Hopelessly Devoted ☆ Pierre Gasly

XII

Juliette jumped into the metro and sat down. The doors closed behind her, and she looked at her mother, who didn't make it. Claire was standing on the platform, yelling at Juliette. Passengers were looking at Claire, but Juliette looked away. She started switching her ice skates to her trainers. Juliette put on a hoodie and her coat. Her eyes closed, and she leaned her hair against the window. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her lungs hurt, and her head hurt; saved...

☐

A knock on the door made Sara, Pierre, and Anthoine look up from the television. Sara got up and walked to the front door of her studio. She opened the door and was surprised to see Juliette with a flushed face in her sports clothes. It wasn't a surprise to see Juliette because there was a sleepover tonight, but to see Juliette with a flushed face...it was like she ran away from something.

"Hey," Sara said and let Juliette in. "You alright?"

Juliette threw her bag in the corner of the room. "No, not at all," she mumbled. "It doesn't matter," she added and was shaking her head. She sniffed and pressed a smile on her face.

"What's wrong?" Sara softly asked, making sure Pierre and Anthoine wouldn't hear it.

"I can't get under the 2 minutes at the 1500 metres, and it's just frustrating. I need to be better to make a chance at the championship," Juliette explained, not telling the whole story. "Do you mind if I use your shower? I didn't have time to shower at the hall..." She embarrassedly smiled.

Sara nodded slowly and put her hand on Juliette's shoulder. "You will get there, I know you can do it," she positively said. "Of course, I will show you the bathroom." She showed Juliette the bathroom. "I will warm up some food. Twenty minutes?"

"Thank you so much," Juliette said, she could finally breathe again.

"No need to thank me," Sara replied and gave her a warm smile. She left the bathroom and walked back to the living area.

Pierre looked worriedly at Sara. "Is everything alright with Julie? She looked so...flushed?" He took a sip from his drink.

"She just left the training, and she can't get the results she wants. Just frustration," she shortly explained. "I swear, she's giving herself, or someone gives her so much pressure. She's suffering from it." Sara got herself something to drink. "But it's the sports world, nothing is good enough unless it's the best."

"Still," Anthoine said. "If there's no fun or reward, it will never be the best."

Sara shrugged. "The pressure for a championship is real, especially when you don't belong to the top countries. We all know about it." She put on a fake smile. "Anyway, Julie is showering now, and after that, she's going to eat. We will just continue the last bits of our movie. When she's finished, Captain Jack Sparrow it is."

☐

Juliette was standing in the kitchen area, eating the leftovers from the pasta. "Sara, you have a fabulous home. It looks so lovely and cosy," she said and looked around.

"Awh, thank you!" Sara thankfully said.

"You're welcome, darling."

Sara looked at Juliette. "I'm a sucker for your English accent, jeez. It's so perfect."

A smirk left Juliette's lips. "Why? It's not special, it's just an English accent, my love," she cheekily said in English.

"Ça suffit, Juliette," Sara replied and kept looking at Juliette, she actually did stop talking in English.

"Oui, madame." Juliette began to laugh, just like Sara.

Pierre rose his eyebrows, and his eyes shot from Sara to Juliette. "You two have such a weird friendship."

"My apologies," Juliette proudly said and wiggled her eyebrows. Her eyes fell on the credits on the TV, meaning the film came to an end. Juliette had no idea which movie it was, but she liked the credit song. "This is the perfect song," she said when You Give Me Something van James Morrison filled the room.

Sara brought the volume up. "'Cause you give me something. That makes me scared, alright. This could be nothing," she sang along, knowing she would annoy Pierre and Anthoine.

"But I'm willing to give it a try. Please give me something. 'Cause someday I might know my heart," Juliette continued to sing, and for some reason, her eyes were locked with Pierre's. A small smile played on her lips, but the smile told enough.

The smile on Pierre's lips was small as well, but grew when Juliette's smile grew. It was a smile that reached Juliette's eyes, something that seemed extraordinary these days. For that reason, Pierre only smiled more. Juliette broke the eye contact and softly giggled.

"I've no idea why I picked you as my friends...best friends," Anthoine chuckled and smirked.

"Because we are the chosen ones to be friends, you dumb arse," Sara sang on the rhythm of the song before continuing on singing her heart out. "Come on, sing along!"

Juliette laughed and sang along, it just looked stupid and felt uncomfortable to her, but she enjoyed the moment. It was only happiness.