─☼☼☼─

𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙇𝙊𝙏𝙏𝙀 𝘽𝙄𝙏 𝘿𝙊𝙒𝙉 on the inside of her cheek in frustration, looking down at her phone once again. 

12:30.

He was a full thirty minutes late now. 

"Are you ready to order some food?" The waitress asked, giving Charlotte one of those smiles that were laced with pity. 

Charlotte shook her head, looking at the empty seat across from her, "No. Thank you. He'll be here soon."

The waitress tried to hide the doubtful expression on her features, but failed miserably. "Just...wave me down if you need me."

"Got it," Charlotte muttered, forcing her lips into a smile. 

The waitress had barely turned by the time Charlotte was sending another text to Rafe asking where the hell he was. 

She was in the middle of typing out a message that told him if he wasn't here in the next fifteen minutes he might as well lose her number because this was her last straw, when someone sat down across from her. 

Not looking up for a moment, Charlotte exhaled, trying to resist the urge to snap. "Nice of you to finally─oh!" Her anger turned to shock as she met the blue eyes of the person sitting across from her...but it wasn't the blonde-hair-blue-eyed boy that she had been expecting to see. 

"JJ," She breathed, a mixture of shock, relief, and apprehension washing over her. She hadn't expected him to want to talk to her anytime soon. 

Scratching at the back of his neck, JJ gave her an awkward smile, "Sarah told me where to find you." He explained. And if he knew that she was here with the idea of meeting Rafe, he didn't mention it. 

Nodding slightly, Charlotte thought of what to say to him. For once, an uncomfortable tension settled between the two of them. 

It was Charlotte who finally broke it. "Where's John B?" She wondered, asking the most neutral question she could think of. 

JJ let out a small sigh. "In jail."

"What!?" The question fell from Charlotte's lips in an exclamation, causing the waitress to glance over at her with a look of concern. Reining her emotions in, Charlotte looked back to JJ. "What happened?"

"Shoupe found us," JJ shrugged, "Don't know if Topper's pressed charges yet...if he does, then John B gets booked and he's done for."

"Sarah is going to talk to Topper," she assured. "It'll be okay, J."

He gave her a small nod, his eyes examining her face. "Your eye looks better today." He commented, quickly changing the subject. 

Without thinking, Charlotte touched at the bruise. It still was evident, but certainly looked better than it did a day ago. 

A day ago...the same day that had brought upon the night in which JJ tried to fight Rafe at her parents' anniversary party. The same day that had caused all of this drama. 

With a pain in her heart, Charlotte spoke, "Listen, JJ. About last night, I ─"

"No." JJ interrupted, shaking his head vehemently, "I know last night was fucked up, and I'm sorry if I made things harder for you. But if you're about to apologize then I don't want to hear it."

Slightly taken off guard, Charlotte furrowed her brows, "You do need to hear it, because you were protecting me─like you always do─ and I truly am sorry for how the night ended up. You have every right to be annoyed right now."

Taking his hat off and running a hand through his blonde locks, JJ looked like he was toying with what he wanted to say, "You wanna know why I'm here right now?"

"You like their fish tacos?" Charlotte offered, trying to breath light into the situation. 

JJ ignored her comment, "I'm here because after the shit went down with John B, you are the first person I wanted to talk to, Charls. Because every time I talk to you, things always seem to get better, no matter what shit is going on."

Charlotte could feel her heart warm as she looked back at him, her cheeks reddening in a blush at his words. 

"I'm not gonna ask you to leave him, because I know there's no point." JJ continued, his own cheeks tinged red, "But I want you to realize how much better you deserve. There's a hundred guys on this island alone, and millions more outside of here who would die to have a chance with you. You can do better,  Charlotte. You just need to see that."

Unable to look at him for a moment, Charlotte dragged a finger through the condensation that had dripped onto the table from her drink, "What if I don't deserve better?" She wondered quietly, "What if I've gotten exactly what I deserve in life."

"Impossible," JJ argued. "You deserve everything."

Finally looking up at him, Charlotte felt a stinging in her eyes. JJ had always seen her for who she was, no matter what side of the island she was on. 

"I'm sorry for how you've been treated these past few days," He said softly, "But just know that what Pope thinks isn't how the rest of us feel. Come back home whenever you're ready."

Home. To him, it was the Cut. To Rafe, it was Tannyhill and the Figure Eight. To Charlotte, she had no idea. Maybe it was less of a place, and more of a person....or people.

She wanted to say something else to him, unsure of what yet, but something needed to be said. 

Before she had a chance, her phone began to vibrate on the table, a picture of her and Rafe flashing across the screen. 

JJ's attention was drawn toward it, a darkness settling over his features as Charlotte quickly reached out to scoop it up. 

"What?" She snapped into the phone, gearing up to hear what dumb excuse Rafe was about to come up with. 

JJ waved the waitress down, ordering a drink for himself and another soda for Charlotte, seeming to decide that he was going to stick around. 

"Lottie," Rafe breathed into the phone, his voice ragged, "Baby, I am so sorry."

Charlotte bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood, "You're an hour late and you're sorry...that's just fucking awesome, Rafe."

He exhaled deeply from across the line, "I know. I know. I'm at Barry's."

JJ quirked a brow as Charlotte sat up straighter, "What the hell are you doing at Barry's?"

"Dealing with something." Rafe fired back. "Something I don't want you involved in. I'm trying to protect you."

