Adrenaline: A Lestappen Story

𝟏𝟗 - 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐳

When the timer finally clocked down, Max was informed that he had placed P2. The weight of expectations pressed heavily upon him when he learned of the result through the radio. The pressure from his devoted fans, the pride of his nation, and, perhaps most significantly, the expectations of his father, all descended upon him in that moment of realization. He wasn't first.

Upon parking his car, Max pushed himself out of the cockpit, moving out to greet a few of his team members with less enthusiasm than usual. There he didn't see his father.

"Guys, this isn't the race," Charles gently reminded his enthusiastic crew. Despite their awareness, the unexpected stroke of luck had caught them off guard. Ruffling his hair, they expressed their pride in their "golden boy," urging him to savor the achievement. Charles, aware that pole position wasn't a guarantee of victory, acknowledged the looming competition from Max. The collective optimism, however, fueled a determination to give their best in the upcoming race. It was the front row for Ferrari, and the sea of red radiated nothing but smiles.

"Great job," Carlos said, being one of the many people to take Charles into a hug, his hand lingering on his waist even as he pulled away from the boy. "You said yes to dinner depending on the outcome, let me take you out as a congratulations," he said, waiting for an answer but not receiving one before he was pulled away, interviewers lining up with questions for the drivers.

Upon finally crossing paths with Charles as he removed his helmet and gloves. Max surrendered himself to his momentary defeat. "Great job out there."

At the sound of the all-too-familiar voice, Charles looked up and locked eyes with the deep blue gaze that revealed a hint of disappointment. Yet, he felt a spark within him, recognizing that Max was still extending kindness. "Thank you, you too," he said, fully aware that anything less than first place would never meet Max's high standards.

Stopping himself from asking the Red bull driver for his plans afterwards, remembering that he'd burnt that bridge down by confessing to him, Charles simply gave him a nod and followed after him to the lineup of interviewers, silently missing the dynamic he'd ruined.

"I almost went out on turn five," Max commented to the Ferrari driver, breaking the clear tension in between the two.

"Did you?" Charles asked in surprise, effortlessly slipping into a conversation with Max. He had feared that ending the night on top would further strain their relationship, but there were no signs of animosity from the other man. This filled him with a sense of relief.

"Apparently Logan Sergent did go a bit off on that same curve though, almost crashed," The blond started to explain, using his hands to show how far Williams had gone off track. "I think he only tapped the wall though, or else we'd have had a yellow flag."

"It was a tricky one!" Charles continued, paying close attention to every word that Max spoke, watching his hand gestures and being unable to stop himself from finding them endearing. He has been around Max his entire life and even now that the entire world knew of his habits, Charles still felt as if he had an understanding of the blond that others didn't possess.

"It was on my third time around that I felt the wheel shake a bit, and if my grip hadn't been there it would have been me against that wall," Charles offered commentary on his own experience and walked closely alongside Max up until he was next to be interviewed.

Once Max was gone, Charles waited patiently for his own turn and kept his attention fixated on the Dutch as he vaguely overheard a couple of his answers, wanting the media part of the night to be over and go back to his conversation.

"I didn't get a chance to catch your answer," Carlos said to Charles, standing directly in front of him and blocking all views of Max, which forced him to pay attention to the topic at hand.