The calm before the storm - Max Verstappen x Charles Leclerc

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Friday had gone well for all drivers and it was now Saturday and time for qualifying. me and Kika had spent the night at my place so we were going there together. we were in the bathroom doing our makeup when she needed to get her cell phone from the living room and noticed Charles' shirt. "is this Charles' shirt" she called into the bathroom where I was standing. "maybe, how about" I joked but deep down I couldn't bear her to start talking about us.

"I don't think anyone else has the number 16 in F1, so tell me now. I've seen the picture of you two" she explained and came back with her mobile.

"he was here a few days ago and he forgot it so will return it today and the picture of the two of us is nothing more than two friends going for a walk"

"friends with a past you mean" laughed Kika. I gave her a loose push and laughed so as not to show that I was slightly embarrassed by her words. we finally finished and we saw we were going to be a few minutes late so we ran down to the lobby and were met by a newly awake Lando.

"I guess you overslept" I laughed and Lando nodded. we decided to take a shared taxi because Kika and I would be late if we had to call our own taxi. shortly afterwards Lando's taxi arrived and we jumped into the back seat and Lando fell asleep during the drive. it only took a few minutes for us to arrive so Lando was grumpy about not getting to sleep anymore.

we scanned our passports and Kika and I said goodbye to Lando before we started walking towards Alpine's garage. but the second the fans saw us they started screaming at us, or more specifically me. i knew people would but didn't think it would affect me as much as it actually did.

"wait here I'm going to leave Charles' shirt" I said to Kika and she looked at me and then gave me a wink and then walked away. I headed towards the Ferrari garage hoping to meet Charles quickly. I didn't see him anywhere so I chose to call him and ask him to meet me. it took a few signals before he answered.

"hey Fra what's up" he asked and I could tell he had a smile on his face.

"you left your shirt at my place the other day and came to give it to you, I'm standing outside Ferrari so you can come and get it"

"absolutely, I'll be out in a minute" he replied and hung up. I looked around and saw that several cameras were pointed at me and I could also hear fans screaming for me. I tried to think of other things and hoped that Charles would come quickly. after a few seconds that felt like an eternity I could finally see him walking towards me. he came over and gave me a hug but immediately felt my whole body tense up. 

"don't worry about them Fra" he said and then took me to a place no one could see us. I held out his shirt and he started laughing. "What's so funny" I asked a little annoyed. "you can keep it if you want Francesca" he laughed further "I just came to spend time with you and save you from all the dangerous people" he said jokingly.

i still held out the shirt but when he didn't accept it i gave up and kept it. I picked up my phone to check the clock and saw that Q1 would start soon. "I have to go see Simon now" I explained and he nodded understandingly but put his hand around my waist and followed me back. "it will make even more headlines if you hang in there" I told Charles but he replied "I know let it do it" nonchalantly. he hugged me goodbye before I continued towards Alpine.