We've got super Mick Arteta

The rest was history. He’d made his move that night, slipping in a small dig towards your father due to the win he was currently celebrating but that only made the two of you grow closer. You spent the night with him and honestly thought that would be the end until he asked to take you on a date. You knew it would be a bad idea, not because Martin wasn’t suited for you but because you knew your father would lose his shit when he found out but you didn’t care. You had been dating the Arsenal midfielder behind your father's back for a year.

The World Cup was finally upon everyone. Despite having some of the world's most talented players Norway didn’t make it to the competition but that meant you would have more time to spend with Martin. It also gave him time to finally take a break from football without the worry of having to rush home for training or a game. Your Dad had also decided to go back to Italy for a break, you’d been invited but you politely declined, your home was only a few streets away and certainly wasn’t from Italy. 

“You sure you’ll be okay on your own?” Your Dad asked, counting his luggage as he made sure he had everything. 

“I’m not a child.” You smiled at him. “I’ll be fine.” 

“I will fly back in a heartbeat if you need me to, all you need to do is call me.”

“I’m sure I will be fine, say hello to the rest of the family for me.” 

“You know they would prefer it if you were coming too.” He gave you a pitiful look as he pushed his bags aside. “You sure you’ll be okay -”

“Dad I will be fine.” You narrowed your gaze at him with a small smile on your face. “If anything happens or I change my mind I will call you or jump on the next flight to Italy.” You know that was a lie but it would put his mind at ease. “And the Christmas tree will be up when you get home.”

“Blue and white remember.” He arched his brows. 

“I remember.” You couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Martin’s reaction when he finds out you’d have to decorate the tree in Spurs colours. 

You’d planned to decorate the tree with Martin, it wasn’t your first Christmas with him and you knew it wouldn’t be the last. Last year Martin invited you to his to decorate his tree which in North London fashion happened to be decorated in red and white. The pair of you made Christmas cookies with one another whilst you danced to Christmas music. Everything with him was perfect, you just wished you could’ve shared the actual day with him. 

“I will be back in two weeks.” He made his way over to you, holding his arms out for a hug. You complied, walking towards him and falling into the hug. “Please don’t burn the house down.” 

Laughing at his words you pulled back. “I won’t, I promise.” 

Conte smiled at you as he gathered his bags, heading out to the car. Whilst he was packing his things into the vehicle you quickly pulled out your phone to text Martin. 

You: He’s leaving now x

Martin: I’ll get my things and leave in 5 x

You: Drive safely please x

Martin: Always love x 

“Who are you texting?” Your Dad’s voice snatched your attention. He arched his brows at you, his face clearly interested in the wide smile you had on your face as you looked at your phone.

“No one.” You lied. “I was just checking the time.”

“And smiling like an idiot at it?” 

“What can I say, I get time away from you I’ll always be happy at that.” You gave him a smirk which broke into a small laugh. He followed suit, knowing you never meant that but he also knew you were lying about your reasons but he knew better than to press on. 

“I will text you when I’m at the airport and when I’ve landed.”

“Be safe.”

“I will.” He blew a kiss to you as he got into the car, sending you a small wave as he left the house and headed back to Italy.

You’d always been close to your Dad, the love of football you both shared kept the bond alive. You’d travelled the world with him, watching him manage teams in different leagues and now you were back in London with him, the only change was you didn’t live in West London but North London. You’d still spoken to some of the old Chelsea lads your Dad managed but they didn’t exactly end on a good note so much like Martin, that was kept rather quiet.

Being so close to one another only added to your pain in keeping your relationship with Martin quiet. The pair of you never hid anything from one another and even if you tried it would always come to light a few days but not this secret. It was arguably the most challenging thing you’d ever done, having to lie to him for a year straight. One day he’d find out, you just needed to find a good time to tell him.

You never had to wait long for Martin to drive to yours after all, he was only a few streets away. That was an added benefit of dating him although you always had to keep an eye out for any Spurs players, god forbid one of them spotted you two together. Opening the door you were met with a wide grin and stunning blue eyes which always made you melt. You looked down at his hand and noticed he was holding a bunch of red roses. 

“Cliché I know but red is better than white unless it’s on an Arsenal kit.” He winked before planting a kiss on your forehead. Taking the flowers from him you moved aside, letting him into your home. It was rare Martin ever got to be around for more than a few hours as your Dad would always be home or if the house was free Martin would be playing a match somewhere in Europe. 

“You’re going to hate the colour my Dad wants the tree this year then.” Martin rolled his eyes at your words. 

“You can decorate the tree then.” He gave you a grin. “I’ll be watching replays of our greatest wins against Tottenham.” You lightly shoved the boy as you shut the door, following his expression and grinning up at him. 

“Shut up you’re helping.” You headed towards the kitchen to find a vase to put your flowers in with Martin trailing behind you. He wrapped his arms around your waist pulling your back into his chest. He started to pepper you with light kisses on your neck, tightening his grip on your waist as you melted into his touch. 

“When are you going to tell him?” He suddenly asked, turning you around to face him. 

“I need to tell him soon it’s been a year.” Your voice dropped at your own words. “Christmas?”

“You think that’s a good idea?”

“Happiest day of the year for most people, maybe it’ll be ours too.”

“You think he’ll let you come to the Emirates on boxing day to watch me play West Ham?”

“Don’t get too hopeful Ødegaard.” The pair of you shared another smile. “I’ll tell him when he gets home from Italy, that way he’d got time to process the whole thing and the two of you won’t go up against one another in a match anytime soon.” 

“I don’t care if he doesn’t like me, as long as you’ll still be mine.” 

“Of course I will, I’m not going to throw what we have away all because my Dad can’t set aside some stupid rivalry.”

“It’s not a stupid rivalry -”

“You know I didn’t mean it like that.” 

“It’s a very serious one Arsenal continues to win.” He smirked. “Think I might need to remind Conte that when I see him next -”

“If he doesn’t hunt you down first. He thinks you’re an incredible player Martin but that only makes him hate you even more.”

“You know I don’t care what he thinks about me, right?”

“You have mentioned it.”

“We’ll tell him after Christmas… or maybe just before.”

“We?” “You don’t think I’m going to let you tell him on your own do you?”

Your smile grew as you leaned up to plant a kiss on his lips, Martin ducked his head down to deepen the kiss, his hands trailing down your body as he did so. The kiss grew hotter as your hands started to tug on the ends of his blonde hair. The pair of you eventually pulled away, your eyes gazing deep into one another's. 

“Who knows maybe you can spend Christmas here.” You spoke, a playful smile tugging on your lips. Martin let out a light laugh, his head falling as he did so. 

“I’m not spending it at this Tottenham house.” 

“Fair point.” You laughed along with him before the two of you got to work on the tree. 

You’d spent the entire time convincing Martin you couldn’t just switch out the colours to red and white but the gunner was adamant that he could make your Dad see reason. Eventually, the tree was decorated in navy blue and white, much to Martin’s disgust. The two of you decided to order a takeaway and watch Christmas films to pass the time. In the evening you’d both bake something Christmassy and then enjoy a joint shower to wash off all the mess you’d made but the sudden noise of your front door unlocking would ruin those evening plans. 

“I can’t believe you’ve never seen The Muppets Christmas Carol.” You were laying into his side, empty takeaway boxes in front of you both as you watched the film. 

“It’s the same as all the other Christmas Carol films-”

“No, it’s got the muppets in this version therefore it’s better than any other version.”

“What do they add to the original story that makes it better?”

“Comedic value and musical numbers.” You looked over at him with a smile on your lips. “What more could you want?” 

He shrugged before leaning in. “I could think of a few things.” As your lips went to touch his the sound of a key opening your front door made the pair of you jump apart. 

“y/n? My flight was cancelled so you’re stuck with me-” Your Dad went to finish but when his eyes fell on Martin and his daughter beside one another on his sofa his words got lost in his mouth.

“Dad I-” 

“Why is there an Arsenal player in my house?”

“Dad please can we talk about this?” You rose from your spot, Martin copied your actions, his eyes glued to Conte.

“We are talking.” His voice was stern as his bags fell to the floor. His eyes darted to Martin’s and if looks could kill you were convinced your boyfriend would be dead. “Get out, we’ll talk about this when he’s gone.”

“Dad please-”

“It’s not her fault.” Martin cut you off. “Please can we talk to you about this?” Conte said nothing. His eyes just stayed glued to Martin. Your boyfriend took the silent hint to continue. “I love her, a lot. This isn’t just a fling or some shitty hookup, we’ve been together for over a year now and every day I find myself falling for her even more than I was the day before. I know you won’t like me because I play for Arsenal but I hope you can see past that for her. I just want her to be happy, just as you do.” 

“Get out.” Your Dad stood by his words. 

“Dad-”

Martin let his head fall in defeat before speaking. “It’s fine y/n.” Martin cut you off. He leant down and planted a kiss on your head. Martin grabbed his things before heading out the door, his heart racing at what had just happened. Part of him wanted to stay and have it out with your Dad but he knew better than to press on. 

When Martin was gone, Antonio looked over at you and started to speak. “You two have been together over a year?”

“Yes. I wanted to tell you, we planned on doing it soon but we could never find the right time and I knew you’d be annoyed because he plays for Arsenal but-”

“Can’t you see he’s using you?”

You were taken back by his words, your face scrunching at what you’d just heard. “You can’t be serious?”

“Think about it y/n, he plays for Arsenal and he’s the manager's golden boy and now he magically ends up with the rivals manager's daughter? Come on y/n.”

“For once can you just separate football from this, please? I  know it’s your life, it’s mine too but not everything is about football.” You looked away before meeting his gaze again. “If you really think that why wouldn’t he just introduce himself to you so he can get as much knowledge as he possibly can straight away?”

“Probably because he gets it all from you!”

“You think that’s what we talk about? Believe it or not, we have actual conversations that don’t involve a group of men running around in a rectangle kicking a ball around for 90 minutes.”

He let out a deep breath, his hands raking through his hair before he spoke again. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I knew you’d act like this.”

“Do you not trust me y/n?” “Of course, I trust you, Dad.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me sooner? I thought we could tell one another everything?”

“Because you act like this. You act like he’s using me to get to you but he’s not. You try and put ideas in my head all because you want me to end up with Son or one of your other golden Spurs boys.” Tears formed in your eyes as you spoke. “I can’t help who I fall in love with and-”

“You love him?”

“Of course I do and because I love him I want you to accept him as my boyfriend just as you would do if I was dating any of the Tottenham players. Just because he plays for Arsenal doesn’t mean there’s any ill intent-”

“y/n please listen to me… no Arsenal player would willingly hang around with you-”

“With me?”

“No that’s not what I meant, y/n just listen-”

You didn’t want to hear the rest, why would you? Your Dad wasn’t going to change his mind. He hated the idea of you dating a footballer anyway but if you were he’d always made it clear he’d prefer someone like Son but even then that was a bit of a stretch.  

You didn’t utter a word to your Dad as thoughts of Martin crossed your mind. When anything went wrong Martin was always there and you needed him now. Turning on your heel you headed to your room, packing some essentials before you grabbed your keys. “I need some time to think.” You uttered before opening the front door and clambering into your car. 

Your Dad followed you, his figure standing in the doorway to your house as he watched you wipe your tears with the backs of your hand. You didn’t dare glance over to him as you pulled out of the driveway and headed to Martin’s. Although he normally came to yours there was the odd occasion where you’d stay at his. He had a drawer under his bed full of spare clothes for you and any products you used in your everyday life. If only your Dad bothered to learn about this side of Martin. 

When the blonde opened the door his heart sank at the sight of you. Without uttering a word Martin pulled you inside, his arms wrapping around you immediately. For a while, you sobbed into his chest whilst he planted light kisses on your head and smoothed your hair down. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He finally spoke. 

“I’ve fucked up.”

“No, you haven’t.” Martin pulled away, his hands cupping your face as he wiped your tears away. “Look, I shouldn’t have left like that. I should’ve stood up for you and at least spoken to him before I left you alone.”

“This isn’t your fault Martin.” 

“It is partly. I was the one who continued to hide it away from your Dad when you wanted to tell him.”

“No, it’s not.” You planted a light kiss on his lips. “I just need time apart from him.”

“Well…” A smile spread across his lips. “I do need to decorate the tree in Arsenal colours.”

“Only if we get to finish The Muppets Christmas Carol.”

“Deal.”

— 

For the past two weeks, you’d spent most of your waking hours with Martin, pushing what happened with your Dad to the back of your mind. You would attend Martin’s games which lead to a lot of talk with the press when fans caught you wearing an Arsenal shirt in his box. Conte did his best to avoid any talk of you, his anger still boiling up inside him at the idea of his daughter dating Arteta’s golden boy. Although his anger continued to shine, especially with Tottenham’s poor results he couldn’t help but feel an emptiness in the house. Without you, he was on his own and that feeling only got worse as Christmas approached. 

It was Christmas Eve and Martin had just gotten home from training. The two of you were under a blanket as snow started to fall from the sky. The pair of you had your eyes glued to the TV which was currently playing The Grinch, your hands intertwined with his. 

“Are you planning to spend Christmas with me?” Martin muttered into your hair before kissing your forehead. 

“Of course I am.” You turned your head to face him. “Not exactly going to get up and run away now am I?” Martin leaned down and pecked your lips, his smile growing at your words. 

“Perfect although I’d prefer if you were on good terms with your Dad. Have you spoken to him?”

“Nope.” 

“Do you plan on it?”

“After Christmas.”

“Is it…?”

“The first Christmas without him? Yep.” A wave of sadness washed over you as you spoke. “No matter what team he was managing or wherever he was in the world we’d always be together for Christmas.”

“y/n this is all -”

Before Martin could finish his sentence his front door sounded. The pair of you glanced at one another before looking over to the door. Martin lifted you gently off his chest before making his way to his door.

“Were you expecting anyone?” You asked. 

“No? Maybe Mikel needs something…” As he swung the door open he was met with the sympathetic eyes of your father. “Sorry, how do you know where I live?” 

“Merry Christmas to you too Martin… I asked Arteta. I told him what happened and well, he was happy to help.”

“Brilliant.”

“Is she inside?”

“She is.” Martin leaned against the door frame as he spoke. “Do you really think she wants to see you? She told me everything… you really thought I was using her?”

“Can I please come in and talk it through with both of you?” A pitch of silence fell through the air. “Please?” 

Martin knew you wanted it to be sorted. He could see how much it hurt you to be away from your Dad, especially at Christmas but he also knew this could all go horribly wrong and ruin the first proper Christmas the pair of you were spending together. Reluctantly he stepped aside and let your Dad in. He sent you a sympathetic look as you watched the familiar face walk through the door. 

“y/n…”

“Hello, Dad.” 

“I need to speak to both of you.” Martin walked back over to where you were sitting on the sofa, his eyes stern as he looked at your Dad. “I’m sorry for what I said to you both. I always let football take over my life, y/n knows that.” He gave a light smile your way before he continued. “I shouldn’t have let the rivalry between the two clubs get in the way of my daughter's happiness. As much as I hate Arsenal and especially Arteta’s golden boy it still wasn’t fair. I should never have doubted how you felt about my daughter Martin.” He let out a small laugh, “I can tell by the fans speak about you both that you treat her well.”

“Of course I do.” Martin sighed at his words. “Look, I get it. My Dad is the same with rivalries and so was I but the truth is football controls most of our lives but it shouldn’t control every aspect of our lives, especially the ones we love.”

“I’m so sorry.” Your Dad repeated. 

“Me too.” You finally spoke. “We should’ve told you a long time ago-”

“I don’t blame you for not telling me. I understand why, look at what happened when you did.”

“You should not have found out that way.” You rose from your seat. Heading towards him with open arms. “I’m sorry Dad.” The pair of you wrapped your arms around one another. Martin stayed on the sofa, his smile growing knowing he’d finally been accepted by your Dad and now the two of you were finally back on track. 

Both you and Conte pulled back. “How can I make it up to you both?” He asked. 

“I have an idea,” Martin spoke up, a smirk growing on his lips. “Spend Christmas here with us, in the Arsenal-themed house.”

Conte looked between you both. No amount of grafting would get him out of Martin’s proposal. “Fine, as long as you two aren’t all over each other.”

“Can’t promise that sir.” Martin made his way over to you both, his hand extending for Conte to shake. “She does look good in my Arsenal shirt.”

“Why didn’t the munchkins just kill the witch if she was such a problem?” 

You turned your head to look back up at him, your large doe eyes making Joao melt in a heartbeat. “Because you can only kill anyone by accident.” Your eyes looked over to the screen before looking back at him. “Dorothy didn’t mean to kill the witch, any death we see in the film is accidental. Glinda rules over Oz and she cast a spell which didn’t allow murder.” 

“Then why didn’t they just plan to kill the witch and make it look like an accident?”

“Because that wouldn’t really be an accident, would it?” You smirked as you spoke, Joao mirrored your expression before he leaned down and planted a kiss on your forehead. 

“You know sometimes I hate watching films with you.”

“Why?”

“Because you always know everything.” “Well, what else am I supposed to do whilst you’re at work?” 

“Hmm… true…” His hands now went to your waist, his grip tightening on your body as you felt his hips buck. “God you’re so pretty.” 

One hand left your waist to cup your jaw, forcing you to look at him he slowly leant down and planted a kiss on your lips. You kissed him back instantly, your mouths slowly moving on one another. Shifting you now straddled his waist, and your hands went to his jaw as you slowly started to grind down on his clothed cock. 

He moaned at your actions, his hips bucking up into yours as he pulled away from the kiss. His hands now went to the hem of your shirt which ironically belonged to him. His cold hands on your stomach made you jump slightly which earnt you a low laugh from your boyfriend. His hands went higher and fell upon your boobs.

