Say It's Me ☾ Charles Leclerc

46 | From the start

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BTS - Your Eyes Tell:
'Even the darkness is so beautiful, I want you to believe me, only looking straight at you so you don't go anywhere. The gazing eyes are so colourful, you have taught me that someday, the sadness will wind us together'

Noelle could see the shock on Charles' face when he heard her voice. His eyes met her own blue ones first before they moved over to the blonde girl standing in front of them. "How are you? I haven't seen you in a while". Celeste said with a whiny voice as if nothing had changed between them since the Monaco GP. Charles furrowed his brows, appalled by the nerve this girl had to come up to them like this. "Ehh, what are you doing here?" He asked the same question as Noelle had muttered in the bathroom only a few minutes ago but this time, the blonde girl's reaction was totally different. "Oh, you know, just wanted to support you at your race". She said as she made her way over to the table. She grabbed one of the tiny stools and pulled it in front of Charles. "I don't think this is appro-.." Charles tried to say but he was cut off when Celeste started talking again.

"I'm so sorry the race didn't go as planned. I'm sure you will be so much better next time". She said and Noelle felt the anger bubble up in her stomach when she saw her hand reach out to Charles' knee. "I'm sorry, but no". He firmly said when she laid her hand down on his skin. His own hand reached out to hers, flicking it away from his leg. Celeste looked shocked as if she didn't think he would reject her like this. 'What fantasy world does this girl live in?' Noelle thought as she saw how her whole demeanour changed. "I just want to support you, Charles. We have been such good 'friends' lately". The blonde girl said, her eyes moving toward Noelle as she said the word friends with a smirk on her face. What was she trying to do? Was she trying to make it seem like they were still seeing each other behind her back?

Charles chuckled softly, lifting his hand to run over his face. "I think you and I both know that we have never been good friends, Celeste. You tried to use me for your own advantages, wanting me to talk about your families' business during my interviews, threatening to have your father sue me if I didn't take you to the dinner we had". Noelle swallowed as her eyes grew bigger, only hearing those stories for the first time just now. It seemed like Charles had experienced way more with this girl than he had ever told her. No wonder he was this angry with her. His hand made its way to Noelle's thigh as he spoke, Celeste's eyes following his every move. "And you can't fool me into believing you don't know I'm with Noelle now, as you were the one that sold the story of our first date to the press". Celeste was quiet and Noelle had never seen her like this. She always had something to say, but seeing her fantasy world crumble in front of her eyes seemed to have an impact.

"You know she will never be able to give you what you need. She's just a normal girl, she doesn't have everything that I have". Celeste said, the disgust for Noelle clearly showing on her face and in her voice. "All I need..-" Charles said, emphasizing the words he repeated from her sentence "- is someone who truly cares about me. Someone who is there for me, who supports me in everything, who doesn't want to change anything about me because they like me for who I am, someone who truly loves me". His voice started trembling a bit as Noelle noticed his anger rising. "And she does just that. And more. So no thank you, I don't need anything else you have to offer". He concluded and to Noelle's surprise, he instantly moved his head to look at her. "I love you". He whispered in her ear before planting a soft kiss on her cheek. Noelle smiled at his sweet gesture before she answered him. "I love you too".

Suddenly, she saw Carlos stand up and walk over to the blonde girl that was still staring at them. "I think you need to leave. You have done enough damage already". The Spaniard said, looking down at Celeste who stayed seated on the stool. She looked around at the four friends, shock evident on her face when she finally realized no one was falling for her lies anymore. She stood up silently, taking one last look at Charles before she leaned down towards him and whispered something in his ear. "Ha, you can try. I don't think it will work as it sure as hell didn't, last time". He chuckled watching Celeste scoff and finally turn to walk away from them. "Another threat to sue us". He said and Carlos laughed. "I don't think that girl realizes how the adult world works. You can't just let your dad sue the entire population for things that don't go your way".

