I'll Be There For You | Oscar Piastri

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Author's Note: This story was requested by reader: PIASTRIS-WIFE 

⚠️ Mentions of not eating and self neglect, ends happy. 

Done in Oscar POV.
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It all started a few weeks ago when Charlotte mentioned her final exams were coming up. At first, it was a casual thing she brought up over dinner, something she laughed about, promising she'd be fine, maybe just a little less free until her tests were over. I didn't think much of it at the time. She was usually so calm, so sure of herself. But that confidence didn't last, and soon enough, I saw the stress start to wear her down.

At first, it was small things...forgotten meals, late nights with her laptop, her nose in a text book. I'd come home after training and find her still hunched over her desk, books and notes scattered everywhere. I'd try to distract her with a movie, a cup of tea, anything to make her relax, but she'd just give me this tired smile and say, "Soon, Oscar. I just need to get through this chapter."

She kept saying things like that. "Just one more chapter," "Just one more test," "Just one more week." But the weeks piled on and each one seemed to chip away at her a little more.

I couldn't ignore it when she started to skip meals regularly. Sometimes, I'd cook her favorite pasta and bring it to her desk, just to see her push it away and mutter, "Not now, babe. I'm just...not hungry." She barely looked at me as she said it, her focus locked on her books. 

She looked thinner too, like the stress was physically draining the life out of her. I tried to joke about it, to lighten the mood, but my words felt empty when she'd look at me with that distant, exhausted stare.

I hated seeing her like that. I hated that there was nothing I could do to pull her out of this. I felt...useless. Every time I reached out, it was like my hands slipped through her fingers.

The worst was the way she looked at herself...or rather, the way she stopped looking at herself. I'd watch her get ready in the morning, her eyes dull, not bothering with makeup or any of the little things she usually loved. She used to take pride in how she looked, but now she just threw on whatever was closest, as if she couldn't see herself at all. She'd avoid mirrors, too, like she was afraid of what she might see staring back.

One night, I woke up around 2AM, the bed empty beside me. I found her in the living room, surrounded by papers, her eyes red and glazed over with exhaustion. She looked up and there was a helplessness in her eyes that twisted my stomach.

"Cha," I whispered, sitting beside her. "Come to bed. You need sleep, this isn't healthy."

She shook her head, her voice so small it felt like it could shatter. "I can't, Oscar. I need to keep going. I can't fail this."

"You're not going to fail," I tried, gently taking her hands, feeling how cold they were. "You're brilliant. You know that, don't you?"

She didn't answer. Instead, her shoulders slumped, and for a second, I thought she was going to cry. But she didn't. She just kept staring at the papers in front of her, like they held the answer to all her problems.

I wanted to be her anchor, but I was watching her slip further away with each passing day. I knew she needed to pass these exams, that they were important to her, but was it worth watching her deteriorate like this? 

I wasn't even sure who I was trying to convince anymore. Every time I tried to talk to her, I could feel the space between us growing wider. 

She started avoiding me too. I'd ask her to come out with me or to take a break and she'd just shake her head, barely looking up. Sometimes, she'd go days without even properly talking to me. It was like I was watching her slowly disappear.

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