My Million Dollar Boyfriend

Chapter 37

After they finished at the bar, they went back to the table and saw Luke sitting alone on his phone. Claude furrowed his eyebrows as he sat down with his fried squid. "Where's Flory?" he asked Luke.

"He received a phone call and went outside," Luke replied as Sydney tried to offer him some of their snacks. "He seemed pretty serious about it."

Claude's frown deepened as he turned to look at the door worried. "Since when did he go outside?"

"Oh, Claude. Don't worry about Florence. He's big enough to take care of himself," Sydney said as Raoul swatted his hands away when he tried to take some of Claude's squid. He rubbed the spot where it stung and saw Florence coming back. "Oh, there he is! Who were you talking to?"

"Charlotte," he answered nonchalantly as he sat next to Claude.

"She sure took her damn time, we waited for ages on her," Claude scoffed as Florence raised his eyebrow at his comment.

"Didn't we meet her yesterday?" he said.

Claude smiled at him. "As I said, we waited for ages on her," he repeated as Luke had a puzzled look.

"We found out who took the picture of Noah and me," Florence explained to Luke. "It was one of my ex-fiance's friends," he added, making Luke's eyes wide open.

"You had a fiancée?" Luke asked with some disbelief hinted in his voice.

Florence nodded. "Yes, but we're still close friends though," he replied as he turned to Claude. "She told me that her friends will be there tomorrow to talk things through. Hopefully, everything will go alright."

"No worries! You can handle this thing without breaking a sweat. I know you can!" Luke said with a wide, encouraging grin. "Besides, Claude will be there as well. He'll be there to help you if things really do go south."

"Don't worry our pretty little head over it. It's just as Luke said, I'll be there with you," Claude smiled, patting his head.

Sydney slammed his hand on the table and looked at him with fierce eyes. "Don't go easy on them! Sue them and their family! Rip those girls to shreds!" he said. When he tried to down his third glass, Raoul snatched his glass from him. "Hey, what the fuck dude?"

Raoul finished his glass and put the glass down. "You've had enough. Eat your food," he said as Sydney tried to argue with him. "Don't you have an early day tomorrow?"

That shut Sydney up instantly. He quieted down and ate his mozzarella sticks with a grumpy face.

"Maybe we should get Adrian involved," Claude spoke after he thought about it little. "He's good at scolding people and is even better at threatening them in ways that may seem polite but most definitely aren't. Besides, if you really do want to teach them a good lesson, having him take care of it is your best choice. That and he is your brother, after all, a brother who cares very much his little brother," he smirked. "A little too much..." he thought while averting his eyes.

"That's actually a good idea! Florence! Call him!" Sydney ordered with his mouth full.

Florence looked down at his lap. "But I don't want to bother him any more than I already have," he mumbled and raised his head. "And I don't even know where he is nor what he's doing at the moment."

"Isn't he on a business trip?" Claude asked and Florence shrugged.

"No idea, I didn't have the time to ask him about it. But it must be something important since he barely reads the messages I send him," he replied.

"So that's a no-go," Claude sighed.

"C'mon you two! You don't need Adrian to start a fight, the two of you could easily go head to head with them in a catfight," Sydney smiled mischievously as Claude matched his smile.

"That's actually a pretty good plan," Claude commented, making Florence and Raoul look hopelessly at them.

They continued talking about topics that interested them somewhat until the clock struck midnight. Luke's phone buzzed and saw that his older sister was waiting for him outside. "Ah, my sis is here," he said to catch the other's attention.

Sydney yawned as he stretched his arms and legs. "Yeah it's better if we go home," he said as the others agreed.

Claude lightly shook Florence awake who was resting his head on his shoulder. "Wake up, Flory. We're going home," Claude hushed.

He rubbed his eyes and slowly opened them. As he stared off into space, the others prepared themselves to leave. "Home?" Florence mumbled as Claude pulled him up. He stood in place as Claude put his coat on for Florence.

"You only had one drink and you're already acting like this," Claude chuckled as Florence mumbled something incoherent back to him. "He must've done it because of the phone call with Charlie. Well, at least he didn't say or do something strange."

"I wanna sleep," Florence mumbled as he slowly closed his eyes again.

Claude put his own coat on and gestured to Florence to get on his back. "Come, I'll give you a piggyback ride," he said as Florence slowly followed his movements and fell asleep again when he was leaning on Claude. Claude turned to the others with a smile. "Alright, let's go."

Raoul dropped them off in front of Florence's apartment. Claude gave up on waking Florence up after a few shakes and carried him up after saying goodbye to Raoul and Sydney. When he reached the entrance, Claude fumbled with the keys while he was trying not to wake him up from his deep slumber.

"Finally," he muttered as the door clicked open. He closed it back, took his shoes off, and softly put Florence on his bed.

Right when Florence felt the soft mattress under him, he struggled to take his coat and shoes but gave up when it became more difficult. Help me change... please," he mumbled and fell asleep again.

Claude scoffed as he stroked Florence's cheek with his thumb. "You're that confident in me, huh?" he whispered with a smile. "I can't let you down now, can I?"

The next day after school and work for Florence, they were standing across from Charlotte's place for the second time that week.

Claude squeezed his hand when he saw how nervous Florence was. "I got your back if anything happens," he smiled. "So if you feel uncomfortable, tell me. We'll leave right away."

"Sure, but I'm fine though. No worries," Florence smiled back and turned back to the door as his face got serious again. "Let's make an end to all this drama."

A/N late again I know. I finished it early but I deadass forgot to tell my proofreader to read it until it was already midnight. Idk if I can publish a new chapter this week. I have three tests and 2 essays due from Monday till Wednesday, so the chance is very slim. We're nearing the end of the season anyways but I still need the work the last few chapters out. Till next week and maaaaaybe this week guys. I'm gonna yeet to genshin and don't kill mice

-Jerry Da Mouse