On Mia Winters, misogyny, and abuse
As should be pretty obvious by now, I love Mia Winters. I honestly think she’s one of the most compelling characters in this whole damn franchise.
But let me make clear: you don’t have to love her. Mia’s canonically done a lot of shady shit in her time, and her relationship with Ethan has real problems. There are perfectly viable interpretations where the only thing really holding it together is his own denial. Only I never seem to get to read any of those takes, because the most common characterisations Mia gets in fic are an irredeemable monster, or a cardboard cutout who exists only to be written out as quickly as possible. And to write Mia out to that degree doesn’t just do her character a disservice, it does Ethan a disservice, and a big one.
The amount of Mia-bashing I see out there in this fandom turns my stomach. It’s not just the slash fans who’d rather ship Ethan with another dude. I have seen Mia loudly bashed in tags on het or gen fic in which she does not even appear. I have seen male fans reviewing these games on youtube who treat her the exact same way. But it’s never more frustrating than when that hate comes from the same fans who’ll turn around and talk about characters like Chris or even Lady Dimitrescu (she who canonically abuses her and murders her servants, and, y’know, eats people without a shred of remorse) like they’re perfectly forgivable and have done no real wrong. And don’t get me wrong: I love Lady D, but I love her because she’s magnificently evil. Mia? Mia’s a whole lot more complicated.
But to really explain why this hate makes me so uncomfortable, I’m going to have to start with the start of Resident Evil 7, and Mia’s very first scenes in this whole franchise.
Let me quickly summarise the opening of that game. A man whose wife disappeared without explanation suddenly gets a message about her whereabouts. He travels to an isolated location, breaks in, and finds her. She denies ever sending him that message, and seems incredibly distressed that he’s there at all. They fight. It ends with him sinking an axe into her neck and shooting her several times with a handgun. But see, he didn’t do anything wrong! It was all self-defence! She started it! She was acting crazy!
If you didn’t spot it, the whole opening of RE7 reads uncomfortably like a story about a woman escaping an abusive relationship, then being tracked down and murdered by her ex.
Obviously, I am not here to tell you Ethan’s abusive. He’s not, we’ve got no reason to imagine he is. He was legitimately acting in self-defence.
But the fact the first thing Ethan has to do in this game is find the balls to kill his own wife ‒ that a whole new era of Resi games has opened with a sequence so easily read as a sympathetic justification for how a man might perfectly innocently track down his missing spouse and "have" to kill her – that made those opening minutes into by far the most uncomfortable part of this whole franchise for me. Shit like this really happens. I mean it, I will track down the fucking statistics on women who are murdered after trying to leave an abusive partner if I have to.
What happens to ‘Mia’ in the opening to RE8 isn’t much better: it's as textbook a fridging as any I’ve ever seen. Yes, it’s a fridging that gets retconned away later when she turns up alive, but the fact that’s even possible speaks to just how awful and confusing her death is. The game opens with Mia’s violent murder at the hands of this series’ longest running ‘hero’, and the event is framed entirely in terms of how awful it is for her husband. That's as frigid as a fridging gets.
The eventual reveal that the real Mia was just trapped alone in a cell being experimented on by a madwoman for god knows how long doesn’t actually make it better. The horror Mia goes through in both these games is a footnote, barely explored.
I bring these events up not to condemn the RE franchise, not to say that including these sequences was unconscionable, or that violence against women can never be shown in a horror title. A quick glance at my tumblr should demonstrate how much I adore these games. Tropes like fridging become problems only because they’re so ubiquitous they can come to define almost the only roles women get to play, not because any individual example is necessarily grounds for outrage. If anything, there’s just as much to analyse in all the hate thrown at characters like Ethan Winters (or his predecessor, Jonathan Harker) as a archtypical examples of sexism against men – backlash against the very idea of a male character in the disempowered role of horror victim, usually reserved for women.
But with this context in mind, my god is it uncomfortable to see people talk about Mia as irredeemable monster who deserves to suffer more. People who will valorise the likes of Chris Redfield, who didn’t even bother to stop to tell Ethan that’s not Mia, yet talk about Mia like being shot to death in her own living room was only what she deserved. That is just a whole load of yikes.
And given that both games open with Mia being violently killed by a male protagonist (twice in RE7, with the player in control), it sure is convenient how so many people have managed to ‘find’ the evidence that proves she’s the real villain. You don’t have to think too hard about Chris Redfield as a violent maniac or Ethan Winters being forced to kill his own wife if it’s okay to inflict violence on this woman. “Yes, but she shouldn’t have done [X]…” or even “But what if she’s the real abuser” is a narrative that gets thrown at real women in abusive relationships all the time – especially when the man is a friend of whoever’s casting judgement, or even a celebrity. Real world examples of this shit in the wild run the gamut from wild fan-takes on The Shining ‘proving’ that actually the abused wife was the ‘real’ abuser all along, right up to the ongoing hate campaign against Amber Heard. People don’t want to have to think badly of someone they admire, and will take any excuse to shift the blame. The stakes are infinitely lower when we’re talking about fictional characters, but the same pattern plays out.
And look, I do get it. It’s easy to go into these games and come out with a negative opinion of Mia. She’s the one who lures you into danger in RE7, acts all innocent, and then comes at Ethan with a chainsaw – and when you finally find out her big secret at the end, it turns out she was working for the people who created Eveline from the start! You’re really not given a lot of reasons to invest in Ethan and Mia’s relationship before she’s suddenly coming at him with a knife, and the fact she never does get to come clean to him in canon leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
It’s really easy to go into RE8, note all the glaring signs that Ethan’s relationship with Mia isn’t healthy, and draw your own conclusions about a woman we don’t hardly even see again for most of the runtime of the game. Half this goddamn fandom still seems to think Heisenberg is actually a lycan, ffs – most of what people think they know about Mia is more meme than fact, and the rest is pretty surface level. Basic media literacy is not exactly high out there in the tumblrweeds (let alone the rest of the internet).
But as for the idea that Mia’s responsible for all the horrors Ethan went through, people seem to forget that Mia herself went through so much worse. Ethan spent a day in the Bakers’ property, and a day in the village. Mia spent years trapped in the Bakers’ property, and days at least imprisoned in Miranda’s lab, knowing exactly how much danger her family were in, helpless to save them. She’s no innocent herself, but ye gods has she already suffered for her crimes.
So with all that out of the way, well, what’s the actual ‘evidence’ that Mia herself was abusive? No-one's coming into this one without some bias, but let’s at least give it a fair shake.
Right upfront, I want to recognise that in both fiction and reality, women can be abusers, and men can be victims. Abuse in heterosexual relationships is far more likely to occur with the man as the abuser, but the reverse does happen, and the fact culture at large can be so eager to cast the woman as the villain doesn’t make it any easier for the real male victims of abuse to get recognition and help. Society as a whole is still just really shitty about enabling or excusing real abuse.
But the idea that Mia was abusive has very little to back it up. Whatever you make of “her” interactions with Ethan at the start of the game, the fact remains: that’s not Mia, and the fact she’s acting so strangely is meant to be our clue that something much bigger than a little marital strife is going on here. Knowing all this doesn’t really make the scene where she’s violently executed less disturbing, but you can’t miss the hints we don’t yet know the full story.
So the question becomes, is there any evidence that the real Mia was abusive? I’ve dug into this one a bit before in my post about trying to figure out the timeline of exactly when Mia was replaced, but there are no definitive answers as to how long Miranda's been living in their house. To summarise a long post (and a surprisingly lively timeline of events from the days before the game begins): the most likely intent seems to be that Miranda’s been posing as Mia for less than a week, though a lot of the vibes of the scene give me the impression it’s been several weeks at least. Ultimately, that’s going to come down to your own interpretation.
The Mia mentioned in Ethan’s diary who blew up at him at the hospital could be the real Mia, but more likely isn’t: you can’t really use her to argue anything definitive, one way or another. The Mia from the flashback where Ethan gets the call from Rose’s doctor is the real Mia, but if you think getting upset when your husband brushes off your obvious distress over your daughter’s health makes you abusive, then nothing I say here is going to convince you otherwise.
The only ‘real’ evidence that Mia might be a problem is one line you might hear from Ethan while taking Rose to bed, and it is admittedly a red flag: your mother’s scary when she’s angry.
