♡●♡●♡
“Leclerc?” Dennis asks and Arthur smiles.
"Yeah." He didn't want to talk about it and he thinks that Dennis saw it.
"You follow F2?" Asks Dennis and Arthur nods.
"I do, this season have a lot of good drivers. The rookies are good too, no." Says Arthur and Dennis nods.
"We have some different winners." Says Dennis.
"And you too." Says Arthur.
"But you still didn't recognize me." Says Dennis and he laughs. Arthur lets out a cuckle and slaps a hand on his face.
"Bad, isn't it." Says Arthur.
“A bit.” Says Dennis.
"I do know your name, but I started this year watching F2, so I'm still learning all the names and faces, names I do know now but faces not so. Don't blame me." Laughs Arthur.
"You knew I won, so I will forgive you." Says Dennis.
"How was practice?" Asks Arthur.
"It was good, the car felt great so that says something for qualification." Says Dennis.
"Go grab them." Says Arthur.
"You probably say that to everyone." Says Dennis, and Arthur looks at Dennis and his mouth fell open.
"I don't!" Says Arthur and Dennis laughs.
"It sounds weird if I told you that I really do like your driving style and keep an eye out for when the races are." Says Arthur.
"Ahh that's sweet." Says Dennis and Arthur roll his eyes.
"Arthur!" Lorenzo shouts and Arthur looks back.
"I'll come!" Arthur shouts back and turns back to Dennis.
"Good luck this weekend." Says Arthur and Dennis smiles.
"It will be better now I know I have a fan watching." Says Dennis.
"A fan." Says Arthur and laughs himself.
"I think Charles doesn't like me very much if I say I'm a fan of someone else." Says Arthur.
"Who says he has to know." Says Dennis and winks at him.
"Bye Dennis." Says Arthur.
"Bye Arthur, it was nice meeting you."
"You too." Says Arthur and smiles when he looks at Dennis for one last time and then turns around and starts walking.
When he almost arrives by Lorenzo, he looks around one more time and sees Dennis laughing with someone from the team.
"There you are. Rene this is Arthur. Art this is Rene." Says Lorenzo and Arthur shook his hand.
"Lorenzo told me you were watching the races." Says Rene.
“I do, yeah.” Says Arthur.
Not that he's watching them per se, but Rene doesn't need to know that.
"I love the look of the car." Says Arthur and looks at the red, white and green car. He really does like the way the car looks.
"Thank you." Says Rene.
"Did you ever race?" He asks and Arthur looks at him and then back to the car.
"I did, I had to stop because it was too much with two kids. I'm now following a study at the Uni of Monaco." Says Arthur.
"It's shame it is really expensive. What are you learning for?"
“Sports Business Management.” Says Arthur.
"So you are interested in the sport."
"I am, I do an internship at Monalisa Motorsport Gallery, I do the guided tours and I enjoy telling things about the car. I just learn new things so that's fun." Says Arthur.
"I've been there last year, I really loved the gallery." Says Rene and Arthur smiles.
"It is." Says Arthur
"And what do you want to do later when you finished your studies?"
"I don't know yet." Says Arthur.
"Well you can do a lot with how much you know." Says Rene and Arthur smiles.
"Rene!" Arthur looks up at someone's shout and soon he sees someone walking towards him and he smiles broadly.
"Paul needs you." He says and then Arthur recognized him.
"Hey you, Arthur, right." Ollie asks and the smile on Arthur's face gets bigger.
"Ollie, what are you doing here?" Asks Arthur.
"This is my car." Says Ollie and slams a hand on the front nose wing of the number 8 car.
"No way?"
"You know each other?" Asks Lorenzo.
"Not know really, we saw each other last night and talked a bit." Says Arthur.
"What are you doing here?" Asks Ollie.
"I've been following F2 since this season, my brother arranged for me to come and look at the cars in the paddock." Says Arthur.
"So you have been watching but you didn't recognize me?" Laughs Ollie.
"Well your name is Oliver Bearman, so I didn't link it with Ollie and I didn't know your surname. But I saw Dennis a few minutes ago and didn't recognize him too so I'm really bad." Says Arthur and cuckles.
