₊˚❀.ೃ࿔*:･

3rd person POV

The movie, Mamma Mia, was playing on the airplane TV. Chiara sat by the window seat, her reason being, "I want to take cute instagram pictures," which was reasonable; Vivian didn't really care to be honest.

The girls were on their way to Monaco, an impulsive decision held by Chiara, though there was a reason, not an important reason, but it was still a reason to go.

They did grow a bit bored of Italy, and Kelly was hosting a gathering.

The flight was short- Italy, to Nice, France- then they would take the helicopter to Monaco, just like last time.

The scene where Sophie and Sky sang "One of Us" by ABBA came up, but was rudely interrupted by Chiara pulling Vivian's earphones away.

"They all unfollowed her." She said as she pointed towards her phone.

"How the hell did you get WiFi on the airplane ? And who unfollowed who?" Vivian asked, pausing the movie.

"Airplanes give out WiFi if you pay for it, and they unfollowed Catarina!" Her smile was wide with excitement, the sudden adrenaline caused by drama started seeping out.

"Who? Oh! The girl Arthur was having a fling with?" I asked, Chiara nodded.

A few days ago

Kika's phone kept on ringing, making her annoyed and inevitably forcing her to put her phone on airplane mode, turning around to face Chiara and Vivian with a smile on her face, just out of curtesy.

"She's calling again?" Flavy turned around to face her friend.

Kika nodded, raising her eyebrows as she took a sip out of her coffee.

The girls were at a coffee shop in Italy, Flavy called Vivian to let her bring Chiara as well- they wanted to get to know each other a little better.

"Who's calling?" Chiara furrowed her eyebrows as she took a bite out of her Tuna Sandwich.

Kika froze for a moment, looking over at Flavy for validation before looking back at Chiara- Vivian was also curious.

Kika smiled awkwardly, "it's- okay but you guys can't tell anyone." She gave both of the girls a stern look, the same look someone gives when they're about to spill some juicy gossip.

They both nodded their heads, not expecting Kika to say what she was about to say.

"You guys obviously know About Arthur and Catarina," she said like it was a known fact, which it wasn't to them.

Chiara and Vivian paused.

"Who?" Vivian said, not knowing who Catarina was.

"Shut up! They're a thing?" Chiara covered her mouth, shocked at the new information that they have learnt.

Kika nodded, but Flavy protested, "not really." She started, giving Vivian her phone and showing her Catarinas Instagram. "It's like a fling, not serious and he made her know it wasn't anything serious at first-"

"But now," Kika interrupted her, "she thinks they're full on dating, and he was ignoring her the night of the party- he hasn't even called or texted her since then."

"That's weird," Vivian muttered, Flavy nodding as she took her phone back.

Chiara raised her pointer finger, signaling them to wait as she pressed some buttons on her phone, then giving her phone to Chiara, Vivian leaning in to peak.

"Text messages between Arthur and I, turns out she told everyone they were dating and that he cheated on her, which made him pissed, so now he's ignoring her and he blocked her from everything."

"Did he though ?" Vivian looked up at both of them.

"They weren't dating to begin with." Flavy responded.

"And he didn't even cheat." Kika added.

"Damn, crazy bitch." Chiara said under her breath, handing Kikas phone back to her.

"I'm actually surprised he didn't tell you guys, weren't you all living together for a bit?" Flavy asked as she drank her strawberry smoothie.

Vivian nodded, "he would've told me about this, I have no idea why he didn't though. That's so weird."

"Not really, he's been in that room like 90% of the time, the other 10% was him out with his friends, which was probably just Catarina." Chiara connected the dots, Kika nodding.

"I'm genuinely shocked, the heck?" Vivian said, her face covered in confusion.

"Don't take it personally," Kika started, "he doesn't really mention non-important things- plus, he only told me because her and I are friends,"she shrugged.

