─☼☼☼─

"𝙇𝙊𝙏𝙏𝙄𝙀," His voice was soft, gently pulling her from the deep slumber she had been immersed in. "Lottie."

Charlotte's eyes opened─well one opened, the other did its best.

His face was hovering near hers, his smile fading slightly as his attention flickered toward her wounded eye. Clearing his throat, Rafe sat up slightly, gently tracing the bruise on Charlotte's otherwise perfect skin─the bruise he had put there.

"Your phone's been going off like crazy." He explained, nodding toward the nightstand next to her. Even in her sleep-induced haze, Charlotte's heart dropped slightly, fearing that the texts had been from JJ or one of the other Pogues. There was no doubt in her mind that Rafe had checked her phone before alerting it to her.

Giving him a small smile, she rolled over and took it off the charger, wincing as pain shot through her head─likely a result of the raging hangover she was sure she had, coupled with the fact that she had literally been punched in the face by a nineteen year old boy last night.

"My mom." She croaked out, her eyes scanning the twenty messages that had come from her mother since dawn. "Shit."

Charlotte was out of bed within seconds, ignoring the fact that she wanted to throw up and curl into a ball. "Their anniversary party is today, I totally forgot."

Rafe propped himself up on an elbow. "The party isn't until seven tonight. It's ten am."

Hastily looking for clothes to change into, Charlotte nodded, "I know. But I promised I'd help set up."

"Isn't that what Kiara's for?" Rafe groaned, flopping onto his back. "Come back to bed."

Successfully finding a pair of denim shorts and a tank top, Charlotte changed in a hurry, throwing her pajamas at Rafe if only to piss him off. "I have to show my face before my mom thinks I'm dead or something. It's been days since I've been home."

Rafe let out a low sigh, "But you've been with me."

Charlotte's lips twitched into a small smile as she bent down to press a kiss to his cheek, "I'll see you tonight. Don't be late."

With that, she disappeared into the bathroom to try and figure out how in the hell she was going to cover up what he had done.

─☼☼☼─

"There you are!" Kiara huffed, hauling a stack of chairs out of the wreck. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago."

Charlotte hovered near the steps, watching her sister for a moment. She wasn't sure where they stood considering the last time they had seen each other Kiara had basically accused her of betraying Pope, of betraying all of them.

Kiara caught on fast to her sister's weariness, letting out a low sigh as she set the chairs down. "Look, I'm sorry, alright? I'm sorry for accusing you of doing something like that. But can you really blame me? I mean where have you been for the past two days."

Not allowing her face to waver, Charlotte stared back at Kiara through the sunglasses she had put on in an effort to hide her bruised eye. "Where else could I have gone?" She shrugged, "None of my friends trust me anymore. Clearly my sister doesn't either."

"That's not true." Kiara argued in exasperation. "We all still trust you it's just─"

"Pope doesn't." Charlotte interrupted, her mind racing back to the day previous when she had attempted to give Pope the money from the cross. Her heart still ached when she replayed the conversation in her head. "He hates me."

Kiara shook his head. "He doesn't hate you, he's just dealing with a lot."

"Right." Charlotte muttered, as if she wasn't.

Looking over her shoulder, Kiara looked heartbroken for a moment. "Look, Charley. I feel like you and I were finally getting back on track. I don't want to mess that up again. I'm sorry for what I said, and I'm sorry for how Pope's treated you, but he has a right to be upset. Rafe melted the cross down."

Charlotte didn't falter. "I know." She answered, drinking in her sister's expression. "I helped him sell the pieces of it."

"You what?" Kiara demanded, anger overtaking her features. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Although she knew she should be, Charlotte wasn't phased by her sister's reaction. "I gave the money to Pope. That was my plan all along. And despite the fact that he basically told me to fuck off, I'm glad I did."

Kiara's features had relaxed slightly as she ran her hands over the grooves on the wood of the bannister. "You knew you couldn't beat Rafe so you joined him?"

"Yeah." Charlotte answered with a small shrug. "I just wanted it all to be over. I didn't know he was going to melt down the cross, and by the time I found out it was too late. There was nothing else I could have done."

She hated explaining herself. Wished that Kiara would just trust her.