"You are!" Says Ollie and Arthur laughs with him.
"I know all the names and which teams you are on, but I'm terrible with faces." Says Arthur.
"I forgive you." Says Ollie and Arthur smiles.
"Can I show Arthur around?" Asks Ollie to Rene who nods.
"Why not." Says Rene and Arthur looks at Lorenzo.
"Go have fun, I will be with Charles. Can you find your way back?"
"I can." Says Arthur and Lorenzo nods.
"Let's go." Says Ollie and he grabs Arthur's arm and pulls him inside.
"So this is the car." They stop at the halo and Arthur looks inside.
“It's so tight.” Says Arthur and Ollie nods.
"It is, but I don't really notice when I race. I'm used to it now." Says Ollie.
He removes the steering wheel and then explains the buttons on it to Arthur.
Arthur does recognize some of them, because of his internship where he sometimes explains the steering wheel. They have a few to give people an idea of what the drivers do while driving.
Once they've gone through the car, Ollie takes it to the back. There are the tires are sorted with the drivers name and number on.
"If we go up here, we have our drivers room on the left side, I share that with Fred. On the right side we have the room where we have our debrief and all that."
Arthur sees a table with all kinds of books, notebooks and laptops. It is empty but you can clearly see that they have just been busy.
"Come, this is our driver's room. Fred is not here, no idea where he went." Says Ollie and he opens the door.
The space is similar to Charles his moterhome, only a lot smaller and messier.
There are helmets of both drivers. There are racing suits hanging on the racks, with a cupboard next to them. There are all the other things they need to get ready.
Arthur walks to the helmet from Ollie and looks at the bear on the top.
"I like your design." Says Arthur
"Thank you, I do too." Says Ollie and picks it up and gives it to Arthur.
"You can look, I don't mind." Says Ollie and tells all the details on the helmet.
"I've noticed you know a lot about racing." Says Ollie and Arthur nods and looks at the helmet in his hands.
"I did karting for a year when I was younger. I had to stop because my brother was karting as well and it's really expensive. They chose for Charles to go further, which I understand because he was really good. But my love for sports never stopped." Says Arthur.
"Charles?'' Asks Ollie and Arthur nods.
"Leclerc." Says Arthur and Ollie nods.
"We only have one Charles in F1 don't we." He says and Arthur looks away.
He doesn't understand why, but everytime he doesn't feel comfortable talking about Charles.
"Didn't you want to start again? I never knew Charles had a younger brother." Says Ollie
"I would, but everything became complicated when my father died. I don't really want to talk about it." Says Arthur.
"Of course, sorry." Says Ollie, and Arthur gave him a smile.
"No worries." Says Arthur. "Everything changed after 2017, so it was really hard."
"I understand that, it's not nothing. Were you young?" Asks Ollie.
"I was 13, almost 14. So everything was already changing with my school and then we got that hit as well."
"So you're 20 now?"
"In October. I'm 19 still." Says Arthur and Ollie nods.
"I'm 18." Says Ollie.
"You're young." Says Arthur and leans against the cupboard.
"Yeah, I guess so." Says Ollie with a laugh.
"Ollie!" Fred walks in and Arthur stands up.
“Oh hello.” Fred says and Arthur gave him a small smile.
"Fred this is Arthur. Arthur this is my teammate Frederik Vesti." Says Ollie and Fred extends his hand and Arthur shakes it.
"We have to get ready for qualifying soon." Says Fred to Ollie, who nods.
"I will go, then you can get ready." Says Arthur.
"No, you can stay!" Says Ollie.
"You need to focus, I will look further around and then go back to my brother." Says Arthur.
"You sure?"
"Of course, Thank you for showing me around, I like it." Says Arthur.
"Me too, shall I take you down?" Asks Ollie and Arthur nods and laughs.
"Please." Arthus says and says goodbye to Fred and they walk downstairs.
"Who do you support, which team?" Asks Ollie.
"Don't really support one person or team in particular. But I do like the driving style of Hauger." Says Arthur.
"That you dare to say that with me next to you." Laughs Ollie.
"Sorry." Arthur laughs and they arrive back to the cars.
