─☼☼☼─

"𝙒𝙀 𝙇𝘼𝙔 𝙇𝙊𝙒 " Charlotte advised as the group of them sat in The Wreck later that night. "And I mean, actually low this time. No guns, no fights. We can melt down this bar, pawn it off and then we can pay for JJ's restitution and whatever else we want. If we need more...we know where to find it."

Kiara passed Charlotte a bag of ice before setting down three baskets of fries. Turns out a recon mission for $400 million dollars and being shot at can make a person hungry.

Pressing the ice onto her ankle with a hiss of pain, Charlotte regarded the other teens who were still buzzing with excitement. "Does that sound good to everyone?"

John B nodded with a huge grin as he turned the bar of gold in his hand. "Yeah, Char. That sounds smart."

He then looked around at the group of them, eyes full of excitement and love. "I can't believe we did it."

Charlotte cracked a grin as she raised her cup of soda. "Here's to going full Kook."

John B raised his, the others following suit. "Fuck yeah. Full Kook baby."

"Do you guys realize how fucking awesome we are?" JJ exclaimed, pushing his chair back as he began to re-enact some of the most riveting scenes from the night. "Like that old broad was literally shooting at us like-bam-bam! And we just fucking─"

His dramatic rendition of their mission was cut off by the sound of the bell. All of them froze in panic for a moment before John B scooped the gold off the table and into his bag.

Charlotte and Kiara turned toward the door, looking like deer in headlights as they expected to see their father walking through the door with a look of disappointment.

But it wasn't their father, not even close.

"Rafe?" Sarah wondered, shocked to see her brother here. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Rafe Cameron looked miserable as his eyes scanned the raggedy group in front of him. John B was still covered in mud, Sarah and Kie looked dishevelled as ever and JJ, Pope and Charlotte were covered in sweat and dirt. They looked pretty rough.

But as quickly as his eyes had scanned the group, they had focused on a single member. It was as if he refused to acknowledge the presence of the others. "Charlotte, can I talk to you?"

JJ, who was still standing, took a protective step forward. "Get the fuck out of here, man. This isn't your turf."

"It's okay, J." She assured, knowing she could handle Rafe on her own. 

Her eyes flickered to Rafe's and she could see the pleading manner behind them. But a day ago when she told him to leave, it wasn't with the intention of speaking to him the very next day. 

Sitting up straighter, Charlotte lifted her chin slightly. "I don't really think we have anything to talk about."

Rafe took a small step forward, his shoulder slumping slightly. "Lottie, please. Just a few─"

John B stood up so quickly his chair clattered to the ground behind him. "She said she doesn't want to talk to you, man. Just get the hell out of here."

Rafe spun to him with intensity. "Stay the fuck out of this, Pogue."

Sarah stood up, placing a hand on John B's chest before looking to her brother. "Just leave, Rafe. She doesn't want to talk to you."

"Sarah, stay out of this." Rafe warned, pointing an aggressive finger in his sister's direction. "This has nothing to do with you."

Sarah reeled back. "Actually, it does."

JJ's jaw was clenched as he took another step closer to Rafe. "Seriously man, get out of here."

"Back off." Rafe warned, nostrils flaring in anger. 

Charlotte exasperatedly rolled her eyes as she pulled the ice off her ankle, swinging her leg off the the chair where it had been rested before getting to her feet. "Enough." She ordered. "We get it, you're all macho men. You can all cut out the battle of the testosterone now."

She then looked to her two younger friends. "JJ, John B, thank you. But I'm okay. Rafe," She began, swinging her attention back to him. "Five minutes, that's all you get."

Pope let out a defeated sigh as he watched her take a wobbly step toward him, Kiara regarded Rafe with a look of disgust as Sarah and John B seemed to have a silent conversation with their eyes. JJ still looked like he was ready for round two with Rafe, and this time he wasn't going to be the one bloodied and bruised.

A smug smile covered Rafe's face as he raised his brows at JJ as it to say I won. 

"Grow up, Rafe." Charlotte spat, limping passed him toward the front porch. "You're wasting your five minutes, so I would suggest you hurry up."

