Love and Rivalry {Female F1 driver}

I love you

After a good hour of laying in silence, I heard Charles take a deep breath before he sat back up and I followed. He took my hands and held them softly, looking down as he seemed deep in thought. "Take your time," I squeezed his hands and he smiled a little, but his eyes were still the same teary ones.

"Do you know why my mom likes you so much?" He started and I looked at him confused, not getting what he was getting at. "She likes you so much because Arthur always did. Ever since the practice days before this season, he always spoke about you at home." I knitted my eyebrows together, "I'm sure I wasn't the only driver he spoke of?" I tried to understand, but he looked up at me, and I knew... "I was?"

"The only one. My mom and I would tease him all the time about his crush on you, but he wouldn't care, he didn't stop. My mother loved you ever since day one, 'cause he was so happy talking about you and spending his time with you." He paused, searching for changes in my expression, but there were none. 

"I asked him once, one on one, if he liked you. I remember it was that race where we met for the first time, just before we saw you walk by. He said he thought he did, and that he had already spoken to our mom about it. She was all for it and pressured for him to ask you out, because, as she said, you are perfect for each other." At this point, I could tell that he didn't enjoy the truth he was sharing. I could sense that he was feeling insecure, so I squeezed his hands, encouraging him to keep going. 

"She's, since she met you, wanted you two together... I was so ready to tease him and be the annoying big brother when he finally got his first girlfriend, but then I met you..." He looked up into my eyes and I could see those passionate eyes I loved so much. "From the moment I met you, I think something in me knew, that you were going to be someone very special to me, one day. But I couldn't help but feel awful at the same time since I knew Arthur liked you too." 

The information was a lot to take in, but I knew that it was something he had been storing for a while. He needed to get it out, so of course, I needed to listen. He continued, "Arthur didn't know about my feelings at all, until that time on the yacht, when I got drunk and called you. He could tell then, that I had feelings for you and the next morning, we had a talk about it. He was great, said that I should give it a go, and that what he felt wasn't as strong as he could tell what I was feeling." 

My heart melted by his words, and I could tell it took a lot of gut for him to get it all out. I leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "You haven't done anything wrong, Char." I said and he placed a hand on my thigh, "I guess, I don't wanna hurt him by rubbing it in his face. And I also wanna ease my mom into getting used to the thought, that you and Arthur aren't meant to be... We are." He admitted and I placed my hand on top of his. 

"You think we're meant to be?" I asked carefully, noticing him getting shy by my question. "I know we are." He smiled and I pulled him into a hug, only for him to pull me onto his lap. I held him tightly while he buried his face in my neck. 

"You should call Arthur, you know?" I said after a while of silence, earning a big sigh from Charles. "I know..." He said, pulling away to look up at me. "I'll call him right now," He said reaching for his phone, so I decided to get up. I didn't get far though, as he pulled me back onto his lap and wrapped his free arm around me. "Stay here." He whispered while calling up Arthur on his phone on speaker.

"Yes?" Arthur spoke as he picked up, "Hey bro, I want to apologise about just now, it wasn't fair of me." Charles said, making me smile. "Don't worry about it, I get it. I'd be possessive too if I were you." Charles looked at me and smiled fondly. "I need to tell you something, though," Arthur said, catching both of our attention. "What's up?" Char asked and we both looked at the phone. "When mom and I were in the kitchen, putting away the dishes, I told her about you two." He said followed by a big laugh.