APPETENCE | c. leclerc & m. verstappen [+18]

03. late night

"I broke my rules for you."
♪ midnight rain by taylor swift

The last race of the 2021 season was chaotic, Charles didn't realize what happened until he got out of his car. His season was okay, better than last year but still he felt like he could have done more for him and his whole team. P10 was the best they could get in the last race. It was a crazy, dramatic but a very exciting season in formula one. Charles was sure that this season would go down in history, especially this race in Abu Dhabi.

Of course he felt sorry for Lewis as soon as he heard what happened but he also was very happy for Max. He won his first world championship, a dream they both shared since their karting days. Charles knew how hard Max worked for his dream and how many sacrifices he made for it, it meant the world to him. Since Charles got into formula one, both tried to avoid each other as much as possible. In the 2019 season they shared some amazing moments on track but this was really the only contact they both had. Charles was sure that this was for the best, it would make everything more complicated. But Charles wasn't even sure if Max still had him on his mind, like ever. He was very good in covering his real feelings, he only let others see what he wanted them to see. He wasn't an open book you could easily read.

Seeing Max on the podium was different this time. Charles looked up at the dutch driver lifting up his trophy in the air. He watched him from far away, far away from the press. A smile formed on his lips as he saw how happy he was. He could only imagine how hard this season was for Max, all the things around them going down, all the drama. Charles saw many times how stressed Max was before every race, especially after the summer break. There were many times when Charles wanted to be there for him but he knew that he shouldn't. It was different now, they weren't kids anymore. It was often in the late nights, when Charles was sitting alone in his hotel room, where he wanted nothing more than calling Max. He almost did it, many nights he was sitting with his phone in his hand, his finger above the number of Max. But something hold him back. What if Max didn't want him in his life anymore? In the last 3 years Max was avoiding and ignoring him as much as he could. He wasn't sure if anything he felt was even real? His feelings confused him since the first time they saw each other again. Of course they had a couple of press conferences together, in which Max acted like nothing bad happened between them. He joked with Charles, he was nice and not ignoring him. But deep down Charles knew that Max was only doing this for the cameras, to not start any drama or rumors.

His heart ached as he thought about it, he shouldn't care about him but Charles always cared about him. Even when his friends were saying that Max was weird because his father never let him near them. He never thought that way about Max. He felt kind of sorry for him, he knew how much pressure his dad put on his shoulders. But he also admired him because of that, he worked hard to be the best and now he had a proof for his hard work, for all the rainy days he had to drive in his kart around the track until he was perfect. Charles never agreed with the ways that Jos was training and treating his son but at the end it wasn't his business, he got that told a lot of times from many people over the years. Charles always tried to be at least there for Max, even when Max didn't want him anywhere near him. It always the two young boys in the end.

Charles sighed as he realized that this thoughts again drifted off to Max. This happened too often in the last months, he couldn't let him distract him from his work. "Let's work hard for the next season. I have a really good feeling. I'll see you all after the winter break.", with these words Mattia wrapped up the team meeting and smiled at everyone. It was the moment that Charles was back to reality, he missed half of the team meeting. "Let's go, Charles.", Andrea said beside him as he stood up. "Oh...yeah, of course.", Charles replied and stood up quickly, almost knocking down his chair. "Are you okay?", his trainer laughed a little because of his weird behavior. "Yes, I'm just sad that the season is over. I can't wait to go back already.", Charles said and lied a little, of course he was excited for the next season but he was also happy that this season was over and they could fight back again next season. "Alright, let's go. It's already very late and we need to catch a flight tomorrow.", Charles nodded and followed Andrea out of the Ferrari motorhome.

The paddock was still full of people, mostly people who celebrated. Charles glanced around at all the people around him and smiled. It must be a crazy feeling when you win a championship with your team, he couldn't wait for the day when this will happen to him. He was sure that it will happen someday, he was working hard for this dream to come true. "Charles, we can drive with the golf cart, or should we walk back?", Andrea asked and stopped walking. He pointed at the golf cart beside them and Charles nodded his head. "Yeah, let's drive. I'm done today.", was all Charles replied as he walked over to the golf cart. Soon they were driving at the port of Abu Dhabi, Charles heard loud music in the distance and he knew that it must be the Mercedes or Red Bull Team celebrating their championships. "Wow, they have a good time, huh?", Andrea said with a grin on his face and Charles laughed a little. "I'm sure they have a good time.", it was the Red Bull Team celebrating, he heard "Super Max" playing in the background on their yacht. Max never liked the song that much but Charles was sure that he had enough drinks already to actually like the song now and maybe even sing it. He had to laugh a little about this thought. "Why are we stopping?", Andrea suddenly ask as the golf cart stopped by the Red Bull yacht. Suddenly the golf cart was surrounded by drunk Red Bull people. "Oh no.", was all Andrea said and laughed.

"CHAAAARLES!", Charles looked quickly around as he heard his name shouting from somewhere. "It's Max, up there.", one of the people around him said and pointed at the top of the yacht. Charles got out of the golf cart and lifted his head up. "CHAAAAAAARLES!", he quickly spotted Max at the railing on the second floor, Max laughed and waved his hand. Charles was right, Max was drunk, way too drunk. There was no chance that Max would talk to him when he was sober. Charles laughed and waved back to Max. "Let's go Charles, I'm tired.", Andrea said behind him as the drunk people got away from the golf cart. "Sure, let's go.", Charles looked back at Andrea and smiled. As he turned around again, he didn't saw Max anymore. A sad and heavy feeling came over him again. He shouldn't get his hopes up too high. Charles sighed as he sat down in the golf cart again and they drove off to the hotel.

"Oh fuck...", a loud rumpling woke Charles up, he sat straight up in bed. "What the...", was all he mumbled and looked at his phone. 4:48 am. "Who the fuck-", Charles thought as again a loud rumpling came from the hallway. "Oh fucking shit..", he heard a voice but he couldn't identify the voice. Charles stood up and put his shirt back on. He opened the door and looked out of the tiny gab. And what he saw was the last thing he thought he would see. A drunk Max Verstappen was standing in the hallway, holding a expensive vase which he almost drop on the floor. "Max?", Charles asked and stepped out of his room. "Charles.", Max face light up as soon as he glanced at Charles. "Oh no...I...woke you up huh?", Max laughed and tried to hide the fact that he was drunk but Charles knew that he was drunk af. "Put the vase down, Max.", Charles tried to not to laugh but he failed. "Oh yeah of course.", he placed it again on the sideboard at the wall. "What are you doing here?", Charles asked straight away, he knew that Max was staying at a different part of the hotel. "Eh- well..I..", Charles furrowed his eyebrows as he was listening to what Max said. "I came to see you, Charles.", Max whispered, Charles almost didn't hear what he was saying but these few words were enough for him, enough to speed up his heartbeat, enough to give him hope.

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A/N Hi, we are at chapter three, yay. I hope you like this book so far, I'm working hard on this tbh, that's also a reason why I need some time to write. I want this to be good, I hope you understand. <3 Feel free to vote and comment, your feedback is needed :D