And to anyone whose whole hatred of Mia has been built backwards from this one line – especially anyone who’s grown up in a dysfunctional household themselves – hell, I get it. It is one really yikes thing for Ethan to say about his wife.
But in Mia’s defence, I can only point out that, well, yes, canonically, she is scary when she’s angry.
Oh, did I say angry? I meant fucking possessed.
And if Ethan’s bringing up the spectre of that time, even subconsciously, maybe that should be an even bigger clue that the Mia in this house right now isn’t Mia.
But what really shows this line for what it is is that we’ve seen the real Mia angry. We’ve seen her cold fury at Eveline, daring to go right back to asking ‘can we be a family now?’ within hours forcing Mia to assault her own husband with a chainsaw. We’ve seen her frustration at Ethan’s own denial, and we’ve seen her stalk out of the room when he blows off an important conversation for a call from work. We’ve seen her advance on Chris after he shut her down, demanding, Where is my husband? Where is my daughter?!
We have never seen her angry without real justification. Her anger is neither violent nor disproportionate. It’s consistently purposeful, focused, and contained. There is nothing scary about the real Mia’s anger, unless you’re threatened by the very idea she might have something valid to be angry about.
There is evidence of tension in the Winters’ marriage from before Miranda’s arrival, but it takes a very different form – most evident in the flashback scene where Ethan receives the call from Rose’s doctor. Far from Miranda’s brusque, dismissive copy of her, the real Mia is anxious and depressed, scared of what Rose’s results might reveal. Here, Ethan’s the one brushing her concerns aside (“We talked about this […] Rose is fine!”) He recognises there seems to be something Mia’s not telling him, says they should talk about it, but then immediately brushes the conversation off when he gets a call from work, while Mia storms out of the room.
You can certainly read Mia as a hypocrite here, getting angry at Ethan for not knowing things she’s deliberately kept from him. But it’s Ethan who decides a call from work is more important than a conversation with his wife – someone who is obviously distressed, canonically still on a regime of drugs after the traumatic events of RE7, very likely suffering PTSD along with Ethan, and maybe even some form of postpartum depression. We don’t know anything about Ethan’s work, so there’s no point in speculating about how much he ‘needs’ to take that call. Mia’s no clear villain here – quite the opposite.
Personally, I tend towards taking this scene as evidence that Mia has tried to talk to Ethan about what really happened to him, but hasn’t managed to get him to face the truth. For all that Ethan supposedly wants to talk about the past, it’s a defining plot point that he’s badly in denial himself.
Or they could both be at some fault here: Ethan unwilling to face the truth, while Mia is reluctant to force him to face something she knows will hurt him and bring him distress. Even when Mia says outright that she ‘tried to keep this a secret, but…’ to Chris at the end of the game, the implication is as much that she’s tried to keep it a secret from people like Chris, who might decide Ethan is dangerous. She’s lied to protect him before, and if she’s still lying to him about her past with the Connections, then the fact that knowing the truth will hurt Ethan is obviously among her reasons. Protecting Ethan has always been among Mia’s top priorities ‒ even at her own expense.
The only other real hints we get about Mia’s inner life come from the glimpses of her we get in Donna’s domain. But I’m hesitant to read too much into these, given how unclear it is how much is just a manifestation of Ethan’s own anxieties. If anything, the ‘Mia’ in these scenes almost seems to have some far worse secret than simply having not told Ethan something he really ought to have put together on his own, and I’d kind of love to see that explored too – at least as long as that goes somewhere more interesting than round umpteen of ‘and that’s why Mia sucks’.
But my point here isn’t that you have to read any of these scenes the same way I do. I do think it’s important to recognise that nothing written for a game like RE is truly character-driven; scenes exist to serve the plot far more than to reflect consistent character motivations or hold up to fridge logic (which, let’s face it, is the real reason for most of Chris’ horrific behaviour in this game, let alone anyone else’s). The result is rarely super consistent, and leaves ample space for multiple interpretations of anyone’s motivations. Regardless, the idea there’s any hard evidence that Ethan and Mia’s relationship is dysfunctional, or that whatever’s wrong is Mia’s fault alone, is going to be incredibly hard to justify.
Any assertion that Ethan and Mia are somehow on the verge of divorce also needs to be weighed against the masses of evidence of how much they love each other – the number of times Mia has said she loves Ethan, up to and including (yes, I’m bringing this up again) how ready she is to die for him in RE7. Her speech to Chris at the end of RE8 states explicitly that being together with Ethan and Rose is the only thing that matters to her. “Mia, I’m sorry, I love you,” are some of the last words Ethan ever speaks – and I can’t help but read into how the moment he finally pushes Rose into Chris’ arms so they can get away with him weighing them down is right after he learns that Mia is alive, and thus implicitly that Rose won’t be alone if Ethan doesn’t make it. And good god does that scene break my heart every time.
It’s worth recognising that the fact Ethan and Mia love each other doesn’t inherently mean their relationship is healthy, or that you have to love them together as much as I do. Like I said up top, you don’t have to like Mia, and you don’t have to justify not liking her if you don’t. I would genuinely like to see fics where Mia and Ethan’s supposedly-necessary break up feels in character. Where Ethan loves her but just can’t deal with the resentment and the fallout over all the lies she told him, where he's been clinging to his 'happy ending' with Mia after surviving the Bakers so hard he can't face the fact things just aren't working, or where he’s having to face that their relationship only ever really worked because she was away so much. It will break my heart, but fiction is allowed to do that.
But god, it would be nice if people could just take the bashing below an eleven around this place. The number of times I’ve had to sigh and back-button out of reading something, because yet another author has decided to project their own hatred for Mia onto the husband who’s still reeling from watching her being violently murdered in front of him… it gets fucking old, y’know?
I would really like to think that in the year of our lord 2024, fandom would be a bit past this thing where they bash the canonical female love interest in the name of shipping the hero with another dude. People will bend over backwards to try and cast Heisenberg and Chris as guys who really care about consent and worry about Ethan getting hurt, because heaven forbid anyone be caught shipping something slightly problematic. And yet misogyny still somehow gets a pass.
You do not have to love Mia. You don’t even have to like her. But ye gods, the hate she gets is baseless and absurd.
Hasn't this poor woman suffered enough?
(And on that note, I promise I am finally done soapboxing in defence of Mia Winters, thank you for bearing with me for this long.)
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🏑!American boy! 🏑
Pairing: Quinn hughes x OC F1 driver Cherrie Valentine
Word count: 11k
Summary: in which she swears she’ll never be as stupid as her brother and fall in love in America when her whole life is back in Monaco.
Or ; the week of falling in love.
Warnings- fluff. Cherrie a bit of a drama queen, rich bitch? A bit of crapping on backward caps and america? I don’t even know. Mostly fluff I think . Cute shit ya know.
A/N -okay I know this is like, a world away from my usual f1 driver fics but I’ve been having writers block then I watched a hockey game and remembered the huge crush I used to have on Quinn. Apparently it’s not gone so. Wrote this. I don’t know. First nhl oneshot… soooo, kinda a small glimpse I guess. Might write more for Quinn maybe. Anyways. Let me know what u think xoxo
The scowl could not be wiped from Cherries face as she stared down her brother , who was laying casually against the couch snacking on candy like he wasn't the one that had pleaded for her to be here like a cry baby.
The French woman couldn't believe the nerve her brother had to drag her from beautiful , warm and luxurious monaco and have her travel all the way to... Vancouver . Only to greet her with a casual 'hey' and a head nod like he hasn't went nearly six months without seeing his sister.
"I can't believe this." Her accent was thicker than his was, seeing as her brother had been living in America for a couple of years now. Travelling around like a wayyard hippy , sending her selfies every weekend of some new destination.
She was happy for him. He had spent months of the year flying out to her races and staying back in Monaco with her too. Up until this year when her brother had declared himself in love and suddenly wanting to settle down. In Vancouver. She just couldn't believe it.
She was feeling more than a little annoyed and bitter about his sudden decisions. Certain that he wasn't thinking this through properly , having always thought that her brother would end up living somewhere a little closer to her.. at least within france. That had been the plan. But now some American girl had apparently bewitched her lovesick brother and now he didn't want to leave at all.
Instead he was making her fly all the way out here to a place she did not want to be in. At all.
Cherrie was Monaco. She was Milan. She was Paris. She was €3000 white jeans and dainty diamonds, she liked the high life. Just like her French mother who was also having a crisis at the thought of her son settling down in America of all places. Something that Cherrie and her mother liked to rant about at brunch in Monaco , a far cry from the life that Leon was living here.
