Sweet as Sugar - Part 2
Pairing: Fernando Alonso x Clementine Leclerc (Original Character)
Summary:
Clementine Leclerc was supposed to stay quiet, paint pretty things that nobody ever takes seriously anyway, and never embarrass the family name.
Instead, she fell in love with Fernando Alonso.
Warnings and Notes: This started as a joke in White Horse. 30k later it's no longer a joke, though don't take it too seriously either. Leclerc Bashing, Sugar Daddy Vibes, Crack treated seriously.
(This is finished, so you'll get it before the end of the year ❤️)
Merry Christmas!
As always big thanks to @llirawolf and @leodette, who listen to me ramble
Clementine had been on dates before.
Some good. Some… aggressively mediocre. Most of them started with nervous small talk and ended with her pretending not to notice when the guy checked his phone under the table. A few had asked about her brothers within the first ten minutes. One had actually said, “So, like, you’re into painting because you’re bad at math, right?”
She hadn’t made it to dessert with that one.
But tonight was… different.
It wasn’t just that Fernando had showed up right on time, or that he’d stepped out of his car and immediately walked around to open the passenger door for her like it was second nature. It wasn’t even that he’d called her Clementine in that low, deliberate way like the syllables tasted good in his mouth.
It was that he made her feel like he actually wanted to be there.
Not to impress her. Not to score points. Not to win. Just… to be there.
The restaurant wasn’t flashy—tucked off a side street, all warm wood and soft light, quiet enough that she didn’t have to raise her voice to be heard. The hostess greeted him by name. Not in the celebrity way, but in the way that said: you come here because you like it, not because you want to be seen.
He pulled out her chair. Sat across from her like he had all the time in the world.
And then—
He listened.
Clementine talked about her work, how she hated spreadsheets but was good at pretending otherwise, how she missed painting but couldn’t always afford the time or the space. She waited for him to interrupt. He didn’t.
He asked what colors she liked to work with. Asked what she felt when she painted. Not what she painted. Not if she made money from it. Just… what it felt like.
No one had ever asked her that before.
She laughed more than she expected. So did he.
There was no trying to keep up, no jostling for attention, no pressure to perform. Fernando didn’t look at his phone once. He didn’t make a single joke at her expense. He didn’t make her feel small.
And when she got flustered halfway through telling a story about spilling tea all over her sketchbook, he just smiled and said, “You’re charming when you ramble,” like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
It was… Peaceful. Warm. Uncomplicated.
And then, over dessert, as the table candle flickered low and she found herself picking at the edge of her napkin, she blurted:
“This is the best date I’ve ever been on.”
Fernando looked at her, amused. “You say that like you’re surprised.”
“I kind of am,” she admitted, cheeks pink. “You’re just… nothing like what I expected.”
He tilted his head. “What did you expect?”
She shrugged, trying to find words. “I don’t know. Something colder. Sharper. Intimidating, maybe?”
“And instead I’m what?”
She hesitated. Then, softly, “Kind. And calm. And safe.”
His expression shifted—just slightly—but it hit her like gravity tilting.
“People don’t usually say that about me.”
“Well,” Clementine said, smiling now, “maybe they don’t know you very well.”
When he dropped her home, he didn’t push. No lean-in. No hovering. Just walked her to the door, hands in his pockets, like a man perfectly content to wait.
She unlocked it, turned back, heart fluttering high and ridiculous in her chest. “I’d… like to do this again. If you want.”
Fernando smiled. Not the press-conference smirk. Not the I know I’m fast smirk. A real one. Gentle. Warm.
“I’d like that very much.”
She watched him go, waited until the taillights disappeared around the corner, and then leaned back against her door, palms pressed flat to the wood, mouth open in a stunned, silent grin.
Every date she’d had before now felt like static.
This? This felt like the start of music.
***
Group Chat: Les Fleurs 🌸
(Clementine, Dominique, Gisele, Lucie)
Clementine: …so.
Dominique: 👀
Lucie: you can’t just “so” us after a date with FERNANDO ALONSO.
Gisele: SHE’S ALIVE. okay. spill. all of it. every single detail. what was he wearing. what did you eat. how many times did you think about kissing him.
Clementine: oh my god.
Dominique: don’t “oh my god” us. TALK.
Clementine: … it was the best date I’ve ever been on.
Lucie: 😳
Gisele: YESSSSSSSSSSS.
Dominique: i knew it. i KNEW it.
Lucie: okay but best date ever like “he paid for dinner and didn’t talk about himself too much” or best date ever like “i need to re-evaluate my entire life because my soul just shifted a little”?
Clementine: …second one.
Dominique: OH SHE’S GONE.
