#arlo got a puppy

[winterfireice]

names for the ten year old

Arlo

Auggie (Augustine)

Shiloh

Atticus

Hugo

Jude

Felix



I’m going to go with Augustine (or more called Auggie)

[norrisleclercf1]

Can you do a story of Fernando or carlos being a really cute dad

A/N: I'm doing this for Fernando as I have 3-4 requests for dad Carlos

"Do I look like papá?" The mechanic turns, not expecting to hear a little voice over the whirling of the tire guns. Fernando did warn them ahead of time that his little boy would be at the race this weekend. "You do, Arlo." The little boy rushes off, probably to find his parents.

"Mama! They said I do look like papá!" Your attention is pulled from Lance smiling as your 7-year-old runs towards you and hugs your leg. "Of course my little one, you look just like him." Arlo smiles big, having always idolized his father.

"Maybe we should get him a mini copy of Fernando's suit." Lance jokes, but when Arlo whips his head towards Lance, he knew he said the wrong thing. "Can you? Can you? Can you?" Arlo starts to bounce around your feet as you stare down the young driver.

"Um, maybe." Lance cringes, Arlo already taking off. "Thanks for that." Lance mumbles a sorry while you chase after your son. "Arlo, don't run!" But his son doesn't listen seeing Mr. Stroll. "Mr. Stroll! Lance said I can have a suit like Papa? Can I?" He drags out of the I giving the older man puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry Mr. Stroll." Picking Arlo up, who keeps staring at the older man. "Christmas is soon, maybe Santa will bring you something." Arlo cheers wiggling out of your hold. "PAPA!" Covering your ears you sigh, seeing Fernando move quick through the crowds.

"There's my boy!" Scooping up Arlo, he spins him around littering his face with kisses. "Are you running your Mama ragged?" Fernando teases, seeing you trail behind looking tired. "I don't know where he got his energy from." You whine handing off his bag to his father.

"Oi, Arlo are you being bad? Because if you are I'm giving you to someone else." Arlo's eyes go wide as he wraps his arms tight around his father. "No, no I'm not being bad." "Good, now let's go see who we can terrorize." Fernando giggles as you watch Arlo and your husband rush off.

"Now, who should we go terrorize?" Fernando asks, moving through the paddock. "There!" Fernando smirks high fiving Arlo as he puts him down. "Here you go buddy." Fernando hands Arlo a small water gun. Moving quick Arlo jumps out and starts to spray Carlos.

"What the, agh!' Carlos yells as he get's drenched in water. "Dammit, Fernando!' The two Alonso's laugh as they rush off going to find their next target.

[jessicaloons]

Chapter 44:

Sometimes walking out is the one thing, that will find you the right thing

Masterlist - Previous - Next

"Do you really think it was a good idea? Taking him with us?" I asked, while Arlo spread out in my lap, yawning.

"He will be fine! Everyone will look out for him when we're in the car..." Charles replied, scratching our little baby's head "Look at him! Could you leave this cutie behind? No, you couldn't!"

"No, I couldn't, you're right." I chuckled, leaning back in my seat.

Since the moment I walked through the door and Arlo appeared in my peripheral I was done for. He followed me everywhere I go, always tilting his head adorably when I ignored him for a moment.

"He's a mama's boy..." Charles sighed, and I looked at him.

"He loves his daddy just as much..."

"Absolutely not true! But its okay, he's your baby boy..." he leaned back as well and as if on cue, Arlo scrambled up over the armrest and console, making himself comfortable rolled up in Charles lap "Oh well, never mind, he's my baby now." he chuckled, gently rubbing the little puppy's back.

"He's our baby!" I insisted patting Arlos head before I put on my headphones, watching how Charles leaned a little down, cooing at the little fur baby.

I started a movie and by the end of it I saw that Charles fell asleep, his seat reclined and Arlo rolled up on his chest, slumbering as well. Carefully I grabbed my phone out of my bag and took some pictures, knowing that Charles would love them, then I reclined my seat as well and put on some music, trying to sleep a little myself. I watched Charles and Arlo for a while when I must’ve fallen asleep.

"Shhh… it’s okay. We‘re okay. Just…" I heard Charles mumbling next to me, shifting around "All good, Arlo."

I slowly opened my eyes and saw Charles sitting, a wet stain on his T-Shirt, Arlo halfway wrapped up in his hoodie. I sat up immediately and they both flinched.

"What happened?" I asked and both looked at me.

"There was a little accident. All under control. We just need a moment in the bathroom." he got up, searching through his backpack "See? I used to have a spare shirt with me because of Liam in the past, now because of Arlo. All good." he walked away and I looked over his seat, where everything looked dry and clean.

After a couple of minutes Charles returned with Arlo, the puppy with slightly wet fur, wrapped up in a towel and Charles with a new shirt on, he handed me Arlo right as a flight attendant appeared, handing him a plastic bag.

"Here you go Mr. Leclerc." she smiled at him and then at me and Arlo "If you need anything else, just call me."

"Thank you." Charles nodded, while he packed his wet t-shirt and hoodie into the plastic bag, stuffing it back into his backpack.

"I guess such a long flight was a little too much…" I said quietly, stroking Arlo’s back.

"Maybe a little. But it’s okay. We’re almost there."

"And then it’s welcome to Miami, Arlo."

"There's a new family member since China? The little one is here as well?" Natalie asked and I smiled.

"Yep, his first big trip with us. We won’t take Arlo with us to every race, well out of Europe at least. But he's still in the phase where he has to get used to us so we didn't want to leave him at our family to take care of him..." I smiled and she nodded.

"Arlo was your gift from Charles for your second anniversary?"

"Yeah, he's crazy! After last year surprising me with tickets for the Era's Tour, even meeting Taylor, I was like, he can't top that... and then I come home from the supermarket and this little fur baby appeared out of nowhere and yeah... crazy!" I chuckled

"Maybe he's your good luck charm then for this weekend!" Natalie laughed.

"That would be amazing, we'll see I guess." I waved goodbye and followed Julie back to our hospitality, where Arlo was playing on the lawn with Charles and Liam, the moment he saw me he bolted and Charles got up immediately but then relaxed when he saw that Arlo was running towards me.

"Hey my little boy..." I cooed and scooped him up, smothering him with kisses before I sat him back down, walking to Charles and Liam.

"For one second I thought he would run off... you scared me, you little rascal!" Charles bent down, scratching his head "But of course, he only saw you and we're long forgotten..."

"Oh don't be so dramatic!" I laughed, watching Arlo playing with Liam.

"I'm not dramatic, I'm honest. But it's okay, I understand him." he laughed pulling me to his side, kissing my temple.

"Ewww don't kiss. That's eww..." Liam scrunched his nose and began to giggle hysterical when Charles picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder and tickling his sides "No stop! That's unfair... Charlie..."

"You want me to give you some kisses? Huh? Bubba?" Charles laughed and I joined in.

"Yeah, come on, give your favourite auntie a kiss."

"Nooooo... girls have cooties!" the moment Charles sat him down he ran off, Arlo following him.

"I don't have cooties!" I pouted a little and Charles laughed, pecking my lips.

"Nope, you don't have cooties... but even if you would have, I still would kiss you." he chuckled and I rolled my eyes playfully, when I saw a young boy approaching.

"You've got a visitor." I smiled at the boy, waving him over and he shyly stepped next to Charles, who turned around and smiled at him.

"Oh wow, look at you!" Charles said, gesturing to the boys Ferrari shirt, cap and shoes.

"Hi Charles." the little one said nervously, and Charles kneeled down "Could you- umm could you sign my car and cap? Please? If it's okay?"

"Of course! Do you have a pen?" he asked, and the boy nodded, turning a little to his mother, who opened her purse, but then searched frantically for the pen.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I must've lost it!" she said, looking at her son, whose shoulders slumped a little "I'm really sorry, Micah."

"How about we take a picture together?" Charles asked, and the little fan nodded "Great... now a big smile for the camera!" he said and the mother of the boy took a picture, right when Arlo jumped into the frame.

I walked back into the Audi hospitality looking for my bag.

"Do you need anything?" Julie asked and I nodded.

"Do you know where my bag is? I need a sharpie for Charles." I said.

"Oh yeah, wait." she walked in the back and pulled my bag out "Here you go. Oh wow, you have a lot of sharpies?" she chuckled when I pulled one out of the zipper bag.

"I'm with Charles, do you know how often people ask for an autograph and then their pen doesn't work? Or they don't even have one? Yeah no, their sad faces? Nope. So, I carry around some myself, just in case." I shrugged and she smiled.

"That's cute!"

"Girlfriend duties, I guess." I walked outside, where the little boy petted Arlo's head

"Here." I handed Charles the sharpie and Micah made big eyes.

"Looks like you're getting that autograph after all!" Charles smiled, taking the car from the floor, signing it "On your cap as well? Yeah? Alright."

"Thank you so much! Can we-... umm can we maybe take a picture with you too, Lizzie?" Micah looked at me and I smiled, kneeling down next to Charles, with enough space for Micah to stand in between us "Thank you!" he smiled and after one last pat on Arlos head he and his mum walked off, waving us goodbye.

"You made his day!" I smiled at Charles who cocked an eyebrow.

"Me? Who brought out a pen so I can sign his car and cap?

You know how many fans day you already have made with carrying a pen with you all the time?"

"I mean, I'm with you. I have to be prepared for your fans!"

"Our fans, cara mia."

I rolled my eyes and laughed. His fans. Most definitely his fans.

"I don't understand why they didn't manage to bring your car back to the pits and then get it ready for you to drive for at least half an hour? 20 minutes?" I asked, my legs dangling in the pool.

"I don't know. I made a mistake and that's what you get for it.

It's like this." Charles scratched Arlo's ears and I sighed.

Miami didn't start the way we hoped it would. After Charles spin in FP1, making him miss the entire session and my engine problems in SQ2, making me start the sprint from P15, I hoped that the Saturday would be better for us. And for Charles it turned around with a second place in the sprint race and a P2 in qualifying. Not for me though. The car didn't feel good the entire sprint race and in Q1 my worst nightmare came true and I had to stop the car, setting no time, making me start from P20 in the race. I made it from P15 to P9 in the sprint, but from P20? Not a single point this weekend. Another bad weekend, right when Sainz was in talks with Audi about my seat in the team. On the way back to our hotel I looked out the window, deep in thoughts when I felt Charles knuckles brushing gently over my cheek.

"Cara mia?" he asked and I nodded slowly "I know it's looking bad right now, but you're an amazing driver! Overtaking in tight corners is one of your best treats! Don't give up already... the race is long and you can make up a lot of positions, okay?"

"I have to finish ahead of Sainz at every race. I have to show Audi that I'm the better driver." I breathed out, making Arlo look up from my lap, tilting his head

"And you will. It was their car that ruined your weekend so far! Not you! You didn't make any mistakes!" Charles insisted

"I know, but it's a scary feeling, not to know if I have a seat next year or not."

"Audi would be stupid, if they would choose him over you." he scratched Arlos head "Come on, little one, cheer up your mummy."

"You already did that, Arlo." I kissed his head and he stretched "Ouhhh big stretch!"

"He's so cute!" Charles chuckled a little and I nodded.

"You topped Taylor. I honestly didn't think it was possible, but here we are!"

"I mean, just buying you the tons of different versions of her new album would've been boring..."

"No! That was already enough!" I shook my head and smiled at him "You're too good to me!"

"Only the best for you, cara mia." he took my hand in his and kissed the back of it "And now stop frowning and worrying, you'll be amazing tomorrow!"

"If you say so."

"You'll see, I have a feeling that we'll have a good race. You and I."

Charles POV:

"Swap positions with Sainz." I couldn't believe my ears.

Swapping already? He was only faster because he was in my DRS range.

"Why?"

"Sainz is faster."

"But I don't un-..."

"We will swap back if he can't catch up to Verstappen." I heard that before. And what happened was, we did not swap back. I lost a potential race win. But this time it was different. Fred was here. He made the final decisions. I swallowed hard. Letting Sainz by. I focused on my tyres. My lap times. My pace. But after 10 laps, I was still in his DRS range, having definitely more pace than him.

"I'm destroying my tires like this, guys. We need to swap back."

"Copy. We are checking."

"No, there is nothing to check. We need to swap back." I was getting frustrated "Xavi?"

No answer. I knew what that mean. Sainz refused to swap back.

"Xavi? Tell them that I have pace. I can catch Max."

Radio silence. Once again fooled by my own team. Why was I this stupid? I kept pushing and pushing to overtake Sainz by myself but he left me no space. He was ruthless. And the inevitable happened.

"I need to box. My tyres are fucked. I have no grip at all."

