𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 ! ᶜˡ¹⁶
i’ll be watching you .☘︎ ݁˖
𝓬harles leclerc x 𝓶ale!driver reader synopsis: reader has always had a crush on charles since the monaco native’s f1 debut. he’s tried to keep it hidden as they were technically coworkers, despite driving for different teams. but, when charles shows up to the f175 live event, it’s hard for y/n to keep his cool.
genre: fluff, idiot(s) in love, smau (at the end) warnings: reader being an idiot with a crush, brief google translated french. reader is gay!! jack whitehall making fun of the charles x reader ship & reader’s crush. reader being jealous of jack flirting with charles.
author’s note: not intended for female readers & not written for female readers. lowercase intended! reader drives for red bull and is number 10. i am writing the part 2 for somebody else but get this as you wait 🤍
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HE READJUSTED HIS tie in the rearview mirror, flashes of cameras taking pictures infiltrated the darkness of the car as he did. his tie was yellow with small blue and red lightning bolts decorating it. it was custom made just for this event, which was the f175 live show, the first of it's kind. it was special, and y/n knew that he wanted to arrive in style, which would contrast his teammate's classic t-shirt and blazer style.
y/n opened up the door to his navy blue car, his dress shoes stepping onto the blacktop as he slid out of the driver's side of the car. people immediately started to call his name as he handed off the keys to a worker who stepped up to him and held out their hand for the keys so they could drive it off to the parking lot for y/n.
"thanks, man," y/n nodded and smiled as he handed off the keys. he pat the workers upper arm as he turned toward the red carpet that was filled with workers, drivers, cameramen, and fans alike. he waved toward fans that held out red bull caps for him to sign, and he would walk over, but his manager walked up to him and started to usher him toward the red carpet where interviewers were waiting to get a minute with at least one of the formula one drivers.
he walked the carpet first and he showed off the custom suit that was made for him. it was navy blue with small specks of white thread, looking like the night sky with stars speckled about. he had a bull pin that was red and was pinned right by his heart. he had cuff links as he readjusted for a picture; they were gold with small red 10's on them, an homage to his racing number. he wore a black collard shirt underneath.
he posed for a minute before his manager was ushering him off again, bringing him to his first interviewer of the night. he smiled brightly as he walked up to the young man with a microphone who stood next to a large video camera.
"look what we have here! y/n l/n, man aren't you looking great tonight!" the interviewer smiled. he laughed as y/n took a step back to show off his outfit once more. "alright, lemme hear it. who designed this beautiful suit you have going on and tell me more about it," the interviewer turned the microphone onto y/n once he stepped back closer to the camera.
y/n had a bright smile on his face, "yeah! thank you! this suit was made by the one and only joe ando, a beautiful fashion designer who has gotten very popular on tiktok. i really loved his pieces and my team asked him once this event was announced if he wanted to do a piece for me and he immediately said yes and he already had ideas brewing. we had a meeting about it and i told him the things i wanted and he sketched some designs and sent them to me and i picked the one i loved the most and it was this one."
"um," he looked down at the suit and the different parts that meant the most to him. "of course we got the red bull pin here," he pointed at the pin. "um," his head turned away as fans and interviews alike started to call out a familiar name to him.
charles leclerc.
the prince of monaco and ferrari, practically formula 1's golden boy and the only driver y/n said that he would let date his daughter in a most likely to grill the grid episode last season. he paused his answer as he turned leaned back to get a better view of the monégasque driver, much like a lovesick teenager.
he smiled once he caught sight of charles. he wouldn't claim this but his breath hitched when he did, his brows raising in shock at how good charles actually looked. of course he looked good every day and every time y/n looked at him, but the glow and flash of the cameras made him look even hotter.
"um," he cleared his throat as he clocked back into the interview. the interviewer looked at him with a knowing smile. even if y/n thought he was being discreet, he was being painfully obvious, which can also be a claim for previous seasons. chary/n was a popular ship among formula 1 fans because y/n's crush on charles was so painfully obvious to fans and drivers alike, except for y/n and charles.
"the tie, yes!" he cleared his throat and shook his head. his face started to flush as he ran his hands down his tie. "y'know, you got the red bull yellow with the red and blue lightning bolts, because the red bull vibe is purely electric," he laughed as he looked up at the interviewer. "and then the star-like spots on the suit are just for my love of the night sky," he smiles.
