( NOT EDITED / PROOFREAD )

Charles Leclerc coughed loudly, and quite obnoxiously.

Some of the other drivers sent him questioning looks, but the Monegasque waved them all off.

"Connard!" ( Asshole ) Charles cursed, shushing the spanish man. Who furrowed his brows, a genuine confused look etched onto his face. Charles grit his teeth. "Be quiet."

Carlos rolled his eyes, before Pierre stood up and pulled the boys away from the rest of the group, sending them apologetic looks.

Pierre took the two to a more secluded area, before Charles exclaimed. "Why the hell did you scream that out loud?!"

Carlos rose a brow at the Monegasque's sudden outburst. "Sorry, mate. I thought it was known."

Charles rose a brow, as Pierre watched silently. "What's known?"

"Mate, you're like in love with her or something." Carlos snorted, a small smile on his face. Charles stiffened. "I- No."

"No, what?"

Charles gulped, his jaw tense, his eyes softened a little, as he glanced behind Carlos, a giggly Juliette sat a few meters away, his heart clenched. Charles' tense body concerned the two other drivers. Carlos placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey-"

He sighed. "Carlos, I'm not talking about this with you." Carlos's demeanor changed, into more of an amused one, he shared a glance with Pierre, before chuckling.

"Aha! Me and Lando were right." Carlos wagged a finger in Charles's face, which contorted into a confused one. "Huh?"

"You do love her." Carlos teased, Pierre stayed silent, not wanting to interfere. Charles shook his head. "Look, I don't know what I feel."

A lie.

Charles definitely knew how he felt, but it scared him. It scared him because he never knew he could care for a person so much. Butterflies would flutter in his stomach whenever she would grab his arm when laughing, he would catch himself staring at her in many of the team meetings, his heart would speed up whenever the two were in close proximity.

Charles felt a bit possessive over her, he absolutely despised seeing men who were completely out of her league talk to her, she deserved better and he knew that.

He wanted her. Actually, he needed her. Charles felt as if he was suffocating under the gut wrenching desire that consumed him.

"But when I do, I'm definitely not telling you or Lando anything, you two are little fuckers!" Charles added, lighting up the atmosphere. Although, he was quite loud.

He caught the attention from Lando, who was sat back in the lounge. "What about me?" He yelled back.

Charles cringed. "N-Nothing!"

Lando eyed the three men before falling back into conversation with Max, who had been completely engrossed with a new game on his phone. Juliette noticed the interaction and let herself get a little nosy.

Juliette's head turned, her eyes falling on the Monegasque, slightly watching him as she still held up a conversation with Mason.

Charles's eyes met hers, a small smile played his lips. His dimples deepened. His eyes glistened as a giddy feeling sprouted in the pit of his stomach in the heat of the moment.

Juliette had an unreadable expression on her face. Resulting in Charles raising a brow, confused.

That didn't go unnoticed by Carlos and Pierre, who turned to look at what Charles was looking at.

Once Carlos and Pierre's eyes landed on Juliette, smirks etched onto their expression. They started to get into a more heated conversation with Charles.

Juliette attempted to make out what they were saying, but it was quite difficult too, especially with their different accents.

Mason reluctantly tapped her knee. "You still there?"

Juliette's eyes snapped back to the englishman, a small, sheepish smile appeared on her face. "Sorry, I blanked out."

Mason hummed. A small silence wavered upon the two, Mason sipped onto his drink. Juliette played silently with her fingers, messing around with it slightly.

"Are you dating Leclerc?" Mason asked, bluntly, yet innocently. Juliette was taken aback by his abruptness. "Seriously? No way, I've known him since I was practically a baby. It would be weird."

"Are you sure? Cause the way he's looking at me and you makes it seem like you guys are." Mason chuckled light- heartedly, his head gently ushering to the Monegasque who stared down the two. Juliette swallowed. "Um, he can be a bit . . . overbearing sometimes." Mason nodded, a teasing smile played his lips. "If that's the case, then he probably likes you or something."

Juliette giggled. "The way you described it makes me feel like I'm back in middle school, gossiping about crushes."

Mason grinned, a small laugh leaving his lips. "I'll be your gossiping buddy."

Juliette nodded, her pearly whites evident as a toothy smile etched onto her face. "Deal."