Charlotte's chair scraped against the floor as she stood abruptly, not wanting JJ to hear the conversation any further. Stepping into the hallway that led to the washrooms, she dropped her voice to a whisper, "Are you using again?"

Rafe was silent for a moment before speaking, "Seriously, Charlotte? I tell you I'm trying to protect you from something and you accuse me of using?"

After waiting for him to elaborate for a moment, Charlotte scoffed, "Well? Are you?"

"No, Charlotte. I'm not."

Rolling her eyes, Charlotte leaned against the wall, "Okay, Rafe. It was just a question." 

"Look," he sighed, "I'm just dealing with something with my dad, alright? And I don't want him anywhere near you."

"So your dad was at Barry's?"

"No." Rafe answered.

"So this wasn't about your dad?"

"Barry was helping me figure out what to do." Rafe corrected, remaining surprisingly calm with Charlotte's prodding. 

"Isn't that my job?" She wondered, prodding just a bit more. 

"Where are you right now?" Rafe wondered, trying to deflect. "I can come pick you up and we can discuss this face to face. And I can show you how sorry I am."

"Show me?" Charlotte wondered. "How do you propose you're going to do that?"

She could picture him smirking over the phone, "Guess you're going to have to find out."

"Hmmmm," Charlotte drawled in false contemplation as her eyes snagged on JJ who was taking large sips of his drink at their table, "Offer sounds great, but I'm busy. Guess I'll talk to you later."

The phone was hung up before Rafe could utter another word. And Charlotte was back at the table across from JJ as it rang again, and again. 

"You need to get that?" JJ wondered, eyes catching on Rafe's contact flashing across her screen.

Charlotte declined the call, switching on her Do Not Disturb. "No," she answered with a small smile, "You wanna get out of here?"

─☼☼☼─

"That is not what happened!" Charlotte laughed, throwing her head back against the hammock, now-warmed beer resting in her hand. The sun had begun to set, basking the Chateau in a golden glow. 

JJ smirked from the other side of the hammock, "It totally is, Charls. You cried like a little baby."

"It was a sad movie," She argued, raising her hands in surrender, "And your relentless teasing didn't make it any better." 

Grinning, JJ took another drag of his joint before passing it over to Charlotte, "We had some good times that summer."

"Yeah," Charlotte mused, recalling the summer before she started dating Rafe, "We did."

Taking a drag of the joint, she glanced out at the sunset, "Do you ever wish we could just go back in time...before all of this shit happened?"

Even without looking, she could tell JJ was staring at her, "Yeah." He answered, "There's a whole lot I would do different."

Charlotte nodded, looking back to him, "Me too."

They stared at each other for a moment, each of them saying a million words without either one of them saying a single one. 

"Woah, looks like we're late to the party!"

Both JJ and Charlotte visibly startled at the sound of another voice, the two of them breaking eye contact as Charlotte almost fell off the hammock.

JJ reached out to grab her arm, pulling her up as they turned toward the source of the voice. 

Cleo was grinning at them, Pope, and Kiara in tow. 

Charlotte's heart plummeted at the sight of Pope. Her last conversation with him was less than savoury, and she wasn't in the mood for another argument tonight. 

"I'm gonna go," She muttered, to JJ, releasing herself from his grasp. 

He grabbed onto her arm again, "Charls, wait. You're wasted...what are you gonna do, walk home?"

"If I have to." She answered, looking for her shoes that she had kicked off. "I can't deal with this tonight."

"Hey," JJ whispered, "Just talk to him."

"JJ, I really am not in the─"

"Charley?" Came Pope's voice from behind them, "Can I ─uh─can we talk for a minute."

Slowly turning to look at him, Charlotte tried to read his expression. If he was going to ream her out again, she couldn't promise that it wouldn't end with her a blubbering mess. 

But the expression on Pope's face didn't look hostile, more-so apologetic. 

When she looked down at him, JJ was nodded vehemently, trying to convince her to go. 

"Okay," Charlotte finally agreed, giving up on locating her shoes as she followed Pope─barefoot─toward the water and away from the others. 

An awkward silence settled between them for a moment, each of them focusing on the setting sun. 

It was Pope who spoke first, "I shouldn't have treated you the way I have over the past few days." He declared, eyes still focused on the sunset. "What I accused you of was horrible...and I know it was never true."

Charlotte listened to him, but she too was focused on the sunset. 

"I was angry, and I couldn't take it out on the person responsible, so I took it out on you. Which wasn't fair at all. I'm so sorry." He breathed, now turning to look at her. 

Setting her jaw, Charlotte digested his words, felt his remorse. But she couldn't help but feel the hurt still rooted deep within her. "I think my biggest problem is that you didn't trust me, Pope. You didn't trust me enough or believe in me enough to know I would never do that to you. To any of you."

Pope nodded, understanding her words. "I always knew...I was just so angry with Rafe."

Charlotte looked over to him, chewing on her bottom lip. "You can't ever treat me like that again. Pope. Never."

He nodded, eyes softening slightly. "Never." He promised. 

"Okay," Charlotte breathed, a weight being lifted off her shoulders. "Good."

Pope had her pulled into his chest in a hug before she even had a chance to register. "I love you, Charls." He muttered, holding her tightly. 

That might have been the first time the two of them had hugged, but Charlotte wasn't complaining. 

She let out a small laugh as he arms snaked around his waist, "I love you too, Pope."

─☼☼☼─