I hate being woken up. I've said this before, people know this. Still, I seem to be woken up every single morning — and it's starting to drive me insane.
My phone goes off on the bedside table behind me and I have to struggle to turn around wrapped in Charles' arms. He barely wakes up as I struggle to try and reach my phone. I finally reach it and see my mom's contact on the screen. I press the green button and put the phone to my ear just as Charles starts shuffling around behind me, still making sure his arms are wrapped around me.
"Bonjour maman," Hello mom, I say into the phone, looking over my shoulder as Charles starts to open his eyes, blinking a few times.
"Est-ce que je t'ai réveillé? C'est l'heure du déjeuner," Did I wake you? It's lunch time, she sounds appalled at the idea of me sleeping in late, even though I've always been one to sleep all day if I can. I sigh and hear Charles making some noises as he wakes up and I start to cover my phone a little so she won't hear it.
"Je me suis couché tard hier soir," I went to bed late last night, I explain and watch Charles realize I'm on the phone. I hear her clicking her tongue and I bet she's shaking her head.
"Ton père a dit que tu étais à Venise? Vous ne pouvez pas dormir toute la journée quand vous êtes à Venise," Your father said you were in Venice? You can't sleep all day when you're in Venice, she says, and I just sigh, putting my hands over my eyes, because I don't want to be arguing about my sleep schedule with my mom. "Avec qui êtes-vous?" Who are you with? she asks.
"Charles, Pierre et Evie."
"Arthur ne voulait-il pas y aller?" Didn't Arthur want to go?
"Il avait des projets avec les frères de Pierre," He had plans with Pierre's brothers.
"Pourquoi es-tu allé à Venise? Vous aimez Alassio," Why did you go to Venice? You love Alassio, she argues and I just want to hang up the phone and call her back when I'm not morning grumpy. I move over to lay on my back instead, sighing at all her questions.
"Pierre et Charles voulaient de vraies vacances pendant qu'ils avaient le temps," Pierre and Charles wanted a real vacation while they had time, I explain as patiently as I can so I don't just start shouting at her.
"Pierre et Evie sortent toujours ensemble, n'est-ce pas?" Pierre and Evie are still dating, aren't they? she asks. Oh my god if she starts- "Que faites-vous et Charles quand ils ont un rendez-vous?" What do you and Charles do when they're on dates?
"On observe, on joue aux cartes, je ne sais pas maman," We observe, we play cards, I don't know mom, I start to get frustrated because I know she wants it to be more. Which it is. But I don't want her to know that right now and I will feel busted if she continues.
"Tu devrais demander si Pierre a un ami avec qui tu peux sortir, tu t'amuseras plus," You should ask if Pierre has a friend you can date, you'll have more fun.
"Oui, non merci," Yeah, no thanks, I scoff, "Je ne veux pas de petit ami, je suis trop occupé," I don't want a boyfriend, I'm too busy, I say and see Charles lift his head to look at me with furrowed brows. I use the back of my hand to push him back down onto the pillow without acknowledging him any further than that.
"Et cet autre gars, le beau?" And the other guy, the handsome one? she asks and I furrow my brows. What the hell? Who is the other guy?
"Qui?" Who?
"Celui que tu as amené au paddock? Charles l'a-t-il rencontré? L'aimaient-ils?" The one you brought to the paddock? Has Charles met him? Did they like him? She asks and my eyes widen as I glance over at Charles who seems to be very interested in the conversation I'm trying to have with my mother. He seems to be listening really hard.
"Mateo," I tell her his name and I watch as Charles' eyes widen a bit while his brows furrow, "Il n'a jamais été mon petit ami, ma mère, c'était un ami qu'Arthur et moi avons rencontré lors d'une course en Espagne," He was never my boyfriend, mom, he was a friend that Arthur and I met when he was racing in Spain, I explain while keeping my eyes set on Charles, because I feel like he has to hear it too, since he was being really unfair about it. Charles drops his eyes, refusing to look at me.