"Copy." at least now Xavi reacted "And box for hards, next lap."

"No. Not next lap. NOW!" I was getting furious.

I was sick of it. Again, I did what my team asked from me and again I would be the one losing.

"We will box next lap." his words were final.

"Fantastic." I spat out.

I was almost blinded by rage. I did what was asked of me, although it didn't make any sense and here we were again. I was fooled again. After I had my new tyres, I stopped listening at all to what Xavi said. I drove the way I thought it was right, ignoring his input. At one point I managed to get Sainz behind me, he was not able to go my pace and I made sure it would stay this way, pushing as hard as I could go. I had Oscar in front of me, then Checo. It was a long way up to P3 but when I parked my car and got out I congratulated Lando for his first win and then went straight to my weighing. Not to my team. I know it wasn’t moat of them’s fault, but I felt betrayed. I had good pace. I was managing well. I was getting closer to Max. But they ruined my chances of trying to fight with him.

"Hey mate." Max said when I sat my helmet down, wiping my face with a towel "Amazing for Lando, right?"

"Yeah. I’m happy for him." I tried to sound cheerful. Tried to not show how furious I was "Do you know where Lizzie ended up?" I looked at him but he shook his head and I sighed.

"Why didn’t you ask your engineer?"

"I forgot." I lied.

"Then ask her herself." he nodded towards someone behind me and I turned around.

Just a moment later she pressed her warm and soft body against mine and I felt all my anger and frustration leaving me.

"I’m so sorry, Charles… Pete told me what they asked from you, how they messed up your race…" she whispered in my ear and I took a deep breath, inhaling her scent "Stop smelling me, I’m all sweaty and disgusting."

"Oh stop…" I chuckled, kissing the side of her head "How was your race? I didn’t ask Xavi where you finished? I was ignoring him…"

"I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to make it up to P6…" she began and then let out a surprised squeak when I lifted her up, spinning her around "Charles!"

"P20 to P6? Fucking hell, Lizzie! You’re brilliant, you know that?" I was so proud of her "What an amazing race!" I sat her back down and kissed her, not caring for the cameras flashing, the people cheering, not even the surprised gasp she let out.

"Go get your trophy…" she whispered, cheeks flushed, pushing me towards Max before she disappeared in the crowd.

"Oh lover boy, you’re so down bad for her…" he laughed and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah I am. I mean look at her? Look what she’s doing?" I shrugged and Max nodded.

"No, I totally get it."

"So, little Lando is a race winner now." I said, taking a bottle of water and sitting down.

"Yeah baby I am!" Lando cheered as he walked through the door, going for some water himself, before plopping down in the chair next to me "That safety car was your guys doom."

"Maybe, maybe not." I replied and Max nodded along, watching the race highlights.

"They made you swap with Carlos?" he looked at me and I followed his look on the screen "And he refused to swap back then or…?"

"I don’t know. We’ll see later at the debrief I guess…" I said, trying to sound calm although I was anything but it.

I was putting on a brave smile. Waving as the crowd was cheering for us. Spraying Lando and Max with champagne. Smiled for the cameras. Then I left. Getting into the golf cart that would bring me back to the hospitality to get prepared for the media pen and press conference.

"Directly to the media pen, if that’s possible?" I asked the driver and he nodded. I didn’t want to go back to my team. Not yet. So the media pen was the only place I could hide for now. All questions were about the swapping of our positions, the not swapping back, how I was met with silence when I asked why this decision was made. I just smiled, said it all would be discussed at the race debrief. Lizzie walked in, talking with Mia and both looked relieved when they spotted me, walking over.

"Where the fuck were you?" Lizzie looked at me with wide eyes.

"Didn’t want to go back to the team…"

"You could at least tell me that? Did you say something to the press already?" Mia sighed.

"I did, sorry, but I said nothing that would make us look bad, don’t worry." I reassured her and she nodded.

"I’m sorry about what happened…"

"Yeah, me too. It’s like this…" I replied and Lizzie rolled her eyes next to her "Can we wait at the press centre? I don’t want to go back to the team…"

"Umm- yeah. Sure." Mia nodded and I looked at Lizzie.

"See you later, cara mia." I kissed her cheek but she held my hand "What?"

"Your team fucked up today, okay? Not you. You did amazing. You fought back and made it even onto the podium… with the input they were giving you, you wouldn’t make it up onto P3, okay? That was you. You alone. Don’t blame yourself… please." she looked at me, her eyes soft and pleading.

"I know. It was out of my hands today." I nodded and she smiled a little, pecking my lips.

"Good. Pick me up later? Arlo is probably missing us like crazy already…"

"I’ll text you."

"I never saw you this quiet at a press conference…" Mia said as we slowly walked back to the hospitality.

"I didn’t want to say something I might regret." I replied, sighing when I spotted the big, prancing horse "Let’s get this over with…"

"It’ll be okay, come on now." she smiled and we walked inside, where we were met with silence, everyone looking up from what they were doing, glancing at us.

"Charles…" Andrea walked over, handing me my bag with my bracelets and watch.

"Thanks mate."

"I’m sorry." he whispered and I nodded, putting my watch back on "I brought your bag and stuff down from your room… I figured you want to leave as fast as possible."

"Thank you, Andrea." I took the bag from him and walked to the quiet hallway with the bathrooms, locking myself in to one of them, quickly changing into jeans and Ferrari shirt. I laced my shoes when there was a knock on my door "One minute." I squashed my race suit, fireproofs and boots into the bag and put my RayBans on, unlocking the door.

"Fred wants to see you." Andrea said and I scoffed.

"Now? Can’t he say whatever it is at the debrief?" I handed him the bag and he shrugged his shoulders, handing me my phone, pass and car keys.

"I don’t know. He’s waiting at his office…"

"Alright. Thanks." I walked up the stairs, feeling a lot of eyes on me but I didn’t care. I was mad. That was no secret. I knocked once and opened the door when I heard Fred.

"Charles… come in, come in." he looked older than usually. Exhausted.

"You wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes. Charles, I know you’re not happy with the race today…" he began.

"Damn right. Not even 7 laps in and you already wanted me to swap positions… telling me we would swap back if Sainz wouldn’t catch up to Max, which he didn’t do, so when I had more pace again and said we need to switch back? Nothing. Xavi ignored me." I blurted out.

"Just like you ignored him in the end?" Fred raised his eyebrows.

"Wouldn’t I do that, I wouldn’t have ended up on the podium. So yeah. I ignored him."

"I understand Charles, I do. But you’re not alone on this team… we had reasons to believe that Carlos might be a little faster than you, so we had to give it a go. You have not all the input we have at the pit wall."

"And I understand that, but the race had barely started. I had to build up my pace before anything else, and as soon as I had it, we should’ve swapped back, like it was told to me! But we didn’t! I fucked up my tyres!" I was getting frustrated again.

"I know Charles. And it wasn’t right from us to not swap back. But Carlos…"

"I don’t care what Carlos said. Or what he did. He was slower. End of the story. That’s all that matters. He was slower. I was faster. I should’ve been allowed to swap back immediately when I asked for it and maybe I could’ve caught Max. We’ll never know."

"We told Carlos to swap back. But he said he can extract more from the car."

"Yeah? He said that too in the past. And that costed me a win in Silverstone. And maybe it costed me a win today as well…"

"Charles, you are both my drivers and I need to equally make sure that both of you can extract every ounce of performance. And if he says he can go the pace and push more, I have to let him try. Carlos has his own driving style on track, you have yours, but at the end of the day I have to make sure that you both don’t interfere with each other and have to make decisions you might not like, but they benefit the team."

"And did it benefit the team today? Did it benefit the team in China?" I asked him and he wiped his brows.

"No. But you have to understand-…"

"Why can he drive like he wants to, not giving a shit about me, the team, but as soon as I’m slightly doing the same, I’m the one to blame?"

"No one blames you! We just need to make sure that we are all on the same page for this season, Carlos is part of our team. Our family. We have to look out for each other and so when he steps over the line-…"

"It’s tolerated? He can do whatever the fuck he wants? Is that it what you’re telling me?" I was seething.

"Charles! It’s not-…"

"No. I’m done. I was promised that it would change. I was promised that now that Mattia is gone and I signed a long term deal with the team that I’m the number 1. The future. But still I get treated like shit. Still my races get compromised. Australia? China? Today? No, Fred, I signed because I believe in this team. In you. And in myself. But not like this. I want to be world champion with Ferrari more than anything else. But if this team doesn’t treat me like they want the same, I maybe need to find a new team." the words were out before I could stop them. They were true. Every single one. But still. I swallowed hard, Fred looking like I just punched him straight in the guts. I walked out of his office. Down the stairs. Out of the hospitality, a bunch of reporters already waiting. But I shook my head and walked past them. Not reacting to any of their questions. I walked straight into the Audi hospitality where Felix looked at me, shaking his head.

"A shame Charles. A real shame. I’m sorry!" he said and I nodded slightly "They should’ve listened to you."

"Something they tend not to do for some reason…" Lizzie said bitterly when she appeared next to me "Let’s get out of here, come on. Let’s go home."

"Are you sure? You don’t have to-…" I began but Felix patted my back.

"No. It’s good. You can go." he smiled a little and I nodded.

"Thanks Felix, I really appreciate it." I watched Lizzie walking back into the hospitality and a minute later she returned, an overly exciting Arlo in her arms "Hey my little boy. Come here." Lizzie handed him over and I cradled him close to my chest. He snuggled right into me, licking my face and my bad mood was almost gone.

"Come on. Let’s get you both home…" Lizzie smiled and we walked to the parking lots, where a bunch of fans were waiting, Arlo saw the many people and hid his face in my chest.

"Guys, can you leave us a little space? He’s a little scared…" I smiled and thankfully the crowd took a step back "Let’s get you in the car little one." I cooed at Arlo, sitting him down on my seat, before I turned back to the fans, Lizzie already writing autographs and taking selfies. I did the same and after a couple of minutes there was only a little girl and her father left, talking to Lizzie about the race. I opened the door for Arlo who jumped out, running straight to Lizzie.

"Hey my little one…" she cooed, kneeling down, her eyebrows scrunching together, a little scowl on her face, but it was gone after a second and she smiled again "Say hi to Sarah, Arlo." the young girl kneeled down as well, carefully sratching Arlos head.

"He’s so cute!" she smiled and Lizzie nodded, although not as enthusiastic as usual when it was about Arlo.

"He really is. Charles gave him to me for our second anniversary!" I smiled a little when she looked up and Sarah looked at her dad.

"Oh I know that look…" he chuckled.

"I want a puppy too, daddy."

"Puppies are a lot of work, you know? It’s not just all sunshine and rainbows… it’s a big responsibility, taking care of a little one." Lizzie explained and the girl nodded.

"Maybe when I’m older?" she looked at her father and he nodded.

"Yeah. Then we can discuss again." he looked at Lizzie, mouthing thank you "Come on now Sarah, I’m sure Lizzie and Charles need to relax now, after the race."

"Okay…" she got up and scratched Arlo’s head one last time before she looked at me "Bye Charles."

"Bye Sarah!" I smiled at her and she turned to Lizzie.

"Bye Lizzie!" she said and Lizzie hugged her.

"Bye Sarah!" Lizzie got up, waving the girl and her dad off "She was the cutest."

"Are you okay?" I asked as we walked back to the car.

"Hmm?"

"You looked like you’re in pain there for a minute?" I mustered her face, every little movement.

"Yeah, it’s nothing. Just a headache." she sat down, Arlo jumping on her lap, then I closed the door, rounding the car "Come on, let’s get out of here."

"Lizzie… you know that I can tell when you’re lying?" I looked at her pointedly.

"Okay, okay! God! I think I’m getting a migraine… it was pretty bad this morning already, and it’s only getting worse…" she rolled her eyes and I sighed "Can we now please go back to the hotel where I can take some painkillers and go to bed?"

"Yeah…" I looked her over and decided to not pressure her anymore for now. I was sure it wasn’t just a migraine she was hiding "You would tell me if your sleep paralysis would’ve started again, right?"

"Yes. Yes, I would." she mumbled, her head leaned back against the head rest, eyes closed "But it’s not that. Please believe me."

"Okay."

"Thank you."

"You should just call him? Or go to him..." Lizzie said when she saw me pacing back and forth.

"I can't! You haven't seen his face. Lizzie I said some horrible stuff." I groaned plopping down on the sofa.

After we arrived back in our hotel room and I took a long shower, in which I thought about what I had said to Fred I felt bad. Horrible. I shouldn't have said half of what I did. It wasn't his fault that Carlos didn't swap back. Could they anticipate it? Maybe. But at the end of the day he had more pace at one point, so they of course tried to maximise our performance. Letting out all my anger and frustration on Fred wasn't fair.

