Lock Up ⏐Charles Leclerc

Chapter 35

The entire weekend of Coachella, I was on a back and forth basis with Charles. I'd push, trying to put some distance between us and he'd find a way to pull— be it by a simple touch of his hand or a few words exchanged between us.

After the second day, almost everyone was drunk after having one too many drinks at the Revolve party. They all made their way to their respective rooms while I suddenly got an idea when I passed by the doors leading to the backyard. I went up to the room I shared with Elliana and changed into a simple black bikini before making my way back downstairs, a towel slung over my shoulder. I was still a bit drunk so I had to walk slowly, but when I dipped into the pool, I could slowly feel myself sobering up.

I did a few laps, swimming from one end of the pool to another. When I grew tired, I leaned my back against the pool's wall and just admired the silence.

I only got five minutes of silence to myself before the sliding door opened and I heard footsteps behind me. I turned my head to see Charles walking with his hands behind him and his eyes widened when he saw me.

"Are you still drunk?" He asked, ruffling his wet hair and sitting on the other edge of the pool, feet sinking into the water. I shook my head and moved my gaze back to the sky. A few houses down, you could hear the soft sound of music from a party that was still going even at three in the morning. "Have I ever told you about the last comversation I had with Jules?" Charles was looking down at his hands, feet slowly moving in the water.

"No." I said quietly, already knowing this was going to be a heavy topic.

A small smile made its way to his face as he said, "Oddly enough, it had nothing to do with racing." Charles sighed before he looked up and his green eyes immediately met mine. "Jules was in a long term relationship back then and he was about ready to propose. He even had the ring ready and everything planned out— where he was going to do it and when. I remember seeing the look on his face and thinking, when am I going to have that?"

"Charles, I'd stop if I were you." I said, looking away and beginning to climb out of the pool. I grabbed the towel and wrapped it around my body as Charles stood up to stand in front of me. "I'm sick of not knowing how to act around you. Either we're friends or not." I deadpanned and was about to leave when he pulled me back to him.

"Valentine, I'm doing this for you." He said as his thumb brushed against the knuckles of my hand.

"And I'm doing this for you."

"What?"

Oh fuck.

Confusion flashed through Charles' face as his hold on my wrist loosened and I took this as the chance to walk away. His footsteps followed me until we got inside where he lowered his voice.

"What do you mean you're doing this for me?" He asked but I ignored him, suddenly feeling thirsty so I headed for the kitchen. I'm hit with a memory of how we were in the kitchen back in L.A. and how this was exactly the topic of conversation back then. "What aren't you telling me?"

I finished the glass of water before leaning forward on the countertop, hands going over my eyes. Every inch of my body is fighting to tell him about my meeting with Giovanni but my mind keeps screaming no.

Hands wrapped around my wrist as Charles pulled on them to see my face. I saw his eyes soften at the tired look in my eyes and before I know it, he was wrapping his arms around me.

All of the pent up frustration for the past few weeks broke me as a single tear began to fall and more followed. My hands gripped the fabric of his shirt as his right arm tightened around my waist, left hand combing through my hair.