his head at her question.

"Answer the question," Charlotte demanded. 

JJ glared at her. "Obviously not, but─"

Charlotte gave him a pointed look. "Then this isn't your fault, so stop blaming yourself."

"You know what the worst part of all of this is?" JJ wondered, looking back toward the water. "I actually trusted him. I thought he was comin' back for me...but he was really coming back to finish me off."

"He's a piece of shit," Charlotte answered, her hatred toward Groff overpowering all else. "He's a piece of shit who deserves to suffer for what he did to you."

JJ shrugged. "Maybe I deserved it."

Charlotte stepped forward so she was next to him, forcing him to look over at her. "Would you cut that shit out? If I sat here and said I deserved to get choked out would you like it?"

"No."

"Then stop," she ordered. "I didn't deserve this, you didn't deserve this. The only person who deserves to feel any sort of ramifications is him, alright?"

JJ flexed his hand, bruises peppering his knuckles. "Is your boyfriend's precious mouth going to be okay?" He questioned, changing the subject as quickly as possible. 

Charlotte shot him a look. "You didn't have to hit him, you know? If you have listened for one second I could have explained."

"Explain like you did when he punched you in the face two years ago?" JJ's tone was cold, unforgiving. 

"I'm not arguing about this again," Charlotte muttered, frustration replacing her previous concern for JJ. "You're just lookin' for something to be angry at and I'm not falling for it."

She was gone before he could say another word. 

─☼☼☼─