𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙 - Charles Leclerc (CL16) [Book 1]

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎

Charles POV 

I wake up, and instantly feel a weight on my chest.

I open my eyes to the end credits of Crazy Rich Asians, I look down and see Liana sleeping peacefully on my chest.

Vegas was an absolute dream, from start to finish. But what made it, for me, was not the pole position on Saturday, not the overtake on Checo at the end of the race. But it was Liana, and the steps forward we made in our friendship, and hopefully relationship.

The pole, and the overtake, the P2, would have been meaningless without someone to share it with, and seeing her there, smiling, congratulating me, and spreading endless sunshine was enough to make the whole weekend worth it.

Especially Sunday, I've been planning the birthday party since the start of October, after we made up on the boat. I really wanted a grand gesture to show her how appreciated she is, not just by me, but by everyone. Despite the obvious chaos that follows her and Raegan, she just brings a lightness to the paddock - when she is there, when she smiles, it could make anyone feel good about a P20 or a DNF.

Okay, I know what you're thinking, probably not Carlos.

But he seems to be okay, we are getting on better than we had done. In Brazil, we even had lunch together. I did invite him to Liana's party, but he decided it probably wouldn't be the best idea if he came along.

On second thoughts, he was probably right, can you imagine if he turned up and he watched her and I dancing for an hour straight before running back to my hotel room.

Liana lets out a quiet grunt, and moves ever so slightly, tightening her grip on me. I love this. I hope this flight never has to land, and we can just lay like this forever.

However, you know by now - we have intrusive friends, and things are never simple. So after laying like this, for around half an hour, I look up to see Raegan grinning at me over the top of my cabin.

She points her between Liana and I, then makes a heart shape with her hands, mouthing the words 'so cute'.

I mouth back at her 'go away'.

She doesn't get the hint and stands there for a few more seconds, silently gushing over the sight before her.

I mouth again, 'go away'.

Still grinning, she puts her hands up defeated and walks back towards where her and Liana's seats are located.

I flick through the movies on the airplane tv, and settle on Harry Potter for the rest of the journey.

An hour or so later, Liana starts to move a bit more, and I look down and see her eyes slowly opening.

"Nice sleep?" I ask.

"Mmm, how long have I slept for?" she asks, her voice quiet and a bit croaky.

"A couple of hours, you must have had a really comfy pillow."

"It was alright, a bit lumpy in places, and it decides to talk to me the minute I wake up." she jokes, and lets out a little cute laugh.

The pilot makes an announcement that we are approximately one hour from landing.

"I should probably get Raegan and go back to my seat," she sits up.

I decline to mention that I saw Raegan return to her seat about an hour ago, I don't want to start any issues - and maybe it's best we keep that between us.

"Alright, I'll see you when we land?" she smiles softly, I nod back.

She goes to stand up but then stops, and turns around to face me - she leans in and gives me a soft kiss on the lips, it takes me by surprise. I put my hand up to the back of her head to hold her there for a minute whilst I savour the moment.