─☼☼☼─

𝙄𝙏 𝙎𝙀𝙀𝙈𝙀𝘿 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 the stars had finally aligned for the Pogues─at least somewhat.

Sarah had managed to get John B out of jail, and as it was, Topper was not pressing charges. Which, considering the beating John B gave him, was a miracle.

And thus, as he Cameron girl and the Routeledge boy returned to the Chateau, it was the first tine all of the Pogues (including Charlotte) had been together for longer than ten minutes since before their little six week stint in the Caribbean. That surely meant a celebration...Pogue style.

The shadow of what was to come was still cast overhead─Big John was still being held captive in South America (to which they were already devising a plan to get him which somehow involved Ward Cameron's private jet), they had still lost the cross, the Carrera girls had their parents breathing down their necks at every moment, along with everything else that came with teenage life. But there was nothing they could do about any of that in the moment, so they partied.

Charlotte and JJ had gotten a considerable head start on the drinking and smoking earlier in the day. The others did their best to keep up, games of beer pong, flip cup, chugging races, and shots had ensued.

Heart-to-hearts were had between the group, but alas everyone began to break off into pairs, leaving Charlotte as what she deemed the seventh wheel.

John B and Sarah were in his bedroom, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what they were up to. Pope and Cleo had gotten awfully close in the kitchen, and JJ and Kiara were in deep discussion on the couch.

Charlotte felt a jolt in her heart at the sight of her sister and JJ, one she couldn't quite explain.

So, as one does when drunk and slightly emotionally distressed, she sent a series of drunk texts to her boyfriend─who she was still immeasurably pissed off at.

After the sixth (maybe seventh) text, her phone lit up with a call.

Grinning to herself, drunkenly pleased with the fact that she still had him wrapped around her finger, Charlotte stepped out onto the side porch, wobbly as she lowered herself onto one of the steps. 

"Hellooooo," She drawled, grin still on her face.

Rafe let out a snort from the other end of the line, music playing in the background of wherever he was, "How drunk are you right now, Lottie?"

Charlotte rose her brows, letting out a huff, "Zero percent. How drunk are you?"

"Bit more than zero percent," Rafe answered, a pause before he spoke, "Need to drown out the fact that my girlfriend ditched me tonight."

"Oh," Charlotte challenged, "Well I'm drowning out the fact that my boyfriend stood me up today."

Rafe muttered something that Charlotte couldn't decipher over the phone. "I told you what happened." He argued, "I was trying to protect you."

Charlotte sighed, leaning her head against the railing. "I know. I know. Always protecting me." She wasn't joking anymore, the tone dropped from her voice.

Rafe was silent for a moment, "Do you want me to come get you?" He questioned.

"No," Charlotte sighed, "You've been drinking."

Someone spoke in the background of wherever Rafe was, a female...and she was calling out to him.

Charlotte didn't recognize the voice, and that in itself made the hair on the back of her neck rise.

"Who is that?" She wondered, trying to conceal any jealousy from her tone. Everyone had seen where jealousy had gotten the couple a few days earlier.

"Huh?" Rafe questioned, taking a pause. "Oh, just the bartender here. Sofia or something. Kinda obsessed with me."

A searing pain settled in Charlotte's chest, "Oh," she muttered, "I remember her."

She was gorgeous, gorgeous enough to have Charlotte feeling insecure.

"Lottie," Rafe drawled from over the phone. "We've been over this. It's you and only you. You can relax.

Charlotte clumsily pushed a piece of hair from her face, "What does she want from you?"

Rafe took an audible sip of a drink, "She was giving me my drink." He answered, amusement in his tone. "Put the claws away, baby."

Rolling her eyes, Charlotte felt a grin spread across her face, "Stop pretending that you don't love this right now."

Hearing laughter from insider, Charlotte missed Rafe's response, but she knew it was a smartass one anyway. "I should get going," She breathed. This night was about the Pogues, not about her and Rafe. 

A defeated hum flew from Rafe's lips, "But I miss you."

"I'll call you in the morning," Charlotte promised. But she knew that tomorrow she'd probably be on the way to South America. She didn't want to know how Rafe was going to take that one. 

"Okay," Rafe conceded glumly, "I love you. Have a good sleep."

His words brought Charlotte back to their late-night phone calls in high school, the ones where they stayed on the line until one fell asleep, and sometimes even while both slept through the night. "I love you too." Charlotte answered, a smile on her lips as she hung up the phone. 

Hoisting herself up, Charlotte re-entered the house, a smile still on her face as she joined Pope and Cleo in the kitchen. 

"Where were you?" Pope wondered, handing her another drink (which she surely did not need).

Deciding not to tell him who she had been speaking to, Charlotte sat atop the counter, taking a sip of her drink. "I was just getting some fresh air."

Cleo nodded toward the living room, "Or were you trying to get away from the lovebirds over there?"

She meant it as a joke, but both Pope and Charlotte fell silent as their eyes landed on JJ and Kiara. This had been a long time coming...so why did Charlotte seem to care so much?

"That was bound to happen." Pope muttered, some resentment in his tone, "Long time coming if you ask me."

JJ's eyes flickered toward them for a moment, as if feeling their attention on him. Clearing her throat, Charlotte quickly adverted her eyes toward Cleo, "How's the OBX treating you?" She wondered, desperate to change the topic. She had never really had the chance to sit down and have a real conversation with the newest addition to their group. 

Cleo stole a glance at Pope, as if they knew something Charlotte didn't. "It's been...good." She finally decided on. "Different from my old life, but I can't complain."

