Truthfully, Penelope was pretty certain that Charles was taken aback by the amount of people it took to get her ready for an appearance. Before now, he'd only met Jane or heard her talking to her manager Britney on a phone call. But now, as they made their way to the Ferrari HQ with Penelope's entire team in tow, his eyes were so wide that she thought he might have fainted.
"Who are all these people?" he whispered to her as they walked through the doors.
"Well, you see the woman walking with Jane? That's my makeup artist, Gigi. In front of them is Bobbie, he's my hair stylist, and that's his intern Amy. Nadine, the tall lady at the back, is my stylist, she does wardrobe and stuff with Kylo, the guy next to her."
It took Charles a moment to process all of that. "What about the big guy at the back?"
"Oh, you mean Trev? That's my security guard. He came to Bahrain, I think, or maybe it was Monaco. He's always around."
"He keeps looking at me," he said uncomfortably, shifting his weight as if he were preparing himself to run if it came down to it.
"Everyone says that. He's just protective."
"Has he killed anyone before?" Charles enquired, and Penelope got the vibe he wasn't joking. "Any of your boyfriends, perhaps?"
Penelope raised her eyebrows playfully, kissing his knuckles. "Only the ones that broke my heart."
"Damn. There goes my plan, then."
Penelope poked his side, pulling a face. "You're not funny."
"Really? I disagree."
Charles winked at her just as a short woman wearing large glasses and a big smile emerged from a door on their left. She opened her arms when she saw Charles, hugging him tightly. "Welcome back!" she told him, patting his cheek as he blushed. "And you've been staying out of trouble! I taught you well."
"Hi, Becky. I missed you too."
Becky beamed again, now turning her attention to Penelope. "Oh my gosh!" she mused, clasping her hands together like she was praying. "You must be Penelope, I've heard so much about you." Before Penelope could react, Becky was hugging her, her arms surprisingly strong. When she pulled away, she turned back to Charles, even more excited than before. "Oh, Charles, she's even prettier than the pictures! Look at you, you're just so happy. What a beautiful couple."
Charles was really blushing now, but his hand slipped into Penelope's with a sense of pride, like he couldn't quite believe that she was his. "Penelope, meet Becky. She was my PR manager before she relocated to L.A. Becky, this is my girlfriend Penelope, please don't scare her off."
Becky stood up straight, giving Charles a little salute. "Sorry, I just get so excited. It's been so long since you introduced me to anyone."
Penelope's attention was captured by that last statement. Charles had never mentioned anyone from his past, but she wasn't stupid enough to think that there'd never been anyone before her. Every time she tried to bring it up, he changed the subject or kissed her in a way that he knew would put her mind on other things. She wasn't the type of girl to google her boyfriends, she'd learnt that lesson the hard way in the past. She'd just figured they'd have the conversation when they were ready to, but that seemed to never come to pass.
"I bet he used to bring a lot of girls to you," Penelope joked, testing the waters.
Becky laughed, patting Penelope's arm. "When he was young, of course. Then he met-"
"Becky," Charles interrupted suddenly, his face red. "We should probably get started, right?"
"Oh, yes!" she said, as though she was finally remembering why they were here in the first place. "Come, the studio is this way. Penelope, your team can set up down the hall, Charles there's a room next door that you can use. We have an hour till we shoot. That okay for everyone?"
Both Charles and Penelope nodded, but her mind was elsewhere. She tried to convince herself she was being irrational. It was normal to not want to talk about ex-partners, especially if you were trying to move on. But she couldn't help but think about what his avoidance could really mean. Maybe he wasn't over this mystery girl. Maybe something awful had happened between them. Maybe-
"Penelope?" Charles said, snapping her out of it. "You okay?"
"Yes," she said quickly, kissing his cheek. "Just nervous. I'll see you in an hour?"
Charles smiled as he kissed her goodbye, seemingly unbothered. "See you in an hour."
********************
An hour later, just as scheduled, Penelope and Charles found themselves sat in a small studio within the Ferrari building, faced with enough cameras to shoot a TV show. The studio itself was pretty basic, a white backdrop with lights and two chairs placed by a small table. They were quickly introduced to Damien, the producer, who Charles had clearly met before. The two of them had a quick, witty conversation before he reeled off what they were doing today.
