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The youngest Leclerc sibling arrived home knowing her brother would be home this week. She didn't want to ruin his race but she had to clear her conscious after keeping a secret for so long.
Chloe walked into the house, her hands shaking and her mind clouded. "Chloe, is that you?" Her mother called out from the living room. She replied with a quick answer before walking into the living room. Her nerves were shot and she didn't even remove her leather jacket or boots due to the stress she was feeling. "Are you feeling okay?" Pascal asked her daughter as she looked at her.
Nodding, Chloe managed to smile before looking at her brother. She'd always been closest with Charles even though Arthur was only a year older than her. "I'm good," she looked down at her hands as she struggled with her inner turmoil. "Mum," she looked at her mother and sucked in her bottom lip. She waited a few seconds before speaking again, "Can I have a minute with Charles alone?"
Charles looked at his sister with confusion in his eyes, he'd never seen her this nervous apart from the time she dropped his first trophy and didn't know how to tell him. The two siblings waited until their mother was out of the room before Charles spoke, "What's wrong?"
The blonde sibling ran her hands through her hair as she looked down at her lap. She sighed before speaking quietly, "I need to tell you something."
"Don't tell me you broke another trophy?" Charles laughed, "I have more than enough of them now, don't you think?"
Chloe didn't laugh, she couldn't. Looking up, Charles could see how hard this was for her and he still had no clue what she was going to say. "I wanted to tell you first," she said as she looked him in the eyes. "I know you're not going to be happy, please try not to get too mad."
He frowned before asking a question, "Who?"
She knew how he felt about her and his friends, this was the only thing that would made him angry and she knew it. "It wasn't meant to happen," she pleaded as her voice rose. "We just hung out once but I just, we couldn't..." She knew her brother would want all the details.
"Who, Chloe?" Charles looked frustrated.
The blonde ran her hands through her hair before she stood up, "I don't want you to be angry, Charles. I can call it off," she said to herself. "None of this is his fault." She walked towards the window, she had her back to her brother. "I'm so sorry."
Charles closed his eyes, he knew his sister well but this was unlike her. He thought about his friends and who it could be, who would she have the chance to hang out with where he wouldn't know straight away. "Harry?" He guessed as he opened his eyes and looked at her. "Frances? Alex?" She didn't look at him for any of the names he said. He sighed as he started to think further afield than just his personal friends, "Lando?" Charles didn't see a reaction. "Mick? Yuki?"
Turning to look at him, her face was calm and not giving anything away. "You'll hate me."
He knew then, "Pierre?"
Her eyes widened as she heard the name, it was brief but enough for him to notice.
"Pierre. Pierre, my friend? Pierre?" Charles couldn't believe it. "He's older than me. Chloe, you're 20, he's 26!" The words flowed from his mouth so easily. "Please tell me you're joking."
She turned her head again, looking out the window. "I'm sorry," she felt her eyes welling up with tears as she struggled with his reaction.
"You could have any one else, you could have chosen any guy you know, any other of my friends," Charles was frustrated as he thought about his best friend and his younger sister. In his eyes she was still so young, so innocent. She looked back at him, Charles saw her tears that fell, he could see the look of guilt on her face. He ran his hands down his face before shaking his head, his voice softened as he next spoke. "How did this even happen?"
Leaning on the bay windowsill, Chloe looked at her brother sadly. "It just happened," she didn't know the exact words to say. "I didn't mean for it to happen," her voice was shaking. "It just did."
"I don't understand, when?"
Chloe wiped the tears that fell from her eyes using the back of her hands. Her mind told her to lie but looking at her brother, she knew she couldn't. "9 months," she admitted slowly.
"9 months?" Charles no longer sounded like he was going to be understanding, his voice got a little high-pitched and louder as he continued to talk about the situation. "What do you mean 9 months? Wait, does that mean..." Charles' eyes went wide as he thought about what happened back then. "Please don't tell me this happened here, the day after our mother got married."
The truth was much worse, Chloe knew it was which was why she took a deep breath before she shook her head. "It started at the wedding," she was quiet. She didn't wanted to lie to her brother, she knew she couldn't, Charles would find out any way. "It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did." She thought back to that night, she remembered leaving the reception, a bottle of wine in her hand and her eye on her brothers making sure no one saw her slip away. She remembered how she felt with Pierre's hands on her body, how he made her feel things she'd never felt before even though they were both drunk. It was like she could still feel his touch when his hand covered her mouth to keep her quiet when someone called out her name. Her eyes had focused on the wall behind her brother and it wasn't until he stood in his vision line that she stopped thinking about Pierre.
Charles raised his eyebrows, "I can't believe this." He put his hands into his pockets, pulling out his car keys. "I'm going to see him," he told her as he turned to leave.
"Wait," Chloe called out as she stopped him from leaving as she grabbed his hand. "Please, Charles. This is my fault, please don't blame Pierre."
Turning sharply, the look on Charles' face made Chloe drop his hand. She'd seen him angry before but this was worse, it was almost murderous. "It would be easy to blame you, he should have known better, Chloe." He walked to the door and looked back at his sister, "Stay here." He pointed his finger at her. "I mean it."