Gisele: goodbye clementine. it was nice knowing you.
Lucie: okay but he’s STILL TOO OLD.
Dominique: lucie. lucie. listen to yourself. if she says it was that good, i don’t care if he’s collecting a pension.
Gisele: i bet he opened the car door for you.
Clementine: …he did.
Dominique: OF COURSE HE DID. he’s got that gentleman energy.
Lucie: gentleman energy does not erase the fact that he’s forty-two.
Clementine: forty-three.
Lucie: OH MY GOD.
Gisele: forty-three and apparently magic.
Dominique: forty-three and apparently better than every guy you’ve dated under thirty.
Clementine: …he actually listened. like. to me. he asked about painting. not what i paint, or if i make money. he asked what it feels like.
Gisele: ok i take it back, marry him immediately.
Lucie: NO.
Dominique: lucie’s gonna be giving a speech at the wedding like “your honor, he’s old, but fine.”
Clementine: you’re all insufferable.
Gisele: and yet you’re texting us with a date-glow so strong i can FEEL it through the screen.
Clementine: maybe.
Dominique: definitely.
Lucie: ugh. fine. but if charles finds out and has an aneurysm, i’m not bailing you out of family dinner.
Clementine: …that’s a problem for future me.
Gisele: future you is going to be very busy dating fernando alonso.
Clementine: …okay maybe i am a little gone.
Dominique: A LITTLE????
Lucie: oh no.
Gisele: oh YES.
***
Text Messages: Fernando Alonso & Mark Webber
Fernando: …
Mark: That’s either the sound of victory or catastrophic failure. Which is it?
Fernando: We had dinner.
Mark: AND???
Fernando: And it was… good.
Mark: “Good”? That’s all you’ve got? This is your grand romance and you’re giving me good??
Fernando: It was the best date I’ve ever been on.
Mark: …
Mark: You absolute goner.
Fernando: She laughed at my jokes. All of them. Even the bad ones.
Mark: I know the bad ones. That’s love.
Fernando: She talked about painting. About how colors feel to her. No one’s ever asked her that before.
Mark: Oh this is hilarious. Big bad Alonso, the wolf of the grid, out here getting taken down by a girl with paint on her sleeves.
Fernando: She’s not like anyone else, Mark.
Mark: You say that about her and not a single corner of me doubts you.
Fernando: She said I was kind.
Mark: I told you. Gone.
Fernando: I walked her to her door. Didn’t kiss her. Didn’t want to push.
Mark: Look at you, being all restrained and respectful. I’m so proud.
Fernando: She asked to do it again.
Mark: Of course she did. You’re Fernando Alonso. …and also apparently nice now, who knew?
Fernando: You find this very funny.
Mark: Mate, it’s the funniest thing I’ve seen in years. You. Dating. Smiling. Acting like a teenager who just discovered hand-holding. I’m buying popcorn.
Fernando: …
Mark: So when’s date two?
Fernando: Soon.
Mark: Good. I can’t wait to watch you spiral into actual romance. It’s what you deserve.
Fernando: You’re insufferable.
Mark: And you’re in love.
Fernando: It was one date.
Mark: Keep telling yourself that, lover boy.
***
Fernando didn’t know why he was nervous.
He wasn’t twenty anymore. He wasn’t even thirty. He had driven at 300 km/h with half a wing and a prayer and hadn’t flinched. He’d sat across boardrooms negotiating contracts worth more than most people would see in a lifetime.
And yet, waiting outside Clementine’s apartment for their second date, his pulse ticked high like he was back on the starting grid.
She opened the door in a soft dress that looked like it had been made for sunlight. Yellow again—not the hoodie this time, but the same quiet warmth. Her hair was loose. There was paint under one fingernail.
“Hi,” she said, smiling like it was just for him.
“Hi,” he managed, and suddenly Monaco didn’t feel as loud.
Dinner was easy in the way first dates weren’t supposed to be. No ice to break this time. No nerves to hide behind. Just Clementine, leaning her chin into her hand as she told him about the colors she dreamed in, her ankle now wrapped but healing, her voice soft but sure when she laughed.
She wasn’t flashy. She didn’t try. That was what undid him most. In a world of noise, Clementine Leclerc was quiet in the way a heartbeat was quiet—soft but absolutely essential.
When he walked her back to her building, the street was washed in late-night calm, a rare hush over Monaco. She leaned against her doorframe, smiling up at him with that open, unguarded expression that had been burning into his ribs since the first time she nearly tripped into him.
“I had a really good time,” she said, voice gentle.
“So did I.” He meant it more than she could know.
For a second, he thought that was it. A soft goodnight, maybe a third date on the horizon.