"perfect!" the interviewer smiled and switched to the next card he had in his hand. during this down moment in the interview, y/n looked over his shoulder back at charles, who was now walking the red carpet just like y/n had done. he turned back when the interviewer started to ask another question. "you've been racing with red bull for the past couple of years along with max verstappen, the current world driver champion. what is it like being teammates with him?"
the microphone is turned to y/n again as he nods and thinks of an answer. "it's great, honestly. max is a great guy and an even better driver. um, we both push each other to our limits whenever we race together and he really makes me a better driver. i don't think i would be in my spot if it wasn't for him and him pushing me to be the driver that i am today," y/n nodded with a smile.
the interviewer went to his next card, but paused with a smile as he looked behind y/n. "looks like you got a stalker, y/n," he laughed as he pointed to behind y/n.
before he knew it, two hands clapped onto y/n's shoulders, causing him to jump and turn his head. charles's smiling face was close to his and he shook y/n's shoulder's slightly. "mon homme right here!" charles laughed as he patted y/n's shoulder. he moved so he stood right next to y/n and he slung his arm around y/n shoulder. (my man)
y/n was sure his face was bright red and matched charles's red tie. he laughed nervously and hid his mouth behind his hand as he ducked his head to hide from the camera. charles was smiling right next to him as he chatted with the interviewer. y/n peeked a look at charles and took a breath as he looked back up at the camera.
"now that we have both of you guys here," the interviewer smiled as he gestured toward the two drivers with his cards, "let me ask you this question a fan wanted to ask you two." a small smirk was on his face as charles squeezed y/n's left shoulder. "what do you think about fans shipping you two? they call you," he looked down at the cards, "chary/n. have you seen that?"
a loud laugh escaped charles and a quieter one came from y/n, his face, which had just returned to its normal color, turned red once more.
"well, you know," charles started, taking the lead on the question as he shifted his weight from his right leg to his left, meaning his and y/n shoulders were squished together, "it's not uncommon that friends as close as us get mistaken for being in a relationship. but, i do not hate it." charles laughed as he looked at y/n briefly.
y/n nodded along, "yeah, i mean, i've seen charles and max shipped together, even charles and pierre. fans do it with everybody. i think it's a compliment to our friendship, almost. that we have a strong friendship." he smiled as he laughed along with charles.
"alright," the interviewer started as he looked to both charles's and y/n's managers who were silently telling him to wrap it up, "that's all we have time for tonight. i'm glad i got you two together. hope you have fun in there you two."
the two drivers thank him and start to walk off and towards the arena door. charles dropped his arm and y/n tried not to show his disappointment on his face. they waved at a couple of interviewers and fans who called their names.
"so," charles started in a whisper as they walked, "chary/n?" he laughed as he turned to look at y/n, whose lips were pursed as he ducked his head.
"that's a crazy thing the fans came up with," y/n whispered back as they made their way inside the arena. workers pointed them in the direction their tables were. they got to y/n's table first, which was the red bull table. "ironic," y/n laughed as he pointed out the table number he was going to be sitting at.
the number 16 stared at him on the table marker.
"it was meant to be," charles laughed as he bumped his shoulder into y/n's. "i see fred over at table 10. do you think they did this on purpose?" he asked with a smile, leaning down slightly to make eye contact with y/n who scratched at his nose.
"they probably did," y/n smiled. "i'll see you later though, yeah?" y/n nodded as he pat charles's upper arm much like he did the worker at the valet earlier. charles didn't say anything but he nodded as he squeezed y/n's shoulder like he did in the interview. then, he walked off toward his table, looking back at y/n briefly.
y/n fell down into his seat and covered his face with his hands and he laughed at himself. his manager sat right next to him, and even if he couldn't see her, he knew that she was wearing her all knowing smile that she wore whenever y/n mentioned or was around charles.
