lemon and mint | Charles Leclerc

~ dodici ~

Monaco, May 2019

It was late May when the glamourous Grand Prix of Monaco took place. It was just four days since Niki Lauda passed away. It was no wonder that the mood in the paddock wasn't the best. But the sadness for the older Lauda was switched for the worry about the younger one. Joanna disappeared without a single trace, and there were no signs that she would show up even for the second practice.

As bad as it was, Pia was actually a bit happy about the sudden disappearance of Joanna. All the press attention shifted from her to the Austrian. Of course, she was a bit scared, but she knew Joanna. She just had to run away, get her shit together, and then come back even stronger.

"Like if anyone cares about her," Kelly said to Max while they watched the crowd of journalists at the Mercedes facility. Her boyfriend just rolled his eyes. Pia was surprised Max still could listen to her bullshit.

No one said anything about Kelly's comment. Everyone just kept it quiet. What was there to say anyway? There were just a few people in the garage who could tell Kelly to shut up, but they knew Kelly wasn't worth it.

"Max?" Pia gripped the Dutchman's attention. "I'll go," she announced to him. The Italian never really knew what she should think of Kelly. There were times when the Brazilian treated her nicely, but there were times when she was hostile toward her. Pia refused to search for the reason behind her mood swings because she didn't care about it.

"And you're telling us that because?" Ah, yeah. Kelly had a bitchy mood today. Pia assumed it was because Joanna got more attention than Kelly ever got.

"I'm talking to Max if you haven't noticed," Pia warned the young Piquet. When she was bitchy towards her, Pia would be bitchy back. "Anyway, Britta is waiting for me. Don't stress yourself. Things reappear quickly." By this, Pia tried to tell Max that Joanna would appear sooner or later. She was pretty sure he knew it. "And Kelly, don't pretend as anyone cares about you," the Italian said before walking away from the Red Bull garage. Someone needed to show the Brazilian her place. Pia thought Kelly would be smarter, especially when she came from a family that was in F1 for years. One would think she would know how to play the game, but she was clearly clueless. Kelly had just a pretty face and thought it was enough.

The smug smile on Pia's face didn't last long. When she noticed the angry expression of the youngest Leclerc, her expression changed. She looked like she would like to disappear as quickly as she could. The urge to avoid Arthur was big, but there was no way how to avoid him. He was standing in front of the Ferrari facility. Pia would swear he did it on purpose. He was standing on that specific spot because he knew Pia would come sooner or later.

"Hey," Pia greeted him in French. She hoped he wasn't mad at her, but as it seemed, her hopes weren't listened to. The young Monegasque just grabbed her by her elbow and made her go further away from the Ferrari garage.

"Whatever you're doing... stop with it," he was clearly angry. In Pia's eyes, Arthur was that cute boy who wouldn't hurt anyone, but now he seemed furious. This fact took aback the Italian.

"What are you talking about?" she asked him confusedly. What caused that he was so angry with her?

"I saw you on Wednesday, leaving Charles' place. Whatever you were doing there, don't ever go there again," he advised her venomously. He had witnessed how broken Charles was after Pia left him. Arthur knew how much the departure of the Italian from Charles' life had hurt him. He didn't want to witness it again.

"Arthur, I swear-"

"Oh, keep your promises. You're not really good at keeping them, are you?" Pia understood why Arthur was mad at her. She hurt his brother, but she doubted he knew all the circumstances. She doubted Charles had explained to him the whole situation. It was too messy to do that.

"Look at me, Arthur," Pia said to the young Monegasque in front of her. "I didn't want to hurt him before, and I don't want to hurt him now either."

"It doesn't look like it. What were you doing at his place on Wednesday?" Arthur demanded to know. Pia knew that Charles probably refused to talk about their kiss to his younger brother, so she decided to keep her mouth shut as well.

"Ask Charles," she just said. She didn't want to think about some lie.

"But I'm asking you," Arthur opposed. He wanted to know why Charles behaved the way he did when he came to his apartment on Wednesday. Lost in his mind while having that boyish grin on his face.

"And I'm telling you to ask your brother," the Italian said annoyedly. She liked the little Leclerc. He was dear to her heart. In the end, she spent with him quite a lot of time when they were younger. She cheered for him when he was karting. She couldn't even count how many weekends she spent next to Charles' side supporting his little brother.

"Do you know what? Fine. Keep it," his voice was aggressive. "Just stay away from him. Charlotte is so much better than you, Pia," he spitted out Pia's name as if it was venomous. It hurt Pia. Arthur still held a special place in her heart, but she knew he was right. Charlotte was so much better. She was much better for Charles, but before she could say it out loud, she was interrupted by a voice with a British accent.

"Hey, man. Chill out," Lando stepped protectively in front of Pia. For some, it might look comic because Lando was like ten centimetres shorter than the Monegasque in front of him.

"So, nowadays it's Lando, who follows you around like a lost puppy?" he switched to English since he wanted to make sure the Briton would understand him.

"What are you on about?"

"Oh, you didn't brag to your little boyfriend, Pia? Why?" Arthur asked her with a smug smile on his face. He was fully aware that his older brother would probably kill him for this show, but he just couldn't hold back.

"It's none of your business, Art," Pia said calmly. She could see how Arthur's expression softened when she called him by his nickname.

"What aren't you telling me?" the Briton asked confusedly and turned around to face his girlfriend.

"It's nothing, Lando." It wasn't even that important in her opinion. "Arthur just wanted to point out I was dating Charles a few years ago," Pia was looking at her shoes while saying it. She didn't want to face Lando's expression.

"When did you break up?" Another question left his lips.

"Like four years ago." Pia wished the younger Leclerc would keep his mouth shut from now on. She didn't want to let Lando know they had dated for something over three years. She didn't want to let him know about her experiments with drugs. Lando should've been the fresh start.

"Okay," he let out clearly surprised. He did a quick maths to find out how old Pia and Charles were back then. He quickly realised it was probably some teenage love - nothing that should really bother him. Or at least he wanted to believe that. 

"A teenage love?"

"Yeah," she was lying. "Just a teenage love," she continued. Charles meant so much more. Their love wasn't just that stupid teenage love from movies, but she had to hide it. The Ferrari driver was happy with Charlotte. She was fairly sure he didn't mean to kiss Pia. It was probably just the heat of the moment. They were too close, and perhaps he thought of his girlfriend, and then it just happened. "Just a stupid teenage love," she whispered herself before Lando opened his arms for her. She hid her face in Lando's neck and let him wrap his arms around her. That was the closest she felt to a safe place.