Falling for the Leclerc's

34. Again

Grace's pov

Curiosity gets the best of me and I follow Charles behind.

When I climb a few stairs, I see him, looking out at a balcony. I don't approach him right away, but I take a few seconds to admire him.

"I see you're into world champions now." He says, when he senses me behind him, his back turned on me.

I roll my eyes even though he can't see me.

"It's not like that." I tell him, not feeling like giving him an explanation.

Charles then turns around and I approach him.

"You know what?" He begins to say and comes closer to me "If you came here with Verstappen to piss me off, congratulations, you managed to do so but know that you're hurting Arthur as well." He says with a cold tone.

If anything I was the one who felt hurt here.

"Arthur doesn't seem that hurt, besides his date is keeping him company... just like yours." I say with confidence.

"What? No...Clara, she's just-"

"Save it Charles." I tell him "You don't have to explain anything to me, we're just fr-"

"Say friends. I fucking dare you." Charles says while coming close to my face.

"Charles..." I put a hand to his chest, pushing him away a little but he's still standing in my face.

"I can't keep doing this Grace." He tells me while cupping my face, looking as if he's in pain.

"Doing what?" I ask him.

"Loving you from afar." he says and my heartbeat stops at his words.

He loves me?

I'm about to say something when he speaks up.

"You know you've had my heart for a very long time now and it's yours, I don't want it back" he says while looking deep in my eyes "But if you're going to break it, please might as well just do it now and put me out of this misery."

I look at him in shock.

All this time...I thought he hated me, I thought he couldn't even stand me, but in fact, he was in love with me this entire time.

I don't know what to think anymore, what to believe.

"Grace...say something" Charles says when he sees that I'm just staring at him.

"I'm scared!" I tell him and Charles looks at me confused. "I'm scared that you're not going to love me enough and I'm scared that you won't be there for me when I need you!"

Charles fidgets with his bracelet, something he always does when he's nervous, and then reaches to dry some tears that have fallen from my eyes.

"You don't trust me?" He whispers loud enough for me to hear.

I thought I did, I tried to, but then he would go and do something stupid, and I'd end up hurt again.

What is a relationship without trust?

I shake my head.

"No...no I don't trust you." I say slowly.

Charles' hands drop from my face, his face wearing an expression I can't read.

He opens his mouth to say something, but then decides against it, closing his mouth. His face drops to the floor and then he walks away from me.

Leaving...again.

When you love someone, you don't just give up on them, you fight for them.

I stand there, alone, trying to get myself together, before heading back to Max.

Once I do, I grab a drink from our table and down it. Max looks at me but doesn't say anything which I appreciate. The rest of the night it's kind of a blur.

I danced, talked with people and got drunk, trying to forget the pain.

"I'll go to the restroom real quick!" I tell Max.

"Do you want me to come with you?" He asks.

"Hmm...to the ladies?" I chuckle. "Sure, you can hold my bag while I pee."

"You know what I mean." He tells me, giving me a look.

"I'll be fine, I won't take long."

After opening four doors, I finally manage to find the restroom. After I'm done at the toilet, I wash my hands and reapply a bit of makeup. Before I can leave, a male figure appears in front of me.

"Please, let me explain."

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