Say It's Me ☾ Charles Leclerc

48 | Keep you safe

♪
Calum Scott - You Are The Reason:
'And if I could turn back the clock, I'd make sure the light defeated the dark. I'd spend every hour, of every day keeping you safe'

It was all getting a bit too overwhelming. Noelle was currently sitting on one of the only stools in the building, it looked like, finally finding a place to sit in a tiny little office after searching the entire venue for a calm space. She felt like she couldn't breathe and her chest was tight. 'I can't do this..' The voice in her head kept on repeating. It was approximately an hour before the fashion show would start and the nerves had now fully taken over Noelle's body. 'I can't do this..' She balled her hands into fists, squeezing as hard as she could to release some tension from her shaking limbs. Suddenly she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, slowly releasing the grip on her own fingers to grab the ringing device. "H-Hello?" Noelle answered, noticing that even her voice wasn't stable anymore. "Salut, mon ange. I just got here, but I can't seem to find you". She heard Charles' calm voice and slight chuckle, panic immediately taking over her mind again.

"I-I can't d-do it.." Noelle repeated what the voice in her head had been telling her for the past half an hour. "Can you repeat that one more time? I couldn't quite hear you". Her boyfriend said, as she heard him greet some people on the other end of the line. "I-I can't, Charles, I c-can't do it.." Noelle said, a little louder this time. Suddenly it was quiet on his side, his voice abruptly stopped talking to people as soon as he heard the panic in her voice. "Chérie, can you tell me where you are please? I really want to see you". He spoke softly but determined. It was hard for Noelle to even get the words out of her mouth so it took her a while to describe where she was currently hiding but she instantly felt a little better when she heard a soft knock on the door a few minutes later. It was dark in the room as she hadn't bothered to turn on the light so he couldn't see her right away. "Noelle, princesse, are you here?" The sound of his voice immediately eased a tiny bit of the tension in her shoulders.

She hummed softly, but it was enough for him to know it was her. He didn't turn on the light either, instead, he just opted to look for her with the light coming from his phone screen. When he found her, he lifted her off the stool by her hand and sat down himself, immediately pulling her back down on his lap. Noelle wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest as her body continued to shake. "Shh, it's okay, I'm with you". Charles whispered while he enveloped her with his strong arms. They were silent for a few minutes, Noelle feeling the panic slowly fade away as she held her boyfriend tight. It was all she needed at the moment, his comforting presence and the feeling of his fingers slowly stroking her lower back. After what felt like an eternity of complete silence, Charles spoke up. "I know you are really nervous, but I need you to remember how hard you have worked to be here. This is literally your dream, Elle. You have talked about this since we were little kids".

Noelle knew he was right. She had always wanted to start her own fashion brand and host a big show. But the fact that it was really happening was a lot scarier than she had anticipated. "B-But what if they d-don't like it?" She shakily asked while she looked up at Charles as her eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the room now. She could see the outline of his face and he looked gorgeous in the dim lighting. "They will love it. The show hasn't even started and just during the walk from the door to this room, I got so many nice compliments from people who noticed the mannequins by the door. And those are just some prototypes, they are not even the real deal yet!" Charles said, slowly bouncing her on his lap to make her laugh. It was working though, his presence alone had calmed her down, but his words made her believe that people would actually like their work. "Are you just making that up?" Noelle said, still a little insecure.

"No I'm not. I even heard someone say that if the collection is anything like that dress by the entrance, then they are going to be in for an amazing show". He reiterated, meaning every word. Noelle sighed deeply, trying to let out all the negative energy. This truly was all she wanted to do when she was little. She had dreamed about this, talked about this her entire life. It was supposed to be the best night of her life. "You're right.." She said before she inhaled deeply and stood up from Charles' lap. "Come on, I really need to go, I need to find Sophie because she's probably panicking as well". Noelle said while giggling, knowing her best friend would be in the same state she was in a few minutes ago. Charles chuckled as well but pulled her in towards his body one more time before she could exit the room. "I'm so proud of you, Elle. And I love that I can be the one supporting you from the sideline now, instead of the other way around". He placed a loving kiss on her lips before doing the same on her forehead, making Noelle's eyes flutter closed.