A/N:
It's the race chapter! If you're reading this, I highly recommend you guys to listen to the instrumental osts I put in the paragraph. I got goosebumps again at how fitting it was, dammit. Enjoy!
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[Nahoko (I Miss You) - The Wind Rises]
"Pace is good. You're the fastest on track." I could hear Xavier's voice, Charles' race engineer, through the headphones.
It was lap 46/57 and Charles was leading the race, but suddenly his voice could be heard, "There was something strange with the engine."
Oh no...
"Okay, copy that. We are checking it." Xavier, Charles' race engineer's voice could be heard.
"There was something strange with the engine! Fuck!" he repeated.
The Ferrari was limping and it hurt me to see him struggling so much. What's happening all of a sudden?
"Driver default CHARLIE 46. We need K2 off, an OK button... and we need SOC9, SOC9." Xavier said to Charles. I didn't understand these codes. Were they trying to launch a rocket or something?
"How many laps left?", Charles breathlessly asked him.
"Multifunction STRAT 6, STRAT 6. Eleven laps to go."
"What's happening?" he sounded so panicked and stressed now.
"We have no H recovery, Hamilton 5 seconds behind. And we need driver default DELTA 15 ON. Then we need driver default DELTA 15 OFF."
My head hurt from listening to this conversation and my heart was racing just like the grand prix itself. I couldn't control it. These feelings were so mixed that if I was a car, I would've spun towards the wall right away.
"There is nothing he can do to stop the inevitable!", the commentator said as the Mercedes zoomed past him with ease.
"9 laps to go, Bottas behind 9 seconds." Xavier said.
So it was Lewis that just went past him. "And follow the number on the dash, fuel numbers on the dash." it was Xavier again.
"Yeah... but, I can't.. Oh my god." Charles sounded devastated. He is currently in 2nd position now.
"Target lap time 38.0," he repeated, "38.0. Gap to-"
"I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't... Believe it, I can't."
My cheeks were wet from tears I didn't realize was flowing. I was such a weakling.
"And 4 laps to go, 4 laps to go." I just saw the second Mercedes overtook him and he's down to P3 now. After the nerve wrecking silence, Xavier spoke again.
"Next car behind is Verstappen, 6.5 seconds."
Oh god, if it goes on like this, he might lose the podium. I felt my stomach twisting. Come on, Charles, you can do it.. I didn't dare to look at the screen again.
"Yellow in turn 1 and 2. Double yellow now."
There's a yellow flag? Turned out it was Hulkenberg and Ricciardo on the grass. I felt like my legs just turned into jelly when they said that the race will finish behind the safety car. Which means the speed was limited and no overtaking was allowed. Thank god!
That gave Charles a chance to keep his position away from Max until the end of the race.
He got lucky.
The fireworks blazed into the night sky in Sakhir. The result was Hamilton, Bottas, and Charles in order. We cheered nonetheless and congratulated each other. "Great job, people. Grazie." I said while hugging some of the staff. My legs felt so weak.
"Ah... well guys. I'm.. I'm sorry, I don't know what to say," I heard Charles' voice. "What a shame. What an amazing race we've had. I probably have some lucky stars from up there because of the safety car at the end, we have been pretty lucky in a..." he stammered, "... in an unlucky situation, let's say like this. Should I go to the grid? I can't remember what I need to do now."
Xavier then told Charles what to do like always. Then Sebastian's comment came through. "And er... Not sure, but... What I saw, I'm really sorry.. For Charles. He drove an excellent race, very strong. And he should've won it."
They finished at the podium and after the celebration was over, Charles stormed out to the paddock where all the reporters were waiting for him. He forced a smile but I know he's disappointed and upset.
Didn't have time to rest even a minute, there I saw from afar, Charles were talking to many reporters who were waiting in line, waiting for their turn to interview him one by one. That must be very exhausting.
I wanted to comfort him so badly, but I think I might be the last person he wanted to see right now, so I turned away and walked to Ferrari's suite where there were not a lot of people around so I can relax a bit. Most of the staff were working post-race and taking care of the media of course.
