Forever Yours

Jules' Death

After Anna's death, both Jules and I were left in this limbo-like area for a while. She was our anchor and we were left floating out to drift. Lost. Even though our worlds had stopped, everyone else's hadn't. I felt Jules and I's relationship shift, he became more of a parental figure. Jules tried to keep everything the same as it was. Us together, always. When he joined F1 he took me everywhere with him. We went to all of his press stuff, practices, training, interviews, and GPs. He even hired a tutor to come with us so that I could still be homeschooled. He looked after me and I looked after him. In a way, Anna's death brought us even closer.

In 2014, Jules got in an accident. I was 16 at the time. He was hospitalized, but from the moment I saw him, I knew he was gone. I was officially alone. I had no one. My whole life was gone.

The Leclerc family asked me if I wanted to live with them. They said it was only fair since Jules was Charles' godfather and that they knew how much I meant to Jules. I had nowhere else to go so I agreed.

Charles and I became fairly close. We'd hang out every once and a while When he was training, he would let me race against him. As time went on I could feel us getting closer. Moments where I would find him staring at me. Or times when he would catch me glancing at him. I could tell that something was up but never mentioned it.

After almost a year of living with the Leclerc family, Jules was officially gone. The day of his funeral is a day I will never forget. When they buried him, I felt as though the last of me was buried with him. I didn't have anyone there for me. The Leclerc family tried but I knew that they only took me in because of Jules, and I knew that I would never be family to them.

We were back at Bianchi's residence after the funeral. I was feeling overwhelmed by the number of people who were there and the events of the day so I went upstairs to get away from everyone.

I walked into one of the guest rooms and shut the door. I sat on the end of the bed and stared at the ground. All of a sudden I hear a knock and the door opens. It's Charles.

"Hey" he says with a quick smile as he sits next to me on the bed. I don't respond and look at the ground.

" Florence, are you ok?"

I don't respond. I keep staring at the floor. I have nothing to say, but at the same time I want to say everything all at once.

We sit in silence for a few moments more.

"Squishy?"

"Don't call me that" I say defeated. That was a nickname Jules gave me when I was young because I had really chubby cheeks when I was a baby and he would always squish them to make me laugh.

"Sorry" Charlie says apologetically " What's wrong?"

"Noth-"

"Don't say nothing because I know that there is something wrong, you just don't want to tell me." he exclaims.

I stare at the floor for a few seconds more, trying to articulate words say, without my voice cracking. "I'm all alone now" I say in a whisper. I look down and blink a few times to keep my eyes from watering. The last thing I want to do is cry in front of him.

" Hey," he says while lifting my chin. " You are not alone. You have me and my family. You meant the world to Jules so I'm sure that his parents are here for you as well."

"That's just it Charles, you don't get it." I raise my voice a little too harshly. " You guys put up with me because of him. Your parents took me in because of him. The only reason you hung out with me was because he asked you to. Nothing about my life is my own. Everyone I'm around sees me as a charity case because I'm the poor girl that has no family. The only two people that ever loved me for me, are dead, and now I'm left alone. I have nothing left that makes me, me."

I'm looking him dead in the eyes. The strongest eye contact I have ever had with him and he is speechless. He just stares at me and I stare at him.

I saw something in his eyes, something changed. Before I could process what it was, he brought his hands up to my cheeks and his lips were already on mine. I sat there, frozen. Did he just do what I think he did?

Oh my god. Charles Leclerc just kissed me.

Once he pulled away, he put his hands down and on top of mine, squeezing them while looking at me.

"I care about you, Florence."

"I didn't come up here to check on you because I pity you. I came up here because I saw the way you were acting and I was concerned and wanted to make sure you weren't alone during this. I'm not here because Jules told me to. I don't feel like I have to be your friend because of our connection to him. I am here because, I, care about you." He looks at me with honestly in his eyes.

I'm still speechless. Does he really mean what he said? Does he really care about me? Did he really just kiss me? I still say nothing and just look at him. I have no clue what to do.

As if reading my mind, he stands up and extends his hand out to me. " Jules and Anna might be dead but you're not. So get up, come downstairs,  and we can get through this together." He raises his eyebrows enthusiastically.

I let out a little laugh. Damn, he's good. I take his hand and he leads me out of the room. Before we descended down the steps, he leans into my ear and whispered " Was that your first kiss?"

I laugh a little. " Maybe" I say, a little bit embarrassed.

"I could tell. It's ok though, we can work on it." he looks at me and winks.

We walk down the steps, still holding hands. He doesn't let go of me the whole rest of the night. Wherever he went, I went. I don't think I would have made it through the night if it wasn't for him being by my side.