I love you, always | Charles Leclerc ✔

8

Since that night, Charles didn't leave Julie alone, well not when he could do something about it. He held her when she cried about Jules, watching as drivers paid tribute to her brother, as well as his team. She cried as Jules was brought back to France, to Nice, their home city. She cried as the french nurses told her that Jules was now in a 'normal' coma and that it was only up to him to wake up. She cried as they told her it was most likely that he would not wake up. And Charles held her. He held her as she cried her eyes out. Sometimes he cried too, with her which made Julie kinda glad that he was expressing his emotions. During those times, they held each other even tighter.

By the time Charles's F3 season was about to start, in April, they had both realized that something had changed in their relationship, but they didn't say anything. Charles's career was the first thing to split the 2 best friends. Julie had gone to live with the Leclerc family, in Monaco. Indeed, her parents were devastated by Jules's state, which was understandable, but they were acting as if Julie didn't exist. Charles didn't take that well and came to fetch Julie at her home one day, bringing her at his, where mama Leclerc, Pascale, welcomed her with a bright smile and arms wide open.

Julie was so grateful for Charles and his family, she had celebrated Christmas with them, New Years and her birthday too. Those days were bittersweet for her, she would have wished to have celebrated it too with her parents and Jules. Her parents hadn't even reached out to her for neither of those celebrations and that broke her heart a little. Well, more than a little. She felt like she had to mourn her parents's loss while they're still alive. And for the first time of her life, she couldn't go to her brother for advice and that broke her even more. Fortunately, the life at the Leclerc's was kind of hectic, making her forget her troubles for the day. And when she couldn't sleep at night, she went outside, in the garden, sitting in the big outdoor sofa, watching the sky. Stars gave her comfort, they seemed to shine either way and so brightly too. They are all light-years away and they are still visible from the Earth. Julie admired them.

Sometimes, Charles came to join her, they talked under the stars before going back to sleep, most of those times in the same bed. The strange feeling they both felt only grew over time, the both of them acknowledging it but not telling each other. Charles's family acted as if they didn't know anything about the nights outside nor them sleeping together. They still shared looks with one another when they thought that the best friends were just plain blind.

So when Charles had to go Silverstone for the first Grand Prix of the European F3 Championship, Julie didn't want to go back to her parents's house and Pascale and Hervé were more than happy that she stayed with them. Julie often went to Nice, her hometown and where Jules's hospital was, to visit him, with Lorenzo as he was his best friend.

April was when it all started to become worse for Julie, Charles wasn't home, her parents didn't speak to her anymore, only exchanging formalities for Jules's sake and when they crossed paths at the hospital, and Jules's state was deteriorating. Each time she went to the hospital, Jules had another tube connected to him and the hope nurses and doctors had for him to wake up was slowly going. Each time, when she got back from the hospital, she called Charles, telling him what happened and what she was feeling. He comforted her, telling her not to lose hope and then told her about his day. Julie loved those moment, she really wanted to be by Charles's side but she couldn't, not when her brother was between life and death.

During those months, she also got few messages from Sebastian, Lewis and Ricciardo, asking about her brother and how she was. She was always happy to answer them, even if it never was good news, because she saw that people really cared about Jules during his time in Formula 1. The messages were always constant, at least once a month. The three of them didn't lose hope either.

But sadly, that hope was soon to be shattered.