Diana could feel the blood drain from her face when she read the text Charles was showing her.
Unknown
You should've known better than ignoring me, I'll make you suffer as soon as I can. See you, bitch.
Charles looked confused and angry, demanding an explanation. Diana had no energy left to deal with this at the moment, so she just shrugged and layed in bed.
"It's nothing, okay? Probably some stupid joke. I'm tired, can you bug me about it tomorrow?" Diana asked, hoping Charles would forget by the morning and she wouldn't have to talk him through the whole deal.
"No, absolutely not. Someone is threatening you? Have this happened before? Why didn't you tell me? What's your password?" Charles had more questions than Diana could process, making her head hurt instantly.
"Jesus, calm down. It's nothing. My guess is a fan thinking she has a chance with you if I'm not in the picture. It's harmless" The blonde tried to play it off, hoping Charles would give up on investigating it further.
"Password, ma chérie" Charles said firmly. "And don't roll your eyes at me, you know I can't leave it like this"
"I'm not going to sleep any time soon, am I?" She whined. Charles shook his head. "Fine. 1989"
"Why that?" Charles asked curiously while typing the password in.
"The year Taylor Swift was born" Diana answered, not embarrassed about it like she would've been a few years ago.
"Sometimes I forget how much you love her" Charles chuckled, but his mood quickly changed when he saw all the texts Diana got from the unknown number.
Diana sat next to him, wanting to see what else he was looking for. But he just stared at the one-sided conversation in disbelief, not moving.
"You should've told me right when you got the first text" Charles said after a moment. He took a screenshot and sent it to himself before Diana even had the chance to protest. "I'm not gonna leave it like that"
"Seriously, Cha, let go. I'm not in any danger, no one is hiding behind the corner to hit me in the head with a brick. It's just a jealous fan" Diana squeezed his hand in a reassuring gesture.
"No one is going to threaten my girlfriend"
Diana's heart skipped a beat at his words. It wasn't the first time he's called her his girlfriend, but it was the first time he did so while being alone with her, with no one around to lie about their relationship to.
Charles gave Diana back her phone and took out his, saved the screenshot, cropped it and opened Instagram.
"You're not going to post this, right?" Diana asked, but she already knew the answer.
"People need to know I won't tolerate this behavior" He didn't even hesitate to hit post after writing a long paragraph.
"I don't need you to advocate for me, especially not publicly. I can take care of myself, this is just going to cause people to create more hate accounts if they see me as a fragile lady who needs a man to speak on her behalf"
Diana's feminist side was screaming in anger, but the rational side of her understood Charles meant no harm. He just wanted to help, make people see they can't harass someone he cares about.
"What do you mean by more hate accounts?" Charles looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
Diana wanted to slap herself for spilling more than she should. Charles had no idea about the account until now, but there was no way she's going to get away with it without showing him this Twitter profile.
"There's only one that I know of, again, nothing serious. But after that post there could be more" Diana was extremely tired, so without Charles even asking she opened Twitter and searched for the profile's username.
He was scrolling through the Tweets for a good 10 minutes, making comments on each of them. As the time passed the anger he felt turned into sadness.
"This is awful" Charles sighed. "I'm sorry you go through this because of me, you don't deserve it"
The Monégasque kissed Diana's forehead and hugged her tightly. His arms wrapped around her like the coziest blanket, the smell of his perfume filled her nostrils making her feel like nothing in this world could worry her at the moment.
"I've been called worse, it's okay. Can I go to sleep now? Five more minutes and I'll fall asleep sitting"
"Of course. Sleep well, Di"
By the time they both woke up, there was a full blown storm on social media regarding Charles' night post. Not only on Twitter, but everywhere. Various news sites made articles about it, saying how people online feel like there's no consequence of their actions and words, feeling anonymous behind the screen can show the worst of a human.
Also, the fans. They were furious. And, surprisingly, went for blood. Many of them wished the author of the texts all kinds of bad things which is not what Charles wanted to achieve. He wanted to spread awareness of what it's like to be in the public's eye, having to deal with hate on a daily basis, and what can a spiteful person do to get under someone's skin. Not to publicly stone the person who did that, but it seemed that the fans were overprotective, crossing the line themselves.
The sun peeking through the curtains shined directly into Charles' face, waking him up. It was already 10 in the morning, but Diana was still sound asleep on his chest with her leg and arm wrapped around him. He kissed her head and tried to slowly break free from her embrace without waking her up. Unsuccessfully.
"What time is it?" Diana asked with a sleepy voice, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands.
"Shh, go back to sleep" Charles said without answering her question, covering her with the duvet so she wouldn't get cold.
