𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃─𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

eighty six.

─☼☼☼─

"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."