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clxja16 · 1 year

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Since Day One

Part two

gifs not mine

Arthur Leclerc X Reader

Genre: childhood friends to lovers

Warnings: little angst, language, i think thats it

Word Count: 6K

Author’s Note: this is way longer than I thought it was gonna be, i am sorry. I also hate the ending of this, so lmk if you guys want a part three with a better ending. This story went a lot better in my head, not too sure what happened.

Part One

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“Wait wait wait, you’re gonna be in the UK?” Charlotte asked, as you told her your plans for the next few weeks.

“Yeah, my work is sending me out that way for a conference,” you said, “I should be back in Monaco by the first.”

“Can’t you just extend for the weekend, and come back on Monday?”

“I mean I am able to work remotely so I can extend the trip yeah, why?”

“That’s the Silverstone Grand Prix, you have to come,” Charlotte said, with a bright grin.

“Charlotte no, I really…”

“Y/n please, Arthur and Charles will both be racing that weekend,” Charlotte began to plead, “I’ll be with you the entire time, promise, and we won’t party that weekend.”

You wanted to laugh at Charlotte’s eagerness and preparedness, but in reality you were so afraid to be seen at the Grand Prix. “I don’t know Charlotte, I’ll think about it.” You watched her face, that was filled with hope, turn to disappointment. You wished you weren’t so afraid.

You were in the UK, your job had you set up in Oxford, just a forty minute drive from the circuit. You already had extended your trip until Monday. You didn’t make any mention of the extension to Charlotte. Knowing that if she knew of your extension she would drag you to the circuit herself. You weren’t 100% opposed to going to the Grand Prix, you just wanted a few more days to think about it. A few more days to prepare yourself.

Charlotte arrived in Silverstone on Thursday, when she got to her hotel she texted you that she had gotten your paddock pass and credentials for the weekend, should you decide to come. Your conference had finished earlier than expected, so you didn’t need to go in on Friday morning.

Charlotte: Are you coming?

Charlotte: Arthur’s sprint race is today, I’m sure he would love to see you there.

You: okay, I’ll come

You packed a small bag to take with you to the circuit. Your heart was pounding for the entire drive there, that you thought you were having a panic attack, but you did your best to stay in control of your emotions. Charlotte met you outside, to give you your credentials before going in. She suggested that you guys watch from the monitors in the garage, instead of being with most of the spectators. Not to mention that’s where Lorenzo would be watching too. You were eternally grateful that Charlotte considered your feelings. Charles had carved out a little time to watch the race instead of being stuck in strategy meetings with Ferrari.

The three of you, had a cozy little spot that Lorenzo made, away from a lot of the fans and a lot of cameras to watch Arthur privately. Arthur ended up finishing 8th in the race, which really wasn’t his best, but it could’ve been worse. When Arthur finally made it back to the garage Lorenzo brought him to you, Charles and Charlotte. You swore you had never seen Arthur’s face light up so much, until that moment. He completely disregarded Charlotte and Charles, coming up to hug you. He swept you up in his arms, twirling you around for a moment.

“Arthur,” you whined, “you’re all sweaty.” Finally when Arthur put you down did you try to wipe off the sweat he rubbed on you.

“Oh can’t I just be happy my best friend decided to come to my race,” Arthur said with a smirk.

“I hope you’re staying for the rest of the weekend, you have to see me race too,” Charles said, wrapping his arm around your shoulders.

“She is, I’m dragging her to everything this weekend,” Charlotte said as she crossed her arms.

“Fine, fine, I’ll be here for the rest of the weekend,” you gave in to their demands. You really couldn’t deny them, especially when Arthur looked so happy seeing you in the garage at that moment. And when Charles looked at you with stars in his eyes at the possibility of you coming to his race. And Lorenzo’s face looked so proud to have all of you together again. They looked so happy, that you really didn’t want to disappoint them again.

You came back the next day, for Arthur’s feature race. You and Charlotte sat in a more open space to watch the race, but still away from the majority of the fans. Charles was in meetings that he couldn’t join to watch the race, but knowing him, he would catch every moment on his phone.

When Arthur crossed the finish line first, at the checkered flag, both you and Charlotte jumped out of your seats. You and her were jumping up and down cheering for Arthur. Charlotte grabbed your wrist, “we have to be there, under the podium.”

