ma chérie | cl16

chapter twenty

author's note: the conversation in italics is in french <3

"What the hell is so urgent that you had to wake me up?! I was at a party a few hours ago!" Pierre stormed into the hotel room after Charles had opened its door. Pierre was carrying a coffee holder with two cups in his hands; when Charles had called him to come immediately, the Ferrari driver had also requested one cappuccino and a doppio.

It would be an understatement to say that Pierre was confused.

"Be quiet!" Charles' brows furrowed as he closed the door behind Pierre. Pierre rolled his eyes and noticed that the bedroom door was closed.

"Wait, do you have a girl here?" Pierre lowered his voice as he giggled. Pierre was an amazing friend; there was no doubt about that. But there was also no doubt that he was a pig.

"You're unbelievable," Charles shook his head, taking the hot coffee cups from Pierre. He went to the second room with a green, velvet L-shaped sofa and a TV.

"When you asked me to bring you a doppio, I thought of Addy. She's actually the only person I know who drinks doppio. I mean, who else even likes that? It's..." Pierre sat down on the comfortable couch, but then he glanced at Charles. His best friend immediately looked away at the mention of Adeline. And Pierre was many things—but he wasn't stupid. "She's here!" Pierre shouted out; his eyes were full of confusion.

"Can you stop screaming? She's sleeping!" Charles snapped at overreacting Pierre. However, he had to admit that it probably seemed strange that Adeline was at his place for the second time in a row (well, the closet incident was certainly unforgettable).

"I have to ask you something," Pierre let out a deep breath, preparing for what he was going to say. "Did you guys fuck?"

"You know, for a moment, I thought you'd ask me something smart," Charles sighed in annoyance as Pierre proved that he had only one thing on his mind. "We didn't. She got drunk with Lando yesterday, and they told me to come over. So, I did, and I took her here," Charles explained the situation as he reached out for his cappuccino.

"I'm glad you took her home. Lando is irresponsible," Pierre ran his hand through his hair.

"Well, you're one to talk. You literally left Addy with Lando," Charles wasn't afraid to call Pierre out. Of course, Adeline was a grown-up woman, and she could take care of herself. However, almost everyone already knew that she wasn't a drinker—and it usually didn't end up well when she did drink. "Anyway, before I came to that party, Addy had told me something strange."

"What did she say?"

"She said that I should leave her head for good. And then we talked," Charles paused for a while, thinking of the conversation between him and Adeline. "She told me that no one has treated her like me, that she's been hurt so many times. And she basically told me that she likes me, but she doesn't know what to do," Charles couldn't hide his nervousness. He was also playing with the coffee lid. Whenever he was stressed, he needed to have his hands occupied somehow. He'd always play with a label on a water bottle or a coffee lid.

"Well, it's true," Pierre admitted, seeing that Charles looked a little relieved. He was probably questioning all of the things she had said after drinking so many shots. "If you're asking me if she's into you, then yes. She is. And I also told her that you'd never break her heart," Pierre rested his elbows on his legs. "But she's also scared. I think that you're doing pretty well, though. You didn't scare her away yet. If she doesn't remember what she told you, it's gonna suck. But please, don't tell her what happened." Pierre added. The thing about his childhood best friend was that she'd get scared quite easily. If someone was pushing her into something, she was immediately running away.