She kind of wanted to cry. Kind of wanted to drag him back home with her too. She missed her brother and she didn't want him to be so far away.
So she couldn't help but be a little upset . And a little pissy with his decisions , even if he was happy. She wasn't. And she liked things her own way. No way else.
"Why would you want to stay here leon? This is like-this is like a -" she didn't even have words for it as she glanced around the boring mans apartment that looked like teenage boys lived in it. Messy and bland, no taste at all.
She wanted to be sick. "Nightmare! You're turning into a fratboy like on those shows! You're even-" she swallowed in disgust as she stared in horror at her brothers head. "-you're wearing a cap backwards!" She couldn't believe it.
What had happened to her linen pant wearing brother who wouldn't be seen dead without his fancy shirts and Rolex?
He was lounging on the couch in grey joggers, a jersey and backwards cap! Cherrie thought she was going to be sick. Maman was going to have a stroke!
Leon just rolled his eyes at his sisters dramatics, used to het snobby and judging behaviour by now. She never did like anything unless it was done her way. But he loved her none the less. Hence why he had wanted her to come visit him so badly, wanted to show her that it wasn't so bad here.
That it could be home. In more ways than one.
"Don't be so ridiculous. This is the style here. I look cool." He told her matter of factly , always happy to fit in. "Would you just relax?" He exclaimed.
She shot him a look "relax?" She scoffed , eyeing him judgmentally. "You're living like a fratboy in America! Poor maman is having a crisis! She thinks this is a cry for help!" She shot back at him , unimpressed as she glanced around his apartment "I'm starting to think she's right! You've traded Monaco for Vancouver! Who would do this?!" She just didn't get it.
Her brother merely sighed and told her "a man in love would. Sarah is the love of my life Cherrie. She makes this place feel like home." With a lovesick smile on his face, unashamed . Not bothered by the disgusted look he was receiving from his sister.
She was cringing , horrified . "Love? Love couldn't keep me here. This is insane! Nobody is worth this!"
Leon rolled his eyes again "what do you know? You've never been in love but one day you will be and you'll get it then." He tried convincing her. Unable to wait for the day that she understood.
He just hoped that it was soon. His sister was far too cold and cynical recently . Her life was racing, champion and Diamonds. No time for love apparently. He just wanted her to be happy , to have a taste of what it felt like to not need anything but the embrace of your partner to feel happiness. It was a special feeling.
Cherrie just wasn't having it. Too stubborn to take him seriously . "I would never live in America for a guy. I'll fall in love with a Frenchman if anything. Much easier." She muttered unimpressed with him as she clutched her purse to her, feeling her phone buzz in her pocket. No doubt her new friends for the night asking where she was. Having planned to get some drinks and have some fun.
Leon just smirked a little, looking at her confidently. "I bet you that you'll grow to love it here. There's just something about it.." he sighed happily "I promise you. By the end of the week you won't want to leave." He told her.
Cherrie couldn't have laughed any louder if she tried. "Ha! I don't think so! But whatever.. are you coming with me?" She had mentioned her clubbing plans to him earlier. Wanting to party so it felt still a little like home.
Unfortunately leon shook his head "I can't. I'm having beers with the guys . They’re coming over and we're gonna watch the game..." he trailed off once he noticed her disbelieving look. "What?"
She just couldn't believe it "you’re turning too American! Are you trying to hurt my and mamans heart leon? Because you're breaking them!" She dramatically let him know. Upset that so much was changing lately. She hated it.
Leon just snorted, used to her guilt tripping behaviour. It had no affect on him whatsoever. She was a drama queen. Always had been and always would be.
"Shut up." He groaned "and the guys are really nice alright? So I want you to be.." he looked at her seriously.
She just looked at her brother with a confused frown, not understanding him. Hating that she was sounding more French than he did. Hating that his accent was fading so quickly. Hating it all.
"To be what? I'm not talking to them. They're your friends not mine!" She was quick to let him know. Wanting no part in it.
Leon looked at her in disbelief "you have to talk to them for that exact reason Cher! Plus they've been asking about you. They're big fans!" He told her with a grin. Amused by the way his sister managed to capture everyone's attention even when she wasn't even there.
It didn't help that he bragged about her every chance he got. He was very proud of her. He made sure everyone knew what a legend she was. Always. Including his new friends who couldn't believe that his sister was THE Cherrie Valentine. F1 driver and two times world champion. Hopefully 3 soon.
She was a star all around the world. And ever since drive to survive had hit Netflix , everybody knew her name now. Even outside of the usual f1 fans. She was popular . That was an understatement. People either loved her or absolutely hated her. She was known at his ice queen who was more mean than she was nice. Beautiful but deadly. She had everyone hooked.
Cherrie simply didn't give a shit about what anyone thought of her. All she cared about was winning another championship , her family and convincing her brother to come home. That was it.
"Oh no. I don't like talking to new people! You can't make me!" She almost whined, hating making new friends. She didn't want any nor did she need any. She had her close circle And that was enough.
Leon let out a small laugh "you sound like Quinn's inner dialogue. He hates meeting new people too." He muttered in amusement. Having a feeling that the two would get along great if his sister wasn't so scary and stubborn.
Unfortunately he had a horrible feeling that she'd scare him off and make him wish that he had never met her. He crossed his fingers and prayed that she would be nice for once.
"Sounds like a smart guy." She simply replied running a hand through her hair, checking out her tight dress in the mirror. Making sure she looked good. "But I still don't want to-"
"All I'm asking is that you be nice! I'm not asking you to marry them. God! I'm just asking that you filter yourself a little!" He argued, exasperated with her already. And she had only been here not even a day.
She was offended "I will be myself. Thank you. And If they don't like it then that's their problem." She snapped back at him, annoyed. Stomping to the door in her high heels. "Goodbye leon! Maybe by the time I get back you will have found your brain again!"
Her brother simply laughed "and maybe you'll stop being such a bitch!" He shook his head to himself in amusement as he heard her muttering curses in French, cursing out America and him before she slammed the door behind her in a mood. "I don't think so." He muttered grinning.
It was nearly eleven by the time his friends finally started asking Leon about his sister again, Jack and Trevor grinning at him, excited at the thought of meeting her.
"Is she really as scary as everyone says she is?" Trevor wanted to know. Passing them all another round of beers as they paused their game of fifa for a moment to chat.
Leon chucked a little, looking at them in amusement. Jack looking equally as intrigued , Quinn was merely relaxing back into the couch quietly, not speaking. Just listening.
"She really isn't!" He wanted them to like her, wanted to paint her in the best light.
“She's actually really nice. She's just a bit-" of a bitch
"-blunt and lacking a filter sometimes. So I guess it intimidates people. But she's actually - deep down- really lovely and such a sweetheart-"
His exaggerated truth was abruptly cut off by the slamming of his front door hitting against the wall making them all nearly jump out of their skin. Jack gasped a little in fright while Trevor nearly dropped his beer, Quinn flinching a little in shock as they all glanced over to the hallway quickly.
"Just socialise a little more Cherrie! Go out and have some fun!" She mocked her mother's voice in Annoyance as she stormed inside in a fury, too angry to realise that he wasn't alone.
“And you know that got me ?! A fucking slap to the face! This bitch-"
"Cherrie-" he brother tried to warn her, already wincing in embarrassment as they all watched her throw her bag to the side in anger. Stomping into the open kitchen without even glancing at him, a bright pink hand mark on her cheek.
"God that's insulting bitches by calling her that!" She scoffed angrily. Furious even.
"she was crazy! Screaming at me about her boyfriend as though it was my fault that he's a cheater! He failed to mention her stupid ass when he was trying to shove his tongue in my-" she turned around ready to rant to her brother about her horrible night when she froze up at the sight of three other pairs of eyes watching her in both shock and amusement.
"Oh." She breathed out with a grimace "American boys."
She suddenly remembered about Leon telling her that he was having his new friends over, a little too late.
She glanced between them carefully , eyes lingering on the dark haired guy on the loveseat for a little longer than necessary before she looked away, inhaling deeply.
Fucking shit. She thought.
"Nice night?" Trevor joked with a smirk , wide eyes looking at her in awe. Jack not too far off, his mouth had even dropped open as they all stared at the world champion in front of them in a tiny black dress and killer heels with a slapped cheek, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else but there.
