ᴅᴏᴘᴀᴍɪɴᴇ | ᴄʜᴀʀʟᴇꜱ ʟᴇᴄʟᴇʀᴄ.

ꜰɪᴠᴇ | ᴇᴠᴀɴɢᴇʟɪɴᴇ.

❞ you're the only

friend i need,

sharing beds like little kids.❝ - ribs; lorde.

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the thing that pissed me off the most? this whole thing felt natural. the flirting that i'd always held back around charles because he was, well, charles- i let it slip my toungue now when we were around people. we were instructed to flirt around a bit until the first grand prix, but to tell our families and the people closest to us. as we walked away from the pr building, i typed on my phone to tell nikolai.

i gulped, turning to charles. "hey, i need to call my mom for a minute. just... last minute things, i guess," i said shakily. charles raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. "all right, love. i'll be in the car," he said before kissing my hair and walking away. i froze- were we starting now? how did this even work? before i could spiral into thought, my phone rang. sighing, i picked it up.

"okay, i know you. what is actually going on? if you and charles were actually dating, you'd be through the roof with exitement right now," fernanda stated, her voice tinged with annoyance. i resisted the urge to facepalm. why hadn't i thought of that? she was right. but i couldn't tell her that. "nands, i think you're just imagining things- i am over the moon right now. is there just leftover alcohol in your system or something?" i asked with a light laugh, leaning against the brick wall of the building. she sighed on the other side of the line. "hm, okay. i believe you, and i'm happy for you, really. now, tell me what happened! how, when-," she began. my eyes widened. we hadn't thought of a backstory yet, or anything like it. cmon, evangeline, you act for a living. just act your way through it, i coached myself. taking a deep breath, i deflected. "hey, how about i tell you over coffee? this is going to require more than an on-the-phone convo. girl's day tomorrow?" i asked, mentally high-fiving myself. god, this is like mental gymnastics.  fernanda laughed on the other line. "sure! tomorrow's saturday, yeah? we can watch quali then go to mine for drinks? unless you and your boyfriend have something planned..." she teased. i sighed playfully. "i'll ask him and let you know, okay? i love you."

as i walked back to charles' car, my mind racing, i pondered whether i could actually last six months of this. the lying was already weighing on me, and it was only fernanda so far. could i even lie to nikolai? or mom? i don't know how i can even look them in the eye after this. sighing, i opened the door for myself and climbed into charles' car. he glanced up from his phone, grinning at me slightly. "what was that about?" he asked playfully. i shook my head, hoping to brush him off. "just last minute stuff for little women, nothing big," i say with a smile. he shut off his phone and began to drive. "you sure?" he asked carefully. i nodded, glancing out the window.

charles cleared his throat. "eve... i told pierre yesterday. about us," he said quietly, eyes focused on the road. i turned to him, my expression questioning. "like, in what way? like fake-us or real-us or-?" i asked, unsure of how to say it. he laughed. "um, fake us, that we're faking all of this. i didn't know that would be in the contract that i couldn't say anything. but he'll keep his mouth shut, you know that," charles explained. i nodded. it wouldn't change much- i trusted pierre. "okay," i replied, going back to the window. "any plans for the rest of your day, leclerc?" i asked, testing the waters. he hummed, shaking his head. "if you want me, then no," he replied matter of-factly. i considered this for a moment. "then i'll be selfish today- i do want to talk to you some before the cars and cameras steal you away," i said playfully. charles snorted. "you're jealous of cars and cameras, love?" i paused. again with that? charles skidded to a stop at a red light.

"okay, i'm...confused on how this works. do we fake in private, or just in public, what happens charlie?" i asked him. he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, clearly thinking. "i think we fake it in public, you know? i don't want either of us to get hurt," he stated finally. i felt my heart drop, and i waited until the count of three to respond. "okay," i said carefully, ignoring the disapointment now seeping in. "what about backstory? fernanda already asked," i said. he laughed. "of course she did, that's so like our nanda," he said. a pang of jealousy shot through me. our? interesting. "how about this," leclerc challenged, smirking at me. "i take you on a practice date today, one kiss included," he propesed. "that can be our little backstory, valrose," he finished. i snorted, but felt my cheeks turn hot at the thought of a date- even though it was fake. and kissing, already? "you know what? sounds good, leclerc. take it away," i challenged back. a devilish smirk was all i recieved in response before he floored it, taking us god knows where.

a/n- where do you gusy think their date should be? lmk in the comments, loves! hope this one was okay <3