"Mais il avait l'air si gentil, beau avec de beaux yeux," But he looked so nice, handsome with beautiful eyes, she says and I just want her to stop talking.
"Dommage, je l'ai emmené au paddock et je ne pense pas qu'il me reparlera," Too bad, I took him to the paddock and I don't think he'll talk to me again, I say with a sigh. I do feel guilty about just leaving him there and I feel sorry for him that he had to be thrown into such a mess. Charles had no right to act like that and cause so much trouble with a guy he didn't know. I hadn't even thought about it since it happened, since there had been so much else going on.
"Oh non, que s'est il passé?" Oh no, what happened? she asks.
"Charles, Lewis et Seb l'ont rencontré," Charles, Lewis and Seb met him, I explain and she chuckles on the other side of the phone, "Il est parti à mi-chemin," He left halfway.
"Je suis sûr qu'il était juste submergé, c'est comme rencontrer trois frères aînés," I'm sure he was just overwhelmed, it's like meeting three older brothers, she says with a little laugh and I nearly choke on air. It certainly makes you feel a bit uncomfortable when someone says the guy you're next to in bed is like your brother.
"Ouais, eh bien, maman, je dois aller profiter de la journée à Venise ou quoi que ce soit," Yeah, well, mama, I gotta go seize the day in Venice or whatever, I tell her because I cannot continue this conversation.
"Tu es partout, ma chérie, tu ne penses pas que tu devrais ralentir?" You're everywhere, darling, don't you think you should slow down? she asks and I roll my eyes, sighing loudly to make sure she hears it. I know she means well, but just because she wants everything to slow down, I need things to distract me.
"Je vais bien maman, j'aime faire tourner le monde," I'm fine mom, I like to keep the world spinning, I tell her and hope she'll drop it and let me hang up.
"Puis-je parler à Charles un instant?" Can I talk to Charles for a moment? she asks. I turn to look at him next to me. His hair is messier than last night and his eyes are a bit puffy. I bet his voice is hoarse from just waking up. No, I'm not sharing this Charles with my mother.
"Il est sous la douche en ce moment, tu devras l'appeler plus tard," He's in the shower right now, you'll have to call him later, I tell her as I feel the smile on my face reappear from the look in front of me. She says something about calling him later but I barely listen. I just listen to her saying goodbye, ordering me to call her more and telling me to take care and not do stupid things. I hum in response to everything before hanging up the phone and just throwing it to the end of the bed before laying down next to Charles again.
"Est-ce que ta mère connaît Mateo?" Does your mom know about Mateo? he asks and I immediately roll my eyes. It really shouldn't be any of his business, but he's still hung up on him.
"Apparemment, elle a Instagram et Twitter donc je suppose qu'elle l'a vu là-bas," Apparently, she has Instagram and Twitter so I guess she saw it there, I reply in monotone and just roll over on my back again. I sigh and look up at the ceiling as I prepare for this next topic of conversation. "C'est mon ami, Charles, tu as été impoli avec lui sans raison," He's my friend, Charles, you were being rude to him for no reason.
"J'avoue que j'étais jaloux," I'll admit that I was jealous, he says, and through the corner of my eye I see him nodding slowly.
"Tu n'avais absolument aucune raison d'être jalouse, vas-tu être jalouse de tous mes amis masculins?" You had absolutely no reason to be jealous, are you going to be jealous of all my guy friends? I ask, turning to look at him. He presses his lips together and closes his eyes for a moment before lifting his head up on his hand, supported by his elbow in the mattress.
"Tu n'as pas vu la façon dont il te regardait," You didn't see the way he looked at you, "C'est ton ami mais tu es son et si," He's your friend but you're his what if, he argues and I close my eyes and search for some extra strength. A part of me wants to drop the conversation, but I need to get this out of the way.
"Et alors?" So what? I ask, "Nous n'étions rien alors, je pensais que tu étais encore avec Lucie," We were nothing then, I thought you were still with Lucie.
He sighs and runs a hand over his face while pinching his eyes shut. When he opens them again he just stares at me for a few moments. I wait for his answer but he just puts his head down into the pillow, face down. I sigh, because he doesn't even answer me. He knows he was in the wrong.
