Leclerc

P6

After they got into the car again, Adeline finally spoke.

"Hey.. thank you again.." She mumbled, looking at the floor of the passenger seat. "For what?" Asked Charles, and from the corner of her eye, she could tell he was looking at her. "Well, for everything.."

Charles couldn't help but smile at her words. "Don't thank me.. of course i would do this for you," "But it's not like i'm asking you to, you just do it." "Because I care for you. I'm proud of you. For telling me about this, for talking about this with the principal. I know how hard it is for you, but i'm proud of you. For everything that has happened."

That hit. That hit deep. She didn't have her father to say that to her. And now Charles made sure that he did.

"Thank you.." Adeline hugged him, his strong arms immediately wrapping around her. The girl tried to hold back her tears, as she didn't want to worry him. There were often times when she unintentionally called Arthur or him "dad", but they never mentioned it. It warmed their heart, but broke it at the same time. They tried their best to make her life easier, but they knew who she - sometimes - pretended they are.

"Come on.. let's get back home and meet up with Arthur, hm?" Adeline nodded, pulling away from the hug before getting comfortable in the seat and putting the seatbelt on. After Charles had his own locked in, he drove back home.

When Charles and Adeline got home, it was about 10:28, and Arthur seemed to already have waited for them. Today was his own practice, as F2 was always earlier than F1.

"When's your practice start?" Asked Charles as he greeted his brother, who gave him a side hug. "2 pm. So about three and a half hours." The younger and older nodded. "When are you leaving?" She asked, trying not to seem as excited as she actually was. "Well, i was just about to." He flashed her a smile. "Do you wanna come with? I can introduce you to everyone! You'll like them, i swear! Especially Paul! Or Ollie! Or Kimi! Or Dino! Or-" Adeline interrupted Arthur's rambling.  "Dino? What kind of name is that?" Asked she, earning a grin from both men. "He's cool, don't worry." Said the ten year older boy proudly. "So? Will you?" His eyes lightened up again. 

The girl looked to her left where Charles was standing, giving him an unsure look. "I'll go with." He assured her, making the youngest agree.

Adeline drove with Arthur to the paddock, as Charles said he still had to get a few things. Apparently, they got extra passes for people they would want to invite, and Arthur gave his to his sister. They got out of the car, seeing that Charles wasn't there yet. Arthur didn't bother waiting for his brother and just gently grabbed Adi's arm and walked her towards the entrance.

With a bit of a struggle, they finally got through and people made photos and videos of them together, no one knowing who the little girl by Arthurs side was. A bit shy, she looked down at the ground so people wouldn't catch her face as much, which Arthur obviously noticed. He placed his arm around her shoulder and just led her to the Prema Racing Motorhome.

Once they were inside, Arthur checked to see if she was okay. "Are you alright? I'm sorry that there were so many cameras." He asked worriedly, but just received an "It's fine, don't worry," as an answer, a small smile on the girls face.

Just as Arthur was about to speak again, a blonde guy, maybe about the same height as Arthur, wearing a racing suit that was wrapped around his waist, walked up to them. The man greeted them, and a smile grew on Arthurs face.

"Hey man." He said, switching to english. Adeline couldn't help but grin at his heavy accent. "Hey Arthur, who's this?" The blonde smiled at the girl in front of him. "Oh, it's my sister, Adeline." "I'm Paul." The older extended his arm for her to shake his hand. Shyly, she did grab his hand and shook it gently,

"I didn't know you have a sister?" Someone else said, visibly shorter than Paul and Arthur. The Monegasque looked over to the french girl before smiling. "I just never mentioned her, i guess." He shrugged, and received a nod by the two.

"I'm Kimi, by the way." Said the boy with the Italian accent. "Adeline" She mumbled shyly and a smile spread on both new peoples faces. That's when Arthur realized something.

"Wait, you can speak english, right?" He asked her in french, receiving a nod as an answer. "When's Charles coming?" She asked, also in french as she spoke to her brother. Arthur looked at the time before replying with a "Soon"

The Estonian and Italian boys just looked confused at each other, not understanding them in the slightest. "Anyway," Arthur switched back to English, "Let's show her around, no?" "Ah, yes." Paul agreed and so did Kimi.

It took them maybe ten to fifteen minutes until they had showed Adeline everything, and that was also as long as Arthur could stay with her before he had to go back to training.

"Alright, take care of her until Charles comes around, i'm sure she won't break anything." He told the two before turning to his sister. "Don't worry, they won't bite." He gave her a smile before ruffling up her hair and leaving to look for his trainer.

Once Arthur was gone, Adeline felt vulnerable. She barely knew Kimi and Paul, and now her brother just went to leave like that? Wow.

"So..." Paul started. "Do you wanna prank call Charles?" He had a big grin on his face, and Adeline couldn't help but copy that.

"Hello?" The three heard Charles ask in french. "Hey, is this Charles? Uh, Leclerc?" Asked Paul with a shrug as he tried to hold back his laughter, looking at the girl and boy next to him. "Yeah? Who is this? Where's Adeline?" Charles spoke in a heavy french accent, not knowing who this could be when it's Adeline's phone they called him with.

"This is Paul, i'm at Prema with Arthur and well- Adeline's gone" "WHAT?" All three had to hold back their laughter now. "Y-Yeah.. Arthur is training right now and told me and Kimi to take care of her but we can't find he-" "What do you mean you can't find her? She's a thirteen year old girl that doesn't know her way around the paddock! Look for her!"

"We tried but-" "Well you wouldn't have called me if you actually tried because if you did she would be there with you!" Oh how Adeline wanted to just burst out laughing. She found it funny how mad Charles was and his french accent was even heavier now.

"Mate we tried, just come to our Motorhome and we'll look together, alright?" Said Kimi now. A sigh was heard on the other end but he agreed. "I'll be there in 5." Was all Charles said before hanging up.

All three started laughing and giggling like little high-school girls until someone who wanted to just casually walk past stopped to look at them with an weirded out expression.

The three gasped and quickly stopped laughing, watching as the person started walking again before they - quietly - started giggling for a second time.

Just like Charles had promised, it didn't even take 5 minutes for him to show up at the Prema Racing Motorhome. He looked pissed off, but when he saw Adeline giggling and laughing with the two boys his expression softened.

"Really?" He said, his tone slightly amused now. "Sorry" The three said between laughs, soon calming down.

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