𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕 𝙾𝚏 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚍

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚒𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗

~𝚈/𝙽~

"And you know I just had this desire to hold her hand... and ohh man, I can't describe this wild feeling I had inside me. I wanted to shove her into the next room and..." Charles French chattering with Pierre gets interrupted by Esteban. "Bonjour, mon oiseau! (Hello, my bird!)" He greets me with a huge smile. "Morgen! (Morning!)" I answer in German, like always. Wrong moment, Estie. I really wanted to know what Charles tells Pierre about me. They obviously discussed our hand holding at Silverstone but what came up before Esteban interrupted would have been very interesting.

"Why are you standing alone?" He says and leans against the railing next to me. "Just observing you guys..." I mumble and look over at Nando, Carlos and Checo, who chatter in Spanish with each other. "Why don't you accompany them, or Pear and Charlie?" He sounds like he tries to convince a child to play with others in the sandbox. I need to smile, he tries to take care of me like the rest. I love that but right now I just want to stand alone and observe.

"You shouldn't be alone, especially not today!" He says with a knowing smile. What? No... Please don't. Don't say it here, on the Drivers Parade wagon in the middle of all the other drivers. I feel panic arising. If they find out I need to hug everyone and that is too much for a day. I already got showered in phone calls and cuddles from Mick, Lew and my brother. I love hugging the others but todays limit is already reached. You know, always little baby steps for my introvert. I need to slowly get used to the boys love language of touch. How did Esteban found out? Did Mick tell him something? If yes, I will kill him.

"I'm good. I enjoy it." I try to act normally. Maybe he doesn't know. "You know, Mick bubbled a bit around and I just wanted to say... happy birthday!" He nearly shouts the last two words out of excitement and joy. All the other 19 drivers, the interviewer and the cameraman plus camera, turn into my direction. Fuck. I will definitely kill this blond mop of ADHD energy when he comes near me the next time! How could Mick do that to me. I already have enough with the dozens of phone calls and messages that I can't answer because of too much attention. Too much people that treat me like the sun in the Sun system for today.

"It's your birthday?" Fernando asks next to me. I put on a fake smile, act through it. Maybe the parade is over much sooner then it feels and I can flee. "Yea, it's my birthday today!" I breath and look at the others. They all look at me, some with a happy and some with a betrayed expression. Could they please stop staring at me. Is it that wrong from me to keep my birthday a secret just to let my introvert be at peace?

"Happy Birthday, girl! I didn't knew you have your B-day so near to mine. Why didn't you tell me?" Danny cheers and pulls me into a hug, pressing a kiss to my cheek. Why? Because of this situation. His hug is nice but I already see how the others prepare to congratulate me as well. Just Seb, Lew and Mick stand at the other end and observe me. I give my best friend a death stare, which he answers with a contrite, guilty smile.

Then his face disappears again because of the next shoulder that blocks my view. The next shoulder, the next hug and the next wish of happy birthday in another language. After many arms that slung around me I finally can get my personal space back. I can already see the parade end of the parade. Nice, thank you god for that one. I mean they are all so sweet and caring but I hate the attention and affection you always get on birthdays.

Everyone leaves the wagon and as I start walking down the steps a hand suddenly jumps into my view. As I look up I can see how Charles smiles warmly at me. How am I supposed to say no to this offer? Yea, I had enough physical contact for today but how could I ever say no to Charles Leclerc? I take his hand and he supports me while I take the last steps. "You know, I felt really close to you but now... after you lied to me about your birthday, I will consider to distance myself from you!" He says jokingly and plays hurt. I need to laugh. I can feel how he is always so free around me and I really appreciate it because I feel the same.