─☼☼☼─

𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙇𝙊𝙏𝙏𝙀 𝘾𝘼𝙍𝙍𝙀𝙍𝘼 𝙒𝘼𝙎 drowning. The waves pulling her deeper and deeper with every passing moment. 

Somewhere in the distance was Kildare Island. But now matter how hard Charlotte tried, she could not reach land. Could not reach home. 

She wasn't sure how she'd ended up here. Had no idea why she was alone...why she was so cold. 

Voices swam around her, familiar but unrecognizable. They were drowned out, hard to distinguish within Charlotte's muddled mind. 

"Jesus, did you really have to hit her?" That voice was male...Rafe, maybe? She wasn't sure. 

A sensation clawed across her, as if someone was touching her face. Even beneath the cold waves she could feel it. 

"I didn't have a choice!" Came a female voice, desperate and distraught. "She would have argued with me...or she would have stayed. I couldn't live with myself if I left her."

"So you just almost killed her instead?"

"God, stop making me feel worse than I already do!"

"Here," Came another male voice, further confusing Charlotte. "Ice for her head."

An even more intense wave of cold washed over Charlotte, starting at the back of her head and flowing across her entire body. 

She tried to push toward the surface of the ocean, fighting against the waves as she vied for a breath. 

Someone was beside her suddenly, screaming beneath the dark waves. 

Charlotte turned, squinting through the darkness at the figure. 

Rafe.

Panic tore through her as he seemed to be pulled away from her, the ocean ripping the two of them apart. 

She reach out to him, pushing against the current with outstretched hands. 

He was ripped from her grasp, just beyond her reach. 

Again, she tired to reach him. Used all of her strength to attempt to grab onto him. 

Inches away from grasping his hands─

"Rafe!"

Eye flying open, a sharp intake of breath. 

Charlotte was no longer in the dark ocean. Sun shone down on her, blinding her eyes as ragged breath heaved through her lungs. 

Her head still swam with confusion, eyes dragging in front of her, snagging on the outline of six figures who were watching her. 

Panic tore through her for a moment, her mind still unable to process who she was staring back at. 

That was until one of them spoke. 

"Hey, Charls."

A flood of emotions broke within Charlotte, a small sob falling from her lips as her eyes finally began to adjust. 

It was the Pogues. 

They were okay. They were alive. And they were here. 

"JJ?" His name fell from her lips, pure relief coating her words. Within seconds he had he pulled into a bone crushing hug, as if he never wanted to let her go. 

"Yeah, it's me." He muttered, burying his head in the crook of her neck for a moment. "It's me."

Tears sprung from Charlotte's eyes as she scanned the rest of the group─Pope, Sarah, John B, that girl from the ship, Cleo, and Kiara. 

Hugs were given in every direction. Charlotte held onto the three boys and Sarah so tightly. Six weeks apart seemed like nothing given their past separations─while Charlotte was immersed in Kook life, while she was away at school─but this separation was different...much different. 

She could barely explain the relief she felt having them back. But that relief was coated by something else. 

When it came time for her to face her sister, Charlotte's mood of elation had quickly faded. Her head still ached in agony, surely concussed by the blow Kiara had delivered. 

The youngest Carrera knew what she had done, that much was evident by the guilt ridden expression she wore as Charlotte addressed her. 

"Where is he?"

Silence flooded through the boat─Rafe's boat─ as the other five teens watched the interaction play out. Not a single one of them thought it was going to end well. 

Kiara shifted slightly, toying with the drawstring on the silk pajama set her and Charlotte still wore, "He'll be fine." She assured, hint of uncertainty in her tone.

Charlotte stood from the bench she had been sitting on, swaying unsteadily for a moment. JJ reached out to steady her, but she quickly denied his help, taking a couple of steps toward her sister. "Where the hell is he, Kiara?"

"He went overboard." Kiara finally answered, trying to speak with conviction. "Back at the marina."

Feeling like she was going to be sick─either from her concussion or Kiara's revelation─Charlotte reached out to steady herself on the railing. "He went overboard, or you pushed him overboard?" She bit out through a jagged breath. 

Kiara immediately jumped to the defensive. "Charlotte, you know why I had to do it."

"He was helping you!" Charlotte exclaimed, the intensity of her voice even startling herself. "He helped us get out of Singh's...he was willing to get you off this island─"

"He was going to leave the Pogues behind!" Kiara interrupted, her hand wildly motioning to the group of their friends who were watching with nervous expressions. They were no strangers to the Carrera sisters' arguments, but this one was sure to be a big one. 

Kiara fixed Charlotte with a raised-brow expression, "Did you forget that part?" 