He headed to the bathroom and regretted not taking a change of clothes with him. He placed himself on the toilet and began to look at all the responses his post had gotten. When he saw all the hatred towards the author of the texts, he decided to post another one, reminding people to treat each other the way they would want to be treated, that wishing someone bad things is never an answer and not to victimize Diana because it's not her fault.
In the meantime, Diana got out of bed and once again cursed herself for wearing Louboutin to the event. Her feet were covered in blisters and scabs, making it hard to walk. The coldness of the floor eased her pain a little, so she skipped socks while putting clothes on. Her phone vibrated next to the bed.
"Hey Rick, how are you?" Diana greeted her manager.
"Are those texts fabricated?" He asked without even acknowledging she said anything.
"Hey Diana, I'm great, how are you?" She said ironically, trying to imitate his voice. "No Rick, they're not. Why are you calling?"
"You should've told me when you got the first one" Diana knew him well enough she could see the way he frowned, even if he was thousands kilometers away from her. "And definitely not let post Charles something like that and make yourself look like a victim"
"I'm not a victim! Stop overreacting" She stamped her foot on the first sentence, her childhood habit taking the better of her.
Diana didn't get the chance to see what was going on on social media, but she didn't believe most of the people thought she was portraying herself as a fragile lady in a cruel world.
"Wanna hear the headlines today? Fine. One. F1 driver Charles Leclerc makes effort to protect his girlfriend from being hated on. Two. Model Diana Rynn complains to his boyfriend about his fans. Three. Does Diana Rynn miss the attention and fakes threatening texts? Do you need me to continue or does that paint the picture?"
Diana sat on the bed and covered her face with her hand. She sighed loudly, trying to think about the way out of this situation. She didn't want to be seen as someone who needs others to advocate for her. If she had known the outcome she never would've let Charles post about it.
"Okay, but surely there were positive ones too" She tried to be optimistic.
Charles got out of the bathroom and signaled to Diana to put her manager on the speaker.
"Hi Rick, it's Charles. I've posted a correction a minute ago if you'd like to see it" He was polite, trying to save Diana from his anger.
"Do I want to know why are you guys together early in the morning?" Rick's question floated in the air until Charles and Diana spoke up simultaneously.
"Not really"
"We're seeing each other"
Diana made big eyes at Charles. It was the first time he admitted to someone what they were doing. They didn't have a proper conversation about their status, but a warm feeling pierced her body at his confession.
"Like, for real?" Rick didn't seem to believe what he just heard.
"Yes, for real. So about my recent post?" Charles confirmed and got back to the previous topic.
"Yes, so, it's decent but I think Diana should post something too. I've already written some of it if you'd like to see" Rick got back to his professional self.
"Sure, send it to me" Diana nodded her head like he was able to see her.
After a little while the post was ready. Diana didn't want to see people's reaction so she turned the notifications off, hung up with Rick and stared blankly on the wall.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause you trouble" Charles sighed and stroked Diana's back.
"I know, it's not your fault. You know media always look for something to write about. Today it's me" She shrugged, but deep inside she was worried if it will affect her career and contracts.
"I have a flight in a few hours, I better head back to my hotel and start packing my things"
"Yeah, same. Where are you racing this weekend?" Diana asked, already regretting she couldn't attend the next few races.
"Jeddah. And where are you going?"
"Milan. My schedule is packed for at least two months and I also wanted to fly home for Easter"
Charles looked at Diana with sad eyes, already knowing what that meant. They won't see each other for a long time.
"If you won't be able to see me race, could I at least fly to you on my week off?" He asked hopefully. He couldn't imagine living this long without her presence.
"Yeah, I guess. I might not have a lot of time, but seeing you would be great" Diana smiled, happy he suggested it.
Weeks flew by with the amount of work Diana had. She was changing locations quicker than she would want to, often being kicked in the ass by jet lag. She didn't even have time to go to the gym as much as she planned, only working out twice a week. Luckily she managed to visit her parents for the holiday, but couldn't stay for longer than two days.
Charles kept his word and after the third race of the season he made his way to Tokio, where Diana had a magazine cover photoshoot. They went on a walk on some main streets of Shinjuku, enjoying not being as recognizable as in Europe and grabbed some food on their way back. Charles also made sure to make Diana remember his stay by making the night extremely pleasurable.
"Are you going to make it to Monaco Grand Prix?" He asked, when their racing hearts started to slow down.
"Yeah, I've moved my interview so I could be there. Why?" Diana snuggled into his chest, breathing in the smell of his perfume mixed with sweat.