But Kiara was stubborn, just as Charlotte was. So instead of discussing the matter any further, admitting her mistake, she nodded toward The Wreck. "You can help me with food prep if you want."

"Sure." Charlotte agreed, exhausted of having the same argument, and dying from the heat and her hangover.

As they stepped into the air conditioned restaurant, her mother's voice rang from the back. "Charlotte Anne Carrera where the hell have you been?"

Charlotte looked to her sister for help, but Kiara simply rose her hands and sauntered toward the kitchen.

"I slept through my alarm." Charlotte lied. "Rafe and I were up late watching a movie─" Lie. "─And I must have turned it off instead of snoozing this morning─" Lie. "─I'm sorry, mom." Truth.

Anna's hands rested on her hips, trying to decide if she should chastise her daughter more or let it go. Thank God she went with the latter. "I don't have time for this today. We have too much to do. Get into the kitchen with your sister and starting working on the appetizers."

Charlotte couldn't hide the relieved smile on her face. "Yes, ma'am."

"And take off those damn sunglasses! You're not wearing them while you're cookin' in my kitchen." Anna called after her.

Shit.

While she had done her best to hide the bruise, her eye was still slightly swollen. She had hoped that it would be significantly less dramatic by the time the party rolled around, but she hadn't planned on removing her cover now.

Not turning back to look at her mother, Charlotte waved a hand as if to say okay, knowing damn well she would be keeping those glasses on for as long as possible.

As she walked into the kitchen, Kiara looked up at her, raising a brow. "Didn't mom tell you to take those off?"

Charlotte shrugged, turning on the sink to clean her hands, "I like 'em. Paid a lot of money for them so why can't I wear them whenever I want?"

A furrowed expression covered Kiara's face, "You bought those at CVS when we were in Charleston."

Shit. Charlotte had forgotten that her sister had been with her when she bought the sunglasses that sat atop her face.

Reaching out for a towel to dry her hands, Charlotte tried to keep her composure. "Twenty bucks is a lot of money to some people..."

Kiara stared at her sister, scrutinizing her for a moment. And then she all but pounced, pulling the glasses from Charlotte's face before holding them above her head, out of reach.

"Hey!" Charlotte snapped, hand flying up to cover her eye in an attempt to keep it out of sight.

But it was too late. The shocked expression on Kiara's face was an indicator of that.

"Charley, what the fuck happened to your face!?"

Lie, Charlotte thought. Lie now.

Casting a glance over her shoulder, Charlotte tried to put on the display that whatever lie she was about to tell was the big secret she didn't want her mother to know. When there was no sign of her mother hovering, she spoke in a low voice. "Rafe threw a party last night..."

Kiara leaned forward, as if on high anticipation for whatever her sister was about to say next. 

Charlotte cleared her throat, "And I got a little too drunk, and high maybe...tripped over my own damn feet and whacked my face off the bathroom counter. Damn near almost lost my eye."

She held her breath. Watched her sister's expression. 

"Seriously? You're such a fucking idiot." Kiara muttered, doing little to ease Charlotte's fear for a moment. "I seriously can't believe you got high."

Breathe.

Kiara was laughing as she went back to work, shaking her head. "How many times have you turned down JJ when he begged you to get high with us?"

Snatching the sunglasses off of the counter, Charlotte pushed them back onto her face, letting out a forced laugh. "Maybe we don't tell him then, hey?" She suggested, reaching across her sister for a pair of gloves. 

With a shrug, Kiara shot her sister a sad smile. "Well, he's still barely even talkin' to me, so I don't think you have to worry about that."

The smile fell from Charlotte's face, "Wait, really?"

"Yeah." Kiara answered, her hands still busy at work. "And John B has basically shut Sarah out since his dad came back."

"And Pope won't talk to me." Charlotte muttered. "We're doing real great, aren't we?"

Plastering an over exaggerated smile on her face, Kiara bumped hips with her older sister, "Nothin' a party can't fix!" She enthused in her best impression of their mother's voice. 

Letting out a snort, Charlotte shook her head. "Parties are always such a bad fucking idea...trust me."

