─☼☼☼─

𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙇𝙊𝙏𝙏𝙀 𝘾𝘼𝙍𝙍𝙀𝙍𝘼 𝙃𝘼𝘿 never felt quite so smothered.

Almost two days had passed since their return to the Outer Banks, and Anna had barely left Kiara and Charlotte alone for more than ten minutes—Charlotte was pretty sure she even heard her mother watching her as she attempted to sleep.

And in an effort to deflect some of the attention from herself, Kiara had, in pure betrayal, revealed that Charlotte had been shot in the time they had been missing from home.

That obviously sent Anna into a tailspin which resulted in Charlotte being carted to every doctor and specialist within the island.

She tried not to complain too much, tried to appease her mother. But none of this mattered to her right now, the only thing she cared about was getting in contact with Rafe.

Her phone, which had been retrieved from Tannyhill earlier that morning—where it had been discarded on the night everything went down six weeks ago—, was clutched tightly in her hands as she sat at the end of her family's pier that stretched into the water in front of their house.

She had told her mother she just needed some time to think, and thankfully Anna retreated slightly.

Kiara, who had used Anna's fussing over Charlotte's ailment to her benefit, had left that morning, likely to see JJ.

Charlotte was slightly envious of her, wishing she could go see Rafe whenever she wanted. Too bad he was somewhere an ocean away. That was thanks to Kiara.

A shaky sigh fell from her lips as she glanced down at her phone, the October air blowing a breeze through her hair.

Not yet having the gut to turn the damn thing on, a black screen stared back at her.

She had no way of contacting Rafe. Or Wheezie, or even Rose for that matter. They had changed their numbers when they arrived on Guadeloupe, ones that Charlotte, for the life of her, could not remember.

A dark feeling of despair settled in her chest. She didn't even know if Rafe was alive.

Coming home was supposed to be the ultimate goal. Reuniting with the Pogues was what Charlotte had chased after for six long weeks...so why did she feel so damn lost. So sad?

Dropping her head slightly, she attempted to breathe, to list the good things over and over again; she was home, she was safe, Kiara was safe, the Pogues were safe — but Rafe wasn't.

How could she resume daily life as if nothing had happened? As if she hadn't endured more than a nineteen year old should, more than anyone should for that matter.

This wasn't her life. This wasn't where she had been destined to end up...was it?

The sound of her mother's footsteps on the dock almost sent her over the edge. A part of her told Charlotte to dive into the ocean, to do anything not to have her mother fawning over her for five more minutes.

Closing her eyes, Charlotte dropped her head into her hands, "I'll be in in like five minutes, mom." She promised, letting out a few muted curses under her breath.

Anna didn't answer her, just continued down the dock before lowering herself down next to Charlotte.

"Mom," Charlotte groaned, lifting her head from her hands to fix her mother with a less-than-pleased expression, "I told you I'll—"

"It's not mom." Came a voice, one that Charlotte had to resist rolling her eyes at. 

"Oh," The older girl grumbled, focusing back out on the water, "It's you."

Kiara scoffed, lowering herself down on the dock next to her sister, "You still not talkin' to me, Charley?"

"Isn't that what we're doing right now, Kiara? Talking?"

True enough, Charlotte had barely said three words to her sister since their return to the Outer Banks. Deep down, she knew she should forgive her sister, or at least have a conversation with her. But a large part of Charlotte needed to have control over something, and arguing with her sister seemed to be a way that she could feel like she had some grasp over her own damn life, as silly as that sounded.

Unbothered by her sister's attitude, Kiara focused on the sun that was high in the sky, "You get why I did it, right?" She wondered, squinting under the harsh light. "I did it to protect you...not to be malicious."

Charlotte was quiet for a moment, a lump forming in her throat as she shrugged, "I guess." She finally answered. "But it was still a dick move."

Kiara couldn't stop the laugh that fell from her lips as she finally turned to face her sister, "You're an ass."

