Love and Rivalry {Female F1 driver}

Like a sister

"Good morning sunshine!" Charles smiled widely when I got in the car. "Morning," I said, acting as if I was grumpy. I wasn't a morning person at all, and getting up when I really didn't have to is even more annoying. I couldn't really be mad though, as any time spent with Charles was always a good time. 

"I see you decided to wear red after all." He smirked at me while I fastened my seatbelt. "Oh shush, it was completely coincidental." I said, to which he chuckled and muttered an "As if!" under his breath. "You look great though. Red really is your colour." His voice had softened a bit, and I looked at him in surprise, only to see him focusing on the road, as he had just pulled out of the parking lot. 

"So, are you feeling alright? Ready for quali?" I asked to change the subject. "I'm ready! I have a good feeling about today. How about you though, how are you feeling today?" He glanced over at me with searching eyes, so I smiled at him reassuringly. "I'm feeling good, actually. I slept great and I think I'll do alright today." I said, and I actually meant it. 

After yesterday I was feeling a whole new form of energy within. My mother had popped up in my mind a few times, and she still did, but for the first time in these situations, she wasn't the only thing on my mind. Charles was there too, and his ray of sunshine was enough to keep my mother at arm's length from ruining my mood. 

"I'm really happy to hear that, YN. I bet you will crush it!" 

When we arrived at the paddock there were a lot of press and photographers as usual, though they seemed to really get close today. At first, I didn't get why, but when I heard them talking, I realised that it was because Charles and I arrived together at this time. It was unusual, and they started asking questions about our relationship and whether we were dating.

It all was very overwhelming and I suddenly felt so small in the big crowd, not really knowing what to do or say. Luckily, Charles was by my side, and he managed to charm his way in, his arm wrapped around me so I wouldn't get lost. Obviously, this wouldn't really calm down the rumours, but it did get us out of that horrible situation. 

Inside the Ferrari garage, Carlos was already standing, talking to Vasseur. When they saw us arrive, Carlos came to greet us, but sent Charles to go and talk to Vasseur, saying that he would keep me company in the meantime. 

It seemed a bit weird, but I didn't give it much more thought, as Carlos engaged in conversation right away. "So, how are we feeling today? I see you and Charles are spending a lot of time together." He wiggled his eyebrows teasingly, to which I furrowed my own. "How do you know?" I asked, and he seemed a bit surprised. "You haven't seen it yet?" Before I could ask he pulled out his phone and showed me a bunch of photos taken of Charles and me from yesterday. 

There were photos of us arriving at the restaurant with Arthur, and walking to the car afterwards, and they had even followed us and taken pictures when we were parked, talking. I almost felt sick to my stomach, thinking about the fact that these people had been following us. No wonder so many people were here to take our pictures this morning. Every article about it had its own theories about our relationship, but most of them seemed to think that we were a couple. 

I sighed a bit, and then felt Carlos's hand on my shoulder, making me look at him. "It's not that bad, you'll get a lot of attention and questions right now, but eventually it will go away." I nodded my head and then heard my name being called out, as Charles came back out from the meeting. "Carter! Did you see it yet?" He asked as he joined our conversation. 

"The photos? Yeah, Carlos just showed me." I looked at him, but he just nodded. He didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by it, he actually looked almost pleased. "You don't mind?" I asked as soon as I had noticed. He shook his head a little while shrugging. "Not really, the media will talk, you know that." I got even more confused as to why he would take it so lightly. Was he that used to having rumours about him all over the internet? 

"Wait, do you mind?" He asked quickly, probably after noticing my expression being almost the opposite of his pleased one. "I don't know, Charles. I don't really enjoy people spreading lies about me on the internet." His expression completely fell and he looked down. "But, this particular one doesn't really hurt anyone, does it? If anything, you'll get even more publicity!" He spoke as if it was something good happening to me, and he was the cause of it. He sounded proud, and I couldn't really figure out what was going on inside his head. 

"Publicity because they think I'm dating Charles Leclerc, not because I'm a good driver." He now looked puzzled. "Is it a bad thing that they think we're dating? Am I that bad?" I sighed, rolling my eyes unknowingly as I got more frustrated with the situation.

"It's not that. Imagine you being an F2 driver, fighting every day, every race to be acknowledged by the world as a good driver, as a candidate for F1, but no one gives a fu*k. Then, they think you're dating an F1 driver, and now you're suddenly 'all that'?" I argued. At this point, Carlos was just standing beside the two of us awkwardly watching the scene.

"But why does it matter what everyone else thinks? You know you're a good driver, we know you're a good driver, so why do they need to?" He really didn't get it. "That's easy for you to say, the media loves you and you always get the recognition you deserve. I don't Charles. I don't get anything but criticism!" At this point, I had gotten a little more upset than I would've liked to show, so I took a deep breath and broke the intense eye contact Charles and I had.

"Just forget it..." I looked at the floor. "Good luck on the race," I spoke quietly and left the Ferrari garage to go and get some fresh air in the paddock. "Yn..." I heard Charles call after me softly but I needed to get out of there to cool off.

Charles's POV

I let out a deep sigh once she was out of sight and then turned my attention to Carlos, who was already looking at me with a smirk on his face. "Stop that," I growled with annoyance. "I didn't say anything!" He put up his hands in a defensive manner, but his face said it all. He knew that she mattered to me, that she was special and that I cared about her. He thought I even liked her, but I kept telling him, that it was simply not true. She was good friends with my little brother, if anything, she was more like a sister to me. Sister... Yeah...

Your POV

Before I even had a chance to think about where I was going, I found myself ending up in the Redbull garage. Max was there, already in his gear and talking to his strategist. He soon noticed me and hurried over.

"I heard about the crash, are you okay?" He asked, sounding worried. "I'm fine, it wasn't bad at all," I spoke, smiling at him to reassure him that I was actually alright. "I heard Charles ended up taking you home?" His expression didn't change much as he said so, he seemed to not care about what the media had posted. "Yeah, we went for dinner with Arthur, and then he drove me back home," I explained and he nodded. "I'm glad. I'm sorry I couldn't stay and watch yesterday, but today I'll be in your pit, taking over the communication."

I looked at him surprised, as he hadn't ever spoken on the radio when he had been in the garage for my races. "I thought it could be a good opportunity, and I believe I can help you a lot with the qualifications. I'm confident." I just smiled and nodded, "I trust you, then." He returned my smile and gave me a pad on the back before he got back to getting ready for the race.