Redemption {Charles Leclerc}

28

Charles' POV. 

You wipe the sweat of your forehead as you take a sip from your water bottle. 

Lewis walks past you in the cooldown room and pats your shoulder. 

"Good job today man, heard you were in a tense fight," he says with a grin. 

You give him a small but exhausted smile. 

"Thanks man, I was actually. It was intense but fun. Congrats on the win though," you tell him and he smiles. 

You take a few more sips from your water bottle before you make your way over to the podium ceremony. 

"...in third place, from Monaco, give it up for Charles Leclerc..." 

You walk to the third step of the podium and smile before you wave at the team. You're very happy you managed to get this podium place today. You were battling with Max for so long and when the team didn't pit you immediately after the safety car, you thought everything was lost. 

But then Sebastian... well, he certainly did you a favour. He's basically the reason you're on the podium today. But it's terrible for the team and you can tell that the atmosphere is, understandably, not great right now. 

You await until Valtteri and Lewis have settled onto their podium places as well and then listen to the British anthem for Lewis followed by the German one for Mercedes. 

You can't help but let your mind slip to Sophia. Two weeks ago she was standing right there with the team below the podium, cheering you on. She was so happy for you. 

Back then, she was full of joy and carefree. She was smiling all weekend, like she was enjoying life to the fullest, cherishing every single moment. She just seemed so... happy. 

You so badly wish she was here again. It feels a little weird but you actually miss her. 

You can fully understand why she's not here though. You know it's too soon for her and you know it will take time for her to recover. 

You just wish she would let you help her. She's been acting so distant to you recently and you don't know how to deal with it. 

At the beginning, she still talked to you and she replied to your messages. She barely answered your questions and she didn't give much away but at least she still talked to you. 

The last two days, however, she's just been ignoring you completely. 

It hurts. You have no idea if you've done or said something wrong that would make her act this way towards you. You're just trying to be there for her but you feel like the more you try, the more she's pushing you away. It definitely hurts to feel that she doesn't trust you. 

When the music stops, you quickly shake your head to bring yourself back to reality. 

When the podium ceremony is over, you make your way off the podium and walk towards the media pen for interviews. You put on your best fake smile and excitingly tell all the journalists about your race. You try to do it all as quickly as possible because you just want to get this over with. 

Before you know it, you're done with all the interviews and you speed towards your room in the Ferrari garage. You sigh in relief as you finally close the door and lean your head against it. 

You need to be alone for a second.

You're just so exhausted. You can feel that the combination of an intense race and the worries in your mind about Sophia are taking a toll on you. 

You're just longing to be with her right now. You're longing for the feeling she gives you whenever she's around. You're longing for her touch, for her lips, for her voice. You're even longing for the way she would simply look at you.