national treasures| Charles Leclerc

seven

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I see him across the paddock, heading my way. 

Charles gives a small nod, that polite, distant gesture you'd give a stranger—or maybe someone you barely remember.

 It makes my stomach tighten, and suddenly, I feel the old resentment rising, simmering just beneath the surface.

He stops in front of me, hands in his pockets, and there's this awkward silence that neither of us knows how to fill. 

"Camille," he says, his voice calm, almost forced. 

"You drove well today."

I give a slight nod.

 "Thanks," I say, keeping my tone level. 

"You too."

We're standing there, saying all the right things, but it feels so wrong. 

There was a time when words between us were easy, times when we didn't need to filter anything. 

Now, it's like we're both afraid to say something real, afraid to let down the wall that's grown between us.

I catch a flicker of something in his expression—regret, maybe, or just exhaustion. 

"It's good to see you doing so well," he adds, hesitating, like he's testing the waters. 

"You've really earned your place."

"Thanks," I reply, trying to keep my voice steady. 

"I had a lot to prove." 

And maybe that's it—the subtle jab I couldn't hold back, the part of me that wants him to know just how much his leaving fueled me, how his absence was a wound I had to seal myself.

He nods, and there's a shadow in his gaze, something like regret, but he doesn't say more. 

Maybe he thinks he can't. 

Maybe he's just content to leave it buried.

The awkward silence stretches until it feels unbearable, and I finally look away. 

"Anyway... good luck this weekend," I say, my voice colder than I intended. 

It's easier to close off than to let myself feel anything more.

"Yeah... you too," he says, the words slow, like there's more he wants to say but can't find the courage.

And then he's gone, back to his team, leaving me standing there, a hollow ache in my chest. 

There's something final in the way he walks away, a reminder of everything we used to be and everything we're not now. 

Part of me wants to scream at him, ask him if it was worth it, if he ever thinks about what he left behind. 

But the other part of me just stands there, breathing through the frustration, pretending his presence doesn't still affect me.

I've spent years building up these walls. 

I'm not about to let them fall now, not for someone who already walked away once.

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As I walk away from her, a part of me wishes I had said something more, something real. 

But when I looked at her face, the guarded expression, the hint of bitterness she tried to keep out of her voice, I couldn't find the words. 

It's as if the silence we've built between us is unbreakable now.

She was right—I can see it. 

She does have a lot to prove, and maybe that's my fault. 

Leaving her back then, it seemed like the right choice, like the only choice I had. 

But now, seeing the way she's looking at me, I can feel the weight of everything I broke.

It's strange, this mix of pride and regret. 

Seeing her in her element, racing in Formula 1, finally reaching the dream we used to talk about late at night in Monaco... it's incredible.

And it hurts. 

Because she's here, thriving, and I wasn't there for any of it. 

All the years I thought I was doing her a favour by staying away, I wonder now if it was just an excuse to avoid facing the fallout.

As I head back to my team, I can feel her words echoing in my head. 

I had a lot to prove. 

It was like a punch to the gut. 

I thought I'd moved past it all.

But seeing her today brings it all back.

Those quiet nights, her laughter, the feeling of having someone who really understood me. 

Now, all that's left is this unbearable distance and a wall she won't let me get past.

But maybe I deserve that. 

Maybe I'm just going to have to live with the consequences of my choices. 

Still, watching her walk away like that leaves a hollow feeling I can't shake. 

I know I should leave the past where it belongs, but it's hard to ignore that part of me that wishes I could somehow go back and undo it all, to fix whatever I broke and find a way to be in her life again.

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