“Joao…”

“What baby?” As he spoke he swiftly pulled your shirt over your head. “Such a pretty girl…” 

“You’re such a tease.” Your hands tugged on the waistband of his shorts. 

“You’re one to talk.” He pinched your nipples as he spoke, the sudden sharp feeling making you grind harder into him. “Remember the end of the season awards? When all you did was tease me? Constantly begging for my cock until I bent you over the car and fucked you until you forgot your name…” 

His words caused you to moan, only growing more impatient with him. “Please…” 

“So needy…” He kissed you again before raising his hips up. He effortlessly pulled his shorts and boxers down before pulling your clothed hips onto his bare ones. His hand slowly started to pump himself as he watched your eyes light up. “I need your mouth meu anjo…” 

You didn’t hesitate. Moving down his body you trailed light kisses down his body, the feeling giving him goosebumps. When you reached his cock you glanced up at him before kissing the tip, now it was your time to tease him. Your hand had replaced his, slowly moving up and down his large cock. You planted another kiss this time further down but still not enough for him to feel the slightest release. 

“y/n… please dom’t tease…”

“Who’s the needy one now?” Your tongue slowly darted across the tip, collecting the precum that had spilt from your teasing.

“Good girl…” He moaned as you slowly started to take him into your mouth, your head bobbing around his cock, with every stroke you started to get deeper. Joao did his best not to grab your hair and force you down onto him but it was proving harder by the second. His hands moved through your hair, tugging at the strands with every movement. 

You took the hint and changed your pace, moving faster he began to hit the back of your throat. The sound of you gagging around him was one he’d never grow tired of. His head fell back and his stomach muscles tightened at the pleasure growing inside of him. Your hand moved in sync with your mouth, at first you were gentle but the rough movements of his hips and the hand in your hair caused you to quicken.

You could feel he was getting close but he suddenly pulled your hair hard enough that your mouth left his cock and now you were looking up at him with pleading eyes. Joao's thumb went to your lips and swiped any mess from your lips before planting his thumb in your mouth. “Suck.” He commanded which you happily obliged. “Good girl.” His thumb left your mouth but continued to trace your bottom lip. 

“I need you.” You moaned at his actions. 

“Where do you need me, baby?”

“I need you to fuck me…” 

Joao smacked your ass, a chuckle leaving his lips as you let out a light yelp at his sudden actions. “I want you to ride me.” 

Nodding you shifted on the sofa, quickly slipping off your underwear you straddled him once again. Joao’s hands went to your hips, guiding you onto his cock. No matter how many times the two of fucked you would never get used to his size. Gripping on his skin your nails left marks on his shoulder as he entered you. 

“Move when you want to.” He leaned up and kissed your lips, his thumb caressing your cheek as you slowly rose your hips before grinding back down onto him.

At first, your movements were slow, Joao guiding you gently as you rode him. His hands started to grip tighter on your hips, he was silently begging to fuck you harder. You were bouncing on his cock at a steady pace but his actions made you slowly speed up. 

His hands went up to your boobs, cupping and pinching your nipples as you continued to ride him. Joao started to buck his hips as you started to speed up, his actions hitting you in all the right places. “Fuck Joao…” Your head fell back as you moaned, your hands resting on his stomach to steady yourself as his hips started to move faster. 

“You feel so good princesa…” Joao moved one hand to your neck, pulling you close enough that he could latch his lips against your neck. His teeth bit your skin, each shudder of pain mixed with pleasure as he started to thrust harder. 

Your eyes scrunched at the sudden sharp pain, a gasp which quickly turned to a moan leaving your mouth. Your moans only encouraged Joao more. His mouth left your neck, a smirk on his lips as he admired his artwork on your skin. “So good for me.” His hand once on your hips now made its way to your clit. His thumb added more pleasure to your body and if it wasn’t for Joao holding you up you would’ve collapsed on his chest. “Aren’t you?”

“Yes, Joao…” You started to bounce faster. Joao knew he couldn’t hold himself back for much longer and luckily for him you couldn’t either. “Fuck I’m gonna come…”

“Yeah?” His actions quickened. His thumb sped up, adding more pressure on your clit which caused the familiar pit in your stomach to build. 

“Fuck Joao I’m close…” 

“My name from your mouth sounds like a dream…” He kissed you again, tugging gently on your bottom lip as he pulled back. “You gonna come?”

“Yes, Joao…” Your body started to slow, your hips only being moved by your boyfriend's hands. “Fuck…” You felt yourself grow tighter around him. 

“Come for me y/n.” He moaned in your ear and that was all you needed. 

Your body began to shake as your high washed over you. The tight feeling around him made Joao finish deep inside you. Holding you down on his cock as he finished his forehead leaned against yours as his high finished. 

“Good girl.” He kissed your lips again, the pair of you catching your breaths.

You went to move off from his cock but he held you firmly in place. He slowly pulled you back down to lean on his chest whilst still inside of you, the film still playing in the background. “I know I hate the cold but I wouldn’t mind if the rain never stopped. You both shared a laugh at his words before you kissed his bare shoulder.

There really is no place like home. 

—

“Come on y/n, Billy misses you.” Gina referenced her horse. “And I never get to see you anymore.”

You couldn’t say no to Gina. She was a walking bundle of joy no matter where she was. She always had the power to make even the saddest of people smile. “I’ll think about it.” You smiled back at her. “I may see my parents soon, seeing as they don’t come to the races-”

Mick’s Mum suddenly spoke. “They still haven’t attended a race yet?” Her brows arched at her own question. 

“Not any since I’ve joined Redbull. They’re just busy all the time and Formula 1 isn’t really their scene.”

“How so?” Gina asked. 

“Too many rich people.” 

Mick let out a light laugh at your words, his gaze falling to you as he interjected. “Do they know who their daughter is? And the sport she’s in?”

“Well considering I’m never home anymore I’m sure they’re aware.” Your smile was sarcastic as you met Mick’s gaze, something that boiled Max’s blood even more. Knowing the truth behind the two of you he knew Mick was only ever going to taunt you for his own personal gain, anyone that smug didn’t deserve an ego boost. 

“Do they still work?” Mick asked despite knowing the answer to his question. 

“They do, they won’t let me retire them-” 

“Well to me they seem very proud, not the type to scream from the rooftops.” Max quickly butted in, sending a reassuring smile towards you as the words left his lips. 

“Can’t imagine why they wouldn’t scream from the rooftops though,” Despite Max’s attempt to end the conversation about your family, Mick clearly wanted to continue. “It’s not every day someone like you climbs to the top-”

“Someone like me?” Your head snapped to the side, sending a glare towards the blonde. Your actions alone made his hand jump from your inner thigh. “What someone with no money? No status in your world-”

“That’s not what I meant…” His words were stern, almost like he was talking down to you. 

“You sure Mick?” 

“y/n I meant someone who doesn’t have family in the industry-”

“So a status in the industry?” 

“Don’t make this a big thing.” His voice fell to a whisper before he spoke louder. “Not like that, I meant a foot in the door. You and Lewis have a similar story.” 

You wanted to yell something back at him, believing he was implying something different when Max’s phone suddenly sounded. Excusing himself from the table he walked away leaving everyone in silence to finish their drinks whilst he paced the restaurant. 

“Take your hand off my thigh.” You spoke through gritted teeth at the man who quickly obliged with your request. 

“y/n I didn’t mean to imply-”

“Imply what Mick? That I wasn’t rich enough for your sport? That I wasn’t at a high enough status for you?” 

“No.” His eyes poured into yours. “Money doesn’t matter in this sport-”

“Of course the rich guy who got here because of his Dad would say that.” Rolling your eyes you slumped back in your chair. 

“You know it wasn’t easy for me.”

“But easier for you than me.” You hit back at his words, taking Mick back. As he opened his mouth to reply Max’s voice grabbed everyone’s attention. 

“I’m really sorry guys I’m going to have to leave. My neighbour just called and Jimmy managed to escape the flat and now he’s hiding in my neighbour's house. He has a dog so poor Jimmy is stressed out. I’m grabbing a flight now.” Max turned to you. “Can you make your way back to the hotel? Or shall I call you a car?” 

Smiling at the brunette a smirk filled your face as you spoke. “I’ll be fine Max, I can get Gasly to come and pick me up.” 

Smirking back at your words, knowing you were only trying to piss Mick off he spoke. “I’ll text him a heads up.”

“I can take you back.” Mick now mirrored your and Max’s expression. “I think Gasly mentioned he was heading back to France early, he had a dinner planned with his parents.” 

Brilliant. 

“It’s fine, I’ll call Oscar.” Your words took Mick back by surprise. 

“Oscar? The reserve driver?”

“Nothing gets past you, Mick.” 

“Didn’t even know he was capable of even talking to a woman.” He muttered, his attitude showing. 

Max said his goodbyes before heading off to his flat seemingly several hundred miles away. It wasn’t long till everyone else said their goodbyes and made their way to the car park. Unlike everyone else you stood just outside the restaurant door, scrolling through your phone and wondering who you could call to come and pick you up, Settling on Daniel you were about to call him when a familiar voice pulled up beside you. 

“You know it’s getting late.” Mick looked down at you, hands in his suit pockets. “I don’t want you out here on your own.”

“Since when did you care about my well-being?” 

“Just because we ‘hate’ one another doesn’t mean I don’t look out for you.”

“Does that include during the races?”

“Daer God no.” His smile grew. “I thought me pushing you into the wall would’ve answered that question for you.”

“So you’re admitting it?”

“No one else will believe you.”

“I think a few Redbull fans will.” 

He shrugged. “They can believe all they want.” His head turned to look down at you. “I still have the Championship.” 

“Because you cheated.”

“Oh y/n let it go.” He pulled out the keys to his car before walking over to the passenger door. He opened it before looking back at you, a silent beg to get in the car. You could wait for Daniel but your bed was calling your name and you could ignore Mick if you really wanted to. 

“You know Max and Christian will kill you if they see me leaving your car.” Your heels sounded on the concrete as you obliged and climbed into his car.

“Well,” He closed the passenger side door before jogging around to his door. “Good thing Max is on a plane right now and Christian is probably fast asleep.”

“Lucky bloke.” 

“Can join me in my bed if you’d like-”

“You didn’t win so no.”

“Give it time.”

Most of the car ride was silent, thankfully. The only sound was the softness of the radio pouring from the speakers of the car. Mick quietly tapped his steering wheel as he drove, humming every now and again if he recognised a song on the radio. Occasionally he’d turn his head and look over to you, almost like he was preparing himself to say something.

“Is something bothering you Mick?” You broke the silence. 

“No.” His gaze flickered to you again. “Why?”

“You keep looking over at me.”

“And?”

“Why?”

“Why not? Am I not allowed to look?”

“It’s not that you’re not allowed more not wanted.”

“Can’t help you look good in that dress.”

“I’ll let Pierre know, he picked it.” Your smug grin caught his attention. 

“I bet he did.” His grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Can I ask you something?”

“If you must.”

“Are you really fucking Gasly?”

“Why do you automatically jump to me sleeping with other drivers?”

“Because if the two of you were dating I’m sure you wouldn’t have jumped at the idea of sleeping with me again.” His eyes danced over to meet yours. “Unless you just couldn’t help yourself…”

“I was drunk when I agreed to that.”

“Could’ve backed out.”

“You wouldn’t let me.” 

Mick laughed at your words. “Very fair point y/l/n… but you still didn’t answer my question.” 

“Is it any of your business?”

“Well, considering I’m sleeping with you I’d rather not share.”

“You always did have a tinge of jealousy to you.” 

“Not always, you can flirt with as many men as you want but at the end of the day I know that when I’m at the top of the podium you’ll be coming home with me.”

“And when you’re not?”

“You’re too busy out celebrating to even think of another man, you’ve always been the type to sacrifice any relationship for your success.” 

“You’re one to talk.”  

“That wasn’t the sole reason why I called it quits.”

“Then what was it? The real reason?” 

“It’s complicated y/n.” He pulled up to the hotel car park. 

“No, it’s not Mick. You still wanted the luxury of taking home as many girls as you could-”

“Oh come on, you know I’m not like that.”

“You act like it at times.”

Rolling his eyes he turned his car engine off. “I’ll never convince you.”

“Maybe if you didn’t- Shit!” Slumping down in your seat as far as you could your hands attempted to cover your face. 

“What are you doing?” Mick scrunched his face up in confusion. 

“It’s Christian!” Mick scanned the car park before meeting the dull eyes of Christian Horner. “Shit Mick just drive away!”

“Drive away? He’s just watched me pull in here!”

“Then do something!”

“Like what? I can’t just make him leave!”

“Try anything! He’ll kill me if he sees me with you!” 

“Fine.” Mick clambered out of the car, locking his vehicle behind him as he caught the attention of Christian Horner. You honestly thought his plan was to just head back into the hotel, exchanging words with Horner until he was out of sight before coming back to get you but as time passed on that plan you thought he had quickly faded.

You: Where are you? 

Mick: Got caught up with Toto, I’ll come to get you soon

You: Are you serious Mick? I’m locked in your car

Mick: At least the seats are comfy

You: Mick please hurry up

Mick: I’ll try

You: No come now

Mick: Toto bought me a drink at the bar, I can’t exactly run off

You: Yes you can, tell him you need to go or that you left something in your car

Mick: And then he catches us together?

You: Mick, please

Mick: Please what my love?

You: Just hurry up

You could feel his smirk through the phone which only pissed you off more. Getting up from your crouched position you sat back in your seat, your head fell back as your eyes quickly shut. Sleep slowly took over your body as you did your best to get comfy in Mick’s car seats. At this point you didn’t even care who saw you in his car, you were good at lying and a good lie would easily get you out of your situation although little did you know you wouldn’t be sleeping long in your rival's car.  

—

Sunlight disturbed your sleep, causing your eyes to squint open. Raising your hands to cover your face you groaned at the feeling of being awoken. You had every intention to quickly drift back to sleep when a voice caused your eyes to burst open. 

“Morning pretty girl.” Bolting up your eyes met Mick’s who was sitting in a chair opposite the bed you were currently in. “Sleep well?”

“Is this your hotel room?” Ignoring his question your eyes scanned your surroundings. 

“Well it isn’t yours.” Mick replied as he brought a mug to his lips. 

“How did I get here? Did we…?”

“No we didn’t.” A light chuckle fell from his lips. “I planned to walk back in the hotel with Christian when Toto saw me, he asked if I wanted a drink and I couldn’t exactly say no, could I?”

“I mean you could’ve.”

“It’s Toto Wolff you don’t say no.” Rolling your eyes at the man he quickly continued after a light pause. “Anyeay, he bought me a drink and we got to talking, I did try and get away but you don’t run away from Toto Wolff. When I got back to my car you were asleep, I couldn’t just leave you there so I brought you back here. Your dress is over there,” He pointed to your dress which was currently draped over the bathroom door. “I did my best not to look but I wasn’t going to let you fall asleep in that, it looked so uncomfortable.” 

“Thank you, Mick.” Surprisingly the pair of you shared a small smile that didn’t have an underline of sarcasm laced to it. 

“You’re welcome.” He moved over and handed you a plate of breakfast. “I’ve booked a late check out for this room and yours so I’ll leave you to it.” He grabbed his things before he walked over to you. Leaning down he planted a kiss on your head, a gesture which took you off guard entirely. “I’ll see you in a few days when I take P1.” Sending you a wink Mick quickly left the room leaving you alone with your thoughts. 

He didn’t need to do what he did. He could’ve easily left you in his car for the other drivers to see in the morning and Ferrari wouldn’t bat an eyelid at the Stargirl of Red Bull in his car but Christian Horner would. You finished your food in silence before sneaking back to your own room in his clothes, you’d give him his clothes back eventually but you couldn’t lie that they were comfy. Maybe you’d hang on to them for a little longer than you planned. Ironically the next race was the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix which you won, Mick trailed behind in P2 and Lando claimed P3. 

— 

Miami was in full swing. You could tell you were in America as everything was amplified by 100. Celebrities littered the garages as the race quickly approached. You were starting in P2, Max in P1 and Mick in P3. You and Max were finishing up your preparations for the race, and one thing the pair of you started doing was playing a game of snap. 

Anyone who looked on would’ve thought the two of you were just being childish and didn’t really care about the race ahead but the truth was when you joined Red Bull your anxiety worsened before a race. Max picked up on this almost instantly and posed the idea of doing something to take your mind off what was going on around you both. He posed the idea of playing snap with a deck of cards, the game allowed you to block everything out and completely focus on what was in front of you. Every week he bought different themed cards, last week it was different breeds of cats this week it was zoo animals. 

“Snap!” You called out, pointing to the pile of cards before you both. You both sat crossed-legged on the floor hidden away as you played.  

“That’s three to you and one to me.” Max kept a little notepad in the garages to keep the tallies of every game. At the end of the season the pair of you would add up who’d won the most and whoever lost had to buy drinks for the team at the end of the season celebrations. 

“At this rate, you’ll be buying the drinks in November.” Smirking up at him you shuffled the card deck before splitting it in two.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint y/n.” He returned the smirk as he looked at his cards. “Ready?”

You nodded as the two of you started to place one card down at a time, the pair of you watching intently at the actions of the other, ready to jump in at any second. Your focus couldn’t be broken until a number of boos and yells sounded at the garage entrance. Both you and Max raised your heads to see Mick Schumacher come strolling towards you both. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Max spat, standing from the floor. 

“I came to speak to-”

“Brilliant you’ve spoken now get the fuck out!” Max blocked Mick from even looking towards you with his frame. 

Mick held his hands up in surrender, a smile on his lips. “That’s no way to talk around your teammate's parents.”

