FIFTY THREE

"Third place is for losers."

Charles Leclerc rolled the brown of his eyes as he heard her angelic voice teasing and mocking him, since he had finished behind her in the race, coming in third place.

His smile grew as she sidled up to him, making him lift one of his arms so that he could wrap it around her shoulders.

Larissa Cohen grinned as she leant in to the Leclerc boys side, resting her head against his shoulder, a light shade of pink flushing over her cheeks as the boy gently kissed her forehead.

"Second place is also for losers." Charles playfully winked at the woman, whilst the two of them walked towards the Mercedes garage.

"But I'm a better loser than you are." Larissa grinned as the two of them came to a halt outside of her driver trailer.

"Maybe so."

Charles gave her a dopey grin as he smiled down at her, his eyes drifting down towards her lips as he repeatedly licked at his own.

The Cohen girl pushed herself up and on to the tips of her toes to close the gap between them, their lips coming together gently.

His soft hand gently cupped at her cheek as their lips moved slowly against one another, finding that her own hands were moving so that one was flat against his chest whilst the other wrapped around the back of his neck with her fingers tangling in his hair.

His heart was rapidly beating in his chest from feeling her under his fingers, wanting to break out from his chest so that she could hold it in her hand and know that it was hers.

His lips clung to hers as if she was the only thing that was giving him life, tingles flooding his body from wherever her touch was which made his stomach do somersaults over and over and over again.

His lungs were empty yet never seemed to be needing air, with the woman in his grasp providing all the air and oxygen that was ever going to be needed.

It was strange, he used to be always out of breath when he was around the Cohen girl but now it was as if he was out of breath when he wasn't around her.

She had become his oxygen.

His lips separated from hers for a couple of seconds, pulling his face away so that he could admire her beauty, seeing her staring up at him expectantly.

His lips formed a pout shape as he gently gave a peck to the tip of her nose, small giggles leaving his throat as he noticed the confused frown that she was giving him.

"Uh-"

Charles muttered quietly as he debated on whether to say what he wanted to, since he knew that if he said what he wanted to, and she didn't react how he wanted her to, that it would break his heart.

"Uh, I-I..." Charles began to nervously chew on his bottom lip, drifting his gaze down since he felt like he couldn't look her in the eye.

"I love you."

As soon as the words left his lips, he wanted to take them back.

He wanted to take them back as soon as he noticed the look of fear fill her face, turning in to one of Dread and denial. Her eyes widened slightly as she took a step back away from him, whilst she started to shake her head from side to side.

The wind was immediately pulled from her lungs as the words left his lips, making her unable to take a single breath as she felt as if she had been winded.

He loved her?

Her breaths became much quicker as the realisation began to sink in, having seen the look on his face as he stared at her as if he was expecting her to say those three little words back to him.

Why couldn't she?

Why?

Her eyes were wide with panic as she wondered why her lips weren't moving to respond to him, not saying a word to him despite wanting to reply.

She had loved her father and lost him.

But she loved Sebastian and he was still here, as was Fernando who she loved, and Kimi who she loved, and Michael who she loved, and Lewis who she loved.

She loved Zahra and she was still here, she loved Lucy and she was still here, she loved Daniel and he was still here, she loved Mick and Gina and they were both still here.

She loved Esteban and he was still here, she loved Pierre and he was still here, she loved Yuki and he was still here.

She loved Alex and he was still here, she loved Lando and he was still here, she loved both of her Nico's and they were both still here.

She loved Valtteri and he was still here, she loved Toto and he was still here, she loved Kevin and he was still here, she loved Romain and he was still here, she loved Jenson and he was still here, she loved Mark and he was still here, she loved Stoffel and he was still here.

She loved Anthoine and he was still here.

Why was Charles so different?

Charles was one of her bestest friends, somebody who she could always rely and count on. Somebody who would always have her back whenever she needed it.

Somebody who she could go to after a long day and vent to, or cuddle with until she fell asleep. Somebody who would make her breakfast every single morning before she even awoke.

Why couldn't she tell him that she loved him when she did? Why wasn't her mouth letting her?

Charles let out a defeated sigh as he was yet to hear a response from her, his pained eyes pulling away from her frantic face, his feet shuffling backwards as he began to leave, wanting to get away to save himself from any more embarrassment.

His feet had managed to move a couple of metres away from the Brazilian, his gaze avoiding hers as he turned his head away from her so that he could walk out of the Mercedes garage.

Larissa's eyes began to become teary as she watched him walk away from her after his confession, sadness and embarrassment flooding off him.

Her voice let out a pained cry, a plea, towards him though he didn't hear it as he kept on walking until he was completely out of her garage.

A hand was gently placed on to her shoulder, making the girl lift her gaze to see her manager staring back at her sadly.

"He won't leave you like your dad did, Lis." Lewis Hamilton spoke sadly, since he had seen how she had watched him go as if she was absolutely terrified.

Both of his arms wrapped around his sister in an attempt to comfort her, trying to make her peel her eyes away from where he had just left her sight but failed as she stared solely on the spot where he had left her vision.

The Hamilton man practically carried her in to her trailer as he felt her body becoming cold to the touch, figuring that her body was making her numb.

Her legs gave out from underneath her as she barrelled in to her brother, feeling his arms tighten around her waist. Her face buried itself in to the crook of his neck as quiet sobs left her lips, an aching feeling in her heart.

It infuriated her that she couldn't tell him that she did feel the same, that she couldn't even talk, or move to stop him from leaving her and walking away, that she couldn't reassure him or comfort him at all.

