Lie To Survive | Leclerc x Verstappen

Abu Dhabi 2021

Jeddah, 2022

Waking up on Monday in Jeddah had been world shattering for Charles. He had one prominent dream the whole night before, and despite being so embarrassingly drunk, he remembered the entirety of it.

He fumbled with the shower handles, hoping for cold water to cleanse and ease his thoughts as it did for his tense muscles, tightening as if in a grand effort to fight what his mind had produced. He knew it couldn't be just a dream. The way Max was looking at him, furious and lustful, couldn't have been imagined. It happened. And the thought left Charles in shambles.

Just out of the shower, with wet hair and a hotel towel around his waist, he called Pierre.

"Pierre? t'est début?"

"Charles, c'est sept heures du mâtin, tu veux quoi?"

"Viens chez moi, s'il te plaît. Je dois t'en parler d'abord de faire une chose stupide."

There was silence on the other line, as if Gasly was considering leaving his friend to his own devices and just pick up the pieces later. Unfortunately for him, Charles knew Pierre wouldn't leave him alone to this.

"J'arrive"

"Merci mon doudou je t'aime"

"Arrête Leclerc, t'est gênant"

Charles knew Pierre would be there in a matter of minutes, so, while getting dressed, he called for room service. Getting Pierre his breakfast as soon as he sat down anywhere was a key component to him actually paying attention to whatever you had to say. Getting a french guy to give a damn, that's tough business.

He knew what he was about to have to admit to Pierre, and still he wasn't exactly sure on how to properly own up to it himself. He gazed at his image in the mirror.

Many people weren't fully aware of their attractiveness, but that was absolutely not the case for Charles. Even after a stressful race, a trying night out and a troubled night of sleep, his complexion was perfectly even, no eye bags in sight, and he looked fairly decent.

What was inside him, however, didn't feel put together in the slightest. He wished he could just reject the realisation he had that night. In all honesty, the only reason it had taken him this long to own up to it was probably because he had inwardly rejected it a thousand times. Still, it felt as if a burden had been lifted off his heart, while another took its place in his mind. Now that he knew what had been plaguing him, solving it would likely destroy him.

The room's phone rang.

"Yes?"

"Good morning mr. Leclerc, mr.Gasly is coming through for you."

"Yes, let him in, thank you."

If there was one thing you could count on Pierre for, it was punctuality. Charles would never figure out how he managed to get ready in such a short matter of minutes each time it was important for him to be somewhere.

"Leclerc! Je suis la! t'est ou?"

"Dans la salle à manger, viens la"

Pierre looked around the suite in wonderment as he made his way to the breakfast table.

"J'ai pas une chambre comme ça grand moi!"

Charles just shook his shoulder, laughing.

"Ferrari, mon ami"

Pierre laughed back at him, thankfully not offended, while taking his first mouthful of eggs from the abundant plate in front of him.

"So, what's going on with you?"