[2] ONE || C. LECLERC

FORTY TWO

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MAX

I couldn't believe he would ever do this to her. I was frustrated, maybe even angry, because I couldn't comprehend the behaviour of a man who was supposed to love his girlfriend. He knew from the very beginning that I wasn't afraid to hurt him if he ever did her wrong, and that's exactly what he did.

I slammed my fists against the front door of Charles' apartment. I hoped my sudden appearance frightened him; he was an inconsiderate dickhead and I was so mad at everything he'd done to my best friend. He'd broken her in two and I was now responsible for cleaning up his mess; of course, I wanted to help Camille and she knew that I would drop everything for her in a heartbeat, so me showing up on his front step wasn't a problem. His behaviour was the problem.

A teary eyed Charles opened the door and he opened his mouth to speak, but I'd already launched myself at him, pressing my hands up against his chest to push him backwards through the door frame. A gasp left his lips as he stumbled on his own feet. I kicked the door shut behind me, as I dragged Charles' body across to the wall. I glared at him, hoping that my stare made him feel intimidated. I hoped that it broke his heart in the exact same way he'd smashed Camille's.

"You twat," I furrowed my brows as I held onto Charles by his collar, pushing him against the wall tightly. I could see him squirming against my body, his eyes filling with tears as I scolded him. "How dare you hurt her like that, you scum! I thought you were a good kid, Charles, I thought you were the one for her!"

"I am," he whispered, but I almost wrapped my hand around his throat and when he realised what I was about to do, he stopped himself by swallowing hard. "I love her and only her. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I am stupid."

"You disgust me. Camille really trusted you, you know? She loved you with everything she had and you fucked it up. You've broken her, Charles, you've destroyed her," my whole body was filling with anger and I wasn't afraid to show it. I tugged on the collar of Charles' t-shirt, shaking my head as I reinforced my grip, pushing him back even harder against the wall. "She will never take you back, do you know that? Do you even realise what you've done?"

A tear slipped away from Charles' eye and for the first time in a while, I did not feel sympathy for him. Not one bit of me regretted treating him like this, even though I knew Camille would probably be mad, because she clearly cared about Charles more than he cared about her. He wasn't trying to force his way out of my grip. He stood there, allowing my arm to press him against the wall by his collarbones, whilst listening to everything I had to say.

"At least I've got my best friend back. She knows I'll never hurt her like you have, you piece of shit," I started raising my voice, Charles flinching when the volume of my voice became louder in his ear. "You piece of shit! Don't you ever go near her ever again, do you hear me?"

His silence filled the room and only caused me to reach my absolute bursting point. Charles looked at me, completely terrified, but nevertheless, he nodded his head slowly as he looked me dead in the eye.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, as he tried to lift his hand to wipe the tears from his eyes. "I never wanted to hurt her. I love her, I really do."

"Cut the bullshit, Charles. You fucked up and you lost her, she's never coming back," I admitted with a sigh, as I loosened my grip on his body. I was getting sick of listening to his excuses. "I have her back now. I guess somebody else's loss is another's gain, after all. You've done me a favour, but I swear to God, if you go anywhere near her ever again, at race weekends or in the city, I will kill you. I will fucking kill you, okay? Do you hear me?"