Vivian nodded, "makes sense but still, I obviously knew that he had some "girl-friends", but it's just, I don't know." She dismissed her sudden ramble.

"Speaking about girlfriends," Flavy wiggled her eyebrows as she looked at Vivian, "are you someone's girlfriend yet?"

Vivians cheeks went pink, a small, subconscious smile appeared on her lips. "No." She said sheepishly, dragging the "o".

"They practically are dating, he FaceTimes her almost every night," Chiara added.

"He didn't yesterday," Vivian argued, looking at Chiara.

"Fine, almost every night," she corrected herself.

"And what do you guys talk about?" Kika laughed.

"Stuff."

"No way!" Chiara replied sarcastically.

Vivian slapped Chiaras arm, making her shut up.

"Okay, never mind that, how did you handle people finding out?" Flavy said.

Vivian wasn't expecting that question, her smile dropped as she thought about the event that happened yesterday. "I was literally going to cry if Chiara wasn't there to reassure me."

"Awh thanks," Chiara smiled at Vivian, "I'm great at giving advice-"

"And pep-talks, and overall giving me a new perspective of things."

Double Flashback

What
The
Fuck.

Vivian swore she began hyperventilating. She didn't want people to know. Hell, she didn't even know what Charles and her were. And she didn't even tell her family about them, to be honest who gave a shit, but she didn't want it to become public. It would just over-complicate things- if it wasn't overcomplicated enough. And now she's going to get hurtful things said about her, hurtful things about her and Charles' relationship, and what if-

"Vivian relax!" Chiara got out of her seat and walked up to best friend, rubbing her arm in reassurance. "It's just a little tweet, it won't harm you." She closed the phone as she put it on the counter.

"Chiara," She started, looking up at her as my heart rate rose due to anxiety, "people know- there- there's proof of us- but we aren't even dating-"

"Relax, Viv." She said calmingly, "so what if they know? It was bound to happen. And so what if they post about it? Or if they comment about it? It can't harm you, it won't effect you, they're not real, physical things"

"Yeah but-"

"No buts, you've been online for years now, then you gained a following in September, then you got some comments- nice ones, and mean ones, but you didn't care. And now the same thing is happening to you, the only difference is the hate is regarded not towards you personally, but towards your boyfriend- I mean Charles'.. I don't know what to call you guys, thing? Anyways, these girls are just low-lifers who like to drag others down just because they're jealous that he's dating you and not them, they're living in a delusional state in which infuriates them if their celebrity crush gets a girl. So honey, it's not you, it's them, and it's their envy and lack of self-confidence that they have. Relax and don't think about it."

Chiara was right, but Vivian was still stressed.

Yes, she does post on social media, but nothing personal. And now they know things about her personal life- but do they really?

"You're right." Vivian closed her eyes as Chiaras words sunk into her brain, "they have no idea if it's true or not- they don't know anything other than speculations," She stated, trying to make some sense about this whole dilemma.

Chiara smiled, "exactly! And you don't have to give them that! Just do what you do, and who the hell gives a fuck?"

Vivian smiled at her words, making her hug Chiara ever so tightly, "sometimes you're actually useful."

Chiara rolled her eyes as she let go, "Please, I'm always useful."

End of Flashback, back to Cafe Flashback

"Facts," Kika said blankly.

"Preach!" Flavy high fived Chiara from across the table, the two girls laughing.

"Yeah, she's like my own personal Yoda." I laughed.

"Oh! Are you guys going to Kelly's get-together on Thursday?" Kika asked.

Chiara nodded, "booked everything, what about you guys?"

"Gonna try to make it," Flavy said.

"I'm 100% going." Kika answered.

"You didn't tell me about that?" Vivian looked over at Chiara.

Chiara made a 'oh shit I forgot' face, "I swear I was gonna, she invited you and I to this place at around 5pm."

Vivian nodded, "where?"

"Monaco."

She raised her eyebrows, too stunned to speak.