Rolling her eyes, Charlotte shook her head at her sister, "Seriously, Kiara? You don't think I was going to talk to him...to change his mind?"

Something faltered in Kiara for a moment, "Who says he would have listened to you?"

"I do." Charlotte shot back. "I know he would have."

Silence passed for a moment before Kiara nodded slowly, "Okay, sure. He would have picked up the Pogues, and then what, took them back to Ward to finish us all off? And what about you, who would you have picked in the end? Us or him?"

That felt like a blow to Charlotte's heart, because that had been the same question she had been battling with forever it seemed. Pogues or Kooks? Rather, Pogues or Rafe.

When Charlotte finally found her voice, she fixed her sister with a dark expression. "That's why you took my choice away. Right, Kie?" 

Kiara stared back at her sister, hurt flashing across her features, "You want a choice, Charlotte? Then go! Stay here with Rafe if that's what you want so badly."

That caused the eldest of the two to pause for a moment. She had promised Rafe she wouldn't leave him...but she had no idea where he was now, no idea where Singh's men were. She couldn't abandon her sister and friends, as much as that killed her. 

All she could do was pray that Rafe was okay wherever he was. And for that, Charlotte resented Kiara. 

"Fuck you, Kiara." Charlotte muttered, anger coursing through her as she turned toward cabin of the yacht. "I'm not dealing with this."

"What are you doing?" Kiara demanded, not willing to let the argument die that quickly. 

Not turning around, Charlotte harshly pulled the door open. "I'm going to lay down...or should I have checked with you first, since you seem to make all my decisions and all?"

"Grow up!" Kiara yelled over the slamming of the door. 

An agitated groan fell from Charlotte's lips as she flopped onto the bed, burying her face in the pillow. 

She hated being put in these situations, having her own free will taken from her; first by Rafe, and now by her sister. 

But deep down, selfishly, part of Charlotte was glad Kiara had made the decision for her. She was more mad at herself than Kiara for that. 

Moment after the door had slammed behind Charlotte, it opened again, slowly. 

"Charls?"

His voice was tentative, soft as he took a step into the room. 

Not moving for a moment, Charlotte kept her face buried in the pillow, willing herself to do as Kiara said and grow up. She needed to get a hold of herself. 

"What?" She finally muttered, wiping the tears that had escaped from her eyes before turning to look at JJ. 

He looked different than he had the last time she saw him...more grown up if that was possible. She had always known she missed him, but seeming him once again affirmed how much she cared for the Maybank boy. 

The fact that he was the one to follow after her further enforced the bond the two shared. Any romantic connection was so far out of the picture at this point, yet she felt like he was the one who understood her the best, saw her for who she was. 

He sat down on the end of the bed, studying her red eyes, "You okay?"

Shrugging, Charlotte knew it was no use lying to him, "I will be." She assured, giving him a sad smile. "Sorry...for blowing up."

Shaking his head, JJ waved off her apology, "It's not like we've never seen you two fight before."

"Cleo hasn't." Charlotte pointed out, worried to have made a poor impression on the newest member of the group. 

JJ let out a small laugh, "That won't phase her...trust me."

The two fell into a comfortable silence for a moment before JJ spoke again, "The whole time, all Kie wanted to do was get back to you, you know. She didn't care about getting home...she just wanted to get to you. We all did, but I swear she thought about you constantly."

Charlotte felt her heart clenched slightly at the thought of her sister, how she must have felt not knowing what happened to her. She imagined it was a lot like how Charlotte felt. 

But that didn't mean that she had forgiven Kiara for what she did. She wasn't sure forgiveness like that could come so easily. Not when Rafe was in danger because of what her sister had done. 

Seeing the conflict on Charlotte's face, JJ let out a small sigh, "I know you're pissed at her, but try to see it from her side."

"It's not that easy, J." Charlotte muttered, her head aching as she leaned back slightly. "Everything is so fucked up and confusing right now, I can't even begin to explain it."

"So he's gotten you back, hey?" He wondered, trying to hide the distaste on his features. 

"I'm not some commodity." Charlotte bit back, unable to contain her emotions. "Rafe and I worked through some things. Is that so hard for everyone to accept?"

JJ was quick to respond, "Kinda...after all he's done."

Biting down on the inside of her cheek, Charlotte held back a response, considering JJ's point of view for a moment. She saw where he was coming from, but that didn't mean he wasn't pissing her off. 

"We've all done fucked up shit." She pointed out, voice hovering. 

JJ gave a small shake of his head, "Not you."

But that wasn't the truth, what it?

Morality meant a lot to Charlotte, but lately, she felt like she was losing her grasp. 

"Whatever you're thinkin' about right now, Charls, I can almost bet you it was because of him. He's fucking you up more than you even know."