JJ could be heard muttering some choice words as Rafe arrived at Charlotte's side. "What happened to your ankle?" He wondered, placing a supporting hand at the base of her back. 

Quickly slapping his hand away, Charlotte sent him a warning glare. "Don't touch me. I'm fine."

He pulled his hand back, using it to instead open the door that led out of the restaurant where the Pogues could no longer hear what they were saying. "Seriously, what the hell were you and those scumbags doing tonight?"

"Don't." She warned again, this time more forcefully. "Don't talk about them like that. And don't act like you have the right to know what I was doing tonight. I thought I made it very obvious yesterday morning that you and I were no longer in each other's lives."

Rafe's demeanour shifted slightly as he studied Charlotte's face. The way he was looking at her was like a lost puppy dog. 

Charlotte knew that if she looked at him while he wore that stupid expression any longer she would kiss him. So with a huff of frustration, she turned away from him, bracing herself on the railing. 

Rafe moved toward her, the porch boards creaking slightly as he stopped right beside her. He was staring at her, but she still refused to look at him. "That's why I'm here, Charlotte." He declared. "I need to apologize for how I treated you yesterday. I─I know that you were just trying to help."

A deep breath flew from Charlotte's lips as her shoulders relaxed slightly. With her gaze still focused on the parking lot, she spoke. "I don't want to keep having this conversation, Rafe. I can't keep having this conversation. You're always sorry...so sorry. But it literally means jack shit when you're still getting high all the time."

Finally, she turned to look at him. "You're high right now. The minute you left my house yesterday you went and got high, right? And then all day today...what did you do?"

Biting the inside of his cheek, Rafe pushed his shoulders back slightly. He didn't like being called out when he was trying to be vulnerable. "You don't get it, Charlotte. You never will. You don't get what it's like to try and live up to my dad's expectations. You don't get what it's like to watch him favour Sarah again and again for no damn reason."

"Oh trust me," Charlotte bit out. "There's a reason."

Rafe spun away from her for a moment, raking a hand through his hair. "I can't stand it." He declared, voice wavering. "I can't stand having you look at me the same way everyone else does."

"Then do something about it!" Charlotte argued, but it sounded more like a plea. "Give me a reason to look at you the same way I used to. Give me that reason and I will Rafe, you know I will."

He stopped his pacing, looking at her with the puppy dog eyes again. "I'll get my shit together." He promised. "I will. I will."

"Okay." Charlotte said softly, turning from the railing to fully face him. "You do that, and I'll be here."

"Y-you're not going to help me?" Rafe sputtered out, face clouding in shock. 

She let out a humourless laugh. "I've tried, Rafe. I've tried so many time I've lost count. You need to do this on your own. And once you're clean, then we can figure our shit out. But you need to figure out you first."

With that, she turned and pulled the door to the restaurant open, noting how the minute the hinges squeaked signalling its opening, she could hear five pairs of feet scrambling back to the table as if they hadn't just listened to the whole conversation. 

"So," Charlotte breathed, stopping in front of the table where her friends where desperately trying to look busy. "Who wants a drink?"

─☼☼☼─

Laying low was going well. Or as well as it could when they were sitting on the whereabouts of 400 million dollars. 

Charlotte and Kie had done their best to melt down the bar of gold, and while it didn't go according to plan, it was good enough. 

After a lot of pestering from John B about the Carrera sisters' inability to properly figure out the melting point of gold, the Pogues and Sarah had finally taken it to one of the local pawn shops on the Cut. 

In the spirit of laying low and trying not to get arrested, Charlotte had opted out of the pawning mission. Instead, she decided to do the most least suspicious thing she could think of and that was heading over to the Island Club. 

Despite the fact that she had only spent a total of one hour there this entire summer, she decided it was the most appropriate place for her to go. How could people find a reason to incriminate her if she was in the exact spot most people would expect her to be?

And to really drive home the point, Charlotte had agreed to meet up with Willa Connors. 

She hadn't spoke to either Willa or Kensington since Midsummers when the news about Kensington's attempted─and failed─efforts to seduce Rafe had been revealed. 

Her avoidance of her previous two best friends hadn't been intentional─not really. I mean she had been pretty preoccupied the last week or so. 