That meant they would be leaving Italy.

That meant she would see Charles.

"Okay," She squeaked.

End of Flashbaxk

"Mhmm! They unfollowed Catarina." Chiara answered.

"That's kinda low, no?"

"I mean, if a person was going all psycho and coo-coo, I'd say it's a valid reason."

Vivian nodded, "true, I guess."

₊˚❀.ೃ࿔*:･

@vivianlumiere 🩷🩷🩷
liked by chiaralumiere, francisca.cgomes, and 113,716 others

@chiarabianco I want that croissant
↪️ @vivianlumiere it doesn't want u 🫶

@flavy.barla THE KITTIESSS
↪️ @vivianlumiere I KNOW RIGHTT???

@francisca.cgomes beautifulllll
↪️@vivianlumiere alll uuuuuuu bb

@arthur_leclerc the last pic of u is my favorite

↪️@vivianlumiere that's you wdym
↪️↪️@ catarinabmaiaspams omg Arthur HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAA
this comment has now been deleted by the author

@charles_leclerc tres jolie ❤️
↪️@vivianlumiere ❤️❤️❤️
↪️↪️↪️@user76 EEEEEEK

@user17 YALL SAW THAT CATARINA COMMENT
↪️@user15 EMBARRASSSINGG

@user1 hot

@user927 Charles be lucky fr
↪️@user616 nah she's lucky
↪️↪️@user818 they're both lucky now shut the fuck up
₊˚❀.ೃ࿔*:･

First person POV

We were at the hotel, getting ready.

Chiara and I arrived at around 11 am, giving us time to have bunch and settle down for a bit until we had to get going to Kelly's event.

We didn't tell Arthur or Charles we were coming, wanting to surprise them- Chiara's idea. It was mainly for her video though, but I knew she would still do it event if it wasn't for social media.

Also including that fact that Charles and I haven't texted in almost 3 days, unusual since he usually insinuates the texts, but I shrugged it off. He's just busy, he's a busy man with a successful career and many projects, it happens.

I decided to wear this simple, cute black dress with roses embroidered on the top, and the dress surrounded by an overlining of white lace.

Chiara on the other hand, was wearing this also simple, but chic tight, light pink dress.

"You ready?" I asked Chiara, she nodded as she grabbed her vlogging camera.

She had been vlogging the entire day, "going to Monaco and surprising our friends!" I could see the title already.

"Let's go."

₊˚❀.ೃ࿔*:･

"Woah," Chiara pointed the camera towards this beautiful mansion-like venue, you can see the garden peaking out from behind as well.

"This is stunning." We both agreed as we walked towards the entrance, people there greeting us as we walked in.

As soon as we walked in, we saw Kelly talking to a bunch of people who just came in as well, Penelope next to her- she was so cute.

Kelly's attention diverted to Chiara and I, an excited smile on her lips as she saw the both of us, hugging Chiara first, then me.

Kelly and Chiara had this, "sister" bond. They knew each other for a pretty long time. Chiara was almost always an attendant in all of the races, and so was Kelly. A friendship was bound to blossom.

"I'm so happy you guys came! Everyone's sitting in the garden, there's a bar inside and also an upstairs area to lounge in." She smiled at us before going on to greet the next guests.

"I hate hosting events, I give props to whoever likes doing them. It's so tiring and draining, my social battery could never." I spoke as we walked towards the garden.

Almost everyone was there- Max, George, Carmen, Lando, Pierre, and Kika. They were separated a bit though.

Max was with Lando, Carmen was with George, and Pierre was with Kika.

Chiara and I both decided to go to Pierre and Kika, since they were the nearest to us, and Kika was our friend.

"Hey guys!" Chiara said as she turned her camera off her camera.

"Chiara, Vivain!" Kika said as we all went in for a group hug, then we side hugged Pierre.

"Did you guys just arrive?" Pierre asked us while he readjusted his sunglasses.

