Charles' journey to Formula 1 was not as easy as it's depicted in the media. The media portrays him as a prodigy who succeeded in whatever was thrown at him but that only came with years of practice and experience in karting and cars; both of which were very expensive. It wasn't that the Leclerc family was short for money, but activities were tiered in terms of how essential they were and the idea that Charles could live his dream and become an F1 driver was always at the forefront of everyone's mind. You would always remember the day that you came home from stables after a long day of practice and caring for your horse to see your mum and dad waiting for you and informing you that you had to sell your horse as maintaining the horse and stable fees were extortionately high and it was limiting the amount of money that Charles could use for racing. You were furious and upset beyond belief. You didn't understand how your parents could conclude that Charles' dreams were more important that yours and after that day you didn't come out of your bedroom for a few days and even then, you didn't talk to them for a few more days; what else could a 13 year old do but huff and give them the silent treatment. Charles or any of your other brothers didn't understand why you were so angry until your parents told them; they too were angry, but they understood their parents reasoning.
That night Charles came into your room. He was 3 years your senior and he took his role as an older brother seriously; when you were upset, he was always there to comfort you and this was no exception. As you snuggled into your pillow trying to muffle the tears that hadn't seemed to stop since you'd found out, he crept into your room and lay down on the bed beside you.
"I'm sorry." He mumbled. You rolled over to face him, tear tracks evident on your face. "It's not your fault." He wrapped his arm around your back and pulled you into his embrace in attempt to sooth your tears.
Six years on and Charles had never forgotten what you did for him (voluntary or not) and if anything, it made him work harder so that he could achieve his dream and prove that you didn't have to give up your horse for nothing. You had still continued to ride horses and showjump, but you didn't have your own horse; you had to borrow one from the stables where you practiced.
During the summer shutdown of Charles' first year with Ferrari he knew he had to surprise you. He and Charlotte had been looking for the perfect horse for you. They'd consulted countless horse experts, your best friend who's horse you'd been borrowing and your trainer, and finally they had the perfect horse; a Dutch Warmblood. He was a pure dark brown horse, tall with strong legs, which made him ideal for showjumping. Charles enjoyed being able to watch you compete and often tried his hardest to be able to watch your competitions in person or online, he loved how effortless you made it as you jumped through the air on the horse.
It was a bright Thursday morning in August when Charles turned up at his mum's house and insisted on dragging you to his Ferrari. As you got into the car, he handed you a blindfold and with a blank stare you looked at him. "Put this on!" He insisted, you looked at the blindfold to see it was actually one of the complementary black Etihad Airlines eye-mask. "Glad to see there was no cost spared." You teased as you stretched the elastics of the mask to fit over your head and then blackness occupied your vision.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Charles asked holding a hand out in front of you.
"I don't know, four? I can't see anything." You said sarcastically as you leaned against your hand which was propped up on the door. With a shrug of his shoulders Charles put his hand down and started to drive.
"It was 3." You let out a groan of frustration and he laughed.
"I swear if this is a surprise party or something, I might actually cry."
You had been driving for 15 minutes, stopping and starting which allowed you to guess that you were still in Monte Carlo as traffic was usually like this. "Where's Charlotte?" Charles jumped slightly as it had been silent until you broke it.
"Uh ... she's with her parents." A small white lie but Charles' knew she wouldn't care when she removed her blindfold and would be able to see her surprise. Charlotte was one of Leclerc's biggest motivators as when she wasn't with Charles at his races, she was supporting Arthur at his races or Y/N at her competitions. It was nearly 20 minutes when Charles' Ferrari came to a stop. He jumped out and raced over to the passenger side to help Y/N out and he guided her for a few minutes before stopping her by placing his hands on her shoulders. "Are you ready?"
"Ready for what?" And with that Charles pulled the eye mask of her face and Y/N let out a squeal at the sight in front of her. A Dutch Warmblood. She pulled Charles into a hug and mumbled her thanks against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her in return. She stared at the horse before noticing Charlotte standing beside it or as far away from it as his reign would allow. Racing over to her, Y/N pulled Charlotte into a hug and then took the reign off her (much to Charlottes relief), and Charlotte took this as her opportunity to join Charles as they admired the smile on your face as you stroked the nose and neck of the horse.
"Not a surprise party but I'm still gonna cry!" She said with a watery smile.
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