─☼☼☼─

Charlotte still stood by her notion that parties were a bad idea as she leaned against one of the rounded tables her and Kiara had spent most of the day setting up. 

The glass she was holding left a layer of water on her hand, sweating beneath the warm sun that hung overhead. 

The party had been in full swing for close to thirty minutes, but Rafe had yet to show up. He promised her he would be here, but truthfully, she wasn't surprised. And maybe a part of her was relieved. Relieved that she didn't have to pick between her sister and her boyfriend. Because if he wasn't here, she had every right to be where she was right now, with Kiara and Sarah. 

"Are you kidding me, Sarah?" Kiara balked. "Ward's on this island? Like the island we're on right now?"

Charlotte dipped her head, taking a sip of her drink to try and hide the guilt overtaking her features. She knew Ward was on the island, and had known for over a day. 

Why the fuck hadn't she told them? Oh, right. Probably because she had been absolutely captivated by Rafe. 

"I swear the minute I see him, I'm turning him in." Kiara declared, shaking her head in awe. "I seriously don't know how you do it. I mean every time I wanna complain about my dad, I just look at yours."

Charlotte's head shot up, her eyes narrowing in on her little sister, "Seriously, Kie? I'm sure that's exactly what Sarah wants to hear."

Sarah wore a tight-lipped smile, "Glad to be of service."

Kiara shrugged, "Works every time."

Shaking her head, Sarah's eyes strayed toward somewhere behind Charlotte, and within seconds she was looking back to the girls with wide eyes. "Y'all didn't tell me Topper was gonna be here."

Stealing a glance over her shoulder, Charlotte laid eyes on the Thornton boy who was regarding Sarah with confusion. 

Kiara shrugged, "Our mom invited pretty much the whole island. But it's no big deal, I'll keep him away from you."

Looking between the two, Charlotte wore a look of confusion. "What'd I miss? I thought we were cool with Topper now?"

Sarah face was tight in distress for a moment before the words came tumbling out of her, "I hooked up with Topper!"

She clamped her hand over her mouth the minute the last word had escaped, her eyes wide as if she hadn't meant to blurt it out. 

"What?" Charlotte demanded, heart plummeting slightly, "You hooked up with─when?" 

Sarah dropped her head into her hands, "The other night. I had no where to go, and then he invited me to a party at Mase, and then─ I don't know. I fucked up, alright? And I get it if you hate me for it."

Charlotte scrunched up her face, "Hate you? Sarah, after everything you've stuck by me for, I don't think there's anything that could make me hate you."

"See?" Kie exclaimed, "Told you she would get it."

Something warmed in Charlotte's chest knowing her sister had faith in her understanding. It was reassuring. 

As much as she wanted to continue the conversation, two distractions came their way. One in the form of Charlotte's phone going off in the pocket of her dress, the other being the fact that Topper was currently making his way toward them. 

Pulling out her phone, Charlotte quickly read over the text, anticipating him cancelling. But much to her surprise, it was the opposite. 

rafe: Im here. Meet me out front?

"Hey, I'll be right back." She announced, barely even acknowledging their responses before beginning to weave her way through the crowd. 

Anxiety pulled at her chest as she neared the entrance to the party, knowing that the minute Rafe stepped foot in there, the whole atmosphere changed. She was about to be on high alert for the next three hours, ensuring he didn't do anything stupid, nor did her sister try to kill him. 

He spotted her first, his eyes lighting up as she walked toward him under the setting sun. 

"You look like a goddess." He called out, taking a few steps toward her to close the gap between them. "Absolutely gorgeous."

Charlotte let out a quiet laugh as she found home in his arms, pressing a lingering kiss to his lips. "I missed you today." She said softly. 

Rafe ran a thumb gently over her bruised eye. It had been mostly covered by makeup, but was still evident if you looked hard enough. 

Noting the look on his face, Charlotte reached up and caught his hand. "Doesn't even hurt anymore."

It did, but she wasn't going to tell him that. 

Bringing his eyes to meet hers, Rafe gave her a small smile, "Should we go in?"

Truthfully, it was the last thing she wanted to do right now. 

"Yeah," She said softly, taking his hand. "Let's do this."

─☼☼☼─

-an-

can't wait for next chapter hehehe