"Charles?" Lizzie straddled me, cupping my cheeks "Its Fred we're talking about. He loves you. Okay? Go. Talk to him. Explain why you said what you said. He'll understand."

"And what if not?" I whispered.

"Then you still apologise and tell him that you show him on track that you believe in him and his vision for the team." she gently kissed my lips and I felt myself melt into her. I pulled her tight into me, inhaling her scent "Come on now, you can do this." she got up and pulled me with her "Go."

"Okay..." I whispered, slipping on my shoes, leaving our room, making my way towards Fred's room a floor under ours.

I stood in front of his door for some time, five minutes, ten, maybe more, when I finally found the courage and knocked on the door. Anxiously waiting for Fred to open up and as soon as the door cracked open and I saw Fred's confused face I took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it. I mean not all of it. I was just so frustrated. But I shouldn't have said that I would look for a new team. I would never. You know how much this team means to me and I'm ready to give my all for it. But I just need some reassurance every now and then, I need to know that it's not me against the rest, like it was in the seasons before a lot of times. And I know that you treat us all fair and equally. I'm sorry-..." I blurted it all out and Fred looked at me with wide eyes.

"Charles..." he began but I shook my head

"I understand that your mad at me and need some time but I really wanted you to know that I'm sorry. And I will show you that it wasn't a mistake extending my contract and…"

"Oh you silly boy stop the rambling! I'm not mad at you! Was it painful to hear that you would look for another team? Yeah, but it also made me realise how fed up you must've been over the last seasons. I'm not mad, or hurt or anything else, okay?" Fred said and I looked at him.

"You're not mad?" I asked confused.

"I'm not mad. At least not at you." he shook his head a little.

"Okay..."

"After you left I thought a lot about what you've said. There are some things that need to change. Some things might take time, but there is one thing that I will change immediately." he sounded determined and I cocked an eyebrow "Miami was Xavi's last race as your race engineer."

"Lizzie, little Arlo is with us this weekend?" Clarkson asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, in Europe we take him with us as much as we can." I replied, smiling at the picture they showed of our little fur baby.

"Will he see a win of Charles or you?"

"I mean we will try it, right? With both our cars having new upgrades? We’ll see."

"Alright, let’s open the floor for questions."

"Alba Marquez. Marca. Carlos, how are the talks with Audi progressing? Your father said in an interview that for now he’s confident about the negotiations."

Negotiations?

"I don’t want to talk about that now. It’s still early in the season and I want to focus on my current team, not on my future team." Sainz replied, smirking knowingly.

Future team?

"That sounds like we will hear soon some big news?" the reporter asked and Sainz laughed.

"Next question." he said and I swallowed hard.

Why did it sound like I already lost my seat to Sainz? I felt the bike rise up my throat, everything becoming a blurry mess. I didn’t listen to the questions, trying to calm myself down as good as possible and whenever I was asked a question, I answered in short sentences. No details. Just straight up facts. But there were too many questions about my future in Audi. Too many questions if I already thought about a plan b if I would lose my seat to Carlos. I stuttered out that I would focus on this season, and then at the end of the year I would start to think about the next one. My heart was racing. Should I start looking for a new seat already?

"Michael Hauer. Autobild. Question for Carlos. Last year there was a physical altercation between your father and Lizzie in Maranello. The official statement read that it came to a verbal disagreement that turned physical as Lizzie punched your father. You were asked multiple times what this disagreement was about. You stated it was a simple disagreement over the race a day prior in Monza. Lizzie disagreed with your father and then overreacted?" the grey haired man in the first row asked and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes and say what really happened.

"Yes. That’s what I said and that’s what happened? What’s the question there for me?" Sainz asked and although he lied shamelessly, in all fairness, I had to agree with him, it wasn’t a question. It was more a statement.

"So you’re saying Lizzie punched your father because she had a different opinion about the race and not because your father said and I quote him here 'He, I guess he was referring to Charles, He should learn how to tame his bitch', after saying that 'She should go back in the kitchen and cook her man a meal'?" the reporter had a satisfied smile on his lips and I looked at him "The video that has been posted was without sound but as of today we have another video, from a different angle where the conversation that was being held was clearly audible. An interpreter translated the Spanish into English."

It was quiet in the room. Too quiet. The female reporters all looked at Sainz with wide eyes, some of them with an angry look on their faces. The male ones were just shocked. Then all eyes wandered to me and I felt slightly uncomfortable.

"Am I correct when I assume that you speak Spanish?" Michael Hauer asked me.

"I’m fluent in Spanish…" I replied when my phone vibrated.

"Good umm- I think that’s it for today. Good luck this weekend." Tom Clarkson ended the press conference and Sainz jumped up, leaving the stage immediately.

I checked my phone. A text from Charles. Check mate.

I walked back to the Audi hospitality, flanked by Julie and JK, as a lot of reporters were trying to get a word with me.

"No comments." Julie said for what felt like twentieth time, as I walked inside our hospitality and I already dialled Charles number, flinching when it rang behind me.

I turned around and looked at him, a slight smirk on his lips.

"What did you do?" I asked and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't do anything..." he replied, and I groaned.

"Charles! That was you! I know it!"

"Did I maybe write some fan accounts who I saw posting pictures from that day with me? Asking them if they knew someone who was in that school class and maybe finding someone who filmed it? Yeah. Did it take a damn long time because they weren't allowed to take their phones inside, and they were scared of the consequences they might have to face if it comes out that they filmed? Yeah. But did I reassure them that no one will ever find out their names? That I'm the only one who knows, and it stays that way? Yep, I did." Charles smiled and I pulled him in, crashing my body into his.

"Thank you... seriously..." I whispered and he stroked my back gently.

"I told you, I won't let them get away with it? Silencing me, us, by threatening to file an official complaint at the FIA because you were there? No. This is justice. And the look on Carlos face? Priceless." he chuckled a little.

"But you send that video anonymously, right? I don't want you to be in trouble because of me!"

"I'm not stupid, cara mia. Let's see how Audi likes the way Sainz sr. was talking about you and Carlos lying."

"I honestly don't care about that. I care more about the fact that everyone knows now that I didn't just punch him for no real reason. I mean, sure, violence never is the answer, and I shouldn't have punched him in the first place, but at least now everyone knows that I punched him because he's a sexist asshole." I shrugged my shoulders a little and Charles nodded.

"He deserved that punch, sadly you were-..." he began when his phone rang and he groaned after he saw who it was "That's Sylvia. She probably wants to talk to me about this little dumpster fire she has to take care off now."

"You should go, and don't look too pleased with yourself. You have to act innocent!" I said and he rolled his eyes "I'm serious!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure... I'll act all surprised.." he pecked my lips and left, not before scratching Arlo's head, who laid on one of the armchairs, rolled together.

"Lizzie? Can we talk?" Felix waved me over and I nodded

"Looks like the Sainz family has some explaining to do..." he winked and I grinned a little "That's good. The board should think twice if they want to replace their female driver with the guy who covered for his sexist father. Doesn't look to good on them."

"Are you sure?" I asked and he nodded.

"I will talk to them after Monaco. I want to discuss your contract extension with the board."

"Thank you, Felix. Really. You have no idea how much it means to me, that you, the rest of the teams has my back like this." I hugged him and he patted my back.

"You're our driver, little one. We want you. And we fight for you. And now off you go. I have some calls to make."

"Alright. And Felix?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for having so much faith in me."

Charles POV:

"... a disaster! Here in Imola! At home!" Sylvia was on the phone, while furiously typing away on her iPad "I don't know! No. No. Yes. Okay, talk to you later." she hung up the phone, groaning.

"What's going on?" I asked, as innocent as possible and her eyes narrowed.

"You don't know? Your girlfriend caused us a lot of trouble. Again!" she let out and I had to bite my tongue.

"What are you even talking about?"

"Haven't you seen the press conference? Where were you, by the way?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I was waiting for Lizzie, playing with Arlo, then you called, so I came? So, what did Lizzie do?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"There's a video going viral, from Maranello last year, that day she didn't have herself under control a-..."

"You mean when Carlos' dad called her a bitch that I should tame? After telling her to go back into the kitchen to cook a meal for me? Yeah, I know what he said, Lizzie told me as you know." I looked at her pointedly.

"Well, everyone knows it now. The cat's out of the bag, Ferrari put out a false statement while one of our drivers was lying about what happened."

"Thank god that driver is not me." I chuckled and if looks could kill, I'd be dead by now.

"Do you have any idea how this looks? For the team? For Carlos?" she spat out and I shook my head

"I told you to be honest and tell the truth about what happened! I told you that Ferrari should be on the right side!

You didn't listen. You didn't care. That's what you get. You fuck around and find out." I shrugged my shoulders when Fred walked in, together with Carlos.

"Carlos, we will have to put out a statement." Sylvia looked at him and he nodded in silence "This is a disaster for the team."

"Well, the team just tried to protect their driver. Oh no wait, their drivers' father. Hmm not a good statement, sorry..." I couldn't hold back and in the corner of my eyes, I saw Fred fighting a grin "I'm sure you'll come up with something. Just like last year. And now if you excuse me. The media pen is waiting for me."

I walked out of the hospitality right into Mia, the look on her face showed me that she knew where I was coming from.

"How convenient that this clip was found and released right when it looked like Audi would really offer Carlos a seat next season..." she said, and I nodded

"What a coincidence, no?" I winked at her.

"I don't even want to know if you had anything to do with it. But just for the record, I'm happy that video was found. The hate Lizzie got afterwards? Deemed to be an emotional, overreacting girl who didn't have herself under control? That wasn't fair."

"No it wasn't. Then again, what was fair when it came to the media's perception of Lizzie? The way she was portrayed? Talked down? Insulted?" I replied.

"You're right. But as much as I hate to admit it, it doesn't look good for Ferrari." she sighed "A podium or win would help." she wiggled her eyebrows and I laughed.

"I'm on it."

"I'll take Arlo to Joris, you take care of your fans. See you later" she kissed my cheek, walking away, Arlo following her.

I took some selfies, signed caps and shirts, before I said my goodbye, going straight for the Ferrari hospitality.

"There he is, go..." Joris unclasped Arlo's leash and he ran towards me, jumping excitedly up my feet "I thought he would never stop howling!" he shook his head, when I bent down, scratching the fur balls ears "You will have to learn to love me more than these other fellas! I'll take care of you at the track!"

"Loving you more than me? Possible. More than Lizzie? You lost. Don't even try to compete... did you see how his ears peaked up, just mentioning her name... Lizzie... see! Sorry Jo, but that's a battle you'll never win." I laughed setting Arlo down, right when Andrea walked in "Let me change real quick and then I'm good to go."

I put on my race suit and boots, leaving the hospitality with Andrea, walking towards the garage, when an Italian reporter joined us.

"Charles, quick question, is it true that the reason why you and Lizzie didn't speak up and tell everyone the truth about what happened was that Ferrari threatened to file a complaint against Lizzie, for trespassing a competitors' faculties?" he asked and I contemplated answering.

I didn't want to throw Ferrari under the bus. It was my team. My home. And since Fred was here it all changed. But on the other hand, I didn't want the people to think that I just accepted what Ferrari did to Lizzie.

"Partly true. The only people who witnessed what happened were Mattia, the three Carloses, Lizzie, Joris and 1. The direct threat came unfortunately from Mattia. He was the one who asked us to stay quiet otherwise the complaint against Lizzie would be filed." I answered honestly. It was Mattia who said that. And he and Sylvia were responsible for the statement.

"Will there be any consequences for the team? For Carlos?"

"I don't know. And I honestly don't know why the whole team should face consequences for one man's decision." we arrived at the garage and he nodded

"Thank you Charles." he walked away and I sighed.

"I didn't want to throw Mattia under the bus like that, but rather him than the team…"

"He did enough damage to the team. Its only fair if he takes the blame." Andrea said and I nodded thankfully "Come on now. Today is important. We need to get you on pole."

"I'll try it."

"And that's P4. You did a good job, we knew that the track doesn't suit our car." Bryan said and I sighed.

"Yeah, I hoped the update would help a little but it's like this." I said and drove back into the pits, climbing out of the car when Lizzie walked over, a bright smile on her lips.

"That was... hot." she whispered, and I laughed "Seriously, you should do that more often."

"What can I say, sometimes I really like the dark side." I shrugged my shoulders and she laughed.

"How was it with Bryan?"

"He did a good job. It's nice to have someone who actually listens to your input for once."

"That's good. Really good." she smiled, and we walked inside for our weighing "He's fuming, I would guess..."

"His problem."

"Who are you and what have you done to my sweet Charlie bear?" she laughed, and I pinched her side.