"Je suis désolé, je suis désolé, je sais que j'ai été injuste avec vous deux, j'étais un connard," I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know I was unfair to you two, I was an asshole, he says when he lifts himself from the pillow. He looks at me with his sad eyes and he looks genuinely sorry. He knows he made a mistake and hopefully we won't ever be in a situation like that again. He leans closer to me, kissing my temple and using his hand to move some hair out my face, then putting his hand on my cheek to turn my head so he can kiss my lips.
"Vous étiez," You were, I agree with a nod, "Et ma mère t'appellera," And my mother will call you, I tell him as I pull away from him and sit up on the bed.
"Pourquoi?" Why? he asks and I just shrug. I honestly don't know, but probably to ask him to feed me, dress me and put me to bed, because she seems to think I'm incapable of making my own decisions and taking care of myself.
I get out of bed and put my pajama pants back on. He grunts as he stretches, but then he reaches out to me, trying to grab my arm. I keep it from him because I know he's just going to try and pull me back into bed. He fake cries as I grab my phone from the end of the bed and walk out of the bedroom. The wine bottle and our glasses are gone from the dining table, so I guess Evie and Pierre have been up long enough to take care of them. I walk into the kitchen and I see them by the kitchen island. Pierre's hands are around Evie's face and they're kissing. I guess it's payback for them having to see Charles and I kiss the day before.
They're both dressed already. Pierre is in a white button down and I can't see his pants and Evie is in a gorgeous light blue dress with violet flowers all over it. It has t-shirt sleeves and I know it's long with a slit, because I've always loved that dress on her. Her blonde hair is in a low bun and there are some framing pieces hanging out. The sun is lighting up the kitchen and right through the windows, hitting them where they're standing.
I clear my throat, making Pierre look up at me. He separates his lips from Evie's for a second, then he just seems to ignore me, starting to kiss her again. But Evie pushes him off and turns to me with a smile. Pierre just chuckles and wraps his arms around her.
"Au moins je peux le posséder," At least I can own it, he says. I know he said it in French because Evie would slap him if she knew what he said. I squint my eyes at him and scoff before walking into the kitchen, opening the fridge to get the fruit I bought out.
"Did you guys just wake up?" Evie asks as I place the fruit on the kitchen island and go to get a cutting board out. I nod in response to her question and she widens her eyes a little. She used to sleep as long as me last summer break, I don't know what happened. "Well, I guess you slept okay then?" She asks. I nod in response to her question again and I get a knife out to begin cutting up the fruit.
"Charles vous laisse manipuler des couteaux avec cette coupe déjà sur votre main?" Charles lets you handle knives with that cut already on your hand? Pierre asks and I can hear in his voice that his goal is to annoy me. Which he succeeds to do. I put the knife down and just tiredly looked at him, making Evie turn her head to him.
"Okay, can you stop?" She asks, "Speak in English and stop pissing her off!" She exclaimed while Pierre laughed at her. She tries to look pissed but he just grabs her face to kiss her. First her lips, then showering her with kisses all over her face.
They've been dating for quite some time now, but right now they're acting like they've just started seeing each other and everything is new and giggly. They're like Charles and I. I don't know if it's Venice, I don't know if it's being away from Max, since they've had to spend a lot of time around him since Pierre went to Redbull. But whatever the reason is, I love seeing them like this. The love between them is so clear to everyone else too. You barely have to look at them to see that they love each other.
They're what I want Charles and I to be, I think. I won't tell them this though, especially not Pierre because it'll go to his head and he doesn't deserve to hear it. I might tell Evie when he isn't around, because she's sweet enough to tell.
I smile to myself as I cut up the pineapple, which takes a while because I need to get all the spikes off it before I can actually start cutting it up properly.
"Where's Charles?" Evie asks and I look up at her and then towards our bedroom. Just then he walks out of the room, now dressed in a white t-shirt along with the pants he slept in.