"don't even," y/n said as he uncovered his warm face. he glanced over at his manager and she just shrugged in an 'i didn't do anything' way.
max was quick to join table 16 as other drivers and fans started to file into the arena. y/n and max's greeting was short and sweet as they had seen each other just the other day for red bull promo for the upcoming season.
the show was started by a machine gun kelly performance and a bunch of led lights. y/n furrowed his brows as he looked over at max who looked like he would rather be anywhere but here, which did make y/n chuckle. he looked over at table 10, where charles was already looking over at him. the monégasque raised his phone and shook it. y/n tilted his head, but his phone vibrated in his pocket.
he laughed to himself as he pulled out his phone and saw a text notification from charles. it was an invitation to play chess through game pigeon, one of y/n and charles’s favorite things to do.
they sent each other a couple of rounds before max elbowed y/n in the side once the host, jack whitehall, took the stage. he cleared his throat and pocketed his phone as he tried his hardest to look like he was paying attention.
max and y/n were quickly shown on the big screen as jack made a joke about max being excited to be there. it did make y/n laugh a bit once he also mentioned the drama between max and george. y/n was mentioned shortly after george.
“and ironically sitting at table number 16, is y/n l/n!” the camera was focused solely on y/n now, whose face had gone slightly red from the attention. “he is a fan favorite driver who spends most of his time posting pictures of formula 1 cars that aren’t his,” jack said, which made y/n nod and laugh. it was true, his instagram stories during the formula 1 season were filled of the other team’s cars, mostly ferrari, if he had to be honest.
“he’s famous for being in love with a certain driver who wears red and being the only openly gay formula 1 driver on the grid! let’s get a round of applause for y/n, huh?” loud applause and whistles infiltrated y/n’s ears. he hid his face in his hands when jack mentions charles and shakes his head. god, he was never going to live this down, huh.
the attention was quickly moved to lewis hamilton, and max leaned over and spoke in y/n’s ear. “see, even the comedian can see it.” the dutchman frequently made fun of y/n for having a crush on charles, and not because he had a crush on him, but because he was so obvious about it. y/n just shook his head and pretended that he didn’t hear max while he face burned.
then, jack moved onto charles.
“and sitting at table number 10, the ferrari table, the most handsome man on the grid,” he turned and pointed at charles. “it’s the man my fiancé imagines when we make love; hell, it’s the guy i imagine when me and my fiancé make love; it’s charles leclerc!”
y/n turned to max, a smile gone from his face, “how is he able to say that but we can’t swear?” max just shrugged and shook his head. the fia was formula 1’s biggest opponent and hater, yet a comedian could come in and make sex jokes about one of their drivers.
jack goes on to talk about the year charles had with his most important wins of last year. then, he says, “number 16 for ferrari, charles is. and y/n is number 10 for red bull. nothing significant about that at all, just look at their table numbers.”
it was embarrassing, truly. y/n sighed as he and charles were both shown on the screen with their table numbers in view, and both were blushing. y/n sat next to the 16 marker while charles sat next to the 10 marker.
y/n pulled his phone back out as the show continued on. he opened up his messages with charles and played charles again in chess. he looked up when he heard charles’s name mentioned again. he sighed when he realized it was jack flirting with charles again, mentioning how he got lost in the driver’s eyes. he rolled his eyes and he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms as he looked over to table 10. charles just shook his head and he leaned over and said something to lewis as the camera moved to show him in frame.
y/n knew he shouldn’t be annoyed or jealous, jack was just doing his job by making the crowd laugh and make the show interesting, but yet he still furrowed his brows and pursed his lips like a jealous boyfriend.
the rest of the show was a blur to y/n, including the part where he and max were led to their dressing rooms were brought onto the stage. their performance reminded him of the grammys and he just sighed and waved like max, showing off his best ‘i do not want to be here’ look.
the rest of the cars shown blurred together and he just remembered standing next to max in front of the newest red bull car that resembled their car from last year almost perfectly. but, he only remembers this because he couldn’t keep his eyes off of charles. he missed seeing charles in red, and a smile was brought to his face as charles waved to the crowd in his red race suit.
charles turned around and smiled at y/n, even throwing him a wave, as if he knew that y/n would be looking at him. y/n smiled snd waved back at him before turning to the crowd and waving with a new found smile.
before y/n knew it, he was taking pictures with charles and other drivers backstage and then he was home, laying in bed as he scrolled through twitter, laughing and smiling at tweets that talked about him and charles.
tonight was a rough night for y/n; his crush on charles was mentioned to probably over a million people and yet charles didn’t mention much about it or do anything about. it.
a/n: readers suit obviously looks better than the one i used because i used that as a mockup and im not very good that those 😭😭
hope yall enjoyed either way 🤍