I was stupid. I fell asleep on the couch in the paddock suite. Thank god, Mr. Todt noticed me and woke me up. "Me and Charles were looking all over the place for you. You didn't pick up your phone," he said while smiling.
I rubbed my eyes. "What time is it now? Oh my god."
"Don't worry, just come along and let's go back to the hotel. Charles is already waiting for you in the car."
He pointed at the black van waiting on the pickup area. The window was so tinted, nobody could even take a peek inside. Mr. Todt escorted me to the van and I thanked him again. "Don't worry about it," he said. "You did a great job and... I.. uh, I don't know what to say. Just get some rest." I said to him.
Mr. Todt sighed heavily but still managed to smile and tapped on my shoulder. "We made mistakes and we learned from it. I promise, we will get better. I'm sorry to have disappointed you."
"No! Not at all!"
"I promise, you will see your brother in the centre of the podium someday," he smiled then knocked on the van's door. It opened and I said my last goodbye to him and entered the door. Charles was sitting on the side of the window, eyes looking outside.
The car started moving and we made our way to the hotel. The evening roads were silent. There were not many people out in this hour. The grand prix ended hours ago and the city was asleep once again.
"Charles?" I called him. "Huh?" he startled.
I tried my best to send a smile to him. "It's... nevermind, I forgot." I said and turned away, but his eyes never left mine.
We arrived and went straight up towards our room. After the both of us got in, he banged the door closed and I jumped a little. He was angry. Upset. I could read it clearly.
"What were you trying to say?"
"Huh?" I was confused.
"In the car, earlier." He reminded me while putting his bag on the floor.
"I just wanted to say congratulations. I know you are not satisfied with the result but it's a big step," I said to him.
He scoffed in response and looked away, wondering. "I could've done better."
"Yes, in different circumstances. It's already a great achievement." I approached him and he looked at me again.
I pursed my lips and reached his face, rubbing it gently with my palm. He softened and leaned into my touch, eyes closed. I didn't realize how tense he was until he became relaxed now. "You did well. Don't be so hard on yourself." I told him.
He groaned and pulled me towards a warm embrace. "I missed this," he mumbled in my hair. I nodded while leaning into his chest, fingers lightly combing his disheveled hair. "Get some rest," I told him.
After he washed up, he told me to sleep on the bed and he'll take the couch. Of course I refused him.
"You must be exhausted, you deserve the bed more than I do," I scolded him. He rolled his eyes in annoyance and pulled me towards the bed. "You sleep too."
I squeaked like a duck when he pulled me down onto the bed and locked me in another embrace. "Are we gonna just sleep like this?" I asked him. My body was locked, I didn't have any other option rather than hug him back.
"I actually," he stammered. Even with the dim night lights I could still see his eyes were nervous. "Clarisse," he called me.
"Hm?"
"I... I'm so upset right now I still cannot think straight."
"I told you to stop thinking about it," I pouted.
"Yeah, but... I think I'm about to do something I might regret later," he looked at my lips.
"What-"
I held my breath as I saw him leaning down closer. His lips landed on mine.
"Wait- Charles, stop!" he didn't.
In terms of power, I'll definitely lose against him. "Please, stop..." I said between choked breaths. I pushed his chest away with no avail. He was on top of me, his elbows supporting his upper body as his hands caged my head securely.
This was wrong... but his lips were so sweet, it melted into mine like a puzzle piece meant to be together. It felt... familiar.
"Clarisse..." he paused to catch a breath. He ran his knuckles over my cheek, "You are so beautiful."
I was lost of words. Maybe it was the alcohol that drove him like that. I saw him drink a lot of that champagne earlier after he finished the podium.
"Charles, this is wrong. I'm your siste-"
"No, you're not!" he yelled at me, eyes bloodshot red. "You're never my sister."
Oh shit, I shouldn't have said that. It wasn't the right time.
"Okay! I'm sorry. So I am beautiful, thanks. So what?" I talked quickly because I was panicking.
"I want you."
Huh?