"Sweet Charlie bear realised that he sometimes has to be selfish and not so sweet..."

She nodded and as soon as we had our receipts we went to the media pen, where Mia was waiting already.

"You know that they will ask about it. Be neutral. Not petty. And for god's sake don't be happy about it!" she said and I nodded.

"Don't worry, I got this." I laughed, ready to face the interviews were I did what Mia asked of me and when we left and made our way back to our garage she looked relived. Not like Sylvia, whose eyes shot daggers at me. But I ignored her and took my helmet from Andrea who walked by.

"What was that?" Carlos asked when I sat my helmet down.

"What?" I replied, wiping my face with a towel.

"You overtook me in fucking qualifying! I was out in Q2 because of you!" he was fuming and I took a sip from my water bottle.

"Sucks, doesn’t it? When your own teammate does that?" I winked and he was taken aback.

"Wha- that was-… that was different!" Carlos said immediately.

"You’re right, it was, because you did stuff like that and it was okay for everyone. You were even praised for it. I do stuff like that and all of a sudden I’m a bad teammate… but thankfully the drivers championship is only for one driver… and not for him and his teammate." I grabbed my helmet and left a too stunned to speak Carlos behind.

"So you think you can win?" his voice was a sneer and I turned around "The championship?"

"I know I can. I will." I smirked.

"First podium for Ferrari in Imola since Michael Schumacher’s win in 2006. Sounds fancy." Lizzie kissed my shoulder and I laughed.

"First winner for Ferrari in Imola since 2006 would sound even fancier, don’t you think?"

"Mhhh… maybe, but you can’t have it all, no? But you know what you can have? Another win in Monaco." she smiled at me, looking over the railing onto the harbour, where hundreds of yachts were trying to secure their best spot along the race track.

"We’ll see. But I would have nothing against it, that’s for sure. But first I need to get the pole."

"I have a pretty good feeling for both."

"Or maybe it’s your first win of the season?" I pulled her in my lap, nipping at her lower lip and she let out a soft moan "Lizzie Doetterer wins her first home race of the year…"

"First? So Hockenheim will be my victory as well?" she cocked an eyebrow and I nodded.

"I’d say no one on the grid knows Hockenheim the way you do. You raced there for years. Testing several cars, for several teams. Hockenheim is yours to win this year." I nodded.

"I’m just glad there is a race in Germany this year, for me to drive in. Winning it? That would be freaking amazing, not gonna lie." she whispered and I kissed her slowly "You win Monaco. I win Hockenheim. Deal?" she breathed out against my lips and I smiled.

"Deal."

Right when I pulled her into a heating kiss Arlo drew attention to himself, beginning to howl, jumping up my feet.

"Silly little rascal, come up here." I picked him up and sat him down between Lizzie and me and he happily began to litter us with kisses.

"Our little fur baby doesn’t like to be left out." Lizzie cooed at him and he tilted his head a little, basking in the attention he got from Lizzie.

"I understand him. I hate it when I’m around you but can’t constantly pull you into me, kiss you, cuddle you…" I sighed, scratching Arlos head.

"Oh come on! You do that!" she laughed.

"Not true."

"So true! You can’t keep your hands to yourself!" Lizzie said pointedly and I shrugged.

"I mean I could, but why would I want to, when it’s you I’m touching?"

"Focus on me?" I looked at Elijah and he nodded.

"People were disappointed that you were barely in the last season of DTS. So we thought it’s Monaco, it’s your home race, Lizzie’s now too, kinda. We should film not just her, but also you. I have some amazing visions of split screens, showing you both at the same time, probably doing the same thing just in different hospitalities, divided by colour, but the work remains the same…" he replied and I looked at Lizzie, cuddling Arlo.

"What do you think?"

"Sounds fun. And I agree, you didn’t have much screen time last season…" she chuckled.

"Okay… but you know we still make a lot of things together? Like now, we were heading to my mum’s hair salon, I need a haircut."

"It’s almost like a ritual, before every Monaco GP, he goes and cuts his hair." Lizzie got up, grabbing Arlo’s harness, securing it on him.

"Be as natural as possible. We just follow you around and film you." Elijah nodded and I got up, slipping on my shoes and grabbing my car keys.

"No." Lizzie said and I looked at her, confused.

"No?"

"No." she glanced at the keys and I rolled my eyes "Stop the eye rolling but if you want to drive, then we’ll not taking this car…"

"I honestly don’t know what your problem is with the 812-…"

"It’s so not you? The colour, the car, it’s just a monstrosity. It’s horrible. Daytona or Purosangue… or we’re taking my car."

"Which has the same colour like the…" I began but Lizzie scoffed.

"Don’t you dare compare my beautiful, pure alpine white with this pretentious, ugly off white of your car!"

"Daytona it is…" I chuckled and looked at the camera rolling my eyes "See what I have to deal with?" I whispered.

"Excuse me?" Lizzie looked up from securing the leash on Arlo’s harness.

"Nothing. Let’s go, Maman is waiting…"

"We’re not alone today, Maman." I said when she released me from her tight hug, going straight for Lizzie.

"I’m not blind, Charles." she scolded me a little, while pulling Lizzie close "Mon belle fille. You look beautiful today." she kissed Lizzie’s cheeks who only chuckled, her cheeks blushing a little.

"Oh come on!" she said.

"No! It’s true, look at how you smile today." Maman laughed, scratching Arlo’s head "Hello mon petit chou."

15 minutes later I sat in the chair, Maman combing my hair, chatting a little with Lizzie and answering some questions from Elijah about me and Lizzie.

"Are you als cutting Lizzie’s hair?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, it started at a race weekend in Italy, our families knew each other for about a year, I think? Lizzie was a little annoyed by her hair, it was too long to be comfortably under her helmet and so she wanted to cut them off herself…"

"I was so annoyed! They were not fitting all under my balaclava!" Lizzie said and Maman nodded.

"I saw her with the scissors and discussing with Marina, her mum and before she could do any damage I said I would cut it. And even since then I was cutting her hair." she said proudly.

"So you’re the hairdresser of not one but two famous F1 drivers?" Elijah asked and I shook my head.

"Charles, dear, stop moving your head please!" Maman said gently and I laughed.

"First off, she’s the hairdresser of 3 famous drivers! She did David Coulthard’s hair in the 90s! And also, you’re so much nicer to me when there’s a camera, Maman!" I said and Lizzie punched my shoulder "Ouch! I’m just honest!"

"You’re so full of shit, don’t listen to him, Pascale is always the sweetest to our Charlie bear!" I said, looking at Elijah "Please Pascale if there is one day you have to mess up it’s today."

I looked at Lizzie in the mirror, her eyes twinkling with mischief, Maman just laughed, patting my shoulder.

"I would never do that, you know me." she smiled, right when Lizzie stepped next to her with a scissor in her hand.

"But I will." she laughed and I flinched a little "Oh the fear in your eyes. Priceless."

"We edit that out, later…" I looked at Elijah, but saw Lizzie looking at him, shaking her head.

"We’re not." she whispered and I laughed.

"Done." Maman said and I looked in the mirror. She styled my hair a little and then took off the cape "Now you look perfect again."

"And before I didn’t?" I laughed.

"You look always perfect." she replied and Lizzie scooped up Arlo, walking over.

"Arlo approves."

"That’s all that matters." I said, booping his nose.

An hour later we were back at home and I cooked pasta for everyone, while we were chatting about the upcoming days.

"Do you cook often?" Elijah asked and Lizzie chuckled.

"Yeah Charles, do you often cook for us?" she wiggled her eyebrows and I rolled my eyes a little.

"Lizzie is teaching me some easy recipes…" I said, stirring the pasta.

I mixed the sauce with the pasta, grating some Parmesan on top and turned to Lizzie.

"I think I’m done." I opened the cabinet to my left, looking for plates and she laughed.

"Plates are not in there. I set the table. You cut the bread." she smiled and I nodded.

"It smells pretty good." Diego, one of the camera guys said, sitting down.

"Yeah, if it tastes how it smells? I’m not worried!" Elijah said and I nodded carrying the pot over to the table.

As soon as everyone was sitting and had a plate full of pasta and salad in front of them

I was waiting for everyone taking their first bite.

"It’s good… the pasta is maybe a little… a little more than al dente?" Sarah, the sound lady said carefully and I tried the pasta myself.

"Not the first time we’re eating crunchy pasta, no?" Lizzie chuckled and I swallowed the really too al dente pasta down.

"Yeah but come on, that was different!" I said.

"True…" she laughed.

"What was different?" Elijah asked.

"Don’t you dare say it!" I looked at Lizzie.

"He made some pasta dish al forno… and burnt it… very crunchy." she said and they laughed.

"Hey! You said it tasted good!" I pouted a little.

"It did, it was just very crunchy!" she kissed my cheeks and I laughed.

"Thank you. But sorry guys, cooking this much pasta was a little more tricky."

"It tastes still pretty good." Diego said and everyone was nodding in agreement.

"Then I’m glad."

The next two days were filled with media duties, events and of course practice sessions on Friday, Elijah and his team following us around everywhere we were going. On Saturday morning they arrived too early and filmed us getting ready for our day ahead

"You just used my perfume…" Lizzie said when she pulled her hair into a high ponytail and I looked at the flacon.

"I have not…" but then I smelled at the bottle "Oh nooo, cara mia why does it look like mine? I don’t want to smell like you… oh now she’s giving me the death glare." I said when she left the bathroom and the camera followed her walking out.

"I didn’t know you don’t like how I smell…" her voice was quieter now, as if she was walking towards the front door.

"Are you leaving? Lizzie? Is she leaving?" I looked at Elijah, walking towards the door, right when she walked back in.

"And it looks like yours because the spray cap of mine wasn’t working and then I used your empty bottle you wanted to throw away to fill it in that one…" she put a sticker on the bottle and looked at me.

"Oh… I remember, but… didn’t the smells mix?"

"I rinsed it thoroughly…" she said, putting her bottle into her cabinet.

"Thor- thorow-fowly?" I stuttered.

"Like super clean? What’s the word? Soigneusement?"

"Got it!" I nodded grabbing the Ferrari shirt on the counter, ripping off the tag.

"You do know we have scissors in this house!" she shook her head and I laughed.

"Yeah but that way it’s faster." I shrugged and she sighed.

"Okay… Let’s go now. I don’t want to be late today." Lizzie walked out and we followed her.

"Quali day, baby." I cheered and she laughed.

"Who will get the pole today?" Elijah asked and Lizzie and I looked at each other, stepping into the elevator.

"She will."

"He will."

I laughed and Lizzie rolled her eyes.

"Aren’t you adorable." Elijah joked.

"That was a tight battle!" Lizzie looked at the replays on the tv of our last flying laps "But in the end Mr. Monaco did it."

"Mr. Monaco?" I chuckled, handing her her food.

"Prince of Monaco?" she wiggled her eyebrows.

"That title is already taken, I’m afraid." I sat down next to her, careful to not squish Arlo, who was lounging between us.

"Nope. For me you’re the real prince of Monaco." she chuckled and Arlo yawned, looking up "And you too."

"Don’t let the real real Prince hear that." I chuckled.

"I don’t think he would have a problem with that. And maybe when you win the race this time, you’ll even attend the victory dinner he held for you…"

"I told him that it was a really emotional day that I wanted to spend alone with my girlfriend." I replied and Lizzie dropped her fork into her salad "What?"

"You did not say girlfriend? Charles no one knew that we were dating back then!" she looked at me with big eyes.

"Well… the Prince knew… sorry." I said sheepishly and she laughed.

"Unbelievable!"

"Look at the bright side, he approved of you."

"What?"

"He said he always knew that one day you and I would finally admit that we belong together, he said although he never met you, he felt like he knew you, because of how much I talked about you…" I held a piece of cheese in front of Arlo’s nose and he sniffled a little before opening his mouth.

"You talked with the Prince of Monaco about me?" Lizzie asked slowly.

"Yeah… I mean, I talked with him about my life. My family. Of course I talked about you."

"Wow… now you so have to win tomorrow! I want to go to that fancy dinner!"

"Or you could win? And then it’s your dinner!" I suggested but she laughed.

"Was there a dinner for Max last year? No. Was there one for any other winner? No. It’s only for you." she rolled her eyes a little and I leaned over Arlo, gently grabbing her chin, turning her head.

"But maybe if I ask him, he’ll still host it, for my gorgeous girlfriend." I pecked her lips and she blushed slightly.

"I don’t want to break up the Leclerc 1-2…" she whispered against my lips and I chuckled.

"But cara mia, you’re a future Leclerc, no?"