“What?” Max scrunched his face up at Mick’s words before his eyes fell on a couple who looked rather similar to you, standing behind the Ferrari driver. 

You’d now risen from your spot on the floor and were looking towards the scene before you. “Mum? Dad?” You were just as taken back as Max was. Your parents weaved past your rival and teammate to pull you into a hug. “What are you two doing here?” Your eyes glared at Mick. 

“Mick invited us.” Your mother pulled away and smiled at you and Mick. “We couldn’t get here until this morning due to your father’s work but we’re here for the big race!” 

“Heard you’re on track to win the World Championship this year!” Your Dad smiled as he spoke. He was always supportive despite knowing very little about Formula 1. 

“For now,” Mick spoke, his smug smile gleaming at his remark. You wanted nothing more than to wipe it off his face. You would never be able to read him, one minute he wanted to take care of you, making sure you didn’t get in trouble with your team principal then antagonising you to the point where you contemplated throwing a punch at his perfect face. 

“You shouldn’t be in here Schumacher,” Max interjected. 

“You’re right Verstappen,” Mick spoke to Max but his eyes never left yours. “Good luck y/l/n. Be safe out there.” He turned on his heel and walked back to the Ferrari garage without another word. 

“He seems lovely.” Your Mum put her hand on your arm. “You used to be teammates, didn’t you?”

“That’s what Mick told us.” Your Dad joined in on the conversation. 

“We used to drive alongside one another a few years ago yes, for Haas.” You gave them a light smile, your eyes glued to Mick’s figure slowly fading from your eyesight. 

“He speaks very highly of you.”

“Does he?” Max asked. 

“Oh yes.” Your Dad smiled. “Says you were one of his closest friends.” 

Friends that fucked one another.

“Times change when you get to the top.” Grabbing your helmet you quickly said goodbye to your parents as they took their spots in the garage to watch the race. 

The race wasn’t the cleanest. A collision between Max, yourself and George made Max retire and you had an unfortunate stop to the garages.The pit stop fixing your car which took a little too long made you come out behind Mick. You tried everything to get past him but he was defending with every fibre of his being. You finished the race in P2 whilst he took the win. 

“That was good racing today y/n, really well done,” Christian spoke down the radio. “There’s an investigation against George so we’ll see what comes from that.”

“Won’t take us to P1 but thank you guys for today, good thing we still had one car on the track, how’s Max?”

“He wants Russell’s head on a stick.” You laughed at your team principal's words, you wouldn’t be surprised if Max was waiting for George in the garages. 

“I don't blame him.”

A loud sigh left your lips as you parked your car behind the P2. You knew what it meant if you saw Mick in P1. Another night of hell (liar). Yet your anger didn’t last when you saw your parents standing alongside Christian Horner. The pair of them held your country's flag in their hands, screaming your name. Anyone would’ve thought you’d just become a world champion. 

Leaving your car you ran straight to them, holding them close as they sang praises in your ears. You moved on to the garage team and Max before heading off to the podium, your smile growing on your face. 

“You that excited to sleep with me again?” Mick leaned down and whispered in your ear. The two of you were waiting with Charles to collect your trophies. 

“Not everything’s about you Schumacher.” Mick’s hand trailed down your waist, pulling you back against his chest. 

“I’ll let you savour the moment with your parents.” You turned your head to meet his gaze. “You can hold up your end of the bet when you come to the ranch.” His lips pecked your forehead before he stepped back, acting like the interaction between himself and you had never happened. 

Well, you know what they say, save a horse, ride a cowboy.  

—

Taglist: @lillianacristina @mrscevanss @chiliwhore @mloyer @eclairmcqueen @faeb1tch42069 @abysshaven @babs22sstuff @ironmaiden1313 @mbappesleftthigh @nikki01234

---

Today was the day of the Monaco GP, Charles’s home race and the one race he was yet to win. You were starting in P1, he was in P2 and Max was in P3. After one last quick discussion in the Redbull garage, you and Max wished one another luck before heading to the grid walk. As you dodged the interviewers your eyes fell onto a bright red race suit with a black horse planted firmly on the back. 

“Leclerc!” You called to the brunette who spun around to meet your gaze. “Looking forward to hearing the Dutch national anthem at your home race?” You smirked at the man as he joined your side. 

“Fancy making a bet on it?” His eyes shone at his own words. 

“Bet your life savings on me and you’ll be richer than a king.” You smirked at him as you two continued to walk. 

He laughed at your response. “I was going to suggest a different kind of bet.” 

“Oh yeah? Like what?” 

“If I win, you must tell the interviewers that I’m your biggest competition.” 

“They’ll know I’m lying when I open my mouth.” You glanced over at him before speaking again. “What about if I win?”

“Then I’ll tell them you’re the best driver on the grid -”

“They already know that.”

“You know you’re just like your brother.” His patience lessened. “Full of yourself and arrogant.” 

“Well believe it or not we are related.”

“And full of sarcasm.”

“Maybe you should take notes, after all, we’re world champions and you aren’t.”

The brunette grabbed your arm and pulled you closer to his body. You felt his breath fan against your face as he spoke through gritted teeth. “You’re only World Champions because you cheat!”

“Cheat? Just because you can’t last around one corner without driving yourself into the wall -”

“Only because you shove me into them!” 

“Yeah?” You leaned in closer to him, your lips only inches away from one another. “Well, you better watch for my car today…”

“Or what?”

“Take your eyes off me for a second and you’ll be in the wall.” Pulling your arm from his grip you stormed off to your car, mumbling under your breath at the interaction. 

“And it’s lights out and away we go! Verstappen gets a good start but so does Leclerc! The other Verstappen… not so much…”

Charles had gotten off to a perfect start, enough to overtake Max and quickly made his way behind you, clearly you’d riled him up enough that he wanted to win his end of his shitty bet but everyone knew that Monaco wasn’t the easiest to overtake on. 

“Perfect start y/n, we’re staying with plan A for now. If anything changes we will let you know, Max is in P3 and Leclerc is just behind you.” The team radio sounded in your ear as you replied. 

“Thank you, guys.” Your eyes flickered to your mirrors, catching the red glimpse of the Ferrari, a smirk dawned on your face at the sight of him trying so hard but you couldn’t spend your life focusing on him, you had a race to win. 

“Box, box!” A yellow flag due to Lando making friends with the wall allowed you to pit with just ten laps to go. Charles stayed out which allowed him to claim P1. Most teams wouldn’t box at a time like this, especially with only a few laps to go on a track which was renowned to be difficult to pass on but Redbull and the Verstappen siblings were more than capable. 

Switching to the soft tyers you set back out to the track and join Charles. The pair of you had created some distance between the other drivers meaning it was just you two fighting for the top. “The safety car is leaving the track now, focus on getting past Leclerc.” Christian had taken the liberty of delivering the news to you.

“Understood.” You nodded in your car, despite them not being able to see you before suddenly speeding up as the safety car left your eyes. 

Charles didn’t set off as fast as you did but that didn’t matter to him, all he needed to do was defend with his life. It started off relatively easy for him, you backed off when things got too dangerous but you only had two laps to pass him and now you were getting desperate. It was no surprise to anyone that the Verstappens would get violent in order to win. It was in your blood and on the track no one was your friend, not even your own twin. 

Coming wheel to wheel with him the two of you turned into a corner but you refused to back off. Charles attempted to push you off the track but the Redbull was too fast. Pushing ahead you clipped Charles which sent him spinning into the wall leaving you in P1 and now your brother was able to claim to P2 whilst Charles didn’t even get to finish his home race. 

“y/n Verstappen wins the Monaco Grand Prix!” 

“Brilliant driving today y/n, really well done today. Take it all in, you deserve it.” Christian smiled as he spoke to you through the radio. 

“Thank you guys for today!” You replied. “Was Max P2?”

“Yes he was, he’s just behind you.” 

“And Charles? Is he okay?” 

“He’s back in the garage, he’s fine… pissed off but fine.” 

“Brilliant.” You pulled your car up to the pits, parking right before the P1 sign. Clambering out of your car you knelt down to kiss the front, it was something you’d started doing after Max gave you a lecture about ‘having your own celebration’. Max came running towards you, his arms open wide as he pulled you into a hug. 

“I’m so proud of you.” His smile was so bright anyone would’ve thought he’d won but the truth was you and Max were each other's biggest supporters. 

It was no secret that your Dad wanted the best for you both and if that meant treating you two like shit in order for you two to become the best in the world then that was something he’d happily do. Your Mum knew you both had to live with your Dad in order to be in Formula 1 and without her, the two of you no longer had an escape from him. Max was your escape and you were his.  

“Thank you.” You pulled away from your brother as you headed to be weighed and interviewed. Just as you were about to be weighed a tall bundle of red stormed towards you. 

“You fucking cheat!” Charles screamed at the top of his lungs. When he got close enough he pushed you back lightly as he towered over you. “Typical Verstappen, always cheating your way to the top!” Before you could even utter a word Max grabbed Charles by his race suit and dragged him away. 

“Don’t you dare touch my sister.” He didn’t yell, only spoke in a harsh tone. A tone which Charles knew not to underestimate. “You even look at her with any ill intent I’ll do more than put you into a wall.” Max shoved Charles back before he returned to where you were now finishing up your last interview before you headed to your podium. “Are you okay?” He draped his arm over your shoulder and pulled you into his side as he spoke. 

“Yeah I’m fine, he’s just pissed off.”

“Doesn’t mean he can shove you and speak to you like that.” 

“I know.” You gave Max a small smile. “I’ll talk to him after -”

“No, you won’t.” 

“Max I -”

“That cunt isn’t going anywhere near you, even in a car and especially not on a podium.” He smiled back, you forced a smile at his words. Despite how much you and Charles hated one another you felt the need to speak to him, even if Max wouldn’t approve. 

—

You’d spent the last five minutes attempting to zip your dress up but to no avail you were left unsuccessful. After Redbull’s podium you, your brother and a few other drivers decided to head to a club to celebrate. It was normal that a lot of drivers would spend the evening together after a race, a few would rarely attend but the Verstappens were always at the party scene. 

Clutching the front of the dress you waltzed over to your phone, ready to dial Max or your sister for help when a knock at the door grabbed your attention. Thinking it was Max you spoke aloud as you opened the door. “Thank fuck you’re here Max, I can’t get my dress zipped up -” You jumped out of your skin when your eyes met the mesmerising ones of Charles Leclerc. He stood before you with his shirt hanging over his shoulder, drenched in sweat. Your eyes didn’t want to wander (liar) but they did. It was no secret that Charles was beautiful and as much as you hated him you couldn’t deny that the man looked as if he was sent down from the Gods themselves. 

“Is there a reason you’re at my door shirtless?”

“I went on a run.” 

“And you didn’t think to change?”

“Why is it distracting you?” His cockiness began to show. 

“You’re not Gasly so we should be fine.” You mirrored his attitude before silence fell upon you both.

“Sorry, I should’ve messaged and asked if you were free.” He breathlessly spoke. “Can I come in?” You nodded, holding your dress closer to your chest as you let the man in before quickly shutting the door. “Do you need help with that?” He gave a light smile as he nodded towards your situation.

“Please.” Your voice was quiet as he threw his shirt on your bed and moved behind you. He effortlessly moved your hair onto your shoulder so he could focus on your zip. His hands delicately moved down your back, touching your skin which made you jump slightly at the sudden skin-on-skin contact. 

“It’s just me…” His breath hit your neck as he spoke. 

“The same man that shoved me after the race today-”

“The same woman who shoved me into the wall on the track.” 

You laughed lightly at his response. “Touche Leclerc.” 

Charles treated you like you were priceless, his hands gently touched you as he slowly zipped up your dress. The heat from his body could be felt on your skin which only made your mind run, God who wouldn’t want him? “It’s a nice colour.” Referencing the red of the dress he moved your hair back off your shoulder before stepping back. “I need to talk to you.” Sitting on your bed he looked up at you whilst you smoothed your dress down. “I’m sorry for earlier, I shouldn’t have done that in front of everyone. I was pissed off because of what happened and I should’ve spoken to you about it privately.” 

You nodded at his words before taking a step towards him. “I shouldn’t have shoved you off the track like that-” 

“I don’t blame you for that.” He cut you off. “I would’ve done the same…” He smiled. “And I have done that before.”

You thought back to the Grand Prix from Spa two seasons ago. You saw a gap and you went for it but Charles wasn’t letting you get pole that easily. He sent you into the barrier and to the local hospital for a suspected head injury. 

“At least I didn’t send you to the hospital.” 

“Yet.” He stood up as he spoke, the pair of you inches apart but this time he was looking down at you. “I’m sorry again Verstappen.” He stepped aside, heading towards your door. 

“Are you not coming out tonight?” You quickly asked him. 

“I’d rather not end up dead when Max sees me.” 

“He’ll get over it.” 

“Will you?” 

“I still hate you, Leclerc.” You smirked as the words left your mouth. He mirrored your expression.  

“Feelings mutual…” Opening the door he went to leave but stopped himself in your doorway. “You look good in red.” His eyes scanned your body before turning on his heel and leaving you alone in your room, the only reminder of his presence was his lingering touch and his shirt he'd left on your bed. 

—

Azerbaijan was the race after Monaco and yet again you’d claimed P1 whilst Charles hadn’t even made pole. You watched him yell at those in the garages and along the pit wall who were evidently at fault for Ferarri's horrific strategy. Clearly feeling a pair of eyes on himself he scanned the crowd until his eyes met yours, your smug grin as you kissed our trophy sent him over the edge. He stormed out of the garages and made his way back to the hotel as fast as he could, not even caring how his PR team would react to him ignoring the interviewers patiently waiting for his thoughts. 

Back at the hotel once the celebrations had died down you grabbed the shirt he’d left in your room back in Monaco. Ironically it was a Ferarri shirt so you had to hide it with your life, if Max had seen it then you wouldn’t have made it to Azerbaijan alive. It had been washed, you couldn’t have it laying around your house drenched in sweat. 

When you knocked on his door a sudden shout made you question if going to his room at this time was a good idea. “Carlos I said I’m fine!” 

“It’s not Carlos.” You replied before his door swung open. Without saying a word he looked down the hallways, making sure no one was looking before he pulled you against his chest and inside of his room. “Fucking hell Charles!” Your arms wrapped around his neck as you steadied yourself against him. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” With his hands on your waist, he steadied you himself as he pulled back slightly to look down at you. 

“I came to give you your shirt back-”

“And you thought now was a good time?” 

“Why wouldn’t it be?” 

“Maybe because I stormed off and now every journalist in this building is attempting to hunt me down for a comment and if they see you coming into my room with my shirt they’ll lose their minds!” 

“Relax there was no one outside.” 

“For now! They’ve been knocking on the door all night.” Slumping down on his bed he ran his hands through his hair. “Why come tonight? Wanted to gloat about winning again?” 

You shrugged, throwing his shirt towards him. “I don’t need to gloat when I know you think about me every single day.” 

“So full of yourself Verstappen.” 

“Hard not to be when you’re one of the best in the world.” Charles rolled his eyes at your words. 

“You aren’t exactly one of the greats-”

“Yet.” You cut him off, taking a step closer to him. “I’m no Schumacher but I’m up there, after all, I was the youngest person to ever win a world championship.” 

“So?” 

“So I’m in control of my racing future, something you clearly don’t have a grip on.” 

“Really?” Charles smirked as he parted his legs, leaning forward he grabbed the backs of your thighs and pulled you into him. He fell back on the bed with you falling on top of him, his hands now moving to your waist, holding you in place. 

“Charles?” You tried to move back but his grip wouldn’t let you. “What the hell was that for?” 

“You think you have control of things but everything can change in a heartbeat.” 

“And you wanted to prove that to me by pulling me on top of you?” 

“Worked didn’t it?”

“It was stupid… like your strategy today.” His smirk dropped at your words, and using his grip on you he flipped the two of you over. 

Looking down at you he spoke. “As if I have any control over that.” 

“But you do.” 

He scrunched his face up at your words. “Hardly-” 

“You told me that you think you have control of things but everything can change in a heartbeat, Ferrari thinks they’re in control of things but you can change it in a heartbeat. Go against them-” 

“And what if it goes wrong?”

“But what if it goes right?” 

You had a point, a point that Charles was thinking very seriously about. If he went against Fearri and won it would prove to them that he could be trusted to make the decisions that Ferarri continued to get wrong. If he got it wrong then he could at least live with the fact that he tried and clearly both he and Ferrari needed to work on things. 

“Lost in thought Leclerc?”

“When you aren’t being a smug prick you actually speak sense.”

“I’ve always spoken sense Leclerc, you just never listen.” 

“Clearly.” His eyes searched yours for a second too long. 

He knew he shouldn’t think about you like he was but after seeing you in the dress and now laying beneath him it was hard not to think about the Verstappen girl as his. Despite the hatred towards you he couldn’t help but think about you by his side. You were stunning and every single driver had tried it on with you well… they tried until Max began to linger around more than he normally did. It was clear to Charles that Max was overprotective when it came to his twin and Charles couldn’t blame him. Constant fliting from every single driver and not to mention interviewers who loved to ask you sexist questions in the hope of a reaction they could use to paint you in a bad light meant Max became your shadow. 

“Mr Leclerc?” A loud voice and hushed whispers sounded from outside his room. 

“There’s still time for an interview!” Another voice called out. 

“Oh just fuck off…” His head fell against your chest as he took a deep breath. “You do realise that if they’re going to camp outside my room until the early hours of the morning for a story then you can’t leave.” He raised his head to meet your eyes again. 

“As long as you take the chair and I’ll have the bed.” A teasing grin spread across your lips as you searched his eyes. 

