Charlos || Charles Leclerc x Carlos Sainz Jr.

Azerbaijan

(Azerbaiyeahn 😍😍)

 "Have you seen this?" The words echoed back at Carlos each time he closed his eyes. He had to put his phone in the other room to try and ignore it. His notifications had been blowing up all morning and he just wanted the world to go away.

Have you seen this? The text came from Lando, his friend and former teammate, linking to an article that made his blood run cold. He hadn't bothered reading it, one picture was enough to understand. The picture was of him and Charles kissing on the beach in Spain. Only the back of Charles's head was visible, but Carlos's face was clear, the photo taken from a bluff somewhere.

There was no one there, no one else was there. How did they see us? Do they know it's Charles??

His thoughts were racing at the speed of light. He tried to gather himself and got up to finally look at what the article said. He skimmed, trying to find mention of Charles. He was mentioned only once, in passing about a theory of who he was kissing. That's one saving grace. They didn't know it was Charles.

Carlos texted him anyway. Where are you? He asked.

Charles's reply was immediate. I saw. I'm on my way.

🏎 🏎 🏎

Charles's morning had not been much better than Carlos's. He had woken up early and met Charlotte Siné, a long time friend, for breakfast. Their cute little café moment was quickly ruined when he opened Instagram to come face to face with the photo from Spain. When he began to hyperventilate, Charlotte ushered him into the car and asked him what was wrong.

Showing her the photo was all it took for her to understand. "That's you? Isn't it?"

He nodded, visibly in distress. Charlotte took his phone and scrolled hotly. "Nobody knows it's you," she tried to comfort him. "There are only a few fringe theories."

"I need to see Carlos," Charles gasped. Charlotte nodded and started the car. She drove a little faster than necessary to the hotel, and as soon as she parked, Charles sprinted inside.

🏎 🏎 🏎

There was a loud knock on Carlos's door. When he opened the door Charles ran into Carlos's arms. Carlos swung the door shut and brought Charles closer. He felt Charles's warm tears falling onto his shoulder. Carlos hugged him tighter, fighting back the tears that were burning in his own eyes.

"I can't do this." Charles sounded choked, his voice barely above a whisper. "I can't do this," he repeated.

Carlos didn't have enough energy to be Charles's rock at the moment, his own legs felt wobbly underneath him. He didn't know how to respond, didn't know how to make things better. He only held him, rubbing small circles on his back with his thumb.

Charles nestled his head further into Carlos's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he gasped weakly.

Carlos felt Charles's whole body shake with sobs. He cupped the back of Charles's head, holding him closer. Carlos felt numb, like he was drifting off somewhere. "It'll be okay," he whispered automatically, not really believing his own words. He had no idea how any of this could turn out okay. He felt like if he let go of Charles he would crumble completely, so he didn't, keeping one arm around his waist and twisting his other hand into Charles's hair, searching for anything that would ground him, preventing him from drifting away entirely. "It'll be okay," he repeated, feeling like a broken record, "It'll be okay."

After what felt like an eternity, they found themselves sitting on the couch with tear stained faces. Carlos was staring at the floor, feeling exhausted although he had only woken up hours ago. He buried his face in his hands. "What are we gonna do?"