Racing | C.L (English)

27

.·:*¨༺ REAL LIFE ༻¨*:·.

"I missed you," a soft voice whispered next to Alice's ear as a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind. She already knew who it was just by the smell of mint emanating from his body, her new favorite scent. They were in the Red Bull garage, and everyone had left about half an hour ago, but Alice still had work to do, and Charles had asked her to wait for him.

She turned to face him and leaned in to press their lips together. "I missed you too," she said before he pulled her in for another kiss. He looked at her, focusing on every detail of his girlfriend. "Love, I need to be honest," he said, taking her hand and pulling her closer. "I hate seeing you in that Red Bull shirt." Alice looked down at her clothing - a blue Red Bull polo and jeans - while Charles wore almost the same outfit but with a Ferrari polo instead.

"I like my shirt," she said teasingly, and Charles rolled his eyes with a smile. "Ready to go?" she asked, and he nodded. She grabbed her bag from the floor, and they started walking together towards the parking lot. As if it were natural, Charles wrapped his arms around Alice's shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

There weren't many people left in the garage, but Alice didn't care if they saw them. She was just happy to be with him after a long day where they could only text each other. "Could you drive me back?" she asked as they approached the parking lot. "My dad needed to go somewhere and took my car."

"Sure, but there's one condition," Charles said, stepping in front of her.

"Is there a 'but'?" Alice asked, curious.

"Let me finish," Charles said. "Yes, but there is one condition: would you stay with me tonight?"

"That's your condition?" Alice asked, surprised.

"Yep, I'm easy to please," Charles replied with a grin.

"Fine, I was going to ask you if I could stay with you, but you just made things easier," Alice said, returning the smile. Charles opened the car door for her, and they drove off into the night.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

After picking up her essential things from her room, Alice and Charles headed to his room. Once the door was closed behind them, Charles spoke for the first time since they left the paddock.

"Love?" He called out to Alice, who turned to look at him. "When are we going to make this public? I know it's new, but I don't want to treat you like a dirty secret or something like that. I am happy to be with you... but I hated that I wanted to be with you today, and I had to wait until almost everyone was gone to be with you again. I know this is what you wanted, and I respect it..."

She closed the gap between them and pressed their lips together. "I hated it too. I'm going to talk to my dad, not now or this weekend, but as soon as possible, okay?"

"I didn't mean to rush you or..."

"Stop. This is what I want to do." She wrapped her arms around his waist, and he kissed her head before hugging her back. "Promise me something," she whispered with her cheek pressed to his chest.

"Anything."

"In your next race win, you'll get out of the podium and run to me and kiss me in front of everyone. That will be how we tell the world we are together," she said, remembering what she had been dreaming of for weeks. She always wanted to live it, just like it happened in the books.

"Now I need to win," Charles said.

"No, think about it as a gift from me to you for your next race win."

"What makes you think I'll win another race?"

"Charles, I've seen the look on your face when you're in that car. It's like nobody can stop you from achieving what you want, and all you want to do is win. You're not happy with a second or a third, which is one of the things that makes you a better driver. You'll win, trust me."

"You should be saying this to me. I'm your rival."

"But right now, you're my boyfriend, and I want you to win."

"Yes, ma'am."

.·:*¨༺ NEXT DAY ༻¨*:·.

There was something pressing against her chest, not letting her breathe and pressing her lungs, making them unable to expand. Not to mention the warmth against her side. Alice looks down and focuses on Charles' arm wrapped around her stomach. She smiles at that sight and runs her fingers through his light brown hair.

Slowly he opens his eyes and then closes them again. She stops massaging his head as Charles takes her hand back and presses them to the top of his head.

"Don't stop," he says with a raspy morning voice. Without saying anything, she resumes massaging his head while he closes his eyes again. He adjusts his body better on top of hers with his arms still around her.

"Love," this time she is the one calling him like that, "we need to get going." He ignores her and takes back her hand and puts it on his head as he did earlier. Alice bites her lip, trying not to smile at that look. Slowly, she gets up from the bed, but his hand stops her, grabbing her wrist. She turns and takes his face in her hands, giving him a soft kiss on the lips. "We need to go," she repeats, at which he lets go of her wrist, and she starts walking towards the bathroom door, with Charles still lying on the bed, following her every move.

"That shirt is better than the one you had yesterday," he says, and Alice looks down, finding a black shirt that belongs to Charles. It even smells like him. She had her own pajamas, but Charles invited her to use his. Since he had to watch her every day with the Red Bull polo, at least he could watch her using one of his in the room. When she smelled it, she couldn't say no. Maybe she sounded like a creep, but Charles' smell had become her addiction.

"One day, I'll wear a Ferrari polo or a cap with the number sixteen on it, but for now, this is the closest you'll see me wearing something of yours," she says, opening the door.

"I'll take it," Alice hears him reply before closing the door behind her.

.·:*¨༺ AUTHORS NOTE ༻¨*:·.

It's been so long, I know. 

But being honest, writing this is harder than expected, I've never had a boyfriend, so I don't know how couples act, but I'm trying my best to remember all the books I've read. 

I'm trying my best, I promise. 

That will be all, I hope you enjoy this short but cute chapter focusing only on Charles and Ali. 

Love u all 💜💜