𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒, charles leclerc

chapter twenty-two

it was three days after the funeral and juliet had seemingly reached the last stage of grief: acceptance. she knew there was nothing else to be done; anthoine was gone. pierre had told her she needed to move on for the sake of anthoine. she knew him, and knew that he wouldn't want his friends and family to dwell on his passing for long. all of his friends were bigger than their grief and couldn't let it define them.

so that's what juliet promised she'd do. she'd move on and be a better person for the sake of her sweet tonio. and that started with finally defining her relationship with a certain monégasque driver.

———
iMESSAGE!
charles leclerc and juliet gasly

juliet
hi charles

charles
hey, what's up?

juliet
can you come over? i'm in
monaco with victoria at george's

charles
okay? are you alright?

juliet
yes...i just want to tell you
something before you
leave for monza

charles
oh
are you not coming?

juliet
unfortunately not
touring law schools here

charles
here? in monaco?

juliet
yeah...figured i'd consider
avoiding some taxes on my
student debt

charles
okay i'm coming now

———

        charles grabbed his keys and got in his car, but not before searching his closet for something he'd had for what seemed like forever. he drove over to george's flat, parked his car in front of the building, and rang the bell.

the door buzzed open and charles ran up the stairs. he reached apartment 6 and knocked loudly on the door. tapping his foot on the ground, he got nervous as the doorknob in front of him turned, opening the door to reveal juliet.

"hi," she smiled and held the door open, "come in."

charles stepped into the apartment and followed juliet into the living room. "victoria isn't home, is she?" he asked as he glanced around.

"no, she slept at lando's. i swear she only comes here to hide away with him from george," she chuckled, sitting on the couch. charles took a seat on the chair across from her.

the two sat in silence for the next few minutes. juliet had no idea what to say; she had never done this before! so instead she kept her eyes on her hands, fidgeting with the silver rings on her fingers. charles did the same, but periodically looked up at the girl.

juliet took a deep breath, ready to finally break the silence. "so, um...you wanna know why i asked you to come here?"

"desperately," charles shot her his signature smile. the one that's so fucking cute.

she swept her hair behind her and fished down her shirt for her necklace. well, his necklace. she started fidgeting with it—because what else do girls do when they're nervous—and breathed in.

"i wanted to...tell you how i feel," she mumbled, "um, how i feel about you."

"oh? and how's that?" charles smirked at her, because he knew she felt the exact same way he did. or at least deeply hoped she did.

"i...i really like you charles. and i know that it's fucking weird because you're my brothers best friend, and we've known each other since i was seven, and i just—" she started, but he interrupted.

"juliet, juliet..." he exclaimed, trying to get her to stop rambling.

"what?" she stopped, the horse necklace still tangled in her fingers.

"i feel the same way."

those four words ran through juliet's head for a solid three minutes before she decided she'd needed to reply. he felt the same way.

"oh...really?" she spoke, but felt like she was running out of breath. "don't you dare be fucking with me leclerc, because i will kill you."

"i promise," he smiled endearingly, playing with the ring on his pinky.

a smile grew quickly onto juliet's face and her cheeks turned bright red. she just looked at the boy, the boy who felt the same way, and grinned at him. charles reciprocated the stare and smile, and juliet grew sheepish. she dug her face into her hands, not knowing what to do next.

"so, what do we do now?" she looked up and gulped, eyes still on the boy.

"um...i don't know if it's okay with you, but i'd really like to kiss you right now..."

"it's not like we haven't done it before," she replied boldly, placing her arms on the couch to pull herself up. it was with that charles stood up, taking two steps to meet her in the middle.

he grabbed her cheeks with one swift movement, pulling her closer to him. juliet's eyes fluttered shut as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

the boy leaned in and placed his lips on hers. he smiled into the kiss, and could feel her doing it too. his hands moved off her face and ran through her hair, and hers moved from his waist to his neck.

charles continued beaming in smiles and placing small kisses on juliet's lips; and he could swear in that moment he'd never been happier.

juliet, however, had caught glance of a...toy car? a toy car on the chair? she moved her face to the side as charles was about to kiss it again, looking at the chair.

"what's wrong?" a flushed charles muttered, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"did you bring that here?" she pointed her head to the couch, charles following with his own glance.

his face grew red out of embarrassment, but a smile stayed plastered on his face. "oh...yeah."

she let go of him and walked over to it, picking it up. "this looks so familiar, where'd you get it?" she asked, before it clicked in her head. "oh my gosh, pierre got me this for my sweet sixteen! why do you have this?"

well, you're a bit wrong about that one, juliet. "um, well pierre didn't buy that for you..." he scratched the back of his head, while juliet continued fidgeting with it.

"what? yes he did! he told me he..." she trailed off, another bell dinging off in her head. "you? why did you buy me this? we weren't even friends when i was that young."

"i, uh, pierre told me you were having a party, and i knew it'd be weird if i just showed up, so i went to the store and bought this for you. i was gonna tell pierre to give it to you from me, but i got scared of how you'd react and just—"

"stop. that's adorable," she interrupted him, "but...does that mean you..."

"yeah, yeah i did."

charles leclerc had been in love with juliet gasly since she was sixteen years old.

— notes!
atrocious i tell you!
i hate this but love
happy charles and
juliet

happy halloween
shawty baes 🤠