The Little Princess

7

Friday's Fp1 and Fp2 sessions went well, and the Saturday Fp3 session had gone relatively well.

Everyone at Ferrari was getting ready for quali and Y/n didn't want to get in the way so was wandering round the paddock trying to find a decent coffee. She would never admit it to anyone at Ferrari, but their coffees weren't the best, they didn't even have oat milk. Y/n found that criminal.

"Salut Petite Princesse" 

Y/n spun around, "Pierre please don't call me that and please don't shout it out across the paddock if you insist on it."

"Sorry, gorgeous" He smiled down at the girl, "why're you wandering around without Calamar?" 

"Promise you won't tell him?" Pierre put his arm over the youngest Leclerc's shoulder "I pinky promise". Y/n leant into Pierre's ear, "I don't like the Ferrari coffee, they judge me for wanting oatmilk. So I'm on the hunt for some good coffee". 

"Look no further princess, take my hand"  Y/n hesitated, not liking that Pierre was calling her princess, and not sure whether being lead someone by a random frenchman you've known for 2 days. But her need for coffee outweighed her hesitancy.

"I'm not holding your hand but I will follow you, if you promise me good coffee"

Y/n followed Pierre towards the Alpha Tauri Hospitality, Pierre quickly turned around seeing someone coming "Take you jacket off" he whispered, "What" Y/n said, "Take it off now". The confused girl quickly whipped off her jacket, shoving it in her bag. "Why did I have to do that?" The monegasque asked confused. "Because I can't really explain taking a girl in a Ferrari jacket into my drivers room. Thank god you only have to wear that jacket as uniform unlike every other ferrari team member, otherwise you'd be in your underwear right now"  Y/n was blushing heavily. "Pass me your coffee tumbler, what kind of coffee do you want?" Pierre held out his hand. "Uh, Iced oat milk flat white please", pierre through her a thumbs up and walked towards the coffee counter inside the hospitality, "Princess come in, otherwise you'll get cold without you jacket" Pierre was smirking looking at her, as she timidly stepped in. She watched as he talked to the old lady behind the counter. 

"Celeste, how are you doing today?"

"I'm doing well my darling boy, how are you?" She asked with a smile.

"I'm good, feeling confident about quali, you know this track is special to me."

"I do sweet boy, I do" She said with an empathetic smile. "Now what can I get for you?"

Pierre gestured for Y/n to come closer "It was oat milk yes?", Y/n nodded timidly.

"Could you please make this beautiful girl an iced oat milk flat white? Oh and could you do it in this please?"

"Of course I can do that! I thought you said I was the only beautiful girl in your life?" 

"Madame, pardon, please excuse Pierre's rudeness, I could not even begin to come close to your beauty." Y/n smiled shyly up at the woman from behind Pierre

"Pierre, I like this girl, please bring her more often" She winked at Pierre as she made Y/n's drink.

She handed it to Pierre and Y/n reached into her bag for her wallet. However Pierre grabbed her hand, "No Princess, you don't have to pay for it in here" Y/n frowned. "But I would like to, she's so lovely", Pierre chuckled, "You don't pay for things in our hospitality".  Y/n frowned again and looked at Celeste. "Madame, Pierre won't let me give you money. Is there anything I can do to show my gratitude?". Celeste laughed, "Oh you're such a sweet girl, just don't let Pierre dwell too much on this race's past." Y/n didn't understand but nodded anyway. "Bye Celeste" Pierre called and lead Y/n further into the Alpha Tauri hospitality, towards his driver room she supposed.

"Thank you for this Pierre, this was really kind of you" Y/n said when Pierre handed her her coffee, following him into his driver room. "May I ask you a question?" Pierre smiled and nodded, "I think I already know what you want to ask". "Why did Celeste mean about not letting you dwell on the past this race?". Pierre warm smile turned slightly sad. "Do you remember the accident here in 2019? In F2?", Y/n nodded in response. "Anthoine and I grew up together, we were like brothers, we went to school together. He was my best friend really." Y/n's eyes filled with remorse, she didn't want to make Pierre sad. Pierre saw her reaction, "No, don't worry, I'm not upset, it's nice to be able to talk about him". Pierre paused, "I miss him, being here is emotional but it also pushes me, I want to win for him." Y/n nodded again, she understood where Pierre was coming from. "Can I tell you something I don't really tell people", now it was Pierre's turn to nod. "I assume you knew Jules as well?", another nod. "Jules and my father both always said I was going to change the world, or cure some disease, or uncover some long lost city. After Julio died I didn't really know what to do, he was like another brother to me you know. My Papa saw that I was feeling lost, and he knew how much I loved books, so he bought me a whole load of books on a whole load of topics. That's when I fell in love with Archaeology. And then he died too. I decided then that I was going to make them proud of me, I threw myself into that passion. They're the reason I want to get my PhD. I really want to change the world for them." Y/n realised she'd been rambling on, not having looked up from her fingers since she started talking, having picked at the corner of her thumb so much that she had started bleeding. Pierre reached over and grabbed her hand, and she looked up. "Sorry I was rambling, I just wanted you to know I understood how you feel." Pierre smiled and reached behind him, getting a plaster and putting it over her thumb. "Thank you" he said quietly, lifting up Y/n's now plastered finger and placing a kiss on it. 

Y/n blushed bright red and stared at him. She didn't know how to react. After 3 days she could already feel herself being drawn to Pierre, opening up to him. She told herself it was just because he was Charles' bestfriend, like how close her and Carlos already were. But deep down she knew there was something else. Her stomach never turned like this when Carlos looked at her. Something was different but she didn't know why.

She was broken out of her thoughts when somebody knocked on Pierre's open door. Y/n and Pierre both looked to the door, Pierre still holding onto Y/n's hand though. A man was standing there in an Alpha Tauri uniform. "Pierre you need to warm up for Qualifying, you have ten minutes until you need to be in the car." Pierre nodded, "Alright Pyry," he stood up and looked at Y/n, "I don't mind if you stay in here while we warm up, you might find it funny". Y/n stood up too. "No, that's alright, I don't want to get in the way. Plus I should probably head back to-" She suddenly paused "-To that place I need to be, before anyone gets worried" she patted her bag and Pierre nodded. As she headed to the door, Pierre pulled her back into a hug, "Thank you for telling me that, it's nice to feel like someone understands. Also, have you finished that," he motioned to her coffee. Y/n nodded unsure why it mattered, "Leave it with me and I'll bring you another coffee after I win tomorrow." Y/n laughed, "Okay Pierre, sure thing" rolling her eyes, "How about after you come second... because you know who will definitely win" she said with a smirk. "For you, I think I could beat him." Pierre laughed. "Okay, I really am leaving, I'm pretty sure you need to get changed anyway, no?". The man called Pyry laughed, "She's right". Pierre shook his head "I know, I know. I'll see you around Princess". Y/n rolled her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time, "Goodbye, Monsieur Gasly" she was almost out but she stopped in the door. She turn around and looked at Pierre, her face serious for a second, "Be safe, okay?". Pierre smiled wide. "Always, mon petite princesse". With that she left.

She didn't know why she said that to Pierre, she'd only ever said it to her family or Jules. Not even Seb. Y/n didn't want to think much more into that. She knew it meant something though. Pierre knew it too.