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

07. memories

„Ever since we were kids, all I ever wanted was to protect you."
♪ enchanted (taylor's version) by taylor swift

People would say they go way back, they would say that both of them hated eachother as soon as the race started on that rainy day. They would call them rivals for the rest of their lives, always racing against each other. Their Paths in Racing are intertwined, almost inseparable. As kids it was never easy for both of them. It was never easy to develop a friendship in this sport. As rivals, as they called them, it was almost unimaginable.

„Tu as bien fait aujourd'hui, Charles." (You did great today, Charles.), Jules said with a happy smile in his face as soon as Charles got out of the kart. „Mais je n'ai pas gagné." (But I didn't win.), was all Charles answered, his head moved to the left as he saw Max getting out of his kart. He needed to beat him, he didn't know why but it was always Max who beat him on track. It never bothered him that much if it was another driver, it was a different feeling of losing when he lost against Max. It wasn't the same. The young brown haired boy couldn't explain why he was feeling that way. Charles only knew that he always wanted to beat Max on track.

„Oui, mais tu as commencé il y a longtemps. C'est vraiment impressionnant. Tu devrais être fier, Charles. Ton temps viendra." (Yes but you started from way back. That's really impressive. You should be proud, Charles. Your time will come.), he knew that Jules tried to make Charles feel better but he was pretty sure that Jules also knew that Charles was never happy if he wasn't P1. „Mon temps? Pas avec lui à mes côtés. Il semble toujours aller mieux et je me sens coincé." (My time? Not with him by my side. He always seems to get better and I feel stuck.), was all Charles mumbled, he pulled his helmet off his head and walked away. He wasn't in the mood for Jules monologue.

„Good race.", was all he heard as he stomped across the track. „Maybe for you.", he glanced angry at the young dutch boy walking beside him. „It was actually very impre-", Max started talking in his broken english but Charles wasn't in the mood for his monologue either. „Leave me alone.", he said in a harsh tone and started walking faster in the direction of Jules Car. Max stopped walking and glanced after the young angry boy. He wished he could talk to him about racing, or anything else. Maybe his father was right, maybe it wasn't possible to have a friendship with another driver. He always told him to stop trying making friends, he should concentrate on racing.

But he felt lonely, he never got the chance to have friends all his life. „Max, kom op. We moeten zo snel mogelijk inpakken. De volgende race komt eraan." (Max come on. We need to pack up as soon as possible. The next race is coming.), he heard his father behind him and all he could do was to agree. Maybe it was better to concentrate on racing.

___

„He pushed me off track!", Max was furious after the kart race, he was never that fast out of his kart. His eyes searched on the track for that one brown haired boy, he didn't even pulled his helmet off yet. He stormed in his direction as soon as he found him. It was again a very rainy race. It was max favourite type of race. What he didn't like about this race was a certain French guy (as he liked to call him to annoy him) almost took them both out of the race just for P1. Which he in the end didn't get anyway.

„Leclerc!", he yelled a bit louder, Charles turned around and glanced at him with the most neutral face he has ever seen. „Are you stupid?", his english wasn't the best but Max knew what to say when he was angry. „I don't know what you are talking about, Verstappen.", Charles answered with a slide grin on his face. „You almost took us both out.", Max explained and Charles still seemed unbothered by Max reaction. „It's called racing.", was all he said and gave Max a pad on the shoulder.