ஓ๑♡๑ஓ

Juliette and Mason had gotten quite along, the two shared similar interests and surprisingly had a lot of mutual friends.

The sun was setting, streaks of orange and pink littered the sky, as the sun slowly dropped through the horizon, giving the area a bit of a golden hour look.

Juliette sighed, glancing at the time on her phone. "Well, I'm gonna see you guys later. Bruna's waiting for me at home." She announced to the group, before multiple groans of protest were heard.

"Cmon, Juli! At least come to Charles's yacht, it's not even 8pm yet." Max pleaded, a small pout on his lips. "Tell Bruna to come as well. The more people the better."

Juliette refused to fall into their trap again. "No thanks, Bruna and I have other priorities we have to tend to."

" I bet those ' priorities ' are you and Bru binge watching Brooklyn Nine - Nine." Daniel teased, raising a brow as Juliette scoffed. "To be fair, it's a good show." Daniel gradually nodded, agreeing with her statement.

"Let me drive you back." A new voice was heard from behind Juliette, she turned to meet the familiar green eyes of Charles.

A small, tight lipped smile formed on Juliette's lips. "Don't worry, I'll just order an uber or something."

Charles shook his head. "No way, you're not gonna leave on your own. Especially since the sun is setting."

Juliette's eyes raked over Charles's face, not giving him a response. His eyes glanced over hers as well, admiring every aspect of her face. She eventually nodded, muttering a ' fine '.

Lando piped in. "Wait, how are we gonna get into Charles' yacht? We don't have the ke-"

A jingle was heard from Daniel's hands, halting Lando's words. "Lucky me, Charles in-trusted me with one of the only spare keys to his yacht."

Multiple confused yet shocked expressions spread across the group.

"Daniel?! Out of all people has your spare keys? He has the brain capacity of a carrot, and cannot be trusted with anything!" Lando insulted the Aussie, who placed an offended hand on his chest.

"I take that very offensively. I'm trustworthy!". Daniel protested, Pierre rose a brow, partly agreeing with Daniel. "Not with secrets, but with things, yes."

Juliette cringed, obviously not agreeing with Pierre's statement. "I agree with Lan, Daniel has half a brain cell and cannot be trusted with anything."

Daniel lightly punched her shoulder, Juliette sent him a glare, resulting the him backing off.

Charles then came to his rescue.

"Surprisingly, as immature Dan is, he can actually keep track of things." Charles shrugged, as the group mumbled a few responses.

Daniel and the rest of the group, separated from Juliette and Charles, who walked through the beach, to get to Juliette's beach chair that was quite far away. She still had some of her stuff there.

Juliette felt the grains of sand lace through her toes, as she crossed her arms across her chest, a small gust of wind flowing through her brown, ashy, locks.

Charles walked alongside her, his hands hung to his sides, he was in a swimsuit as well. Ironically, it was red.

Juliette loved golden hour, it often emphasized lots of her features, her honey colored eyes turned vibrant at that hour, her hair looked more fiery, the lighting of the sky and the sun intensified the light blonde accents that lingered throughout her hair.

Juliette broke the silence that rippled through the two, attempting to brighten up the atmosphere. "Poor Mason, he got scared of that nasty glare you were sending us." She chuckled lightly. Charles furrowed his brows. "I wasn't glaring."

"Oh, you definitely were." Juliette argued, a small grin on her lips. Charles rolled his eyes. "I was . . . observing."

"Hm . . . sure." Juliette responded, sarcasm seeped into her tone. Charles shrugged, a genuine expression on his face. "What? It was weird seeing you get along I've never expected you to get a long with."

Juliette beamed, her thoughts wandered back to the amusing conversation with Mason. "He was cool, and surprisingly, loved so many things that I love too."

Charles remained silent, nodding slowly. Juliette pushed his shoulder playfully. "Just don't ruin the vibe with your weird stares."

"You're making me look like a perv! I'm just observant." Charles exclaimed, as the two arrived to the beach chair she sat in.

She laughed, the atmosphere loosing its tension, as she slipped her beach dress back over her body, and grabbed all her things.

"Let's go." She stated, Charles smoothly wrapped an arm around her tense shoulders.

Goosebumps wavered over the skin of her back, uncontrollably making her shiver. A ghost of a smile played on Charles's lips.

He liked having that effect on her.