She had seen his face fill with hurt from her not responding and she knew that he would now be avoiding her, and she hated it.

She wanted to run to where he was, to tell him how she felt and that she did feel the same, to hug him and comfort him, to kiss him until she passed out from lack of oxygen.

But she couldn't do that for many reasons.

Her legs weren't allowing her to move, her lips weren't allowing her to say what she wanted to say.

Plus, he was in Ferrari.

Lewis cradled her in his arms as she rocked back and forth, unsure of what was going on with her brain, and why it wasn't letting her say what she wanted to.

Was it because her mind was trying to protect her?

Did her mind think that Charles didn't really love her?

Did her mind think that she would lose him like she lost her father if she told him how she felt?

The only thing that she could do for the rest of the day, was cuddle her brother and vividly remember the look of hurt on the face of the Leclerc boy.

The man that she loved.

____________________________________________________

Charles was in the gym.

He was in front of a punching bag, hitting it as many times as he possibly could, and as hard as he could to rid himself of the feelings that he was feeling inside of him.

He let out grunts of frustration and pain as his fists collided with the fabric of the punching bag, his wrapped up knuckles starting to bleed from the force within the hits.

He temporarily stopped to cling to the punch bag, gaining his breath back whilst his eyes were squeezed shut, until they shot open as an image of the Cohen girl forced his way in to his brain.

He didn't want to think about her.

He had been thinking about her for an entire year non stop, since she was in his thoughts for every single second of every single day and it was intoxicating.

When she wasn't near him, he could smell her. When she wasn't near him, he could hear her. When she wasn't near him, he could see her.

"You've got to rotate the wrists."

A gentle voice spoke from behind him, making his body jolt upwards in surprise, thinking that he was alone.

He didn't have a chance to turn his body around, as the punchbag that he was using was grasped by two new hands as they held it in place for him so that he could let out his frustration.

"Why are you here?" Charles muttered sadly, seeing his company looking at him with an unreadable expression.

"I'm here to make sure that you don't snap your wrists."

Lucy Appleton spoke with no emotion in her voice, having seen the young Monégasque walk in defeat out of the Mercedes garage, having walked by her without even noticing her.

"You work with my rivals, why don't you want me to snap my wrists?"

"You could say, Ferrari hold a piece of my heart." Lucy let a ghost of a smile form on her lips, knowing exactly what she had meant by those words.

Ferrari held a piece of her heart because of her friend, Luiz.

The boy in front of her was in love with that man's daughter, so she felt a sense of responsibility for the both of them, in wanting them to be happy together.

"Did she send you?"

"Did who send me?"

"You know who."

"I didn't realise that Voldemort was here."

Charles found himself laughing at the words that left the lips of the Appleton woman, finding that she was incredibly quick with her answers.

"For the record, Mr Leclerc, no she did not send me." Lucy spoke as she held the punch bag in place so that the boy could punch it as many times as he wanted to.

"Oh."

"Did you want her to send me?" Lucy Rose one of her eyebrows. "Because I can always lie and say that she did."

"I don't know." Charles spoke, his voice wavering as he did so, choosing not to speak as much since he didn't trust his voice to not betray him.

"She didn't send me, because she's too busy crying to Lewis about how much she loves you."

The Leclerc boy immediately halted in everything that he was doing, looking like a deer caught in headlights, his mouth dropping open from how blunt she had said it.

"Don't believe me, go and check." Lucy shrugged her shoulders nonchantly, seeing the boy staring at her as if she had just confessed to killing his mother.

"But she didn't say anything to me when I told her."

"Did you ever stop to think why?" Lucy released her hold on the punch bag to fold her arms in front of her chest.

"Her father was a driver in Ferrari, and he died. She loved him." Charles nodded his head once. "Her uncle Micky was a Ferrari driver and she nearly lost him."

"Jules was going to be a Ferrari driver, and he died."

Lucy gently placed both of her hands on to the boys shoulders so that he would look her in the eyes.

"Son, it's not just that she has never truly loved somebody in a romantic way, it's the fact that she believes that there's a curse on her that involves Ferrari." Lucy used her fingers to lift his chin so he would meet her eyes properly.

"A lot of people who she cared about, and loved who used to drive for Ferrari have either died or nearly died. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that she doesn't want the same to happen to you."

"Do you really think that she loves me?" Charles whispered, his heart beat rising rapidly.

"I know what I see, but she has to tell you that herself. Are you prepared to stay by her side even when her mind plays tricks on her? There will be days where she will not want to leave her room and cry the whole day. There will be times that she will not want to be alive. Are you wanting to be there the whole time?"

Charles' eyes were glassy and teary filled, the teardrops threatening to leave his eyes as he stared at the Appleton woman, seeing that she was completely serious in what she was telling him.

His mouth became dry, hands shaking nervously since he knew what he was about to say would forever change everything in his life.

"I love her."

Lucy grinned happily at the young Ferrari driver, lightly nudging his cheek with her hand before she lightly tapped the back of his head.

"Now go and get the girl, Leclerc."

____________________________________________________

A/N

Yeah so I changed my mind on the whole multiple drivers thing, I'm so sorry

Anyway, what do you think?

I can't believe that I'm actually now talking about the end of this book, because Legacy has been my little paradise for months.

But once this does eventually come to an end, at least we still have my other books to run and hide from reality in, right?

Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you all soon for the next one,

I'm so proud of all of you, my loves

Love you all,

-RUBY