fast lane - c.leclerc

chapter twenty-three

LAUREN

LAUREN WOKE UP to the sound of light snoring. Charles Leclerc at his most peaceful. She carefully raised her head to take a look at the pretty boy snuggling her. A feeling of warmth engulfed her. She hadn't felt so safe and comfortable in a long time. She tried to set herself free from his grip. Strong hands pulled her back.

'You're not going anywhere,' 

'You have a flight to catch,' she groaned, trying to set herself free. He trapped her in his arms. 

'I don't care. I already missed it,'

'Charles, you can't be so irresponsible,'

He traced the outline of her jaw. 'I can when it comes to you,'

'You're such a loser,' Lauren blushed.

'I wasn't such a loser last night when you were coming all over-,' Lauren covered his mouth.

'I think I've heard enough,' she chuckled. Charles met her eyes. She could tell a taunt was brewing in his head.

'Are you finally going to admit it to me?' he asked her.

'Admit what?' she wondered cluelessly.

'That you're so incredibly infatuated with me despite me being the opposite of the type of guys you usually date,' 

'Infatuated with you? Look at you using big words Mr. Darcy. Can you pronounce perpetually for me first before asking such stupid questions?' Lauren mocked his foreign pronunciation.

Charles groaned, rolling his eyes. 'You're so difficult, woman,'

'Yet you're absolutely infatuated with me,' Lauren joked, pleased with herself. Charles' fingers moved to stroke her hair.

'Damn right I am,' he said before kissing the tip of her nose. Lauren softened. She tried to recover from the sweet gesture but shattered once again when he kissed her forehead next.

'I-,' she was having an incredibly difficult time expressing herself. She was never one to talk openly about her emotions. She felt them, of course. She felt them more than the average human being. It was both her biggest strength and weakness.

'That's one vowel. Now you need a few more to create a word. And then you need a few more of those for a sentence,'

Now it was Lauren's turn to groan. 'You're insufferable. It's very difficult for me to say I like you when you're such an idiot,'

'You're really affectionate today. Loser and idiot. Within a span of thirty seconds,'

'You feel like home, Charles. Every time you're by my side, I feel safe. I also think you are severely stupid and annoying. Getting on your nerves and messing around with you makes me laugh. It also helps that you're like stupid pretty for a male. Decent kisser as well,'

'Only decent?'

'Seriously? I confess my undying appreciation for you and you focus only on the part where I'm not directly praising you,' Lauren looked at his seriously hurt expression and burst out laughing. Her laugh ignited something within Charles. It was seriously contagious.

'I'm gonna marry you someday,' he caught himself blurting out. Lauren's eyes widened.

CHARLES

Sometimes in life, you catch yourself saying or doing something that isn't rational whatsoever. Not everything has to be logical. You might go against all of your principles. You might ignore or lose everything you've ever known. You might catch yourself thinking 'Why on earth am I here? Why am I doing this?' Do you know why? It's because your heart is doing the decision-making for you. It's usually when you're the happiest as well. You just feel so comfortable that nothing is too crazy or weird. There are no restrictions or limits. This is the kind of person you want to be with. The kind of person that gets you saying bizarre kind of crap. 

Which is exactly what happened to Charles. Lauren stayed silent. Charles' instinct was to start apologising.

'I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I'm not proposing now. I meant in the future. If we even have a future? Do we want a future? We can arrange a future,' Lauren broke her silence. She put her hand over the boy's face for the second time that morning.

'If you say the word future one more time, I'm going to push you off this bed. You don't have to explain yourself. Weirdly, I think I get what you mean. This instant comfort between us. It feels surreal. I've never experienced this before,'

'I have,' Charles admitted, 'back when I was eighteen,'

'I keep forgetting that happened. I seriously never got over that kiss. It got so bad I had to force myself to erase it from my memory,'

Charles rested his hand on the curve of Lauren's waist. He traced figures on her skin.

'I've compared every single girl I've been with after that to you,' Lauren gasped.

'Stop bullshitting me. You literally couldn't stand me. We didn't speak for years after that. Only when we'd bitch on track,'

'I'm not bullshitting you. Ask my mom. I'll call her if you want me to,' he said defensively. 

'No need, mama's boy. I believe you,' 

A FEW YEARS AGO

'Evans, I'm surprised to see you know how to have fun,' Charles said mockingly, clutching his beer tightly. He was a nervous wreck. He'd waited all night for her to turn up.

'I love fun. I have the most fun watching you in my rears. I have fun when I'm accepting the first place trophy and watching you continuously get the consolation prize,' Lauren responded confidently. She came to the part specifically for him.

'I see. Enjoy your night, Evans,' Charles bid her goodbye.

They ran into each other not much time, but a lot of drinks later. 

'Evans,' Charles slurred. Lauren loved the nickname he called her.

'Leclerc,' Lauren slurred back. Charles loved the way his name slipped from her lips.

'I have to ask you something,' he announced boldly, decreasing the distance between their bodies.

'Okay,' Lauren nodded.

'Say a number one through 10, if we say the same, we kiss,' Lauren blushed. She wasn't one to back out of a challenge. She found herself praying to the Gods they were going to say the same number.

'5,'

'6,' 

'Shit,' said Charles, the disappointment evident on his face. It didn't remain there for long.

Lauren pulled at the hem of his shirt and crashed her lips onto his. The kiss was awkward. Two confused teens trying to express what they couldn't say with words.

Lauren pulled away, freaked out. 'This didn't happen she blurted out,' She ran outside to grab some air. Charles followed swiftly after her.

'Lauren,' he called out. Lauren had tears forming in her eyes.

'I'm sorry. God, I'm so sorry,' she cried. They were all alone in the garden. The rest of the party was inside the huge tent. 

'Why are you sorry?' he wondered, terribly confused.

Lauren grabbed his arm and pulled him behind the tent, so they were outside of everyone's sight. The Bacardi razz she downed was making her feel all sorts of things. 

'Please forget this happened,' she said.

They stared at each other.

'Okay. Forget that what happened?' he asked her. 

The tension could be cut with a knife. Charles' heart was pounding and so was Lauren's.

What should've been forgotten happened again. This kiss wasn't as awkward. It was loaded with mutual wanting. Charles wasn't so shy with his hands anymore. They found the curve of her ass and squeezed it. Lauren groaned into his mouth, clutching onto him hungrily. She raked through his curls, tugging at them desperately. She was in fact desperate, desperate to feel more of him.

'You feel so good, Evans,' Charles broke the kiss.

'Shut up,' Lauren started it again.