Winning a race is always awesome. But winning your home race is special. It hit’s different. And when the checkered flag was waved and I won my second home GP, I screamed my lungs out. Seeing all of the principality plastered in our flag, my name, my number, even my face, was incredible. No words could describe the feeling that I had when I parked my car in the P1 spot, standing on the hood, throwing my hands up. Cheering with my team. All of them lined up, waiting for me to celebrate our win. I jumped into them, felt everyone patting my back, shoulders, helmet.

"Grande, Charles!" Arthur chanted when I managed to hug him, ruffling his hair. Next up was Fred, teary eyes, clapping excitedly.

"You’ve done it boy! What a brilliant day!" he said and hugged me, John Elkann behind him.

"Congratulations, Charles. Good job!" he said and I hugged him when Andrea was patting my shoulder, pointing behind me.

I turned around and saw Lizzie wiping her face with a towel, patting Oscar’s shoulder, congratulating him. I couldn’t do it 2022. But today I wouldn’t let this opportunity pass. I pulled my helmet off, next my balaclava and handed it Arthur, then I walked towards Lizzie and spun her around and she looked surprised for a moment. I pressed my lips on hers eagerly, gently biting her bottom lip to make her gasp. I forgot the world around us, the race. The win. Everything. It was only Lizzie and I in this moment. And when all the oxygen in our bodies was gone and we had to pull away I looked at her, pink cheeks, mouth slightly agape, eyes twinkling.

"Congrats, race winner. I’m so proud of you." she whispered.

"Congrats, Miss I wait for the last lap and the last corner to go for the tiniest gap there is and secure P2." I chuckled and her cheeks turned a shade darker.

"It was stupid. I don’t know what got into me. It’s way too narrow there. I could’ve ended Oscar’s and my race…" she rambled but I pecked her lips again.

"You saw a gap and went for it. That’s what every true racing driver would do."

"Yeah… I guess so…" she mumbled but I lifted her chin up and looked at her, saw the grin forming "You’re right. And now go. Your interview is waiting!" she pushed me towards Jenson Button and walked towards Oscar, both of them watching me, smiling and joking.

"Longest press conference of my life, I swear. Where the bell were you?" Lizzie chuckled when we walked back to the garages.

"Yeah! Lizzie and I took a nap, while waiting for you!" Oscar nodded and I held my hands up apologetically.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry! But there were so many people!" I said and Lizzie smiled.

"They all celebrated their Prince of Monaco."

"Does that make me a Prince as well?" Oscar joked and Lizzie rolled her eyes.

"Hold your horses, I didn’t even agree to this whole adoption thing, okay?" she joked and Oscar played offended.

"So I can’t call you mum? Mummy?" he laughed and Lizzie shoved him a little.

"You better not!"

"We’ll see…" he walked inside the McLaren garage "See you Dad… Mum…" and he was gone, not without laughing his ass off at Lizzie’s offended look.

"Next race I’ll push him off." she said and I laughed.

"Hey! You can’t do that to our son!" I joked and she punched my arm "Ouch… okay, okay I’ll stop! Will you be at the harbour?"

"You think I’ll miss out on the opportunity of seeing you and Fred jump in there?" she scoffed a little and I laughed.

"Then I’ll see you later, have fun with your team." I kissed her cheek and watched her walk into the Audi garage, Pete and Felix waving at me. I waved back and then walked the rest of the pit lane to the Ferrari garage, where the whole team sang Sarà perché ti amo, dancing around the table with our trophies. The moment they spotted me they erupted in loud cheers.

"There he is! Mister Monaco!" Fred laughed and I grinned "I hope you know that I was serious about us jumping into the harbour."

"Good, because I make sure that you keep your word." I chuckled a little.

"Here!" someone pushed a large bottle of champagne in my hand and I took a swig out of it, immediately frowning "Yeah it has no fizz from all the shaking and spraying."

I laughed and celebrated a little with the team when Fred grabbed me by the arm and nodded.

"It’s time. Let’s do this."

"Everyone, to the harbour!" Fabrizio shouted and it almost looked like a procession.

We stopped at the edge and I looked for Lizzie, leaning against a fencing giving me the thumbs up.

"It’s going to be cold, no?" Fred looked at me and I nodded.

"Probably, yeah." I laughed and he took a deep breath looking at me.

"See you in there!" he screamed and jumped in, I quickly followed, diving into the cold water.

"Daghe Charles!" everyone was cheering and celebrating but I only had eyes for Lizzie, smiling at me.

Fred and I splashed around for a moment and then swam back to the harbour wall, I saw an empty bottle floating in the water and grabbed it, taking it out with me. Everyone was patting our backs and I looked around for Lizzie, when I spotted her, talking with Andrea.

"Here." I handed her the empty bottle.

"What’s that?" she cocked an eyebrow, looking at the bottle.

"That bottle swam in the harbour, I thought I’ll take it out with me, would you’ve seen it, you probably would’ve asked me to jump back in." I shrugged my shoulders and her face softened.

"Oh Charles…" she pulled me in, pressing her soft, warm lips against my cold, wet ones.

When she pulled away her hair was glistening with water drops, she licked her salty lips and smiled.

"My Prince of Monaco, who cleans the ocean." she whispered and pecked my lips again.

"You love me, right?" I whispered against her lips.

"Yeah… what’s that even for a…" she began when I hugged her tight and she shuddered a little, then I took a few steps back, pulling her with me "What are you doing?" she asked when I grabbed her tight, preparing for the jump "Wha-… No! No! Charles!"

"I love you, cara mia." was the last thing she heard before the cold harbour water engulfed us.

"I’m going to kill you!" she spluttered out as soon as she emerged from the water, wiping her wet hair out of her face.

"No you won’t." I laughed, swimming towards her and hugging her close to me, not caring at all about the people watching us "I’m your Prince of Monaco. Which basically makes you my Princess. So, princess, ready to party?"

"I would’ve been ready without a bath in the sea, but yeah. I’m ready." she chuckled and I kissed her, swallowing down the little surprised gasp she let out. My team, the fans, spectators all erupting in cheers and whistles.

"Let’s get out of here."

Chapter 44- HE DID IT! CHARLES LECLERC, THE MAN YOU ARE! I think when I say we’re all beyond proud and happy for him, it’s still an understatement!

Please leave a comment/ like/ reblog/ message and tell me how you liked it! I'm dying to hear your thoughts!

If you want to be added to the taglist, drop a comment!

Last but not least, English is not my first language and although I tried my best: please excuse any mistakes I made!

Taglist:

@silkenthusiasts @eugene-emt-roe @sunny44 @itsjustkhaos @glitterquadricorn @aundercover @kakorrhaphiphobia @alittlebitofbooksandmagic @ru-kru @shimmermotorsport @janeh22 @kahhorri @18754389 @chiliwhore @hellowgoodbye @queensassybitchsworld @harrysdimple05 @skynel09

All the images I’m using are from Google, Pinterest and Instagram (or self made).

[because-she-goes]

cinnamon

warnings: bit of matty headrot, some enemies to lovers, old lady thinking they’re a couple trope, swearing, some pretentious music references. Enjoy!

With a click and a woosh, the document Rooney has spent the past month or so working on was sent to the editing team. For the past month, Rooney has spent every day thinking and writing solely about Matty. Glad to finally have every last one of her thoughts about him out of her brain and sent off for someone else to deal with, she decided to take Arlo for a walk before heading home to Bowness-On-Windemere. where she would begin the planning stages on her next piece for NME.

Grabbing her keys and Arlo’s leash and giving it a jangle, she awaits the puppy to come bounding to her. From the door, she sees her adorable companion come around the corner, and near her. Panting, barking, blissfully unaware of how Rooney has barely slept and is in desperate need for some fresh air and a fridge restock as she’s been living off of microwavable instant ramen the past week.

Clasping the leash on Arlo’s collar and stepping out into the world, she locks her door behind her and starts walking around Notting Hill. Passing the famous bookstore with teenage girls excitedly waiting to get inside the rather underwhelming building - she was once one of those girls. She too once thought it would be a wonderfully curated shop like in the movie only to find out that it truly only sold bestsellers and what she had seen on the glossy pages of magazines where publishers pay the company for the advertisement. Dreams of her local bookstore back home came to mind, bookshelves filled with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott - real literature she thinks, the type that got her to want to be a writer in the first place. She soon became overwhelmed with how much she loved her life now and how amazed she was by it. If young Rooney could see herself now and how different her life was…

Smack, splat. Onto the ass of her jeans she falls - Arlo’s leash coming out of her manicured hand. Arlo jumps onto her hind legs and as luck would have it, a mop of curls come into her periphery. For fucks sake. He sticks a hand out to help her and she bats it away.

“Yikes, clover! Geez it’s just me, no need to get your panties in a bunch.”

“I’m fine and for the record, my panties are none of your business Healy.”

“We’ll see about that…anyways, who is this adorable creature?” Matty bends down to grab the leash and pat Arlo’s side softly.

“Arlo… after Guthrie.” That just about knocks Matty on his ass, who else would know about american folk singers - let alone enough and have enough passion about them to name their fucking dog after them. Matty’s own dog comes to mind and he really named Allen after the american poet Ginsberg. They were too alike, he thinks. He silently melts as he watches her fumble to her feet and bends to dust off her jeans, her crimson hair blowing in the London breeze. He looks away quickly when he spots a series of delicate ink lines dancing and swirling down her spine. It is like he is reading her teenage diary, something sacred and deeply personal, like another aspect of her life has been revealed to him. If only he could see the whole piece of artwork. if only he could see it fully, if only he could know Rooney fully. Truly know her, not just as a work acquaintance or friend. Matty immediately wants to know what side of the bed she sleeps on, what music she listens to while cooking, if she prefers scented or unscented laundry detergent. In an instant, he is even more enthralled by her. It is in that moment, while he takes her in and pets her dog that Matty Healy knows he is well and truly enraptured. He comes out of his spell when he feels Arlo brush against his knees a bit.

“May I join you and Arlo on your walk?” She looks into his eyes finally, they’re ocean deep and for the first time she feels like she can see Matthew. Not Matty Healy, the frontman or the guy trying to impress her in an interview, Matthew. The guy stood in front of her, petting her dog in his blue nike hoodie, sweatpants and sneakers. He looks like himself, not someone he is trying to be. She realizes she loves that about him. How comfortable he is in himself, how he can jus5 be Matty. She could only hope to have that level of confidence someday.

The rest of the walk is sublime, a picturesque day in her area of London. An ideal fall day, bright and sunny with still a nip in the air. They make their way to the Notting Hill Market. Matty still holding Arlo’s leash while Rooney scrolls on her phone to find some good walking music he may like. It is about a 15 minute journey to the market from where the two collided. Her iPhone begins to play No Matter What by Badfinger, one of her personal favorite bits of 70s music she would play while cooking. The harmonies, guitar riffs and percussion fill the air between them - Matty quietly whistling along to the tune. He always loved Badfinger and his dad would play it in their family car growing up - the fond memory of childhood planting a grin across his cheeks. Rooney continued selecting the music for their walk, not bothering with small talk since the two felt so comfortable in their quiet enjoyment of the afternoon together. Badfinger which turned into David Bowie then the Sex Pistols and The Clash finally finishing their walk with Supertramp.

Rooney made a note to herself to see if Matty liked her beloved Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Before she could ask, he had pulled her and Arlo towards a stall in the corner of the market.

“Hummingbird Bakery? I haven’t ever heard of this place, is it any good?” She quickly, albeit a bit nervously asks her companion.

“Best on Portabello Road, Sugar. Trust me.” He adds with a wink

“I never said I didnt, did I?” She adds with a smirk.

“Good. Hi Darling, A slice of the Halloween Batty Orange Chocolate Cheesecake and a pack of the assorted vegan cupcakes. Thank You!” Matty orders with a smile to the older woman working the stall.

“Here you go, dear and something for the adorable little munchkin down there. It’ll be 15 pounds.” The sweet woman informs, handing Rooney their treats as well as a pup cup for Arlo. Matty hands her some money and they thank her.

“Have a lovely rest of your outing , you two love birds!” She adds as they walk away.

“Oh we- we aren’t…. we’re not…” The pair stumble over each other frantically trying to correct her as Arlo eyed the pup cup ravenously hungry.

“Cute. Don’t worry, you’ll both realize it soon.” The woman winks and the two decide to just leave her be and enjoy the pastries at a bench nearby.

Matty takes a bite of the cheesecake and lets out what can only be described as a pornographic moan. He points at it, mouth full of sugar and hands it to Rooney. She mimics the action exaggeratedly throwing her head back.

“Fuckin hell, Healy! Who knew you had such good taste in sweets… and how did you know I loved chocolate oranges?” The redhead asks him once she’s passed the cheesecake slice back over and eaten her bite.

