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Charles was pushing. There were only a few laps left and he knew he could catch Hamilton. They were battling for 4th place. The McLarens and Max in front of them by almost half a lap. Lewis was defending, but Charles knew he was faster. It was only a matter of time. When he was looking for his gap, his engineer came over the radio. “RED! RED! Come into the pits!”
“What happened?” Charles asks a little frustrated.
“Verstappen in the barriers”
“What? How?”
But before his engineer can answer, Charles rounds the corner and can see the wreck. His engineer is talking to him, but he doesn’t hear a thing. Smoke billowing onto the track and then he sees it… The number 1 Red Bull... It’s upside down and in multiple pieces. Charles does not think twice. He drives up to the crash site and jumps out of his car, ignoring his race engineer telling him to get back to the pits. He doesn’t care. Charles needs to get to Max.
As he runs up to the crash, a small explosion goes off, knocking him back. He shakes his head trying to recover. He needs to get back up!
When he does, he runs over to the wreckage “Max!?!”
There is no answer. Fuck. He tries again “Max! Answer me!”
Still no answer. Charles panics and starts pulling at the wreckage. The cockpit should be there… Max should be there...
That’s when he can see him and his breath stops. Blood… So much blood… No!
Adrenaline kicks in and Charles grabs for the dutchman, trying to get him out. “I’m right here. I’ll get you out! Hold on!”
In a feat of superhuman strength, Charles is able to pull Max free. He drags the lifeless body from the wreckage and pulls it away.
Not a moment too soon, because the engine that had been softly smoldering suddenly explodes. Charles uses his body to shield Max from the blast.
Charles looks at Max. There is no sign of life. No! This is not happening!
That’s when he is pulled away by a steward, but he fights back. He will not leave Max alone. He has to know Max is okay!
“We got him now. You got him out, but we’ve got him now” someone says but Charles sees red.
“He can’t die!” Charles screams as he struggles against the people holding him back.
“He can’t die! Not him! I need him! I love him!”
The race is black flagged and Charles is sitting in an examination room staring ahead. Fred insisted he go to the hospital to get checked out. He had a few burn wounds, but nothing serious. They were going to let him out soon.
No one told him about Max’s situation though, no matter how frequently he asked. They wouldn’t or they couldn’t. He didn’t know. So, he sat there, alone with his thoughts.
If Max died, he would quit racing. He would be done. Racing took so much from him already, but taking Max… he wouldn’t be able the get back into a car ever again.
Max was racing for him. They grew up together. Raced together. He loved going head to head with Max. Max was the one that pushed him. The one that brought out Charles’ best. If he was gone…
Charles was pulled out of his musing by Carlos walking in. “You okay, cabron?”
“How’s Max? No one will tell me anything!”
“I don’t know, but I came to get you. All of us are in the waiting room awaiting news and I thought you want to be there when they tell us more”
The waiting room was filled with drivers and F1 staff, when Charles walked in. All eyes on him instantly, like they were afraid of his reaction. Charles saw Oscar crouched with a clearly upset Lando. The young Brit shot up from his chair and ran to Charles.
“I’m so sorry! It was all my fault! I thought there was a gap. I was too aggressive… I… I...” Lando cried as he threw himself at Charles.
Charles caught him and hugged the brit. He wanted to comfort the younger driver. Tell him that it was not his fault. Tell him Max would have done the same thing. But he couldn’t find the words. Not when he still didn’t know if Max was…
Lando cried on his shoulder. “I saw what you did… You pulled him out… You pulled him out before the car exploded… You…”
Charles grip on Lando faltered and Daniel quickly pulled Lando away, whispering things to the brit to calm him down.
Charles noticed all eyes were still on him, so he ventured “any news yet?”
Christian walked forward “He is still in surgery, but what you did Charles… If he was still in the car when it exploded, he would have been gone… You gave him a chance.”
Charles simply nodded numbly as Carlos led him towards a chair. A chance… They didn’t see what Charles saw… Max’s body…lifeless…covered in blood…so much blood…
They must have been in that waiting room for hours. Charles heard the sounds around him, but didn’t acknowledge any of them. Christian arguing with nurses to get more news, Lewis trying to comfort Lando, whispered noises and people pointing at Charles… It was all background noise to him.
Then finally a doctor walked in. “Which one of you is Charles Leclerc?”
Charles’ head shot up. “Me” he answered anxiously.
The doctor walked over and looked Charles in the eyes “He is going to be okay. He is a strong one, that one. I’ve seen many less injured not come back, but he did. He just woke up and asked to see you”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. The nurse will show you to his room, while I fill the rest in, okay?”
Charles did not hesitate and rushed after the nurse.
“It’s this room over here” the nurse gestured “Go easy on him, he is probably still a little loopy from the sedative”
As the nurse walked away, Charles took a deep breath and opened the door.
Max was lying in a hospital bed attached to all sorts of machines and covered in bandages. Charles could see blood seeping trough some of them. His eyes were closed, like he was sleeping.
Charles slowly walked closer until he was at the edge of the bed.
There he was… Max… he survived… Charles couldn’t resist, he had to touch, had to know for sure. His fingers softly traced along Max’s arm towards his wrist, finding rest at his pulse point. He could feel it. Max’s heartbeat. Slow, but strong under his fingertips. He closed his eyes focusing on the feeling.
