the first pew in the church, at a joint funeral, is not where charlotte henry imagined herself to be this summer. she definitely didn't have 'becoming and orphan' on her summer bucket list either. but here she was, hand in hand with her best friends listening to the preacher speak about how wonderful christopher and penelope henry truly were.

charlotte didn't dare to turn around to see how many people showed up, too afraid of the sympathetic looks she would be offered. instead she just listened out for how many people she heard shuffling behind her. from what she heard, it was a pretty packed church.

everyone slowly went up to the caskets, showing their respect. a closed casket funeral was always uncomfortable, but knowing there were no bodies inside made it even worse. when it got time for charlotte's row to filter in, she remained seated. feeling the tug from john b's hand, she let go and just stared at her knees.

jj remained sitting with the blonde, wrapping his arm around her and placing a comforting hand on her leg. leaning into the hug, she immediately felt the tears she held in burst. feeling jj's grip on her tighten as she hurried her face in his chest. ignoring the whispers of "how sad" behind her, she quietly cried into the boy's chest until she felt the three sit back down.

she sat back up, gaining her composure and wiped the tears from her face. knowing the funeral had ended, she remained in her seat as people filtered out. she occasionally had a few people stop and apologize to her, unsurprisingly.

noticing a taller build in front of her and the tensing of the pogues around her, charlotte finally looked up from her spot on her knees. "i'm sorry this happened, charlotte," spoke rafe. "christopher and penelope were amazing." he added on.

in shock from the sentiment from rafe, charlotte remained looking at him in confusion. the boy raised an eyebrow at the blonde, waiting for a response before looking behind the group and shrugging his arms at someone. following back his gaze, she noticed it had been ward cameron sending his son over to her.

letting out an annoyed sigh, she nodded at the boy. "thanks rafe." she spoke before the boy nodded and left to rejoin himself with his father.

it wasn't until ward cameron hisself came up to the blonde to speak. "charlotte, i'm so sorry you're going through this. losing a parent is horrible, let alone two." charlotte nodded, appreciating his sentiment.

"i know the last thing on your mind is their assets, but as their appointed power of attorney, we need to speak about it today." he spoke, a soft apologetic smile playing across his face.

"can i bring my friends?" she asked, finding her hands reconnected with jj's and john b's again. ward looked across the group of five, contemplating. "you can bring one, the room is already pretty small as is." he spoke. jj, being the closest to charlotte stood up immediately.

the two followed ward cameron into a room she could only assume was the preacher's office. ward sat at a singular chair in front as two other's sat on the long couch in front of him. the blondes cautiously followed him in before awkwardly sitting on the opposite side of the couch.

a small gasp escaped the older lady's mouth. "she looks just like our pen." she cooed, before wiping a tear from her eye. the blonde's eyes locked with jj's before glancing over at the older couple next to them, realization hitting of who they truly are.

"charlotte, since you are a minor, and not yet of age of emancipation in the state of north carolina, you're going to need to live with your grandparents." he spoke, gesturing over to daniel and trina. jj's grip nervously tightened on charlotte's hand.

"what?" she spoke up, looking over at the two in confusion. "they kicked my mom out, how are they the best suited for guardianship?" she spoke in disbelief.

"your mother was eighteen and pregnant, she made her decision." trina dismissed. daniel nodded next to his wife and looked over at the blonde. "penelope was loved nonetheless, but she made her decision when she decided to run off with the boy from the cut." she spoke.

"there's no way out of this?" she spoke, glancing at ward before he shook his head. "i'm afraid not, ms henry."

"you'll come live with us in the figure eight," daniel spoke, with a smile of pride. jj made a face of disgust before quickly changing it.

"what about my house?" she spoke, worried about the house her parents had redone by hand before she was born.

"it'll go to cameron real estate." ward spoke, before glancing over at trina and daniel who nodded in agreement.

"you're selling my house?" she asked in disbelief.
"we are not selling it," trina spoke. "this was in the will."

charlotte sat in disbelief, ignoring as ward rattled off some more assets that were all in charlotte's name. he handed over some papers for her to sign and she absentmindedly signed them all before handing them back over.

finally it was over and the three stood up, leaving jj and charlotte on the couch, still in disbelief.

"charlotte, honey, we have a room all ready for you. you pack some of your clothes and we'll pick you up at six tonight." trina spoke, rubbing the girl's shoulder.

as daniel opened the door to the office, he revealed the three teens listening in to the conversation before quickly backing up and acting nonchalant. daniel, ward, and trina walked out as kiara, john b, and pope walked in.

"you're moving?" pope asked in disbelief.
"she's going to be a kook," john b spoke, trying to lighten the situation, but failing miserably. tears began to fall from charlotte's eyes again as the group all came and wrapped their arms around her.

"hey, your living situation doesn't remove your pogue status." jj spoke, rubbing his hand on the girl's back. the blonde smiled softly, at his sentiment. "but if i see you dressing all fancy shmancy, it might." he teased, earning a giggle from charlotte.

"pogue for life." charlotte spoke, squeezing her friends tightly.