down bad | c. leclerc

FIFTEEN

a week had passed since the race in monza and charles was freaking out.

"so she hasn't texted you back?" carlos asked his teammate who was pacing around his room in monaco.

"no! i fucked it up." he said, running a hand through his hair.

carlos just laughed, "how could you have done that? it's not like you tried to kiss her or anything."

he stopped laughing as charles looked at him with a sheepish smile.

"you tried to kiss her!" he exclaimed.

charles sighed, "it was after the podium, i think it was just the moment, i was just so wrapped up in the moment and she was just so," he sighed, "perfect. how can anyone be so perfect. her smile, her eyes, god even her laugh is just so, ugh!"

he fell down on the couch next to carlos and the man patted his partner on the shoulder, "i know the feeling. have you tried to call her?"

"yeah, but she won't pick up. i don't know what to do." he said, putting his hand on his head.

just as carlos went to say something, the door to charles' house swung open and max walked in.

"what the hell did you do charles?" he exclaimed before seeing the state of the man.

"i didn't do anything!" he argued before carlos shook his head, "i mean, i don't think i did anything. we almost kissed before you interrupted us at the podium." he told the redbull driver.

"you almost did what?" max yelled, making charles shake his head.

"i know, it was a bad idea! it was a mistake!" charles yelled back.

carlos looked between the two. "okay, so here's the problem. charles you like kens a lot and potentially scared her, and max you like her," he started before max could even open his mouth to protest carlos added, "don't even deny it we all know, but you're too scared to do anything about it. so here's what were going to do, how many weeks until our next race?"

"um, like one." charles said.

"perfect, so what you both are going to do is call josie and fly out to london. and you're both going to talk to kennedy like you're all normal people." carlos finished, proud of himself for the plan.

charles and max looked at each other and shrugged.

"i mean, that works. i'll go call josie." max said, walking into the kitchen to call the woman.

charles just looked at carlos, "i hope this works, i don't want to lose our friendship over a stupid thing i did." he said sadly and carlos patted the man on the back.

"it'll work just trust me. i know women better than i know myself." he said with a laugh before standing up, "i'm going to see my family, call me if you two fuck anything up."

just then, max came back in with a smile on his face. "josie said we can come visit next weekend!"

carlos clapped, "perfect, now my flight leaves in an hour so please don't do anything stupid before i get home."

the men nodded, hugging their freind before he left, leaving the two drivers alone.

"so you like kennedy, huh?" charles asked with a small smile on his face.

max just laughed and shook his head, "yeah, i really do."

charles nodded, "want a glass of wine? i don't think my nerves can handle this well right now."

the other driver nodded, welcoming something to calm his nerves.

the two men sat in charles monaco home, sipping wine and laughing about old memories they had together.

meanwhile, in london, josie had just walked into kennedy's room.

"hey kens, how you feeling?" she asked the girl, who was laying in bed, tissues surrounding her.

"dead, just kill me now." she responsed, her voice raspy from her cold.

josie just laughed, sitting on the edge of her bed and putting her hand to her head, "i'm pretty sure you have a fever, but let me go get a thermometer just in case."

kennedy just nodded, her eyes fluttering closed once she heard josie walk out of the room.

truth be told, she had been ignoring everyone since she got back from monza as a way to cope with her newly admitted feelings. it was just a coincidence she had gotten sick they day after she had landed, which she blamed on the drastic change in weather.

when josie got back in and saw the girls eyes closed, she put her hand back on her head, feeling her burning up.

"kenny honey, wake up, i need to take your temperature." she whispered softly to the girl who groaned but sat up, her hair wild.

josie put the thermometer in her mouth and held it up as kennedy seemed to have no strength.

"okay hon, your fever's at one hundred and two, if it goes up anymore i'm taking you to the hospital." josie said, pouring her some nyquil incase it would help the fever go down.

"you'll make a great mom one day jo." kennedy said as she took the medicine and layed back down.

josie just smiled at the girl and stood up. "i'll be back in a couple of hours to check on you again, try not to die please."

kennedy just gave her a weak smile, "die? i'm fucking immortal."

with that, the blonde fell back asleep, making josie sigh, watching her best friend with a worried look on her face.

suddenly, she heard her phone ringing from the kitchen and she hurried out to get in.

"max?" she asked as she picked it up.

"hey josie! i was just wondering if kennedy's alive, none of us have heard from her since monza." he said, making josie roll her eyes.

"and who's 'us'?" she questioned.

"oh, um, me, charles, and carlos. carlos suggested we go out to london to visit since we have no race this weekend." he rambled, making josie sigh.

kennedy would get better before the weekend, right?

"we can't stop you from coming to london, and if you do you might run into us. however, i'm not making any promises." she told him.

she heard max release a breath, "awesome, we might see you this weekend then."

"great, talk to you later." she said, hanging up and texting carlos about what else he might've suggested to the two drivers.

the brunette just sighed, it was about to be a long week.