"My mom wants to meet you, she invited both of us for dinner before the race weekend"
Diana froze, she wasn't the best at making good first impressions and meeting parents. She swallowed hard, thinking of any excuse she could use to avoid dinner. The long silence must've been an obvious sign she wasn't happy with the offer, Charles picked it up easily.
"You don't have to come, but I've been telling her about you for a while now and she just wanted to finally meet the person that makes me happy. You two would really get along"
Diana's heart melted in an instant. All her walls crumbled at what Charles said, making her hope it wouldn't be as bad as she imagined.
"Does she know our relationship is staged?" Diana wanted to prepare a little bit, so she wouldn't reveal too much.
"I mean, is it? I know it's been just a contract at first but we're more now" Charles shifted on the bed, facing Diana. He took her hand in his and pressed his lips to her fingers.
"We haven't put labels on us, but it also feels like more for me" Diana smiled softly. It all felt so natural with him since they got to know each other better.
"Do you want labels? Official ones, forget the contract"
"I wouldn't mind them to be honest"
"Okay. So, Diana Rynn, would you like to be my girlfriend? A real one this time" They both chuckled. Charles was flushed even if he knew what Diana's answer would be.
"Of course" They sealed the deal with a romantic kiss. It was slow and deep, like they had all of the time in the world.
"The boys are going to freak out" Diana laughed when they managed to get away from each other. "When do you want to tell them?"
"Let me keep you for myself for a little while, I'm not ready to share you with the world just yet" Charles squeezed her body in a tight hug, making all of the air leave her lungs.
Diana agreed and thought this would make their relationship slightly more special. Everyone knew they were dating for almost a year, few found out it was fake and the two of them were the only ones to know the actual truth. Not letting anyone know had it's charm.
For the next month Charles and Diana weren't able to see each other, both being busy with work. Charles was spending all of his free time in Maranello trying to get the car to the right set up as it's been way too understeery for his liking and Diana was doing photoshoots, campaigns and interviews like crazy. Since she signed the contract with Charles to become his girlfriend her manager had a lot of offers to go through, everyone became interested in her. It made her happy, but she also wished she had more free time. She missed the quiet days where she didn't have to get out of bed, only watching TV series, reading and enjoying room service food.
The time zones made it difficult for the couple to communicate when Diana landed in Los Angeles. When she was still in Europe they talked on the phone whenever they had the chance to, both of them basically glued to their Bluetooth headsets. In America Diana was waking up when Charles got ready for bed, only allowing them to have two short conversations a day. It made them miss each other even more, making the wait for their reunion almost unbearable.
"I hope you haven't booked a hotel yet, there's no way you're not staying at my place" She heard from the phone as she was walking towards the taxi.
"I haven't, I was hoping you'll let me stay with you" Diana asked the driver to take her to the airport. "I can't wait to see you" She whined, earning a laugh from Charles.
"Yeah, me too. We'll have to wait for just a little bit longer, I'll be home Monday evening"
"I'll be waiting for you but what am I supposed to do until then? That's a whole day of boredom" She sighed, unhappy that she's gonna be in Monaco alone.
"I suggest you take a good rest because you can trust me when I say I'll make you tired when I finally see you" Charles' voice deepened, sending shivers down Diana's spine.
"Charles, you can't say that when I'm not alone" She whispered, hoping the driver won't notice her cheeks getting bright red at Charles' promise.
"Okay, okay, but just so you know I've been thinking about you day and night and I might have come up with a few creative ideas"
"I can't wait to try them out" Diana tried to laugh it off, but the thought of him inside of her again made her heart flutter.
As she paid the taxi driver and took her bags to security, Charles said his goodbye and made his way to the paddock. Diana wished him a good luck and promised to watch the race from the plane, having her fingers crossed for him the whole time.
The plane had a good enough Wi-Fi for her to fulfill her promise, watching Charles struggle again with the strategy Ferrari created for him. Starting from the front row right behind Max and ending up P9 was frustrating even for her, so Charles must've feel terrible. A one stop race with a car that has a terrible tyre degradation couldn't work out fine. Charles lost 5 positions in the last 10 laps, sliding across the track and struggling without any grip.
She sent him a text saying she's sorry it turned out this way and that she's landing in 20 minutes. Then she turned her phone off for the landing and in no time she was outside, stepping into Monaco's sun.
—————
Unfortunately, new chapters are not coming every week anymore. I have been struggling to find time and energy to write and I don't want to give you shitty scraps just for the sake of posting something.
I'm not going to promise regularity, because I don't make promises I might not keep. I'll post the chapters as soon as they're ready. I hope you're still going to be here for them ❤