"Okay you two," he said plainly, scribbling something on a piece of paper. "Basically, all we wanna do today is let the fans get to know you. I'm just gonna ask you some questions, if there's any you don't want to answer let me know. But other than that, just treat it as a conversation. That all okay?"
Penelope and Charles both nodded, his hand holding hers under the table, out of view of the camera. She'd done so many of these over the years, yet it was a nice feeling to know that he was there for her.
"Perfect," Damien said, taking a seat in the chair behind the monitor. "Okay everyone, here we go. If you guys could just start by introducing yourselves and then we can go from there."
Penelope smiled at Charles, squeezing his hand. She could tell he was nervous, and she didn't want him to worry. "You want me to start?" He nodded gratefully, squeezing her hand back. Penelope took a breath then turned to look at Damien, who gave her a thumbs up. She knew exactly where to look and how loud to speak. It was like second nature to her now. "Hey, I'm Penelope Jonas-"
"-and I'm Charles Leclerc," her boyfriend said on cue, still gripping her fingers.
"And we're here with Ferrari to answer some of your questions." Penelope turned to Charles, letting him know everything was okay. "I'm nervous, you know. I see your fans on Twitter and they're always asking the most random stuff. Feel like we might get called out today."
"I like my fans," Charles said, starting to relax into it. "I've been nice to them lately. Maybe they'll be nice to us."
"Damien, is he right?"
Damien held up his cue cards to shield his face. "Uh...no."
The two of them laughed as Damien readied the first card. "Okay, so first question comes from Sara in Texas and it's for Penelope. She said: "How did you meet?"
Penelope exchanged a look with Charles before starting the story. "Oh, Sara, you've really...got off to a good start. Well, uh, we met at a Ferrari event, actually. The company threw a dinner party to celebrate another year of sponsoring Percy Jackson, and I happened to be sitting next to Charles. We hit it off, didn't we? It sort of grew from there, I guess."
Charles nodded, looking proud of himself. "I took her to dinner a few days later. Rest is history."
Damien smiled, turning to the next card. "That's a cute story. The next question is from Tom in Brighton, England. He asks Charles if he is a Percy Jackson fan?"
"I am, actually," Charles replied. "Penelope actually took me on a bit of a set tour, and I was freaking out."
"I have a picture of him sat in Chiron's chair. I think that was the happiest I've ever seen him."
"Got a favourite season, Charles?"
"All of them," he answered. "It's really funny to watch you as a kid though, Nell."
"Don't remind me," she giggled. "I still can't watch those episodes, I get so embarrassed."
"Penelope," Damien said. "Olivia in Monaco asks what job you think Charles would have if he wasn't a driver?"
"That's a good one!" Penelope chuckled as she pointed to Charles's Ferrari shirt. "Well, you love Ferrari, don't you, maybe more than you love me, so I would say you would definitely have some role to do with that. Ooh, I don't know, a car salesman maybe or a mechanic?"
"Would you buy a car from me?" Charles asked her, smirking slightly.
"I feel like you would wink and win me over, so probably yes I would."
The questions were starting to really flow now. Damien turned to Charles, asking him "Where is the weirdest place you guys have hooked up?"
Penelope's eyes widened as she covered her face with her hand. "Don't answer that!" she laughed.
"Next question," Charles agreed, though he gave her a look that told her he wanted to go back to that one later when they were alone.
"Okay, okay. Another for you then Charles...Mary from Paris asks if you could take Penelope anywhere, where would it be?"
"Ah, well, obviously I love Monaco, but I've already taken her there so that one is ah out. I think I would pick Hawaii, because you love the ocean and the beach and you look very pretty in the sun."
"Awww," Penelope cooed, flattered by the answer. "I would to go to Hawaii. Or Bora Bora maybe."
"Penelope, Callum from New York asks who do you think would win in a race, you or Charles?"
She raised her eyebrows. "Like a car race? Or on foot?"
"It doesn't say actually. But lets go car."
Beside her, Charles chuckled to himself. Penelope elbowed him playfully as he complained. "Charles is laughing because he thinks I'm a terrible driver. I picked him up from the airport once and he made me get in the passenger side so he could drive my car rather than me."
