𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒, charles leclerc

chapter three

bodies swarmed into the red bull ring as the opening ceremony of the 2019 austrian grand prix concluded. fans retreated to their seats, drivers stepped into their cars, and crew members crowded around the grid.

up in the red bull viewing area, juliet gasly sat alone, sipping another spicy margarita and texting her mother. she heard a voice roar through a speaker, alerting everyone that the race was about to begin. all of the crew members retreated back to their paddocks and the race mediator stepped into the middle of the track with a large austrian flag. the red and white fabric flew through the air, the red traffic lights lit up, and the race was off.

the ferrari car with the large number 16 on it zoomed away from the tight collision at the first turn. juliet noticed this and remembered charles' past races; he was basically born to be an f1 driver.

but juliet came to watch her brother. she found a livestream of the race on her phone and let it play so that she'd have a view of every corner, including the one she was sitting near in reality. pierre started in p9, but she was sure he'd either go up in the positions or drop down. the efficiency of red bull cars was never the same.

surely, the race flew by and lap 68 was underway. juliet watched as charles kept his lead, but verstappen was getting concerningly close. "c'mon charles, you got this," juliet whispered to herself. she had completely forgotten about the rest of the race and was focused on their contact. charles slid onto the curb after verstappen hit him, moving him down into second place. "fuck!" juliet stammered and the red bull spectators around her gave her a judgy look. why was she cheering for ferrari?

pierre ended in p7, charles ended in p2, and george ended in p18. juliet made a quick note to text victoria and tell her not to bug george for the next few hours. she grabbed her things and made her way down to the paddock.

she walked down the pit lane and kept her eyes locked up at the banners to find pierre's face—and therefore garage. not paying attention, she felt herself crash into another body. "oh my gosh, sorry," the other person said, and she recognized that accent anywhere.

"sorry...oh hey! you did great out there!" juliet apologized before seeing it was charles. "i did in fact cheer you on upstairs, all the red bull people were looking at me like i was fucking crazy," she grinned and watched his face for a reaction. he smiled endearingly and it made her heart spin. "merci."

a woman in red soon approached the pair, telling charles that he needed to go to the podium. juliet waved as he walked away, turning around to find pierre. she walked further down the pit lane until she spotted her sweaty brother standing outside of the garage. "hey, good job out there," she walked up to him. "are you coming to the podium?"

pierre nodded and the siblings walked together until they reached the crowd of people. juliet looked up and saw bottas, charles, and verstappen up on the podium, standing for photos while the trophies were handed out. she felt a gaze upon her and looked at charles, who had spotted her in the crowd and was now smiling at her. she raised her eyebrows and made a funny face, generating an adorable laugh from the monégasque.

her heart burned at the fact that charles was supposed to be enjoying a victory for his friend and some well earned points for ferrari, but he was instead looking for her in the crowd. she was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a liquid hit her chest, tilting her head up to find the three drivers spraying their champagne.

charles stood up on the podium, second place trophy in hand, and was honestly a bit disappointed in himself for not finishing first. but that was part of being an athlete. he put on a large grin and cheered for max, valtteri, and the points he scored for his team. looking out in the crowd, he admired all the people that cheered for him even though he may have been a slight disappointment to them. one figure caught his eye in particular, and he couldn't help but smile and stare when he found her. it was weird, seeing a girl he'd always known as pierre's little, quiet, shy sister all grown up into a full-ass woman. she had blossomed into a smart, charismatic, beautiful young woman and charles felt a sense of surreality when he was around her.

he felt her eyes match his gaze and she chuckled rather adorably at the situation. he couldn't help but laugh back, and they had their little moment before he was showered with champagne and knocked out of his slice of paradise.

"c'mon, i want to go back to the hotel," pierre said sternly to his sister as he was soaking wet with champagne and upset he wasn't the one on the podium, "did you do your media?" juliet asked, to which he replied silently with a nod. "you don't have to stay here?" she asked again, gaining the same nodding reaction.

juliet wrapped her arm around him and they walked back to the parking lot. it was very obvious that not getting up on the podium for the entire season was annoying pierre, and he seriously wanted to change that.

and the one thing that juliet knew about her brother is that his mind could be changed after an hour long nap and fun night out.

— notes!
incoming pierre
and juliet sibling
content