She just glanced at her brother with a wince "je suis désolé. I forgot." She muttered . Not knowing whether to just walk past them to her room or god forbid... speak to them.
Fucking hell.
Leon just chuckled "it's alright. This is Jack and Trevor.." he nodded to the two wide eyed guys next to him with a small smirk "and the quiet one over there is Quinn." He told her.
She just nodded her head, briefly glancing over at Quinn again. Seeing him already looking up at her , only to look away as soon as she met his eyes.
She frowned "bonjour." Was all she said, eyeing the hallway behind them. Wondering if she could just slip away without her bother scolding her for being rude.
"Oh my god. You're even hotter in person. You look amazing." Trevor breathed out, snapping out of his shock as he tried to send the Frenchwoman a wink. Jack chuckling beside him , shaking his head at him.
Quinn just looked at him, unimpressed. Fighting the sudden urge to roll his eyes as he glanced subtly back over to Cherrie , eyes lingering on her as he watched her shift on her feet. Clearly not impressed either.
He tried not to smile as he saw her looking blankly back at Trevor , not even hesitating in shutting him down.
"I take it you're one of the boys getting my brother to wear his caps backwards?" She sniffed , disinterested.
A Frenchman had once told her in a bar that she was as beautiful as a field of rare flowers in a dream.
Getting called hot didn't faze her at all.
He nodded proudly , not picking up on her distaste for it at all. Jack slowly turned his cap back the right way , fighting back a laugh as he did so.
Briefly looking over at his brother only to see Quinn’s eyes still on Cherrie , his lips quirked up as he lifted his hand up to his face to hide his smile. Jacks eyebrow rose in surprise , not expecting that reaction at all from his quite, timid older brother.
"Yeah. Looks good huh?" He grinned. Leon laughing at the look on his sisters face.
"Pierre does it too. I told him he looks like a stupid jackass." She simply said before turning around to get herself a glass of water , hoping to sober up quicker.
The slap to the face had been a real mood killer.
Trevor paused "wait..you don't like the look?" He said offended. Looking at Jack in disbelief once he saw his cap the right way forward again.
Cherrie just shrugged boredly as she sipped at her glass, not even glancing at them anymore. Wondering how the hell she was going to enjoy a full week here. Already missing Monaco. French boys and champagne.
"It reminds me of boysluts-" her brother laughed quietly "fuckboys." He quickly corrected her already knowing what she meant. She just rolled her eyes and muttered "same thing."
"Very American I suppose." She sighed , homesick. Kicking off her heels and losing six inches to her height, Quinn's eyebrow raising in amusement as he watched her fall back to barely 5,6. He wondered how she even walked in such things. Surely her ankles must be killing her?
He watched her wince and rub her claves together and pressed his hand further against his mouth , wondering why he was fighting back a smile so badly. Wondering why he was even thinking so much about the woman in front of him at all. She clearly didn't like them. Clearly wasn't happy being here..so why couldn't he tear his eyes away from the moody , insanely fucking beautiful Frenchwoman?
Jack laughed loudly "well you are in America. Sorry to burst your bubble." He teased , having already been clued in by Leon about how pissed off his sister was about being there instead of sweet Monaco.
“It's nice to meet you finally though. I thought Leon was lying when he told us that his sister was the current world champion." He said hoping to make friends with her, he had to try. Being Cherrie valentines friend was a one off chance. One in a million.
He was going to be her friend whether she liked it or not.
Leon grinned to himself, knowing this. Trevor and Jack weren't going to be scared away easily. Trevor was already trying to put a cap on his sisters head, unafraid of the glares she was sending his way.
Batting his hand away from her with a loud sigh "I know. I can't believe it either sometimes. I am the amazing , talented one of the family. Leon is just the.." she smirked at her brother "idiot. Stupid in love and stupid in America apparently. Quite a difference." She couldn't help the jab. Petty as ever.
Unfazed, her brother just snickered. "Okay miss ice queen. Just because you don't believe in love-"
Quinn repeated quietly in disbelief "you don't believe in love?" Without even realising it until it suddenly went quite.
He looked up from his feet to see them all looking back at him, Cherrie unbothered, the guys in shock that he had spoken up so suddenly.
He ignored the look Jack sent his way, clearing his throat quietly and hoping the flush in his neck wouldn't reach his face. He fidgeted with his beer bottle instead. Feeling his heart race in his chest the longer she looked at him.
She groaned a little "no. It's not that- I do. Just not for me. I'm not going to fall in love so stupidly." She told him , believing what she was saying.
She looked at Quinn , took in his black sweatpants and oversized sweatshirt , his hair a mess, long and uncut. Unshaven with a healing cut on his nose and frowned a little to herself , swallowing as she felt her throat suddenly go dry. Forcing herself to look away from him when he didn't say anything else, simply looking down at his bottle of beer and not acknowledging her anymore.
What was his problem?
Actually , what was her problem?
The vodka shots. She suddenly thought to herself. That was why she wanted him to look at her again. Obviously. It could only be that.
"Someday you will and I'll be there to make fun of you and tell you I told you so." Leon told her with a grin as he turned the game back on . Pulling Trevor back down to the couch so that he would stop annoying his sister by trying to put a cap on her head, unable to let her comment go like a child.
Cherrie just scoffed and turned away to head back into the kitchen.
"I don't think so." She denied, she would never do something so stupid.
Not even an hour later she had changed out of her dress and into a silk , white nighty and some fuzzy slippers and snook her way back to the kitchen for something to eat. Hearing loud laughter and boyish shouting from the couch as they watched some game on tv, despite it being past midnight already.
Bending down to look into the fridge , she frowned in dismay . Seeing nothing but old takeout containers and crap. The fridge was so full with different brands of things that she had never seen before , she had no clue what to eat . Didn't know if she dared.
She couldn't wait to tell their mother about his poor diet and new living. He was going to be in for a scolding of a lifetime for living like some frat boy, their mother had brought them up better than that.
"Your cheek is still a little pink." The sudden low voice nearly made her jump out of her skin.
Flinching in fright as she spun back around with a curse "putain! oh mon Dieu! Quinn!" She place her hand on her poor heart with a heavy exhale , glaring at him.
He looked a little bashful then , smiling a little apologetically at her.
His cheeks flushing as he muttered a quiet "does it hurt still?" His eyes glued to his feet again .
For a moment she could only look at him in pure confusion , heart still racing and wondering how he had managed to sneak off from the others without anyone noticing. She wondered if he was always this quiet or if he just hated her.
She was so used to guys being loud and arrogant , she was a woman in a mans sport , she had never dealt with a man being shy or bashful around her before .
She didn't know they could be like this, so the first thing she thought was that he simply didn't like her. Unused to it.
"Does what hurt?" Her accent was even thicker than usual. Both from tiredness and confusion. Tucking her long hair behind her shoulder , suddenly feeling out of place in the plain kitchen in her white silk nighty that barely hit mid thigh. White faux fur on the edges.
She leaned back against the counter with some resemblance of confidence , wondering what the hell was wrong with her. Why the hell did she care about what she looked like all of a sudden?
She didn't . She didn't. No. She was just tired, that's all.
Quinn's eyes slowly trailed up from his feet , pausing on her bare legs for a moment, lips quirking for a second as he saw the white silk and faux fur, before they quickly darted to meet her eyes again. Heart jumping in his chest.
"Your cheek. The slap.." he reminded her quietly , gently nudging her out of the way so he could get into the freezer.
She watched him pull out a small ice pack with a slight frown "it's fine. She slapped like a child. I've had worse." She muttered , feeling out of place.
Quinn hesitated for a moment before moving in front of her and holding up the ice pack to her cheek, gently resting it there . He smiled a little "children hit like boxers sometimes though. A slap is a slap."
"She was a bitch. She should have slapped her boyfriend not me." She muttered , eyes on his blue jersey he was wearing. Shivering as she felt the ice cold sink into her skin.
"What did you say to make her slap you?" He seemed to know that she wasn't telling the whole story before.
She immediately looked up and scowled "I didn't say anything but the truth!" She quickly snapped , annoyed just at the reminder of her night.
Quinn tried not to smile. He really did. Unable to tell why he felt as amused as he did then by how defensive she was getting.
"Some people don't like hearing the truth so bluntly."
