fast lane - c.leclerc

chapter twenty

LAUREN

ALL LAUREN COULD REMEMBER was the awful impact of the crash. The way her body felt like it was on the verge of crumbling. The whole world could hear her high-pitched whimpers. Her soft cries had broken the hearts of many people, though one certain Monegasque had suffered the most.

She'd had a concussion and her left rib was slightly fractured. Physically, she was barely scathed. However, the pure fear and anxiety she experienced as she flew into the barriers had left a massive mark on her emotional well-being. She could recall exactly how her body reacted to the pain. How her gratitude for surviving quickly made room for disappointment she felt guilty for experiencing. She'd thrown away a good race. And none other than Max Verstappen was to blame.

Instead of getting to witness another checkered flag being waved in her honour, she lied in a hospital bed plotting all the ways she could blow Max' face up. She wasn't left alone with her malicious thoughts for long, as her mother was glued to her side the entire time. Swiftly, Lauren's angry fake boyfriend joined them as well.

She was barely staying awake when she heard loud voices and slamming doors. For a second she thought the awfully plain and depressing room she stayed in was making her hallucinate.

'I told you, I want to see her. I'll deal with the FIA later. I just want to see her with my own eyes,' Lauren got chills all over her body when she recalled whose voice orbited the hallways.

She sent her mom a questioning look. Linda just shrugged, fully oblivious to the fiasco that had followed the end of the race. The door opened, revealing an extremely dishevelled and dehydrated Charles Leclerc, still in his race suit.

When his eyes found Lauren's, he let out a breath he'd been holding the entire way to the hospital.

'You fucking scared me, Evans,' was all he said, his eyes suspiciously glossy. Lauren's heart rate was a rollercoaster.

Linda read the room, her mother's instinct telling her it was time to give the lovers some space. 'Nice to meet you, Charles. We'll talk later,' she told them, dismissing herself rapidly.

It was just Charles and Lauren in the room now. The second Linda closed the door, the energy in those four hospital walls changed.

'Hi, Leclerc,' Lauren muttered weakly. He still stood there, at the end of her bed, his feet glued to the floor. His silence was unnerving. 'Why aren't you saying anything?'

He smiled at her softly. 'I'm trying to convince myself you're real. Seriously, you put the fear of God in me, Evans,'

Even in her drowsy state, Lauren managed to tease him. 'Was little Charlie worried about me?'

'It's not funny, Lauren. I thought you were dead,' Charles struggled to get the final word out. Death. He'd watched it happen in front of him too many times. And as he looked at the beautiful girl in front of him, he wished to rip off the awful scrubs she was wearing. Take away all that reminded him of hospitals and grief. He was glad she was okay, though her constant mocking combined with his deep worry was driving him mad.

'It's okay. I won't tell anyone how much you care about me. Your soft side will be our little secret,'

'You want me to show you how much I care about you, Evans?' he questioned daringly.

The audible hitch of Lauren's breath was all the confirmation he needed.

Charles groaned needily. Within two seconds, he closed the gap between them. He kissed her with such intensity that Lauren feared she might get another concussion. She instantly straightened up, trying to pull as much of him into her. Charles pushed her back down onto the bed.

'You need to rest, topolina,' he whispered against her lips, his hand circling the back of her neck to keep her in his reach. He pulled away, allowing himself to gaze at the beautiful girl in front of him. His thumb traced her lips softly. Lauren's hungry doe eyes were causing him to be on the verge of doing very bad things.

'What does that mean?' Lauren asked, fixated on the Italian nickname he'd called her.

Charles smiled, still stroking her face gently. 'Little mouse,'

'Are you calling me a mouse, Leclerc?'

'No, I'm calling you a little mouse,' he said matter of factly. Lauren rolled her eyes in disagreement.

'Well, I don't need to rest. In fact, I think the doctor said I should engage in light physical activity so get your sweaty ass back here,' she ordered. Charles' pants tightened. Wrong place. Wrong time.

Charles barely gave in to her desire, giving Lauren a final peck before ultimately pulling away. She groaned in disappointment.

'You're so beautiful when you're needy, Evans. It's a shame your mom is waiting outside, otherwise, I would've been inside you already,'

Lauren's cheeks flushed. 'You can't just say that and expect me to just lie here,'

Charles smirked. 'Actually, I can. I want you to make up your mind about what you want from me. Besides, heavy petting isn't allowed according to your rules,'

'You mean our rules,' Lauren corrected him.

'You know I just went along with that because I missed you and the fact that we weren't on speaking terms was driving me mad,'

He didn't give her a chance to react to his confession. His hand was already on the doorknob. Just before he twisted it, he looked at Lauren a final time. The intensity that his blues bore as they skimmed her whole body was making her go feral.

'I'll hear from you when you've made up your mind. I'm glad you're okay. Also, I broke Max' nose for you,'

'You did what?' Lauren shrieked.

The door closed. Her question remained unanswered. Lauren was left alone with a mixture of emotions. Confusion being the most overruling out of all of them.

a/n i was listening to if you think I'm pretty by artemas when i wrote this. sorry that it's so horny.