POV: You Love Charles Leclerc

34. The City's Yours

664 words
⚠️Mentions of anxiety and panic attacks⚠️
Inspired by a TikTok I saw a while ago but also 'The City's Yours' by Jamie Foxx and Quvenzhané Wallis (Annie 2014)
Listen to the song while you read 😁

As a racing driver, anxiety wasn't something Charles really felt in the car. It was his happy place. A place where he was totally in control.
Well... it used to be. This season had been hard for him and you could see that he would get anxious before big races. He always said that he didn't feel the pressure but you didn't believe him. From what you had seen this season (especially towards the end), he definitely could.
Today was important for Charles as it was Imola. Monza had already been and gone with Ferrari not performing their best, sacrificing Charles' result. But that was in the past now and he wanted to win this race for himself and for the Italian Tifosi. This meant Charles would be sure to put more pressure on himself. That was where all of the pressure came from- himself. You understood, of course, because you did the same if you had a big event but it wasn't nice. You could tell that before the race, when you were sitting with Charles in his driver's room, that he was anxious. Not anxious to drive but to lose- he didn't want to have to throw away another race this season. You moved a little closer to him and put an arm around him, breaking the silence. "How are you doing, baby?" You asked quietly.
"I'm okay, thank you." He continued to stare at a spot on the floor.
"I know you're not 100% about this race. I know there's a lot of pressure and I know you are feeling it."
"You know a lot of things." Charles attempted to make a joke but you were serious. You were worried about him.
"Are you okay, baby? I'm worried."
"You're right. I'm nervous. But I'll be okay so don't worry about me." He insisted.
"Do you want to talk about it, it might help." You rubbed his back gently.
"I guess." He said quietly but when he started, it all started to come out. "It's just I don't want to let anyone down, you know? The team, the fans, Carlos, you. You all deserve more than me messing up all of the time. It makes the pressure and nerves more intense a-an-" he stopped as he started to get out of breath.
"You okay?" You looked at him, concerned as he attempted to breathe normally. You recognised his behaviour as a panic attack. You'd had a few when you were younger so you knew almost immediately what was happening. You needed to distract him.
"Hey, baby. Look at me." He was now sitting back on the small sofa, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes, still struggling to breathe. "Look at me." You turned his head for him. "I need you to repeat after me, okay?" He nodded.
"So take it all."
"So take it all." He repeated, breathlessly.
"The city's yours."
"The city's mine."
"It's worth fighting for."
"It's worth fighting for."
"It's all mine."
"It's all mine." His breathing was even again.
"It's all yours." You smiled as he calmed down again and relaxed into his seat.
"How did you do that?"
"It was a distraction, you were more focused on what I was saying than your anxiety and the fact that you couldn't breathe so you calmed down. I used to have panic attacks when I was younger and that was just something that helped me."
"Thank you, ma chérie. Je t'aime. (I love you) I don't deserve you." He pulled you into a tight hug, giving you a kiss on the cheek.
"Je t'aime, mon amour. (I love you, my love)" You stayed there for a moment, appreciating each other until you glanced at the clock on the wall, indicating that it was time for Charles to go to the grid. "Now, go out there and get them, champ. You'll be okay."
"I'll be okay." He repeated, thinking about your words. Then, he kissed you and left for the race.
God, you loved that boy.

A/N: sorry this has taken a ✨hot minute✨I've been out of ideas completely- I seem to have a case of chronic writer's block 🥲 but anyways, hope you enjoyed this. It was more a short and cute one instead of long. Also, I've just noticed, if you get random notifications saying I changed a chapter or something, don't worry about it 😂 I go through my book sometimes and notice any spelling mistakes and typos so I change them so they're correct but I've just realised that it would send a notification every time I press save on the changes so don't mind me, I'll just be editing small errors 😂 how did I not know until now 😭
Remember, you are loved and strong and beautiful ❤️
-A