Not A Verstappen || CL16 & LN4

Untitled Part 26

Charles' cheeks hurt from the smile that split his face and his chest heaved with elation as he screamed into his helmet. He had risked everything to overtake Checo in the last corner of the last lap and his team had been against the move, but he showed them why he was Ferrari's golden boy.

Pulling up into the space beside Max's car, Charles leapt out of the cockpit and rushed over to his team searching for you and Lando. He had been told you were both back from the hospital but he couldn't find you as he scanned the area. "Xavi! Where are they?" Charles asked over the noise. It was almost deafening how loud the cries of congratulations were.

"They're fine, just go get weighed - the car is waiting," he said with a nod to the Rolls-Royce that would take him, Max and Checo to the post-race interviews at the Bellagio.

Max had already been weighed and dumped his helmet on his stand, replacing it for his water bottle. His face was redder than usual and he squeezed the bottle, gulping down the heavy electrolytes with a look that set Charles on edge.

"Go," Xavi urged when Charles failed to move.

His excitement and happiness was still at the forefront of his mind but in the back of it he wondered what had happened. He assumed it was regarding Lando's injuries, that seemed the most obvious thing, but since he had been released from the hospital it can't have been too bad.

"Stay calm," Max said as they saddled up beside each other in the back of the car.

That was not what Charles wanted to hear. "What the fuck is going on?"

Checo looked out of the window and kept to himself as he waved to the crowd.

Max was never one to cower from pressure and he held Charles' eyes as he broke the news GP had given him a few laps before the race ended. "Everyone knows that Y/N is pregnant, and that's why she lost her seat."

Shock, fear, anger. All of those passed across Charles' face before he looked away and swallowed. "Is she safe?"

"She's in the McLaren garage, she's safe."

Charles' heart slowly began to recover but the pulsing of its beat in his head still thumped. "How?" he choked, as he broke away from the bright lights of the city and faced the man he considered his brother-in-law. "How did they find out?"

Max winced, though he knew this was where the conversation would head before it even started. The car was pulling into the front of the hotel and he knew that he was running out of time. There was no way that any interviewer would be able to resist asking Charles about the news, despite his titillating overtake on the last turn.

"It wasn't his fault," Max started and immediately Charles' stomach dropped. "Lando was on strong painkillers and didn't know what he was doing."

Charles was glad the car came to a stop and he didn't wait for the valet to open the door before he was out. The air seemed too thin to fill his lungs as he worried about your safety, it was always his biggest concern.

A hand grabbed his shoulder, snapping him back to the present and Max gave it a squeeze. "Come on, mate. It was an accident. Pull yourself together and let's get back to them, okay?"

He nodded numbly, pushing back his emotions because like on the track they would do no good going to the interviews. He had been trained for this, for the press, and he would try his best to stay calm. Max could see Charles struggle, his knuckles turning white around the microphone that he clenched from the moment he was offered congratulations. Though he wasn't comfortable, Charles' smile was genuine when he said how excited he was to be a father and start a family.