𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 43.

"𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊, 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐒, 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑 me out."

I stood in the open doorway with my arms crossed, and my lips pursed as I stared at him. He had the cheeky smile plastered over his face, as usual, and the can of Cherry Cola resting in his left hand— the condensation of it dripping down over his fingers. With my strongly pursed lips, I shifted my eyes towards the van parked beside the curb, two outlined figures sitting in the back. I looked back to John B.

"Funny seeing you here," I shouted, so he could hear me. I leant to the side, resting my shoulder on the wooden doorframe. This was the first time we were speaking in almost a week.

"I'm just gonna get to the point, because I know you hate me right now." he sighed out, "I'm sorry for acting like a dickhead," he squinted his eyes, his voice loud, "I was really immature and I'm sorry."

I looked at him, my teeth biting on the inside of my cheek. He seemed sincere, and looked sincere, but somehow my feet wouldn't move, and I couldn't think of anything meaningful to say.

"Okay." I simply said, popping my bottom lip out, keeping place at the door. An unintentional hint of sarcasm slipped between my words and minimal actions.

It was quiet for a moment. John B looked back to the van, and the soft wind breezed past us. He didn't know how to reply.

"Okay," He repeated, putting a hand out to his side. His face twisted with a slight confusion.

"Yeah, okay." I shrugged, and then turned on my heel.

"Where are you going, Charlotte," he called, his voice sounding normal, but puzzled.

"To finish my book." I replied blatantly, not turning back to look at him.

"I know it's cheesy, and so stupid, but Charlie," he was saying, as I opened the screen door, "I'm here to apologize. If you don't want the drink I'll give it to Pope—"

The screen door closed behind me with a small thud, and I wasted no time in marching over to my original spot on the couch.

Maybe he was sorry, maybe he had been thinking about his actions over the last few days, and maybe he was really making an effort to apologize. And it was stupid of me to be stubborn, when I was the one who started the whole issue by lying to everyone. I didn't know how to react.

"I was dumb," he sighed loudly. He was still standing in his place in the middle of the lawn, the can still in his hand.

I picked up the book and huffed, letting my feet guide me down the hall.

"A little bitch, if you will." I could hear him shout.

I was stepping into my bedroom, and placing the book down onto my bed. I knew he was still out there, even though he wasn't saying anything, as I stepped over to my closet, and opened the sliding door. Quickly, I switched out my pyjama shorts for jean ones. Right as I placed the silk piece of clothing onto the floor, my eyes trailed up and landed on the blue worn-out bandanna sitting on the top shelf of my closet. I paused for a moment, before grabbing it between my fingers.

"Charlie, I know it sounds sappy and shit, but we all miss you," he called, "Like, a lot. Even Pope."

I almost laughed when he said Pope's name. I tied the bandanna around my wrist.

"You don't have to forgive me, or anything, and we could just forget about it," he said, meaning it, "But we haven't done anything since you left,"

I flattened my hair down in the mirror.

"And I know it's not your fault, I know that now. I should have come sooner, I know that too. You're not the one who needs to apologize, Charlie."

With another quick fix of my hair, letting it fall loosely over my shoulders, I was stepping out of my bedroom again. The house was quiet as I walked over to the screen door, John B's face lighting up at the sight of me.

I let out a long sigh, and pulled open the rickety door, closing it behind me. Slowly, my feet stepped towards the stairs, then stopped, and my hand gripped around one of the posts.

I rolled my eyes, "I'm sorry too," I didn't look at him, and looked at my feet on the ground. "I mean, it's my fault anyways." I felt silly apologizing, since I'd never had to before.

I'd been thinking about my apology for the last few days, but it wasn't going the way I imagined.

He looked at me.

"You don't have to apologize for shit, Charls," he said, with a much lower voice. "Jj explained everything, and I know why you never told us in the first place, I get it. And besides," he paused.

I looked up to him, to see a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"It's pretty fucking cool," he grinned, letting out a small laugh, "Really fuckin' cool,"

I couldn't help but let a tiny smile plaster on my lips, causing me to look down.

"Is it, now," I said quietly, lightly laughing.