“Deal.” 

Charles had given you one of his shirts to sleep in and much to your disgust it has his name printed on the back and the Ferarri logo printed on the front. He sat on the edge of the bed in just his boxers, his phone in his hand waiting to get a photo of the Redbull stargirl in his shirt with his name on her back. 

“It’s hideous.” You called out to him from his bathroom. 

“Oh come on y/n you don’t look that bad, I know you’re related to Max but-” You swung the door open, your eyes burning into his smiley expression. “Turn around.” His smile grew as you turned around. Raising his phone he took a quick picture before holding it up to you. “Well, that’s my new lock screen sorted.” If looks could kill Charles would be buried six feet under. 

“Delete that!” You jumped forward, straddling him in an attempt to grab his phone. His free hand fell to your waist, his eyes flickered down as he watched his shirt ride up your body. You were going to be the death of him. 

“I’ll make you a deal Verstappen.” 

“Go on.” 

“Let me pass in Canada and I’ll delete it.”

“If I let you pass you have to wear a Redbull shirt with my name on the back.” 

“Deal.” You gave him a quick glance before moving off your rival and sat in the chair he was meant to sleep in. 

“So if I let you pass are you going to challenge Ferarri and their shit strategies?” 

“You’ve convinced me you know.” He moved his duvet to cover his slight problem, something that didn’t go unnoticed by you but that was something to tease him for another night. “It might all go wrong but it might all go right.”

“Exactly and you didn’t get that seat by following the rules.”

He laughed at your words. “You sound like my Dad.”

“He’d be so proud of you Charles.” 

You’d grown up with Charles and therefore knew his Dad. The day he passed you’d never seen someone so broken. Charles did his best to keep himself together for his family but you saw straight through him. You caught him sobbing in the garages and without a thought, you knelt down beside him and wrapped your arms around him and let him cry into your chest for however long he needed. You two didn’t utter a word during the interaction and you never spoke about it after.

His eyes softened at your words, his gaze never leaving yours. “Thank you, I hope so.”

“He would be, never doubt that Leclerc.”

“I didn’t know you could be so kind.” Smirking he spoke again. “Thought the Verstappens were stone cold.”

“Liar.” You matched his facial expressions.

“How’s your Dad? Still as brutal as he once was?” Charles didn’t even know half of it, sure he’d heard rumours but he never knew the truth about yours and Max’s childhood.

“Of course, he never changes.” Charles watched as your eyes left his gaze and fell to the floor. He watched as you tugged at the hem of his shirt before you spoke again. “Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I’d gone to live with my Mum and Victoria but I guess I wouldn’t be here now.”

“Do you miss her?”

“All the time. The problem is me and Max travel all the time for work, Victoria has her own life and when my Dad is at the races my Mum won’t turn up.” He nodded, unsure of what to say but you beat him to it. “But I have Max and without him, I’d be lost.”

“You’re lucky you have one another.”

“So are you and your brothers, especially Arthur. One day you’ll be racing alongside one another.” 

“My Mum would hate it.”

“Why?”

“She’d be worried that we’d fall out, too busy fighting one another on the track and off the track.”

“Maybe if he joins Ferarri the two of you can bond over how shit the cars are.” 

He laughed at your statement, throwing his head back as he shifted in his spot. “Do you and Max ever argue over the races?”

“More as kids but now that we’re in F1 we never argue, it’s a rarity if we do. You and Arthur will be fine.” 

His smile never faded. “I hope so. We’ve all come a long way from karting.”

“Who would’ve thought?” 

“Thought you would’ve got bored of overtaking all us lads.” His smile turned to a smirk. 

“I’ll never get bored of overtaking you, Leclerc.” 

The pair of you spent the night talking over your childhoods, spending hours on end reminiscing the karting days and the more recent races. In this moment anyone would’ve thought the two of you had been friends for years, the way you two laughed with one another made you wonder why the pair of you had ever been as rude to one another as you once were. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. 

Hours passed and Charles watched as you fell asleep in the hotel chair. A soft smile spread across his lips as he gently picked you up bridal style, his smile growing as he watched your head fall against his chest. He slowly lowered you down onto the mattress before joining you. Pulling the duvet across yours and his body he then wrapped his arms around you and pulled you into his chest. 

“If only you weren’t Max’s sister.” He muttered before falling asleep beside you. 

—

Canada was your next race and Charles didn’t lie when he said he was going to take your advice. You kept your end of the deal up and let him pass but that didn’t mean you’d let him win. In the end, you’d managed to overtake him and finished in P1 and Charles was right behind you in P2. The pair of you couldn’t stop smiling at one another whilst you shared one of many podiums together. The interaction was something Max couldn’t keep his eyes off of, one minute you were sending Charles into a barrier and the next, the pair of you were dousing one another in champagne. 

“God I hate this colour!” Charles yelled from your hotel bathroom. 

“Navy looks good on everyone-”

“Not me.” He stood before you in your room, holding up his end of the deal he was wearing a shirt with your name on the back. 

“Show me the back.” The brunette reluctantly turned around. Much like he’d done with you, you took a picture of him. “My name looks good on you.”

“Mine looked better on yours.” He smirked back at you before the two of you burst into laughter but the happiness between you both didn’t last long.

Silverstone was arguably one of your favourite tracks, Max always seemed to struggle but you thrived on the historic track. Your words stayed in your rival's mind so much so that Charles won the race with you trailing in P2. P2 was a result any parent would be proud of for their child, especially in a sport as competitive as Formula 1. Max had to retire the car after three laps due to an engine failure so your Dad was already in a shitty mood and his daughter losing out to her rival had tipped him over the edge. 

Your team pulled you into large hugs, especially Christian who congratulated you with open arms but Jos didn’t even look at you. You tried to not let his attitude get to you but the memories of your childhood swarmed your head. Charles took his opportunity and poured his bottle of champagne down your neck which made you spin around and drench him in yours. The sight only angered Jos even more. He couldn’t believe you were acting like this after coming second and especially with Charles Leclerc.

After your interviews, Christian informed you that Jos wanted to see you in the garage. Brilliant. With a deep breath, you kept your head down and walked into the Redbull garage. “Dad? You wanted to see me?” 

He was leaning against your car, closely inspecting the machine before him. “What was that?”

“What was what?” 

“The race? P2? Really y/n?” 

“Dad I was still on the podium-”

“Not at the top you weren’t!” His voice grew. 

“Charles was the only driver that beat me, it was a close race… the car-”

“Stop blaming the car! It was your lack of skill-”

“My lack of skill? I’m a world champion I have enough skill-”

“Evidently not! You can’t even beat a man who isn’t even a world champion!” As he screamed he let his fist hit collide with a set of tools set beside you both. The sudden loud noise made you jump but that didn’t stop Jos. “You don’t become a world champion by coming in second, is Leclerc a world champion? No, he’s not, you wanna know why?” Jos stepped closer, his voice growing. “Because he’s a shit driver, he’s a pussy who can’t even make a decision, he doesn’t know whether to hit a wall or pit!”

“He’s a good driver…” Your voice was suddenly low. 

“What did you say?” Jos taunted.

“He’s a good driver…” 

“A good driver?” Your Dad scoffed. “If he’s your definition of a good driver then it’s no wonder why you didn’t win today.”

“Dad I’m still on track to win the championship this year, P2 isn’t a bad result.” 

“I didn’t raise you to come second, I raised you to win. If you can’t do that maybe you should rethink your career.” 

“Dad please-”

“Do you know how much I’ve sacrificed for you?” 

“Dad this isn’t about you-”

“You’re so selfish y/n. Do you think I wanted to get my daughter into F1? I always knew Max would be better than you. You’re lucky he has the talent he does because without it you wouldn’t be here and you know it.” He grabbed a tool and threw it towards the car, letting it bounce off close to you, yet again you jumped at his actions but this time tears threatened to spill. “You’re lucky that car is decent. You made me look like an idiot today and so did your brother, he was just lucky it was the car and not his lack of skill.” Jos stormed out of the garage, leaving you alone to sob your heart out. 

Your breathing started to quicken and the tears started to spill down your cheeks. Anytime Jos snapped at either you and Max the pair of you would be there for one another but Max was nowhere to be seen. He was more than likely hiding away from Jos in his room. Your hands clutched the side of the car as you attempted to steady your breathing but nothing was working, your body was shaking with fear as a panic attack swarmed your body but unbeknown to you Charles had been listening in the whole time.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay.” Charles pulled you from the car and into his arms, you fell into his touch as the two of you slumped against the wall, falling to the floor as he pulled you close. “Shh, don’t cry… y/n you’re safe.” His hands cupped your face, tilting your head to look up at his. His thumbs quickly swiped away your tears as you continued to cry. “He can’t hurt you, I promise you I won’t let him ever do that again…”

“I’m sorry…” Your tears damped his hands. 

“What are you apologising for?”

“I- I don’t know…” Your head fell against his chest, your breathing speeding up yet again. 

“y/n please listen to me… I need you to listen… name three things you can see.”

“What?” Your brows furrowed at his question. 

“Trust me, name three things you can see.”

“Umm… you, the car and uh mechanic tools.”

“Three things you can smell.”

“Champagne, metal… you know from the cars… burnt rubber.” Your body had stopped shaking and your breathing was slowing down. 

“Three things you can feel.”

“You… the champagne still on my suit… umm… my race suit?”

He looked down at you, a smile on his lips as he brushed your hair out of your face. “Perfect.”

“Why did you ask me that?”

“Stopped the panic attack, didn’t it?” You hadn’t even realised that you’d stopped shaking and your tears had slowed, your body was closer to his as he spoke. “When my Dad died I couldn’t stop getting panic attacks and my Mum would always ask me those questions and it would always work.” You smiled into his chest as he kissed the top of your head. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“How much did you hear?”

“All of it.”

“Why were you outside?” Pulling away from his chest you looked up at him. 

“I wanted to thank you and well… tell you something.”

“Thank me for what?”

“What you said to me weeks ago, about taking control. I did and I finally won a race this season.”

“Told you.”

“Who knows, maybe if we’d been caught together sooner I could’ve beaten you to a world championship.”

“You’re still driving a Ferarri Leclerc.”

“Maybe I’ll join Redbull one day.”

“You think you could take Max’s seat?”

“Was more thinking of your seat.” His face lit up after seeing you break into a smile. 

“Dream on Leclerc, you’ve got a better chance of winning a championship with Ferarri.” You felt his chest vibrate as he laughed at your words. “Charles?”

“Hmm?”

“What did you want to tell me?” 

He hesitated and now it looked as if he was the one who was going to break into a panic attack. “I’m sorry if this is rash or I’ve read everything wrong but I can’t keep this to myself anymore, y/n I like you and never in my life did I ever think I’d ever fall for my childhood rival, especially a Verstappen but that night we spent together when we were hiding from the press just felt different. Everything from the conversation to the way you fell asleep on my chest just felt right. I know you may not feel the same but even if you don’t I need to tell you, even if it means your brother will kill me… I-” 

Your hands cupped his jaw before putting your lips on his. Charles didn’t hesitate to pull you onto his lap, deepening the kiss as his hands trailed down your race suit. Your hands raked through his hair, tugging on his locks which made him groan into the kiss. In that moment everything bad that had happened to you that day had disappeared. Eventually, you both pulled back, breathlessly looking into one another's eyes. 

“Why did you have to be a Leclerc?” You smiled at him. 

“And why did you have to be a Verstappen?” 

—

That was two years ago. Two years ago the two of you had decided to make it official and two years were spent hiding it from Max and the rest of the world. Today was the first race of the season and you and Charles were spending the time you had left before having to pretend to hate one another. Your head was resting on his chest, your nails tracing his skin whilst his hands made their way through your hair. 

“How are you feeling about this season?” You moved your head to look up at him. 

“Confident enough to beat you.” He smirked down, his hands moving your hair from your face. “Can’t let you win a fourth championship, can I?” Last season you’d won and Charles had come second, Max had won the year before and Redbull had claimed the constructors championship for the sixth year in a row. 

“Don’t get ahead of yourself already Leclerc, it’s only the first race.”

“Every race counts Verstappen.” 

He leant down and planted his lips onto yours, his hands moving to cup your jaw whilst the other grabbed your hip and moved you to straddle him. He tugged at your bottom lip which made you moan at his actions. The hand once cupping your jaw trailed down your chest and made its way underneath your shirt. Pushing your shirt higher up he moved away from the kiss and pulled your shirt off your body, leaving you in just your underwear before him. His hands reached up to your boobs, cupping them and smirking as you let out a soft moan. His head turned to look at the clock beside his bed. 

“We’ve got time.” 

“If it’s anything like your driving we’ll be late.” Your flushed face smirked at your own words. Rolling his eyes Charles flipped the two of you over as he replied. 

“Shut up y/n.” His lips connected with yours as the two of you shared one last moment with one another before having to face the cameras. 

Bahrain was always a spectacle. Being the first race of the season meant more eyes than ever before were on you. The race was about to be underway, Charles was starting at the front, you were in P2 and Max was in P3. As you climbed into your car Charles turned his head and winked although his wink was more like a forced heavy blink. No matter how many times he did the action it always made you smile. Making sure no one was looking he quickly mouthed ‘I love you’ before getting in the car. You mouthed back to him, a smile on your face before putting your helmet on and getting into the car. 

“And it’s lights out and away we go! Verstappen gets a good start but Leclerc is holding off as best he can!” You may be his girlfriend but Charles would never let you pass easily but you didn’t need his kindness. After a few laps, you were able to overtake Charles, he was still firmly behind. 

After thirty laps you decided to pit before coming out behind your boyfriend. It didn’t take long for your tyres to warm up and within a few laps, you’d overtaken your boyfriend again. Just like the past few seasons, Redbull had completely dominated the tracks and now you were slowly coming up behind Pierre Gasly. Gasly had been given the instructions to let you pass and reluctantly he did so. As the Frenchman reluctantly moved out of the way he suddenly lost control of his car as he went around a corner, his car spun and hit yours and driving at hundreds of miles an hour, your car went flying into one of the barriers. 

The second your car collided with a barrier and Gasly spun out a red flag was immediately deployed on the track. “y/n are you okay?” You heard the familiar voice of Christian through your radio. Your whole body screamed in pain as you attempted to leave the car but it was too much. Your head fell back as you took deep breaths, trying to steady yourself when a sudden surge of heat started to warm your body. 

“Shit.” You mumbled and suddenly instincts kicked in. Despite the surge of pain you quickly scrambled to get yourself out of the car. Just as you started to climb out your head began to spin and before you knew it, everything went black. 

Meanwhile, Charles was slowly driving up to the scene before him. “Red flag, red flag, go slow and return to the pits.” His radio filled his ears. 

“What’s happened?”

“Verstappen and Gasly had an incident, both cars are out.”

“Are they okay?” 

“Gasly is out, no word from Verstappen yet.”

As the words filled his head Charles looked at the sight before him. A Redbull car clearly displaying your number on the side was being swarmed in flames. He didn’t think for a second. Charles stopped his car and quickly jumped out, little did he know your brother was following suit. The pair of them didn’t get far before being stopped by the stewards who begged them to return to their cars and head back to the pits. 

An ambulance quickly arrived and Charles and Max watched you being stretched onto the vehicle before being taken to a nearby hospital. “Why did you run out?” Max asked as he turned on his heel and returned to his car. 

A teary-eyed Charles looked at your brother, his breathing getting worse as he knew he had to tell Max what was really going on. “Max I’m sorry… we should’ve told you-”

“Told me what?” His patience had left his body. “Fucking hell spit it out, Leclerc!” 

“I love her Max! We’ve been together for two years and now she’s in a fucking ambulance and I don’t know if she’s okay… fuck what if she’s seriously hurt?” His hands ran through his hair as tears started to fall down his cheeks, panic taking over. 

At this moment Max wanted to rip him limb from limb. He wanted Charles to be in the back of that ambulance not you but the sight of him breaking down into tears and on the verge of a panic attack he couldn’t even let those thoughts come to fruition. If what he said was true and the two of you were together then it was clear he cared for you. No sane person would ditch their car and run out onto a track with cars driving fast enough to kill someone in an instant unless they really cared for them. Max took a step forward and pulled Charles in for a hug. Charles didn’t care if he was taken off guard by Max’s actions, he wrapped his arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder. 

“She’ll be okay,” Max spoke. “Let's get back to the pits and I’ll drive us to the hospital.” Your boyfriend nodded as he pulled away before he and your brother made their way back to the pits.

—

“Hello Miss Verstappen I’m Doctor Sharp.” You’d just climbed back into your race suit after some routine checks as a tall blonde woman began speaking to you. “You’re results from the scan are normal, we suspect you fainted due to the crash impact and the panic.”

“So I’m okay?” You asked. 

“You are.” She smiled. “I’ve forwarded the information to your race principal as your brother didn’t return my calls.”

“Who’s winning the race?” 

She laughed at your words. “You could have received a very serious head injury yet all you can think of is Formula 1? Well Russell is leading, Piastri is running P2 and Hamilton is in P3.” 

“You a fan of F1?” 

“I am which is why I was rather surprised to see you in here, never did I think a Verstappen would crash out.” You laughed gently at her words. 

“We all have our off days.” 

“We do indeed Miss Verstappen.” She handed you some medication. “There are some strong painkillers for you. Take them twice a day, I recommend morning and evening to help you through the day and sleep. The pain should subside in a couple of days but you have a month's supply in there. Any therapy you do for your skin should be done more often now, hot baths or showers will be your best friend for a while.” 

“Thank you.” 

“I have requested for a taxi to take you home or someone to come pick you. Again, I called your brother but I’ve had no reply-” 

“y/n!” Max’s voice cut the doctor off. Both he and Charles swung the doors open and sprinted to your bedside. “Is she okay?” Max asked the woman by your side. 

