[2] ONE || C. LECLERC

SIXTY EIGHT

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CAMILLE

I held onto Charles' hand as we walked ahead of Pascale and Arthur, up the steps and towards the church. Today, we were going to be saying our final goodbyes to Anthoine.

Charles spent his time crying in the shower this morning, thinking that the sound of the water against the tiles would distract me from his gentle sobs. It broke my heart as I slipped into the bathroom to see his hands resting against the tiled wall as the steam fogged up the glass. The room was boiling and I knew that it was a result of the temperature of the water as it burnt his skin. I lifted his shirt which I'd worn for bed away from my body, throwing it onto the floor and carefully opening the door to the glass cubicle. Charles turned his head, pressing his body against the wall before turning himself properly to wrap his arms around my body and pulling me into his chest. I ran my fingers across his hot skin, knowing it would calm him down, his face buried into my damp hair.

I knew how hard today would be for him and I was so glad that I was able to accompany him to Anthoine's funeral because I didn't want to leave his side. He was reluctant to let go of my hand; I was happy to be here simply for support. He'd spent so much of his time preparing a beautiful speech, begging me to listen to it and every single time, it brought tears to both of our eyes, but I was so proud of him. Charles was coping so well with all of the race pressure forced on his shoulders, whilst handling the media focus after his two consecutive wins, along with the pain which continued to resonate within him after the death of his friend.

"Pierre," Charles noticed Pierre as he stood beside Caterina and I was glad to see them both, following Charles as his hand tightened on mine. He held onto me whilst he took Pierre into his arms, patting his back as I reached for Cate's hand. "It's so nice to see you. How are you? Both of you?"

"As good as we can be," Pierre smiled, Charles letting go of my hand briefly to greet Cate whilst I went to Pierre, walking into his arms and allowing him to hold me closely against his chest. "It's nice to see you, Camille. It's been a while."

Pierre's move to Toro Rosso was a surprise and I was sad to see him move to the other side of the paddock when he would usually just be on the other side of the garage. He squeezed me a little tighter.

"You should come back to Red Bull every so often," I wiggled my brows as a smirk grew on my lips, Pierre shaking his head in disagreement. "Max and I won't mind, neither will Alex."

"I still don't think it'll go down all too well." His comment made me giggle, as Charles wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his side, leaving a kiss on my temple. His motions were gentle and simple, yet totally meaningful and I loved how smoothly everything was going at the moment. I wanted to ensure Charles felt comfortable in preparation for his long awaited speech this afternoon. I knew how proud Anthoine would be.

We separated from Pierre and Cate, promising to see them after the service, before heading towards George, Alex and Esteban. The mood between us was sombre and it hurt my heart because we shouldn't have been here today. None of this should've happened and I knew how difficult it was for all of us to accept that Anthoine was no longer here. We all missed him terribly and I could see in Charles' eyes that he was terrified about speaking in front of everybody. I walked beside him, my fingers loosely locked between his, my thumb brushing against the side of his over and over again. Today was important for Charles and I wanted to give him all of the support he needed right now.