And then she tilted her head, bit her lip like she was weighing something, and stepped in close enough that he caught the faint scent of paint and something floral.
“Can I…?” she asked, barely above a whisper.
He didn’t answer with words.
And then she kissed him.
It was soft at first, almost tentative, like testing if the world would let her have this. Fernando’s hand found the curve of her jaw without thinking, tilting her just slightly closer.
It wasn’t fireworks. It wasn’t dramatic. It was something quieter and infinitely more dangerous.
When she pulled back, her cheeks were pink, her eyes wide but steady.
“Sorry,” she whispered, though she didn’t sound sorry at all.
Fernando smiled, slow and real. “Don’t be.”
She laughed, breathless, and unlocked her door with fingers that trembled just a little.
He stood there a moment longer after she slipped inside, the ghost of her mouth still warm against his.
***
Group Chat: Les Fleurs 🌸
(Clementine, Dominique, Gisele, Lucie)
Clementine: …so I did a thing.
Gisele: OH MY GOD.
Dominique: YOU KISSED HIM DIDN’T YOU.
Lucie: wait. WHAT.
Clementine: …maybe.
Gisele: NO MAYBE. YOU DID. I CAN FEEL IT THROUGH THE WIFI.
Dominique: details. now. what did it feel like. what did he do. was there tongue.
Clementine: DOM.
Lucie: ARE YOU INSANE. you kissed fernando alonso. you actually kissed him.
Clementine: …yes.
Gisele: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
Dominique: WAS IT GOOD.
Clementine: … yeah.
Gisele: “yeah” she says like her entire teenage crush arc hasn’t just come full circle.
Lucie: i am actually going to pass out.
Dominique: i KNEW you were gone after the first date. now you’re just buried.
Clementine: it wasn’t supposed to happen, okay?? we were saying goodnight and then i just… kissed him.
Gisele: and?? what did he do??
Clementine: he kissed me back.
Dominique: OH SHE’S DONE. PUT A FORK IN HER.
Lucie: you need to stop. right now. you need to STOP before you ruin your life.
Gisele: lucie.
Lucie: I’M SERIOUS. HE’S FORTY-THREE.
Dominique: and apparently kissses like a forty-three-year-old man who knows exactly what he’s doing.
Clementine: i hate you.
Gisele: you love us. almost as much as you love fernando alonso.
Clementine: it was ONE kiss.
Dominique: yeah and it’s going to haunt you forever in the best way possible.
Lucie: …okay. but was it that good?
Clementine: … yeah.
Gisele: oh no.
Dominique: oh YES.
***
Clementine hadn’t planned on having him over so soon.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to. It was just—her apartment was small. Not Monaco-small where everything was polished and compact, but the kind of small that still had Ikea screws poking out of furniture and mismatched mugs because she couldn’t bring herself to throw any of them away.
But her ankle was still stiff, and Fernando had texted: Do you want me to bring dinner to you instead?
And now he was here, standing in her doorway with a paper bag that smelled like pasta and her entire ribcage vibrating in a way that had nothing to do with painkillers.
“Hi,” she said, too soft.
“Hi,” he said back, smiling like it was just for her.
He moved through her little space with an ease that made her throat tighten. He didn’t comment on the size or the crooked bookshelf or the blanket draped over the couch that didn’t match anything else. He just set the bag down on the tiny table and asked where the plates were.
It was almost normal. Almost.
Until he saw the canvases.
They were stacked in the corner, half-hidden behind a chair. Clementine hadn’t even thought about them. They were just… there. Pieces of her she kept quiet because no one ever asked to see them.
But Fernando stopped mid-step, gaze landing on the splash of color peeking out from behind the fabric.
“Can I…?” he asked, voice careful.
Her stomach flipped. “They’re not—”
But he was already crouching, gently sliding the top canvas into the light.
It wasn’t finished. The background still raw, brushstrokes uneven where she’d gotten stuck on what it was supposed to feel like.
Fernando looked at it like it was something holy.
Clementine tugged her sleeves over her hands, heart hammering. “They’re just… experiments. I’m not—”
“It’s beautiful,” he said quietly, cutting her off without meaning to.
She blinked. “It’s not even done.”
“I didn’t say finished,” he murmured, tracing the edge of the frame with a fingertip. “I said beautiful.”
No one had ever said that about her work before. Not like this. Not without a but or a for a hobby attached.
He turned to look at her then, eyes soft in a way that made her want to hide and stay in the light all at once. “Is this what it feels like to you?”
Clementine’s throat went dry. “What?”
“Painting,” Fernando said. “Is this what it feels like? All of this?” He gestured gently at the color bleeding across the canvas.
She nodded, barely. “Yeah. This is what it feels like.”