“She’s fine, she just took a big knock. You’re lucky you have fireproof suits otherwise the outcome would have been a lot worse.” She now turned to you. “You can come home with them, just tell reception when you leave. I’ll leave you to it.” She winked before leaving you with your brother and boyfriend.

“I’m going to fucking kill Gasly, absolute twat. Wasn’t that hard to let you through!” Max spat as he came to your side. 

“Max it was a mistake-”

“A mistake that could’ve cost your life!” 

“But it didn’t, I’m fine. It’s not like he meant it.” Your eyes flickered over to Charles who was standing watching the two of you with tears in his eyes. “Hello, Charles.” You wondered how he’d managed to travel with your brother without Max killing and questioning his actions. 

“Hi, y/n…” His voice broke as he spoke. 

“I know by the way.” Max grabbed your attention. “He told me.” 

“Told you what?” 

“You must’ve hit your head if you can’t remember that he’s your boyfriend.” Max smiled. “Look we’ll talk about it later but just know this as long as you’re happy then that’s all I care about but this doesn’t mean I like him.” 

Your hand fell on top of Max’s. “Thank you.” You fell into his chest, the two of you embracing in a hug. 

“I’m glad you’re okay. I knew you would be.” He laughed slightly as he pulled back. “I’ll leave you two, I’m just going to call Mum and Dad and let them know you’re okay.” He backed off to the door. “Try anything and I’ll put you through the wall.” Max glared at Charles before leaving the room. 

Within seconds Charles had his lips pressed onto yours, his hands cupping your jaw as he savoured every single second of the kiss. “He might be my best friend but I’m going to kill Gasly too.” You both smiled at his words. “How are you, my love?”

“My body aches but I’m fine, she’s given me medication so I should be okay.” 

“Thank God.” He planted another short kiss on your lips. “Look, I’m sorry that I told Max. It wasn’t my place and we should’ve told him together but seeing the fire and you in the ambulance I just couldn’t control my emotions, he asked why I just got out of my car and I told him. I’m sorry-”

“Charles you don’t need to apologise. I need to speak to Max about it. I shouldn’t have left it 2 years to tell my brother… my Dad is going to kill me.”

“For what part? The race or dating me?” 

“Both.” Your smile returned to your lips. 

“I won’t let him. He won’t ever raise his voice to you again.”

“My knight in shining armour.” You both broke into smiles before Charles kissed you once more. 

Max would never approve of the idea of you and Charles dating but it was something he would slowly warm up to although he’d never let Charles win whether he was your boyfriend or not and neither would you. He could ask you to marry him and you’d still make sure he’d never win as long as you were on the track. Your Mum was over the moon and loved Charles like he was one of her, your Dad on the other hand acted like you’d just thrown your career down the drain. The fans… well… they were ecstatic. 

---

“Charles?”

“I don’t want to talk about it y/n.” His voice was stern as he threw his bags down without looking. His careless actions caused his bag to knock against your coffee table, hitting a vase Max had bought you. The water from the vase fell across the small table and leaked onto a scrapbook you’d left on the glass counted. 

“Charles!” You screamed before running over to the table. “Be careful you’ll ruin it!” The scrapbook was a present from Charles. After you two had an argument over telling Max about you both, he created the book as a way to show you that he never wanted to hide you ever again. Every time you went on a date he’d make sure he got something as a souvenir so he could scrapbook it. He got to relive the memories, allowing him to relax after races. 

“Who cares? It’s just a shitty book!” He snapped, running his hands through her hair. 

“What did you say?” Your voice broke at his words. 

“You heard, it’s just a shitty book with scraps of paper, it’s not important -”

“That book is about us, the book that you made! It is important.” 

“You don’t know what’s important y/n.” He raised his voice. “You know what is important? Me winning this championship! I need to win this for me, for Ferarri, for my family… for all those fans that give their time, effort and money to me, I need to win it for them!” He took a deep breath. “I need to win it for you…”

“Charles I want you to win the championship but it won’t make me think any differently of you…” 

“It should.” He snapped. “It’ll make me on the same level as your brother and I need to be fighting against Redbull… but you don’t get it.” 

“Charles I do -”

“No, you don’t! You’re not in that car, your brother is. You’re just always there in the background, just waiting there for Max… never me -”

“That’s a lie and you know it!” Your voice grew. “I always watch the race in the Ferarri garages, I only leave when Max wins to congratulate him. He’s still my brother Charles.” 

“You know sometimes when I lose I just want you there…” His voice was low as he spoke but that didn’t last long. “But you’ll never understand what that’s like.”

“Why? Because I’m not a driver?”

“Because you’ve never been in the spotlight, only the background.” 

“Is that what I am to you?” Your brows arched at his words. “Just someone in the background?”

“Well… the journalists flock to your brother, not you.” 

Being the sister of a Formula 1 driver had its perks but it also meant that every day you woke up knowing you would never be on the same level as your brother. Max was always praised by your mum and dad whereas you had to fight for even the smallest acknowledgement from your parents. It wasn’t that they didn’t care about your own achievements but more so that Max was always at the forefront when it came to outperforming you and Victoria. 

You didn’t utter a word to him as you grabbed your bags once again but rather than heading to your front room you headed towards the door. “Where are you going?” Charles asked. 

“Why do you care? I’m just in the background, aren’t I?” 

“Oh come on y/n you know I didn’t mean it -”

“Are you sure about that Charles because you’re acting like it.”

“Look, I know you will never understand what it’s like being under so much pressure but -”

“Charles, do you know what it’s like to be compared to your brother who’s won a World Championship? Do you know what it’s like to have to constantly think of ways to be noticed by your own family for something whilst your brother is out on the track competing in one of the greatest sports in the world?” Taking a deep breath as you watched his mixed expression. “Maybe Arthur will understand.”  

“Don’t bring Arthur into this -”

“Then don’t bring Max into this!” 

“How can I not? He’s everywhere I turn! He makes stupid decisions on the track which resulted in me suffering!” 

“Do not blame your incompetence on my brother!” 

“My incompetence?” He laughed at your words. “Your brother’s a fucking idiot on that track, nearly kills everyone who even dares go near him!” 

“At least Max knows how to stay on the track.” You knew it was a low blow but the way he was speaking to you, he deserved it. 

“That was low y/n…”

“And calling me unimportant isn’t?”

“Well right now you’re not important y/n, you know what is? Running Redbull to the ground and winning this championship, nothing else matters right now.” 

Charles was obsessed with winning, he always felt the need to prove himself to everyone around him despite his friends and family knowing he was capable of what he wished to achieve but he knew that didn’t matter. With fans and the press constantly hounding him and Ferrari to be better you knew it was them he wanted to appease, not himself. 

“Fine.” You didn’t utter another word as you opened the door and left him standing alone in your apartment. Tears pricked your eyes as you dragged your bags into the lift. You knew that if you stayed the two of you would only rip one another’s heads off even more than you already have. 

Monaco wasn’t exactly small so it wouldn’t take long to get to Max’s building meanwhile Charles was left alone with his thoughts. He’d fished the scrapbook from the water, treating it like an artefact at a museum as he slowly flicked through the pages, carefully inspecting which ones were damaged. Every time his eyes fell on the photos his heart sank. He knew he shouldn’t take out what was happening on the track onto you. You would support him at every turn and he knew what he said about you never being there for him was a lie. He spent the night drying the pages as best he could whilst he put them back together as they were before. He thought of sending you a text asking you if you were at Max’s safely, it didn’t take a genius to work out that you’d gone to see your brother about it, but he also knew if Max saw your phone he’d take it upon himself to reply. 

When Max saw you his confused gaze softened into a sympathetic one. His arms opened as you fell against him in his doorway. Sobbing into his chest he slowly guided you into his apartment before speaking. “Want me to break check the cunt when he’s out cycling? Or I can shove him into the wall during the race next week? Then again he does that himself anyway…” You pulled back from Max, a small smile on your face at his words as you two sat down. “What happened?”

“It was just a stupid argument, it’s nothing.” You wiped your tears away with your sleeves but Max wasn’t convinced. 

“It’s very rare you come running to me late at night because you’re upset.” He leant back in his chair. He had a point. Normally you and Charles would act cold with one another until either one of you apologised a mere few hours later but this time it felt different. He’d gotten personal and it had hurt. “You normally make up after a few hours and then I find out a week later so what was different this time?” 

“He said I wasn’t important to him and that all his focus was on the Championship… he told me I wouldn’t understand and I get that - I’m not one of you and I know it’s important but I can understand to a certain degree how important it is but I thought he’d value what we have over that title.” 

“I’ll kill him -”

“Max!” 

“What?”

“He’s still my boyfriend.”

“Not one I like.”

“You don’t need to like him… more tolerate him.”

“I’m finding that hard right now.” Rolling his eyes he shifted his gaze back to you. “Has he even texted you? To make sure you got here safely?” 

Sliding your phone out of your pocket you were met with a blank screen. “No -”

“Cunt.” Max spoke under his breath. “Have you eaten?”

“No -”

“Good, we’ll order in, watch a film, like we used to.” He smiled at the memories. When the two of you were younger every single Friday you would all watch a film and have a takeaway with your sister Victoria. It was the one night when the three of you were all together and could forget about your parent's divorce and the world around you.  

You and Max spent the night talking about what happened whilst you two watched a Disney film, trying to forget the night. Unlike anyone else you were close with, Max knew how Charles felt when his car didn’t comply and when he made a mistake which lead to his race being ended. He would always give you a different perspective on your situation and most importantly, he’d listen to you. That was something a lot of people never saw, Max would always validate your feelings and tell you his own perspective on things when you needed it. 

Eventually, you and Max called it a night and you headed into his spare room. Throwing your bags onto the bed you began to get ready for bed when your phone sounded from the cabinet. 

Char <;3: Did you get to Max’s okay? X

You: I did x

Char <;3: When are you coming back? X

You: Is that why you texted? X

Char <;3: No I wanted to know that you were safe x

You: I left the house hours ago x

Char <;3: I know but I wanted to give you space x 

You locked your phone, ignoring his last text. You knew you’d cause another argument with him about his text being a little too late but he’d already read your mind.

Char <3: Look I’m sorry I should’ve messaged you earlier but I didn’t want to make this any worse x

You: By making sure I wasn’t killed? Do you think you checking in on my well-being was going to make this worse? X

Char <;3: You’re right and I’m so sorry, I should’ve walked or driven you over myself. When are you coming home? X 

You: I don’t know x

Char <;3: Please be safe. Take your time and I’ll see you soon and I’m sorry x

You: For not texting me or the argument we had? X

Char <3: Both x

You’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to go home to him but his words continued to play in your head over and over again like a broken record. Climbing into bed you glimpsed at your lock screen which was a photo of you and Charles after he’d won the Australian GP. He had the trophy in one hand but he was looking at you, his eyes full of love as he looked at you, completely ignoring the trophy in his hand. 

You: I’ll message you later, goodnight Char. I love you x 

Charles's heart jumped at the reply he got. He knew it was stupid considering the two of you had been in a relationship for years but after a fight like that, all he wanted was reassurance. 

Char <;3: I love you too x 

He knew he had to make it up to you, he’d fucked up and with Max as your brother, he knew he’d have to grovel. 

—

You’d stayed with Max until the Hungarian GP, you knew you’d end up sharing a hotel with Charles. Max had offered to pay for another room for you but the truth was your heart ached to see your boyfriend again. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to buy you a room?” Max asked as he carried your things to the room you were set to share with Charles. 

“I’m fine Max.” You smiled at him. “Besides they probably don’t have one free at this time-”

“Then you can take my room and I’ll share with Charles.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that would go down well.” 

“Well…” Max smirked at his own words. “He wouldn’t have to worry about him crashing into a wall because he wouldn’t even make it to the car.”

“You’re horrible.” A smile tainted on your lip at your own words. 

“Could be worse, remember what I did to your ex?” He smiled down at you. How could you forget? Your last boyfriend, Alexander, had cheated on you with a girl he claimed was ‘just a friend’. You walked in on the two of them in a compromising position only hours after he told you that he loved you. When Max found out there was nothing that could stop him. He stormed into his house and made sure he gave him two black eyes that wouldn’t shift for weeks. 

“It would be harder to get away with if you did it to Charles, besides, we had an argument. It’s not like he cheated on me.” 

“Well if that ever crosses his mind… it’ll be worse than two black eyes.” 

You reached your room but just as you went to open the door a tall brunette swung the door open before you could even get your hand to it. His eyes met yours as you both stared at one another in silence for a second. Max coughed, breaking the two of you out of your trance. 

“Max…” Charles glanced over to your brother who looked as if he was ready to kill him. 

“Charles,” Max replied before turning to you. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay with him? You can take my room.” 

Charles looked as if he wanted to kill Max himself at his words. “I’m sure she’s fine with me,” Charles spoke up. 

“You know she can talk for herself, Leclerc.”

“I’m aware.” Speaking through gritted teeth Charles seemed to have finally found his voice. 

“I’ll be fine Max.” You looked between the two men. Charles quickly snatched your bags away from Max’s grasp, a smug smile on his lips as he watched Max take a step back in defeat. 

“Text me if you need anything y/n, I’ll see you in the garages.” Max turned on his heel, his eyes not leaving Charles’s as he headed down the hallway. 

Charles held the door open for you as you walked inside the room. He’d moved his things in but only to one side of the room like he did every single weekend. Even when you weren’t around it always became a habit for him. “How was your time with Max?” He spoke as he set your bags aside. 

“Needed.” You replied. “How was your alone time?”

“Lonely.” He stepped closer to you. “I missed you.” 

Looking up your eyes met his. “I missed you too.” 

“I’m so sorry y/n. What I said, I didn’t mean it at all. Look, I was upset over the race, I feel like I’ll never be a World Champion and every single day I believe that I feel like I’m letting everyone down… especially you.”

“Charles I won’t love you any less if you aren’t a World Champion.”

“I know but… in the past, it's gotten too much and I’ve had people leave me or just become distant and I couldn’t take it if you decided to leave.”

“I’m not going to leave you I just want you to talk to me. I know I’m not a driver but my brother is and for years Max told me what it’s like and I know I’m not in the car but I can listen and understand as best I can, I’m sorry for what I said.” 

Charles stepped closer, his hands resting on the sides of your face as he leaned down. “You are so important to me, more important than any stupid trophy.”

“I better be.” Your face broke into a smile as Charles leaned down and took your lips into his. He stood in between your legs as he deepened the kiss his hands going to your hair to pull you closer to him, acting like this was the last time he’d ever kiss you. Eventually, you both pulled away, and Charles straightened himself up. 

“I have something for you.” Opening the drawer beside the bed he pulled out the scrapbook he’d made you. “It’s not just a book to me.” He handed it to you. “I fixed it as best I could, I’m sorry-”

“I think we should leave this page blank.” Cutting him off you pointed to a blank page. “For when you win the Championship, that way if you ever feel like you aren’t good enough then you can look back to this page, it might be blank for now but it’s a silent reminder of how much I believe in you, we all do.” You pecked his lips. “You might not believe it sometimes but everyone wants the best for you, especially your fans.” 

“I don’t want to let them down.”

“And you won’t… Ferrari will.” 

He laughed at your words, falling down beside you on the bed. “If only everyone thought how you did.” 

—

“Are you spying on them?” A British accent made Max jump back from the door to yours and Charles’s room. Lando stood behind him with a confused expression. 

“I’m just making sure he doesn’t make her cry.” 

“I think he makes other things wet besides her eyes.” Lando laughed at himself. Turning to face him Max laughed alongside him before his expression changed in a heartbeat. 

“Lando?” 

“Yeah?”

“Make a joke like that about my sister again and I’ll cut your dick off.” 

---

“I still can’t see why he’s with her…” Mason flashed Joao girlfriends Instagram your way. The pair of you sat at lunch together, he was busy stalking whereas you were attempting to meet a deadline. Glancing over you caught sight of his phone screen. 

“I would say money but he’s fine in that department.” You replied, not caring about those around you who might pry an ear into your words. “Maybe he’s lonely.” Your eyes never left your laptop as you continued to work. 

“Considering he spends most of his time with us I think he’s fine there.” Mason spared you a glance. 

“Any of you ever spoken to him about it?” You asked, your eyes now looking at his phone. “Maybe that’ll sway his mind.” 

“Maybe you could talk to him.” 

“Why would I do that?” 

“Maybe he needs a new woman to catch his eye.” Your eyes met Mason’s as he sent you a suggestive glance. 

“I’d rather not.” Your eyes darted back to your laptop screen. 

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t date pushovers.” As you finished speaking a sudden slam on the table caught your and his attention. Joao was standing before you his face smoothed with rage as he slumped down into the chair opposite you. His eyes burned holes into your skin as he spoke. 

“What are you working on?” He asked as if he hadn’t heard your entire conversation with Mason. 

“Just a graphic for the game against Liverpool in a few days…” Your eyes were glued to his, you wanted to rip them away from his gaze but you were stuck like a deer in headlights. 

“Hmm… are you planning to meet your ex after the game?” You nearly choked on his words. 

You’d had what those would describe as a summer fling when he was at the England camp and you’d been asked to cover some work due to having minimal at Chelsea because of the summer break. It wasn’t a relationship, you wouldn’t even consider him an ex-boyfriend more just someone you used to sleep with. Only a few of the lads knew about it, Mason and Ben being the main two you’d told after you and Trent decided a relationship wasn’t in the cards for you. 

Your glared at Mason who was now trying to hide himself behind his phone screen. “Did you tell him?” 