Charlotte dragged you across to be there right when Arthur parked his car. “Charlotte, I don’t,” you tried to speak up to tell her that you don’t think it's a good idea. But the cheers from the Prema team were too loud to talk over. You took deep breaths to control your emotions. You and her made it to under the podium, just as Arthur parked his car. When he finally got out of the car, Charles and Lorenzo were already there waiting for him. Arthur hugged Lorenzo and Charles first, not even taking off his helmet.

After getting congratulated from his brothers, did Arthur see you and Charlotte with the crowd. He removed his helmet, and the smile he was sporting had all the nerves fading away. Arthur put his helmet on the ground next to his car, coming up to you. He grabbed your face, kissing each cheek with a laugh. Then he leaned his forehead against yours, “I’m so happy you're here,” he whispered to you.

“Me too,” you whispered back, with the largest smile you could manage. Arthur kissed your forehead, and then went to get his congratulations from Charlotte.

When Arthur finally stepped away to head up to the podium, did Charles say, “good thing you came.” However when Arthur was finally out of sight, did you feel your nerves start up again.

It felt like all you could hear was the clicks of cameras. Your heart started to pound out of your chest, your breath was getting shorter with every second. You felt your hands begin to shake, and your stomach began to flip. This feeling of absolute dread filled you. “I don’t feel too good,” you tried to whisper to Charlotte but you don’t think she heard you. You stepped away trying to get some fresh air, the area felt too crowded. You walked until you felt like you could breathe again.

When Arthur made it to the top of the podium, you had disappeared. Arthur looked around to where you were supposed to be, he saw Charles, Charlotte, Lorenzo but he didn’t see you. His face clearly showed his disappointment, that even Charles and Charlotte looked around for you. You were nowhere in sight.

“Where is y/n?” Charles asked no one in particular.

“I’m gonna look for her, you wait for Arthur,” Charlotte said, as she hurried off to find you, knowing that Arthur would prefer his brothers there rather than her.

When you stopped walking, you realized you were by the Mclaren motorhome. You were practically on the other side of the paddock.

“Y/n,” you heard someone call your name. You turned to see Lando waving at you, “are you coming to the races again?”

“Huh?” You asked, trying to collect all your thoughts.

“You were at almost every race last season, and the season before that,” Lando laughed, “the entire grid has been wondering where you went.”

“Oh, I just happened to be in Oxford for a work trip, that’s why I’m here this weekend. I don’t think I'm gonna be able to come to any more grand prix’s this season.”

“That’s a shame, you were fun have around the paddock during the weekend,” Lando said with a disappointed look, “not to mention it was fun to watch the F2 boys attempt to flirt with you and it go over your head completely, especially Liam”

“What are you talking about? Liam…”

“Liam was always flirting with you, but you were so focused on Arthur that you never even noticed,” Lando laughed more.

“Y/n,” you could hear, what sounded like Charlotte, calling out your name, “i’ve been looking for you.”

“Sorry,” you looked at Charlotte who was clearly out of breath, “it was really crowded at the podium.”

“Hey Charlotte,” Lando greeted.

“Hi Lando,” Charlotte responded, being polite.

“I need to get going, but it was good to see you y/n, and you too Charlotte,” Lando said, with a small hug, “tell Arthur I said congratulations on the win.”

“We will, bye Lando,” Charlotte said for the both of you. “what happened?” She asked, turning to you now.

“I’m sorry, it was just so crowded at the podium, and I needed fresh air.” You hang your head not being able to face Charlotte. You let the fear get to you again.

“It’s…” Charlotte paused, she remembers when she and Charles first started dating publicly. The amount of criticism she got was unbearable, it was to the point where she considered ending it with Charles. “It’s okay, just tell me when it’s too much next time,” Charlotte said. She was trying her best to make sure you couldn’t stay away anymore.

“Okay, I’m sorry,” you nodded. Charlotte did her best to look out for you, because she knew you didn’t deserve the amount of hate you got.

Later that night, after you extensively apologized to Arthur for missing his podium, you got back to the hotel. After you had showered, you laid in your bed, scrolling through your social media. There was a picture of you and Arthur. It was the moment when he kissed you on the forehead. Your heart began to pound against your chest and your hands were shaking.

The caption said ‘they’re the best friendship on the grid, I’m glad she’s back at the races.’

You thought that maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. Your heart slowed, your hands steady. And you began to look at the comments.

