F1 Reader Inserts

Shades of Grey || CL16

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x fem!driver!reader 

Summary: After getting into a terrible crash you wish you had the chance to tell Charles how you felt. 

Word Count: 8k

Adrenaline was always running through your veins the night before a race. It was the same explosive mix of brimming excitement laced with a hint of fear. So when the track was closed and the flood lights went dark you would quietly leave your motorhome and walk the grid.

The silence was peaceful in a way that couldn't be found at any other time. 3am was like a parallel universe where all the distractions and worries were lost to the stars above. You were in a world of your own.

"You should be sleeping," Charles said as he looked down where you lay under the starting lights.

You hadn't even heard his footsteps approaching as you imagined the track, your fingers twitching with the memory of its banks and turns. Though it was cold asphalt beneath you, it was the memory of the moulded seat that you felt against your thin clothes.

As the first and only female driver there was a pressure that the other drivers would never feel. You had to fight for not just your position but for all the future female drivers who aspired to race in Formula One. If you didn't meet the expectations then it wasn't just your future at stake and you felt the weight of that every time you sat in the car. It drove you to push harder and test the limits of the car, it drove you to practise more than the other drivers.

You were pulled from your thoughts and looked up the length of his body. You took in everything from the loose grey sweatpants to the plain white t-shirt and then to the eyes that had been witness to your greatest and worst moments.

"Lie down," you said as you patted the cold ground beside you. "It'll be like old times."

"We've come a long way since F3." Despite the words, he laid down beside you and you laced your hand with his. He had always let you take comfort in the touch since he knew how nervous you got, even after years of racing. Those nerves had only increased after your recent debut into Formula One.

"Does it get easier?" you asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the silence of the night.

You looked across at him, the moonlight illuminating his eyes that seemed torn between wanting to calm you and wanting to be honest. "It doesn't get harder."

You lost yourself in his eyes and remembered dreaming of a time when you thought the friendship might be more. That dream had slipped away as his career took off and yours remained the same. Your paths had no longer crossed often but you had still tried to keep in touch despite the newfound distance. If friendship was all you could have then you would take it if the alternative was having nothing. But you would always ask yourself 'what if'.

"You'll catch a cold lying down here all night," Charles said, cleaving through the moment and shaking you from your daydream. "Vamos." You groaned but let him pull you to your feet and he slung his arm over your shoulders. "Can't have you anything but your best for tomorrow."

"Maybe it will be the day I finally beat you."

Charles chuckled. "Would I still have to be your slave for a week?"

You laughed at the reminder of the challenge that had been set years ago and shook your head. "I wouldn't know what to do with you for a whole week."

He looked down the corner of his eye at you and his lips twitched up. "I'm sure you'd think of something."

Your heart skipped a beat at the deepening in his tone and the way he swallowed afterwards like the words were thick with meaning. Were you reading too far into it? Was it just hope leading you to misunderstand the innocent statement?