But now, as she sat across the table from Willa, she put back on her best Kook performance. Her hair was done the nicest it had been in the past few days, her clothes pulled from the back of her closet and her makeup actually done for the first time since Midsummers. The old Charlotte was back, if even just for a day. 

"I hope you know how sorry I am." Willa announced, reaching her hand across the table to take a hold of Charlotte's. 

A small smile came to Charlotte's face as she shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for." She asserted. "You didn't know."

Willa dipped her head slightly. "If I had have known, I would have told you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah." Charlotte answered softly, the smile on her lips not quite meeting her eyes. "I know, Wills."

"Have you talked to her?" Willa wondered, the her being Kensington, their current missing link. "She's been texting me a ton, asking if you were talking to me."

Charlotte took a quick sip of the glass of water in front of her. "No. I haven't. She's been blowing up my phone, but─I don't know, I guess I don't really have anything to say right now."

Willa pressed her lips into a firm line for a moment before speaking. "What about Rafe? I saw you two leaving Midsummers together...are you two...?"

"No." Charlotte answered quickly, her eyes then drifting toward where Rafe was playing a game of corn hole with Kelce and Topper. Of course he was here. "No. We're not back together. But I'm trying to get past the whole hating him act."

"Good!" Willa praised, "You've just been so miserable since you two broke up. It's good to hear that you're making some leeway."

Charlotte nodded, taking her eyes off of Rafe who was now watching her with a small smile. "Right." she muttered, plastering another fake smile onto her face. "What about you? Are you still in love with Cooper McCauley?"

Scoffing, Willa waved a manicure hand through the air. "Absolutely not. He wants to go to law school."

"So?" Charlotte challenged with a small laugh. 

Willa looked at her as if were obvious. "I can't date someone who is going to be better at arguing than me."

After staring at her friend for a moment, Charlotte burst out laughing. Leave it to Willa to get a genuine laugh out of her. She was always good at that. 

Smirking, the blonde took a sip of her iced tea as she shrugged. "You've gotta think these things through."

"Wish someone would have told me that five years ago." Charlotte grumbled, a small grin coming to her face at Willa's expression. 

"Oh come on, Char. He's not that─"

Willa was cut off by the sound of a motor revving out in the parking lot. A blanket of curiosity fell over the entire club as everyone turned toward the entrance where a Mustang had just pulled up. 

A figure flew out of the car, making his way toward the gates with purpose. "RAFE CAMERON!" He sang with a taunting tone. "Get over here!"

Charlotte sat up straighter, turning to watch as Rafe hurried Topper and Kelce toward the gates where the un-welcomed guest was currently arguing with the attendant. 

Willa leaned over the table, trying to get a better view. "Is that─"

"Barry." Charlotte bit out, a bitter taste in her mouth for the residence drug dealer. She was no idiot...she knew that's who had been selling to Rafe. But what the hell was he doing here?

Standing and reaching for her phone, Charlotte watched intently as Rafe and Barry began to argue. The latter of which was clearly irate over something.

"Charlotte don't go over there." Willa warned, already knowing where her friend's mind was at. 

"I'll be fine." Charlotte dismissed absentmindedly as she slowly began to make her way toward the gate, much to Willa's dismay. 

Her ankle still hurt beyond belief, so she didn't get there as fast as she would have liked. Luckily, she made it before any punches were thrown. 

"What the hell is going on?' She demanded, noting the slightly shocked looks on everyone's faces as Barry rambled on about something. 

"Ah!" He mocked, turning to face Charlotte as she approached. "If it isn't Mrs. Country Club herself. So glad you joined us, because we have something to talk about, too."

Charlotte's eyes flickered to Rafe's for a moment before settling back on Barry. "What are you talking about?"

Rafe's two forefingers were resting on his temples as he shook his head. "He thinks Sarah and the Pogues stole 25k from him."

Fuck. 

"Nah. Nah. I don't think." Barry snapped. "I know. And your two little sisters were in on it. So either they get me my money, or you two can get it. You choose."

Play it cool, Charlotte. 

"Do you hear yourself right now?" She spat, taking a step closer. "You really think that our sisters stole twenty five thousand dollars from you? They're not that stupid, Barry."