He smiled, slow and real. “Then I think you’re better at this than you know.”
Something in her chest gave way then, quiet and shaking.
Dinner went cold on the table while he looked at every single one. And for the first time in years, Clementine didn’t feel the need to apologize for taking up space.
***
Fernando lay awake longer than he meant to.
The room was quiet, save for the soft hum of Monaco outside the window and the steady rhythm of Clementine’s breathing beside him. She was curled toward him in her sleep, one hand resting on his chest like it had just ended up there, not knowing what it did to him.
He’d had sex before. A lot of it. The kind that was good, and the kind that was forgettable, and the kind that left you wondering why you’d bothered.
But nothing—nothing—had ever felt like this.
It wasn’t just that she was beautiful, though she was, in that soft, unpolished way that felt like finding sunlight where you didn’t expect it. It wasn’t even the way her body fit against his like she’d been made for his hands.
It was how she’d given herself to him.
Sweetly. Completely.
No hesitation once she’d realized he wasn’t going to hurt her. No posturing, no pretending to know what to do. Just trust, quiet and devastating.
Fernando had been called dominant before, usually like it was a game. With Clementine, it wasn’t about power. It was about care. About holding her still and steady and giving her something he suspected no one else ever had.
She’d looked at him with wide eyes, breath catching on his name, and it had undone something deep in his chest. She wasn’t used to this—that much had been obvious in the way she’d gasped at the first careful drag of his hands, the shaky sound she made when he pinned her wrists gently above her head.
But she hadn’t fought it.
She’d melted under him like she’d been waiting her whole life for someone to tell her she was allowed to.
He hadn’t meant to go slow. Or maybe he had. Every instinct screamed to take his time, to let her feel every inch of what he was giving her. When she came apart beneath him, it wasn’t loud or showy. It was soft. Trembling. Honest.
Fernando closed his eyes, his hand automatically finding the curve of her shoulder under the sheet.
He’d spent twenty years chasing adrenaline, glory, the razor-edge of speed.
Tonight, lying in a quiet room with a girl who’d submitted to him with nothing but trust and sweetness, he thought maybe this was the first time in his life he’d actually won.
***
Clementine lay on her back, staring at the ceiling of her little apartment, sheets tangled somewhere around her knees and every single muscle in her body quietly humming.
She wasn’t sure what she’d expected.
Okay, that was a lie. She had expected it to be good. It was Fernando, for God’s sake. The way he kissed alone had already been enough to undo her in a way no one else ever had. But this—
This had been something else entirely.
Her past experiences had mostly been… fine. That lukewarm word again. Fine in the way a lukewarm cup of tea was fine. Fine in the way she knew she was supposed to say it was good, because it wasn’t awful, but it had never left her feeling anything other than hollow.
Sometimes it hurt, too. The kind of hurt she never admitted to, because you were supposed to smile and say it was good enough. That you were good enough.
She’d never realized how much she’d lowered the bar until last night.
Because with Fernando, there was no “fine.”
There was him kissing her like he meant it, like he knew her body before he’d even touched it. There was the way his hands pinned her wrists gently against the mattress, the low murmur of his voice in her ear telling her what he wanted and asking if she wanted it too. There was the heat in his gaze when she said yes—not shy, not tentative, but yes, please, more.
And then there was him giving it to her.
He was… dominant. Not in the crude way she’d heard whispered about in bars, but in a way that made her feel safe even when her heart was pounding. Commanding without ever taking. Holding her together even as he pulled her apart.
It had been overwhelming. In the best possible way.
Now, in the pale light of morning, Clementine touched the edge of the sheet, fingertips brushing the skin of her wrist where his hand had held her down, and shivered.
She’d never known it could feel like that. That she could feel like that.
She turned her head slightly. Fernando was still asleep beside her, hair mussed, breathing even, one hand resting on her hip like even unconscious he wasn’t quite willing to let go.
Clementine bit her lip, heart thudding too fast.
She’d had bad sex before. Forgettable sex. Quietly painful sex she’d convinced herself was normal.
Last night had been the first time she understood what it was supposed to be.
And the terrifying, thrilling truth settling in her chest was this:
This had ruined her for every man her age, possibly forever.
And the worst part—the very worst part—was that she already wanted him again.
***
Group Chat: Les Fleurs 🌸
(Clementine, Dominique, Gisele, Lucie)
Clementine: …so. uh. we. we did it.
Gisele: OH. MY. GOD.
Dominique: DEBRIEF NOW. I WANT LAP TIMES. I WANT SPLIT SECTORS.
Lucie: you WHAT???
Clementine: yeah. that.
Gisele: well??? how was the race pace?? did the old man keep up???