“Charlie?”
Charles eyes shot open, and he looked into Max’s blue eyes. Those beautiful eyes still twinkled and still looked the same. A soft sob of relief left his lips “Max?”
“Are you okay?”
Charles chuckled “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
“Maybe, but my answer depends on your answer”
“What?”
“I know you were there… at the crash… I know you are the one that pulled me out… the one that saved me…”
“I would do it all again”
“Did you mean it?”
“What?”
“What you said after you pulled me from the car?”
“You could hear me?”
“I could, it’s what kept me fighting… I heard every word… please…Tell me… Did you mean it?”
A million emotions run across Charles face… confusion, embarrassment, shock, denial, pain, reluctance… He looks at Max, who is looking back at him with what looks like… hope? Could Charles be brave and finally admit how he truly felt after all these years? He keeps his eyes on Max and looks at him. Sees the bandages and is once again reminded of the crash. He could have lost Max. He could have lost the man he loves. He lost so much already, and he can’t lose him. A determination settles in his mind as he interlaces his fingers with Max and looks at the man in front of him… “Yes, with all my heart”
Max smiles in relief as he uses their interlocked hands to pull Charles closer “I love you too, Charlie”
Charles heart flutters as he moves even closer and tentatively brushes his lips against Max’s. Max closes the distance and eagerly kisses Charles. Max kisses like he races, passionately and fiercely and Charles loves it. The Dutchman’s soft lips taste even better than he had ever dreamed off. They are starting to get really into it, Max’s free hand finding a grip in Charles’ soft curls.
They are interrupted when a nurse comes rushing in.
They break apart a little embarrassed, when the nurse releases a relieved sigh and starts to giggle. “I came in because your heart monitor started spiking, but now I can see why… Don’t mind me, but try to keep the heartrate down please?”
The nurse leaves and the two drivers chuckle awkwardly
“Maybe we should take it easy until I’m out of this hospital bed?” Max smiles as he quickly kisses Charles again. “And maybe talk about it?”
Charles blushes “Yeah... Yeah, that sounds like a good idea”
Turns out they have been in love with each other for a while. For Max it was Austria 2022 that made him admit it to himself and Charles said he knew when he saw Max win his first championship. They laugh about how oblivious they both were and where they will go from here. Charles hasn’t let go of Max’s hand the entire time.
A knock on the door interrupts them. Charles quickly gets up from the side of the bed, but doesn’t let go of Max’s hand. They talked about that too. No matter what happens, they will not hide their love anymore. Not from each other, nor the rest of the world. They will face it together.
The nurse walks in. “I thought I’d knock this time” she smirks. “But there are quite a few people here that want to come in. Is that okay?”
Charles looks at Max to check, but when the Dutchman smiles back, the Monegasque tells the nurse to let them in.
The first to storm in is Lando. “Max! Ow thank god! I thought I killed you!”
Max laughs as Lando hugs him (carefully, Max just came out of surgery), hugging him back. “It will take more from you to take this championship away from me, Lando”
Lando quickly looks up in shock “That? What? That wasn’t!”
Max chuckles “I’m joking Lando. It’s racing. These things can happen. I’m fine”
“A little more than fine from what I can see” Carlos chuckles as he points towards Charles’ and Max’s interlocked hands.
The shock on Lando’s face remains, but for an entirely different reason. “You finally told each other!?!”
Charles furrows his brow “Finally?”
“The only two oblivious were you and Max” Lewis laughs
The rest of the room, that has filled with almost the entire grid, chuckle and nod.
“You really are not that subtle, Calamar” Pierre laughs.
“Only took one of you nearly dying to figure it out” Daniel smiles.
“Try not to make a habit of that” Christian pipes up.
“Christian, you too?” Max asks in shock.
“Wasn’t sure of course, but the signs were there, son.”
“I’m pretty sure Fred knows too” Carlos adds.
“Yeah, but even if he didn’t… Charles screaming at a marshal that he needs and loves Max, will have been a dead give-away.” Oscar deadpans.
“O Mon Dieu” Charles exclaims as he sits down back on the bed next to Max, suddenly feeling less stable on his feet. Max is still looking in shock.
The nurse walks back in. “Max, your heart rate is spiking again. And not for the same reason as last time. You are getting overwhelmed.” She turns to the rest of the room “Everybody out. You have seen that he is fine, but he still needs his rest”
“Why did it spike last time?” Lando asks naively, causing Max and Charles to blush and avoid eye contact with any of the others, as they hear giggles.
“You heard the nurse” Christian speaks up “Let’s go and let Max rest.” He looks at Charles and smirks “He is clearly in good hands with Charles”
When they are finally alone again, Charles cups Max’s face. “You okay, Mon Coeur?”
“Mon Coeur?”
“It means… my heart”
“If you keep calling me that, I am… And you, Schatje?”
“Schatje?”
“Literally it means 'little treasure', but its more like sweetie”
“I’m okay now that I know that you are” Charles smiles as he lies down next to Max with a smile on his face, careful not to hurt him or get tangled up in one of the wires attached to him. He quickly kisses him and snuggles closer. “Now rest, I’ll be here when you wake up”
“You better be, I am never letting you go again” Max answers as kisses the top of Charles’ head.
“I love you Max”
“I love you Charles”