Warning: toxic Charles (sorry to the Charles fans)
Y/n sat in the corner of the club in Monaco. She quite frankly had enough of the constant parties that Charles always stumbled into. She was sick of trying to pretend like she was okay with what he was doing. He rarely spent anytime at home these days. Since he became a title contender, he changed. He surrounded himself with people who always sucked up to him and made him think he was brilliant. And the girls. The girls were so clearly trying to hook up with him, but him not being unfaithful always relied on her saying Charles had a girlfriend. Charles would usually grin and sloppily kiss her cheek. She'd always, always have to pretend she was happy for him, but she felt like eith every win, he became even more cocky.
The tipping point came on this night, as Charles sat in some stupid club in Monaco after his home grand prix. Everyone was drunkenly dancing and speaking. Y/n stayed as sober as possible to make sure Charles didn't get himself into trouble like usual. "Hey Y/n." She rolled her eyes as his friend slurred her name. "Yes?" She asked, turning to face him. "Do you think Charles is enjoying himself?" He grinned, pointing his glass towards Charles, spilling a bit of his drink onto Y/n in the process. Her head swung around to see Charles with a girl sat on his lap, kissing his cheek and slowly but surely making her way to his lips. This particular girl was one one Charles had known for a while now, longer than he'd know Y/n. He was always with her. It frustrated her but she didn't want want seem like the jealous girlfriend type. However, Y/n looked on. She was invested in this, whether or not he would stop her, but no. They ended up kissing. Y/n swallowed hard and walked off in a rage, away from Charles. She was humiliated.
She stood outside of the club in tears. Her mascara ran down her face and the flashy lights outside illuminated that fact. She heard the door open and out walked a security guard. He quickly scanned the area before his eyes fell on Y/n. "Excuse me, madame. Your boyfriend is looking for you." He told her. She smiled lightheartedly at him. "Tell him I've gone home." She said. "I'm afraid I can't do that. He told me not to come in again until I've brought you back in with me." How typical. He couldn't even come and get her himself. What a prick. She agreed and followed the guard, hearing him mutter "c'est la petite amie de Leclerc". She hated it at the start of their relationship. Only being known as his girlfriend. Then as time passed she enjoyed it more, because that is what she was and she owned it. Now, now she went back to hating it.
She walked ashamed through the crowd. She fucking hated it there. He made her hate it there. The guard lifted the red rope her her to step back in and so she did, looking around and spotting Charles in the same place. Laid back, an arm around a girl's shoulders and sitting too close for her liking. Y/n huffed and marched over towards him, sitting down and looking at everyone else. She needed to tell Charles she wanted to leave. She needed him to go eith her so she could try and be reasonable. Y/n tugged at Charles' sleeve. "Babe?" He didn't reply. She tugged again. "Sharl?" Again, no response. She gave it one final attempt. "Charles." This time more serious. Charles finally turned. "One second, mon cœur. Can't you see I'm speaking?" He laughed. She clenched her jaw. "Charles, I'm done. I'm sick of this." Y/n snapped, picking up her clutch and standing up to leave. She felt a hand grip her wrist. "Món cœur, you could have just said you didn't want to come out-"
"No, I mean we're done." Charles froze. It was like he couldn't hear the music or notice anyone else dancing or swaying around him. "What?" He asked, his voice cracking. "I'm done." She repeated and left. Charles sat there in disbelief. "Y/n. Let's just talk about this-" She slapped his hand off her wrist. "I don't wanna talk about this. I'm going home to pack and I'm leaving tomorrow morning." Charles let go of the girl from his arms. "Don't be stupid." Y/n paused and grabbed a drink from one of his friend's and threw it at him, causing those around to jeer. Charles let go and wiped his eyes, but by the time the alcohol was off his face, she was gone. He stood up and began running through the crowd to try and get to her. He pushed through the doors drastically and quickly glanced around for her, finally seeing her walking off. "Y/n! What do you mean? Let's just talk for a bit, eh?" She kept walking. "Y/n, don't ignore me. I'm your boyfriend."
