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fifteen.

One week into the nearly month long break between round three and four and I'm pretty sure Charles hasn't left his apartment the entire time.

I can't totally blame him.

He DNFed on the first lap at the Australian GP, meaning that he's only completed one race so far this season. I had gotten sick with the stomach flu and hadn't been able to board the flight to Australia, so I hadn't seen what had happened first-hand, only seeing the race through the television screen in my apartment. But I was gutted for him. He looked a mixture of defeated and outraged getting out of his car that day. The start of the 2023 season absolutely sucked for Charles.

However, he'd been moping for a week and I'm tired of it.

"Lève ton joli cul, Leclerc. On va en boîte." (Get your pretty ass up, Leclerc. We're going clubbing.) I nearly yelled in a sing-song voice, using my spare key to burst into his apartment.

Charles was sprawled out on his couch, clad in comfy clothes. "Tu trouves que mon cul est joli?" (You think my ass is pretty?) his eyebrows were raised and a smirk on his lips.

I scoffed as I grabbed a pillow from the loveseat, throwing it at his face.

"​​Se lever!" (Get up!)

A laugh spilled from his lips as he stood up from the couch, holding his hands out to the side almost asking if I were satisfied.

I'm not sure how much he'd been fidgeting on the couch, because his sweatpants were hanging low enough for me to see the top couple of inches of his boxers and his nearly skin-tight shirt showed the outline of every muscle. I wonder-

"Qui vient avec nous?" (Who is coming with us?) His question tore me from my thoughts.

I immediately faked hurt at his question, "Ne suis-je pas assez bien pour toi?" (Am I not good enough for you?)

Charles' face dropped. Oh my god, he thinks I'm serious.

"Della-"

I burst into laughter, grabbing his bicep to steady myself. "Je plaisante. Max, Lewis, Grace et Danny... peut-être Lando?" (I'm kidding. Max, Lewis, Grace, and Danny... maybe Lando?)

Instead of sass back, I just watched Charles' mood shift. It was the mention of Lando.

Ever since Lando walked me back to my room after we had our talk in Jeddah, Charles has been on edge any time I mentioned the Brit. Sometimes, I think that my best friend forgets how big of a part Lando had in my life. Lando was my first relationship after Matteo. He was the one who made me believe that maybe falling in love with someone wasn't so scary after all.

I rolled my eyes at his attitude, "Lando et moi allons bien. Nous sommes amis depuis presque un mois maintenant. Va t'habiller, s'il te plaît." (Lando and I are fine. We've been friends for almost a month now. Go get dressed, please.)

He didn't say anything, just walked past me to go down to his bedroom. Like usual, I followed.

Even growing up, Charles and I would always hang out in the other's room while they were getting ready. For the most part, it was done because we didn't want to take a break from our conversation.

So, to say I was shocked when his bedroom door was closed in my face was an understatement.

"Que diable?" (What the hell?)

A grunt was the only thing I could hear from the other side of the door. Why was he in a mood now? He was joking with me not even five minutes ago.

I let out a loud huff, wanting him to hear it, before giving up and going to sit out on the couch he'd just stood up from. It was a comfy couch, so it wasn't annoying in the slightest. I'd fallen asleep on it countless times before, most of the time while watching movies or sitcoms with the owner of the apartment.