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RAFE

"YOU'RE NOT GONNA believe this," Topper laughed, a giddy smile on his face. "One of the lots they're changing the zoning on..."

Rafe knew whatever Topper was about to say wasn't going to be as good as he was making it seem. "Yeah?" he wondered, bringing his drink to his lips. He didn't want to be here with Topper, in fact he found the younger boy rather irritating. But he couldn't sit alone at his house any longer. Because every moment that passed in solitude, he was reminded that Charlotte could have been with him. She could have been with him for an entire year if he hadn't fucked things up so badly. 

Not noticing Rafe's disinterest, Topper delivered what he believed to be the punchline. "JJ's house. Poguelandia or whatever stupid thing they call it."

Yeah, definitely not as groundbreaking as Topper seemed to think it was. 

Truthfully, Rafe was past all of the Kook/Pogue bullshit. They were all adults now, it was time for everyone to focus on their own lives and stop trying to ruin others. He knew Topper was useless, still clinging to his mommy and daddy's livelihood. That's why he cared so much about this stuff, he had nothing better to do. 

"So...?" Rafe wondered, waiting for the part that involved either of them. 

Topper's excited smile had only dimmed minimally. "So, it means they're going to have to shut down their little bullshit business. I mean, unless they can fight the ruling, which betting those broke-ass Pogues don't have the money to fight it."

Rafe tilted his head slightly, "Yeah, well my sister was always terrible with money."

It wasn't only his sister he was thinking about. He'd heard through the grapevine that Charlotte had invested in their little business as well, meaning she had as much to lose as the rest of them. 

He didn't want that. Not at all. 

But he didn't want Topper to know that. Unfortunately, Topper was one of the only friends he had left, and despite the fact that Rafe was sick of him, he didn't want to be completely alone. 

Once again not noticing Rafe's internal battle, Topper continued. "So once they default on their fines or whatever, with this friend of my mom's...we're gonna offer to buy them out. And then I got this little side deal going with my grandfather that he's going to rule on to make this thing bulletproof, baby."

Rafe took another sip of his drink to hide the expression that was begging to crawl its way across his face. Everything Topper had just said proved Rafe's earlier thoughts. Topper was nothing without his family connections, he'd done nothing for himself. But Rafe couldn't tell him that. So instead he patted Topper on the back. "Look at you. Being, like, a mogul and shit."

Topper was pleased by the praise, a grin coming to his face. "I've got it figured out. Screw medicine. You can't make any money."

"You can't make any money." Rafe confirmed, even though he was pretty sure you could. 

"Oh, babe." Topper greeted the dark haired girl who had arrived at their table. He'd been dating Ruthie for almost six months, but Rafe still couldn't stand her. He did his best to avoid her. "I was just telling Rafe about how we're gonna screw the Pogues and make mint." Topper gushed. 

Ruthie rose her brows, "Oh, I'll drink to that." She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Not sure Rafe will, though."

Rafe was reminded why he hated her so much. "What's that supposed to mean?" He questioned.

"I mean your girlfriend, right?" Ruthie elaborated, as smug as ever. 

Something shifted in Rafe's heart at the mention of her. It always would. 

"Charlotte and I broke up." He reminded her, and even saying the words out loud hurt him beyond belief. "She has nothing to do with this."

Ruthie sucked in a breath, tilting her head slightly. "Yeah, but you're still, like, in love with her, right? And she's pretty damn Pogue...I mean, considering she's living with all of them right now."

Downing the rest of his drink, Rafe shook his head. "You don't know anything about me and her, alright?" He could feel the anger, the defensiveness rising. "I'm going to get another drink." 

If he had to stand by Ruthie any longer he was going to lose his damn mind. 

─☼☼☼─

CHARLOTTE 

After a brief run-in with Chandler Groff, the five of them had left Goat Island with the hopes of never having to go back. They'd then headed back to Poguelandia where they managed to clean off the amulet. It contained some sort of phrase in Arabic, one that none of them could translate. 

So, John B and Sarah had taken off to find one of Big John's old connections, hoping he could help them decipher what was on the amulet. Pope and Cleo had headed back to the hospital to pick up Kie and JJ, while Charlotte had headed to the library to find as much information as she could about Blackbeard and Elizabeth Teach. 

She hadn't even realized it, but hours had passed by the time she finally checked her phone. A dozen or so texts had come in during that time. Some from Pope letting her know that JJ and Kiara were okay but they'd all but broken out of the hospital. Some were from Sarah letting her know they hadn't had much luck. And then there were some from Willa Connors, asking where the hell Charlotte was. 

Shit. 

She'd promised to meet Willa for a drink at the yacht club and she was already thirty minutes late. 

Frantically, Charlotte gathered up her notebooks and laptop, shoving them into her bag as she rushed out of the library and toward the yacht club, hoping Willa wasn't too pissed at her. Despite everything they had been through, and the two totally different lives they were living, Willa had been a good friend to her, and Charlotte hadn't always returned the favour. 