"That's their problem. Not mine." She quickly countered back. "You can't have both. You can't hate someone for telling the truth and hate liars too. That's stupid." She grumbled , grimacing as she tried to turn her frozen cheek away from the ice pack , not liking the numb feeling sinking in her face.
Quinn kept it pressed to her cheek though , gently holding her jaw with his other hand to keep her still without even thinking about it. Used to hockey injuries and making sure his stubborn teammates and friends looked after their injuries properly too.
It wouldn't be until later, when he was alone in his bed , that he would realise how easily he had let himself touch her. Cradled her jaw gently as though it was something he did everyday. Him. Somebody who avoided Physical contact and affection all the time. Maybe he should have known, realised that it began then.
"People are stupid." He agreed easily in a whisper . Lifting the ice for a moment to glance at her cheek to make sure that the slight swelling was going down. It was.
Her eyes were glued to the mole above his cheek , smiling a little to herself . "They are." She agreed too before remembering what her brother had told her about his new friends . Vaguely .
“You play sports." She said struggling to remember which .
Outside of racing she didn't know much about other sports . She enjoyed all motorsports and football , that was about as far as her enjoyment and knowledge went.
Quinn chuckled a little "yeah. Ice Hockey. My brothers do too. and Trevor." He added secondly in case she didn't already know.
Smirking a little as he saw her nose twitch at Trevor’s name, knowing that he had already succeeded in annoying her made him want to laugh. The playboy wasn't getting her attention at all.
It was all on Quinn instead. She tilted her head a little , unaware of how close they even were until she felt their knees bump together . She pulled her leg away and fiddled with the strap of her nightie again.
"The sticks and the -" she had no clue at all.
Quinn smiled for real then "the pucks. Yeah. Never watched it before I'm guessing." He was amused , there was no hiding it.
She just shrugged a little "no. Boring. I like heart racing sports. Bit of danger. Not boys on ice." She said , hoping to wind him up a little.
It worked. He frowned down at her "hockey is Dangerous. One wrong move and your career could be over. And we're not boys.." he muttered annoyed at the way she kept calling them so.
She smirked up at him slyly "no?" At his small head shake she laughed slyly "okay. Men on ice then. Not your first bloody nose , non?" She gently tapped the end of his nose. Carefully of the deep cut there.
His breath hitched , eyes never leaving hers as he swallowed quietly .
“No. The pucks love me. So do the sticks." He mumbled, averting his eyes away from hers when it became too much for him.
He pulled away completely, putting the ice pack back into the freezer instead. Missing the way Cherrie frowned as she straightened out her nightie and moved away from the counter she had been leaning against, taking a much needed breath again.
"Hmm. Okay." She just muttered . Turning away from him and busying herself with looking in the kitchen cupboards. Still hungry. She blamed her weird emotions on the tiredness, hunger and vodka. All three were to blame.
There was a beat of silence as Quinn hovered by the breakfast table unsurely, glancing out into the living room to see the guys still messing about on the couch, too busy bickering to pay any attention to where he had gotten to.
He swallowed , glancing at the pizza boxes that were on the table in front of them.
“You want some pizza? I think they're might be a slice left.. maybe." He didn't know why he kept talking. Why he hasn't left her alone yet. This wasn't like him at all. What the hell was he doing?
Cherrie glanced over at him with a grimace, shaking her head . "No. Strict diet with racing. I'm not wasting my cheat day on ... that." If she was going to eat pizza she would be eating real, Italian pizza. Not this crap they were eating.
“Though I doubt my brother has anything I want in. I'll just get something in the morning.." she muttered, yawning as she rounded the table , ready to call it a night.
Quinn slowly nodded his head, fiddling with his jersey sleeves as he watched her run a hand through her hair , shaking her hair out over her tanned shoulders . He glanced away quickly.
"Alright.."
She hesitated by the doorway before glancing over her shoulder at him briefly . "bonne nuit Quinn." Was all she muttered before disappearing from the kitchen.
Making sure to ruffle her brothers hair as she walked past , then she grabbed the cap from Trevors head and flung it across the room, giving Jack a small smile before heading straight to her room, closing the door behind her with a heavy exhale.
Ten minutes later there was a small knock on her bedroom door and a plate of cut up fruit left for her on the floor beside her door .
She went to sleep with a small smile on her lips that night. The first night of many.
Throughout the next week the two of them found odd ways to be around each other , making up excuses and ignoring any strange looks they received from others as they did.
The first time Quinn did it, he felt like he was still dreaming. Sleepwalking maybe , only he knew exactly what he was doing just not why he was doing it.
It was the next morning after meeting her and all he could think about as he ate his unhealthy breakfast , was about how she complained about the lack of her favourite food in her brothers apartment next door. So he ate his own food and ended up texting Leon
What does your sister like for breakfast? Sending the text before he could even think not to. Already putting on his shoes and pocketing his wallet , having a feeling that the luxurious Frenchwoman wouldn't be eating cornflakes .
Her brothers text was both wary and amused. Has she blackmailed you into doing shit for her already?
No. Was already out. He was not. Just thought I'd ask seeing as you said she hates it here. Might make her hate it a little less if she had some good food to eat. He sent, flushed from lying to Leon and himself .
Leon's text came quickly , unconcerned with his sudden interest in his sister. Just taking it for him being a nice guy.
Alright. She usually likes seeded bagels with some eggs or something on top. Or protein pancakes and fruit. I don't even know man.
Quinn ended up getting them both from some fancy new age cafe a little further out. Ridiculously overpriced and a little shocked on how much protein pancakes could cost, he drove back home in silence and found himself at their apartment . Getting a friendly pat on the shoulder from Leon on his way out as he rushed off to meet his girlfriend , his sister a slumped mess at the table.
He walked in hesitantly , took one glance at her barely open eyes and cleared his throat .
“I got food." He announced his arrival. Once again scaring the absolute shit out of her.
"Fuck me!" She gasped looking up at him in surprise "Quinn! ne fais pas ça ! mon cœur!" (Don't do that! My heart!) "oh mon Dieu!" She exhaled loudly.
He just smiled a little shyly "sorry." He mumbled while placing the cartoon of food in front of her on the table . "Was at breakfast and ordered too much." He told her in a mutter. Taking a seat opposite her on the table , pulling out his phone to appear busy. Like he had something other do than stare at the freckles over her nose and the tiny star shaped mole Beneath her left eye.
Cherrie looked down at the food in amazement , mouth watering. Heart warming as she looked at her favourite food with a small smile tugging at her lips,
so that's who her brother was texting while glancing at her with a knowing smirk . She realised then.
"Ah." She got some cutlery and digged right in , pancake already on her mouth when she remembered her manners. "Right. Thank you Quinn. I was really hungry and Leon was trying to poison me with some weird children's cereal." She told him, looking offended.
"Froot loops?" He guessed in amusement , briefly glancing up at her disgusted face as she nodded her head as though her brother had tried to feed her literal shit in a bowl.
He laughed lightly "it's alright ya know. Should try it." He said to her.
She looked at him with a frown "don't make me go off you ice man." She muttered , shovelling her face with her fancy food again.
Humming in content , missing the pleased look on his own face as he watched her enjoy the food he went half an hour away to get for her . Just because he wanted to.
"I want to see see a movie today." She told him after she had finished eating. Washing up after herself before walking over to the couch , sitting down to put her shoes on.
Quinn leaned back against his chair, looking through the archway over to her. Watching her put her foot on the coffee table to lace up the other shoe, his eyes lingering on the large snake tattoo he could see snaking up her upper thigh and disappearing underneath her shorts , no doubt over her hip.
He breathed in deeply before speaking up hesitantly
"I could see if the guys want to go tonight-"
Cherrie shook her head firmly, still not looking at him as she focussed on making herself presentable.
Standing from the couch and wandering over to the mirror in the corner of the room , she ran her fingers through her hair, smirking a little to herself as she caught his eyes on her through the reflection
"No. I don't want to go as a group. Too much." She muttered , beating around the bush a little.
Not used to being the one to ask guys out with her, they are usually the ones begging for her time. She didn't really know what to do or say. And that was not like her at all.
Quinn just looked at her for a few quite minutes , watching her get ready and feeling his heart racing in his chest as he wondered if he was reading her right.
Surely she wasn't hinting at him-?
She glanced in the mirror again and met his eyes , lifting up a perfect brow at him without saying a single thing.