"Right there," I tell them as he walks into the kitchen. Charles looks over my shoulder at the fruit I've taken out of the fridge. He then kisses my cheek quickly and I stiffen, because I'm still not used to him doing it with people around. I know that Pierre and Evie know about it, but there's something that just won't let me get used to him being affectionate around other people.
"Your mom called," He says as he places himself next to me.
"Why does her mom call you?" Pierre asks.
"Because her mom loves me and wanted to know if I'd chase off any guys that aren't good for her daughter," Charles smiles sarcastically at Pierre and then turns with the same smile to me. I just scoff and shake my head, because her requests are ridiculous. "Si sta anche assicurando che tu stia bene perché pensa che tu sia distante," She's also making sure you're okay because she thinks you're distant, he says in Italian to prevent Pierre and Evie from hearing it. I just nod in silence because I don't want to continue talking about my mother's failure to believe in the fact that I'll be okay.
"Do you want me to make you one?" I ask Charles to change the subject, motioning at the fruit in front of me. He looks at it, smiles and nods before kissing my forehead.
"I want one too," Pierre says and I don't even bother looking up at him.
"Make your own," I tell him, making Evie snicker at him as he acts offended. It's the French in him, making him like this. It has to be. "Maybe if you ask nicely," I add, knowing damn well he won't ask me nicely. He's not that desperate for a smoothie, so I watch him press his lips together and I decide to make all four of us smoothies even though he didn't ask nicely. Just because I want to sit on the balcony with our smoothies and feel the sun hit my skin.
I finish cutting and slicing the fruit as the three of them stand around me talking about what we could do for the day. I put everything in the mixer and disturb their conversation with the loud noise from the blender. When it's finished I take four glasses out of the cupboard and pour the smoothie into it. I hand them out and Pierre looks so smug it makes me want to take it back. We find straws and put them in the smoothie before we move over to the balcony and just sit down on the floor right above the water. We drink it and we make up a plan for the day. I barely listen because I'm good with doing whatever. I just like the thought of being here and spending time with them.
We sat there for a while, just talking. We keep our topics off anything Formula 1 related since it's already such a big part of our everyday lives. We tell Evie and Pierre about not wanting to tell anyone for as long as possible, so we ask them to not say anything to anyone. Evie tells us about how it's been having Pierre on the same team as Max and gives examples as to why it was horrible in the start. Luckily, Max has seemed to ease up lately. They've started to get along and he doesn't seem to want to die at the thought of Pierre and Evie together anymore.
Charles and I go to get ready so we can leave. We brush our teeth and I do my makeup in the bathroom. He gets dressed and comes in to fix his hair. I take a look at his clothes, and usually when he dresses badly I just let it go. But this time, it's horrible. I don't know why Pascale ever gave him the freedom to dress himself. I burst out laughing and just exit the bathroom, walking right back out to the dresser he's folded his clothes into and I look through it.
"Que fais-tu?" What are you doing? he asks.
"Tu ne portes pas ça," You're not wearing that, I shake my head as I pick out a light blue t-shirt and a pair of black pants. He'll have to sweat. He can sweat in the name of fashion. He looks at me with a slight frown but he doesn't look hurt, which I'm thankful for. He just scoffs and looks down at his clothes. When he looks up, he cocks his head to the side, probably realizing that I'm right. I bet he just picked whatever and threw it on without caring how it looked.
He changes and then comes back into the bathroom. I look at him in the light blue t-shirt and I regret picking it out. He looks way too good in it and I am supposed to keep a safe distance from him while we're out all day. I should've let him go out dressed horribly, because then at least I would have a reason to stay away — embarrassment.
"Si vous avez choisi mes vêtements, puis-je choisir les vôtres?" If you chose my clothes, can I choose yours? he asks as I'm putting my makeup away. I look at him for a moment and then chuckle as I shake my head.
"Non, je ne te fais pas confiance," No, I don't trust you.
"Vous pouvez juste changer si vous ne l'aimez pas," You can just change it if you don't like it, he argues, walking out of the bathroom and up to the pile of clothes next to my side of the bed.