Clementine: … he didn’t just keep up. he lapped the entire field.
Dominique: OOOOHHHHH SHE’S GONE.
Lucie: wait wait wait you’re saying it was actually good?
Clementine: good isn’t even the word. it was like… perfect tire strategy, clean air, fastest lap every time.
Gisele: 👀👀👀
Dominique: that man’s been in F1 for over twenty years, of course he knows how to handle the machinery.
Clementine: DOM.
Lucie: okay but seriously. what do you mean “good isn’t the word”?
Clementine: … i didn’t know it could be like that.
Gisele: …oh.
Dominique: wait.
Lucie: you mean… none of the other guys…?
Clementine: no. it was always… bad. rushed. sometimes it hurt. i used to think maybe it was me.
Gisele: Clem. oh my god.
Dominique: i’m going to find every single one of them and revoke their licenses.
Lucie: i’m actually kind of mad right now. like. furious.
Clementine: i didn’t realize how bad it was until… him.
Gisele: he must’ve been that good then.
Clementine: he was… he’s very… dominant.
Dominique: AS HE SHOULD BE. THE MAN RUNS RACE STRATEGY LIKE A GENERAL, OF COURSE HE’S CALLING THE SHOTS.
Lucie: dominant how??? like scary??
Clementine: no. never scary. just… firm. sure. like he knew exactly what he was doing and exactly what i needed before i even asked.
Gisele: ladies and gentlemen, fernando alonso is back on pole.
Dominique: and taking fastest lap. repeatedly.
Lucie: …i hate to say it but that actually sounds kind of hot.
Clementine: …it was.
Gisele: CLEMENTINE LECLERC.
Dominique: I WANT A FULL RACE REPORT ON MY DESK BY MORNING.
Clementine: you’re all insufferable.
Gisele: you’re the one dating a two-time world champion.
Lucie: …who apparently just became a three-time world champion in bed.
Clementine: …i might be in love.
Dominique: of course you are.
Gisele: we called it after date one.
Lucie: i hate that i’m not even surprised.
***
Text Messages: Fernando Alonso & Mark Webber
Mark: How was date #3? Or do I even want to know?
Fernando: …
Mark: Oh my god. You did.
Fernando: I spent the night.
Mark: GOOD. FOR. YOU. 👏👏👏
Fernando: You’re insufferable.
Mark: Mate, you’ve been walking around like a teenager for weeks. You NEEDED this.
Fernando: It wasn’t just— It wasn’t like that.
Mark: Ohhh, I see. Not just sex. Capital-S Something.
Fernando: …yeah.
Mark: You sound wrecked. In the best way.
Fernando: She’s… different, Mark. Sweet. She trusted me.
Mark: And you didn’t scare her off? Miracles happen.
Fernando: You joke. But she looked at me like… Like she wanted me to see her.
Mark: Oh mate. You are done for.
Fernando: I think I was done the first time she smiled at me.
Mark: And now?
Fernando: Now I’m ruined.
Mark: Good. About time someone did it.
Fernando: You’re enjoying this too much.
Mark: Are you kidding? This is the best subplot of your entire career. Fernando Alonso discovers intimacy with a paint-splattered twenty-something. I’m giving interviews.
Fernando: Don’t you dare.
Mark: Relax. But seriously, good for you, mate. You deserve something soft.
Fernando: … Yeah. Maybe I do.
***
It started with a dress.
Nothing dramatic, just a soft blue thing Clementine wore when he came by to cook her dinner one evening. Light fabric, the hem brushing just above her knees, delicate stitching along the seams. It looked… expensive, though not in the Monaco way. Not loud. Not logo-heavy. Just beautiful.
“You look nice,” he said, and meant it.
She’d smiled, tugging the skirt absently. “Ten euros. Secondhand shop near the bus stop.”
He raised a brow. “Ten?”
“Mm.” She looked faintly sheepish, though not in the way people did when fishing for compliments. More like she wasn’t sure she was allowed to enjoy it. “I like clothes. I just… you know. Can’t exactly drop half a paycheck on them.”
Fernando frowned slightly, but let it go.
Then he noticed it again.
The soft cardigan she wore over her blouse when he picked her up for coffee—vintage tag, careful mending along one sleeve. The wide-legged trousers she paired with sneakers—well-cut, clearly bought secondhand. Even her shoes: polished, cared for, but never the kind of brands you saw on grid walk interviews.
Clementine loved clothes. He could tell. The way her fingers lingered on fabric when they passed shop windows, the quiet joy in her face when she wore something that made her feel pretty.
And yet… never the flashy brands. Never the Monaco-standard uniform.
One night, when they were curled up on her couch—her feet in his lap, his hand idly tracing circles on her ankle—he asked, gently, “You sew your own things sometimes?”
