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.