"At first I was just mad, right, but then I thought about it," he chuckled, "It's crazy, but awesome,"

"Yeah," I bit down on my bottom lip. "Totally tubular."

"And forget everything I said back there," he motioned his hand in the direction behind him, referring to the fight at the Chateau. "I didn't mean it, I never will mean it, I don't even know why I got so worked up."

I felt different as I stood on the porch, with my boyfriend standing in front of me on my grandparents' lawn, apologizing, with a can of Cherry Cola in his hand. I shifted my eyes up to look at his face.

"And I'm not just saying this to get you back on the project." He claimed with a sure tone, looking right into my eyes, "We can forget about the fucking gold, we don't even have to finish the damn thing if you don't want to, all I want is for us to be okay."

I looked at him for a long moment, really looked. And then after a long moment, he extended his arm, with the hand holding the drink.

I rolled my eyes dramatically. "You've got a way with words," I finally chuckled, meaning it sarcastically.

He smiled from ear-to-ear, "I've been practicing since Wednesday,"

"Of course you have," I rolled my eyes again, before letting my feet step down the porch stairs.

His smile grew even bigger with each step I took towards him.

"Jesus, John B," I couldn't help but laugh again, "This is the cheesiest shit I have ever seen." I took the can of Cherry Cola from his hand, my fingers wrapping around the cold metal.

"Did it work, though," he giggled when I fully stopped, only a foot away from him, his eyes looking down at me.

"Not completely." I said casually, while looping my index finger around the ring tab.

"What do you mean, 'not completely'?" He narrowed his eyebrows, letting out small chuckles.

The can popped open with a pull of my finger, emitting a crackling sound.

"So you went all the way to the corner store to get me this can of Cherry Cola," I said, with a sarcastic tone.

"Actually," he leaned down, grinning, "It's the same one that you fuckin' threw at me, the day we met. Never drank it."

I felt my heart skip a whole beat.

The smile on my face was uncontrollable after those words.

"So, then, it's— like, expired," I giggled softly.

"Maybe," he shrugged.

"So, I can do this," Was all I said, before rising the can up to his head.

Before he could say anything else, I tilted the can over and the liquid poured out onto the top of his head, flattening his hair. When the cold drink dripped down over his forehead, his mouth fell open, but his face didn't twist with anger. He was smiling.

We heard two loud gasps come from inside the van.

I couldn't help but laugh, too, as the liquid poured over his body, his mouth agape and his eyes twinkling at me. I didn't mean it harmfully, and I wasn't doing it because I was mad. I just really disliked the taste of Cherry Cola.

"I deserve that," He said through chuckles, when the last drop landed on his shirt.

I dropped the can from my grasp, letting it fall into the grass beside us.

As he ran a hand through his now-wet hair, I stood up on my tiptoes, and placed both hands on the sides of his jaw.

"You're an idiot, you know that," I told him. "A real fuckin' idiot."

"I know." he said, seriously. "But you're stubborn," He joked.

"Shut up." I mumbled through a smile, before leaning in and smashing my lips, delicately, against his.

He kissed back in a split second, attaching onto me as his hand slid around to meet my waist. His lips tasted like cherries, from the soda. We were there, standing on the lawn in the middle of the day, kissing, as the wind blew past us.

As soon as my fingers tangled in the ends of his wet hair, a loud car honk broke the silence.

"Save the PDA for later, losers," Pope shouted to us.

I pulled away as I laughed out loud, feeling John B's hands graze the bare skin between my shirt and jean shorts, holding me close to him. He chuckled, and we both looked to the van, as Pope pretended to gag in the front seat, and Kiara smiled at us.

"Come on," he said with a soft voice, letting his hands detach from my body.

I slid my own hands from his shoulders down to his chest, and interlocked our fingers. "That was the corniest apology, I think I've ever witnessed," I laughed.

"No shit," he laughed too, guiding me to the van.

When we got close enough, he let go of my hand and quickly skipped towards the driver's side, sliding himself into the seat. He turned to look at me as I stepped up to the passenger door.

"Hop in, Cherry Cola," He smiled, cheekily.

"Oh my god, stop," I rolled my eyes at the cheesiness again, and pulled open the door at my turn.