She blinked. “No. Why?”
“You treat them like you made them,” he said. “Careful. Like they’re worth more than they cost.”
Her smile was soft, a little sad. “Well… they are. To me, at least.”
He waited. He’d learned Clementine opened up in slow increments, like water seeping through cracks in rock.
Finally, she sighed and rested her head against the back of the couch. “I’ve always liked fashion. Not, like, designer stuff for the sake of logos, but… how it makes you feel. How clothes can change your whole mood.”
Fernando hummed. “I can see that.”
“I don’t buy expensive things,” she added quickly, defensive in a way that set his teeth on edge. “It’s not like I can. And it’s not like my brothers ever give me money, which isn’t their job, obviously, but—” She hesitated, shoulders curling in. “They also… make fun of me when I even look at brands. Like it’s stupid. Or shallow.”
Fernando blinked. “Your brothers.”
“Yeah.” She laughed, small and humorless. “Lorenzo calls it ‘Monaco nonsense.’ Arthur says I should buy things that ‘make sense.’ And Charles—”
She cut herself off.
“Charles what?” Fernando asked.
Clementine bit her lip. “He once said it was funny that I cared so much about clothes when I wasn’t going to events or anything. Like… what’s the point if no one’s going to see it?”
Fernando stared at her for a moment, then let out a low laugh.
She looked at him, startled. “What?”
He shook his head, incredulous. “That’s rich. Coming from Charles.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Clementine,” Fernando said, deadpan. “Your brother is obsessed with his paddock outfits. Do you know how many times I’ve heard him debate the merits of Italian tailoring versus French cuts? He has people photographing him walking into garages like it’s Milan Fashion Week.”
Clementine blinked, then let out a startled laugh. “He… does, doesn’t he?”
“He does,” Fernando said firmly. “And he’s going to tell you not to care?”
Her laugh softened into something shy. “It’s different for me.”
“No,” Fernando said simply. “It’s not.”
Clementine went quiet, her fingers twisting in the hem of her thrifted cardigan.
Fernando reached over, gently catching her hand. “If it makes you happy, it matters. And anyone who doesn’t take that seriously is an idiot.”
She blinked at him, eyes wide, as if no one had ever said it out loud before.
And Fernando, who had worn fireproofs his entire adult life and never thought much about clothes beyond fit and function, found himself wanting to buy her every single dress she’d ever paused in front of. Not because she needed them, but because she deserved to have someone look at her joy and call it serious.
***
She told herself not to expect much. That way, it wouldn’t sting.
Still, when Pascale had insisted on “a nice family lunch” for her birthday, Clementine had hoped—just a little—that maybe this year would be different. That maybe someone had noticed who she actually was instead of the blurry version they always seemed to see.
The table was set beautifully. Lorenzo poured wine. Charles hugged her, Arthur kissed her cheek, Pascale fussed over the roast. It looked perfect from the outside.
Then came the gifts.
Lorenzo went first, sliding a slim envelope across the table. Clementine opened it carefully, fingers light on the expensive paper.
“A voucher,” he said, smiling like it was thoughtful. “For a professional development seminar. One of my colleagues runs it. Networking, goal setting… all that.”
“Oh,” Clementine said softly. “Thank you.”
“Good for your career,” he added, as if she needed convincing.
Arthur’s was next. A sleek box. Inside: a leather-bound planner, embossed with her initials in gold.
“You’re always so disorganized,” he said cheerfully. “This will help you get your life sorted.”
Her throat tightened. “Right. Thanks, Arthur.”
Charles handed her his with the kind of grin that said I tried. She opened the package to find a pair of running shoes.
“I noticed yours were falling apart,” he said, nodding like it was practical. “Good for staying healthy.”
“They’re nice,” Clementine murmured, though she hadn’t run in months. Not since her ankle. Not since the accident.
Pascale’s was last. A box wrapped in pale ribbon. Inside: a pale silk scarf. Expensive. Neutral.
“It’s very elegant,” Pascale said, watching her face carefully. “Something you can wear to interviews, meetings… you should start thinking about more stable work, chérie.”
Clementine folded the scarf back into its box with careful fingers. “Thank you.”
No paintbrushes. No sketchbook. No hint that any of them had remembered the canvases stacked in the corner of her apartment or the way her hands always came alive when she talked about color.
Every gift was a version of her they wanted to fix.
Lunch went on. Charles told a story about the last race. Arthur joked about karting. Pascale scolded them for elbows on the table.
Clementine smiled where she was supposed to, said thank you at the right times, and felt herself folding smaller and smaller.
