apocalypse | charles leclerc ✓

the less i know the better

a/n: i'm sorry i had to write one last perspective of the famous events from zandvoort 2022 in these silly universe lol

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«I was doing fine without you 'till I saw your eyes turn away from mine.»

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When Vivianne told her she had to be there, Sloane knew it'd be bad. Terrible, actually. She just never expected it to turn into the shitshow it did. Going back home to the Netherlands meant only negatives, with the exception of Aurora of course, but being forced to attend the race in Zandvoort put the cherry on top. Surviving could be easy if she pretended her ex-boyfriend didn't exist and dodged any messages from her parents, but one thing was planning her strategy in New York and another was being there in the flesh.

And Vivianne, her saving grace all the time, couldn't even travel with her because the poor woman was sick with the flu and Sloane felt too guilty if she bothered her in that state. Her manager still kept an eye on everything despite the distance and the many times she insisted for her to get some rest.

Salma and Irina told her it would be alright — or Irina did, while Salma replied with one-word answers in the group chat, lowkey abstaining from telling her she needed to stop being so pathetic. For a moment, she nearly convinced herself that yes, it would be fine, until of course, she saw Charles. She never thought it would take a span of fifteen minutes and an interaction between him and her best friend for the feelings towards him to go from melancholic and nostalgic to something along the lines of 'I want to murder this guy with my bare hands'.

Sloane: What would you do if you suspected your ex-boyfriend is trying something with someone who is very close to you?

She'd written on the group chat whilst fully ignoring the race, especially the red car. Fuck the red car, she thought, glaring daggers at the screen. Irina replied to the message first, as expected.

Irina: Return the favour and fuck someone who is close to him as well lol does he have siblings? They hate it when you go for their siblings

Irina: Or if you had unresolved sexual tension with any of his friends that'd work too. This could be your chance for a sneaky one-night stand!! I mean you won't see them again anyway

No, gladly she didn't have 'unresolved sexual tension' with any of his friends. Thank god. She loved Irina's creativity, but she would pass this time around. Salma replied with a simple 'don't do that ew', and Sloane sensed the eye roll through the screen. She ceased the chit-chattering when a member of the Red Bull team eyed her with a hint of disapproval for not paying attention to the race.

Every time the camera focused on car sixteen, she glanced away, as though the sight of it would make her sick.

She guessed it wouldn't get worse because she already went through the slutshaming for supposedly supporting her ex-boyfriend's rival, whatever, and then the newfound negative feelings for said ex so it really couldn't get worse...except it did. Of course. Sloane never imagined getting called 'Leclerc's ex-girlfriend' instead of her name would irritate her the way it did.

"I'm afraid this isn't my usual target audience. It wouldn't work." She politely told the marketing representative who suggested she could market herself with more sponsoring brands in Formula 1 if she wanted because she was Leclerc's ex-girlfriend. As if she needed Charles to get recognition for her work.

What she actually wanted to say was: Fuck off, I'm not only someone's ex. But she bit her tongue and opted for the courteous approach. She wanted to get out of there. It served as a relief when, from afar, she spotted a group of Red Bull staff returning to the motorhome, all cheery and energetic. Amongst them, the man himself. Race winner and the only reason she'd been summoned to take that stupid picture. She couldn't blame the guy for existing and repping her same nationality. She had to blame others for thinking social media interactions were more important than her dignity.