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REST IN PEACE

CHARLOTTE COUGHED UP A LARGE BREATH WHEN SHE CAME TO, WINCING AT THE FLUORESCENT LIGHTS ABOVE.

Raising a hand to cover her eyes from the overhead light, she blinked the haze from her eyes and was met with the sight of her mother's looming figure.

Samantha Henry looked worse for wear; the usually well-kept woman looked as though she'd taken multiple shitty naps in the hospital chair, hair frizzy and a sensible amount of worry in her eyes. It was a look she didn't point in her daughter's direction often, much too busy worrying about her youngest son who always got into the most trouble out of the three, but it was refreshing.

Her hand cradled Charlotte's cheek. "What happened?" she asked hoarsely, issuing her mother to reach to the side table and lift a cup of water to her lips.

"You four were involved in a collision," the woman explained, setting aside the plastic cup once it was empty. "The nurse should be back in a bit. You hit your head pretty hard, honey."

It all came back to her: leaving the Grill with her friends, the banter in the car, the weird screeching whistle that only she and Tyler seemed to hear. At the remembrance of her best friend, she instantly started sitting upright. "Where's Ty? Is he alright? What—"

Her mother pushed her back onto the bed, an exhausted sigh escaping her. "He's fine; he went home earlier this morning to be with his mother," she responded, hand migrating to her forehead to brush some dark hair from her face. "He was watching you and Caroline like a hawk. Poor boy is feeling tremendously guilty— and now with Richard..."

The heart rate monitor ticked upward, the anxiousness seeping into Charlotte's chest painfully. "What happened to Caroline? And— and Mr Lockwood?" she questioned, gaze flickering to the open door where she saw someone familiar.

She saw his back first before his head seemed to swivel around as though he was looking for something. His gaze suddenly settled on hers, and she found glints of confusion in his eyes as he looked at her. What on earth was Damon Salvatore doing here?

Charlotte knew he and Caroline had a brief... whatever it was that they were doing, before it stopped rather abruptly. From her perspective and the details that Bonnie would give her, Damon was not a good guy. She blinked slowly, and suddenly, he was gone, her own gaze returning to her mother's form next to her.

"Caroline was hurt in the crash. She just got out of surgery a few hours ago, but the doctors say she still has a long way to go," she started, pausing for a beat before something akin to a grimace took over her face, "and, there was another accident down by the square. Richard didn't make it."

The air was punched out of her, then. Mouth gaping as she took in the back-to-back news of utter devastation. Other than Tyler, Caroline was her closest friend and by the sound of it, wasn't doing well. Not that he was an overtly great father, that much she witnessed through the years, the death of the Mayor would surely send Tyler spiraling. Hell, she was positive her father would be flying back into town by morning at the news since he and Richard were just as close as Tyler and Charlotte were.

"He's dead?" her voice wobbled out, "and Care, will she..." The teen didn't even want to finish the sentence, letting it hang as her shoulders wound up tightly.

The solemn look on her mother's face alerted her that the odds weren't good for her blonde friend, and before she could even utter out another word, the charge nurse entered with a clipboard in hand.

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The next morning, Charlotte woke up in her own bed and the subtle migraine she had while in the hospital had effectively worn off.

The Lockwoods seemed to be processing the grief at a much more rapid rate, seeing as the brunette found herself slipping into a casual dress to prepare for Richard's wake. Her mother had gone over earlier in the morning to help Carol sort out the home to prepare for the number of guests that would be in attendance.

When she asked to come with, under the guise of just seeing her best friend, Samantha told her daughter to drive herself over in the afternoon along with everyone else— to give Tyler some time. Of course that wasn't the real reason why she couldn't come, but she didn't want to explain what actually happened to the mayor just yet.

Either way, Charlotte found herself driving her and her brother to the Lockwood home later that day, the younger boy nervously tapping his foot against the floor of the car. It was incessant, resulting in Charlotte spinning to face him when she stopped at a red light. "Will you stop it with that, Josh?" she snapped, resulting in the boy facing her rather sheepishly. Her face softened when the tapping ceased, "sorry... but it is annoying."

Joshua shrugged, combing his hand through his untameable brown hair. "It's gonna be weird not seeing Mr Lockwood around anymore," he said, turning his gaze out the car window when they started moving forward again. He began drawing aimless shapes on the glass before adding, "it's gonna be even weirder without dad there today."

Charlotte nodded, eyes focused on the road winding towards the Lockwood grounds. "He's flying in for the funeral in two days," she told him, unsure whether he knew of their father's plans or not. "But yeah, I can already picture Mrs Fell asking us a million questions about where he is."

"People always ask questions about Dad," Joshua reminded her, a very noticeable frown on his face. And yeah, why wouldn't they ask where the infamous Daniel Henry was 290 days out of the year? Last year he had hit a high score, a whopping 301 days out of town— Charlotte even made them muffins to celebrate. But, it was obvious that her younger brother cared about their father's frequent absence more than he was letting on.

"I know," came the older sibling's reply, "but she takes the cake every time. I've never met a nosier lady, and I know Caroline."

Joshua let out a quick bark of laughter, resting his head against the window as he looked at his sister in his peripheral. "How is she?"

He watched as his sister's shoulder deflated for a moment before they pulled onto the side of the road in front of the Lockwood mansion. "Mom told me she's doing way better, I'm going to visit after school; wanna come with?"

Out of all Charlotte's friends, Joshua liked the chatty blonde the most. Growing up, she always included him in their sleepover shenanigans and treated him like the baby brother she always wanted. Though, he unfortunately had plans: "I might hang out with Jere later."

At the mention of her brother's own friend, she turned to him as she unbuckled her seatbelt. Jeremy Gilbert and her brother hadn't been friends for too long, only forming a friendship just before the Gilbert parents died the past spring. She ignored the way the tips of his ears heated up, knowing that bringing it up would only embarrass the boy, so she simply nodded. "Okay," she said, before clapping her hands together, "show time."

The two youngest Henry siblings exited the car, Charlotte not bothering to lock it behind her as she tossed the keys at her brother for safekeeping. No one was going to commit a carjacking at a wake, so she figured there was no harm in doing so.

Walking past a trickle of people littering the front lawn, she and her brother were greeted by a teary-eyed Carol Lockwood. The woman immediately embraced Charlotte, squeezing her tightly before doing the same to her brother. She met the girl's eyes, seeing the unspoken question within; "Tyler's in here somewhere, I saw him head towards the back."

With a nod she pinched her brother's shoulder before venturing further into the house, not even noticing a set of blue eyes tracking her movements with inquisition.

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[ wyn's note ]

she's alive! but the mayor is very much not!

hope you guys are enjoying this so far— gonna upload a mass update (probably 4-5 chaps, so you should be seeing those now) :)! all my love xx