I love you, always | Charles Leclerc ✔

15

Charles and Julie lived quite the dream after their first kiss at the beach in Abu Dhabi. They were just so happy, their relationship had become an evidence and they couldn't see each other apart after that moment. They had come back to Monaco for Charles's break, before Charles's F2 season started in April. They spent the holidays with the Leclerc family. The first evening they all spent together. Arthur, Lorenzo and their parents didn't even have to ask if they were finally together as they were basically cuddling on the couch, Julie playing with Charles's hair as his head laid on her chest. They in their own little bubble.

Sadly, that bubble meant that they hadn't noticed the hushed whispers between Pascale and Hervé, along with frowns that kept increasing and digging in their foreheads. Only Arthur noticed, as he was the person most at home, as Lorenzo was busy working. But Arthur didn't ask, 16 him wasn't sure he actually wanted to know what was wrong. He wanted his parents to tell them themselves, on their own terms.

Unfortunately, that time came sooner than he expected. And that's how, one January evening, Pascale and Hervé got everyone sat in the living room with gloomy looks on their faces. There was a more than heavy silence hovering around the room. Everyone looked at the two adults with worried expressions. Pascale sighed and started talking to her children with her voice slightly shaky.

« Les enfants... Votre père et moi avons quelque chose à vous annoncer... »
"Kids... Your dad and I have something to tell you..."

You could hear flies fly. Julie and the boys stilled, hoping for the best.

« C'est une... mauvaise nouvelle. Le cancer est revenu et cette fois... il est plus fort que jamais. »
"It's... bad news. Cancer's back and this time... it's stronger than ever." 

Hervé finished delivering the more than bad news. No one said a thing, not believing what they had just been told. Tears started building up and Julie was the first one to get up, leaving Charles's warmth and to hurl herself towards Hervé and into his embrace. She started sobbing in his neck, and she was soon joined by Charles and Arthur as Lorenzo gave a hug to his mother, watching his dad and siblings. They all knew that with their parents's choice of words, the cancer was most unlikely to go away, which meant that time was running out and they now had to cherish every single moment they could spend together.  

« Combien... combien de temps as-tu ? »
"How much... how much time do you have ?" Charles managed to get out between sobs.

« ... Quelques mois d'après les médecins. »
"... A few months according to doctors."

Hervé's answer brought back the tears which had started to dry a bit. Julie now knew that she had to be there for Charles, like he had been there for her while Jules was still in the hospital.

Having to mourn someone who wasn't dead yet was one of the worst type of grief.