Charlos || Charles Leclerc x Carlos Sainz Jr.

United States

(Yeehaw 🤠)

Standing in the mirror, Charles leaned close to inspect himself further. Opening his mouth wide, he realized there was cinnamon stuck between his teeth.

He was mildly embarrassed that no one had bothered to point this out to him, but still smiled softly at the memory of Carlos pulling him into a peppery kiss, mouth coated with spices from those horrible pumpkin lattes he had taken a liking to.

The past days had been lovely and domestic between them, and Charles couldn't shake the feeling that it was all too good to be true. He glanced at his phone again as he started brushing his teeth, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop.

He sputtered as the brush hit his tongue, spitting out immediately. Looking at the toothpaste in hand, he realized it was bubblegum flavored. He disliked the taste, preferring standard mint, but it was Carlos's favorite, and he had bought the tube when he had started staying over more often.

Expecting the bubblegum flavor this time, he began to brush his teeth once more. The repetitive movement gave him time to think, maybe too much for his own good.

He had never been in a serious relationship before, much too scared to put himself out there after what had happened with Raphael. Not to mention that they were coworkers, which complicated things exponentially. Deep down, he knew Carlos would never hurt him, but whenever he woke up to an empty bed, there was always a moment of panic when he thought Carlos had left him for good. When he closed his eyes he saw Rapheal standing there, two faceless boys behind him, and the boy who was once his best friend looking at him with nothing but hatred and disgust.

He could've dealt with the broken ribs and bruises if Rapheal had only smiled at him again and told him they could still be friends. He hadn't, and Charles had suffered and healed in silence, with no kind smiles or hushed whispers between friends to help him through.

Being with Carlos was terrifying. His guards were slowly broken down, so slowly, in fact, that he wasn't sure when they'd broken down at all. He had trusted Carlos, but then his trust was shattered, his heart flayed open in a way not even Rapheal had managed. Then suddenly Carlos was back at his side, and despite all his instincts telling him not to, he trusted the Spaniard implicitly. Charles' heart was in his hands, and there was nothing he could do about it, or even wanted it.

Charles had shown his hand – his soul on a platter for Carlos to dissect, and he had kept it safe. There were still a lot of factors they hadn't considered before jumping into their relationship, but Charles knew he loved the other in a way he hadn't let himself before.

His phone buzzed suddenly, and he spit before checking his texts.

Carlos had sent a picture of a sizable burrito with the caption everything reminds me of you.

Charles let out a startled laugh. He rolled his eyes at the fact that this was the man he'd somehow fallen for. Good thing he could be immature too. He sent a selfie back, toothpaste dripping down the corner of his mouth, captioning it, me too.

His phone buzzed and he nearly dropped it out of surprise. Carlos was FaceTiming him. He rinsed his mouth before answering. "Hey."

Carlos was laughing, his head down and out of frame. "I can't believe you sent that!" He exclaimed at last.

"Really? You started it!"

Carlos huffed out an exasperated sigh, but his tone remained mischievous. "I am who I am!"

"I know. There's no changing you."

"Not that you want too," Carlos said, his confidence evident in the smug look he gave.

Charles pitched his voice higher. "Well..."

"Hey!"

They dissolved into laughter again, and Charles realized how good it felt to laugh like he didn't have a care in the world. He and Carlos laughed like that a lot, but only with each other.

🏎 🏎 🏎

Carlos was having a pretty shit day. After starting on pole, he'd been sent into a wall midway though the first lap. His bad luck seemed never ending. Trudging his way through the garage, he decided to get another cup of coffee before having to talk to the press like he wasn't absolutely livid.

When he made it to the espresso machine however, there was a wasian girl and a brown girl already hovering over it. He stopped in his tracks, knowing that they weren't supposed to be in the garage and wondering how they'd got there in the first place. Before he had a chance to ask, the brown girl noticed him.

"Oh heyyy," she said as if this were any other Sunday. "Do you know where the sweetener is?"

He pulled open the drawer on the left and she added an ungodly amount of sweetener to her cup. The wasian girl did the same and lifted the paper cup to her lips, nodding approvingly.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Carlos managed at last. These girls had been everywhere, and he felt like he was going insane every time they popped up somewhere else.

The wasian girl gestured to her cup like it was obvious. "Getting coffee."

Carlos nodded dumbly, "Hmm, me too." They stepped aside to let him have access to the machine, and with surprisingly still hands, he began to measure out the grounds.

"So," he tried casually, "I've seen you a lot recently."

"Damn that's crazy." The brown girl deadpanned.

"Yeah..." he was about to ask another question, but the wasian girl was pulling her friend away.

"Well say hi to Charles for us! Sorry about your race!" She called, already halfway out the room.

Carlos stood there, flabbergasted, until he pulled himself together enough to finish making the shot of espresso.

When he saw Charles after the race he'd told him what happened. Charles looked equally as astonished.

"No one else sees it!" He said at last.

Carlos agreed vehemently, "It's like we're the only ones who notice their existence!"

Charles nodded, "what do you think they're here for?"

Carlos shrugged before remembering. "Oh!"

"Hm?"

"They told me to say hi to you for them."

Charles cackled at that, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's neck. "I love you, you know that?"

"I wasn't aware," he responded teasingly.

Carlos felt all the tension of the day melt when Charles leaned in. "Liar."

Carlos only hummed, wrapping his arms around Charles and pulling him close until their noses were almost touching. Carlos didn't need to say it back. Charles knew that their kiss meant the same thing. 

***

We probably won't post for the next few weeks due to the sheer amount of tasks we have to complete. Apologies for the mini hiatus, but the next chapter will be a banger. (Probably, idk, I haven't written it yet.)