"Finally, she's back," Kiara let out a refreshed breath as I settled myself.

"Hey, Kie," A large grin took over my facial features as I turned my head around to look at her.

She smiled back at me, "Please don't ever leave again," she sighed, jokingly, "I have no fuckin' idea how I survived before with just the three of them." She referred to the boys.

I laughed.

"Heard you missed me too, Pope," I adverted my eyes to him sitting on the backseat.

I could tell he was trying not to roll his eyes, "Yeah, I guess," he mumbled, barely audible.

"What was that, Pope?" The smile grew on my face, jokingly wanting to annoy him. I leaned my head forward.

"I only missed having someone with actual common sense, other than me, in the group," he said.

"Mhm," I hummed, humorously, before turning back around to face forwards.

John B started the car, its engine roaring, and we began to drive down the street. I felt happy.

"I missed this van," I admired, looking around, "But you know, we should really clean it up, though, it smells like wee—"

Everyone sighed loudly.

"I'll just clean it when you guys aren't home then," I chuckled. "Maybe Jj'll help. Speaking of which— where is he?"

No one spoke. That's when I turned my head to look at John B, who didn't look at me, and rather bit on the inside of his cheek, as if holding something in. Kiara cleared her throat uncomfortably. Pope folded his hands together, his body tense. Suddenly the happy mood had shifted.

"I'm confused." I spoke, my eyebrows narrowed.

Kiara slowly looked up, "He walked out on us today," she said, with a low voice. "We all got into an argument about Barry's money, and he just went off— by himself."

"What?" I said, out of disbelief, "he just— left?"

"Yeah," Pope muttered. "We haven't seen him since this morning."

I felt my heart sink into my stomach. I couldn't remember the last thing I had said to Jj.

"He's gone? Like— like, permanently?" I stammered.

I already knew that Jj had been upset when we were at the drug dealer's house, which resulted in him stealing the money. But I also knew, that Jj was far too loyal to ever walk away from his best friends, just like that. There was something they weren't telling me.

"We don't know," John B spoke, lowly, "Probably not."

The van fell quiet as I sat lower in my seat, looking out the window as I bit down on my lip. We turned at the end of a street, driving into town.

"Where are we going," I asked kindly, my voice soft.

"The Wreck," John B answered.

"What, you think Jj's gonna be there?" I turned my head, my eyebrows furrowed hard. "He's not just gonna be chilling in Kie's restaurant, with her dad—"

"It's worth a shot, Charls," John shrugged.

No one said anything else, as we soon pulled into the back parking lot of the small restaurant. When the car stopped and John B pulled out the key, Kiara and Pope immediately hopped out and made their way towards the back door. John B was by my side as we walked into the place after them. Inside, it was completely empty.

"Guys," I said lightly, my arms crossed gently over my chest, as they quickly looked around the small space.

Pope huffed out defeatedly, and sat down in a chair. Kiara looked around sadly.

"Look, he'll come around, alright, it's..." John B slid himself into a chair as well, "He's just doing a Jj thing."

I placed my hands on the top rim of the chair he was sitting in, looking out the window.

"You think he'll go home," Kiara mumbled.

"There's about a zero percent chance that Jj goes home." Pope muttered.

I remembered what Daryl had said during our argument, about Jj's dad being the 'biggest drunk in the whole damn County'. Pieces slowly started to fit together.

"Okay, well," Pope stood up, and started to pace, "it's too dangerous to pawn the gold nugget off piecemeal," he rubbed a hand over his chin, everyone watching him, "So... our best bet is to go down there and get the rest of it."

"And what the hell do we do with four hundred million dollars of British gold," I lowered my eyes at him, sarcastically, "Hide it under JB's bed?"

"No, we bring it all up at once, put it in— like a safe, or a vault, or something, I don't know," he corrected, "Just until we can find someone who won't rip us off." He looked to each of us.

"Let's just go find someone with a vault," I laughed sardonically, "Shove a thousand pounds of gold into it."

"I can figure it out tonight, get it done, and we can be out there in a few days." Pope assured.

"Yeah, okay," John B slowly agreed, sitting up, "Let's do it."

