STAY THE NIGHT || Charles Leclerc

NINETEEN

I turned to face Charlie, smiling from ear to ear. "I'm going to steal your seat next year, just you wait"

"Never in a million years, Olly"

We'd arrived at the karting track not long ago, changing into race suits and balaclavas. It was the track that I had spent most of my childhood at, watching Jack and Charlie race. Jackson had hired out the circuit for the morning, allowing us to race each other. I was excited - I had driven go karts a few times before, but the last had been a few years ago.

Charles, unused to the cold British weather, had insisted on putting a jumper over his race suit. It wasn't even that cold, just windy. Jack had joined us, keen to beat his former teammate, whilst Lottie stood to the side with Ellie, who she'd covered in a large blanket.

"Right" Jack said "Ready to get this started? One quali lap each, then a 5 lap race should be about long enough. Lottie told me that she'll keep track of the laps, and wave the flag at the end. Sound good?"

"And no silly little battles!" shouted Lottie from where she was standing with Ellie in her pushchair "Clean racing or I'll be adding time penalties!"

"Clean racing?" scoffed Charles "It's Jackson we're talking about here"

"I'll push you off the track if you say that again mate" said Jackson, somewhat jokingly

"Honestly, you two" I said "Let's just get in and race"

We all got in our karts, taking it in turns to set a qualifying time. Unsurprisingly, I was the slowest, with my time being a few seconds slower than that of Charles and Jackson. Charles had been the last to set his qualifying lap, and although he went wide at the second to last corner, set a time just a few tenths of a second faster than Jack. Getting into our karts, the three of us headed out for a quick warm up lap before lining up at the start finish line. Charles in front, Jackson second, and me third. Lottie stood to the side of the track, holding a megaphone, ready to signal the start of the race.

"Five... four... three... two... one... GO GO GO!"

LAP 1

I got off to an okay start at the beginning. Sure, it was slower than Jack, and a lot slower than Charles, but I had just about managed to hang onto the back of them. Charles and Jackson, the typical competitors they were, went straight to battling each other, going wheel to wheel through almost every corner.

LAP 2

Just as I thought I was catching up to the boys, I missed my breaking point going into the corner, sending my kart wide. Somehow, I managed to avoid hitting the barriers, getting back onto the track without losing too much time to Jack and Charlie. From what I could see, Charles was leading, with Jackson following closely behind.

LAP 3

The boys battling each other for first position had meant that they hadn't been going flat out, which had allowed me to catch up to them. They were fighting each other hard, clearly forgetting about Lottie's warning about wanting a clean race. I was right on their tails as we went through the chicane, watching as they battled on.

"FUCK!"

I could hear Jackson's shout of anger over the noise of the go karts. He had managed to bump Charles' kart a little too hard, causing both him and Charles to end up with their karts facing the wrong way. Luckily for me, there was just enough space for me to squeeze past, giggling to myself as I took the lead of the race.

LAP 4

Less than half a lap later, and Charlie had already managed to catch up to me. Jack was slightly further behind, I could see him only approaching a corner as I sped out of it. I could tell that he was driving angrily though, the speeds that he was reaching meant it wouldn't be long before he was on my tail too.

Charles tried to sneak his kart down the inside of mine as we reached a corner, but I managed to hold him off, holding a tight line so that there wasn't enough space to overtake. By the time we'd reached the second good overtaking spot, nearly half a lap later, Jack was putting pressure on Charles, distracting him from wanting to overtake me.

LAP 5

"One more lap Olly, you can do this." I told myself. I knew that both Jack and Charlie were close behind me, but I didn't know how close. I didn't dare to turn my head around out of fear that I'd lose control. They were close enough that I couldn't see them as I exited the corners. Close enough that I could hear the noise of their karts.

"Almost there, Ol" I told myself "Just one more corner... you can see the finish line"

"WOOOHOOO!"

I screamed in joy as I crossed the start/finish line, seeing Lottie waving the flag. I had won. Jackson shot past me almost immediately after crossing the line, banging his fist against his steering wheel, clearly frustrated that he'd lost to his little sister.

We all pulled into the pit lane once we had finished our cool down lap. I was quick to get out of my kart and celebrate, delighted that I had beaten both of the boys.

"Olly! Well done!" Charles exclaimed as he jogged over to me.

"Thanks Charlie" I smiled, pulling him into a hug "Remember what I said about stealing that seat of yours?"

"Yeah, not going to happen" he smiled at me, laughing to himself

A/N: This is potentially one of my favorite chapters that I've written so far. The Olly, Charlie, Jack and Lottie friendship is just so cool. (Maybe I'm biased though, I did create their friendship after all...)

I'll be uploading a bonus chapter at some point before next Thursday, so keep an eye out for that! Some brother-like love from Jack and Charles, along with the Olly and Charlie friendship you all love ;)

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