Oh. He breathed out. She was.
"I-er...I could take you, if you want. I mean..I know a good place for movies. You want to go now?" He rushed out , confused on what was appropriate to say. Not wanting say the wrong thing and potentially piss her off. She was intimidating. The media weren't wrong about that.
With that attitude and her being so fucking beautiful, he could barely even speak. Her French accent only sinking him deeper into the point of no return.
She just casually nodded her head , grabbing her Chanel purse from behind the couch and hanging it on her shoulder . Satisfied with how she looked, she had some makeup in her bag. She would do it in the car on the way there.
"Yes. You're not getting pucks to the face today , non?" She walked over to the door, ready to go. Just waiting for him now.
He looked over at her and quickly stood up from his chair, nodding his head before shaking it, letting out a nervous laugh.
“No. No. Not today. I can take you ." He took out his car keys from his pocket and walked over to her, holding the front door open for her as she slipped out.
Walking side by side , she glanced up at him for a moment . Holding back a small smile as she saw the way he seemed to be concentrating on his breathing, no longer looking at her.
"We can go together . Not take me. You're not my driver." She corrected him once they were outside , despite him holding open the door for her as she slid into the passenger seat. Giving him her purse to hold in his lap as she pulled out her lipstick and mascara and got to work.
He started the car but didn't pull away just yet, merely leaning back with a small smile , flicking on the radio as he watched her pouty lips part as she put on her makeup. Humming happily as a taylor swift song came on.
"There's also a ice cream place next to it.." he mumbled ten minutes later as the pulled up. Too shy to look at her. To say what he truly wanted to ask.
But she understood. Of course she did.
She just casually hummed and nudged his shoulder with her own like they were the best of friends.
"we'll get ice-cream after then. Just don't tell my trainer." Was all she said. Before letting him open the car door for her as they got out to watch their movie. And get ice cream too.
The day after that Cherrie didn't bother knocking at his door, merely letting herself in as if she owned the place. Scaring the hell out of poor Jack who was watching tv, his head snapping up as he looked at her with wide eyes.
"Wrong apartment." He blurted out , thinking she had confused her brothers place for Quinn's. He turned his backwards cap around to face the front quickly too.
She held back a grin . "No it isn't." She glanced at the hockey game on tv and rose a brow "missing it?"
"A little. You want a jersey?" He grinned back at her, determined that they were still going to be friends. He would get the scary , hot Frenchwoman to like him. He would.
"Non. I want a cap." She said putting her bag down on the empty chair, pocketing her phone instead.
He took his teams cap off his head immediately and passed it to her with a large smirk .
“Backwards?" He joked about her hatred of it.
She smirked a little "you are." She muttered slipping it on her head the right way.
“I look better with it on than you, yes?" She bragged. Letting him pull up his phone to take a picture of her to show all his friends that he wasn't lying and that THE Cherrie Valentine was his friend. (Pending).
"No way! No one can look better than me!"
She scoffed while backing away "lying is bad. Your tongue will go black and fall off." She told him seriously. Heading down the hall to where the bedrooms were , the exact same layout as her brothers place.
"Where are you going?" He called over the couch to her in confusion . Wondering what he had missed and why the hell she was heading towards his brothers bedroom like it was a normal thing for her to do.
She didn't even spare him another glance "none of your business kid!" She called back before knocking on his door and barging in without any other warning.
Quinn darting up out of his bed with wide eyes , mouth dropping open in shock as he looked at the woman now snooping around his room , wondering if he was still dreaming. About her. In his room. Again.
"You're -" he then glanced at her head and frowned deeply .
"get that off." He ended up telling her, unimpressed by the red cap she was wearing.
Cherrie just giggled as she looked at him teasingly "I don't know. I kind of like it. I think red is my colour. He said something about a jersey too?" She crawled onto his bed. Ignoring the way he flushed and leaped out of it like she was some siren about to eat him whole.
Maybe he wasn't too far off.
He yanked one of his jerseys from the back of his desk chair and threw it at her, smiling a little when she huffed and grabbed it off her head where it had fell onto . Glaring up at him.
"No it isn't, you look horrible in red." He muttered, lying through his teeth . She would look good in any colour. The whole damn rainbow.
She just snorted knowing for a fact that he was lying. "I'm a ferrari driver. I know you're lying." She reminded him smugly. Setting the jersey aside, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of wearing it yet.
He ran a hand through his hair, suddenly feeling self conscious in just some basketball shorts and some old oversized shirt. He thought of her French teammate who looked like some model and frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.
"What do you want?" He mumbled, barely audible as he grabbed a hoodie from his closet. Quickly pulling it on. Grabbing some black jeans before disappearing into the bathroom to change into them too.
Cherrie sighed a little as she looked around the mostly blue room filled with everything hockey , raising her brow in amazement at his achievements. She looked at some of the photos with him in his hockey gear , smiling next to his teammates and found herself smiling a little too.
Maybe she should try and see a game of his some time, it would be rude not to . She supposed. She would have to google the rules of the game later when she was alone, maybe watch a few on YouTube to familiarise herself with it first. Yeah. She would do that. Maybe text Lance too. He loved hockey.
"Nothing really. I was bored."
"So you decided to come annoy me?" He said as he walked back into the room . Face washed and teeth quickly brushed.
He paused by his door at the sight of her sitting so casually on his bed, looking like she belonged there . He already knew that her vanilla and cocoa perfume would linger on his pillows, he hoped it did.
She grinned a little "yeah. For a minute. I'm gonna go anyways.. maybe get my brother to do something." She muttered , bored.
Quinn panicked at the thought of her leaving and blurted out "you can stay here. Jacks making me go bowling with him , Trevor and Luke. You can ya know..." he rocked on the back of his heels unsurely, feeling the heat travel up his neck and into his cheeks darkly.
She quirked a brow up at him in amusement "I can, what?"
He huffed a little, not looking at her. Busying himself with putting his shoes on. Eyes flickering to his Vancouver jersey beside her that she had yet to put on.
"You can come. Luke might freak out a little . He's a fan." He warned her quietly . As though he wasn't a fan of her too. He just was much more quieter about it. Less embarrassing. Hopefully.
She sighed dramatically "I guess." She got up from the bed , adjusting jacks cap on her head.
Quinn reached over and yanked it straight back off , making her laugh. "Hey!"
"No." Was all he muttered moodily , throwing it aside.
“Are you gonna out my jersey on?” He mumbled to her , eyes hopefully glancing between the blue shirt and the beautiful woman in front of him.
She smirked a little to herself, amused with the way he couldn't even look at her. Fiddling with his hoodie sleeves as he waited by his bedroom door. As though he was too scared to come any closer to her.
"Do you want me to wear it right now?" She asked him. Wanting to hear him say it. She wasn't easy about it. That wasn't the kind of person she was.
He hesitated for a moment. Eyes darting up to look at her before looking away again just as quickly.
"Wouldn't have given it to you if I didn't want you to wear it." He muttered with a bit of embarrassed attitude. Pulling open the door and quickly heading out into the hallway before she could see his cheeks blush any further.
He heard her laugh lightly behind him, quickly pulling on the blue jersey over her tank top with a small smirk on her face.
Shaking her head to herself in amusement at how a man as good looking and rough looking as Quinn could act so shy and bashful. It was a nice change to the usual arrogant and cocky guys she dealt with daily.
Speaking of cocky .. Trevors loud voice reached her ears as she trailed out of Quinn's bedroom after him . Pulling her hair from his underneath his Jersey, not fazed at all by their sudden company.
"Woah! What is this?!" Trevor gasped in surprise looking at them with wide eyes.
Luke freezing beside him while Jack just glanced over at Quinn, only to see him refusing to look at any of them. Too busy getting his jacket, but he wasn't quick enough for him not to see his bright pink face .
His brother was blushing. Jack couldn't believe it.
"Wearing blue? Coming out of his bedroom?! What the fuck have I missed?!" He echoed in disbelief , behind shocked .
Quinn just rolled his eyes at him "nothing. Shut up."
"Oh yeah. A whole love affair. It was so romantic." Cherrie couldn't help but joke , forgetting that these weren't her usual sarcastic friends back in Monaco for a moment . Maybe she didn't hate them as much as she thought she would.
“He made love to me in his jersey. He's made me fall in love with him and now I'm never leaving here! Just like my brother!"