Later, when she let herself back into her apartment, the silence hit her like a wave. She set the scarf on the counter, lined the planner and the voucher up neatly, and stared at the shoes by her door.
Then she sat on the floor, pulled her knees to her chest, and let herself cry—not because the gifts were bad, but because not a single one of them had seen her.
When the tears finally slowed, she reached for her paintbrush.
If they couldn’t see her, she’d paint herself loud enough to exist.
***
The restaurant was tucked on a quiet street Clementine loved, the kind of place with crooked tables and mismatched chairs and the smell of butter lingering in the air. She’d picked it because it didn’t feel like Monaco, not really—it felt warm and real.
Dominique and her boyfriend Julien were already there when Clementine arrived, her ankle still a little stiff but good enough for the short walk. Gisele came next, sweeping in with her usual dramatic flair, her girlfriend Amira laughing behind her. Lucie and her long-suffering boyfriend Theo brought up the rear, carrying a tiny box tied with a ribbon that made Clementine’s chest tighten before she even knew what was inside.
And this year, there was an extra chair.
Fernando had offered to take her to dinner later, just the two of them, but when she’d hesitated and admitted she had lunch with her friends, he’d said, “Then I’ll come to lunch. If you want me to.”
And now he was here.
She hadn’t been nervous about him meeting them—until she saw him walk into the bistro, low sun catching in his hair, simple white shirt rolled to his forearms, that calm gravity around him that made people look up even when they didn’t know why.
Dominique caught her expression and smirked. “Oh, we are going to eat him alive.”
“Be nice,” Clementine hissed.
“We’ll be polite,” Gisele corrected. “There’s a difference.”
Lucie sipped her wine, eyes narrowing playfully. “Do we call him ‘Mr. Alonso’ or just skip to ‘so you’re the man wrecking our girl’s sleep schedule’?”
Clementine buried her face in her hands.
And then he was there, smiling that small, warm smile just for her, and the rest of the bistro faded into background noise.
“Mi niña,” he said softly, kissing her cheek like it was instinct. “Happy birthday.”
The girls went silent for exactly two beats. Then Dominique mouthed mi niña at Gisele, who bit her lip to stop from squealing.
Clementine, cheeks already pink, made introductions.
Fernando was… unfairly good. He shook hands, remembered names immediately, and answered Dominique’s pointed questions with dry humor that made even Lucie crack a smile. When the food came, he didn’t dominate the conversation—he just sat with one arm slung casually on the back of Clementine’s chair, listening, laughing in the right places, dropping quiet little comments that made her melt.
And then came the gifts.
Dominique slid a package across the table first. “Open mine before Gisele’s. It’s tradition.”
Inside was a sketchbook. Not cheap paper, not a novelty cover—something real. Heavy pages, the kind you could layer paint on without bleed-through. On the first page, in Dominique’s messy handwriting: For every color you haven’t found yet.
Clementine’s throat tightened. “Dom…”
“Don’t cry, you’ll make me cry,” Dominique warned, already misty-eyed.
Gisele’s gift was next: a set of brushes, hand-picked, each wrapped in tissue paper. “High-quality bristles,” Gisele said matter-of-factly. “Because if you’re going to paint masterpieces, you need the tools.”
Clementine laughed, blinking too fast. “You guys…”
Lucie shoved her box over with a small smile. “Mine’s not as fancy.”
Inside was a secondhand silk scarf. Vintage, deep emerald with soft gold threading. “For when you’re painting and don’t want your hair in the way,” Lucie said with a shrug. “Also because it’s pretty, and so are you.”
Clementine made a helpless sound that might have been a laugh or a sob. “You’re all trying to kill me.”
Fernando hadn’t said a word through the unwrapping, but when Clementine looked up, his expression was soft in a way that made her chest ache.
“They see you,” he murmured, quiet enough for just her.
And for once, on her birthday, she felt like someone did.
Later, as they all clinked glasses and Dominique declared Fernando “shockingly tolerable,” Clementine sat back in her chair, scarf still looped loosely around her neck, sketchbook heavy in her bag, and thought: this is what a birthday is supposed to feel like.
Not expensive gifts that didn’t fit her. Not obligation or performance.
Just people who saw her.
And the man beside her, hand resting over hers under the table, who looked at her like she was the most obvious thing in the world worth celebrating.
***
By the time dinner was over and the door to her apartment clicked shut behind them, Clementine was exhausted in the soft, happy way that came from too much laughter and lemon tart. Her bag was heavy with the sketchbook and brushes, the silk scarf still knotted loosely around her neck.
She was about to kick off her shoes when Fernando cleared his throat.
“I have something for you,” he said, his voice low and deliberate in that way that always made her stop moving.
