Loud and Clear (F1 x CL16)

12. Snowplunge

It was around 10 p.m. and I was laying in bed, getting ready to sleep. I was just watching a Netflix series when Charles walked into the room. I glanced over my shoulder and looked away just as fast. He was shirtless. And god he was hot. No man should look that fine. It should be illegal.
The bed went down at his side and I readjusted myself as I slipped down a bit because of his movement.
"What movie are you watching?" Charles asked.
"It's a series. Suits." I answered as I kept watching the episode.
"Which season are you at? I'm at four." Charles tried to keep the conversation going.
"Three." I answered short, trying to keep my mind off his handsome body which I just had a glance at.
He understood my point and kept silent. There was some ruffling from his side and then he laid down.
The episode ended a few minutes later and I laid my phone down. I was ready to get some sleep, since Pierre wanted to wake up early to get the fresh slopes.
"Excited for tomorrow?" I asked Charles as I turned to face him.
"I am. But Pierre wants to go out way too early." Charles said and I had to agree. 7 a.m. is way too early.
"I'm going to sleep, will you switch off the light?" I asked and Charles nodded as he put his phone away and turned to put the lights off from his side of the bed. The room darkened and I couldn't even make a frame out of  Charles' body.
"Goodnight, Brigitte."
"Goodnight, Charles."

"Good morning sleeping beauties!" Pierre cheered as he entered our room. He switched the lights on and I groaned as it blinded me.
"It's too early, asshole." I stretched as I kept my eyes closed, I needed a few more minutes to sleep.
"Just give us some more minutes, mate." Charles said.
Pierre made a frustrated cry. "I want to go up at eight! Please be up at seven, otherwise we won't be on time." He switched off the lights and closed the door.
"Did he just say we have to wake up at seven?" I asked Charles.
"I guess he did." Charles confirmed.
"He's crazy. How late is it even?" If he said it wasn't even seven yet...
"Six thirty." Charles said as he checked his phone.
I groaned and laid back down on my side of the bed.
This was going to be a long vacation.

