"Lottie! We're back!" I announced as I opened the door to my brother and sister's home
"Hey Olly! Hey Jack! Hey Charles!" came Lottie's voice from the direction of the kitchen "You've got perfect timing, I've almost finished making dinner!"
"Jack, do you mind helping Lottie? I'll give Charles a quick tour of the place"
"Sure" Jackson nodded, heading into the kitchen to help Lottie with the last few bits for dinner
"Okay. So, living room, kitchen, then the dining room leads on from the kitchen" I began, pointing at the different doors for each room. Charles nodded, taking in all the information as I led him up the stairs "Through there is Lottie's, the one next door to that is Ellie's, that's Jack's room, then this one is my room"
I opened the door into my bedroom, allowing Charles to step in before me. It wasn't really my room, as I didn't spend much time here it was often used as a guest room. Although I had decorated it with similar furniture to my bedroom in Monaco, it lacked the smaller personal touches that I possessed. The room simply contained a large bed against one wall, with a TV on the opposite. Lottie had put a large monstera plant in the corner since I'd last visited, but I quite liked it. However, I hadn't told her that I knew it was fake. She'd covered the fake soil with some real soil in an attempt to make it look like a real plant - Lottie was never one to keep plants alive.
"A pillow wall is okay, right?" I asked Charles "I figured it'd be better than one of us taking the sofa?"
"Yeah, that's fine" he told me as he propped his suitcase up next to the wall. Smiling, he turned back to face me "When do I get to meet Ellie?"
"In about thirty seconds, once we're downstairs. She'll be with Lottie and Jack"
"Great, let's get going then" Charles said as we headed out of the bedroom. I shook my head, that boy was so excited to meet my niece.
*
Charles followed me into the kitchen, the smell of the food Lottie was cooking floating through the room. She was stood at the counter top, halfway through plating the meal onto four plates, with a smaller one for Ellie.
"Hey you two!" Lottie said, noticing our arrival "Dinner is literally done, I'm just finishing plating up"
"Smells good. What are we having?" I asked my sister
"Honey garlic chicken with some rice" she told me, turning towards me to smile "Just because I know you love it. Jack's in the dining room with Ells if you want to go through. I'll bring the plates through in a second"
I thanked Lottie before heading into the dining room, Charles following closely behind me. Jackson was setting the table, holding Ellie against his side. The young girl smiled brightly at me and Charles as we walked in, happy to see two new people.
"Hey guys" Jackson said
"Hey Jack. Is that the famous Ellie I see in your arms?" Charles asked
"The one and only" he laughed "Do you want to hold her mate? I won't lie, my arm's starting to feel a bit dead"
"I thought you'd never ask. I've only been waiting for two years"
Jackson laughed at what Charles had said, blaming me for never inviting him to visit. In my defense, I'd told him, I had barely had time to visit either, and when I had it was only for a few days.
"Ells, this is Charlie. He's one of your uncle's good friends" Jackson told the toddler as he passed her over to Charles, who seemed delighted to finally meet my niece.
"Hi Ellie"
"Charwey" Ellie said, smiling at him as the three of us laughed at her getting the pronunciation of Charles' nickname wrong
"I quite like that one, we'll done Ells" I told the toddler, walking over and holding my hand out so that she could give me a high five
"Olly?" she questioned, looking at me
"Olly" I repeated, smiling. Luckily for me, the FaceTime calls had been enough for her to remember her aunt's name and face
As the sound of our laughter faded away Lottie walked through the door, holding two plates.
"Dinner is served" she announced mimicking the voice of a waiter.
The five of us sat around the table, ready to eat the meal that Lottie had prepared for us. Charles somehow managed to get a fidgety Ellie into her high chair at the head of the table with ease, before sitting down next to her. I opted to sit opposite him, on Ellie's right hand side, with Lottie on my right and Jack sitting next to Charles. I had dreaded that the meal was going to be somewhat awkward, with the four adults having not spent much time together for a few years. However, the conversation seemed to flow perfectly. I spent time catching up with my brother and sister, the three of us properly spending time together for the first time in over a year. Charles was preoccupied with Ellie, happy to amuse her as she ate the small amount of rice and chicken that Lottie had given her.
Being able to spend time with both my brother and sister, Charles and Ellie warmed my heart, almost making me forget the real reason why I had traveled over a thousand kilometers to be here.
A/N: A few updates today! I've decided to split Olly's Instagram post from chapter seven into it's own chapter. I just liked it better that way lol.
Additionally, thank you so much to those who gave me feedback on the last chapter! Instagram posts will hopefully be coming soon, maybe in the new year. We're at 5k reads already, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you so so much guys, it honestly means the world that you're enjoying reading this.
Copse x
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STAY THE NIGHT || Charles Leclerc
Fanfiction"If the world was ending you'd come over, right? You'd come over and you'd stay the night" - JP Saxe & Julia Michaels After the premature death of her parents, Olivia Thomas reaches out to the person she can trust the most, the brown haired boy from...
