𝘍𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 | Charles Leclerc

Chapter 28

"Understood..and thank you again"

"See you soon Luce"

When I arrived at the hospital it was quiet in the room I'd become so used to. Charles stirred slightly in his sleep as I closed the door behind me. Between me and Andrea we'd managed to keep a rota on who would sit with him and who would go freshen up and sleep, now it was my turn to do the graveyard shift. The concussion had subsided and the bigger focus then was making sure his arm healed properly, but he was still so tired all the time. I approached his bedside cautiously and gently pulled back the covers to climb in beside him. I was careful not to lay on the numerous of wires still connected to his fragile body, his soft breathing changed slightly as he felt my movement beside him.

But he didn't immediately wake up.

Instead he shifted his body slightly, turning his head towards mine. He always looked so angelic when he slept, even with the countless bruises against his flushed cheeks. He was still beautiful to me. I reached out to gently stroke them when his eyes fluttered open, taking in my presence before closing them again. I could feel my body relaxing into his familiar warmth.

"I'm guessing it's your turn to hawk me?" He muttered contentedly

"It sure is"

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he reached over to me intertwining his body with mine "I prefer it when you're here" He whispered softly, his eyes drifting shut once more. I could tell he took comfort in my presence, he'd found solace amidst the recent chaos that surrounded him.

"You're not going to like me so much with what I'm about to tell you" Not that i wanted to have that conversation immediately, but it was only right Charles knew the tabloids and my manger was finally onto us. Either that or id spend the rest of the day letting it slowly eat me up inside. I could feel he'd tensed at my words, but for a moment he didn't pull away from me. His eyes fluttered open meeting mine with a guarded expression "What is it?" His voice was low and cautious. I probably could've worded it better for his sake.

"Camille phoned earlier" I felt my voice trial off before continuing, I suppose there wasn't really a best way to break that kind of news "The tabloids want to speak to me..about us"

Instantly a groan of frustration left him, his free hand moving to rub his eyes. It was obvious he didn't want to deal with it at that moment in time, but it seemed fate had very different plans for us "I knew this would happen" He muttered.

"I know..I'm sorry it's the last thing I wanted you to think about" My voice came out guarded and quiet.

"It's not your fault" He replied, reaching out to gently brush away a lose strand of hair crowding my eye "I just wish sometimes they'd leave us alone" A sharp sigh escaped him as he contemplated the situation we now found ourselves in "What do you want to do about it?"

"I have no choice but to speak to them Camille seemed pretty persistent" I spoke as I sat up perching myself on the edge of the bed "It's just...what am I going to tell them?"

"Ah" He said quietly as he rested his head back against the pillow averting his attention firmly on the ceiling he'd been staring at the past five days "Yeah that's a tough one"

"I mean I can't exactly say we're together because we're not" Over the days since the Grand Prix I'd become closer to Charles not realising at the time the reasons why, but it was love. I'd fallen in love with him and after nearly losing that I knew that I wanted nothing more then to be with him. But it was having that conversation at the right time, and I was deciding to take my opportunity then.