Fox Cooper had no plans. No plans with what she was going to do next with her life. No plans to do something new. No plans to fall in love.
When her father decides that she can join his yearly charity project, she didn't expect the terms he would h...
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F O X C O O P E R
As the car neared the hotel, Fox noticed the awaiting crowd.
These days on the road had been amazing and peaceful, some beautiful time where she had not been surrounded by everyone. As she looked over, she noticed the crowd was full of various different people, some were just there to see the cars, others she noticed were fans of the celebs doing the drive, and of course, the press. The closer she got, she felt the anxiety rising inside of her as she let go of Lando's hand and pulled her sleeves over her own hands.
"Are you okay?" Lando asked as he looked over at the blonde.
Fox looked up at him, their eyes met for a second before he looked back at the road. There was a queue of cars waiting to enter the car park of the hotel due to the crowd of people holding them up. "Yeah," she lied as she balled her hands holding her sleeves close to her. She closed her eyes trying to rid herself of the overwhelming feeling of anxiety she felt as she took a deep breath.
She abruptly opened her eyes when she felt something, she looked down and saw Lando retaking her hand. "What are you doing?" Fox asked quietly as she looked up at his face before looking back down at their hands.
Lando was gentle as he opened her fist before threading his fingers through hers. "I can see you're not happy," he spoke as he squeezed her hand. "What's wrong?"
"Ummm," Fox seemed to let out the sound more than saying it. She couldn't take her eyes off their hands, she was questioning so much. In her mind, the privacy the two of them shared in their time together was something she enjoyed. Fox knew this was her only secret right now, it was something that was hers, for now, the moments they shared was just theirs. "If you hold my hand, if you show this to the world, that's it."
She looked up at him as she awaited his decision. "Are you ready for that?" She had never had anyone ask her before, usually, it just happened.
The blonde shook her head as the two of them loosened their grip and took their own hands back. "For now, this," she pulled her sleeves back into her fists again. "It's..." She shrugged her shoulders. "I like it as it is."
"I understand," he smiled as he looked at her. The car was at a standstill as they waited to get into the carpark. His eyes flickered away from her, she followed his gaze to see some of the crowd staring through the windows. There were cameras pointed into the car taking photos as others admired the car and the two celebrities in the car.
Fox smiled for a moment, she then looked away from the window only to find every window seemed to have more cameras and people looking through them. Her eyes glanced at Lando for a second, he was looking forward, his hands on the steering wheel. She needed him to drive, she needed him to get her to the hotel so she could retreat to the comfort of the hotel room.
Her fists were tight as she put her hands at her sides as she tried to act normal, to see as if she was casual and okay with the situation. She looked forward, her eyes on the car in front of them as it slowly began to move. She took a deep breath as she leaned forward and reached into her bag, she needed to distract herself from all the eyes that were watching.
She let her hair fall forward, covering up her screen as she tapped on the screen trying to turn it on.
"We're moving," Lando said quietly as the car began to move.
Fox's looked up through her eyelashes, seeing the space in front of them that Lando was beginning to cover. "Thank God," she mumbled as she managed a smile. She looked over at him, smiling for a brief moment before putting her phone back into her bag. "I'm so hungry, I can't wait to get something to eat."
L A N D O N O R R I S
Once he had parked up and the two of them got out of the vehicle, they headed into the hotel where they were met by Fox's father. "Nice of you two to arrive," Maximillion smiled as he handed over the envelope with the next instructions in.
"Mr Cooper," Lando said with a nod of his head.
Fox sighed, "Can't you do anything about the gathering crowds?" Lando was surprised at her words, it was one of the only times he'd heard her get worked up about something and voice it so abruptly.
"It's all part of coming on Gumball," her father told her as Lando took the envelope from him. "Everything is bigger, better, it's amazing, Fox. You need to embrace it rather than be annoyed with it." Maximillion grinned as he looked between the two young people. "There are no secrets on Gumball."
Lando smiled at the man in front of him, that was all he could do as he thought about those words. He didn't want to look at Fox but when he spied her out of the corner of his eyes, she was looking at him, her head was turned to look at him and she looked alarmed. Lando didn't fully look at the blonde, he turned his attention back to Maximillion. "What festivities are on tonight?"
Maximillion put an arm around Lando and began to walk with him towards another room. "Tonight we have a massive party planned," Fox's father told the young man. "I expect everyone to be there, no exceptions." Maximillion squeezed Lando closer to him, "It's the big one."
"As long as I get to have a shower, I'll be there." Lando made a joke awkwardly as he looked up at Maximillion who let him go. Looking over his shoulder, Lando noticed Fox watching from the door of the hall they had entered. She tilted her head to the side as she leaned against the door frame.
Maximillion looked over at his daughter and then looked at Lando who had turned back to him. "How was she today? Has she been herself?"
Lando raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the woman before looking back at her father. He nodded at Maximillion, a big grin on his lips as Lando thought about the day the two had spent together. They had shared a lot of stuff today, the two of them getting closer and more intimate in a way he'd never done before with any other female in his life. "She's," Lando didn't say another word for a moment as he looked over his shoulder at the blonde again. She wasn't alone anymore, she was with another female but it didn't stop Lando from enjoying how beautiful she looked.
A hand on his shoulder made him turn back around, the smile dropped from his lips as he found Maximillion staring at him with an unreadable blank face. "She's complicated," her father said. "Beautiful but complicated. I know that look and it's not good, Lando."