Trevor gaped at her "really?" Both Quinn and her rolled their eyes simultaneously. Jack silently looking at their in tune movements in disbelief .
"No. Not really!" She scoffed shaking her head at him . "Too many pucks to the head for you! I'm not that stupid!" She was offended . Really she was.
Trevor was now offended too "hey! That's mean! What else was I supposed to think? Will you wear my cap too then?"
It was Quinn's voice that spoke up quickly next "absolutely not." He muttered not even looking at him. Passing Cherrie his spare coat seeing as she was still dressed like she was in Monaco , her shorts far too small for how cold it still was.
He hid his pleased smile by turning his head as he watched her slide it on without any complaint for once. She looked great in his clothes.
"Where's my cap I gave her?" Jack wondered.
"In the trash. Don't even try it." Quinn shot back at him without missing a beat.
Cherrie looked at the younger Hughes Brother that was still gaping at her and smiled. "Bonjour Luke. You exited for bowling?" She asked him nicely.
Ignoring trevor's "how come she wasn't this nice to me?" Whining.
"Yeah. I thought Leon was lying when he said you were his sister." He blurted out in shock. Giving her a smile anyways .
She just snickered "yeah. I'm way better than him so no one ever believes we're related . It's hard being the star of the family. So many awards and such little space." She sighed like she was troubled by it. Following behind Quinn to the door.
The guys laughed, luke just looking at her in amazement . "Can you be on my team In bowling?" He asked her hopefully .
Cherrie laughed "sure. Beats being in a team with Trevor." She said.
Trevor looked at her in disbelief "so mean!" He repeated. Pouting dramatically.
"Quinn?" She muttered to him as they all headed down to their cars. Automatically following him to his, sliding onto the passenger seat like she did yesterday, kicking luke to the back seat.
"Yeah?"
"Wanna be on my team too?"
He just hummed. Nodding his head a little, still not looking at her. Just smiling to himself.
Luke looking between them in disbelief. Feeling like he was dreaming. Quinn felt like he was too.
They spent the next week making excuses to spend time with each other. Pretending like they had no clue to why they even were.
Midnight movies, sunset ice cream. Card games under the streetlights , silently made dinner , no questions , no answers. Cherrie ended up spending everyday of her stay with Quinn in one way or another . Whether it was muttering stories in the dark or bickering over something stupid, winding him up until he had no room but to retaliate. They did.
It was the final night before she was due to leave and the guys were hanging out at the bar together, Quinn quieter than usual as he silently sipped on his beer and listened to Trevor once again grill Leon about his sister.
Ignoring jacks amused , quizzing glance as he caught his annoyed rolling of his eyes. Not as subtle as he thought.
"Is she single then? Or had she got some guy back in Monaco?" He asked him curiously . Ever the gossip.
Quinn's frown deepened, eyes down to his beer bottle as he just listened in. Wondering that too. Surely she had a line of godlike guys waiting for her back home. No doubt.
He didn't care. Not at all.
Leon chuckled in amusement "she is and no she doesn't. She doesn't do the whole love thing remember?" He reminded them of her passionate anti falling in love speech.
Trevor just smirked slyly "didn't say anything about love. I can do casual too. Or whatever she wants." He wiggled his eyebrows jokingly.
Quinn's scoff went unheard in the bottle of his beer as he gulped it down, subtly rolling his eyes to himself again.
Her brother just snorted. "Yeah, no. She doesn't go for guys like you. You have no chance." He laughed.
Trevor was offended "WHATS that supposed to mean? Is is the hat thing again?" He wondered.
Leon rolled his eyes this time , amused. "No. She just usually likes the more casual and less arrogant guys. Ya know..not so full of themselves and quieter.." he trailed off, brows furrowing in realisation as he glanced over at a quiet Quinn who was now finally glancing up from the table.
They met eyes for a moment , Leon tried not to grin .
Oh. He thought in amusement . This is too good.
Quinn quickly looked away again, Leon tried not to laugh in glee.
"-and anyways. I invited her so I need you not to make a idiot out of yourself because I can only take so much second hand embarrassment before I die." He let them know. Mainly glancing at Trevor. They all did.
He gasped jokingingly "me?! She loves me! She high fived me the other day!" He exclaimed.
Jack snorted "yeah. In your face ." He laughed. More than Amused.
Quinn sat up a little straighter in his seat when she finally arrived. Dress in a little back dress again, satin this time.
He inhaled deeply and met her eyes, she narrowed her eyes back at him.
"Why was there a snake plushie on my bed?" She whispered to him as she slid into the booth beside him, ignoring the others loud greetings for a moment. She accepted Jack sliding a beer over to her, not drinking it though. Beer was not her thing at all.
"Hellooooo gorgeous! You're looking better than ever!" Trevor would not let himself be ignored.
She just looked at him, unimpressed. "And you're more annoying than ever. Don't you ever get tired?" She threw back at him. The others laughing at their banter.
He just winked at her "of being the hottest guy alive? No, never!" He laughed. Lifting his hand up for a high five.
She just slapped it away, rolling her eyes at him in amusement. She reached over and spun jacks cap to be the right way, making him chuckle as he shook his head at her now usual greeting for him.
"You gonna do that to Quinn?" He questioned her with a grin , nodding towards his distracted brother who had gotten up to go to the bar.
Confused she looked over at him and paused for a long moment , lips parting as she really looked at him finally. He looked good. More than good. With black jeans and a black sweatshirt on, a white tshirt collar poking out from underneath. Only this time he had a cap on too.. backwards.
And look. She hated it when other guys wore their caps backwards. Cringed at how it reminded her of stupid fuckboys who thought they were so goddamn cool passing around stds and shattering hearts along the way.
But Quinn... she inhaled sharply in shock, leaning back against the booth seat in absolute disbelief. He looked hot as fuck. She couldn't believe it.
"oh non. mon cœur.." she breathed out quietly to herself.
Unable to take her eyes off him as he walked back over, carefully balancing a cocktail glass in his hand. "ça ne peut pas m'arriver." (This can't be happening to me.) she almost whimpered.
Her brother, understanding every word she muttered , simple smirked smugly at her. "What's the matter sis? Think he looks stupid with the backwards cap too?" He taunted her.
She shot him a sharp glare, Quinn catching the end of his words as he arrived back at the table. Eyes widening as he realised that he had in fact put his cap on backwards because of the heat, to keep his hair out of his face.
Knowing how much Cherrie hated that look on guys, he lifted his hand to take it off.
Cherrie immediately slapped his hand away from his head and shook her head at him sharply . "No! Don't touch it!" She almost yelled at him. Heart pounding in her chest, feeling flushed and sweaty all of a sudden.
Jack and her brother were giggling , poor Quinn just looking both alarmed and confused at her sudden behaviour . He cautiously sat back down beside her and handed her the cocktail he had gotten her.
"What? I know you don't like it.." he mumbled, lowering his eyes back to the table bashfully . Sipping at his beer bottle again.
Glancing sideways at her when she let out a strange , strangled noise.
Almost glaring at him like she was pissed, he shifted in his seat nervously , wondering what he had done now. Her fingers were clenched around the stem of the glass, quickly sipping at her drink .
Quinn looked over to his brother for help. Wondering what the hell she was acting so weirdly for.
Jack just smirked and muttered "think she likes your new look dude.” Barely audible. Having the time of his life watching them.
"I never said I don't like it."
"Yes you did. Like every time someone wears it like that, you literally just turned jacks around..." he reminded her in confusion. Frowning down at her.
She frowned back at him just as deeply "yeah. On them. I don't like it on other guys. God Quinn. Shut up." She snapped at him. Flustered.
He was none the wiser . Taken aback by her sudden attitude, he scoffed lowly .
“What have I done? Why are you being so pissy?" He wanted to know. Countless beers helping with his confidence in questioning her .
She turned to face him fully, still sipping on her cocktail as she scowled at him. Cheeks pink as she repeatedly glanced between his eyes and his backwards cap. Wondering if she was having a midlife crisis at twenty one.
"I'm not being pissy. You're being pissy!"
He looked at her in disbelief "what the hell is your problem? Is this about my cap? I can take it off if it's bothering you that much-"he didn't get it.
She almost screeched "if you take that cap off I will smack you! I mean it!" She glared at him , too turned on to think straight.
Stupid American guys and their stupid backwards caps. She wanted to melt into a puddle on the floor.
Fucking hell.
