𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃─𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

fifty nine.

─☼☼☼─

"𝙄 𝙆𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙒𝙀 shouldn't have left you two together." Rafe muttered, dragging Charlotte through the ship and back toward where she was meant to be. 

Glaring back at him, Charlotte stumbled slightly as he corralled her through one of the doorways. "Would you slow down?" She snapped, trying to gain her footing. "And where's Sarah."

Something in Rafe's face twitched slightly, "My dad's dealing with her."

After Charlotte and Sarah had been caught trying to make a phone call, the crew had altered Ward to their attempts. He arrived on the outer deck with Rafe in tow within minutes. Rafe had taken Charlotte, meanwhile Ward and Sarah had remained behind. 

Truthfully, Charlotte was afraid of what was going to happen to Sarah. Sure, it was her father she was dealing with, but if they had learned anything, it was that Ward Cameron was not mentally stable.

Pausing, Charlotte caused Rafe to run into her as she turned to face him abruptly. "We were just trying to let someone know where we were." She explained, as if needing to defend herself to him. "Does anyone know where we are...like a single person?"

When Rafe didn't answer her, she continued. "Does that not seem crazy to you? What if something happens to us? What if─if─"

Rafe's eyes were dark, jaw clenched as he spoke. "Nothing's going to happen to us. Nothing is going to happen to you. Why can't you just trust me?"

The laugh that tumbled from Charlotte's lips was accidental. "Trust you?" She repeated incredulously. "Rafe, you drugged me!"

"I told you that was for your own good." His voice came out gravelly. 

They engaged in a moment of eye contract before Charlotte spoke again. "Right....My own good."

"Jesus, Charlotte. How many times are we going to have this conversation?" Rafe snapped. 

Charlotte threw her hands up in frustration. "As many times as it fucking takes!" Her voice cause Rafe to flinch slightly, shocked by the loudness of it. 

He shook his head, taking a step toward her. "Everything I do is for your own good. Every damn thing!"

"Killing Peterkin was for my own good? Helping your dad steal the gold was for my own good? Framing one of my best friends was for my own good? Trying to kill your own sister was for my own─"

"Enough!" 

Charlotte startled at the sound of his voice, his much louder than hers had been only moments earlier. Her heart froze in her chest for a moment, her widened eyes looking up at him. 

Everything had come to a head. Everything they had been avoiding talking about had just been laid out right in front of them. There was no more running from their problems. No more pretending they could reconcile and just move on. 

Rafe's chest heaved in anger as his cheeks tinted red. "One day you'll see it, Charlotte...you'll see how much I love you─how much I've always loved you."

"So show me right now!" Charlotte pleaded, "Pick the right side...do the right thing. Give the cross back to Pope, and then you and I─we can go to this damn island. We can go to freaking Antartica for all I care. Make the call...alert the authorities, let me call my sister, and then this can all be over."