After the race, Charles disappeared back to his drivers room as the Ferrari team flooded out towards Parc Ferme since Carlos had bagged himself a second place podium.
Lyla, Arthur and Lorenzo had all shared a look. They knew that it was tough for Charles because it was Monaco - his home race - and he hadn't even got to start it, let alone finish it. Now he was being forced to watch his team celebrate since his teammate had gotten P2.
Lyla was torn. She wanted to go and comfort Charles but she also wanted to go and congratulate Carlos and Lando on their podiums as well as Pierre and Arden on their 4th and 5th place.
"Go." Lorenzo nods towards the pit lane.
"But-"
"He's a big boy, Ly." The eldest brother states, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Go."
"Promise me that one of you will go up to him." Lyla states, looking him in the eyes.
"Mama will." Lorenzo nods. "Now go!"
Arthur gave her a nod when she turned her gaze to him because Lorenzo was practically pushing her from the garage and telling her not to worry about Charles because they would deal with him since she did after every single bad race he had. Lyla was reluctant to leave but when she got out of the garage Daniel spotted her and started dragging her towards the crowds.
"LANDO!" Lyla rushes towards the happy McLaren driver. "I'm so proud!"
"Thanks!" The Brit says happily, giving her a squeeze. "How's Charles?"
"Don't focus on him." She shakes her head. "Focus on your podium, silly!"
"P3 baby!" Lando says, picking her up and spinning her around. "P3!"
"P2 and P3, Lando!" Carlos' voice echoes. "Lyla, we got P2!"
"You got P2, Carlos!" She corrects, pointing at the Ferrari driver. "Well done!"
"Thanks." The Spaniard smiles.
Lyla said congratulations to them again before turning on her heels and moving to find Arden and Pierre. Although, her brother found her first and whisked her up into the air causing her to squeal and grip onto his shoulders before she was placed down and scooped up by Pierre as well.
They were eventually called away and celebrations were cut short allowing Lyla to finally make her way back to the Ferrari garage. She trekked through the empty area, dodging random chairs or headphones that had been thrown around with the happiness of the Ferrari team before breaking out of the back door and into the paddock where she headed straight for the motorhome, lifting her sunglasses onto her head.
She navigated her way through the rather large maze of corridors. Bumping into the random Ferrari employees who were making their way down towards the podium for the ceremony. When she finally reached the two drivers rooms, she found Arthur and Lorenzo both sat against the wall opposite their brothers drivers room and she could just about hear the very muffled voice of Pascale from inside said room.
"Its not good." Arthur states, standing up and approaching Lyla. "Like not good at all."
"Shit." She curses. "How bad?"
"Like he broke down on the floor right here in front of Andrea kind of bad." Lorenzo adds.
Lyla pushed past Arthur, quickly apologising which left him waving it off, and knocked on the door. Pascale said something about giving them a minute before she clarified that it was her.
"Lyla?" Pascale's voice asks.
"Yeah, its me." She replies quietly. "Can I come in?"
"Close the door behind you!" Pascale says.
Lyla opens the door just wide enough to fit through before closing it behind her and leaving Arthur and Lorenzo outside. Turning around, she was greeted by the complete mess that was Charles LeClerc.
The driver was clinging to Pascale like she was his lifeline. The older woman was running her fingers though her sons hair and whispering in gentle French to try and calm him down but it didn't seem to be working and Pascale nearly cried herself when she looked up to Lyla and saw the look that she was portraying when she saw the state Charles was in.
Lyla sat down on the edge of the sofa, putting a hand on Charles' knee which made him flinch at the contact and cause her to pull her hand back, biting down on her bottom lip.
"Its Lyla." Pascale mutters.
"Lyla's here?" Charles seemed to perk up slightly.
"I'm here." Lyla whispers. "I'm right here."
Charles loosened his grip on Pascale, lifting his head from her shoulder so he could see Lyla with his own eyes before he shuffled forwards and let himself be enclosed by the safety her arms provided him with. Pascale sighed sadly, especially when she saw Lyla tear up as Charles' body shook in her arms whilst his sobs were muffled by his shoulder.
"Don't leave." He says quietly, Pascale frowning at his vulnerable voice.
"I'm not leaving." Lyla replies. "Your stuck with me forever, Charlie."
"I'll give you some time." Pascale says, standing up.
She places a hand on Lyla's shoulder and Lyla smiles. Pascale moved to the door and opened it slightly, sending her son and daughter a sad smile before slipping out and closing the door behind her. Lyla could hear her telling Lorenzo and Arthur they would go home and speak to Charles later but neither brother was having it and eventually, Lorenzo told Pascale he would driver Arthur home later on and Pascale left the two of them sat outside of the door.
The outside world was still turning, although it seemed to have stopped inside Charles' drivers room to let him process and come to terms with everything that was happening.
He did eventually calm down and sat up when Lyla dropped her arms.
She used her hands to cup his face, wiping the tears from his face with the pads of her thumbs and smiling softly at him as he held eye contact with her. His green eyes continuously teared up again and again but every time one of them fell, Lyla's thumb was there to wipe it away.
"Don't cry, pretty boy." Lyla whispers, a small frown on her face when another tear fell.
"Why doesn't it ever go right for me, Delilah?" Charles asks.
"I don't know, Charlie." Lyla admits.
"Just once I want to win. Just once." He shakes his head. "One time, for Papa and Jules."