“It may have slipped out… but it wasn’t just me! Ben was speaking about it too!”

You pulled your eyes away from Mason to focus back on Joao. “He isn’t my ex and my love life doesn’t concern you-”

“But mine concerns you.” He had a point. Could you really tell him he had no right to question you when you and Mason were spending your lunch discussing his love life? 

“If anything we’re looking out for you.”

“By implying that I’m a pushover?” 

“Her words, not mine!” Mason raised his hands in defence. 

“Well, you do keep going back to someone whose favourite hobby is to publicly cheat on you.” You stepped in. 

“At least someone wants me enough to be in a relationship, Trent clearly didn’t want you around.” 

“Your girlfriend cheats on you if that’s what ‘wanted’ means I’d rather be alone.” 

“She does have a point.” Mason looked between the two of you. “Look mate we just want the best for you -”

“You might be she doesn’t!” Joao looked at Mason as he spoke. “Ever since I joined she’s had it out for me!”

“That isn’t true!” You defended yourself, your tone turning sour. 

“My first game and you couldn’t stop talking shit about me!”

“You got sent off in your first match meaning you couldn’t play for weeks! This season has been shit for Chelsea and the man they thought would be their knight in shining armour embarrassed them all!” 

“We all make mistakes y/n, clearly you made one with Trent. Maybe if he wanted you, you wouldn’t be moping around with an ‘embarrassing team’.” He smirked at his words, something you couldn’t believe he even had the balls to do after looking at the state of his situation. Before you could even reply Joao grabbed the last of his lunch and stormed out of the lunch hall. 

“Well…” Mason watched as Joao left. “That went well.” 

“Why did you tell him about me and Trent?” Your brow arched as you spoke to the brunette. 

“Look I’m sorry y/n, it just came out during training. You know I like to give Trent a hard time when we play after what happened between the two of you, I know you liked him too.” Mason gave you a sympathetic look as you tore your gaze away from him. 

Mason had a point, part of you did wish it had worked out with Trent. Over the summer you’d spent every single day with one another and he treated you like you were his girlfriend. He showed you off to the guys and you’d even met his family but only days after the two of you had left the England summer camp he was pictured with another girl outside a club. Any hope you had of the two of you ever picking things back up was shattered the second you saw that photo. Mason and Ben were the only two who knew your feelings towards him but little did you know the two of them had let your true feelings slip to Joao. 

—

You found yourself nearly missing the team bus to Liverpool. You clambered on just in time only to find that the only free seat was next to Joao. Everyone’s eyes drifted to you as you awkwardly wished a seat would randomly become free but your prayers were left unanswered. 

“Do you want the window seat or the aisle seat?” The brunette spoke up, slicing through the tension. 

“I- I don’t mind-” The last thing you wanted to do was to capture more attention on yourself. 

“You can have the window.” Grabbing his phone and bag he stood up, towering over you as he let you slide in next to him. You didn’t need to meet his eyes to know he was staring as you slotted yourself into the window seat. You cleared your throat as you pulled out your laptop and started to work on something to distract yourself from the situation before you.

“What are you working on?” His question caught you off guard, after what happened a few days ago you never expected him to attempt to start a conversation with you. 

“Just some plain graphics for the game.” You turned your laptop screen to him. Joao moved his head to get a better look at your work. “I leave the background blank as the photographers send us pictures throughout the game that we can put there and the numbers where the score would be are always left blank as we obviously don’t know what the score will be.” You looked over at him, your heart jumping as you realised he was already looking at you. 

“Is that what you mainly do? Graphics?” 

“Partly, I’ve filmed videos for the social media accounts, interviewed, edited, written captions, tweets, and even detailed a few apologies for some of the lads before. It’s basically a bit of everything.” You gave him a light smile. 

“How long have you been working here?”

“Started stewarding when I was eighteen and then when I was twenty I finally got a chance to work full time with the media department so a few years now.” You were beyond confused as to why he was suddenly so curious about you. “Why do you ask?” 

He shrugged his shoulders. “Just thought if I have to be stuck with you for hours on end that I might as well start a conversation rather than give you the cold shoulder for the journey.” 

“I thought you hated me?”

“I could say the same about you.” He glanced over at you before pulling out his AirPods. “Convinced you wanted me to fail-”

“I wouldn’t say fail… more hated the way you dealt with things.” 

“Well, I hated the way you spoke about me.”

“That’s fair…” You looked up at him to be met with his smirking grin. 

“Want one?” Offering you one of his AirPods with his cocky grin you took one and thanked him. He started playing music as he watched you work. The coach was quiet the most you could hear was the occasional chat from the lads and the typing of a few colleague's laptops. “Do you ever stop?” Joao asked out of the blue?” 

“It’s hard to.” You spared a glance at him. “We don’t just post things we also have to monitor comments, unfortunately, a lot of football fans believe they have the right to abuse players and discriminate against other fans that aren’t like them. Not all fans are like that though, most of them really do care about you guys.”

“You can tell.” He smiled. “I’ve never heard so many chants about different players.”

“If you like it now then imagine what it’ll be like if you guys start winning.” You smirked at him which earnt you a laugh from him. Attempting to hide a yawn you finished your work before putting it back in your bag. 

“Is that why you were late?” 

“Hmm?” 

“Did you oversleep?”

“That amongst other things.”

“Like?” 

You knew he wanted to keep the conversation going so the pair of you didn’t descend into madness during the long journey. “My cat-”

“How can a cat make you late?” He shifted in his seat so he faced you, clearly intrigued by your story. 

“Well the last thing I do before I leave is feed my cat -”

“What’s your cat called?” He asked. 

“Frank.”

“After Lampard?” His face swelled with amusement. 

“When I moved out my best friend got sick of me complaining about how much I missed my cats that lived with my parents so she decided to get me Frank and because I work for Chelsea she named him after Lampard, fitting now he’s taken over as a caretaker manager.” 

“And how did he make you late?” His smile grew. 

“As I said, the last thing I do before leaving is feed him. I was in my uniform and I was putting his food into his bowl when he jumped up and the food went all over me and well… I’m not exactly coming in smelling like tuna.” Joao couldn’t help but laugh at your words, catching the attention of Mason who was attempting to hear what the two of you were discussing. 

“Well,” He shifted in his seat again before patting his shoulder. “My shoulders here if you want it.” 

“You’d shrug me off just as I fall asleep.” You narrowed your gaze at him. 

“I’m a prick but I’m not that bad.” A small smile fell on both your lips. 

“Fine.” You didn’t want to argue, not again. 

You knew you and Mason were in the wrong discussing his relationship but he was also in the wrong when he hit back at you with comments about you and Trent but you didn’t want to dwell on what happened any longer. You let your head fall on his shoulder, you felt Joao warm to your touch as you got comfortable. Mason couldn’t believe his eyes at what he was seeing, he couldn’t help but nudge Ben several times in the ribs to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.   

Before you knew it, Joao was gently nudging you awake and the gates to the Liverpool ground were now behind you. You thanked him one last time before handing his airpod back to him. You left him with the rest of the boys as you followed the rest of your media colleagues towards the dugouts and journalism area. Everything ran smoothly despite your horrific morning, Joao was in the starting eleven which gave you the green light to use him as the main poster boy to announce the team news although you would’ve definitely picked Reece James if he wasn’t so nice to you. 

In the Liverpool line-up was Trent but that didn’t surprise you. When the teams came out of the tunnel for the match Trent looked up to the journalism area. His eyes met yours and sent you a wink and a smirk, an expression that caught the attention of Joao. He knew how you felt towards Trent after the England Camp and he knew his expression was just a way to get to you after the press continued to pit Chelsea and Liverpool against one another after their horrific seasons. 

The first half had ended goalless, Chelsea had a few decent chances, especially Joao but he was yet to get the ball in the back of the net. Within ten minutes of the second half, you watched Joao say something to Trent which had clearly rilled the scouser up. Trent shoved Joao and he quickly retaliated, shoving him back and shouting back at the man in red. The referee quickly ran up to the two of them whilst their teammates pulled them apart. They both received a yellow card and the game resumed.

You watched Joao carefully, wanting to tell him to lay off Trent because knowing his luck he’ll end up getting another yellow which will lead to a red. As if he could read your mind Joao eyed as Trent was given the ball, without thinking Joao threw himself at the lad, studs up causing Trent to fall to the ground in pain. Joao got up and yelled something at him as he clutched his ankle in pain. He stormed off, he knew it would be straight red. Liverpool fans booed and screamed at the Chelsea boy. The travelling Chelsea fans couldn’t believe what they’d seen, two red cards and he hadn’t even played a full season. 

Joao stormed down the tunnel and threw the door of the changing rooms open before slumping down on the bench where his stuff lay. You excused yourself from the media spot before jogging down to the changing rooms after Joao. You opened the door to see him throwing his boots across the floor. His eyes met yours as you walked into the room. 

“Haven’t you got graphics to make? Posts to make about me getting a red -”

“Why did you do that?”

“Do what? Get a red or put that prick in his place?” He huffed before continuing. “I saw the way he looked at you when we came through the tunnel. He was being a prick, Mason told me -” 

“What did Mason tell you?” You snapped, your eyes glaring at the man. 

“He told me you liked him and he treated you like you were his girlfriend then after deciding he didn’t want you he ran off with another girl.” 

“I’ll kill him-”

“It’s not his fault, I asked what had happened. I shouldn’t have pressed him but I did.” 

“Well, maybe Mason should keep his mouth shut.” Your eyes were still fixed on his. “And you should too, what did you say to him?” 

“I didn’t say anything to him.”

“Don’t lie to me Joao, I saw you said something to him when you two got your first yellow cards.”

“It was nothing -”

“What did you say to him?” Your voice grew louder. “Joao-” 

“I told him I was glad he didn’t want you because if he stayed with you then I wouldn’t get to hear you moaning around me every night.” He looked proud yet embarrassed at his words. He knew it would rial Trent up but he also knew a cheap joke at your expense would also piss you off. 

“You’re not fucking serious.” 

“y/n I’m sorry I -”

“Look I know I was a dickhead to you a few days ago but I was still right, you are a pushover, you even let Trent push you around all because he looked at me?” You stepped closer to him. “How did you ever make it professional when someone who looks at me pisses you off?”

“He made you uncomfortable, I wasn’t going to let it slide.”

“If it made you that annoyed you couldn’ve dealt with it off the pitch. The fans don’t deserve this and neither do the rest of the lads, it’s not fair!” You took a deep breath. “Why the sudden need to be a hero? I don’t need you to fight for me and make up something that would never happen between us -”

“You know all I was trying to do was to be nice!” He stood up and walked over to you, his breath on your face and his voice raising in aggression. “Most people would thank me for what I did.” He looked down at you. “You really think that wouldn’t happen between us either?” He now smirked at you, his hand reaching up to tuck some hair behind your ear. “I could have you underneath me in a heartbeat.”

“I’d thank you if you didn’t get sent off or made some shitty cheap joke about me! And if you ever think I’d even go near you like that you are very much mistaken!” 

“Yeah, we’ll see.” He ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. “I get it but you aren’t perfect too!”

“I never claimed to be!”

“You sure act it, judging everyone else's relationships but god forbid someone makes a comment about yours!”

“We were never in a relationship!”

“I can see why…” He snapped, turning his back towards you as he threw his shirt over his head and discarded his shirt. You might have wanted to slap him back down to earth but you couldn’t help but spare a glance at him. How his girlfriend cheated on him you’d never know, the man was gorgeous. 

—

Ever since yours and Joao’s dispute you’d hardly spoken to him unless you had to conduct an interview for Chelsea’s social media pages. Tonight was the end of the season awards and just like every single year you were attending. You made sure to match your dress to the exact shade of the Chelsea shirt. Your hair and make-up were done to perfection as you walked through the halls towards one of the lounges which was decorated with a million shades of blue and shades of silver and gold. Every year the hospitality team always outdone themselves and this year was no different. 

Mason greeted you with open arms and so did his family. Most of the boys bought their family or partners along however one player was completely on his own and that was Joao. He was sat on one of the tables opposite you, his eyes were fixed on you but his expression was hard to read. Was he pissed off? Was he apologetic? You weren’t sure but one thing was for certain, he wouldn’t look away. 

The night seemed to drag on, awards after awards were being dished out, some for credible achievements such as top goal scorer and others for more interesting achievements such as most pints downed after a win. You sat alongside Mason and his family when the awards ended. Music filled the lounge as everyone continued to socialise and drink the night away. You excused yourself from the table, getting sick of Joao watching you, you headed to the bathrooms to touch up your make-up but you didn’t realise someone was following you. 

“You look beautiful.” The familiar sound of Joao’s voice made you jump. He was leaning against the wall of the bathrooms, his eyes raking over your body. 

Joao regretted everything he’d said to you that day against Liverpool. The pair of you had spent many hours with one another in the media rooms, creating content for Chelsea and although you didn’t get off brilliantly due to his red card on his debut, he could tell you only wanted the best for everyone at the club, no matter if they were a player or simply cleaning staff. He’d come to his sense on the way to the Liverpool game that you were right about his relationship. Hearing your stories about your work and even your cat named after Frank made him think, perhaps that was the real reason why he went for Trent. 

“You know this is the women’s bathroom.” 

“I’m aware.” He pushed himself off the wall and walked over to you. “But my point still stands.”

“Thank you.” 

“Can we talk?”

“In the women’s bathroom?”

“No time like the present.” He smirked. You were still facing the mirror and Joao was standing behind you, looking at you through the mirror. “I’m sorry for what I did.” 

Huffing at his words you met his eyes briefly if the pair of you didn’t talk now the issue would never be resolved and if Joao wasn’t to sign permanently then you knew you’d never forgive yourself for the way the two of you ended things. “I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t have called you a pushover.”

“But, I’m not sorry for what I said and did to Trent.” His hands snaked around your waist as he spoke. “Or for what I said about you.”

“Which part?” You set your lipgloss down, doing your best to pretend that you couldn’t feel his breath on your neck and his touch on your hips. “The part about me having you.”

“In your dreams.” You tried to step away but that would only push you closer to him. His grip tightened on your hips whilst his lips ghosted your neck. “You have a girlfriend-”

“No, I don’t.” He kissed your neck bore he spun you around to face him. “Why did you think I turned up alone?” 

“Why?”

“Well… you may have been right besides… the ‘pushover’ has had someone else on his mind recently...”  

Joao didn’t hesitate, his lips met yours, one hand cupped your cheek whilst the other went down to your thigh, pushing your dress to the side and allowed his hand to travel along your skin. You hesitated for a second before kissing him back. You couldn’t lie to yourself that Joao was hot, he was beautiful and if this was the way the two of you would make up then well… it was worth getting into a fight with him. 

Your hands went to his hair, tugging on the strands as he allowed his hand to travel higher up your leg. “God you’re perfect.” His lips now travelled down your exposed neck, gently tugging on your skin as his grip on your leg tightened. 

“You ruined my lipgloss.” You pouted as Joao pulled back to smirk at you. 

“You’re lucky we’re in the stadium otherwise I would ruin more than your lipgloss.” His lips met yours once again. He tugged on your bottom lip, making you moan as he pulled the zip of your dress down. Jumping at the sudden gush of cold air against your back he smirked into the kiss before letting his warm hands trail down your back as he peeled the dress from your body. He let the front of it pool around your waist. 

Your hands moved from his hair to his suit jacket, pushing it off his shoulders before grabbing his tie and pulling him back into a kiss. He lightly moaned as your nails raked across his white shirt. Joao’s hands went to your bra, unclasping it within seconds. He pulled away from the kiss as his hands cupped your boobs. “We should’ve argued sooner.” 

Smiling at his words you watched as he took your nipple in his mouth whilst grabbing the other with his free hand. “Fuck…” You moaned, your legs parting so he could get closer to you. Your bliss was cut short when he moved away. His hands hooked themselves around the backs of your thighs. 

“Jump.” He instructed you. Without hesitation, you jumped into his arms and he placed you on the bathroom counter. “Good girl.” His hands went to his own shirt, undoing the buttons so your hands could now trace his skin. Your nails raked his skin as Joao let his hands run up to your underwear.

“You do know someone could walk in right?” You spoke with a heavy breath. 

“And?” He kissed you again. “Keep quiet and they won’t.”

“You don’t know that-”

“y/n… shut up and trust me.”

“Make me.” You teased but he didn’t need to be told twice. Joao moved your dress aside so he could see your underwear. Pushing your underwear aside he let his fingers tease your clit. The light touches sent butterflies through your stomach as Joao started to add pressure. Your head fell back at his movements. “Please…” You moaned as Joao watched you come undone around him. Leaving your clit he moved towards your entrance. Joao slowly pushed two fingers inside of you which earnt a sudden moan from you. 

“I was right…” He breathed out, his hand pulling your face to look at him whilst he quickened his pace. “Your moans are beautiful.” Whilst his fingers fucked you his thumb went to your clit and started to bring you closer to your high. 

“Fuck you.” You breathed out. 

“Think I’m the one doing that love.” 

You could feel his hard-on against your thigh which only made you wetter against his touch. Joao could feel you getting closer, your moans continued to grow louder as he quickened his pace. “You look so gorgeous about to come around me…”

“Please Joao… please…” You whined at his actions, your nails leaving red marks across his skin. 

“Please what?” He taunted. 

“Please let me come.” 

“Yeah?” His lips ghosted yours as he kept adding pressure. “Come for me then.” He pressed his lips back onto yours as you came. You moaned into the kiss, your grip on his skin leaving darker marks which you knew wouldn’t fade for a while. “Such a good girl for me.” He kissed you before moving his fingers to his mouth so he could taste you. He savoured the moment before he quickly unbuckled his belt and allowed his cock to spring out. 