I watch as he digs through the clothes. He holds a few clothes up in front of him, then drops them back on the floor. I stare in fear as he goes through the pile, but then he holds out a really pale yellow skirt with some yellow and violet flowers on it. It's a wrap-around that you tie on a bow on your hip and there's a slit that's quite high up on the thigh. I haven't worn it yet, the tag is still on it. I haven't had an occasion to wear it and I'm a bit worried about the slit. But he picks it out and puts it on the bed. Then he goes back to look for a shirt. He doesn't look that long and ends up picking a white cardigan. Nothing else. Just a white cardigan.
"Eh bien, que dois-je porter en dessous?" Well, what should I wear underneath? I ask, motioning at the cardigan he's put on the bed. His proud smile that he had on as he was looking at me just fell, and he looked at me with confusion instead.
"Besoin de quelque chose en dessous? Ne viens-tu pas de le fermer?" Do you need something underneath? Don't you just close it? he asks and I start laughing again. I shake my head and go over to the bed, grabbing the cardigan and putting it on over my shoulders. I button it all the way to show him just how ridiculous it would look. He stares at me and then shakes his head with a small laugh. "D'accord, grand-mère, tu as raison," Okay, grandma, you're right, he says.
I walk over to him just to slap his shoulder for calling me grandma, then I take the cardigan off again. I grab the skirt and take it with me to a mirror. I take my pants off and wrap the skirt around my waist, tying it with a bow on the side. I look at the slit and it feels a little high, but the skirt is beautiful, the silk material falls beautifully. I grab my bra and change into it in the bathroom. I walk out in just my bra and the skirt to see if he's found a shirt for me yet. He looks up at me and even though he's not looking down at my chest, I put a hand over it, because the thought of him seeing me in a bra feels a bit weird still — even though he's seen me in a literal bikini multiple times.
He hands me a white, cropped tank top and I take it from him to immediately put it on so I can cover up. I look in the mirror, and it actually isn't that bad. I can bring my white cardigan with me in case it gets a little chilly or something.
We walk out to Pierre and Evie who are putting the glasses away from the smoothies and we put our shoes on to leave. Charles makes sure to kiss me before we step out, saying he'll need one if we're not even going to touch for a few hours.
We found a boat that took us to our first destination which was Palazzo Ducale. It's a big palace that was built in the 1300's and apparently has a lot of history. I've read some about it in school, but none of us are that interested in it. It's just one of those places you need to see when you go to Venice. We were all in awe when we walked inside and found so much artwork all over the walls and ceiling. We got a tour and walked through the museum, listening to the guide, but we also found it hard to not make jokes to each other whenever she wasn't paying attention.
I made them all come with me to the old library next to the palace and I looked at all the old books they had. The classics that were from the time they first were published. Then they made me go to Piazza San Marco where they wanted pictures. They asked some stranger to take a photo of the four of us and I posed between Pierre and Charles and tried to smile as not-awkward as possible. Then I took some photos of Evie and Pierre together, then some of Evie alone, because you can never trust a boy to take a picture of you, ever.
We found somewhere to buy ice cream before we kept walking. We had no idea where we were going, but we saw some beautiful places and got some more pictures. Charles insisted on getting a photo of me at every place we went, saying he was going to send them to my mother to prove to her that I was alive and well, but everytime he would point his phone camera in my direction I would look pissed. He told me to smile but I just felt awkward.
Evie asks me to take a picture with her at Campo Santo Stefano and I agree to do it because it's her who wants a photo. It's easier to pose with her. She tells Pierre to take it and she starts talking to me as if it was nothing. She makes a joke about Pierre and I laugh and somehow the picture turned out decent.
The last thing we decide to do is find a gondola to go on Canal Grande. The afternoon sun shines down on us as we get into a gondola that takes us down the whole canal through the city. We go under a well known bridge and past all these houses with people sitting in the windows. It's beautiful and it's relaxing to just sit there and relax after walking around so much. When we've gone on the canal we go onto land and find a store to buy groceries. I still insist on eating at home because I know I'd feel like a sitting duck at a restaurant. Someone would notice and question the romantic trip the four of us have done. Right now, I don't even think people know I've left Alassio.