In similar fashion, Charlotte couldn't stop the smile that crept across her own lips. "Says you."

A silence fell between them for a moment, both of their smiles fading slightly as the events of the past few days really set in. They needed each other right now, no matter how badly they denied it. 

"I thought you were supposed to be at JJ's?" Charlotte finally broke the silence, wanting to hear about her sister's love life, as if to distract her from her own. 

"Yeah," Kiara breathed, "He basically told me to fuck off."

"What?" Charlotte wondered, unable to find the point where the animosity rose between JJ and Kiara. 

Shrugging, Kiara tried to hide the hurt on her face, "Something set him off." She answered, "I don't know what, but he's...he's—"

"Self-sabotaging." Charlotte finished, finally putting the pieces together, "As JJ so often does."

"You think?" Kiara wondered. 

"He's being JJ." Charlotte answered. "Just give him some time. He'll come around."

"So, what, just sit around and wait until he's ready?" Kiara challenged. 

Charlotte's answer was to the point, "Not sure what else you want me to say, Kie."

Kiara sighed, pressing her lips into a firm line. "This is all so fucked."

A humourless laugh fell from Charlotte's lips as she nodded. "You're telling me....mom's making me go to therapy."

Kiara's head whipped toward her sister, "Seriously?"

"As serious as a heart attack." Charlotte muttered. "First appointment tomorrow, in order to—as mom puts it—deal with my PTSD and trauma from being shot."

It wasn't supposed to be funny, but Kiara was laughing, which in turn caused Charlotte to do the same. Soon enough, the two were in such a fit of laughter they could barely stop. 

"Mom and dad keep trying to coyly convince me to go to some wilderness camp!" Kiara added through her laughter. "They won't give it up."

Charlotte laughed harder, the prospect of their parents being so bent out of shape by all of this that they were prescribing their children to unwanted therapy and wilderness camp.

"They've fucking lost it." Charlotte declared, her laughter finally dying down. "I think we've drove them insane."

An almost sad smile had come to Kiara's lips, "They really lost it after you started hanging out with the Pogues...I think they were okay until they lost you."

"Hey," Charlotte said softly, the humour falling from her features, "Don't you dare think for one minute that they don't care about you. They always have, Kie. 

Kiara shrugged, "Sometimes it's easier to pretend they don't."

She wanted to answer her younger sister, but Charlotte didn't quite know what to say. And it turned out that was okay, because an interruption was currently running down the dock toward them. 

Both Carrera girls turned to see Sarah Cameron hurrying down the dock, a wild expression covering her face. 

"Thank God you're both here." Sarah breathed, reaching the end of the pier before flopping down behind the two girls. 

Kiara and Charlotte shared a curious look. "What's going on, Sare?" Charlotte wondered, quirking a brow. 

Pausing to catch her breath for a moment, Sarah looked up at them. "I went back to Tannyhill to grab some clothes and a phone, and you're not gonna believe this." She let out a shaky breath. "Rafe is back."

Charlotte's heart seemed to stop for a moment, her stomach clenching as a burst of emotion flooded through her. 

He was alive. 

And he was home. 

She did her damndest to keep her features neutral, knowing excitement was not at all the way she was supposed to be reacting. 

"You've got to be kidding me." Kiara muttered, rolling her eyes. 

"Yeah." Sarah nodded. "I don't think he saw me, but I think the cross is coming back. To Wilmington. Tomorrow night."

Charlotte didn't have to hide her surprise this time, "What?"

Why would Rafe be brining it back here? The whole point of everything he did was to get the cross away from the island. 

"Does Pope know?" Kiara wondered, the shock present on her face as well. 

Sarah shook her head, "No, I was gonna tell him at the Chateau."

"He's on lockdown." Charlotte muttered, recalling what Kiara had told her earlier that moment about Pope's current whereabouts. 

"Okay...then, I'll hit up Pope. Kie, you go to the Chateau and tell John B...and JJ?" Sarah proposed. 