"Yes," I said dragging the "s", "what about you guys?" I looked at the both of them.

"Same, we just came like two minutes ago." Kika chuckled.

"I'm gonna go talk to Max and Lando, nice seeing you both." Pierre smiled at us before leaving, making us smile back at him as well.

"Updates?" Chiara smiled.

"Loads." Kika laughed.

₊˚❀.ೃ࿔*:･

We had caught up with everything, from the random, to the personal, to the drama- Kelly joining as well.

I decided to get us some drinks though, to make it even more entertaining.

I walked inside, a bar already in my peripheral vision. There was also a bunch of rounded tables with people gathered around it, I wasn't really paying attention as to who they were, minding my own business.

I ordered us four drinks, turning around to walk back, until-

"Thought that was you," He said with a toothy smile.

"Arthur," I smiled as I released a breath, my eyes widened before I realized it was him. "Could've given me a trigger warning."

He smiled at my joke, "my presence triggers you?"

I playfully shrugged, causing him to laugh again.

"Why didn't you tell me you'd be in Monaco? I would've planned a whole agenda for us to do."

"Oh shoot, Chiara was supposed to film your reaction." I covered my mouth in realization, "just act surprised when you see her, okay?"

He nodded, still smiling, obviously happy Chiara and I are both here.

"Can I buy you a drink?" He asked me.

I shook my head, "gotta go back to the girls-" I turned around to face them, until I saw them walking my way, causing me to furrow my eyebrows. "I actually think they're going upstairs now."

"Upstairs?" Arthur's tone suddenly changed making me look back at him again.

"Yeah, upstairs." I stated once again, more clearly.

"Why not stay down here for a while?" He asked me, "all of you-" he paused for a second, "upstairs is boring."

"Really?" I asked him, "they just sent a bunch of drinks upstairs, I actually think they're having more fun up there than down here." I chuckled.

"Yeah-" he went quiet for a while, "but I wanted to hang out with you and erh, Chiara more."

"We can hang out later-"

"Vivian!" Kika called for me as the walked inside, "we're going upstairs." She walked up to Arthur and I.

"No way! Vivian!" Chiara groaned as she walked towards us , "I wanted to surprise him!"

"I didn't see him! He saw me."

"It's fine Chiara, Charles went upstairs when he and Arthur first came here, you can surprise him then."

"Charles is here?" My heart sank, I knew he was here, but that reality check hit hard.

Kelly nodded, "he's up there with some of his local friends I think, I invited them as well."

I nodded at what Kelly had said, the girls began following her lead, up the stairs and to the second floor.

As I was about to walk away, Arthur grabbed my hand, "c'mon, stay." His tone a bit desperate, though it was trying to be covered with confidence.

I took his hand off of mine, "see you later arty-warty." I smiled as I turned around, Chiara setting up her camera.

I took the first couple of steps, Chiara behind me, until I heard Arthur call out for me.

I didn't reply, why was he being so clingy?

I brushed his calls off, walking upstairs. Kika and Kelly were at the side of the staircase, their expressions read of ones of concern, then their faces turned to look down at me.

I furrowed my eyebrows, walking up a bit faster, 'til I saw the thing that made their jaws drop, mine as-well.

He was sitting there- comfortably. He was wearing dark baggy shorts, and a pink, flowy, short sleeved blouse. He had gotten a tan, as well as a sunburn on his cheeks and nose. His hair was freshly cut, not too short but not long enough, and his hands. Oh, his hands.

The hands that I admired, the same ones that were on me just a few days prior, betrayed me.

He hasn't looked over at me yet, he was too busy laughing with his friends on his left to notice us.

On his right. On his right. On his right. On his right.

She was there. Wrapped around those same hands.

The hands that were wrapped around me a week ago.

'Twas such an ugly betrayal.

₊˚❀.ೃ࿔*:･

a/n

monkey covering eyes emoji