He flicked his tongue across his bottom lip for a moment as he regarded her. "You better watch your mouth, princess. Don't treat me like I'm some idiot or you and me are going to have some problems."

Charlotte scoffed. "Well, I think we already have some problems, Barry. What, between you selling drugs to my boyfriend and accusing my sister of theft."

"What did I just say about watching your damn mouth, Kook?"

Barry was intercepted by Rafe who placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, man. Just leave her─"

Barry cut him off by grabbing onto the angry red blister on Rafe's wrist, yanking his arm off his shoulder. "How many times do I have to deal with you!?"

A scream of pain fell from Rafe's lips as he stumbled toward the ground for a moment before catching himself as Topper rushed forward. 

"Fuck." Charlotte whispered to herself, dropping her head into her hands for a moment. Little did Rafe know, the Pogues and Sarah likely did steal the money...so much for laying low. 

"That's 25k!" Barry screamed, getting in the face of Topper who had stepped in between the two. "What's up, Country Club?"

"We're good!" Topper assured, trying to keep Barry from ripping Rafe's head off. "We're good!"

By this point, Barry was right in Topper's face. "'We're good.'" he mocked, puffing out his chest. "'We're good'. Stand down!"

Rafe, who was clutching his wrist in pain, regained his composure as Barry turned to look between him and Charlotte. "The two of you need to sort this shit out with your sisters."

Charlotte glared at him as Rafe put a defensive hand up in the air. "All right!"

"I'mma get my money." Barry declared. 

"Yes." Rafe snapped. "Yes. Okay."

Barry wasn't done quite yet. "If it's not from you, it's from them. Remember that." A devious smirk came to his face. "I'll see you boys around. And you too, lovely lady."

Rolling her eyes, Charlotte promptly flipped him off which caused Rafe to yank her hand down. "Would you cut it out?" He hissed, pulling her away. "You're going to get us killed with that damn mouth of yours."

"He's an asshole, Rafe." Charlotte muttered, watching as Barry peeled out of the lot. "A low-life asshole."

"Well what are you guys gonna do?" Topper wondered, looking between the pair of them. 

"Nothing." Rafe answered, pacing slightly as he watched Barry's car disappear. "It's not my problem."

Charlotte's eyes darted between the two of them as Topper looked to her for validation. "Come on, man." He reasoned, looking back to Rafe.  "This is Sarah we're talking about. What are you gonna do?"

Rafe exhaled through his nose, switching his weight between his two feet. His eyes flickered toward Charlotte for a moment before settling back on Topper. "All right. Come on."

"Woah." Charlotte argued, knowing wherever the two were about to go wasn't likely so they could have a pleasant, mature conversation. She had a feeling it involved some threats, mostly directed at her younger friends and sister. "Where are you going?"

Topper brushed passed Charlotte as Rafe took a few steps toward his bike. "To deal with the mess that our sisters and your dirty little Pogue friends caused."

Shit. 

"Rafe, come on." She pleaded, desperate to prevent a disaster from occurring. "Just let me talk to them."

"You know, Charlotte." He began, grabbing his helmet off the handle bar of his bike. "I'm not too sure that you weren't involved in whatever little scheme they're pulling here."

She gawked. "You think I helped them steal 25k from Barry? I've been here basically all day. You've been staring at me for a majority of it so you should know that."

A low whistle came from Topper's lips as Rafe clenched his jaw, his cheeks reddening slightly. "Watch it, Charlotte. 

"I can handle it, okay? I'll-I'll go talk to them right now and we can get this sorted out" Charlotte proposed, very well knowing her pleas were falling on deaf ears. 

"No." Rafe rasped out, swinging his leg over his bike and gripping onto the handle bars. "Top and I are going to pay John B a little visit."

Charlotte's subsequent pleas were drowned out by the sound of Rafe's bike firing up. She threw her hands up in frustration, glaring at him as he peeled out of the parking lot. 

"Fucking idiots." She muttered to herself, already stomping back to  her table to let Willa know she needed to go. 

But before she could get all the way there, someone stepped in front of her. 

Charlotte peeled her eyes up, and instantly felt a jolt in her chest. 

"You've got to be kidding me."

─☼☼☼─