The wind was biting in my face. The warm breeze in the valley had turned into a cold wind at the top of the mountain. We were all set and in our ski's, ready to get down our first slope. Luckily a blue one, so it wouldn't go that steep. I was shaking lightly, not sure if it came from the cold or the nerves. Pierre was in front, ready to take the fresh slope. Charles was behind me, slowly rolling down next to me, where he stopped.
"You okay?" He asked, clearly seeing me shaking.
I looked up to him. "I'm fine..." I had a thick scarf on to keep myself a bit more warm. But it didn't stop me from having chattering teeth.
"I'll stay behind you, if you need help just stop and I'll come, okay?" He looked at me with concern in his eyes. He knew about my fear for hitting the slopes after my parents passed, Pierre clearly didn't get that with all his enthusiasm.
He already started hitting the slope and was strolling down, taking his time to get used to the snow.
I nodded to Charles and slowly started my way down as well. I took wide turns and kept my head up. Breathing in, and out. I kept this up the whole time and before I knew it I was already halfway. But Pierre was almost at the end. I waited for Charles to get to me, which didn't take long.
"Am I too slow?" I asked, wondering if he was thinking I was some kind of idiot.
"I could barely keep up with you! You're doing amazing. Should we go further? Pierre is already down." He nodded to the end of the slope where Pierre was now sitting on the ground while waiting for us.
I nodded and turned back to get some speed again, then started to do the same routine as I did before. Within a few minutes I was down and Pierre cheered as we reached him. "You two are so slow! I've been sitting here for ages." He mocked and I gave him the finger. He tried to get up, but was struggling with those ski's under him. "Shit can somebody help?" He reached out to my stick and I slapped him with it.
"Do it on your own, speedo." I chuckled and went to the lift. Charles followed.
Pierre shouted at us. "You two are the worst!" He crawled back up and slit down next to us.
We neared the lift and sat down. The lift went up and the bar went down to keep us secure. I let my head fall against Pierre's shoulder and sighed. "I'm happy that I got to do this with you two. It feels great to be back here." I still feared to go fast, but I at least wasn't crying like a baby at the start of the slope.
Pierre put his arm around me and pulled me tight. "I'm sorry if I went too fast. I get that you're scared after not being able to ski for so many years." He smiled down at me and I gave him a tight smile back.
The lift came back to the top of the mountain and we went straight forward, nearing the red slope. It was a lot steeper than the last one, but Pierre already went down and I was left behind with Charles. "Ready?" He asked and I nodded. I started to go down the slope, being more careful than at the blue one.
Charles stayed behind me the whole time, making sure I was okay and weren't having a panic attack at the middle of the slope.
I was starting to pick up some speed. My turns became tighter and I started to feel the adrenaline racing through my body. It was the same old feeling that I had when I was younger, it was almost the same as when I went racing.
I really got into the pace and before I could see it coming I fall towards the ground. A piece of ice made me lose my balance and I started to slip down the slope, not having control of my ski's anymore. Charles cursed behind me, but I couldn't care less since I was literally falling. My panic arose and I started to breathe heavily as my ski's took out from under me and I crashed into the ground. I slowed down fast and tears strung in my eyes as my mind went blank.
"Brigitte! Are you alright?" Charles rushed towards me and sat down before me, taking my face in his hands. I looked up at him but all I could see was his blurred face because of the tears in my eyes.
"I don't want to go further." I said shaking. It was a bad idea coming here. I wasn't ready to get back yet.
"You will have to. We can't go back up, and the lift is near. I'll make sure you won't get another piece of ice under your ski's okay? We'll go slowly, and when we're back on the mountain I will get you a hot chocolate, okay?" Charles stroke my cheeks with his hands, wiping my tears away with his big gloves.
I nodded and looked down the slope before looking back at Charles. "Can we do the blue slope again after the hot chocolate?" I gave him a weak smile and he nodded. "Okay. Then I'm ready to go." He chuckled and helped me back on my feet.
My legs were shaking, but I took a deep breath and started to pick up the pace again, making slow corners again. No more speed today.
We got to the lift and saw that Pierre just entered it. So Charles and I were alone. Great...
We sat down and luckily it wasn't busy yet so we were alone. I somehow have a fear of sitting next to strangers.
"You did that last part amazing." Charles said and I could feel his gaze over me. I didn't look though and admired the view from up here.
"I was shitting my pants... I really thought I could go faster, but that ice just kicked my confidence." I said and Charles put an arm around my shoulders. It was a subtle touch, but my whole body set aflame, even though it was ice cold out here. I let my gaze wander to him and smiled when he was already looking at me.
"I thought you were incredibly good. You were faster than me." Charles said with a smile.
His smile made me blush. God even such a simple thing as a smile got me warm. "I'd take that for granted. When we get back I'm going to tell everyone how I beat you in skiing." My words made Charles laugh and I could feel his laugh through my whole body. He took me tighter in his sideways hug and I let myself rest against his body, taking a moment to really process everything.
This feeling inside of me felt the same as when he kissed me that night in the paddock. My heart felt like it was being held together with glue, as if the two broken pieces finally got back together. I hadn't felt that since my parents died. That squeezing feeling in my chest... Charles made me think of my parents, and home. He was so sweet to me and it just reminded me of how love felt like. I never loved anyone. Only my parents, and Pierre. They were my family. Charles was different, he was my friend, even though I hated him earlier this year.
The lift neared the end and we could see the top of the mountain again. Pierre was standing a few feet ahead of the lift, and I immediately sat upright, letting Charles' arm fall from my shoulders. I didn't want Pierre to think we had something, because we didn't. And last time he caught us was in my hotelroom when we were supposed to have a movie night, but it turned out to be a make out session between me and Charles.
It felt like ages ago. But it was this summer. A lot had happened. But I was most thankful for my new friendship with Charles.
We got out and went to Pierre, who had his camera pointed at us. He loved taking photos of us and posting them on Instagram. He mostly liked to post the awkward ones where we looked weird. I had threatened him to delete the one from the car ride, but he had put his phone on a lock so I wouldn't get near it.
"You okay, Brie?" Pierre asked as he saw my dried up tears.
"All good. Charles and I are going to get a seat here and drink some hot chocolate. Wanna join us?" I asked, but I already knew his answer.
"I'll take a few more slopes. Shall we get some lunch in a few hours? Or do you want to go back early?" Pierre asked at me, or Charles. I'm not sure.
"We'll go back around lunch, I think it might be a long day otherwise." Charles said for the both of us. And thank god he didn't say we were going until the afternoon because I was already starting to dread taking more slopes.
"Alright then. See you in a few hours I guess." Pierre took off and went to the next slope, another red one on this mountain, but I saw that one led to another area.
Charles turned to me and took his ski's off. "Shall we go inside?" He asked and I nodded. Trying to get out of my ski's as well. I tried the same move as Charles, but I couldn't seem to get them off.
"Ehm... can you maybe help?" I asked Charles and he chuckled. He came up behind me and I know it wasn't necessary, but he still did it. He placed his hands on my waist and stood behind me. He first took off my left ski, then the right one. I turned my head to look at him and he stared back right into my eyes. He was standing insanely close to me and I could feel my body heat up again. His gaze flicked to my lips and my heart started to beat faster. But here wasn't the moment to... do whatever he was going to do. And we were in public. It would be bad if someone saw us like this. I stepped away from my ski's and out of Charles' grasp.
He understood my point and picked up my ski's, giving them to me. He then picked up his own, and we walked to the cafe where we would get a hot chocolate.

