Rêveuse

Chapter 23.

Present

"No! I don't want to hear a single noise out of your mouth!"

"But-"

"Shut it!"

"No!"

"Céline!"

"Don't get me involved in this," I sigh as I sit between Charles and Evie on a plane from Costa Rica. We're leaving early because the three of us in an AirBnB wasn't the best idea.

Charles and I can't really work on us with Evie around. Evie and I can't really keep going with our vacation like we normally do. Evie and Charles are friends, but she's avoiding him as much as possible because he keeps asking cryptic questions about her dating life and about Pierre. If he thinks he's sneaky he's lost his mind. I'm sure there's something going on between Evie and Pierre, or that he's trying to get them back together.

"It's a simple question," Charles argues.

"I will hit you," I say as I turn my head to him. If they keep bickering back and forth right over my head then I will go insane. It's a fourteen hour flight and we're not even halfway.

Charles looks at me and his lips go into a smile, "you'll hit me?" he asks in amusement.

Evie reaches over me and hits him as hard as she can, accidentally hitting me at the same time. I turn to Evie who apologizes to me but gives Charles the evil eye. We were on a regular, public flight, flying economy, which wasn't ideal. People recognized Charles all the time and I just knew that people would question the way he suddenly showed up in Costa Rica. I just hope no one recognized me, or else it would be difficult to explain to our parents, who think we're about to start world war III everytime we're left alone.

Charles and I pretended nothing was going on between us when Evie was around, even though she obviously knew. It just felt weird to be all affectionate around her when we aren't even used to it yet. We're slowly easing back into it by subtle touches that send shivers up my spine, small glances with tiny grins when no one is looking, and kisses every now and then when Evie isn't in the room. On the plane I slept with my head on Evie's shoulder rather than his.

We flew to the Milano airport and I hugged Evie goodbye as she was getting a flight back to the Netherlands. She hugged me a little tighter than usual, whispering a quiet "I'm rooting for you" over my shoulder. I'm pretty sure she motioned something to Charles as well, further proving that she knew exactly what was going on. She gathered her things and was just about to walk away.

"Say hi to Pierre from me," I said casually as she was rumaging through her bag for her passport.

"Next time I see him... I'll get Max to tell him for you," She replied with a sarcastic smile. It wasn't as easy as I thought to get it out of her. "Remember," she said as she put her hand on my shoulder, "Charles probably couldn't tell you the length of a ruler... don't listen to him."

Charles scoffed with the most offended look on his face while I laughed. She patted his chest quickly before she took her suitcase and left, waving to us as she walked off. I was left there with Charles by my side, with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face as he slightly turned his body to me.

"Ils sont définitivement de nouveau ensemble," They're definitely back together, he tells me and I shake my head.

"Non ils ne sont pas," No they're not, I reply. "Ils dorment probablement ensemble en essayant de se détester." They're probably sleeping together while trying to hate each other.

"Pourquoi pensez-vous cela?" Why do you think that?

"Elle s'extasie sur le fait qu'elle ne pouvait pas le supporter," She was raving about how she can't stand him, I explain. "Elle n'essayait certainement pas de me convaincre." She definitely wasn't trying to convince me.