Romeo and Juliet || Carlos Sainz

I love the way you lie

Y/n walked towards the first pit, the RedBull pit. It was immediately after the pit entrance because RedBull had won the Constructors' Championship the previous year and so by rule it had the nearest pit.

Y/n remembered very well the party the year before, the one where Max became world champion for the first time, it was an intense, tiring year, but in the end they could celebrate as winners.
She stopped from a distance to look at both garages. The cars were already there, the mechanics were circling around them, fixing the last things, cleaning the car body and mirrors.

From afar two children ran towards her, a boy and a girl, Checo and Carola's children, Sergio and Carlota. Y/n squatted down towards them and hugged them tightly.
"We missed you so much Y/n!" they said together.
"I missed you so much too, little bunnies!" From behind came Carola and Checo, who were already smiling at her from afar.
"You're back!" said Carola holding out her arms, Y/n stood up and hugged her tightly. That scent took her back in time, to when she still worked for RedBull and Carola consoled her every time her father was being a jerk to her.
"Hey! I want a hug too!" Checo said just before holding her tightly to him, he loved her like a daughter and had really missed her.
"HUGS! HUGS!" the children said in chorus, so Y/n took Carlota in her arms, while Carola took Sergio in her arms. They seemed like a beautiful family.

When they broke away, Christian emerged from behind the pits. RedBull polo shirt, dark trousers, belt, watch, wedding ring on his finger. His usual uniform. If it hadn't been his father, Y/n would have thought he also went to bed dressed like that.

"I'm glad you accepted my invitation, Yn" he told her smiling, he didn't hug her, he wasn't capable of it.
Y/n smiled at him and in that smile was contained all the love for that sport, her oxygen.

Checo and his family walked away
"See you later, Y/n!" all four said before disappearing into the hospitality area, leaving Y/n and Christian alone in front of the garages.
"Do you want to come to the grid and watch the start?" asked Christian of her.
"Really? Can I?" she had eyes full of joy and excitement.
"Sure! You'll be next to Max, let's see if you can figure out what's changed in the car since you worked here" he smiled, he loved playing these games with her, when Y/n was little they used to do it all the time at RedBull HQ. Y/n had become really good at understanding cars because of this game.

Christian walked away, called by Helmut Marko, and Y/n was left alone. So she walked up to Max's car and started to scrutinise it, looked at the bottom, the front wing, the brakes, the DRS, how beautiful that RB18 was, she loved every detail of it. She noticed a few changes here and there and couldn't wait to tell her father, when from behind the car, Max popped out.

"Y/n!" he said surprised.
Y/n looked up, she was leaning forward towards his car, her hands in the pockets of her jeans. As soon as she saw Max, she smiled too, everything seemed to be back to the way it used to be.
"Hi Max!" the two hugged each other

"How are you? I didn't know you were here today! When did you get here?"
"A little while ago, my dad invited me, you know?"
"that's great, Y/n! Will you be my engineer again?" his eyes sparkled. Y/n smiled
"No, but I'll be on the grid, in the middle of the fray again."
"Can't wait, then. Do you like it?" said Max pointing to his car, his fireball giving the Ferrari a run for its money.

"It's beautiful, Max, it's even better than the way I left it."
"Yes, we've made some changes, we hope to overtake the Ferrari today"
"It's a good competition to watch, the cars are both beautiful"
"Yeah, but you always root for RB, right?" he looked at her hopefully but Y/n didn't answer, she just smiled.

"See you on the grid" he said, changing the subject.
"See you later!" Y/n walked away and went up to the hospitality area to have a glass of water and looked out from the balcony.
From above he could see the Ferrari pit box, packed with red-clad mechanics, moving here and there as the drivers were heading to the track for the parade and the national anthem.

Once they were finished, the drivers positioned their cars on the grid and Y/n went with her father to the track. It was bedlam.

Y/n approached Max's car but looked around, she wanted to see the other cars, so she started to stroll around. She looked at the Mercedes, they looked very good, the McLarens still had a long way to go, until he got to the front row, with both Ferraris there ready to go. Charles on pole, Carlos right behind.

*CHARLES' POV*

Meeting Y/n in the paddock had made him happy. As soon as he had met her gaze it was as if his eyes had filled up, as if he had gone back in time to when the two of them used to spend so much time together working on strategies. Those had been really happy times for Charles, he loved spending time with Y/n and considered her a really important person in his life. Having to give up on her in both his work and private life had made him feel bad. But despite this, he had always managed to never really separate himself from her. Because he needed her.

Seeing her walking around the paddock seemed like a dream to Charles and when he had seen her there, in front of his car, his heart had suddenly started beating fast. Again he had thought how beautiful she was but had immediately recoiled as soon as Carlos had arrived.

Before the race, he was preparing beside his car, with Andrea Ferrari, as usual, when Y/n bumped into him.
"Hey!" the two greeted each other again.
"I didn't thank you for last night," said Y/n
"Last night?" Charles seemed to fall from the sky
"Don't you remember? You drove me home yesterday, I...was drunk..." she said in a low voice
"I slept the whole time last night" he said smiling, really had no idea of what she was talking about.

"Who drove me home then?" Y/n felt confused
"Did you call anyone last night?" asked Charles 
"Well, yes. I called Carlos but he told me it was you who came all the way to London to take me home."
"Oh no no" Charles understood what Carlos had done and, putting aside his ideas about Y/n, tried to reason with Y/n so that she could understand what had happened the night before. "I didn't leave the hotel last night, Y/n"
"So?"
"So it was Carlos for sure" Charles cut off shortly, adjusting his helmet.

Y/n turned back to Carlos' car, he was still outside, talking to his father and Rupert in the middle of the track. He was fixing his hair gesticulating, looking focused and serious, elegant and determined as always. Y/n turned back to Charles who was now about to enter the car.
"What?" he said adjusting his suit.

"...Was it him?" said Y/n pointing towards Carlos.
Charles didn't answer and got into the car. He didn't want this conversation to go futher. He had to concentrate.

*Y/N'S POV*

Y/n looked at Carlos again, this time their eyes met and Y/n's heart beat so fast that she lowered her gaze.

Why hadn't he told her the truth? Why was he hiding behind a lie? It was too late to ask, the cars were about to make their laps, so Y/n quickly ran towards her father. They talked some more with Max until he too got into the car. Everyone stood at the edge of the track, including Y/n, and as soon as all the cars left, Y/n and his father, along with everyone else, crossed the road to go to their battle stations. The race had begun.

"Do you want to stay on the pitwall?" asked Christian as she was about to enter the pits.
She smiled and nodded and sat down next to Giampiero Lambiase, Max's new engineer. How she had missed this.

The race was expected to be fierce. Max and Carlos were too close to hope for a quiet race.