It was around 11 a.m. when I decided it was time to go. We were here for only three hours. But my fear had faded and I felt like this was enough. Charles had stayed the whole time while we took some blue slopes, and even a red one. It was so fun and every time I fell he helped me get back on my feet.
We were now taking the lift back down. We had already called Pierre to say we were heading back. And he said he would meet us later in the afternoon, since he was quite far into the region. Charles and I were now walking back to the cabin after we left our stuff at the lockers. Charles was walking in front since he had a call he had to answer. It felt like the call was taking ages so I decided to get his attention.
I got my gloves on and got a handful of snow from the ground. I made the snow into a big ball and aimed at the back of his head. He was a bit far in front so I had to take a quick walk to get a better aim at him. He was so deep in the conversation and I was aiming right at his head...
I breathed in and threw the snowball. It flew in slowmotion and I saw the impact in slowmotion. Charles grabbed to his neck as the cold snow fell into his jacket. He looked back and cursed, his phone still to his phone. I fell to the ground and started to laugh like a maniac. Charles' eyebrow crooked and I laughed my ass off as he slowly walked back towards me.
"I'll call you back, Mattia." Charles said and I stopped laughing. Shit. "You're going to pay for this." Charles said as he towered over me. I sat up and watched his face turn from furiousness to a playful look. He glanced to his right and quickly took a scoop of snow from a fence next to him. Within a second he had a snowball in his hand and threw it at me. It fell into my lap and I fell back.
"No! Stop!" I squealed as he picked another handful of snow and made it into a ball, this time aiming it at me, but not firing. I quickly crawled up and covered my face to avoid his attack. He laughed and I heard snow crackling under boots. He came closer and before I knew it my hands were pulled away from my face. A smiling face took in my view and I couldn't keep the blush in that was now covering my cheeks. His hands held mine and the only thing left on this planet was his perfect smile. That goddamn perfect smile.
"I'm so sorry." I said and Charles shook his head.
"It wasn't for business. So no worries. Mattia called to ask how the vacation was going." He turned back towards the cabin, which already came in view. He held my hand and tugged me with him. He didn't let go as we started walking again.
Why did he have to be so sweet? But this was wrong. We were going to be teammates... we shouldn't hold hands, nor anything else. But his hand around mine made me feel whole. I smiled down at our hands combined. It was vacation, no work now, we'll deal with this once the season starts.
I smiled up at the handsome man who was walking next to me. I didn't deserve him, but here he was, leading me home after helping me the whole day.
"So what are we going to do until Pierre's back?" I asked to kill the peaceful silence.
"We can watch a movie?" Charles suggested and I thought that was a splendid idea.
"I'd like that." I smiled up at him and he smiled back, my cheeks were getting redder every goddamn time he smiled.
We got back and settled down on the couch, Charles had put on a Christmas movie as I got some snacks and drinks. I sat down next to him and got a blanket for over my body because it was so cold in the cabin.
About 30 minutes into the movie Charles started to complain about the cold. "It's so cold here." I chuckled as I snuggled more into my blanket. There was only one blanket here. "Can I also get the blanket, Brigitte?" He asked, the way he said my name made me cave in.
"Sure." I snuggled closer to him and put the blanket over his body. It barely covered him since the blanket wasn't really made to cover two people. I chuckled when he looked dissatisfied at the blanket.
"This isn't working." He said and before I knew it he took me closer to him and put an arm around my waist, holding me in an embrace. He pulled the blanket over him and this time it did cover the both of us. I snuggled closer to him, liking the extra warmth he gave me. I don't know if it was because my body just reacted like that when he was near, or because of his body warmth. I didn't mind as long as I was warm. He rested his head on mine as I laid my cheek against his chest. I liked this idea of us, together. But it couldn't be, that's for sure. But I still liked it, and didn't want to pull away. This was like a little fantasy. But he didn't feel the same... I think. His motives weren't clear. I couldn't quite figure out if he really liked me or was just friendly. But in the meantime my feelings began to hurt. My heart ached when he was near. The two broken pieces squeezed together every time he was near, and did something sweet. My heart felt like it was going to explode.