He pumped his cock a few times whilst his free hand went to your face, his thumb traced across your bottom lip before he spoke. “As much as I want your mouth around me right now… I need to fuck you.” 

He let his thumb fall into your mouth as he lined himself up and slowly pushed himself inside of you. Your face scrunched up at his size slowly pushing inside of you. Joao cupped your face whilst his free hand gripped your hip. “Is it too much?” He asked. 

“No… just go slowly.”

Joao kissed you gently. “Of course my love.” Your heart fluttered at his nickname but that feeling soon spread to your stomach when you felt Joao pull out and thrust back inside. “You feel so good.” His head fell against yours, your lips ghosting one another as he repeated his actions. Feeling used to his size you allowed your leg to hook around his waist and pull him deeper into you. 

“Faster…” You moaned in his ear. He didn’t need to be told twice. Pulling out he quickly slammed his hips back into yours and started to move at a quicker pace. “Fuck Joao…”

“My name sounds so pretty falling from your lips…” He moaned in your ear as he continued going faster. The pair of you knew that if it wasn't for the music in the lounge then everyone would have heard you. His fingers go back down to your clit and he quickly started to apply pressure to the bud. Your hands gripped onto the back of his neck, pulling him into a moaning kiss as he continued to fuck you faster. 

Pulling away from the kiss Joao pulled out completely before pulling you off of the counter. With one last kiss on your lips, he spun you around so you were facing the mirror and bent you over. With a harsh smack to your ass, he quickly pulled your dress back up and around your hips before kicking your legs apart. Grabbing a fistful of your hair he forced you to look at yourself in the mirror. 

“He could never fuck you as good as I can… could he?” He was evidently referring to Trent but your mind was too clouded with pleasure to even care. Joao lined himself up again, slowly letting the lip tease you. He couldn’t suppress the moan that fell from his lips at your wetness leaking onto him, he was so close but he wanted you for as long as he could. “Could he?” He repeated again. 

“No…” You moaned out, wanting nothing more than for him to fuck you again. 

“Who fucks you this good?” He quickly slammed himself inside of you again, tugging on your hair so that you were leaning closer to him. 

“You do…” You whispered. 

Joao pulled out before slamming back in. “I can’t hear you…” He taunted you with his slow movements. 

“You do Joao fuck!” You screamed as he started to fuck you again. His pace quickened as he pulled you against his chest, fucking you as faster. His hands reached around to play with your clit which only added to your pleasure. You started to grind back onto his cock as he slammed back inside of you. You could feel him stiffen inside of you which indicated he was close. 

“Joao I’m gonna come…” You let your head fall as you felt your stomach tighten. 

“Yeah? Come then baby… come all over my cock…” 

You couldn’t hold back for much longer, you felt your high wash over you and that was all you needed for Joao to finish inside of you. He pulled you closer to him as he finished, his groans filling your ear as the two of you slowly came down from your high. 

“So good for me.” He kissed your head as he slowly pulled out. He quickly got himself cleaned up before he helped you back into your clothes so you looked presentable to head back out to the party. “Beautiful.” He kissed your lips one last time. “I’ll head back out now, wait for a second and then follow me out. Just in case.” He turned on his heel but you called out to him before he left. 

“Joao?” He turned to meet your gaze. “Who was the other person on your mind?” 

He smiled at your words before replying. “Turn around and you’ll see her.” 

“You should know me by now Schumacher.” You propped yourself up, getting a better look at his sleepy state. “How come you’re still here?”

“Did you want me to leave?”

“No, I’m just curious as to why you wouldn’t leave.”

“This isn’t a one night stand, is it?”

“Won’t happen again -”

“So you’re saying I’m never going to win another race this season?”

“That’s always a possibility with your shitbox of a car.”

“So shit I won last season.”

“You cheated, that had nothing to do with the car.” Mick narrowed his eyes at you, his lips curling into a smirk as he slowly shifted in bed, manoeuvring himself so he was now hovering above you and you were laying flat on your back. 

“You don’t know when to let things go, do you?” His lips dove down to your neck, ghosting along your skin. “Unless you’re with me, then you do…” He started to kiss down your neck, his hands moving to your hips as his body started to grind against yours. 

This wasn’t part of the deal. It was a fuck and then he’d leave. It was never supposed to lead to round two in the morning but it felt so good. When the two of you were at Haas it felt like a relationship, you two would hang out outside of work, you’d met his family and he’d kissed you in public before. That was the day the Formula 1 side of the internet broke. A photo of you both outside a club circled around but Mick just stated that he was whispering in your ear, the picture was so blurry he almost got away with it, almost. 

“You’re so pretty…” His lips continued his journey down your body, the only sound was your light moans until someone knocked on your door. The sudden noise made Mick jump from your body, his head snapped towards the door as another knock came. 

“y/n!” Verstappens voice made Mick’s eyes widen. He looked at you with a slight glimpse of fear in his eyes. It was unusual to see him like this, the only time you’d ever seen fear in his eyes was the day you’d crashed at Silverstone but that was in the past, it was the race you never wanted to relive in fact the only time you ever let your mind travelled back to that moment was with Max. “y/n are you even awake?” 

“Give me a second!” You screamed back at your teammate. Your eyes fell towards Mick. “Get in the bath, lay down and pull the shower curtain so he doesn’t see you.” Shoving Mick off you lept up and threw on some shorts before taking a quick glance at yourself in the mirror, hoping Mick hadn’t left a reminder of the night before on your skin. Your eyes darted to the Mick who’d quickly followed your instructions before you opened the door. 

“Christ, have you only just gotten up?” Max took in your appearance before walking into your hotel room. 

“I had a late night.” You technically didn’t lie. “How come you’re here?”

“Wanted to check up on you, after yesterday. Heard the media weren’t too kind either.” 

“You know they’ll always favour Ferarri, they hate us.” 

“They only hate us since we've started winning and I don’t think anyone intends that to change.” 

“Well, I hope not Verstappen.” You gave him a smile. You always valued the bond you had with Max, the man would also always be by your side even when things were bad for him. He looked out for you on and off the track, you could never forget how he pushed Charles off the track when he accidentally clipped your car on the first turn of the France Grand Prix. Charles wouldn’t stop apologising to you after the race, more than likely out of fear that Max would hunt him down. “What else did you want?”

“Am I not allowed to just check up on you?” 

“Normally you spend the day with your family after the race.”

“Oh I plan on it, I’m meeting my Mum and sister for dinner tonight.” 

“Send them my love.” 

“You can join, my mum would love to see you again. She hasn’t seen you in a while.” 

“I’m fine Max -” 

“Come on y/n.” His eyes silently pleaded with you. “You hardly ever see your own family and my mum see’s you as one of her own so…” He let his words hang in the air as he awaited your answer. 

“What time?” Max’s eyes lit up at your words. 

“I’ll pick you up at six, we’re going to a small restaurant along the beach, should be quiet so you won’t have to worry about the media hounding us both.”

“Thank you, Max.” 

“You never have to thank me y/l/n.” His eyes scanned the room, it was almost as if he was looking for something… or someone. “But how are you? Really? After Mick winning -”

“It’s one race, Max, he won’t win like that again.” 

“I know he won’t.” Max huffed as he spoke about Mick. “Christian is trying to appeal still but he can’t promise that Mick will get any come up.” 

“You don’t need to worry about him, Max. The plan is to win it this season and either you or I will.” 

“That’s the mindset you need.” He smirked, his head falling towards the bathroom. “You mind if I use the bathroom?”

“No, it’s fine.” You didn’t sound certain in your response but it didn’t matter, Max was already heading to the same place where your rival was currently hiding after the pair of you slept together. You knew Mick wouldn’t give up where he was, not only for you but because he knew Max wouldn’t let him live another day. Whether he ended his career on the track or off it, he knew he wouldn’t live to see the sunrise tomorrow. 

Your heart was in your throat as you heard Max finishing up, your hands silently shaking as you waited for your teammate to leave your bathroom and your room. Shoving Max out of your room was evidently new to him but he put it all down to the race yesterday. He knew you’d be upset hence why he invited you to dinner with his mum and sister. When things fell apart he had his family and you but when you needed someone you only had him and the team. He knew much like you did that your parents adored you and no bond was broken with them but they were never involved in Formula 1, that was your life, not theirs. 

He opened the bathroom door, his eyes lighting up as he saw you smile at him. “You spoken to your family?” 

“Not yet.” Max frowned at your response. “Maybe fly them out, maybe it’ll be helpful if they attend Silverstone?” 

“Absoueltly not.” You cut him off. 

“Then invite them to Monaco.”

“Too high end for them.” 

“Then find a race they’ll like and invite them.” 

“I’ll think about it.” 

“How about this,” A smirk grew on his lips. “Whatever race you’re close enough to win the championship with, you invite them to that one.” 

You lingered on it for a second but you knew he wouldn’t leave without a yes and you really needed to get Mick out of the bath. “Yes fine, it’s a deal.” 

“Atta girl.” He pulled you into a quick hug before walking towards the door. “Don’t forget, six! I’ll meet you outside the hotel.” 

“I’ll see you then Max.” 

“And don’t worry about Mick, we’ll get rid of him.” 

“I believe you Verstappen.” You two shared a grin as he closed your door, leaving you alone… so he thought. 

“You know,” You heard Mick’s voice growing louder as he clambered out of the bath. “If you always need to talk about family then you can always talk to me.” He now came into view, a cocky expression on his face, ironic considering he was terrified of Max no more than a few mere minutes ago. 

“And why would I talk to you?”

“Because you know you can trust me.” 

“Can I?”

“Did I ever tell the press what we were after that photo came out? Have I ever told anyone what we were? No.” He took a breath. “Just because we broke off what we had -”

“No Mick you broke off what we had.” You kept your voice steady as you spoke. “I never wanted what we had to end, Mick.” It hurt to say those words out loud. You’d always known in your heart you’d never wanted it to end but you’d only ever said those words to Mick out of anger rather than sadness. 

“Neither did I y/n, you think it was easy to break off what we had?” He retaliated, gathering his clothes as he did so. “Do you not think I lay there every single night and not regret what I did?”

“Then why did you call it off Mick?” You stepped towards him. “If you really hate missing what we had then why haven’t you talked to me about it?”

“Because it’s not that easy.” He stepped closer towards you, now fully stressed but without his shirt, you still had that draped over your body. “I have a reputation to uphold, you don’t know what it’s like to have a famous dad -” 

“At least your family care about your job.” You replied. 

“It’s not my fault that your family couldn’t care less about you!” His heart dropped at his own words at the realisation of what he’d just spoken. He’d never meant it but when he was annoyed he always had a habit of letting words he never meant slip out. “Wait y/n I didn’t mean that I just meant -”

“Get out Mick.” 

“No y/n please I’m sorry I meant they didn’t care about the sport, I never meant it to come off like that -”

“You know what Mick I don’t care how you wanted that to come across. You will never understand what it’s like to beg your family to come to your races but they are too proud to want to look like they’re leaching off their daughter. They watch all of my races, they worked hard to get me here Mick and you won’t know what it’s like because everything was handed to you because of your stupid last name!” 

You had a point, most of the drivers on the grid were only here because of their parent's money. Sure some were richer than others but some like you and Lewis had no last name or riches to hold onto. Despite a lot of their names or riches carrying them through the sports, a few of them did have the talent that was needed to survive in this sport, Max being a key example. 

His expression drastically changed and now he looked pissed as he replied. “Do you know how easy you have it? Never having to live up to any expectations because of your parents. You could be the shittest driver on the grid and you wouldn’t get nearly as much abuse as I would all because your dad isn’t one of the greatest drivers in the world!” Mick took a short breath before he spoke again. “And do you know what it’s like to be constantly hounded by the press about your dad’s state? I’d rather my dad chose not to come rather than know he’ll never be able to.”

“Get out Mick -”

“Why? Because you know I’m right?” He challenged. 

“No because if I say what I want the two of us will rip one another's heads off and someone in this building will hear and the last thing you’ll want is for Max to hear.” 

Mick wanted to continue this fight but he knew you were right. If Max or even someone like Pierre was to hear they’d smash the door open and beat Mick up there and then. His eyes met the floor as he took a step back and headed to the door. “Enjoy your dinner tonight.” His tone was flat as he entered the hallway. 

Before he could even take a step he felt someone’s gaze lingering on his, Turning his head to the side he met the confused eyes of Lando Norris who was evidently confused at why Mick was leaving your room without a shirt the day after the race. 

“I won’t tell anyone if you won’t.” Lando held up his hands in defence as Mick watched a girl stumbling out of his room behind him, carrying last night’s heels in her hand. 

“Deal,” Mick replied before turning on his heels and heading back to his own room. 

—

Your hair bounced softly as you walked down the halls of your hotel towards the car park where Max was leaning against the hood of his car waiting for you. His face lit up with a smile as he stretched his arms open to hug you. “You look beautiful.” He commented before opening the passenger door for you. 

“Thank you Verstappen, you don’t look bad yourself.” You smirked as he closed the door and jogged around to open his door. 

“Well believe it or not I don’t always live in my racing suit.” He mirrored your smirk before slowly driving out of the car park. “My sister and Mum are already there, Victoria can’t wait to see you again.” His smirk turned to a smile. “How are you after yesterday.. I know I’ve already asked but I just want to check in you know?” He quickly changed the subject. 

“I’m fine, Mick is a prick and soon enough he’ll get his karma, he always does.” You thought back to a few races last season when he attempted to force you off the track and it backfired on him massively, then again he did walk away the winner in the end… by cheating. “It won’t happen again.” Your eyes met his for a quick glance. “Do you think his Dad will ever get to watch him race?” 

“Why do you ask that?”

“Just curious what you think.” You turned your attention to him. “Is it a crime to ask my teammate for his opinion?”

“I’d like to hope you saw me as a friend and a teammate -”

“You know I do.” 

“I’d be pissed if you didn’t but in regards to Mick, I don’t know. Micheal’s accident wasn’t exactly a clean one. Has Mick said something to you about his Dad?” 

“No.” You lied. “I was just thinking if maybe I should be mre grateful for my family -”

“You are grateful for them and they know that, he has said something, hasn’t he?” 

“No Max he hasn’t, I just thought maybe I should invite and press them to come a bit more. Mick’s Dad can’t come to races but my Dad can. He might not like to but he always has the option.” 

“I think it’ll do you good to see them at a race track because at times it honestly looks like Christian is planning on adopting you.” He broke out a small smile at his own works, one which you mirrored as you replied. 

“I could say the same to you.” 

“Well maybe the both of us could do with a supportive father-like figure at the races.” His smile dropped slightly at the thought of his Dad but he never let him get to him well… he never liked to show how Jos could get to him. 

The pair of you made small talk for the rest of the journey before pulling into the restaurant car park. Much like when you’d met him, he quickly ran round the car to open your door. He might’ve lived with his Dad for most of his life but his Mum had clearly raised him to be a gentleman. Thanking him for his actions the two of you headed inside. 

“You look gorgeous!” Victoria caught sight of you and Max. She rose in her seat and pulled you in for a hug before she stepped back to admire your outfit. 

“Thank you, Vic, it’s so nice to see you again.” You greeted his mother too, just as if she was your own. The Verstappen’s became your second family through your Formula 1 career. With your parents not attending as many races as other families they stepped in and made you feel like your family was always in the garages cheering you along at every turn.

“You two are dominating the track as usual.” Max’s mum smiled at the two of you. “Think maybe you’ll get your first Championship this year y/n?”

“She better,” Max spoke before you could answer. 

“Well that is the plan, I’m at the top for now but that can slip away fast.” 

“But you won’t let it, Horner won’t let that happen.” 

You turned to meet Max’s gaze. “Maybe if you go easy on me I might be able to win it.” 

“Well, that won’t happen.” He smiled at you. Just as you were about to speak another female vice caught everyone’s attention. 

“y/n? Is that you?” The voice belonged to none other than Gina Schumacher. Stood beside her was her mum and Mick who was giving you the widest smirk on the planet. “I haven’t seen you in ages!” Gina was at most races but that never meant you acknowledged her or any of Mick’s family for that matter. The blonde weaved her way towards you before she pulled you in for a hug, one which you weren’t anticipating for. 

They’d clearly known you and Mick were no longer as close as you both used to be. The press continued to report on it, fans wouldn’t stop talking about it and you would hardly utter a word to the Schumachers anymore. But did they know the truth behind what happened between you and Mick? By Gina and her mother’s reactions, it seemed they did not. 

Max’s family had always been close to Mick’s. He and Mick would often be seen talking and spending time with one another outside the track but ever since he met you that changed. Max learned the truth about what happened between you Mick and witnessed his cheating moves on the track and that bond he once had soon died. Sure he’d still see Mick outside of work when he and Mick’s Mum would meet up but he always kept it civil which came naturally but right now Max had to force himself to be civil towards his old friend.  

“What a coincidence that you’re here too!” Gina smiled.

“It’s nice to see you Gina and you too Corinna.” A sheepish smile spread across your lips, you didn’t dare meet the eyes of Mick. 

Corinna smiled at you before she spoke. “Have the four of you just gotten here?” 

“Yes,” Victoria spoke before anyone else could. “Have you?” 

“We have.” Mick finally spoke. “Why don’t we all just join one another? Would be a shame to waste this opportunity now we’re all together?” He grabbed a waiter's attention and asked if you could all be moved to a larger table.  Max wanted to protest against the whole idea and so did you but you both knew his Mum would skin you both alive for causing a scene. You prayed they wouldn’t have one free but God clearly didn’t wish for your prayers to be answered today.

