Love, Monaco

00.32

I answer my ringing phone the next afternoon while sitting on the couch, Charles is in the kitchen smiling at me as I hum to the music we have playing. "Hello?" I say when I answer the call, "how are you so calm right now Del?" Emie asks with panic in her voice, I sit up confused, "what do you mean?" she curses, "the pictures are everywhere Del, of you, wearing nothing" my phone slips out of my hand clattering on the hardwood floor my eyes wide as I feel like my world is crashing around me. Charles runs over but all I feel is numb as he tries to find out what happened, my mouth loses its ability to move as he takes my hand before grabbing the phone to lift it to his ear. I watch his expression change from confusion, to worry and finally to anger as he talks to Emie further.

The Monégasque puts my phone down on the coffee table a few minutes later, i'm still frozen in place not sure how to feel. He brings me into his lap placing his hands on either side of my face so that i'm looking into his eyes, "Della" he murmurs concerned and that's all it takes for the dam to burst open, tears roll down my cheeks and I let out a sob, my composure dissolving completely. He takes me into his arms, I move my hands to clutch onto his shirt as I cry. "Je vais réparer ça mon amour" Charles murmurs quietly while holding me tightly, "non tu ne devrais pas le réparer" I reply through my tears letting out a hiccup as I look back up at him, he kisses my head gently letting his lips linger on my skin, "Je t'aime donc je ne veus pas que tu pleures" he says when he pulls away to smile down at me. He moves his arm to bring a hand up to wipe the tears away, I curl up against the Ferrari driver again hiding my face in his sweater hoping that it will all go away.

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Much to my dismay the photos don't go away after a few hours, and with the ability to take screenshots those photos will live forever somewhere on the internet. I don't go anywhere near my phone, not wanting to see the comments that are sure to be out there. Charles tries everything and anything to cheer me up, even bringing out the banana costume, which only gets a slight smile out of me. He tries to get me out of the apartment but the fear of getting spotted has me staying inside.

Doing any work goes slowly with my mind on autopilot, a week having somehow passed without me realizing. On Saturday morning Charles wakes me by peppering kisses along my shoulder moving up to my ear. A smile comes to my face and I open my eyes, turning my head slightly to look at the Monégasque. "Ah j'ai manqué ce sourire" he murmurs while tightening his arms around me, my smile slips as I look down at our interlaced fingers. "I'm sorry for this, you probably didn't need this scandal tied to you" I say feeling guilty, "non ma chérie, it's not your fault" my bottom lip trembles but I take a deep breath not wanting to cry after a week of doing so.

"But—" Charles doesn't let me finish as he flips off the covers and takes me into his arms walking to the bathroom where he sets me on my feet before turning on the shower. "You did not do this, so we're going to take a hot shower and get a smile back onto your face Del" I look into the light eyes that I've fallen in love with and nod. He smiles and kisses my lips briefly before turning to the shower to check the water temperature. Once it's the perfect warmth he helps me out of the hoodie and leggings I've been wearing for days and shrugs out of his sweats before pulling me into the shower. When the water hits my skin I feel the tension leave my body as I sigh, Charles brings his arms around me from behind while kissing my shoulder. We wash each other gently, enjoying the moment of no outside noise affecting either of us.

Later that day I've managed to change into a cleaner pair of leggings and a different coloured hoodie, still only wanting to be comfy as my internet life falls apart. I'm sitting at the piano next to Charles when there's a knock at the front door, I look over curiously not expecting anyone. "I'll get it" the Monégasque says, he kisses my temple gently before standing to walk over to the door. "Where is she?" I hear which makes me look up from the keys, Emie and Wren stumble into the room making me gasp in shock, "what are you guys doing here?" they run over and gather me into a hug, "Charles called and told us that you haven't been doing too well" Wren says into me. I peer over Emie's shoulder at my boyfriend who is smiling at us, je t'aime, I mouth, he moves his hands into a heart which makes me tear up slightly before I focus back on the group hug i'm in.