I decided to make us an athlete adapted version of fettuccine Alfredo, because it just feels right to cook pasta when you're in Italy. We're so close to just getting back without having met anyone, when I hear Charles, Pierre and Evie being stopped further down an aisle. I hear them asking for a photo and I try to hide myself quickly as I walk the other way. I walk down another aisle and just listen to them talking to the boy and girl. They're nice and just simply ask what they're doing here and if they're enjoying their vacation. I pretend to look at some spices when they walk past the aisle I'm in, but I accidentally turn my head just as they pass and the girl smiles and carefully waves. I realize she probably recognized me before I hurried away, but I smile and wave back, hoping she won't think I'm a bitch for avoiding them.
We pay for our groceries and then find a boat that'll take us back to the apartment. I start cooking while Evie sits on the counter watching me. She asked to help but I told her to just sit where she's not in the way and that'll be enough help. She sits there editing some photos before posting them, none of the ones I'm in, though. She then goes onto twitter and starts scrolling. She finds some funny tweets that she shows me and we laugh about.
Then she gasps and looks at me a bit wide eyed. I feel something freeze inside of me because I'm expecting her to show me the worst. When she turns the screen to me it's just a photo of the three of them in the grocery store. It's from some update account that updates people when there's something new from any one of the drivers. This one had the caption: Pierre, Charles and Evelina in Venice today!
"What?" I ask her, not understanding what's wrong with it. They've all posted about being here, so someone posting their location doesn't seem like the end of the world, even though it is a little bit weird. She scrolls a little and points to the thread following the tweet.
"Céline is there too!" Was the caption and then a photo of the four of us where we bought our ice cream. Of course someone would take a picture of us from afar. I couldn't get mad about it, because I did go out in public and we knew it would probably happen.
She also shows me a tweet replying to the first photo that says "Céline was there with them, I don't think she wanted to be in the photo, she seems a bit camera shy."
"Well, it was going to happen that they figured out I was here, wasn't it?" I shake my head as I stir the pasta around with the sauce in the pan, just finishing it off.
"Yeah, they still think you're cute for being shy," She giggles and I just shake my head while preparing the plates with food.
"They should be obsessing over your dress instead, it's hot," I tell her before carrying two plates to the table that I asked Charles to set up with cutlery and glasses before him and Pierre went to 'gossip' as they called it, even though I think they were just hiding from helping out.
"Ils nous appellent les meilleurs amis de couleur coordonnée," They're calling us color coordinated besties, Pierre says to me, looking horrified at me when I've called them for dinner. Charles just laughs and says the same thing to Evie. They're both dressed in light blue and I'm dressed in white and yellow, while Pierre is wearing linen that might appear yellow in some lightning, but it's clearly a cream white and not a yellow.
"On ne porte même pas la même couleur," We're not even wearing the same color, I argue, looking between our clothes equally as horrified. Pierre's face goes into a teasing smirk then and I furrow my brows in confusion. He crosses his arms over his chest and nods once towards me.
"I dare you to tweet that," he says.
"Tweet what?" Evie asks, finally understanding something we're saying. She turns to Charles who is shaking his head at the both of us.
"That we're not wearing the same color," Pierre says.
"No," I shake my head.
"Are you a chicken?" He asks, "Well, you're dressed in the same color as a chicken," he cocks his head to the side.
"Pierre, shut up and sit down," Evie sighs.
"I'll throw your food away," I tell him, giving him a warning finger.
"C, sit down and don't listen to him, we're not tweeting a damn thing," Charles says, walking around the table to grab me and walking me to the other side of the table where he orders me to sit down. Pierre sits down next to Evie and he gives me a look across the table and I just know that he thinks that he's won, and I don't like it. I turn to Charles and I'm about to tell him that I'm ready to risk it all just to win over Pierre. I'll fucking tweet it if I have to. Most people won't even get it.
"Charles," I say, about to apologize in advance but he just shakes his head.