Charlotte noted the flicker on Kiara's face, "Okay." She agreed reluctantly. "I need to talk to him anyway."

When she had Kiara's cooperation, she turned to Charlotte. "Char, there's something I need you to do."

"Of course." Charlotte nodded, "Name it."

"I know you're gonna go see him—"

Charlotte let out a sigh, "Sarah—"

"No, Char. It's okay." Sarah promised. "I'm not mad at you for that. But, while you're there, there's something you can do."

Kiara tried to hide the distaste on her features, but it was blatantly obvious. 

A nervous pit had settled in Charlotte's stomach at the prospect of entering into this vicious double sided charade again. 

Sarah cracked her knuckles nervously, "I tried to get as many details as I could by listening to what Rafe was saying to whoever he was on the phone with—probably my dad. But I couldn't get the tracking info for the train. So If you could..."

"I got it." Charlotte assured, pushing down her feelings of doubt. "I'll have it by tomorrow."

It seemed like a weight had been lifted off of Sarah's shoulders, "Thank you." She breathed. "Let's all meet at the Chateau tomorrow afternoon, we'll plan everything out then."

"Sounds good." Charlotte mumbled, the guilt already eating away at her. 

Kiara let out a low sigh as she pushed herself to her feet. "Our parents are going to actually kill us."

─☼☼☼─

For the third time in the past three minutes, Charlotte's hand hovered above the doorbell, a takeout bag from The Wreck clutched in the other. 

In the five minutes since she had pulled up to Tannyhill, she had spent two of those minutes convincing herself to get out of the car, the next three spent trying to convince herself to ring the damn doorbell. 

She wanted to see Rafe, more than anything really. But what the hell was she supposed to say to him. 

Hey, sorry my sister threw you overboard and left you for dead in a different country...?

Or, she could go with, 

Thank you for getting us out near death, sorry we betrayed you...?

Neither of those seemed right. 

Despite her lack of decision as to what she was going to say, Charlotte finally raised her hand and pressed down on the doorbell, knowing that the food in the bag would be cold if she stood out here any longer. 

As the bell tolled throughout the large house, there was no movement from inside immediately, causing Charlotte to fear that maybe Rafe wasn't home. 

She waited for a moment, heart in her throat, until footsteps could be heard approaching the door. 

Holding her breath, Charlotte waited until the door was pulled open, her body relaxing slightly at the sight of him. 

Rafe looked okay—no actually, he looked perfect. 

He was still for a moment, his eyes raking up and down her body before he let out a small breath, "Hey, Lottie."

And then Charlotte started to cry. 

She wasn't she why she was crying, or what she was even crying about, but she was crying. 

If Rafe had even wanted to play hard to get in that moment, he couldn't. Not when he looked at her crumpling face. 

Within seconds he had her pulled into a tight hug, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, "It's okay, baby." He promised, cradling her closer to him. "I'm okay."

Charlotte wrapped her arms around his waist, "I'm sorry." She whispered, "I had no idea what Kiara was gonna do."

"Hey," Rafe mumbled, pulling back slightly to ensure she could look him in the eyes, "I do not blame you. Not at all."

Reaching up to wipe her eyes, Charlotte let out a watery laugh, "Fuck." She muttered, "I told myself I wasn't going to cry."

Rafe cracked a grin, reaching out to assist her in clearing the tears from her face, "Wanna come in?" He wondered, already knowing what her answer would be. 

"Yeah." Charlotte nodded, holding up the bag of food. "I figured you wouldn't have any groceries so I brought you some dinner."

Smiling again, Rafe leaned forward to press his lips to hers, a hunger not associated with food taking over, "This is why I love you."

─☼☼☼─

-𝙖𝙣-

𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙢𝙗 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙞𝙢 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮. 𝙞 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙪𝙥𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙘 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙡. 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨, 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚. 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 <3-𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙨