[2] ONE || C. LECLERC

TWELVE

»»——⍟——««

CAMILLE

It was difficult to say goodbye to my grandparents this morning, but getting an extremely early flight home was the best thing Charles and I could have done. Our flight from Brussels left at seven, so I was lucky that my grandmother called me at four thirty because they'd woken extremely early. I apologised but told her it was only best for me to leave because I feel so uncomfortable after yesterday evening. Thankfully, she understood and promised that they would visit mama and papa in Amsterdam to make everybody's life a lot easier.

I was exhausted when we landed in Nice, so I took advantage of the thirty minute car journey back into Monaco, sleeping the whole way back whilst Charles drove with his hand resting on my knee. We were expected to arrive back in Monte Carlo just before ten this morning and I couldn't wait to be home.

"Do you want to go to Max's?" Charles asked me as I began to stir from my sleep. We were very close to Max's apartment and I knew that he was the only person I wanted to see right now. I was so shaken up after last night and only wanted to be with my best friend. I nodded slowly at Charles, who smiled at me as he settled further into his seat. "Okay. I'll drop you there now and see you this evening, right?"

"If that's okay with you." I smiled, before reaching for my handbag which I'd thrown into the car and left by my feet.

"Of course. Leave your case in the backseat and we can sort it later," Charles pulled up outside of Max's place and glanced across at me. "I love you. Call me if you need anything, or if you need a lift home."

"Thank you, Charles," I sighed, because I did feel guilty for ruining everybody's time at the moment, but Charles was the most understanding and I was grateful for that. "I love you, I'll see you tonight."

I left him with a quick kiss, before slowly leaving the car and rushing towards the front door of the apartment, shoving my keys into the door and entering quietly. The whole building was silent and I hoped that Max was home.

I shut the door behind me, feeling startled as footsteps started to draw closer to my body. They were too petite and careful to be Max's. I turned around to head into the kitchen, when I saw Dilara perched on the sofa as she drank from a glass of water. My eyes widened, as I noticed she was wearing her pyjama set, immediately realising that she'd stayed over with Max whilst I was gone. My chest ached briefly at the thought of another girl cuddled up to him, because I always thought that would be our thing only.

"Camille?" Dilara was surprised to see me, and I didn't blame her because I'd not informed Max that I would be home. Her face fell when she saw mine, realising how tired and distraught I looked. She rushed to her feet and wrapped her arms around me. "Is everything okay? We weren't expecting you back so soon. Has something happened with Charles?"

"No, no, Charles and I are perfect," I nodded, biting on my lip to prevent any tears from slipping from my eyes. She didn't know about Stefan, so I didn't know how to explain this situation to her without making myself sound stupid. "I've just been a bit unwell and we decided that coming home early was the best thing to do. Is Max around?"

"He's still in bed, but said he would come through in a few minutes," Dilara shrugged, but kept her arms around me as she ran her fingers across my back. She was a lovely girl, but I just could never imagine her with my Max. It wasn't out of spite because I was happy that he'd found a girl, but it just lay with me a little funny because I'd never expected it to happen. I was totally naive, but now understood how Max felt when I was getting cosier with Charles. "Would you like anything? Water?"