the lakes - charles leclerc

𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟕

a week into the show, the sun rose, but it was beneath clouds in a dimly lit sky. adriana woke up to find maeve, hailey and pierre awake. she noticed alex coming from the boys side, along with george and charles.

"hey guys! lando's getting himself ready," alex introduced to kick-start the conversation.

"the rest of the girls, well, they're still asleep." hailey responded.

"i think georgia was stirring but don't quote me on that."

it took a short while for the rest of the group to wake up, with lando especially being slow. olive read the note, which stated what would happen if one decided to leave.

"if you leave today, you will get £500,000."

unbeknownst to anyone, lando was considering leaving as he was mentally just not there. not being with his family and his best mate, max (not verstappen), not being there, he just didn't know how to cope. and, in hailey's mind, she thought for it to be a good idea to try and fix things up with hailey.

"adri," hailey pronounced. "can we talk?"

"erm... yeah, what about?"

"i'm still so sorry about what i said the other day i look back at it and cringe, like, i don't know what was going through my head. can we make things up?"

"i'll think about it. i won't forgive you immediately, that comment fucking hurt me. just give me some time."

the group spent the rest of the day doing very little, until a certain mercedes driver wondered where his friend had gone.

"d'you know where lando's gone? if he's in the cabin he's doing a great job of hiding," george asked, confused as to where the mclaren driver had gotten to.

"erm, i don't think i've seen him. maeve probably will do, she's the mum of the group. maeve,"

"hmm?"

"you seen lando recently?"

"i saw him looking a little upset or something, but that was a while ago. might've gone for a swim,"

"you saw him upset? oh no, that's not good. he'll have probably left,"

"he might be down at the pebble beach," charles suggested.

"there's a pebble beach?"

"yeah, when adriana ran off the other day that's where she went."

"right, alex and adri, you keep lookout for him and maybe see if he's left us, and me and charles will go see if he's at this beach thing."

"yes, captain russell." adriana spoke, saluting the man, before they walked off to find the mclaren driver.

adriana went in the direction of where they go to leave for challenges, while alex went towards the pier. charles directed george to the beach, only to find lando sat, knees in his chest, puffy-eyed.

"are you okay, mate?" george asked, sitting down next to the brit. charles sat the other side of lando.

"no."

"hey, what's wrong?"

"i just... i need my mum. i don't know how i've lasted this long... i'm tempted to leave so i can see her again,"

"what? mate, you're like nearly halfway there," charles commented.

"i know, but i need her. not a want, a need."

"obviously this is difficult not having your mum here with you. but we're your brothers, lando, you should talk to us about it. we'll listen to your thoughts, we promise you. your feelings are valid," george consoled.

"it's so hard to put into words how i'm feeling. i can't wait any longer, i've got to go and see her."

"lando, think about it. you're so close to finishing, and i'm sure there'll be a challenge or something where you can get something from home."

"yeah, but... it's just fucking hard, y'know. i just hope that she's proud of me," lando sighed, emotions overwhelming him from the support of his friends.

"that's a stupid question! of course she will be. she always will be,"

"don't say that i'll start crying again," the 22-year-old laughed, getting up. "okay. i'll stay for a little longer,"

"that's our lando!" charles commented, having the mclaren, ferrari, and mercedes join in a group hug, before making a walk back.

"where on earth is he? i don't think he's down there," adriana called to alex, seemingly to have lost all hope.

"i don't know, he's not at my end either. i just hope that george and charles have him,"

"they do!" lando said, gaining eye contact with the canadian.

"oh my god, lando, are you okay?" she asked, immediately going over to hug him. not wanting to admit it aloud, she had took the young man under her wing and classed him to someone like a little brother.

he nodded into her shoulder, wrapping his arms around the psg forward. "i will be. it's still with the fact i miss my mum,"

"aw, bless you. you know that no matter what the issue is, even if it's that george has took alex away from you,"

"oh shut it," he laughed, shaking his head.

"nope, but no matter what, no matter how small the problem is, we are all here for you. and i'm sure i say that for all of us. talk to us when you need to, okay?"

the english nodded, then thanked the group, but mainley charles, adri, and george. they all stayed close in the group, with adriana being squashed between charles and lando. even though the canadian and the monegasque didn't spend that much time together on day 7, he still made sure to check up on here every now and again, and she did the same back. much to charles' unknown dismay, she only thought of it as him being a good friend.