The four of you left your table and followed the Schumachers to a table situated in the corner of the restaurant, at least you’d be out of the way if the press somehow walked in. You attempted to sit down but Mick reached your seat before you did. His eyes never left yours as he pulled the chair out, gesturing you to sit down, such a sweet action compared to those of last night. 

“Thank you.” You muttered to him as you slowly sat down. Mick took a seat beside you, his hand brushing your leg as he pulled himself closer to the table. Max kept a close eye from across the table at Mick. His gaze narrowed every single time Mick’s eyes even dared to look at you but that didn’t last long as his Mum caught on rather quickly which allowed Mick to get away with a lot. 

At first, the dinner was going fine, everyone was just catching up with one another. Both Gina and Corinna continued to speak to you as if nothing had ever happened between you and Mick which put you at ease, the last thing you needed was to be hounded with questions as to why the two of you were no longer close. 

When your drinks were set out before you Mick let one hand fall under the tablecloth his left hand made its way to your leg. Without breaking the conversation he was currently in he allowed his hand to push up your dress so he could lay in hand on your bare skin. His thumb rubbed your skin as if it was a living act between two people but you knew he was only doing it to make you snap. 

“Stop.” You whispered under your breath as you took a sip of your drink. 

“Stop what?” He muttered back, his tone an amusing one. 

“Touching my leg!” 

“You weren’t complaining last night when my hand did this.” He let his hand glide further up your leg until it reached your upper thigh. Squeezing your legs shut you shifted in your seat slightly which caught Max’s attention. 

“You okay?” He mouthed across the table so he didn’t grab anyone else’s gaze. You nodded before you tried focusing back on the conversation around the table but Mick made it harder than it should’ve been. 

“You look stunning in that dress.” He whispered, his thumb moving back and forth on your inner thigh. “But not as good as you looked in my shirt this morning,” He took a sip of his drink. “You can keep it by the way -”

“You’ll have it back before you fly tomorrow.” You muttered. 

“I don’t want it, it looks better on you.” 

“Well, I don’t want it either.” You snapped at him and attempted to pull your legs away from him but this time Mick was prepared. With just his left hand he pried your legs further apart so his hand could now reach your underwear. He lightly pressed on your clothed clit with his fingers, a cocky smile on his lips as he watched you attempt to hide your reaction to the sudden action. 

“Not sure if I can wait till I win again to hear your beautiful moans and feel your body under mine-”

“Well, that’s a shame.” You tried to shrug him off but he wasn’t going away that easily. 

“I know you want more.”

He technically wasn’t wrong. Part of you hated that Max had interrupted the two of you this morning. Last night did feel good and you wanted it to happen again, much to your own dismay. You knew you shouldn’t. You’d finally gotten over what had happened between you and Mick, you still hated what had happened but the feelings you once thought you’d had for the blonde had washed away and the thought of sleeping with him time and time again just made you worry those feelings would creep back into your heart. 

He was going to be the death of you. 

You were sat in one of the chairs, Rowan laying on your chest as he tried to fall asleep having just eaten. He was much bigger than he was when Charles came back into his life, the only bonus was that he was sleeping through the night better. 

“I’ll take him, love.” Charles held his hands out for you. Obliging you handed Rowan to him, a small grin on your lips as you watched Charles’ face light up as he held his son. “God he’s getting big now.”

“He’ll start talking soon.”

“Don’t think I’m ready for that.” He sat opposite you, Rowan now clutching the collar of his shirt as he drifted off to sleep. “I just want him to stay small.” 

“It flies by but I won’t miss him waking us up during the middle of the night.” 

“I think I’ll miss all of it.” Charles planted a kiss on Rowan's forehead. “Apart from changing his nappy.” 

“You’ll still have to do that for now.” You replied, the pair of you sharing a light laugh. 

“Do you want another?” Charles suddenly asked. 

“Not yet.” You replied. 

He smiled at your response before he replied. “I’d like a daughter next.” His soft eyes met yours. “Obviously not yet but maybe when Rowan gets older and the two of us can finally get some decent sleep.” 

“That means you’ll be around for the pregnancy and that isn’t easy.” 

“You won’t have to do a thing when I’m around.” 

“I’ll hold you to that Leclerc.” 

Charles had successfully qualified on pole for his home race, something he was considerably pleased about but also something he was incredibly worried about. The curse of his home race haunted him every time he looked at the track. Whether Ferarri messed up his strategy or found himself lodged into a wall, Charles could never finish the race. But this year he hoped for it to be different. 

He was currently waiting in the Ferarri garage for the race to begin, Rowan on his lap as he looked at the bright red car before him. You’d dressed your son in Ferarri merchandise, specifically a shirt with his dad’s number on it.

Rowan made grabby hands and started to make noises at the car before him. Holding him close Charles stood up and moved towards the car. He smiled as the small boy grabbed the side of the car, giggling as he did so. With a gleaming smile on his lips, Charles climbed into the car and held his son close to him. Rowan couldn’t hold his laughter as he grabbed onto everything around him. 

“Think we might have another racing driver in the family,” Charles announced as he laughed at his son. You mirrored his actions, your heart always melted at the sight of him with Rowan. He took to being a Dad so naturally, from the moment he came back into your life he took to Rowan so effortlessly and acted as if the two of you had been dating for years. 

Charles tried to enjoy the moment with him but his mind was racing with worried thoughts. “Don’t look so worried Char.” You spoke up, watching as Charles only smiled when Rowan looked back at him. “Not finishing in P1 won’t be the end of the world.” 

The brunette let his eyes fall on you. “I know but it’s my home race, the rest of the drivers have won theirs, I just want to win mine.” 

“And you will.” You stepped over to him, leaning down to plant a kiss on his lips. 

“And if I don’t?”

“If you keep believing that you won’t win it then you won’t.” 

As Charles went to reply but one of the mechanics told him it was time for him to make his way to the track. He held Rowan out for you to take before sharing one last kiss before he got his helmet on and braced himself for the race of his life. 

Rowan and you sat watching him inside the garages. Rowan had a pair of Ferarri headphones to block out the noise as he watched his father race. Every time the car appeared on the screen Rowan let out a giggle, his tiny hands pointing to the screen. Everyone in the garages loved him, Daniel wouldn’t stop bothering him when he saw the three of you in the hotel… at least you knew you always had a spare babysitter in him if needed. 

Every single time Charles approached a corner your heart stopped but he was okay. The man was going to send you into cardiac arrest every time he sped up around a sharp bend but he was fine, even when Max was breathing down his neck. Both you and Charles felt every single second of that race but he was across the finish line with only lapped cars in front of him. For the first time in his career, he’d won his home race and both the love of his life and son were there to witness it. 

The only time you’d ever seen Charles this happy was when he saw you in the woods with Rowan and the dog a year ago. Leaping out of his car he hurled himself towards you as he threw his helmet aside. Cupping your jaw Charles pulled your lips onto his whilst his hands held you as close to him as you could get. He deepened the kiss slightly but unfortunately had to pull away sooner than he would’ve liked. 

“Everything is perfect.” His eyes met yours as he spoke before being dragged away for the celebrations. You’d never been prouder of him, it was a moment you wished you could’ve frozen in time for you all to look back on. 

—

Formula 1 had ended for the season and now in the cold English weather, Charles was taking you both to a restaurant just outside the village whilst Arthur came and babysat. He was dressed in a smart black suit paired with a red tie whilst you adorned a stunning slip dress that Charles had bought you for Christmas.

“Right you know what you’re doing, don’t you?” Charles had cornered Arthur in your living room whilst you finished settling your son down. 

“I’ve looked after him a million times, it’ll be fine.” Arthur shrugged his brother off as he watched you rock the child into an easy slumber. “Besides he’s asleep, hopefully, he’ll stay like that until the two of you come back and you two can deal with the screaming child all night.” 

“It’ll be Charles dealing with him and besides he doesn’t scream like he used to but he he does then Charles can deal with him seeing that he’s the one on holiday.” Referencing the winter break you stepped towards the brothers. “He’ll be fine anyway, he’ll need to be changed and he may need another feed depending on how late we get back. The bottles are in the fridge, just don’t forget to sterilise them when you’re done.” 

“I won’t, I promise.” 

“You remember how to do that right?” Charles added. 

“I know what I’m doing.” Arthur gave Charles a dumbfounded look before he spoke again. “If anything goes wrong I’ll call you two straight away. You know that.” Charles gave him a light nod before he turned back to you. He planted a kiss on your cheek before leaning down to kiss Rowan’s forehead. 

“Leo’s already been walked and fed, he’ll let you know when he needs the bathroom. You just might need to burn off some energy with him outside, he can occasionally get restless when we aren’t home -”

“When you aren’t home.” Charles corrected, sending you a look. “He loves it when I’m gone.”

“He’ll warm up to you eventually.”

“It’s been over a year and he hates me,” The dog seemed to narrow his gaze at your boyfriend as he spoke. “Look how he’s looking at me!”

“Because he knows you’re talking shit about him.” You held Rowan out for Charles. “You can put Rowan down and I’ll just run Arthur through Leo’s schedule as he clearly hates you.” A smile spread across your lips when Charles muttered a string of insults towards the dog under his breath whilst he trudged upstairs to put Rowan down.

“Why does he hate Charles?” Arthur leant down allowing Leo to come towards him. The german shepherd always seemed fond of the younger Leclerc brother.

“Well, they do say dogs can sense things we can’t. I think he knows what happened and when Charles ran up to us in the woods it meant Leo saw him as a threat. It’ll take time.” 

“Surely he’s got used to him now, the two of you finally made it official and now you live together.” 

“Maybe he’s just jealous.” You now followed suit with Arthur’s actions, bending down to meet Leo. The dog trotted towards you, letting his head crash into your chest as you smoothed down his fur. 

“Think Charles is the jealous one.” An annoyed-looking Charles leaning up against the doorway caught your and Arthur's attention.

“I’m not jealous of the dog, he just needs to know boundaries.”

“He does know boundaries.” 

“When it comes to the house he does, he won’t even let me kiss you without sparing me a dirty look.”

“He’s a dog, Char.” 

“An annoying one at that.” 

You didn’t plan to argue over who the dog preferred before your night so the two of you thanked Arthur and checked on Rowan one last time before heading out of the door. 

On your way to the restaurant Charles couldn’t keep his hands off you and his mouth would never close as he dropped every compliment he could think of during the journey but now he acted on edge. You watched as he continued to play with his ring and glance over at his phone every few seconds. 

He leaned back on his chair, letting out a narrow breath as his leg now started to bounce. Reaching forward you took your hand into his before speaking. “Char?”

“Hmm?” He attempted to keep his voice steady as he gripped your hand. 

“What’s wrong? You look like you’re about to have a panic attack -” 

“How are you so calm?”

“Sorry?” 

Charles leaned forward, his free hand grabbing yours as his enduring eyes met your curious ones. “How are you so calm being away from Rowan? Don’t you worry about him?”

“Of course I do.” Giving him a warm smile you continued. “But I know he’s safe with Arthur and before he and you came back into my life, Margret used to babysit him so I could have time to recover and just relax. I still worry about him but I know he’s safe and you know if anything was to happen Arthur could call us immediately.” 

“I know.” He returned the small smile. “But I still worry. I’ve already spent too much time away from him.” His grip on your hand tightened.

“But you’re here now and that’s all that matters. Besides Rowan won’t ever know -”

“But I will.” 

“I know you will but it’s in the past. It wasn’t your fault and Rowan will know that if we decide to tell him when he gets older.” 

“It was partly my fault -”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Yes it was -”

You gave him a look which screamed ‘let's not get into this argument again’ which caused Charles to let out a small smile before he leaned back into his chair. “You win.” He smirked as he picked up his drink and raised it to his lips. 

“I always do.” 

“Clearly.” His smirk grew as his eyes glued onto yours. 

The pair of you forgot about his worries as you continued to eat and drink. Charles lost himself in conversation and your eyes so much that he didn’t notice the three missed calls from his brother. It was only when you both went to pay the bill that you noticed the younger Leclerc had texted you. 

Arthur: Can you get Charles to call me? Or can you when you see this.

You: Is everything okay? Is Rowan okay?

Arthur: Rowan is fine, it’s Leo I’m worried about. Get Charles to call me.

You: Why him? He’s my dog.

Arthur: Please just get him to call me.

“Char?” You spoke just as Charles tipped your waiter.

“Yeah?”

“Arthur wants you to call him -”

“What?” He reached for his phone. “Is Rowan okay?”

“He’s fine apparently it’s the dog he’s worried about.” 

Charles furrowed his brows, confused at why his brother would want to ask him about Leo when it was pretty evident that your dog hated Charles. Despite him not being able to talk or even understand you both, Charles was convinced he knew what happened between you both and ultimately took your side in the whole situation. 

The brunette quickly called his brother, raising the phone to his ear as he spoke. “You okay?” He spoke to Arthur, his eyes meeting yours occasionally as the conversation continued. “It’s called Kingstone veterinary, it’s about ten minutes away. Take Rowan with you and we’ll meet you there.” 

“What’s going on?” Your voice was laced with worry at the mention of the vets. 

“Leo got into something he shouldn’t of.” 

“What?” Charles met your eyes, taking a deep breath he searched your worried eyes and debated if he should lie. “Charles, what did he get into?”

“I bought it ages ago, I wasn’t going to ask you anytime soon. I wanted to wait until the two of us set up the house how we wanted, went on more dates and when the time was right I was going to ask you to marry me. When I saw the ring I couldn’t not get it. It was perfect and now Leo managed to find it and decided he never wanted me to ask that question so he ate it.” He huffed before finishing. “That dog hates me -”

“You want to marry me?” 

His eyes softened at your words. “Of course I do y/n.” He once again took your hands into his. “I’ve always wanted you and I knew that I couldn’t have you because you were my brother’s best friend but I had a plan on how I’d get you… didn’t involve us having a son but I wouldn’t change it for the world now.” He raised your hands and planted a kiss on the top of them before his thumbs ran across your skin. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” You mirrored his smile. “And as much as I’d love to stay here right now, you could have killed the dog with the ring so we might want to get to the vet.” 

“It’s not my fault that thing hates me!” He replied, standing up with you before the two of you left to meet Arthur at the vet. 

—

Arthur was sat in the waiting room with Rowan who was beginning to let out small cries, clearly missing his parents whilst Leo was undergoing surgery. Arthur knew how much Leo meant to you, after all, he was the reason why you felt so safe without him or Charles around. The boy let his leg bounce up and down as he tried to calm Rowan who did nothing but make his true feelings heard. 

“Shh… shhh…” Arthur attempted to silence the child but he refused to stay quiet. “Come on little man, your mum and dad will be here soon…” His eyes wandered to the pale clock mounted on the wall. “I hope so anyway…” 

With your hand in his, Charles dragged you through the doors of the practice. The sudden sound of the doors opening grabbed Arthur's attention, a sudden wash of relief on his face as he watched the two of you approach him with worried glances. Without a word falling from his lips, Charles scooped his son from his brother’s arms, holding Rowan in a safe embrace before swaying side to side in an attempt to calm the distressed baby. If there was one thing you adored about Charles it was how quickly he adapted to being a dad and his urge to protect Rowan. He never wanted to leave him for too long and if the two of you were in the company of others he would do everything in his power to not let go of Rowan, even if the family wanted to hold him. 

“Where’s Leo?” You asked as Arthur embraced you. 

“Undergoing surgery, they were worried the ring would get caught up in his intestines…” Arthur's eyes widened at his own words, his head snapped towards Charles as he ran a hand through his hair. “You told her what he ate, didn’t you?”

“Yes she knows… not much of a surprise now…” He replied, clearly upset that the proposal would now not come as a shock to you although he tried to convince himself you knew he’d ask you at one point. Your hand came up to his arm, lightly touching his skin as a silent way to let him know that you really didn’t care about the surprise. You had him and your son, that’s all you needed, you never needed a ring to prove your love for him. 

“Charles I -”

“Miss y/l/n?” An older voice caught your attention. You met the warming gaze of your vet Logan. “He’s out of surgery, you and your partner are welcome to see him now.” He gestured to the door behind him. 

“Is he okay?” Charles asked. 

“He’ll be fine. He’s a little high from the anaesthetic but that’ll pass. He can come home tonight and… I’m presuming you want the ring back… Mr Leclerc?” 

“As long as it doesn’t have his organs clinging to the diamond.” 

“Charming thought Charles.” Sparing a glance at your boyfriend you followed Logan into the surgery room where you saw a very high Leo. Despite his sorry state he started to wag his tail and whine at the sight of his family. “Hello boy…” You took his head in your hands, your thumbs smoothing his fur. “Where did you even hide the ring?” Turning back to Charles you asked the question on your mind. 

“In my underwear drawer… oh I swear to god if he’s put a hole in my fireproofs!” 

“Can’t you just ask Ferrari for more?”

“And explain how the dog tried to sabotage my plans to propose to you? I’d rather not be mocked for the rest of the season.” 

You couldn’t help but laugh at his annoyance before turning back to the dog. “How did you even get into that?”

“He’s been watching me -”

“Charles he’s a dog not James Bond.” 

“You never know…” He trailed off, stepping closer to you. He wrapped an arm around your waist and gently pulled you into his side. “I’m sorry -”

“For what?” You turned your head towards his. 

“Ruining the surprise. I had everything planned out… I just needed the chance.”

“Char I know you love me and I know you love Rowan. I don’t need a ring to prove that. Yes, it would be nice to be married to you, I would love to call you my husband but the important thing is that we’re all back together. Rowan has his Dad and I have the man I love.” 

He didn’t say anything as he leaned down with only a smile on his lips and planted his lips onto yours, a silent gesture of agreement but even an operation wouldn’t stop Leo from voicing his opinion. The dog barked making Charles jump back from you.