The four of them stayed seated for a while longer, discussing the events that just occurred but Noelle was a little quiet. She wasn't angry or sad but seeing Celeste had made her insecurities rise up again. "Is there something wrong, mon ange?" Charles asked as he noticed his girlfriend hadn't said anything in a few minutes. "I don't know.." She answered, shrugging her shoulders and looking down at her hands. "She just makes me feel worthless by the way she talks about me". Noelle's voice started trembling at the end of her sentence but the feeling of Charles pulling her closer toward him, made her swallow back her tears. "You are the most precious person in the world to me. No one can ever come close to equalling what you are. You need to know that.." He whispered, his voice low and soft but Noelle could hear every word over the loud music through the vibrations against her skin.

"I have never loved anyone else in my life. It has been you from the start. And even though I thought that I needed to let you go, I did that just because I cared about you so much and I wanted you to be happy". Noelle felt a single tear escape her eyes, as she had tried so hard to keep them in, but his honesty and the way he was holding her made it impossible to hold them back. She lowered her face again, looking at their intertwined fingers and the beautiful bracelet on her arm. She knew he was right and that he had always looked out for her happiness. She just didn't want to lose it again so soon after finally finding what truly made her happy. "I know.." Noelle muttered as Charles lifted his hand to cup her cheek. "I promise that there is no one in the world that is more special to me than you are. And it has always been like that". He said before he pulled her in closer, his eyes firmly locked with hers.

And that was all Noelle needed. Even if he didn't say a word to her ever again, all she needed was to look into those gorgeous green eyes and feel the magnetic energy that pulled them together from the start to know how he truly felt about her. She remembered the night of her school dance, where she told Charles about her ex-boyfriend and the way he had left her. He had been outraged and shocked by the story and the way Noelle was treated and she knew he would never do anything like that to her. He loved her deeply and his eyes told her that over and over again. And even though she wanted to keep looking into them forever, Noelle finally closed her eyes when he leaned in further and his nose brushed against hers before their lips met. It wasn't the perfect environment as the music was still blaring in their ears, people dancing and singing around them, but for Noelle, nothing could top this moment of pure love.

She reached for the hairs on the back of his neck with her hand and pulled him a little closer, kissing him firmly once more. "Do you want to go back to the hotel?" Charles whispered when they finally broke apart again, a sly smile appearing on his face. Noelle knew what he was implying and she would be lying if she said she wasn't thinking about the same thing but there was something else that had been on her mind ever since they entered this club. "Not yet.." She answered, making Charles furrow his brows. "I want to dance with you first.." Noelle continued as it was now her turn to smile at him, softly pulling her bottom lip between her teeth while their eyes locked once again. Noelle didn't wait for an answer, instead, she just stood up and offered him her hand. Carlos and Isa were dancing already, so after looking at his girlfriend's hand and then at his Ferrari teammate, Charles smiled and stood up to join her.

Noelle pulled him close to her body, wrapping her arms around his neck while Charles placed his hands on her waist. "This just brings back so many good memories". Noelle told him while they started swaying left and right to the beat, the song slow but the bass heavy in the air. Charles chuckled as he instantly knew what she meant, the evening of her school dance running through his mind. It all seemed to lead back to that moment. The way they ran into each other in that coffeeshop, the party a few days later, the fact that Noelle didn't have anyone to go with yet and the nerve he had to basically invite himself. Charles chuckled shyly as he looked down. He almost didn't do it, too scared to be rejected but when he looked back now, it was the most important moment in their story together. Because the night of the dance was what started everything.

Charles couldn't control his feelings for her anymore after that. How hard he may have tried to suppress them, they would always find a way out, eventually leading him to be here right now, with the girl of his dreams in his arms. Her body close to his, her arms wrapped around his neck while the sound of the music and the few glasses of champagne heightened their senses even more. So Charles thanked himself silently, for being so bold and for taking that risk because if he hadn't done it, this girl could have been in someone else's arms right now. The feeling of that image nearly crushed him, so he pulled her even closer, burying his face in her neck as he slowly placed a soft kiss on her skin. "Je t'aime tellement, ma chérie". Charles whispered against her skin, cherishing this feeling for as long as he could.

T R A N S L A T I O N:
* Je t'aime tellement, ma chérie: I love you so much, my sweetheart