𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒, charles leclerc

chapter thirteen

the monday after the race was always a day of relaxation for the drivers. most of the grid would hang out in the hotel, fly out on vacations with friends, or just explore whatever city the grand prix was taking place in.

this week, most drivers were staying in germany until tuesday, on which they would travel to budapest for the next race. back to back races didn't leave much home time for the drivers and mechanics.

juliet and pierre had woken up early and driven to frankfurt for the day to do some sightseeing and set up a brand deal for a potential sponsorship. charles was left in the hotel, and was on his way to hang out with lando. the monégasque locked his hotel room door and rode the elevator down two floors until he reached the mclaren driver's room.

he knocked on the door and the driver swiftly heard it unlock and open to reveal lando, clad in his mclaren sweatpants and quadrant t-shirt. "hey mate," lando ushered him in and they sat on the couch, ready to play video games.

they loaded up their game and started playing, making small talk and grunting when they messed up. playing video games and using the simulator were the only slots of time that charles had to relax and just think.

"mate, i think i like pierre's sister," charles blurted out nonchalantly, exposing the thing he'd been thinking about. the only thing he'd thought about for the past week.

"juliet? she's the coolest, isn't she?" lando smiled, and charles rolled his eyes sarcastically. "not like that, mate," charles sighed.

charles had this look on his face that took lando a few seconds to decipher. he finally caught on and his eyes widened, showing the monégasque that he now understood.

"oh," lando gaped, trying to picture the two together. that picture looked happy. "did you ask her out?"

he stayed silent and the one thing that'd been holding him back flashed through his head: pierre. "i don't know if i can do that," he said to lando, hoping for advice.

"why not? if you like her, tell her!" the british driver smiled.

"i tried to, but she stopped me and said 'you're pierre's best friend'. and then i thought about it and remembered i could never do that to him; he'd absolutely kill me. do you know how much juliet means to him?"

over the past few minutes, lando's phone had been buzzing on the ground beside charles. he had grown frustrated of it and picked it up, turning it over to give to the mclaren driver. "please answer whoever this is," he mumbled and threw it to him, but not before seeing the name "victoria ❤️" on the screen.

"your girlfriend?" charles questioned who the mystery texter was. lando simply hummed and nodded, opening up his phone and answering.

"when do we get to meet her? i figured you'd already be showing her off by now," charles asked. none of the drivers had met this mystery girl that he was dating, and he honestly found it a bit odd. lando definitely had tendencies to show off his girlfriends in the past.

"um, actually for the same reason you can't date juliet," lando mumbled vaguely. was he dating juliet? charles thought, shaking the thought out of his head. "huh?" he chuckled, pausing the video game the two were playing.

lando huffed loudly and decided he was just going to admit it. "you can't tell george, but my 'mystery girlfriend', is..." he emphasized the two words, "victoria. his sister."

charles's eyes widened at the confession. george's sister? he internally smiled at the fact that they had been together and not gotten caught yet; maybe he and juliet could do that.

"so, if it means anything to you...we've been together for eight months and nobody seems to have an issue with it."

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