SLIPSTREAM. ➟ 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘤 𝘢𝘶

➟ 08. winner, winner

a/n: long chapter ahead! but i've enjoyed writing this one the most so far <333 hope you guys like it too HAHAHA

" that wasn't very subtle, was it? "

_________

Somehow that night in Miami brought the two closer. To his delight and to her bewilderment.

Not that it was bad or anything. Because of it, Andie had begun to see Charles in a different light whilst he had been waiting for her to do so as he had been seeing her as such for all this time. However, this calls for the consideration of their—to put it bluntly—their denseness.

Andie had been taking notice of how her regard for Charles had been changing and so, whenever she feels that it was starting to show in the way she interacted with him, she suddenly puts herself at a comfortable distance as to not make it shamelessly obvious. This makes Charles think she's drawing the line that is their friendship.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Though, it wasn't much of a big deal. It's even allowed them to "meaninglessly" flirt with one another more out in the open but they've already been obligated to do this way before already... the only difference one may notice now is that they did so more often and more playfully.

As for Pierre though, as much as Andie likes to be around him a lot and all that, it's safe to say that he just doesn't have that gravitational pull on her like Charles does. She's decided not to do anything that could lead Pierre on because she would feel really bad if she did. First and foremost, he was a great friend and she wanted it to stay that way.

Anywho, the next grand prix would be in Paul Ricard; Andie and Pierre's home race. The days counting to the race weekend went by in a flash that the next thing they knew, it was only two days until the first free practice.

The Ferrari team had arrived in Le Castellet, France nearing the end of Tuesday. Tired from the flight, the scuderia just decided to have Wednesday as a rest day as Thursday to be conditioning day and Friday would mean Media Day and FP1, the official start to the French race weekend.

Everyone checked-in, headed to their rooms to throw in the towel for the day, and expected to sleep long hours until the next morning... yet, that wasn't the case for Andie and, eventually, Charles.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz... Buzz, buzz.

Andie raised her head from her pillow only to have the morning sunshine blind her as she squinted her eyes open, in search for her phone that kept receiving messages at this ungodly hour. It was 6:30 AM and she's only had 4 hours of sleep so far.

She fought to keep her eyes open as she unlocked her phone, checking who was trying to reach her.

Maman 🐓💗
Bonjour, ma fille! Your brothers and your father and I will be flying to Le Castellet later this evening.

Maman 🐓💗
We want to make sure we get there early to watch you race this whole weekend. Bonne chance!

Maman 🐓💗
I'm so excited for you, mon cherie 🥰

Andie smiled as she groggily read through her mother's giddy morning texts... but then she got to the last two and suddenly she was jolted awake with panic.