charlotteisthatu

He wants Charles to know that while he may be young, his love is eternal—it's forever—and maybe that's childish or naive but Max knows himself. He knows that once he's committed to someone or something, he will not be moved.

And while Max is in the midst of romancing Charles within an inch of his life (and keeping the Omega awake at night with some very scandalous dreams of the two of them tangled in silk sheets—yeah Charles is trying to be the "mature" adult but his subconscious does not give a flying fuck about that), the former pop superstar is struggling to figure out just what it is he's feeling.

God, he's scared, exhilarated, hopeful, and feeling more alive than he has in years. But Charles doesn't know if he can be that fearless 20-year old again. The one who took on Hollywood with a smirk and a wink and his head held high.

He's afraid of falling, afraid of leaving behind the comfortable life he's inhabited for so many years. Yes, Charles may be unhappy but what if he takes a chance with Max and is left heartbroken?

(He knows Max has to the power to hurt Charles more deeply than anyone ever could, and he can't do that to his babies—he doesn't want them to get to know Max and love Max and then see Max walk away.)

But I can also imagine someone close to Charles—Pierre or Arthur maybe—who finally shakes some sense into him, like:

"What the fuck happened to you, Charles? You used to be fearless, you used to chase the impossible and laugh at those who doubted you. And look at what you've become. Hiding away in this decrepit old mansion, throwing away happiness with both hands."

And yeah, that's harsh—that's tough love—but it's also the exact thing Charles needs to hear.

Because the next day, his resolve is made:

If Max wants to pursue him, then Charles will allow it. He'll let Max chase him and if he deems the young Alpha worth it, then Charles will offer him his heart and body—but only if Max proves himself.

Charles and Max are soulmates, but since they don't remember their first meeting, it was at a very young age, they don't even know about it.

When Max and Charles were karting, they didn't interact much. Max always wanted to be friends with Charles, and every time he approached Charles with meaningless chatter, Charles was not very friendly with him. After that, Max won race, and for Charles it was either the last places or dnf. They didn't connect it to the fact that they were soulmates, but Charles began to try to stay away from Max after that.

When Max was already finishing his karting career, there were rumors that he was going into Formula 3. Charles then chatted friendly with Max for the first time in his life, congratulated him, and after that his race went as smoothly as ever, he won from pole position and shared the podium with Max.

After his move to Formula 1, Charles was already in a relationship, as was Max. They barely communicated, but if they did, it was quite friendly. Charles began to suspect something a couple of years later, that as once in karting, after talking with Max, his races went smoothly. He began to seek out meetings with Max more and more often, and he didn’t notice how his conversations became flirting.

But Max noticed and began to avoid him because of this. He had a period of huge crush on Charles in his teens, and when he started dating his girlfriend, he seemed to have completely stopped feeling anything for Charles. But as luck would have it, it's as if at that very moment Charles begins to feel something for Max. Max decides that it's time to have a serious talk with Charles, this can't go on, he can't be distracted from fighting for the championship when the chance has finally come, and he can't fall in love with Charles again. He knows that Charles will never love him back because he has hinted many times that his current partner is his soulmate. Max can't entertain false hopes for anything between them. And when Charles suggests Max to play padel together before the race during the drivers' parade, Max gets angry and rudely refuses him. He sees that Charles is hurt not by his refusal, but by the way it was said. His big green eyes seem to be looking at him in question - why? But Max just turns away and walks to the other end of the truck, trying to convince himself that he's doing this for his heart.

After that, Silverstone 2021 happens. Charles finishes on the podium, taking second place, and Max crashes into the wall, suffering 51g. Max, of course, has been in accidents before, but not a single one of his Formula 1 races has ended with such bad consequences for his health.

At the next GP in Hungary, Max and Charles get into a verbal altercation during the drivers' briefing, which Charles was largely to blame for, and the race goes poorly for both of them.

Max is uneasy about what their once friendly relationship has become - Charles doesn't greet him, he doesn't even look in his direction anymore! and in Belgium, Max decides to apologize. Charles coldly accepts his apologies, but the race goes smoothly, Max wins again, and believes that even such coldness from Charles is already a victory than complete indifference.

In Italy, Charles invites his partner to the paddock. Max bumps into both of them on Friday, and for some reason, he gets angry at their happy appearance. Charles later tries to start a conversation with him, between practices and before qualifying, but Max gets uncontrollably angry again, and cuts off all Charles' attempts to talk to him, and says eventually that he is not in the mood to waste his time on small talk. and he doesn't finish again.

Of course, in Russia, Max tries to make peace with Charles, but he bluntly replies to him that he doesn’t want to talk to him, giving Max a taste of his own medicine.

Fortunately, during a summer break, they unexpectedly find themselves in the same circle during the birthday celebration of one of their mutual friends. They make up, but Max seems to understand that their relationship will be no longer the same. Max wants to be friends with Charles, he wants to hang out in one group of friends, and he suddenly realizes that his feelings haven’t gone anywhere. It seems he will remain forever attached to Charles Leclerc. It would be understandable if they were soulmates, but they're not soulmates, right? Charles already has a soulmate, but Max still has to meet his own before the age of 25, and if he doesn't meet them, then he doesn't have one at all, that's how their world works.

Charles no longer seeks out Max, he is afraid to get close to him again. Itseems that the closer he gets to him, the more he pushes him away. So he decides that it would be better to keep the colleagues' relationships, no more, and no less than with other drivers.

Until Abu Dabi happens.

Charles's relationship with his partner crumbles in an instant when he meets his soulmate. Charles is devastated, he hoped that they were soulmates, although he didn’t feel it. Or at least that they both wouldn't meet their soulmates, because he was already starting to feel like he didn't have one.

Before the race, Max finds him in the paddock, and sympathizes with him - the rumors have reached him too.

“I thought you were soulmates?” says Max.

“No. I don't think I have one,” Charles tells him.

“That's okay. I don't have a soulmate either,” Max says, trying to cheer him up.

It only makes Charles angry. Max and Lewis have an equal score in championship, Max could very well win his first one, and even if he doesn't have a soulmate, he could still have his WDC.

Charles wants to end their conversation.

“You know, I broke up with my girlfriend too,” Max suddenly says.

Charles doesn't know what to say to that.

“Do you want me to feel sorry for you?” he asks.

“No, but since we're both single, we could hang out together,” Max suggests.

Charles can't believe Max said that. He always suspected that Max liked him, after all, he knows how he makes others feel, and the kind of guy Max grown into, Charles could tell that he was absolutely his type.

“I don't think so,” Charles finally replies, “I'm not up to it right now.”

After that, they finally go their separate ways.

That same day, Max becomes world champion, and Charles finishes tenth in the race and seventh in the championship.