Her head snapped up. “You already bought dinner. And lunch. And you’ve been…” She gestured helplessly, cheeks warming. “You’ve been you. That’s enough.”
Fernando smiled faintly and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a slim, rectangular package wrapped in plain brown paper. No ribbons. No fuss.
“Open it,” he said simply.
Clementine sat on the couch, fingers careful on the wrapping. It peeled away to reveal a small wooden box, smooth and warm to the touch. When she lifted the lid, she almost forgot to breathe.
Inside was a set of oil paints. Not the cheap kind she’d been rationing. These were professional-grade, the kind she’d stared at in shop windows and clicked on in online carts before closing the tab. Rich pigments in sturdy tubes, arranged neatly like a promise.
“Fernando…” Her voice cracked on his name.
“You told me you haven’t painted with oils in years,” he said softly, sitting beside her. “You said you couldn’t justify the expense. So I justified it for you.”
Her fingers hovered over the colors like she might smudge them just by touching. “These are… they’re so expensive.”
“They’re worth it,” he said simply. “You’re worth it.”
Clementine blinked fast, tears threatening, throat tight. “You didn’t have to—”
“I wanted to,” he cut in gently. “Birthdays are supposed to give you something that’s yours. Not something that makes you into what someone else wants.”
That broke her. Not in a dramatic, sobbing way, but in a quiet rush of air as the tears slipped over her cheeks, unbidden and unstoppable.
Fernando reached over, thumb brushing one away with a tenderness that made her heart ache.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “No one’s ever… no one’s ever given me something that feels like me before.”
Fernando smiled, slow and soft, and leaned in just enough that his forehead brushed hers.
“Then they’ve all been doing birthdays wrong.”
Clementine laughed, watery and small, clutching the box of paints to her chest like something precious. Because it was.
Because for the first time in twenty-three years, her birthday felt like hers.
***
Clementine: ur race pace is giving main character energy rn like vroom vroom slay bestie 🏎️💅✨
Fernando stared at the screen for a full minute, then another. He’d driven through rain so heavy it felt like the ocean had swallowed a circuit whole. He’d handled double restarts in Singapore and every tire gamble Pirelli could throw at him.
He had never been this confused in his life.
“Vroom vroom slay bestie?” he muttered to himself.
He read it again. It didn’t help.
So he went in search of Lance.
Lance was leaning against the hospitality counter, halfway through a protein bar, when Fernando appeared like a man on a mission.
“Lance,” he said, holding his phone out like evidence.
Lance blinked. “Uh. Hi?”
Fernando slid his phone across the table. “What does this mean?”
Lance glanced down at the message, then up at Fernando. “Who sent this?”
“…someone.”
“Your… someone?” Lance asked, grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Fernando narrowed his eyes. “Answer the question.”
Lance squinted at the screen. “‘Your race pace is giving main character energy right now, like vroom vroom slay bestie.’”
“Yes.” Fernando crossed his arms. “What does that mean?”
Lance looked up slowly. “You don’t know what slay means?”
“I know what slay means,” Fernando said, offended. “Like… kill. Or win. I don’t know why she is calling me her bestie when I am not her bestie. I am—” He stopped himself, jaw tightening.
Lance took another bite of his protein bar. “She’s saying you’re doing amazing. Like, main character of a movie amazing. It’s a compliment.”
Fernando narrowed his eyes. “That’s a compliment?”
“Yeah. It’s very Gen Z.” Lance tilted his head. “So… she’s the controversial young girlfriend nobody knows about, huh?”
Fernando stiffened. “…Why do you say that?”
“Because no millennial woman is texting you ‘vroom vroom slay bestie.’”
Fernando exhaled through his nose. “She is younger. Considerably.”
Lance shrugged like it was nothing. “So what? You’re both adults. If you’re happy, it’s nobody else’s business.”
Fernando blinked. He had been prepared for teasing. Judgment. Not… that.
“You don’t think it’s… strange?”
Lance shrugged again. “Nah. As long as you’re not being creepy and she’s not being pressured, it’s just… a relationship.”
Fernando stared at him. Lance stared back, completely unbothered.
“…You are a very surprising person,” Fernando said finally.
“Thanks?”
Fernando looked back at his phone. Vroom vroom slay bestie.
He was still not entirely sure how to reply.
“Just text her back ‘slay,’” Lance said helpfully, peering over his shoulder. “With a sparkle emoji. She’ll lose her mind.”
Fernando gave him a look.
Lance grinned. “Trust me.”
Fernando (to Clementine): slay ✨
Clementine: 😭😭😭
Fernando stared at the crying emojis, then at Lance, who was now laughing into his protein bar.
His mouth wouldn’t quite stop curving into a smile.