"Wait," I placed a hand on his shoulder, "What about that fishing trip with Sarah's dad."

"Shit," he slouched back down.

"Fishing trip, what fishing trip?" Pope narrowed his eyebrows.

"I have to go fishing with Ward Cameron," John B said, his words slow.

Kiara sat up, "The hell, I thought he fired you—"

"Yeah, but Charlie thinks he's gonna offer me another spot, maybe a better one, I don't know." He shrugged.

"So you can't come with us to get the gold because you're going to go kill fish." Kiara said.

Pope scoffed. "Dude, it's four hundred million! You won't need a job ever again, man!"

"I know that, but look— if I don't go, then Charlie has to go," John B spoke back.

"Then Charlie goes," Pope shrugged, sounding disappointed.

I shook my head violently from side to side. "Last time I went to Sarah's, he was all weird,"

Pope narrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

I swallowed. "Like, when I told him who my grandparents were, he just suddenly got all choked up and walked out of the room."

Everyone exchanged confused glances.

"And he's always saying that I look familiar." I said, shrugging. "I'm not comfortable going on a yacht with just him, and Sarah already told me she wouldn't come."

No one said anything, but we were all thinking the same thing. They silently agreed.

"Then we'll do it another time." Pope sighed, "Go fishing, John B."

I tapped John B's shoulders.

"My grandparents are home any minute, I'll have to tell them that I can't work at the motel anymore," I laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "I'll meet you guys at the Chateau later?" I looked to them.

"Yeah, I'll drive you home," John B stood up.

Kiara and Pope waved casually, knowing that we'd see each other in a matter of a few hours. I smiled at them as John B grabbed my hand in his.

"Okay," I hummed.

___

"And he just showed up, with the can?" Caroline's smile wouldn't stop growing larger, as she rubbed her thumbs over my hands.

"Yeah," I giggled, looking down.

We were now sitting in the living room, Carol and I on the couch talking about John B's cheesy apology, while Daryl made food in the kitchen. When they had gotten home, a few minutes after John had dropped me off, Caroline immediately noticed the 'glow' on my face, and so I had told her what happened.

"I told you he'd come back, sweetheart," Caroline gripped my hands comfortingly, "Boys always do."

I felt a heat rise to my cheeks, and I looked down.

Before I could tell her anything else, we heard a car door slam shut outside of the house, causing my eyes to rip away from the couch.

Instantly, I abruptly stood up from my spot when I noticed the black Range Rover parked beside the curb, and Sarah walking up to the door.

"Oh my god," I breathed out, with excitement, and rushed over to the screen, "Sarah,"

I hadn't seen her since she loaned us the blow torch.

I quickly pushed the door open, and wasted no time in wrapping my arms around her neck, hugging her tightly. She barely hugged back. When I pulled away, she seemed off.

But I laughed anyways, "Bro this is so weird, John B showed up here, like this, not even three hours ago, what's with—"

"I have to tell you something, Charlotte." She blurted out.

My eyebrows narrowed, "Yeah, of course, what is it? Is something wrong," I placed my hands on the sides of her arms.

She looked at me, with a certain look I've never seen her use before. She seemed like she wanted to tell me something gravely important, but didn't exactly know how to.

"Sarah," I lowered my eyes, suddenly growing concerned from her expression.

She swallowed.

And then, like a strong punch, she just let the words fall from her tongue. "You're my sister."

✰༄✰

𝐢𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭-

𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐑𝐍:

HAHAHAHEBEHEHHEHSJSH

HAHAJEIWJWHHEHEHSHS

HAHAJEIWJWJEHEJJSD

YALL-

( on a less chaotic note )

i'm working on myself !

thank you to everyone who

is being so nice to me. if

you've reached out to me

in any way, i love you.

mental health is extremely

important, and should

always come first. so,

therefore, i'm not going to

write or update EVERY

SINGLE DAY because when

i used to do that, it would be

extremely exhausting and

mentally draining, because i

would spend 3+ hours sitting

in my room every day, and

barely spending time with

friends or family.

i'll update when i want to :)

𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐍

𝐨𝐤

𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 !!