"Good," Charlotte gave her a small smile. 

Sniffling for a moment, Charlotte felt a strong smell assault her nostrils, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Do you guys smell that?"

A yell from JJ cut off whatever Pope and Cleo were going to say. "Yo!" He yelled, already up from the couch with panic in his eyes, "Fire!"

Fire...that's what she had smelt. 

Charlotte's heart plummeted as she scrambled off the counter, discarding her drink as her eyes travelled to the window on the far side of the Chateau. Flames licked up around the frame, high and not seeming to stop. 

"Holy shit!" Pope cursed, ushering Charlotte and Cleo out of the kitchen. 

A dishevelled John B and Sarah stumbled from the bedroom, seemingly having been alerted by Kiara. "What the fuck happened?" John B demanded, struggling to pull on his shirt. 

Charlotte had sobered up pretty quickly, her mind running a mile a minute. "Nothing!" She responded, throat tight, "We didn't do anything!"

The fire that had started at the front of the house had now travelled, surrounding almost every exit. 

"Sarah, get away from the door!" John B demanded as she had tried to grab onto the handle. 

JJ and Kiara were next to Charlotte, all of them trying to find the quickest and safest way out. 

Panic. 

It rippled through the group like a giant wave coming to shore. 

Heat surrounded them, muddling their already muddled thoughts. 

"There!" Charlotte yelled, eyes landing on a window that was not yet engulfed in flames. "There!"

All eyes turned toward the window, hope soaring through them. "Go!" JJ declared, ushering everyone toward it. "Hurry."

He was the first there, joined by John B and Pope who helped him pry the window open. It was reminiscent of the early summer when the Pogues─just the five of them at the time─had escaped from the armed strangers who had come after them while they were hidden in Big John's office. That seemed like a lifetime ago. 

The girls were ushered through the open window first, finally followed by the boys just as the flames began to creep toward them. 

Awe-struck eyes stared back at the burning building. Adrenaline pumping through their veins at the close-escape. 

Reaching for her phone, Charlotte held it with shaking hands, "We should call 911."

"No," John B muttered, laying a gentle hand over her own. His eyes were glassy as he stared at his house, almost fulling engulfed in the hot flames...."Let it burn."

─☼☼☼─

Gone. 

The Chateau was completely gone. 

It had burned through the night, leaving nothing but charred remains. Everything that John B had was gone. 

So many memories were held within, now reduced to a pile of soot. 

Defeat had settled in the air as the seven of them stood down at the dock, each of them with tired eyes and heavy hearts. But they didn't have time to dwell forever. Big John still needed them. 

"Sarah, when did you say the pilot was getting in?" John B questioned, way more composed than Charlotte would have been if her home had just burnt down. 

Sarah squinted, checking her watch, "Probably like an hour. I mean, once he's here we can leave whenever we want my dad said."

Thunder cracked in the distance, a breeze causing Charlotte to shiver as she tried to work out in her head how this was going to go. She still didn't fully believe that Ward Cameron was willingly allowing the Pogues to take his private plane to South America. 

But Sarah had insisted that he was willing to do anything to get her back...and supposedly this was one of his sacrifices. 

Pope let out a sigh, "Okay, as much as I would love to ghost my parents again...I can't."

"Pope, we're talkin' El Dorado here. Maybe you can just slip out the back." JJ suggested, giving him a look of scrutiny. 

El Dorado. 

The thing that Singh had gone on and on about. The whole reason Big John had been taken in the first place. Charlotte would be the first to admit that she was skeptical about how everything was going to work out. She had taken a step away from the treasure hunting over the past few weeks...but now it seemed she was back in. 

After a bit of back and forth, it had been decided that everyone would meet up at the tarmac in an hour. Not a second later─as per JJ. 

Still fighting with herself on what to do, Charlotte chewed at her lip as she and Kiara made their way back toward the car.

"Hey, Charls," JJ called, jogging to catch up to them. "You're coming right?"

Charlotte let out a sigh, turning to face him, "J, I don't─"

"She's coming." Kiara interrupted, giving her sister a look. "We are not splitting up again, remember?"

The look on her younger sister's face was enough to have Charlotte nodding. Kiara was right, they couldn't lose each other again...not after what happened last time. If they were going down, they were going down together...she just wasn't sure how she was going to break the news to Rafe. 

"Good." JJ muttered, looking between the pair of them. "That's what I like to hear."

Charlotte sensed something lingering between JJ and her sister, an awkwardness settling in her chest. "I'm gonna...go wait in the car." She mumbled, already backing away from the two of them. 

Whatever was going on between them needed to get figured out, because the tension could be cut with a knife at that point. 

Slipping into the car, Charlotte let out a sigh, knowing that now was the best time to tell her boyfriend that she was leaving─for who knew how long.

She bit down on her lip as she dialled his number, heart thrumming in her throat as the line rang, and rang, and rang. 

No answer. 

His voicemail picked up, and selfishly Charlotte felt a bit relieved. Easier to do it over a voicemail. 

"Hey, babe." She greeted, toying with the stitching on the steering wheel. "I just wanted to let you know that uh...I'm gonna be away for a few days. Little trip with my friends. I can explain more when we talk, but...yeah. Anyway, call me back when you get this. Love you."

She hung up just as Kiara pulled open the passenger side door, the younger of the two too in bliss to notice her sister's stress. 

"Ready?" Kie wondered, reaching over to do up her seatbelt. 

Charlotte started the car, exhaling deeply. "Guess so."

─☼☼☼─