As she pulled in to the parking lot, Charlotte looked down at her denim shorts and tank top that she had been wearing for the past day, having had no time to change. Her hair fell in curls that she was sure needed taming, and she was pretty sure she'd sweat off all of her makeup. Essentially, she looked out of place at the club, but she didn't have the time to care. 

Still flustered, she hurried her way into the building, barely putting her car in park as she rushed up the pathway; that was her first mistake -- not looking around first. Her second mistake was letting her eyes stray toward the bar as she stood at the hostess booth, searching for any sign of Willa. 

Because she didn't find Willa, but she found someone else watching her. 

In one split moment, Charlotte's entire world crumbled. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. In fact, she was surprised that she was still standing. 

Because no more than ten feet away, Rafe Cameron was stood just as frozen as she was. His eyes locked on hers, his face paling as a surge of emotions shot between the two of them. They both looked so different than they had a year ago. Older, more mature, and perhaps more lonely than ever. 

Charlotte had yearned to see him, to know that he was okay. But now that he was standing in front of her she could barely take it. She couldn't handle knowing that he was here, but that he wasn't hers to run to anymore. 

In his distracted state, Rafe accidentally knocked over his glass, sending his drink spilling over his clothes. It was only then that he tore his eyes away from Charlotte. She took the moment to make a beeline around one of the walls, thankfully finding Willa sitting at one of the tables. 

"There you are!" Willa exclaimed, looking up from her phone. "I thought you died or something."

"Rafe's here." Charlotte gritted out, lowering herself into her seat as she glanced around, ensuring he wasn't coming toward them. She wasn't sure she was mentally stable enough to have it out with him in the middle of the yacht club. 

Willa's face dropped slightly, "Do you want to leave? Because we can go?"

"No," Charlotte assured, not even believing her own words. "We're mature enough to be in the same place." 

"Are you sure?" Willa checked, genuine concern on her features. "You look like you're going to throw up."

And it was true, Charlotte looked unwell, her whole body shaking with an overflow of emotions. "I'm okay," she promised, flagging down the waiter. "Can I get a margarita...better make it a double actually."

The waiter rose his brows at Charlotte's dishevelled state. "Sure thing."

Plastering on a smile, Charlotte turned to her friend. "So...how's life?"

Willa gawked at her. After Rafe and Charlotte's first breakup, the two of them being in a room together would have been a disaster. But it was clear things were different now, they weren't the same nineteen year olds they were two years ago. 

When she realized that Charlotte was somewhat okay, Willa launched into the stories that had happened since the last time the two girls had caught up. It involved a lot of drama, as per usual with Willa, but it was a good distraction. 

Charlotte had almost forgotten Rafe was even in the club until someone approached their table. She could feel their presence, breath catching in her throat as she slowly turned her head to face whoever it was. 

"Oh, hey, Charlotte."

Topper Thornton was smirking down at her, his unbelievably smug looking girlfriend right beside him. Charlotte knew they came over here to taunt her, that was literally the only reason. 

She couldn't help but let her eyes stray toward the table where Rafe had been...he was no longer there or in sight at all. "What do you want, Topper?" Charlotte questioned, doing her best to ignore Ruthie entirely. 

"Just came to see how Poguelandia is doing," Topper explained, raising his hands in surrender. "I mean no harm."

Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him. "Right, because you meaning harm on a Pogue would be unheard of." She mocked, mind running through everything Topper Thronton had done to the Pogues over the years. 

A snort came from Ruthie. "You know, Charlotte, we have a pretty strict 'no Pogue' rule here...so if that's the identity you're going to claim then maybe you should go."

What Charlotte really wanted to do was punch Ruthie in her stupid mouth. But she had more restraint than that. So instead she stood up, downing her drink before shooting Ruthie a smirk. "You know what, you're right actually. I've got to get going, I have a super long list of Pogue shit I have to do."

"Fuck off, Ruthie." Willa snapped as she stood as well, following Charlotte out of the yacht club. 

Charlotte stopped at her car and it was now that she looked for Rafe's bike. It was no where to be seen...meaning he had left. Part of her was relieved. The other part of her feared that maybe he really had moved on. 

Unexpectedly, a laugh bubbled from Charlotte's lips as she leaned against her car, and then another laugh. Soon enough, she was in a fit of giggles, in disbelief that this is where she had ended up. 

"Char?" Willa said hesitantly as she approached. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Charlotte breathed, wiping the tears that had mix with her laughter. "I just -- as if I got kicked out of the Pelican Club. And as if Rafe was there and he didn't even try to talk to me."

Willa looked about ready to check Charlotte into a mental hospital. "I mean, you didn't actually get kicked out. Ruthie's just an idiot."

"No," Charlotte breathed, finally feeling like herself. "I don't belong there anyway. I haven't for a while and we all know that."

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