Quinn blinked at her in shock. Speechless.
He fidgeted nervously with his beer bottle, eyes never leaving her dark ones before suddenly it clicked.
He exhaled shakily and flushed a dark red, awkwardly scratching at his flushed neck as he muttered unsurely to her "you like it?"
Cherrie just sighed in defeat . "Yes Quinn. I like it." That was an understatement. She wanted to jump him right there and then.
“Only on you though. Everyone else looks stupid." She quickly added. Sticking to her original judgment. Only Quinn pulled it off for her,
He smiled shyly against his bottle of beer, unable to meet her gaze. Flattered.
Instead he kept his eyes on the table as he muttered "I got you the snake plushie to match your tattoo. Why did you get it?" His question was quiet. Curious. Having been thinking about it since he first caught glimpse of the detailed snake tattooed up her thigh and around her hip? He guessed. He only saw so much.
Her voice was equally as quite , private between them, as she answered him "they kept calling me a snake for switching teams from redbull to Ferrari. But I won. Sooo..I'm proud to be such a snake I guess. It all worked out for me." She smugly smiled.
He smiled too, slowly nodding his head .
Liking that she owned what was once an insult against her. Liked that she was so stubborn and stuck to what she believed in. Just liked her really.
It was quiet between them for a moment, both just sipping on their drinks for a moment before Quinn worked up the corkage to mumble "I er...I like snakes. The French kind."
Her face softened as she glanced at him beside her, still unable to meet her eyes fully. She smiled too.
Soon they found themselves bickering again, in their own world together as they blocked out the rest of the table around them. Cherrie looking at him in disbelief as he accused her of purposely pushing max off the track in her last race.
She totally did but that was besides the point! She scoffed at him, a little tipsy just like he was, their arms, their thighs and sides pressed together as close as could be.
She was almost in his lap at this point , still bickering though. Too prideful to be soft and sweet .
"I did not! He spun me off the track in the race before that. Or did you forget that?!" She exclaimed , sipping from his beer now. Stealing it right from his hand.
He sipped from her cocktail in return , both of them hiding their smirked behind their drinks. Enjoying their bickering far too much to be normal.
"No I didn't. Which is exactly why you did it on purpose. You're revengeful . You like to get even." He knew her far too well already. It was unsettling.
She just looked at him before frowning "I am not." She denied, then she placed the palm of her hand on his cheek and pushed his face away from her with a huff.
"ferme tes jolies lèvres !" (Shut your pretty lips up!) she whined.
He snorted , actually giggling at her . Unaware of the shocked and disbelieving glances he was receiving from his friends and brother , too immersed in Cherrie to notice anything but her .
"Talk French to me all you want, I'm right. You know I am." He smirked at her, thoroughly enjoying himself. He loved winding her up just as much as she did him.
She had never felt so light and free before. So...happy. She swallowed briefly , face softening as she looked away from him for a moment to gather herself again. To remind herself of who she was.
She wasn't her bother . Oh god. She hoped not. She would never hear the end of it otherwise.
Her poor mother would have a stroke if they both had stayed and got themselves some American lovers. She couldn't do that.
No way. That wasn't her. Not at all. She had promised herself. She didn't fall in love. She didn't make it easy. She didn't ...
Oh my god. She didn't. Did she?
She finally managed a laugh , snapping out of her chaotic thoughts. She looked at him and said "it's different up close. It's not the same unless you're there." She told him, plans Already forming in her mind .
How would it work? How could it work? Could it? Could she? She could. He could... she drained the rest of his beer and smiled a little, titling her head as she felt him press closer to her.
His hand coming up to brush her hair over her shoulder gently , without even saying a thing. She just relaxed against him. Like it was normal. Something she always did. Would always do.
"You need to come to a race with me , then you'll see what I mean." She muttered. Looking at him seriously. Hoping he'd get the hint.
He did, his eyes softened , lips too. He nudged her shoulder with his gently as he mumbled "yeah? You should come to some games of mine too. It's only fair." He crossed his fingers, opened his heart for once. Wished he'd learned French to tell her how he really felt without any of his friends or their brothers knowing,
But he didn't need to. One look into his soft, hopeful eyes and she got it. Of course she did.
"Deal."
By the time they made it back to his apartment, his brother and friends had went to her brothers apartment to play video games. Too drunk to see them disappear into his own away from them. Wanting some moments on their own.
She found herself sat up on his kitchen counter top as he hovered near her knees, too scared to make the final move.
Cherrie didn't have those fears , confidence had never been an issue. She wasn't shy, just a little unsure to what she was supposed to do next,
She had never felt like this before. Guys didn't make her head spin like this. Didn't make her want to change her mind and stay. That wasn't her.
But maybe it was now. Maybe it could be.
"I'm going back to Monaco tomorrow." She reminded him of the inevitable . Somehow now wishing that she didn't have to.
Strange how a week ago she wished for nothing more than to leave , now she looked across from her and wanted nothing more than to stay. Or take him with her.
He slowly nudged her knees apart , eyes down to her thighs as he slid himself between them. Hands cautiously landing on her soft skin as he sighed quietly , heart pounding in his chest fearfully .
He swallowed "but you're coming back right?" Hope filled him so sweetly that she wanted a taste.
She trapped him between her thighs, titling her head at him as she gently wrapped her arms around his neck to pull his bashful self closer.
Her whole body melting against him as he suddenly leaned down and hugged her, like he had been wanting to for a while now, smiling to herself softly as she felt his face bury in the crook of her neck. A shy, soft, barely there kiss being placed there below her ear . Just for her. For them.
She inhaled deeply "I only came to see my brother.." that had been the plan.
But since when did plans ever work out fully in the end? That would be boring wouldn't it?
He pulled away enough to meet her eyes, gathering what courage he had left to mumble bashfully "you er-you promised me - you owe me a game remember? So you have to come back. To see me play."
She felt her heart brighten, she only saw daylight as she laughed softly . Cupped his blushing cheeks in her hands and leaned her face down towards his, kissing him gently . Just like she had wanted to the whole damn week.
His breath hitched in his chest as he laid his hands on her hips and sighed against her mouth, melting into her as he nudged his nose against hers gently, deepening the kiss as he felt her hand slide into his hand, pulling at the strands at the nape of his neck.
He moaned into the kiss , heart in his mouth as their tongues brushed together , his lashes fluttering against her cheek as he cupped the back of her head, giddy with feeling . Overwhelmed.
Smiling into the kiss, unable to stop himself. So fucked. So unbelievably soft for her. Yet so hard too. She had him in every way.
He should have known that it would come to this really. With eyes like hers .. and a smile so smug and sweet.
He got the best of both worlds. He wanted to have his cake and eat hers too.
"You want to come back to Monaco with me tomorrow?" She whispered to him , pulling away to breath.
Running her fingers through his hair gently , the other hand gently wiping her red lipstick stains from his mouth. Only managing to make it worse, her smile deepened. Unable to look away from the mess they made.
He was so much better than those French boys. She realised to herself in pure amazement. He was everything that she didn't know she needed until then.
Huh. Who knew. Her American boy.
He was giddy with excitement, with hope and disbelief. That a woman like Cherrie could want him. That this could be real. That he had a chance at something you could only dream of.
"For your home race?" He whispered , fingertip tracing her Cupid's bow. Feeling their kiss on his fingertips. Wanting kiss her until he could No longer breath.
Forever if she would let him.
Other hand cupping her cheek, his thumb stroking her cheekbone gently. Feeling the heat there. Glad to know that he wasn't the only one. That she could be just as nervous and giddy as he was feeling too.
"Yeah. To my home too. Maybe you could stay a week or two.. with me." She whispered back to him, smile never leaving their faces.
She felt it now. Knew that this was it. This was what people talked about In their stories . What her brother was so adamant about her feeling.
She had found it. Found him.
He let out a nervous laugh , breathy and amazed that this was happening. "Yeah. My next game is in two weeks. We could- you could come back with me. We could.." he trembled with the overwhelming feeling of falling in love.
"-we could take turns. I go with you and you go with me..." he inhaled shakily "if you want to..."
She just smiled , shaking her head to herself in disbelief . "I want to.." then she kissed him again. And again and again.
Because apparently she was as stupid as her brother was. She had fallen in love and now she didn't only want to call Monaco her home.
She wanted to call Quinn home too.
She was never going to hear the end of this. She had fallen in love with her American boy.
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