"You're not tweeting," he says. I frown and look down at my food. It doesn't taste as good with Pierre sitting across the table with such a shit-eating grin on his face. I look up at him as he chews and his cheeks are stuffed with food. You know what it reminds me of?
"You're saving food for the winter? Already?" I ask, making Pierre look up at me. At first he seems confused, but then it falls into place and he just glares at me as he chews. I hear both Evie and Charles sigh and then Charles nudges me to make me look at him.
"È il ragazzo del tuo migliore amico, sii gentile," He's your best friends' boyfriend, be nice, he tells me in Italian, and my jaw falls at the betrayal. Pierre and I have always been like this, but we mean nothing by it. I shake my head and focus on my food again.
When we've finished, I take all the dishes to the kitchen and I make a quick call. I start the dishes and just wait for Pierre to notice the move I made. I hear him gasp by the dinner table and then he comes into the kitchen, followed by Charles and Evie who run after to see what the hell is going on. I turn off the water and turn to Pierre with a smug look on my face as I watch him just stare at his phone and then up at me.
"C'est de la triche," This is cheating, he exclaims.
"Il n'y a pas de règles, tu es juste énervé que j'ai trouvé une faille," There are no rules, you're just pissed that I found a loophole, I say back with a shrug. He turns to Evie and Charles and looks at them as if to ask if they're hearing the same thing. Charles quickly translates what we said for Evie and then she looks at her boyfriend.
"Then what did she do?!" She asks.
"Daniel Ricciardo just tweeted: I don't know, but I don't think it's the same color, and then Lewis Hamilton replied with: Definitely not the same color!" He nearly shouts as he hands Charles and Evie his phone to show them. I laugh at how they actually did what I asked them to do.
Evie laughs and Charles pushes past them and up to me. He shakes his head but he keeps a smile on his face. When he comes up to me he puts his hands on my waist and pulls me to him. He keeps shaking his head and I just laugh up into his face.
"Dovevi?" Did you have to? he asks and I nod.
"Non volevo che vincesse," I didn't want him to win.
He just shakes his head and leans in to kiss my laughing mouth. Then he wraps his arm around my shoulder and looks at Pierre, who's still frowning about me managing to pull it off. Evie is laughing at him and he does not like that. He just shakes his head at her while she's bent over the kitchen island, laughing.
"Pierre," Charles says, getting his attention, "Loser takes care of the dishes," he says and I start laughing again. I didn't think he'd actually get on my side, but he keeps his arm around my shoulders as he starts walking me out of the kitchen. He walks us both into our bedroom, closing the door behind us before he turns to me.
He takes my hands and he pulls me further into the room. He looks down at me and then pulls on the cardigan I've put on, to get me closer to him but he keeps looking down at me. He smiles and kisses both my cheeks.
"Je devrais être designer, tu es si belle aujourd'hui," I should be a designer, you look so good today, he says. I take a step back and look down at the clothes I'm wearing. Then I turn to look in the mirror. I do feel kind of cute now that he's mentioned it. I take the cardigan off, the room is hot enough anyway, then I turn back to Charles, standing on my tip-toes to wrap my now bare arms around his neck.
He wraps his arms around my waist and walks us backwards, letting himself fall back on the bed with me falling right on top of him. He moves further up and I just lay there right on top of him, my chin on his chest where I can look up at him perfectly.
Even from below he's adorable. I realize I find it just as hard to stay away from him as it seems to be for him to stay away from me. I've just never felt myself being pulled towards another person as much as I feel myself being pulled towards him. I want him to touch me all the time. Just the slightest touch. I may think that I'm fine with him not touching me, but then he does and I realize just how much better it feels. Just a kiss on the cheek and my heart starts to smile wider than ever. It's dangerous and beautiful. I don't know how else to describe it. Becoming obsessed with someone seems too dangerous, but the way I feel makes it feel so beautiful. Finally being where I didn't realize I wanted to be.
//
Your comment on the previous chapter were overwhelmingly, unbelievably sweet. Thank you so much for your kind words <33