"It's true," Charles giggled, and Penelope couldn't help but grin. "You are pretty bad."
"This is bullying," she teased. "People are gonna think I'm a danger on the road."
"You're not, you're not. But just to check, you are saying that I would win, right?"
"Yes, Charles. I think you, a race driver, would probably win."
"Okay, last question," Damien announced. The time had gone by pretty quickly, and Penelope was surprised at how much she'd enjoyed herself. "Miriam from London asks you, Charles, what is your favourite thing about Penelope?"
The question seemed to take him by surprise. His eyes landed on her, warm and loving like he was struggling to pick. When he spoke, he never dropped her gaze, making her heart flutter just the way it did the first day they met. "Everything," he said quietly, and in that exact moment it felt like they were the only two people in the world. "I love everything about you."
Penelope could have sobbed. It was the most perfect answer he could have given. It didn't feel forced or unnatural - this was just who they were. The idea of people knowing about them didn't feel scary anymore, it was just a part of their journey. Why would she not want her fans to see this perfect guy, to see her finally find the right person.
"You're gonna get abused by the others for that," Penelope teased, but a message was passed between them, short and sweet. I love you.
"Ah," Charles said, his eyes twinkling as he looked at her. "Worth it." Suddenly, she was struck with a weird premonition, like a flash forward to their future. Charles was older, his hair greying but his eyes were the same. Penelope was older too, but it wasn't just the two of them anymore. Children sat round their feet, all with the same green eyes but with Penelope's smile. Then she blinked, and it was gone.
"Okay guys," Damien said, giving them a thumbs up. He looked pretty happy, and Penelope could see why. It was a good interview, open and honest, and the viewers would probably eat it up. "That's a wrap. I'll send the final cut through to your team, Penelope, and you guys are free to go."
"Thanks, man," Charles said, shaking Damien's hand as Penelope disconnected her mic. She watched him fondly, her mind still wondering back to that fantasy of a family.
"Hey," he breezed, kissing her cheek quickly as he struggled to remove his own mic pack. "You okay?"
Penelope put her hands on his chest, turning him so that she could unplug the wire. "Yeah. I'm good, actually. You wanna get out of here?"
"Yes, please. You think it went okay?"
"I think it went great. Don't worry about it."
Charles took her hand as they waved to Damien and began the trek back down the hallway. Becky had regretfully told them that she was in a meeting this afternoon so wouldn't be able to say goodbye, but that she wished them well. "You're so good at this stuff," he told her, adjusting his collar.
"I've had a lot of practice," she assured. "There is something though, that I've been meaning to ask you."
Charles looked confused. "About the interview?"
"No, not the interview. You know Joe got engaged the other week? Well, they've decided not to wait. They're getting married in two weeks. He called me when I was in wardrobe."
"Wow. That's exciting."
"Yeah...listen. you wanna come with me? Be my plus one?"
"Are you inviting me to the biggest Jonas family event of the year?" Charles mused, pulling her to a stop. He pressed her against the wall, hidden down one of the side corridors. His thumb tilted her chin upwards, his lips meeting hers for the long awaited kiss she'd been craving all afternoon. "Of course I'll come with you."
"My abuela will quiz you all day, you know that don't you?"
"I love your abuela. Practically best friends."
Penelope smiled softly as she ran her thumbs over his cheeks, kissing the very tip of his nose. "Can I ask you another question?"
"Depends. Does involve that utility closet over there? Because it has a lock and you-"
Penelope hit his arm, just hard enough to make him cry out. He chuckled as he ran his hands down her back, not discouraged by Penelope's stern look. "I'm serious," she said, biting her lip as he planted a kiss on the soft skin of her neck. "This is important."
With a sigh, he met her eyes. "Okay, I'm listening. I promise."
"You want kids? Not now, obviously, but maybe in the future?"
She'd expected him to shy away from the question, or not to be able to answer at all. Normally, big questions like that scared guys away, but Charles didn't seem bothered. "I've never really thought about it until you. But yeah, I do. Do you?"
Penelope nodded. "Yeah. I really do."
Charles leaned in close again, his breath warm against her neck. "You wanna make one right now?"
She gave him a playful smile. "No. But I'm up for practicing."
************************