Too Sweet for Me (Charles Leclerc)

Too Sweet for Me

But who wants to live forever, babe? // You treat your mouth as if it's Heaven's gate // The rest of you like you're the TSA // I wish that I could go along babe, don't get me wrong

-

It starts with the most insignificant things. With you preferring your coffee iced, and Charles preferring his hot.

A few playful arguments arise in the mornings that you spend together, Charles teasing you about how he can never make you coffee in his pot because the ice would melt in the hot liquid- a comment that you can brush off with a roll of your eyes and a quick kiss to his cheek.

Sometimes, it's the fact that you don't quite feel like going out. Charles seems to be okay with that at first; giving you a tight squeeze before heading out to ski on the Alps or party at a glamorous nightclub. It's not an issue for you- you're happy to let Charles do his thing, extrovert that he is.

Your differences are perfectly okay.

At first.

It's not like he's your boyfriend or anything. Yet another aspect of life which you guys don't see quite eye-to-eye on.

Charles doesn't quite see the point to need to call you his girlfriend to the public. Does it really matter what we call this, cheri? We are happy.

You've never defined what this thing is between you. It feels too late to do so now- it's been a few years of being you and Charles. Neither of you were seeing anyone else, spending most of your free time together, relishing in the sound of that one specific chuckle that he reserved for you alone.

You're happy with whatever this is.

At first.

As time passes though, playful disagreements turn into arguments.

"Goddamnit, why can't we just stay home sometimes? Do we always need to be out?"

"Cheri, I have to stay late again at the studio. Just come with me."

"You're not my girlfriend. It doesn't matter, okay? We can just be us."

"What am I supposed to do when these supermodels post photos with their hands all over you, Charles? I'm not okay with it."

Disagreements are normal in relationships.

You wish you could go along with his ways sometimes.

The pair of you might not have agreed on what exactly you are to each other, but there was no denying that it was a relationship of one sort or another.

This is normal, you tell yourself. Eventually things will sort themselves out.

It's something you repeat to yourself when your back aches from flying across the globe to a Grand Prix only for Charles not to even start the race.

It's something you repeat to yourself when he brings you to dinners and introduces you just with your name, no girlfriend, no partner, no anything.

It's something you repeat to yourself when you see photos of Charles at a club with a girl's arm wrapped around his neck, pulling him in closely.

When you talk to him about the photo, he tries to tell you it's not a big deal.

"You know I'm yours, cherie."

You don't though. Not really.

-

You know, you're bright as the morning, as soft as the rain // Pretty as a vine, as sweet as a grape // If you can sit in a barrel, maybe I'll wait

-

Despite all of these incidents, none of these are the straw that breaks the camel's back, so to speak.

It is one of the better days with Charles. You're lying in bed, late at night- so late that it could be considered the morning.

A quick glance at the clock on the beside table tells you it's 5:40 AM.

The sun isn't even up yet.

Perfect. You enjoyed the peace and quiet of late nights, preferring to sleep through the chaos of the 9 AM rush.

A content sigh escapes your lips as you close your eyes, snuggling up to Charles underneath the covers, your mind starting to fade into the fog of dreamland when an alarm blares through the silence.

The shrill sound makes you cringe, and burrow even closer to the Monegasque lying beside you, twining your legs with his.

"Turn it off, love," you mumble sleepily, already starting to fall back asleep- but your human pillow shifts, rolling over and stretching on the mattress.

A soft sigh emerges from the man beside you, soft brown hair shifting with his movements. Beautifully long lashes twitch at you when his eyelids flutter open to reveal dazed green. "Good morning, love. Up early?"

Charles' words sting.

You can't call yourself an early bird- not by any means. He'd told you hundreds of times to live right, wake up before the sunrise.

That just wasn't you though.

Charles' love for life had always been one of the things that you loved the most about him.

But in this moment, as he gently pries your grasp off of him to get ready for his morning run, you feel so alone in the vast king-sized bed. Despite the fact that Charles is still in the room with you, pulling his running shoes on, you feel as if you're in total isolation.

As he gives you a forehead kiss before quietly slipping out the apartment door, a realization strikes you.

Some things will never change.

No matter how much you wish they would- it just wasn't to be, not even for a single day.

It all comes crashing down on you.

-

Until that day // I'd rather take my whiskey neat // My coffee black and my bed at three