“You think my taste in sweets is good, you should see my dinner spots.”

“Not happening! Totally unprofessional, please I can’t be going on a date with the fuckin guy I’m writing an article about… are you mad?”

“Oh c’mon go on one date with me, Atkinson. I promise no funny business.” Matty says a silent prayer, he doesn’t miss the twinkle in her eyes when he says Atkinson. He takes another bite of the cake, humming in delight. He knows he is gonna win this. He passes her the pasty.

“Will it get you to leave me alone?” Please say no, please for the love of god let him say no. God, a date with him would rot her brain for good. God, why does this cheesecake have to be so good. She passes it back to him after her bite.

“Never. I'm addicted, sugar.” Another fucking wink, bite and pass. Jesus christ.

“Fine, Healy. Pick me up at 8pm, heres my London address.” She finishes the cheesecake, scrawls her address onto the wraper of the pastry and shoves it in his coat pocket roughly.

“Perfect. I’ll be counting the minutes.” He sings as she takes Arlo’s leash, her cupcakes and walks off. Fuckin hell, what has she gotten herself into.

[thegettingbyp2]

A request where Chris Evans and his wife reader are feeling bad that dodger is lonely and decided to get another male dog to play with. Dodger gets a puppy brother

Puppy Brother

‘I think Dodger is getting lonely,’ you said quietly as you lay in bed with your husband, Chris, the both of you separated by the steady rise and fall of Dodger’s body as he slept in between your two bodies. You had started to wonder about your dog when you noticed how excited he was when you saw how excited he would get when either you or Chris came back home from work at the end of the day. You knew that dogs usually got excited when their owners came back to them but there was something about the way Dodger reacted; it was as if he’d spent the whole day bored out of his mind and he was ecstatic to have someone to play with again.

‘What makes you think that?’ Chris replied, his hand absentmindedly scratching Dodger’s body, not taking his eyes away from the TV at the end of your bed.

‘I don’t know, I just think that he gets a little too excited when we come home. It’s as if he’s spent the day waiting for us to come back and then he doesn’t leave our side for the rest of the night, case and point.’ You gestured to the sleeping dog next to you both.

‘Yeah, I see what you mean,’ Chris sighed, turning his head to look at you. ‘What do you want to do about it?’

You smiled gently, already having an idea.

---

‘Hey buddy!’ You exclaimed, falling to your knees to pet Dodger as he came bounding up to you when you and Chris walked through the front door the next day. ‘We have something for you!’

You laughed as Dodger dropped the ball he had in his mouth on your lap, something he always did when someone walked into the house. Chris came in after you, holding an open box and you watched Dodger’s head shoot up, his nose working like crazy as he tried to identify the scent of the box. Chris set the box down on the table and reached in, pulling out a small golden Labrador puppy. Dodger’s tail started thumping against the table leg as his head lifted to look at the small puppy.

‘This is Arlo,’ Chris said, crouching down, still holding the puppy, so Dodger could see. ‘He’s going to be your buddy, pal! Someone to play with when me and mom are at work.’

Chris stood to stand next to you, keeping an eye on Arlo as Dodger moved closer, gently sniffing at the small dog. He moved his head to the side to pick his ball up and gently place it in front of Arlo, batting at it a little to show the small dog what to do. You turned into Chris’ chest as you watched the two dogs getting to know each other.

‘I told you he was getting lonely,’ you said, smiling up at your husband.

‘Yeah, well I still think you just wanted another dog around the house,’ he chuckled, dropping a soft kiss to the top of your head.

[catharsis-in-darkness]

Grief of Hearts Pt.4

pairing: Ricky Olson x OFC Iris & Vinny Mauro x OFC Iris

warnings/tropes: slow burn, enemies to lovers, angst, fluff, smut, language, mentions of cancer

summary: Iris' passion has always been passionate about music, specifically her band. What happens when she gets to open for her favorite band of all time and finally gets to meet her heroes?

author's note: This is a little bit of a longer chapter, but we finally got some action!!! I hope you guys enjoy :P

word count: 1925 words

Iris Hart 

Thankfully, the sound check went off without a hitch. We were currently getting ready in the green room waiting for our turn to go on stage. The nervousness was bubbling in my stomach already. I was finishing Arlo’s makeup while Nora was doing Carter’s. We heard the door open, making us all look up. Chris and Ryan walked grinning. 

“How are you guys feeling?” Chris asked us, wiggling his brows. Ryan took a seat on the couch next to Carter. 

“Are you guys nervous?” Ryan asked, hitting his mod, blowing the smoke in my direction. I laughed lightly. 

“Just a little, we’re used to smaller crowds.” I shrugged down playing my feelings. My body was slightly trembling. I was absolutely fucking terrified. This needs to go well so we can prove to them we’re good enough. I need to make Ricky Olson eat his fucking words. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We were about to get on stage. All of us adorned in our stage makeup and outfits we did a quick huddle. 

“Alright guys, this is going to be the best show we’ve ever fucking done!” I cheered, hoping my words poured some confidence into them. 

“We fucking got this guys!” Carted nodded along with me. 

“I love you guys.” Arlo said, making my heart soften. 

“Forever in our hearts.” Nora said, twirling her drum sticks. 

“For Logan.” I smiled. I turned to let Nora walk to her drum kit first. Arlo and Carter soon followed. I was about to walk onto stage when Vinny rushed up to me. 

“I just wanted to say good luck.” He said shyly. 

“Thank you Vin.” I smiled, kissing his cheek. I heard the first chords of Psychopath being played and ran out onto the stage. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ricky Olson 

You thought you left with no consequences.

You thought you could tear me in two. 

But now you’re showing your defenses. 

And you’re the one with the petty lies. 

It’s hard to escape the reality.

That you were never mine. 

You wasted my time, you were nothing. 

But I know how this story ends in your eyes. 

I couldn’t lie to myself any longer. She had a good voice, an amazing voice. She captured the crowd's attention immediately. She sang softly to them at first. She looked good, too fucking good. I don’t know why I’ve been an asshole to her. Something about her was so alluring and it fucking scared me. She reminded me of her at first, but seeing her now. Everything changed. The red lights casting down on her made her look powerful. Her dress flowed around her as she moved across the stage. She sounded like a siren and I was entranced in her voice. God this was fucking bad. My heart was pounding like crazy. 

Go and tell them all what happened.

But don’t leave your sins out.

Tell them all that I was crazy.

That you never understood me. 

Let them know,

That in the end. 

I was a Psychopath. 

She was now screaming and I couldn’t force myself to look away. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Seeing Vinny standing next to me, I forced a scowl on my face. He nudged me. 

“I told you they were good.” He said cockily. I saw the way he was acting with Iris earlier. He looked like a lovesick puppy. I couldn’t ruin this for him. He was happy, even happier around her. I was his fucking best friend and I was thinking about the girl he clearly liked, standing right next to him. 

“They’re still not as good as they should be if they’re touring with us.” I grumbled, turning around and forcing myself away from their show. This was fucking wrong. I walked back into the green room, slumping onto the couch. I ran my hands over my face letting out a sigh. Shaking the thoughts of her out of my head, I sat there waiting for our turn to go on stage. 

Vinny Mauro

She was beautiful. Her confidence seeped into everyone around her. As their first song finished, we made eye contact and her smile brightened. The things this girl was doing to me, it’s been so long since someone has made me feel this way. She made my chest feel warm. It was a weird but welcomed feeling. I gave her an equally warm smile and blew her a kiss. She silently laughed and started talking to the crowd. When I caught Rick watching her, a part of me felt threatened. He was looking at her like he didn’t absolutely hate her guts. Contrary to what he all wanted us to think. He looked at her the way he used to look at Jaime. I’m really hoping this doesn’t go the way I think it’s going too. 

Iris Hart 

The adrenaline was still coursing through my body as we got off of stage. We played our asses off. I was so pumped that when I saw Vinny standing on the side of the stage, I ran straight into his arms. 

“Whoa Princess! Excited to see me?” He smirked. I giggled before kissing his cheek and pushing him away playfully. 

“Maybe I did.” I shrugged before pulling him into a more gentle hug. He wrapped his arms around me pulling me in tighter. 

“You guys did so good.” He murmured into my hair. He was in his stage makeup and damn. He looked amazing. 

“Guys we fucking rocked that!!!” Carter said, jumping around us. I laughed pulling him and the rest of the band into a group hug. We did a lot better than I expected, considering that we had never played in front of that many people before. The show went off without a hitch. I loved them all so much. Tears started pooling in my eyes. I quickly pushed them down before cheering along with my bandmates. We were definitely celebrating tonight. Arlo was the first to break from the group, wishing the members of Motionless in White a good show. I gave Vinny another quick hug. 

Back in the green room we all sat down on the couches. We were exhausted but there was so much excitement running through our bodies we couldn’t sit still. My body was still buzzing even 30 minutes after. 

“Carter get offffff.” Nora said, pushing him off of her lap. Arlo and I exchanged looks before laughing at their shenanigans. Arlo was sitting next to me scrolling on his phone, he looked deep in thought. 

“How’s momma Lancaster doing?” I questioned, turning my body towards him. He shrugged. 

“She just got finished with her last chemo treatment. The doctors are hoping she’ll go into remission after this.” Arlo’s mom was one of my favorite people in the whole world. When we would all go to parties in high school, she would come and pick us up. Never getting mad at us for being normal teenagers. She witnessed my first heartbreak and was there to pick up the pieces immediately. When Arlo found out she was diagnosed with Stage 2 lymphocytic leukemia, he was heartbroken. He started retreating back into the boy I grew up knowing. He became quiet and reserved again. My bandmates were crazy, always have been. Arlo was always the one to balance us out. These days, it was harder for him to be away from home. 

“I’m glad, hopefully when we come home she’ll be doing better.” I laid my head on his shoulder. He leaned into me, responding with a nod. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We all decided to go out tonight to celebrate the first successful show of the tour. Nora and I were currently in our room getting ready. Nora tossed something at me as I was picking an outfit out. 

“Wear that.” She winked, making me look down at the red fabric in my hand. My eyes widened. 

“Absolutely not!” I threw it back at her. 

“Riri, I’ve seen the way you and Vinny have been acting! Maybe you’ll get some action tonight.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me. 

“We’re just friends!” Her face deadpanned. She grabbed the lingerie again, throwing it at me, this time hitting me directly in the face with it. I eyed it as it fell onto the bed. 

“Friends my ass! He calls you princess!” Nora exclaimed, looking at me with disbelief. 

“Look I know you haven’t gotten laid since you and you know who. Let yourself have this!” She shrugged, walking back into the bathroom. There was no way I would be fucking Vinny tonight! We’ve known each other for all of two days. Yeah, he’s hot and not to mention a sweetheart, but I am not messing up this early into the tour. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Time Skip)

We have two weeks left of tour and thankfully nothing has gone wrong. The tension between Vinny and I has become suffocating. We haven’t talked about our feelings towards each other, but we along with everyone else knew there was something going on. Ricky’s hate towards me has only grown the longer we’ve been around each other. We’re constantly bickering over stupid shit, making arguments out of nothing. He was insufferable. The rest of MIW was more accepting than he was. Chris and I grew a sibling-like bond. Even Arlo had started coming out of his shell more. We played a show almost every night and I think the exhaustion was starting to get to everyone. 

“Princesssss.” I heard Vinny drawl from next to me. I looked over to see a pout on his sweet face. We were sitting in the green room, just scrolling on our phones. 

“Yessssss.” I countered, raising my brow at him. He smiled innocently, before tackling me. My back hit the couch we were sitting on as I looked up at him, giggling. His gaze softened as we locked eyes. I saw his eyes flicker to my lips but he quickly averted his eyes back to mine. 

“You’re so pretty.” He said in a low tone. My face became hot, making me look away from him. I felt a soft hand on my cheek directing my face back to his. He inched closer, making my breath hitch. 

“Let me kiss you.” He whispered. Shock filled my body. We’ve cuddled before after the shows when we would watch movies, but that was the most we’ve done. I simply nodded. Soon after I felt his warm lips descend onto mine. My body was on fire. My heart felt like it was about to explode out of my chest. I melted into him, his tongue swiping over my bottom lip begging for entrance. I let him in, almost moaning at the taste of him. I tasted the starburst he had been eating beforehand and I savored it. He overwhelmed all of my senses, the smell of his cologne invading my space. He slowly pulled away from me, running his thumb across my lips. 

“Wow.” He breathed. I chuckled lightly, knowing exactly what he was talking about. 

“Wow.” I mocked him. His eyes turned to slits before he brought his ring covered hands down to my sides to tickle me. My body started curling up into itself from the invasion and loud laughs left my lips. He stopped soon after, staring at me softly again. 

