─☼☼☼─
"𝙅𝙀𝙎𝙐𝙎 𝘾𝙃𝙍𝙄𝙎𝙏," 𝙍𝘼𝙁𝙀 groaned, throwing his head back slightly. "Can't tell you how badly I missed you."
Charlotte, who sat across the kitchen table, quirked a brow, "Should I be jealous of that burger right now?"
Rafe wiped the corner of his lips, shooting her a grin as he set the burger down, "Never, baby." He stood up, making his way around the table so he could lean down and press a lingering kiss to her lips.
She could still taste the cheeseburger she had made for him earlier that afternoon on his lips as she leaned into him.
Trying to ignore the nagging feeling in her stomach at the thought of double crossing him when it came to that damn cross, Charlotte grabbed onto the front of his t-shirt, pulling him even closer.
Rafe's arms flexed as he leaned against the table, trying to get as close to Charlotte as humanly possible. "You wanna stay over?" He mumbled against her lips.
Smiling, Charlotte gave a small nod, still not pulling away, "Is that even a question?"
Admittedly, Charlotte didn't realize just how much she missed sleeping next to Rafe until she went a few days without him in the bed next to her. Her nights had been plagued by restlessness and nightmares, factors that seemed to only be curbed by Rafe's presence.
Abandoning the fries that Rafe had left, he all but picked Charlotte up, guiding her toward the staircase. Laughter fell from Charlotte's lips as he peppered her with kisses every stair they took.
When they reached the second floor, Charlotte prepared to continue ascending toward where Rafe's bedroom was, but he was quick to stop her.
"I'm in the master now." He murmured, lips pressing against he neck. "Just makes more sense."
This caused Charlotte to take pause for a moment. The thought of using Ward and Rose's room elicited a feeling a weariness.
"Lottie," Rafe sighed, sensing her apprehension. "It's just a room. There's more space in here, I'm the only one in the house, and it's one less flight of stairs to take when all I wanna do is rip your clothes off."
Charlotte tried to fix him with a glare, but a laugh escaped her lips instead, "You're such an idiot."
Rafe's hand ravelled around her waist, pulling her toward him, "Maybe. But you love me."
There was no denying that.
"Yeah." Charlotte said softly, eyes tracing every detail of his face, "I do."
Gently pushing the hair from her face, Rafe cupped her cheeks, slowly pressing his lips to hers once again. He wasn't rushing. He knew she was his once again. If they could survive all that they had, they could survive anything.
Giving way to her apprehensions, Charlotte leaned into him once again, allowing him to lead her to the master bedroom.
And as her and Rafe found each other tangled within the sheets, she desperately tried to not to think about everything. But that was pretty easy to do, if she was being honest.
─☼☼☼─
The sun was just beginning to set outside, leaking through the balcony doors as Rafe snore lightly beside her.
But despite their activities that filled up most of their afternoon, Charlotte didn't feel tired in the slightest. She was wide awake, thinking about everything that could go wrong now that they were back home.
Coming home, reuniting with the Pogues, that had always been the goal...so why did it feel so wrong?
Being back in Kildare meant the possibility of Rafe relapsing. The possibility of the cross tearing everyone apart once again. Possibilities that made Charlotte's stomach churn.
With the feeling of heavy anxiety weighing on her chest, Charlotte quietly slipped out from beneath the covers, grabbing a robe of Rafe's and slipping it on before reaching down to retrieve her shorts that had been discarded. She reached into the back pocket, pulling out her phone that had still not been turned on.
She knew she needed to text her mother before the search party was sent out, especially if she was spending the night at Tannyhill.
Quietly, and with her heart in her throat, she watched as the Apple logo lit up on her screen, the dark screen soon being replaced by her lock screen ─ a photo of her and the Pogues from the summer, one of the nights they had all been together and happy. She made a mental note to change it before Rafe saw it.
Within seconds, the photo was blocked by the hundreds of texts that had flowed in over the past month and a half.
A majority were from her mother and father, but there were some from Willa, her grandma (who barely knew how to work her damn phone), her cousins from another state, kids from school she hadn't spoken to in over a year, Kensington (why Charlotte hadn't blocked her number, she wasn't sure), and then there were some from a random number─the most recent. Upon reading them, she knew who it was.
JJ must have gotten a hold of someone's phone when they were in Barbados, when Charlotte was right there on the island without him knowing. He had texted her, begging her to tell him where she was, if she was okay.
Her heart swelled, tears stinging her eyes as she swiped across to delete the message, knowing it held no merit now. But her heart ached also knowing that nothing would be the same between her and JJ anymore, not if she was in bed with Rafe everyday.
But there was one last thing she could do to show her allegiance to the Pogues, and that was finding the tracking information for the train that was carrying the cross to Wilmington in less than twenty four hours.
Stealing a glance over her shoulder, Charlotte check to ensure that Rafe was still asleep. She felt her heart pull toward him, the innocence of sleep always making him look more perfect than he already was.
"Focus." She whispered to herself, knowing her time was limited here.
It wasn't hard to find the information. Rafe had it scrawled on a piece of paper that sat on the dresser. Either he not expected Charlotte to be in here (unlikely), or he had trusted her enough to leave it out. The thought of the latter made her feel even more guilty.
Snapping a quick picture of it, Charlotte turned her phone off once again, but not before altering her mother to her whereabouts.
She didn't have the energy to read, or delete, the hundreds of texts that sat in her messages. She'd get there eventually.
Gently sitting back down on the bed, Charlotte reached out and lightly brushed her hand across Rafe's face before leaning over to kiss him. He stirred slightly, looking up at her with tired eyes.
"We should shower and get something to eat." Charlotte said softly, wanting to be with him as long as possible before things went to shit again.
Rafe groaned, catching Charlotte around the waist and pulling her back down next to her, "That robe looks good on you." He mumbled, admiring her underneath the setting sun.
Charlotte ran her hands over the fabric, shooting him a grin, "I know, right?"
"Everything looks good on you." Rafe stated, his eyes still locked on her face, "Nothing also looks pretty good."
Charlotte rolled her eyes with a laugh, "Get your head out of the gutter."
Burying his face in the crook of her neck, Rafe laughed. "Do you remember the first time we had sex?" He wondered, as if out of the blue.
"God, Rafe." Charlotte muttered, closing her eyes, "Why are you bringing that up?"
It was, without a doubt, one of the most awkward, yet beautiful, days of Charlotte's life.
It seemed it was the same for Rafe. "It was the best day of my life...well next to you agreeing to be my girlfriend." He paused for a moment, as if contemplating. "But actually, I don't think the real best day of my life has happened yet."
He was watching her now, smiling lightly at the confusion that covered her face, "Why's that?" Charlotte questioned.
Rafe picked up one of her hands, lightly toying with the fourth finger on her left hand, "Because the best day of my life will be when you agree to marry me. And then the best day of my life will be when you become my wife. And then it'll be when we have our actual daughter, not some pretend one."
Charlotte's breath had caught in her throat as she watched the way he looked at her. This. This is why she always went back to him, no matter what.
"Do you think that can happen?" Charlotte wondered honestly, "Do you think we can escape all of this chaos."
His answer was instant, "Yes." He assured. "It'll all be over soon, and then it can just be us again, Lottie. Me and you."
Charlotte wanted to believe him, she really did.
But she just wasn't sure.
─☼☼☼─