[2] ONE || C. LECLERC

THIRTY TWO

»»——⍟——««

CAMILLE

I woke up in my own bed beside Victoria, and I was so relieved to have her next to me. I'd barely slept, after tossing and turning every hour at the thought of Charles' cruel words. Even now, they hurt me, although I missed him, and I wanted to know he was okay. This was the first time we'd spent the night apart without any form of contact. No goodnight, no I love you, and already, I could feel my heart being torn from my chest.

"Cami?" Victoria rolled over and buried her face into my pillow, her hand reaching for my arm. I lay comfortably on my back, my eyes focused on the ceiling; I was rather enjoying the sight of bleak, boring walls because they seemed more exciting than my life right now. She ran her fingers gently across my warm, tanned skin, but I didn't budge, despite her touch providing me with plenty reassurance. "Are you alright? Did you sleep?"

"A little," I sighed, my head falling deeper into the plump pillow. It was comfortable, but I'd rather be in Charles' arms right now. "I miss him."

"You know that you'll be okay, right?" Victoria sat up and I finally dragged my eyes away from my chosen spot on the ceiling. She always looked pretty, even in the mornings, and I was jealous of how perfect her hair looked after she'd slept on it for nine hours. "You and Charles, you're special. You have this weird bond and all of us can see it. He'll be round here shortly, if Max lets him in."

"I'd never cheat on him, and definitely never with Lando," I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes at the thought of Charles ever believing something like that. I thought he trusted me, but maybe I'd been proven wrong after his harsh outburst yesterday afternoon. "I just want to be with him. Lando and I have been friends for years, but Charles is the man I really love. I miss him, I-"

"Come here." Victoria shook her head as the tears finally started to fall from my eyes. I knew it would happen sooner rather than later. I didn't want to lie to myself and believe that I was fine, when in reality, my heart was breaking. She wrapped her arms around my trembling body, her lips pressed to my head as she tried to settle me down. I knew that she hated to see me like this, and I used that as the main reason for Max to keep her away after Stefan raped me. The movement of Victoria's soft fingertips through the material of my pyjama shirt reminded me of the way Charles held me before we fell asleep. I shook the thought away; I didn't want to be bombarded with thoughts like that right now because my heart only ached for him even more.

We came back to Max's apartment immediately after the race; Sophie took the spare room, Dilara was, of course, with Max, whilst Victoria shared my bedroom. Dilara told me one hundred times that I could sleep in Max's room, because she appreciated that I needed to be with him after the events with Charles unfolded. I wanted to say yes, but this was her time with Max and I didn't want to disturb that. Even though the thought of cuddling up beside Max and having him calm me down sounded ideal, I wasn't wiling to interrupt his time with Dilara because I had an issue. Max came to tuck me in, as he always used to if I ever had a sleepover with Victoria, leaving a kiss on my forehead and telling me he loved me before disappearing to bed himself.

I felt nauseous when I lifted my phone up to find Charles' name sitting in my notifications. I'd received two messages from him; it was currently nine thirty, with both messages coming through at seven this morning. Like me, I assumed he'd struggled to get any sleep. Victoria was carefully resting her chin against my shoulder and I heard her gasp when she read Charles' name. She nudged my side, giving me a slight nod of encouragement, which I didn't need because without even thinking, I'd already unlocked my phone to read his messages. I missed him.

CHARLES: Good morning, I hope you've slept better than I have. I'm really sorry for the way I spoke to you and the things which came out of my mouth yesterday, mon ange. I miss you terribly and I just hope that you're okay.