“Let me take you out on a date, Princess.” He smiled goofily. I leaned up pressing a quick peck to his lips.

“I would love that.” I smiled at him. He cheered victoriously, before attacking me with his lips once again.  

[zzthekaiju]

Best of the Reptiles in Media - 03 - Arlo

Back again with some more charming scaly protags! And once again, we've got ourselves an animated one!

This time, we're taking a look at one that starred in a film/TV show on Netflix that sadly seems to have undeservedly faded into obscurity. Of course, for me...not so much. This plucky swamp puppy pretty much had a vice grip on my head since the moment I said "what the heck" and gave his film a shot. To say I was captivated by it all would be a huge understatement.

For those who don't know, "Arlo the Alligator Boy" was an animated musical feature released in 2021. And it pretty much had everything I could ask for. A cast full of colorful characters brimming with personality, a gorgeous 2D-animation style (really, you just have to say your animation is 2D to immediately get my attention, it's a personal preference), songs that are immensely catchy, and while the plot wasn't terribly original, it was still a very charming and wholesome romp that I ended up watching several times. And because fate was kind that year, it was almost immediately followed up by a one-season series, "I Heart Arlo", which basically picked up where the film left off.

But enough beating around the bush, let's get to the biggest reason this film took off for me. Namely, the fact that it's titular protagonist was an absolute ball of sunshine in the form of an anthropomorphic alligator.

Say hello to Arlo Beauregard. As you can probably guess from the above gif, he's an absolute far cry from the reputation his more feral cousins have. In fact, let's talk about that for a second. Most of the time, members of the Crocodylia family are treated no better than their other reptilian cousins in media. They get the short end of the stick in the form of being characterized as ravenous, meat-shredding brutes. And, to be fair, that's not exactly far from the truth. Trying to pet a gator is like saying you want an amputation without having to pay any fees. But you know what, they're still animals, not evil monsters.

And that leads us to a very unique sort of main character. Seriously, how often do reptiles get to have the lead in these sort of movies, let alone ones like gators? That's part of the reason I gravitated so hard towards this film. It provides just that on a silver platter.

But what about Arlo the character as opposed to just Arlo the reptile protag? Well, the simple introduction here is that he's a half-human/half-alligator hybrid in his teens who lives with a swamp hermit in Louisiana. It isn't until he hits fifteen that he finally decides to figure out where his true family lives. And it just so happens that he has a dad...all the way in New York City. Thus begins the trek towards the city so nice they named it twice. And along the way, he meets a cast of equally displaced oddball misfits that may just prove to be a better family than anything blood relations could provide.

The best part about Arlo is, aside from the fact that he's an adorable little gator, is that it just so happens that he's another favorite archetype of mine. Namely, the blithe spirit. To put it simply, this is the character who brings out the best in everyone. An all-loving soul who sees the bright side in everything, even if it comes off as a bit naive. And we see it all throughout his journey. From instantly befriending a sad loner named Bertie (who, side note here, is some wonderful body-positivity rep in her own right), to some little scenes of him just instantly winning over complete strangers.

Seriously, some of my favorite parts include him just being himself and winning others' endearment that way.

And of course, I can't go this far without mentioning how great of a singer he is. Michael J. Woodard not only NAILS this character's bubbly personality (plus, he's pretty great at pulling off the more comedic bits too), but he's got one heck of a singing voice. If I had to pick a favorite song, it'd be "Beyond These Walls".

But reptile or not, I also really like how the movie concludes. Instead of living with his rich father, he ultimately decides that he'd rather be with the ragtag group who helped him the whole way through. Sure, father and son are on very good terms, but it's easy to understand why Arlo wouldn't want to be with the person who abandoned him twice over. Yeah, the artists knew how much the rich suck here (though Ansel Beauregard is less detestable and more laughably pathetic, so he gets a pass). Bottom line, this gator is no class traitor!

As for Arlo in the subsequent series, it's more of the same, and that's okay! Arlo continues to be a bastion of innocence, though I also commend the show for demonstrating that he isn't perfect. Some episodes have him show a habit of making swift decisions without thinking. Sure, it's always in the name of doing something good, but his lack of foresight leads to things like parties that go on for days and even runaway Ferris wheels. But he still pulls through and mends those mistakes in the end. Plus, the whole thing is about him and pals revitalizing a small beach-side community while his dad just keeps making a fool out of himself (not that he doesn't help, but still). It's all good...though not a day goes by where I don't wish it got just one more season. I mean, come on! There was plenty of material to work with, like whatever happened to his mom or whether or not he and Alia would become more than friends!

Oh, right...yeah...I'm not going to pretend you can't read that crossed-out part. Yeah, it's one of my major comfort ships. Though those who have followed me for some time probably already knew that. I just think it's adorable in a "city mouse meets country mouse" sort of way. Plus, anyone who shows unwavering faith and patience with someone who has very clear ADHD and/or aspects of being on the spectrum more than deserves that sort of happiness.

And that's Arlo for you! I wish so much that his film/show got more attention (and Netflix wasn't so dismal with marketing its originals), and now you know why. Sure, he's not the most complex reptile in this catalogue (that comes later, trust me), but he's the kind of character that I can adore from the get-go. I mean, when your lead is basically a scaly Steven Universe, do you really expect me to just blow that off? I don't think so!

[arlo-venn]

7, 21, 26

7) What was your first dogs name?

Sebastian :’) He was a white german shepherd, we grew up together. I’m actually only a thing that exists because my mom wanted a puppy, and my dad wanted a son, so they made a tbh kind of gross deal that my mom could get a puppy if they had another baby. I was eventually born, not a son much to my father’s dismay, and three months later they adopted Sebastian from a breeder in a newspaper. He was my best friend, he passed when we were 13. I had a very… dark and unkind childhood and this dog got me through the bulk of it. We moved around a lot, and in each house we lived in he would teach himself how to open and close my bedroom door so he could come and go of his own volition. He never touched anyone else’s door. I was the only one he didn’t pull on the leash, even when I was very small and he was very big. I don’t have many photos, but here are three:

Us as babies and one I took with my first antique camera ever at like 11-12, which is when I first started noticing him getting old. He had two tiny little sisters (yorkie/beagle/jack russel mix sisters Roxy and Elsie) who he was very sweet and gentle with, was a good guard dog when necessary but was also lovely with strangers and dogs and all animals alike. His leash pulling and penchant to run away to find me at my friends’ houses when I wasn’t home were his only “bad” behaviors. He would travel some distances to find me, too! Once he ran through my friend’s house with muddy paws right after her mom had cleaned the carpets. Her doors were open letting it air out and he just came in. I wasn’t there though I had already left! That house was at least a mile away from home. Anyway he was the best dog in the world besides Arlo (it’s really not fair to compare them, Sebastian was my childhood savior but Arlo is my heart dog).

21) A useless trick that you love?

See, the only trick I can see as “useless” is “head down” which is only used for posing for photos. Except it has become something he does when he wants me to share food that I’m eating. I’m sure I accidentally reinforced that at some point. I guess “what’s the password?” (aka speak) is genuinely useless but also fun 😅

26) What’s your dogs favorite game to play inside?

Catch is his favorite game to play any time anywhere. We play tugga inside more than outside. He likes to bring me scraps of cardboard to hold so he can chew through them and turn them into MORE cardboard scraps. We have cardboard confetti in bed with us right now! And obviously we wrestle. He’s very easy to please tbh. He thinks anything is a fun game as long as we’re doing it together. I think he thought living in our car for three months was a fun game, too.

[bitchfitch]

Idk i think the hard part about Arlo and Conall's relationship to communicate is how them not groking eachother at the start is about 90% of the issues on their early dynamic.

Like, Conall is the first normal person, ie not a demon, or centuries old witch, or newly made goddess, or unicorn, Arlo has ever actually talked to. and that lead to a lot of fundamental misunderstandings.

From Conall's perspective Arlo is an intentionally aloof and cruel person who ping pongs between being an ass about everything always and doing whatever it takes to get praise. Arlo lures people to his hill just to hurt them or give them false hope or whatever, and he will spend days doing that. Playing with his prey and blocking out basically all else that's happening around him. And then in the very next moment he'll be following Conall around like a kicked puppy and trying to play act being a person.

Then Conall is just Wrong. He's nothing like what Arlo is used to and Arlo just doesn't know how to handle that. The werewolves Arlo knew in his first life were just guard dogs. They had unique personalities reminiscent of what they were like as people but they were still animals. and Conall is like, a dude. He's a whole person with opinions on things and thoughts of his own he has no issue sharing. And those thoughts and opinions are so completely disconnected from what Arlo knows about the world that they seem practically alien. He knows the worlds changed, but surely it Can't have changed so much that the people who betrayed him and his family after all they did for them would be considered the Good guys?

Arlo struggles to see how what he's doing is anything less than justified, Conall believes him to know it's not, because How could it Possibly Be?

And then it's all made worse by them both being desperately lonely.

Arlo's base programming makes him basically incapable of connecting or really caring about anyone besides his family, and his family is all gone. He would be the only one left, but the werewolves were family too. Pets, but still family. So Conall, by merit of being a werewolf, is family in Arlo's mind even if he's not super fond of Conall right away. So he treats Conall like family, because that's the only way he knows how to interact with people he isn't actively hostile towards.

Conall just lost everything he ever loved to a curse started by Arlo's mother that Arlo insists is a blessing. He has nothing and while Arlo has gotten used to the isolation, Conall hasn't. He's scared of himself and scared of leaving because he doesn't want to hurt anyone because the only way he gets to keep his head about him is by staying close enough to Arlo for Arlo to suppress this curse. And he sees what Arlo can do, it doesn't line up in his head that there's anything Arlo can't out magic.

And then his first full moon under the hill comes and goes. Arlo can't suppress it during the full moon because that's when Arlo is, supposedly, his weakest. Conall loses a day and a half. All he remembers is pain and panic as the transformation set in. It had been absolute agony but that pain was so much less than his need to find something that was missing.

And he wakes up. Aching and still nervous, but Human enough. And he isn't in his bed. He's in Arlo's, and Arlo is right beside him. Conall's naked and he doesn't think That happened, but he blacked out. He can't remember. He's scared.

Arlo doesn't understand why Conall won't believe him that he got into his bed on his own volition, that nothing happened other than Conall talking Arlo's ear off about Conall's little brothers collection of frog bones. Why would he understand Conall's fear? What could Arlo, a deeply naive person, have Possibly done to him while he was wolfed out to make him so upset?

And Conall tries to leave after that. but no matter what he does, as soon as he gets beyond a certain point the pain and panic come back and he wakes up a few days later with Arlo in bed with him again. He can't accept Arlo's explanation that it's just the curse. Because it's Soooo Totally a coincidence how much it benefits Arlo right? That Arlo who's so pathetic and alone he'd keep Conall around just Happens to not be able to undo the curse trapping Conall here when he can write entire people out of history with a wave of his hand.

And Arlo is hurt and confused and he really doesn't understand Why Conall is always mad at him but he wants it to stop. When he's wolfed out and not scared of Arlo he's so much nicer and doesn't treat Arlo like he's guilty of all that's wrong in the world. He's always trying to get on Conall's good side when he's not wolfed up because he hates spending 26.5 out of 28 days walking on glass in his own home trying to figure out what Conall's fucking problem is. Doesn't Conall see how much Arlo is sacrificing for him? How much Arlo is Trying to make this bad situation they're mutually stuck in work?

And Conall doesn't because Arlo is so fundamentally wrong about so much of how things work that his 'trying to make things work' is often outright magic manipulation and mind control.

And they're just bashing heads Constantly until they finally start actually finding middle ground and tripping into understanding eachother more by accident than intention.

Eventually it's the stupidest things they find middle ground on. It's memories of their families and card games Arlo never got to learn how to play but Conall is a genuine swindler at. It's calenders with holidays on them that make tracking time easier and a mutual distaste for crowds and florals. And its talking late into the night about the book the both decided they wanted to read that they drudged up from the library.

They'll never fully understand eachother. They're too different, but they do eventually learn what causes the misunderstandings and how to communicate around them. And yeah it takes time and more effort than either of them wants to devote to the other some days. but they do do it. Because in the end it's worth it to them.