"Ex." She corrected him. "No, because you live in my apartment-"
"Our apartment. I pay my fair share too!" Charles threw his arms into the air. "Can you slow down?" She ignored him again. "Hey! I said stop!" He snapped, grabbing her arm, causing her to turn. "And I said we are done!" Charles pulled her to the footpath, somewhere where this argument wouldn't be such a spectacle. "Can you tell me what's wrong? Why are you so moody lately?" He asked. "You! You're what's wrong! You don't consider me anymore! It's like I'm not even part of the equation anymore! We won't work out! It's like trying to play poker with no cards! We've both run out of cards so just let me go! You've made me feel so, so shit!"
"Do you really think I would do that to you?" He asked. "No, no, no! You did it to Giada, you did it to Charlotte and now you're doing it to me!" She sobbed. "I deserve better! They deserved better than some stuck up, prick of a Monegasque driver!" Charles didn't know how to respond. He didn't think he changed. He felt like this was normal. "You're imagining things!" He managed to spit out. Y/n laughed hysterically at his comment as if it were a pathetic joke. "And what about that dark haired girl, huh? Was I imagining her too?!" She shouted. "Did I imagine you two getting cosy? Did I fucking imagine her kissing you? Does she kiss you like I do? Huh?" He was dumbfounded. He couldn't string a sentence together. "Well sorry I fucking cock blocked you Charles!" She pushed his chest, making him just about move back. "Món cœur, you look similar. I thought she was-"
"What? You thought she was me? That doesn't make it better!"
"Look at me! Just look at me!" He shouted, cupping her face. "We could just go and try to resolve our problems! It's a win, win!" Charles had an almost insane look in his eyes, mixing with the smile on his face. He really thought that would fix everything. Y/n stood calmly. "Charles, how many winners can there be in a race?" She asked. "One." He replied. "Exactly. In this situation, there is one winner. You, you are the winner, and do you want to know why?" Charles simply shook his head. "Because you're you and I'm me. You're the big shot F1 driver, you're famous, you're handesome, you have fans that blindly obey you, that look at you in awe. I have nothing. I don't have fans, I have people that pick me apart, bit by bit, finding problems with every detail of me. I post you and people say I'm looking for attention. I don't post you and then I don't support you. I had nothing. I gave whatever little thing I am up because I truly believed we would be endgame. You promised me you would love me forever and never hurt me." Her lower lip trembled. "And now look where we are." Charles let go of her face and looked at the broken woman before him. She was a completely different person than she was two years ago. She looked miserable, her hair was messy, her makeup had streak marks from her tears and she didn't try to cover them.
"I thought I belonged in your arms, in the home we lived in. We built the home of our dreams together, thinking this is where we'd be safe and loved. I was such a fool. I was an idiot." She covered her eyes eith her hands and sobbed silently. Charles tried to comfort her but she quickly rejected him. "I can't even look at you." The pain was unbearable for her. She was warned what he was like but she went along and dated him anyway. She blamed herself. She should have listened. "You know, I lost a lot because of you." Charles nodded. "Yeah. Yeah I know, mon cœur." He replied, defeated.
"Well-" she paused, wiping the tear from her eyes and looking back back him. "You may win the championship, you may win other championships, but you've lost me. And I hope you remember that for the rest of your life." Charles looked between her eyes. "I don't think I'll ever forget you. I'll always love you, whether it be a lover or friend. Whether what we had was a big thing or a small." Y/n smiled softly. "It was a big part of my life. Maybe it's different for you but you were everything I had for the past two years." The two laughed, tears falling from both theur eyes now. "Listen, I don't want us to talk if it's going to make you sad." Charles shoved his hands into his pockets. "I'm sorry I made you feel bad. I just- I thought I needed these people. It made me feel good, I guess." He admitted. She wiped his cheek. "You had no self confidence, I know that." The tears kept cascading from Charles eyes. Eventually, the guilt became too much and Y/n pulled him in for a hug. His grip tightened as he sobbed into her shoulder, his tears staining the fabric of her satin dress. "I'm sorry Charles but the winner takes it all-" she pauses and pulls away from the hug and cups his cheeks. "and the loser has to fall." Charles watched as she walked away, her heels clicking off the pavement.
The Winner Takes It All
But he's lost it on this particular night