‘I missed seeing them at the paddock together’

You began to think that maybe you shouldn’t have stopped going to the races, that maybe you were being irrational.

‘Arthur is so cute’

‘Who is she? Sorry I’m new to the sport’

‘That’s Arthur’s best friend, y/n, she stopped coming to the races’

‘Does anyone know why she stopped going to the races?’

‘There was a scandal with her and Charles’

‘One leclerc wasn’t enough for her’

‘Wait isn’t this the girl that Charles was cheating on Charlotte with?’

‘She collecting Leclercs like infinity stones’

‘Imagine having two leclerc brothers’

‘It’s my dream to be her’

‘Waiting for a picture of her and Lorenzo’

‘Or maybe she’s just actually really good friends with Arthur and Charles’

‘That picture of her and Charles looked more than friendly’

As soon as you started scrolling through the comments, you couldn’t stop. It was like falling into a bottomless pit, never ending. There were plenty of nice comments. People that adore your friendship with Arthur, people that thought you were pretty, people that thought you were living the dream. However it was only the nasty comments that stood out to you. The people that thought you were a whore, that you were only using Arthur to stay close to Charles. People that thought you were only using the Leclercs for 15 seconds of fame.

When you woke up the next morning, your phone was still in your hand and your eyes were puffy from all the crying you didn’t realize you were doing. After you got ready for the day, you began to pack your bags. You were gonna go home, you knew that being at the races wasn’t a good idea.

There was a knock on your hotel room door that interrupted your packing. You opened the door to see Charlotte on the other side, wearing a bright smile. You forgot you told her your hotel and room number. She must’ve decided to come get you herself when you missed her call earlier this morning.

“Why aren’t you ready?” Charlotte asked, her face slowly turning to disappointment. Before you could answer Charlotte asked, “why are your eyes puffy? Were you crying?”

“I don’t think I should go to the race today,” you answered, stepping aside to let Charlotte into your room.

“Why? What happened?” Charlotte looked around the room to see your bags half packed.

“It’s not a big deal, I just feel that it’s best I stay away,” you answered, as you continued to pack your bags. You went into the bathroom to gather all of your bath stuff, when your phone went off.

Charlotte, knowing your password, opened your phone, seeing all the comments you were reading last night. She then went to the direct messages, reading everything that people had sent you. You let the words of strangers get to you again. When you came out from the bathroom, Charlotte held up your phone to you, “this is why you’re staying away again.”

Tears welled in your eyes, you didn’t want her to know, “it’s…”

“I told you,” Charlotte looked angry, “you can’t allow them to get to you like this, you’re giving power to people that don’t even know you.”

“It’s not that easy Charlotte,” your voice began to waiver, “It doesn’t help that Arthur still, very publicly, has a girlfriend and then he goes and does that,” you gesture towards your phone, “after the race.” You ripped your phone from Charlotte's hand, as you wiped away the fallen tears.

“You’re coming to the race today,” Charlotte said, shaking her head, as she began to pick out clothes from your luggage.

“I am not,” you argued, trying to pull Charlotte’s hands from your luggage.

“Y/n,” Charlotte snapped, “you don’t even realize what your absences did to all of us. You don’t realize how far away you stayed.” There were tears in Charlotte's eyes too now, “You didn’t come to Monza that season, you moved further away from all of us, you didn’t even come to the first race of this season, or the Monaco Grand Prix. You stopped hanging out with any of us, even privately. You broke all of our hearts by staying so far away, especially the boys since they didn’t even know why. You’ve been so focused on making sure the fans aren’t mad at you, that you’re hurting the people that really care about you. Don’t even get me started on Arthur.” Charlotte rolled her eyes as she mentioned Arthur.

“What about Arthur?” You asked, taken aback by her tone.

“Arthur thought,” Charlotte paused, you were never supposed to know this next part, “he thought that you stayed away because of me. Because he thought I was angry with you,” Charlotte confessed.

“What? That wasn’t…”

“Arthur knows now that that's not the reason, Lorenzo really chewed him out about it. But he didn’t talk to Charles for almost three months,” Charlotte said, the pain still very fresh. You had absolutely no idea that Charles and Arthur got into it because of you. “You haven’t realized the amount of hurt all of us felt from you staying away y/n. It wasn’t only you that was affected that night.”