Charlotte stared back at him, noting the concern written on his face. 

"You don't get it." She whispered, "None of you will ever get it."

Arguing was not something JJ wanted to do, and that was evident as he let out a deep exhale. "Maybe you're right, Charley."

Silence struck between them for a moment as Charlotte tried to process everything going through her mind at the moment, every emotion she was feeling. There were too many to even know where to begin. 

Relief, excitement, guilt, dread, heartbreak, confusion. 

Those were just some of the words to explain the mixture of feelings jumbled inside of her. To say she was overwhelmed would be an understatement. 

Just to add insult to injury, a commotion sounded from up above. Someone was running on the deck, as if they were trying to escape the ship. 

Despite the tension that had settled in the room, JJ and Charlotte shared a brief look before each of them were on their feet, hurrying to the upper deck. 

As they burst through the door, they were met with the awestruck expression of Pope, who was looking between Sarah and the road that led out of the harbour. A figure could be seen retreating down the road, the toll of a bell heard dinging somewhere in the distance. 

"What the hell is going on?" JJ wondered, his eyes following Pope's line of sight. "Who is that?"

Pope threw his hands up in frustration, "John B."

"What?" Charlotte gawked, "Where is he going?"

Part of her was confused as to where he was going, the other part of her felt guilty that she hadn't taken a page from his book and took off after Rafe when she had the chance. 

Sarah wore a distant expression as she squinted under the light of the setting sun, watching John B. go, "To find his dad."

Confusion mixed with scepticism spread across the deck. "What?" Kiara questioned, her face scrunched up. 

Charlotte wore an identical expression, "Okay, I know I have a head injury, but did you just say he's looking for his dad?" 

As in the one that had been either dead or missing for the last year?

Sarah ran a hand through her hair as she gave a small nod, "Yeah."

"What?" Pope sputtered, utter shock covering his features. "That's why he just took off?"

Kiara threw her head back, pacing the deck. "How does shit like this always happen to us?"

"How long is he gonna be?" Cleo wondered, casting a glance over her shoulder. "We ain't safe here in the harbour."

Sarah didn't look convinced as she answered, "He'll be back in time."

─☼☼☼─

Evidently, Sarah had a right to look unsure when she assured John B's return, because within less than ten minutes, time had run out. 

Charlotte heard it first, the sound of the trucks barrelling toward them. Then she had seen it. 

"Guys!" She called, pointing toward the oncoming convoy of vehicles. "Singh's men."

Kiara, despite the fact that they were still ignoring each other, follow the direction of her sister's finger, her eyes landing on the issue at hand. "Shit. We gotta go."

"Where's John B?" Pope demanded, turning on Sarah who's eyes had widened in fear. 

She shook her head, scanning the harbour front, "I don't know! He said he'd be back by now!"

"Well he's not!" Pope snapped, "JJ, what are we gonna do."

JJ look determined as he watched the oncoming threat, "We've gotta make a stand. That's what we gotta do. It's our only option."

Charlotte visibly startled as he pulled out the gun, "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Charlotte, we are not splitting up again." He snapped back, turning off the safety on the gun, "This is the only way."

Throwing out her arm to motion to the dozens of trucks coming toward them, Charlotte shook her head. "Do you see how many of them there are, JJ? Do you think we really have a chance at fighting back!?"

"Guys, y'all didn't see what Charlotte and I saw! He killed Portis!" Kiara argued in desperation, siding with her sister. "We can't stay here!"

JJ's frustration was rising, "Okay, but we're not leaving John B!" 

"No Pogue left behind." Pope added.

"There's going to be no Pogues after Singh and his men kill us all!" Charlotte argued, "You don't know what kind of people we're dealing with here!"

Kiara looked like she wanted to cry as she willed JJ to listen to her, "Charlotte's right! We need to get out of here!"

"Guys, they're here!" Cleo yelled, her own voice rising in fear. 

JJ readjusted his grip on his gun, "We are not leaving him!"

But, above all of the shouting coming from the five teenagers, the sound of a boat engine firing up carried over the water. 

All of them took pause for a moment, turning to see Sarah propelling the motors, sending the yacht lurching out of the harbour and toward the open seam effectively leaving Singh's men, and John B behind. 

"JOHN B!" JJ screamed, forced to be held back by Pope, "WE NEED TO GET JOHN B!"

Ducking to hide themselves from the line of fire, each of the Pogues shared distraught expressions over what had just happened. 

JJ was still yelling, Pope doing his bets effort to calm him as Sarah steered them to safety. 

First Rafe and now John B...Charlotte really did not like this pattern that was starting to occur. 

─☼☼☼─