𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃─𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

sixty one

─☼☼☼─

─one year and three months earlier─

𝙄𝙏 𝘾𝙊𝙐𝙇𝘿𝙉'𝙏 𝙃𝘼𝙑𝙀 been any later than five o'clock in the morning when Charlotte first heard it.

The noise was faint at first, a quiet tap tap tap, which soon turned to more of a rapid knocking.

What the fuck?

She sat up in a panic, rolling over to double check the time on her phone. In doing so, she happened upon the text that had flashed across her screen three minutes ago.

rafe: open your door

In the middle of typing her response, Charlotte's brain seemed to finally defog, and she was able to put together all of the pieces.

Rafe was on her damn balcony.

"Why can't I have a normal boyfriend?" She muttered to herself, tripping over her slippers as she ambled toward the double doors that led to her balcony.

Still in somewhat of a sleep-induced haze, Charlotte unlocked and yanked the doors open, the warm May air whooshing in.

"Finally!" Rafe breathed in exasperation, pushing past Charlotte to enter her bedroom. "I've been out here for like twenty minutes."

"You know," Charlotte muttered, turning on her heel to face him. "It is four o'clock in the morning."

"Five." Rafe clarified, a goofy grin covering his face. "Aren't you happy to see me?"

Charlotte couldn't fight the grin that covered her face as she closed the doors behind her. "Always." She answered, "But, I am kinda curious as to what you're doing here at five AM."

Upon hearing that his girlfriend was happy to see him, Rafe smiled like a little kid who had just been given a piece of cake. "Happy to see you too, Lottie."

"Rafe."

"Right. Right." He muttered, dropping the duffle bag, that Charlotte had yet to notice, on the floor. "Pack a bag...or two."

Shaking her head, Charlotte sat down on the edge of her bed. "What? Oh God, Rafe, don't tell me you did something illegal."

He scowled at her, moving to pull open her closet doors. "No, I didn't do anything illegal...well not really."

"Are you─"

"We're going to the Bahamas," He interrupted before Charlotte could give him any sort of lecture. "Just me and you, baby."

A shocked laugh fell from Charlotte's lips as she fixed him with a furrowed expression. "Rafe, we have school tomorr─today. And finals are coming up. And─and, what about our parents."

"Lottie." He breathed, kneeling down in front of her. "It's the end of senior year, actually going to class at this point is a waste of time. Finals aren't for another two weeks, and you're literally a genius you'll be fine. And our parents...we'll worry about them later."

Her face softened slightly as she looked down at him, conflict written across her features. "Babe, my parents are gonna kill me."