“I-I didn’t know…”

“How could you?” Charlotte threw her hands up in defeat, “you stayed so far away how would you even know how any of us felt?”

“I’m sorry, if I had known…”

“That’s the problem too,” Charlotte said, cutting you off, “you feel like this is solely your fault.” You raised your eyebrows at Charlotte, unsure about what she meant. “Charles could’ve tried harder to stop you that night, but he’s always had, and probably always will hold a special place in his heart for you. The fans didn’t need to say anything about that night, it wasn’t any of their business. I could’ve tried harder to keep you closer, but I thought you staying away was gonna be temporary. Arthur could’ve talked to us more, he didn’t need to cut Charles off for those three months.” Charlotte paused, she was actively crying at this point, “it’s not only your fault, it never was just your fault.”

“Charlotte,” you were at a complete loss as to what to say next, you didn’t know what part of her confession to address first. “Charles loves you, he loves you more…”

“I know,” Charlotte said quickly, regaining her composure, “and I know there’s nothing going between the two of you currently. But I also think that if Charles had never met me, he would be with you, and I’ve made peace with that, because I also know that you gave up on being with Charles a long time ago.” You nodded your head at this, you didn’t lie at that dinner when you said your crush was long gone. “However,” Charlotte continued, “that doesn’t mean for you to stay away.”

“Charles is so lucky to have you, I don’t know what he ever did to deserve you,” you said, as Charlotte cracked a small smile.

“Come to the race, please.”

While Charlotte was trying to get you to come to the race this afternoon, Charles and Lorenzo was trying to get Arthur to confess his feelings to you.

“Aren’t we supposed to be helping Charles get ready for his race?” Arthur asked his brothers, no longer wanting the attention to be on him.

“There’s plenty of time to do that,” Charles argued, “y/n is what’s more important right now.”

“I don’t think y/n has any feelings like that for me, she had a crush on you not me.” Arthur reasoned, recalling all those moments in your guy's childhood when you clung to Charles.

“I have a girlfriend that I’m not consistently arguing with, already.” Charles knew you had feelings for Arthur, because when you kissed him in Amsterdam, you moaned ‘Arthur,’ not Charles.

“I have a girlfriend already too,” Arthur reasoned.

“Do you really though? The last you told me, you didn’t know if you guys were together or not.” Lorenzo finally spoke up, raising his hands up at Arthur.

“Doesn’t mean we’re not together,” Arthur reasoned.

“Do you want to be with your current girlfriend?” Charles asked, in a somewhat rhetorical manner.

Arthur just sighed, he really didn’t want to be with his current girlfriend. It wasn’t because she was a bad person or anything, he had just fallen out of love with her a while ago. Arthur picked up his phone, calling his current girlfriend, because even if he didn’t like to admit, Charles was right.

Charles and Lorenzo could only hear one side of the conversation that Arthur had, but from what they heard it sounded like the relationship was ending on mutual terms. When Arthur hung up the phone, it looked like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. His jaw unclenched and for the first time in a long time, he looked relaxed.

“Did that feel good?” Charles raised an eyebrow at Arthur.

“She said that it was time. That we stayed together longer than we should have. She wished me the best of luck and congratulated me on my win.”

“That’s all?” Lorenzo asked just for confirmation that there weren't any hurt feelings.

“She said that she will continue to support me and my racing, and that she hopes someone will love me the way I once loved her.” Arthur said with a fond smile. It would be a lie to say he never loved his girlfriend, but he knew deep down that he would could never love anyone like he loved you.

Arthur has had feelings for you since the first grade, since the moment he decided putting glue in your water bottle was a good idea. He used to think your hair was shiny and you smell like strawberries. Those were his reasons for liking you then, and as time passed his feelings for you grew and his reason’s evolved.

However, when you were 12 and you looked at Charles like he was the brightest star in the sky, Arthur broke just a bit. It wasn’t until your 18th birthday when you tried to ask Charles out again, that Arthur thought he would always come second to his brother in your heart.

Clearly Arthur has been blind, because everyone could tell, you now look at Arthur like the brightest star in the sky. That Arthur is second to no one in your heart. That Arthur was your sun, moon, and stars. That Arthur was the one you longed for.

You allowed Charlotte to drag you to the race. You didn’t fully realize that amount of hurt you caused. You didn’t realize that you haven’t fully made amends yet. And you were done letting strangers dictate your life. You were done sitting at home, watching the races through the screen.