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A few hours later i'm sitting on the ground in front of the couch while Wren braids my hair, a movie playing on the TV in front of us. Charles went out to be with some of his friends to give us some girl time for the evening. "This is crazy" I murmur when my thoughts stray away from the movie playing, "I had to hold your brother back from leaving the house to go pummel Josh" Emie says making me freeze at the new information. "What?" I squeak with wide eyes while turning to her, "shit Del, no one told you that it was Josh?" I shake my head at her question making Wren let go of my hair. "Why am I always the one making this worse?" she mumbles and slides off the couch to sit next to me, "he apparently sold the photos to some trashy news site, and it blew up from there" she explains while wrapping an arm around me, "why can't he leave me alone?" I ask with a sigh, "he's just jealous Del, the pictures of you and Charles get cycled around social media pretty often these days" Wren tells me with a small smile.

I groan and tilt my head back while throwing my arms over my eyes, "how do I fix this?" I ask feeling hopeless, "babe you're too late, your boyfriend already got the pictures taken down, at least on the most popular sites" I bring my head up and lower my arms, "he did?". My friends nod while smiling at me, Émie takes my hand, "that man loves you so much Del, I think this whole situation is hurting him as much as it is you" I blink a few times realizing that I never even noticed how this has affected Charles. "God I've been such a horrible girlfriend, I've only been thinking about myself" Wren takes my other hand, "you're not a horrible girlfriend Del, this was a pretty major invasion of your privacy so we don't blame you for your reaction, we just want you to be okay" I smile, "which by the way you will be because you're so strong and you will get through this" Émie adds while squeezing my hand.

My two friends leave the apartment later, even when I told them that they can stay with us. Émie and Wren wave off my invite telling me that I need to spend the night with Charles without any distractions. Before I can get another word in they're out the door leaving me in the apartment alone to wait for the Monégasque to get back from his outing with friends. I stand around for a few seconds wondering what to do, when I spot the banana costume in the corner of the living room I smile. Once in the costume I walk to the gaming room, I take a seat and boot up the computer before sliding on the headset that I bought for myself under the bright yellow suit. I go into Fortnite quickly getting through the main screens before I can start a round of the game. I get so absorbed into the game that I don't hear the door opening and closing over the sound in my headset.

I'm laughing as I move my avatar through the game and when a hand is placed on my shoulder I jump. I look away from the computer monitor to see Charles smiling down at me. The smile on my face widens and I quickly exit the game before wrestling the headset out of the costume I'm still wearing. I stand up from the chair so that I can get out of the banana that I'm wearing. Once I've put the costume down I turn to the Ferrari driver, "ou sont Émie et Wren?" He asks, "a leur hôtel" I reply and notice for the first time this week how tired he looks. This makes me feel guilty, knowing that I'm the cause of the exhaustion.

I quickly pull the brunette into a hug, my arms around his neck while he has his hands at my waist, "merci pour tout que tu as fais cette semaine, je sais que ce n'était pas facile pour toi" I murmur into his shoulder. He pulls away slightly to be able to look at my face, "Della tu est mon amour, je ferrais la même chose chaque semaine si ça veut dire que tu est heureuse et sûr" his statement makes something in me wake up after a week of numbness, so I bring my hand up to caress his cheek. "Just like that you make the worst thing ever seem so small and insignificant" he drops his head lower to press his lips to mine, my arm pulls him closer and the Monégasque suddenly lifts me my legs going around his waist as a squeal leaves my mouth. The familiar feeling of my heart fluttering greets me as he carries me to our bedroom for an end of the night that makes me somewhat forget about the previous week of humiliation.

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Translations:

Je vais réparer ça mon amour - i'm going to fix this my love

non tu ne devrais pas le réparer - no you don't have to fix this

Je t'aime donc je ne veus pas que tu pleures - I love you so I don't want you to cry

Ah j'ai manqué ce sourire - ah I missed that smile

merci pour tout que tu as fais cette semaine, je sais que ce n'était pas facile pour toi - thank you for everything that you've done this week, I know that it hasen't been easy for you

Della tu est mon amour, je ferrais la même chose chaque semaine si ça veut dire que tu est heureuse et sûr - Della you are my love, I would do the same thing every week if it means that you're happy and safe