[kurgy]

long story and many mixed emotions and turmoil and breakdowns and reliefs but basically, my mom talked to me after Peter's passing, Arlo passing 6 months earlier, while I'm in a temporary and unstable living situation after a very traumatic event, and after he was gone how I wasn't doing well physically or emotionally, and that basically everyone was worried about me. like thought i was going to die worried, which, fair. she shared an anecdote from my teenage years about the family dogs, Bella and Roxy, and how very a young Roxy passed from sudden kidney failure, and while everyone was upset, Bella lost her first and only dog companion, and became so depressed she couldn't eat. she told me about when me got Daisy, and how it wouldn't be the same, she couldn't replace Roxy, and she didn't understand her at first but she helped her heal and a decade later they love each other. emotional talk

few days later some foster puppies are brought over to visit while we have dinner. in retrospect it's pretty obvious now what the goal of that was but at the time I was heartbroken and had 2 puppies cuddling me and I felt joy and just wanted to experience that as long as I could.

my mom helped with paperwork and is helping with care financially while I'm trying to get back on my feet. basically "you lost your support dogs, and lost their support and spiraled dangerously, we want you to find someone to help you again" and not having to worry about the finances for this, at least, is relieving. now I have Mickey

[winterskulleton]

!!

ok so first thing you need to know is that Arlo is my little baby boy baby.

He's been friends with Nic (my other oc who i might talk about if you want 👀) since they were kids but back then he was a girl. When they were 8 they were playing in a park near Arlo's house and a humanoid creature tried to eat him and Nic killed it so save Arlo and they both got trauma from that. After that they stopped being friends for a variety of reasons but after a few years Arlo calls Nic again to warn him because he's being stalked by some weird creatures/things and he thinks they might go for Nic also. They learn that those creatures are faeries and that they really shouldn't have killed that faerie that tried to eat kid Arlo cause now they're pissed at them.

Arlo is trans and he has a pretty rough relationship with his parents cause of that. His mother completely shut him off after he came out to her and his father wasn't the most supportive at first. He was okay but after a while he got really weird about it and Arlo moved out. Now he lives in a shitty apartment with a shitty roommate and his puppy (he's called Anubis and he's a border collie australian shepherd mix)

But the thing is that Arlo is a half-blood fae. His father had some fun back in his youth with a pretty elf lady named Juno and she got pregnant but he was also dating Arlo's "mother" at the same time. When Juno gave birth, she gave Arlo to his father cause she had to many responsibilities to take care of him and Arlo's "mother" resents him and his dad for it. When Arlo learns that his mother isn't his mother, he has an existential crisis cause he really doesn't want to be a faerie. One tried to eat him as a kid. That's understandable.

He's your typical bad boy, y'know. He has a leather jacket and rides a motorcycle, all that. To quote that one post, he has that sadness in his eyes that you only see in Eastern European gay porn. I'm still debating whether or not he has tattoos but he probably does.

In the story, he's the chosen one but he really doesn't want to be. He eventually ends up dating Nic but it takes them a while to get together cause he's really not in touch with his own feelings. He's also really good friends with Cerys, the Autumn Court princess and at some point she had feelings for him, but he respectfully said no.

here's his face btw. credit

[infiniteseriesofhalfways]

We have a new puppy, and I love her more than anything. Genuinely, I am the B99 meme of Rosa and Arlo. Her name is Trixie, and she already lives to make me feel dumb. I went out and got her a dog bed since her previous people had a bunch, and she so far lays next to it. Or she's happy to walk across it to sit on the floor nearby.

I'm currently sat on the floor in the hopes that she'll come sit by me, but she'd rather sleep between a chair and a table.

[arcanadreams]

just saw you a6 sorenn and cal post and... cal knew arlo (if you are on cal's route and pick one of the artist options he mentions that). like. he knew kit side of the family but not mc??? (idc if that would ruin the episode 1 "idk who you are" because it literally doesn't matter anyway. also having us pick a race might as well change something lol) anyway flashback to mc having a puppy crush on big bros best friend 🤔

another part thats wasted is the tilaari mc one bc apparently til kids were closer to their mother rather than anyone else BUT mc is not because... um... well you see. just because.

HI A6 ANON I AM HERE AFTER I FINISHED MY PAPER AS PROMISED

are you serious?? Cal also knew Arlo?? UGH I really do need to go back and choose every hobby option for this man to get as much information as possible, huh?? I don’t remember if I mentioned in my post about his answers before that if you choose to say you spent time outside watching the stars that he mentions having a telescope in his room on the ship and says something like “I know a thing or two about stars” like the fucking nerdass he is LMAO

OK THE PUPPY CRUSH IDEA IS SO CUTE THO AHHH LIKE ARLO BEING LIKE “that’s my little sibling let’s ignore them they’re so annoying” and Cal looking at Traveler and being like “?? they seem nice to me” and Traveler is like AH!! POSITIVE ATTENTION! and falls for him instantly because they so rarely get that from anyone as a kid jhfskf

speaking of Cal knowing the family...i may or may not have a piece in the works about the times Cal sees Sorenn in a kit Traveler. it’s very far into development, like all the planning is done and written out, i just got too busy with school and my job to actually write it. now that the semester is over, though....wink wink

to your tilaari point, i’ve actually never played as tilaari! i agree with you that that element is kind of wasted, from what you’re saying.  like, idk, make it make sense i guess? haha. like if all the tilaari kids were close to their mother and were given a superiority complex, it stands to reason Traveler would be like that too. i know Traveler is supposed to be self-insert but it would be interesting if the race you chose and the backstory of which mom you had did impact some of their views and responses to things

[catboyclarity]

Something about “It’s really not that complicated.” seems like something that you'd have a really good thing for so!

Renato and Karenina adventures! I haven't actually written a huge amount of them interacting, which is funny because they are the two main characters for a LOT of mainline consumptionverse

"It's really not that complicated." Karenina leaned down over his shoulder again, and he resisted the urge to swat her away.

"It literally is," Renato said. She sighed. "I'm not stupid, okay? I'm not a fucking idiot."

"I know you're not," Karenina said, in a tone of voice that meant he absolutely was. Fuck her. She'd spent her whole life in the Republic, had spent five years being a pack leader's second already. Renato was still getting used to living past the end of the month. Who wouldn't be a little slow on the goddamn uptick? "Look. A lot of this stuff is not super essential for your duties, but—"

"If it's not essential, why are we wasting time—"

"BUT, if you have a good understanding of what the other pack leaders are up to, they might respect you more," she finished. "Fat fuckin' chance." Moon Pack handled infrastructure, and internal supplies, like the hundreds of pig farms that peppered the whole city-state. Sun Pack handled imports and relations with the wider US. Star Pack...some mutterings about defense. It was the shitty baby pack. And it now had a shitty baby running it. Jael and Rosarian called him "puppy" every chance they got, in public, in front of his packmates, and he knew about half of those packmates agreed with that sentiment.

Sergei'd had some plans to put Star Pack on the map. Nasty, freak plans, plans that had warranted the knife Renato put through his eye, true, but Star Pack was full of nasty fucking freaks who now wanted him dead. He resisted the urge to rub at the scar on his nose. Karenina would know what he was thinking about, and she always got so fucking mopey when Sergei came up in any way, which never made sense to him, because all that guy had done for her was plop her right in the middle of danger, and give her two scars of her own.

All Arlo had done for him was annoy him and get him stuck in this situation, and he still missed Arlo like hell.

"From the top," Renato said. Wasn't good to keep thinking about that. "Tell me again, from the top."

[because-she-goes]

louder than bombs

warnings: some swearing, banter, matty brain rot, an obscene amount of music references, matty being hot, enemies to lovers. Enjoy!

Rooney stared at the document on her computer, the cursor blinking back at her. Books in piles around her and the quiet hum on the air conditioning being the only thing she is able to focus on… not the rough draft of the profile she’s supposed to have submitted to the first round of edits by the end of the week. Her home is normally a quiet, calm, serene environment for writing - the diffuser of jasmine oil typically comforting her mind whenever it got a bit too busy, yet now it only nauseated her. Now it only reminded her of him, and the way his jugular vein shot up out of the collar of his shirt past his perfectly angular jawline and into his side burn and also the way the gold cartier band wrapped around the bones in his wrist and pulse point and shined against his pale skin. Fuck matty healy she thinks, rubbing her temples. A deep sigh leaving her throat, the whole day had been like this.

Unable to concentrate properly on anything and mind adrift, the only real thing she could think of was how the few hours or so she spent with Matty talking about music over their respective caffeinated beverages felt like it was only a split second. Another wave of nausea as something dawned on her, like a sunbeam coming through the trees and into her home - she could have spent a lifetime talking to him about the music they both loved and grew up with in the north of england. She talked about The Hollies and the guitar sections in “Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)”, he talked about how The Stone Roses had more grit and rock than her precious Hollies could ever dream of. Rooney recalled looking him dead in those fucking eyes and saying “Graham Nash and Allan Clarke. Case closed.” and how that had silenced the whole discussion of who was better, they then moved onto discussions about Joy Division vs. New Order and The Smiths vs. The Cure. They then drifted off music for a bit to a topic of utmost importance to Matty, who she preferred, Manchester City or Man United. They butted heads the whole time, but Rooney had never met another human on the planet who knew as much about Manchester music than herself. It was as if a human had gotten split into two and then the twins were sent in opposite directions of the music world, one the performer and one the critic.

She had to get out of her house, and quickly. If she festered in this mental rot any longer she was sure it would begin to decompose. Rooney grabbed her keys and shoved her writing gear into a bag and said a quick goodbye to her Bernese Mountain puppy Arlo. With that she was now in the open world and on her way to the local coffee shop near her house - where she had first met the man plaguing her every thought. She waved a hello to the baristas and plopped down in one of the comfier corners and got set up. Opening the document again, she felt more refreshed and as focussed as a laser. Funny what some fresh air and a change of scenery can do to the brain. That is until she felt a particularly strong tap on the shoulder, fucking brilliant right when she just got back into her groove. Annoyed, she turned around at whatever this disturbance was.

“Why hello there, clover! Funny seeing you here, thought you’d be cooped up in your house editing away our little interview. Which may I add, was one of the most delightful press things I have ever done so thanks for the chat, darling. I brought you your regular… iced peppermint tea right?” His perfectly coarse voice rang out over the Bob Dylan playing on the speakers.

Fuck him. Fuck Matty for being so attentive, so kind, so handsome… so Matty.

“You know, you still don't have to suck up to me right? I’m not gonna be putting anything in to help you impress some girl you're shagging so you can forget all about that… Darling.” She spat at him, snatching the iced tea sharply. Fuck him for getting her so riled up and out of her mind with… whatever this new emotion was.

“Jealous it isn’t you, clover? And for the record, she’s just a friend, nothing more - and you’d know if I was trying to impress someone. Enjoy the iced tea and good luck with the edit, Rooney. Maybe I’ll be seeing you around, I quite like it here.” He then walked out the door, lighting a cig and strolling down the road. The gray smoke perfectly matched the grays in his hairline.

Rooney huffed. Well, today was gonna be a wash. She closed her laptop and sipped her deliciousy sweet peppermint tea - fuck he remembered the honey she put in it. Another huff and sip.

Another huff and sip, Matty read his paper. He was sitting at the cafe from the NME interview, growing to quite like the calming energy and the cappuccinos were some of the best he had tasted. In the paper today, like every other day, the resounding message was that the world was going to shit. Another huff and sip of the now room temperature coffee, flipping the pages of the paper to the Art and Culture section. He liked reading these sections for obvious reasons, but especially since they typically focussed on new and emerging artists. People and musicians who may be getting the exposure for the first time, people who reminded him of his younger self and of simpler times. Back when the 1975 weren’t headlining festivals like Glastonbury or Reading and Leeds, back before they weren’t selling out arenas in New York or working on the set design of their global tours. He liked reminiscing on those simpler times, before the money or the fame or the girls that would sit outside of venues waiting for him. Don’t mistake him, he loved his life currently and everything, he just wished he could have some of that normal, mundane, quietness back. He longed for domesticity and peace. With that, and a few articles and mugs of coffee later, he felt the energy shift.

A soft breeze of the doors opening went through the cafe, a golden leaf landing at his foot. Looking up, he saw the flash of red hair go by him followed by a waft of cherry and almond - holy fuck, she even smelled divine. His heart began to pound against his ribs, he felt like it was in his throat all of a sudden. His mind dizzy with her, how her eyes were so fixed on him as he spoke to her that day and how easy it was to carry the conversation - like he had known her a lifetime already. He went up to the barista and quickly ordered her regular with honey as he recalled being perplexed by - a cold drink mixed in with something so sticky sweet. He swallowed his nerves as he could now hear his heart beating away in his chest - louder than bombs. He remembered talking about The Smiths vs. The Cure with her and how she had preferred Morrissey and how he was a Manchester lead singer. As if she couldn’t be any better, he thought in the moment.

With her drink in hand and his regular Truman Black persona in tow, he waltzed over to her table. Delicate hand tapping her rounded shoulder. A huff…no. A gentle gasp leaving her lips.

[caelai-sims]