"I know." Lyla nods, grabbing his face again since she had dropped her hands. "I know."
More tears fell but she quickly wiped them away, resting her forehead against his.
It was a sombre subject and a silence hung in the air between them until he pulled away from her and she dropped her hands, watching him run a hand though his hair before groaning and running them both down his face. Charles then moved back so he could lean against the back of the sofa, pulling his knees up towards his chest and looking at his hands where he then started to pick at the scabs that had replaced the crescent-shaped scars on his palms.
"Don't pick at them." Lyla mutters, shaking her head at him.
"Sorry." Charles mutters, dropping each hand to his side. "Think I should retire now?"
"Charles." Lyla says seriously, making him look away from her.
"What?" He asks, voice low.
"Don't do that." She moves closure to him. "I know what your doing so stop it."
He turns his gaze back to her, surprised at the seriousness she held in both her eyes, facial expression and voice. He just ran his hand through his hair again, brain running at a thousand miles an hour making it impossible for him to think.
The podium celebrations could be heard happening outside.
Seeing him look towards the open window, Lyla got up and closed it, feeling his gaze on her the entire time she was doing so.
She sat herself back down, sadness filling her entire being at the way he was trying to stop his bottom lip from trembling so she just grabbed his arm and tugged him back towards her.
"Its better to let it out than to bottle it up." She replies, fingers running through his hair.
So they sat like that for another few minutes until they heard the knock of Lorenzo on the door saying that him and Arthur had to go. Charles shouted for them to come in and gave them a quick hug and thank you for being there before they left again and said they would call him later on because like every brother - they didn't miss the flushed cheeks, bloodshot eyes or tear tracks on his face.
Lyla did manage to brighten the mood when she threatened to punch the mechanics responsible for making sure the car was okay.
"I missed your threats to punch, Mattia I'll be honest." Charles says with a chuckle.
"Don't pick at them." Lyla says softly, putting a hand on top of his after catching him picking at the scabs on his palms again.
"Force of habit." He replies, looking up at her. "What would I do without you?"
"You'd probably have ran off to Mexico by now."
"You remember when we were going to do that?"
"Like it was yesterday."
They both laughed, remembering back to when the two of them, Arthur and Jules had made the plan of running away to Mexico together when Jules got back from racing for the summer break.
"We should actually run away to Mexico." He says after a few minutes of laughter.
"When?" Lyla asks, actually liking the sound of the idea.
"After the season." Charles leans his head back. "Just the two of us."
"Yeah?" Lyla smiles over at him. "For how long."
"As long as we wanted." He shrugs.
"Well, not as long as we wanted but as long as we could?" She corrects.
"Yeah that." Charles waves a hand.
Lyla laughed slightly which made him look up and make eye contact with her. The minute he did, his worries melted away and he found himself smiling as she looked back at him.
"So I'm a pretty boy am I?" He asks quietly, voice low.
"Take it or leave it." Lyla could barely breathe.
The sudden tension that had formed got thicker, drowning the two of them until they felt like they couldn't breathe. Within seconds, Lyla had put a hand on the back of his neck and tugged his head forwards, slamming her lips onto his. Charles responded almost immediately to the action by grabbing her hips and dropping his legs down, moving her body to straddle his hips. It was like the world around them seemingly disappeared because all they could focus on was the other person, a small shield like bubble forming around them.
Their lips moved in perfect sync, each of them anticipating the others next movement and managing to match it immediately.
It was like they were moulded to fit together.
Lyla's eyes had fluttered shut and she became extremely sensitive to his touch. Just the feeling of his fingertips on her hips through her clothes was making her brain go insane and beg for more than just his hands holding her hips extremely gently. Fireworks had sounded, the kiss that had started as slow and passionate now became rugged and hungry. Charles' lips travelled down her jawline towards her neck, Lyla's hand gripped his hair as she groaned from the feeling of his lips on her skin.
Lyla knew she was falling for Charles. But she didn't realise how far gone she actually was.
Every touch sent a feeling of pleasure through her entire body. Every time they spilt apart she felt like she was drowning from the tension but when she was kissing him that feeling immediately flew away because he became her oxygen. Her hands were moving all over him because they felt the need to be everywhere at once, her brain running at over a thousand miles an hour trying to keep up with everything happening in that moment.
Then a knock on the door.
Followed by Andrea's voice.
They pulled apart, lips swollen, not having realised how much time had actually gone past.
Andrea shouted from outside to make sure that they were both alive and both of them shouted back to confirm to him they hadn't been mysteriously killed in Charles' drivers room.
Lyla moved back off of his lap and Charles pouted at her causing her to quirk an eyebrow before he grabbed her hips and pulled her back onto his lap. She shook her head at him, dragging her index finger down the side of his face as her eyes moved over every single feature she could find and make sure that it was engraved into her mind before her eyes met his and she could see the glint within them that matched the stupid smile on his face.
"You have no idea how badly I wanted to do that." He mutters, pecking her lips again.
"How bad?" Lyla asks, kissing him as well.
"Very." Was all he replied, pressing one last kiss to her lips.
———————————————————————————
IT FINALLY HAPPENED!
I have been waiting so long to release this chapter😭
THEY FINALLY KISSED!!!!
I promise that it will only get better from here on out because I've got somethings that I want to do which involves changing things about the rest of the season to fit in.
So hopefully, there will be no more heartbreak for you unless I get bored...
Much love,
- Hollie :)