𝗦𝗛𝗨𝗧 𝗨𝗣 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗘, charles leclerc

𝙁𝙄𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙀𝙉, barriers

          NOURA HAD MADE A concentrated effort to take Lena's advice. In the week and a half between Brazil and Abu Dhabi, she had done her utmost to truly get over what had happened in Mexico. She had doubled stacked her therapy sessions, having three in the time span. She had watched the crash over and over again until it no longer brought tears to her eyes or rage to her stomach. She had even tried meditation, which had been somewhat of a dud considering she didn't know the definition of sitting still and she kept laughing at the instructor's voice. But still, she had given it a go, which she was proud of herself for.

By the time Abu Dhabi rolled around, Noura didn't even correct people when they said her and Charles crashed with a 'he crashed into me!', she just let it slide. She had even laughed at a joke Chloe made about her crash, without even throwing a pillow at her.

Noura had even come to peace with the idea that she would tell Charles everything. Her feelings, her fears, her apprehensions, the responsibilities weighing on her, everything. By the end of the weekend, for better or for worse, Charles would know.

Originally, Noura had been planning on spilling her guts to Charles all in one conversation, dumping everything on him in one go. But she opted against it. She would split it up into two conversations instead. One to apologize to Charles, to explain precisely why she had been so upset, and a second to... confess. She would wait until after the race for her grand confession, she didn't want to mess up her chance at the championship with a rejection from Charles.

Noura couldn't believe she was actually planning her confession. It felt strangely liberating. For better or for worse, that particular weight on Noura's shoulder's would be lifted. Besides, if Charles rejected her, she'd get past it. At least she hoped so.

All that's to say, progress had been made. She had forgiven Charles (even though there was nothing for her to forgive other than some sloppy driving). The last thing left to do was somehow get him to forgive her for the insane behavior she had been taking part in the past few weeks. It was in moments like that where Noura was reminded that she was only 19. Even with everything she had put up with, even with her tough skin, she was still a teenager. She was young. She had to give herself a little grace to learn and grow.

Just as Noura instructed him to be, Charles was waiting for her in the hotel lobby on Thursday morning, anxiously spinning the keys to his Ferrari around his finger.

Noura walked up to him, slightly awkwardly. She wasn't sure how to really act around him, and Charles didn't seem to know either. Before their fight, Noura would've greeted him with a hug. But doing that when she had been giving him the cold shoulder for weeks felt a bit wrong.

"It's good to see you, Charles." Noura said instead, offering the man a strained smile. "Let's head to your car. We can talk there."

Charles nodded enthusiastically, leading Noura out of the lobby and to the black Ferrari parked outside. He opened her door, closing it behind her, before sliding into the passenger side seat. They sat in painful silence for a minute, Noura trying desperately to find her words. Now that she was confronted with Charles, face to face, she didn't know if she would be able to do it. Sure, she was planning on confessing on Sunday, but if she felt then like she did now, she wasn't sure she'd be able to pluck up the courage. The thought of losing Charles forever, not for the momentary spat they'd been going through, seemed daunting.

"So..." Charles said, finally breaking the silence. "What did you want to talk about?"

Noura tugged at the skin around her nails, pushing down the rising panic in her chest. She wasn't confessing, that was for future Noura to worry about. All she was doing was apologizing. Which was admittedly easier said than done.