"Thank you again." Says Arthur and Ollie smiles.
"Have fun. Will you come again another time?"
"I'm not traveling with Charles, so I'm not really sure." Says Arthur, and he sees how the smiles on Ollie's face fades.
"Have a good qualification, I will cheer for you too now." Says Arthur.
"That will help me." Says Ollie, and Arthur smiles.
"Good luck Ollie." Says Arthur.
"Thank you." Says Ollie and with a last look, Arthur walks away.
"Who was he?" Ollie startled and turns to Fred who is standing behind him.
"I met Arthur last night. He's really nice." Says Ollie and looked around to see Arthur walking further in the distance.
"Why is he here?"
"His brother arranged for him to watch int he paddock since he also watches F2. It's funny because he didn't know me. Last night we had such a nice talk and then he was here, talking with Rene and then he realized." Says Ollie.
"So he watched the sport but didn't know you?"
"He knows me as Oliver, and I introduced myself as Ollie. He says he doesn't recognize our faces but our names. He made the same mistake with Dennis." Says Ollie.
"Bit weird, no?"
"Why? You don't have to know everyone's faces." Says Ollie.
"You're very defensive of him for someone you don't know." Says Fred.
"It's weird huh. I should have asked his number, I really think we could have become friends."
"Or he is just a creep. Don't trust people so fast, especially rich people." Says Fred and Ollie rolls his eyes.
“He isn't like that.” Says Ollie.
"You don't know that." Says Fred.
"Can you stop being so negative?" Says Ollie and looks at Fred.
"There is something around Arthur that makes me want to get to know him. It's weird how fast I trust him while not knowing him." Says Ollie.
"Be carefull." Says Fred.
"It's not like I'm going to see him again." Says Ollie and turns around again.
"Time to get ready." Says Ollie and walks away with Fred.
♡●♡●♡
"There you are." Says Charles, as Arthur walked up.
"You stayed a long time with the boy." Says Lorenzo.
"Ollie showed me around, and after that I looked at the other cars." Says Arthur.
“Oliver Bearman?” Asks Charles and Arthur nods.
"How do you know him?" Ask Charles.
"I bumped into him last night. We talked a bit. I didn't know he was a driver." Says Arthur and sits down.
"He's a Ferrari academy driver, he's nice." Says Charles.
“He is.” Says Arthur
"Can I talk with you again about what happened with your class." Says Charles.
"Nothing happened, don't worry." Says Arthur.
"That boy shouted at you, asking if your dad is dead too. Arthur, that's not normal."
"He's a dick, yeah. But that's normal. He doesn't know the word kind, he's that to everyone. It's a word he doesn't know how to use." Says Arthur.
"I don't think it's normal," Says Charles.
"I'm used to it by now. Don't make it such a big thing about it." Says Arthur.
"You're my brother, I'm worried!"
"Well don't be. I can take care of myself. I did already for years, so I don't need you being a brother now. When I did need you, you weren't there so no, I don't need your help. " Says Arthur.
"That's not fair." Says Charles.
"What isn't? The truth? The truth is never fair, Charles. I'm not getting bullied at my school, everything is good and I really enjoy it there and with my class, you don't need to be angry about what they say, it's just teasing." Says Arthur, and Charles rolls his eyes.
"You're still our little brother and I want you to enjoy everything."
"Charles, please. That you two have been here for two days doesn't mean everything is okay again. You two really hurt me and you should know that. Those few times I saw you in the year are nothing. I know you two are busy, but not answering my texts or calls does hurt me. More than what those guys did today." Says Arthur and his brothers are silent.
"I'm going home." Says Arthur and stands up.
"Wait, stay! Please." Says Charles and grabs Arthur's arm.
"No, I really need to go, I need to think." Arthur says and pulls his arm back and starts walking.
They don't go after him, they let him go.
He doesn't know where that came from, but it is how he feels. They haven't been there for him, so he doesn't need them now for those five days they are in Monaco right now.
They will leave him again after Monday. Why do they want to hurt him like that? Make him feel important for them so they can crash all of that again when they leave. He wouldn't hear from them again until the summer break, where Arthur can't go with them because he has school probably. And then it will be Christmas, what is ages away.
