the lakes - charles leclerc

𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟏

the start of the day was soon upon the lakes, the sun shining brightly upon the summer morning. adriana woke to find charles awake, both smiling when they noticed the other person.

"morning, adri," charles commented, sitting next to the canadian.

"morning, charles," she said, taking the cup of tea that charles offered her. she thanked the ferrari driver for his generosity.

"morning guys," george spoke, breathing heavily. clearly he had just returned from his morning run, of which alex joined him. "it's bloody boiling, isn't it?"

"george, are you asking for a reason to take off your shirt? this early in the morning? i'm not surprised. also, no. it's fucking freezing,"

they then waited a while for the rest to wake up, and they enjoyed a slow start to the day. the hours continued to tick on by, and before you knew it, it was late afternoon. charles wanted to spend some time with adriana, as with the day feeling so extended he felt he spent little time with the canadian.

"do you want to walk along the pebbly beach while we wait for dinner? be nice to have a change of scenery,"

"yeah, sure." she responded, agreeing with the idea of getting away from the group for a while.

he stood up, offering her his hand. "come on, love."

blushing at the new nickname, adri took his hand and when she got up, she couldn't help but to notice that he didn't let go. not wanting to make anything seem weird between them, she didn't let go, and pretended that she had no clue they were holding hands in the first place. they soon got to the 'shore', where charles and adriana talked about whatever was on their minds at the moment in time.

when they got to the end, charles sat down, admiring adriana and the scenery. the weather took a change, with a wind soon present to them. adriana, now feeling the effects of this turn, kept her knees close to her chest, whilst charles took off his zipper jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, and kept his arms around her. there seemed to be a change in the air they were breathing, as they now needed more of the oxygen as their heart rate quickened, seeming to love yet hate the change in atmosphere. not helping herself, adriana turned to face charles, who was analysing her face like an extraordinary piece by william wordsworth. moving closer, their lips brushed against the other, and as if the breeze pushed them, their lips connected in this magical moment.

"wow," charles spoke, pulling away breathless, unable to find a better adjective to describe how whimsical the moment was.

"that's one way of putting it," adri chuckled, her arms wrapping around his neck and resting her head against his shoulder.

"i can't believe we did that, bellezza mia,"

"who the what?"

"bellezza mia. it's your new nickname."

"what does it mean?"

"that's a secret i'll never tell, gorgeous. xoxo, me," charles laughed. "i'm just so happy!"

"me too, handsome. me too," she responded, her thumb swiping across his cheek, noticing how his eyes shone even in the darkness.

"dinner's ready, guys!" they heard olive shout, knowing they had to break the bliss moment and return to the group.

dismally, they walked back, hand-in-hand until they got to the final corner, where their hands drifted apart. seemingly to have decided not to tell the rest of them yet, charles stopped adriana in her tracks.

"can we just say one thing," he spoke, looking around and keeping his voice down to make sure only she could hear. "that the kiss wasn't just a one off,"

"it's not a one off," she replied, pressing her lips against his for a brief period of time, before pulling away. "i hope that the sparks that flew when we kissed never burn out," she then turned away, returning to the group. 

"hey guys, charles will be here in a minute. i think he's just a slow walker,"

in reality, charles was just stood there, grinning like a child on their birthday after getting the only thing they ever really wanted, in complete and utter disbelief as to what she had said. spinning around and thanking his lucky stars, his hands were pressed against the side of his face in a large state of amazement.

adriana, however, was screaming internally, and sighed in relief when she sat down and saw charles share eye contact, with him smiling lightly at her. he did this normally, typically at least 4 times a day, but this one was different. a good different, mind, but they just were in the moment and forever grateful for whatever aphrodite and cupid had laced upon the lakes that night.