He grabs his bike and starts cycling away. He hates himself for wanting their attention. He hates it that he miss his brothers so much and now they are finally here, talking to him, giving him all this experience with Formula 1. He now understand why Lorenzo stays with Charles. Arthur would do anything to go with Charles too every race weekend, for them and this amazing motorsport world.
He wants a relationship with Charles or Lorenzo like they have. He wants to make memories with them, talking with them like they can with each other. Arthur feels out of places when they are with the three of them. Even talking with them doesn't feel good, like Arthur doesn't know anymore who they are. What do they like beside racing? He has no idea.
He's a terrible brother for not knowing that.
All he wants is having them in his life. That he can talk with them about whatever. That he can call them when he has a bad day, or when something is not right. But also to talk with them how their day was and his, he wants to talk with them about nothing, just have a nice chat together. Is that too much to ask?
He can't let them close again, he can't handle it if they leave him again and he's all alone over again.
They say that they are here now, but will they keep their word? Will he still hear from them after Monday? He has no idea.
When he gets home, he puts his bicycle in the shed. He locks everything neatly and then walks inside. He hangs up his coat and puts his shoes down with all the other shoes.
"Mom?" Asks Arthur and walks into the living room where she is.
"You're back already?" She asks and Arthur nods.
"Yes, it was so much fun, I saw the cars and inside Ferrari, it's so impressive how everything work-"
"I don't care, Arthur. I didn't ask you if you wanted to tell me your day." She says and the smile fell off Arthur's face.
"Sorry." Says Arthur and looks at her annoyed face.
"The house is a mess. Go clean it all up and then cook Charles his favorite pasta. All the ingredients are in the fridge, which I had to get in the supermarket since you didn't do the shopping yesterday." She says and Arthur looks away and nods again.
"Will do. And I forgot yesterday because Charles and Lorenz-" Arthur was interrupted again.
"Don't you dare to give them the fault. You were lazy." She says and Arthur shut his mouth.
"Just get started." She says and Arthur moves to start cleaning.
"Your brothers come home soon so be quick, yeah." Arthur didn't even want to listen to her anymore.
♡●♡●♡
Arthur is done making dinner and cleaning. The house is clean again and the kitchen smells good with the pasta he made.
All the time, he hears his mother grumbling in the background, but Arthur no longer listens. He had taken his earphones and turned his formula up really loud, he didn't want to listen to it.
The food is on low and the kitchen is tidy, everything is in the dishwasher and he goes upstairs. In time, because he soon hears the voices of his brothers.
He lies down on the bed and presses his head against his pillow. He lies on his stomach and holds his pillow with his arms.
All he can think about is how much he loved walking in the F2 paddock. Looking at the cars, people who came to talk with him and explained all the questions he had. It is surprising they answered it all and they left nothing out.
He can't believe he saw Ollie again. He had a fun time with him. Seeing inside of Prema and that he saw a bit of what the life of a driver is. It feels weird how nice Ollie was to him. He is almost no longer used to people being able to talk to him normally without making fun of him.
Dennis was nice too, how they could talk without even knowing each other. It felt like he could tell Dennis everything. Now he thinks about it, it's weird he told Dennis that he supports him. Dennis must have thought he is a creep.
Arthur signs and put his phone next to him.
It's been a long day.
Charles is done setting the table and it doesn't feel good that there are only three plates.
"Are we sure we don't have to ask Arthur to come down?" Ask Charles.
"No, he told me sweety. He came home with an attitude and started to get angry at me for no reason, so let him." She says and Charles looks at the stairs.
"It's weird how he wants to spend time with us and then push us away again." Says Charles.
"He's a teenager, Charlie. I've been trying to keep him under control, but it is not possible. He does whatever he wants and doesn't listen to me. I tried talking with him but he just screams at me." Maman says and Charles sighs.
"What's going on with him?" He asks and his mother shrugs.
"I gave up on that. Come, I made your favorite." She says and grabs Charles his arm.
~~~
How are we feeling about how his mother is treating Arthur, does she it on purpose or does she not know what she is doing🫤
Is there something you think will happen or like to see? Let me know, I'm curious what you think,