You were gonna support the boys to the fullest, in person, live. You wanted to be there at the end of every qualifying, under every podium, and in person at every moment. For the first time, in a very long time, you didn’t feel so anxious to be with them in public.

However you wouldn’t lie, the clicks of the cameras still made you shudder. The sight of the walls of photographers made your palms sweat. The sea of fans made your heart pound, and the overwhelming amount of cheers made your stomach twist. Your fear of being in public wasn’t so easily forgotten, but it no longer stopped you.

“Y/n,” Arthur called out to you, when you and Charlotte finally made it to the paddock. He was quick to sweep you up into a hug. Both Arthur and Charles were decently taller than you, but when you stood right beside them, they felt like giants. “I’m so happy you came, come on, we can catch Charles before he goes out onto the circuit. Lorenzo is with him right now.”

“Well hello to you too,” Charlotte said sarcastically, causing you to giggle.

“Hi Charlotte,” Arthur blushed bashfully.

As the three of you walked towards the Ferrari garage, Arthur’s hand found yours. He hooked your pinky with his, you smiled as your hands swinged back and forth connected by your pinkies. It was a joke between the two of you as kids to see who had the stronger pinky. Over time it became a way to comfort each other. You watched Arthur as the three of you walked, your eyes never left him.

Arthur was like his brothers in more ways than he realized. He talked, walked, and dressed just like Charles did. He had Lorenzo’s smile, attitude, and way with words. Although there were key things that made Arthur stand apart from his brothers. His humor was definitely his own. His way of never letting anyone’s words affect him in a negative way. His ability to make the rest of the world fall away when you were with him. Arthur was his own person, that you so dearly love. You just wish you had realized earlier how in love you were with him.

When the race ended, Charles was only able to bring home fourth place. Which really wasn’t bad, but when you was looking at a first place finish, and end up fourth, it’s not the best. However Carlos did get his first victory, and you went with the rest of the group to congratulate Carlos.

“Congratulations mate,” Lorenzo said first as he hugged Carlos. He was the oldest, so the default spokesperson for the group.

“Congratulations Carlos,” Charlotte said, as she hugged Carlos.

“Thank you,” Carlos said clearly out of breath, he had just finished up with the podium, and was back at the Ferrari garage for picture taking.

“Congratulations mate,” Charles said, as he came up from behind.

“Mate, I-“ Carlos looked like he was gonna apologize.

“Don’t worry about it, you deserve this,” Charles smiled brightly. Charles was never the type to blame anyone for his misfortune.

“Congratulations Sainz,” Arthur said, as he hugged Carlos as well.

“Ah, thank you,” Carlos didn’t know what to do with all the congratulations.

“Congratulations,” you said when Carlos finally noticed you.

“Y/n,” Carlos exaggerated your name, wrapping his arms around you. You blushed, wrapping your arms around Carlos in congratulations. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”

You laughed, as Carlos continued to hug you. “It hasn’t been that long.”

“It has,” Carlos said, as both Charles and Arthur placed a hand on each of Carlos’ shoulders, slightly pushing him off of you.

“That’s enough hugging already,” Charles' eyes narrowed slightly.

“You’re gonna get her all sweaty,” Arthur said, raising an eyebrow at Carlos.

You and Charlotte both giggled at the two Leclerc brothers, always being so protective. Carlos took their overprotectiveness kindly, holding his hands up with a smile, “forgot she was a Leclerc girl.” Carlos laughed, as you just shook your head.

“Yes she is,” Lorenzo confirmed, causing all of you to laugh.

As night began to set in, when media duties were done, and you guys were preparing to head out for the night, did you think now was a good time. Charles had just gotten back to the rest of the group.

“I have something to say,” you stepped away. You looked at Lorenzo, Charles, Arthur, and Charlotte as they stood opposite of you. They watched you carefully, and you don’t even know how you stayed away. These were the people you grew up with, you spent every other holiday at their house. These were the people that taught you how to drive, that celebrated your high school graduation, that took you traveling around the world. “I’m sorry,” you didn’t even know you were starting to cry until Arthur stepped forward.

“What’s wrong?” Arthur asked softly, wiping away your tears.

You grabbed his hands, pulling them away from your face. “I’m really sorry,” you said more to Arthur but it was meant for the entire group. You pushed Arthur back to his spot opposite from you. “I didn’t realize how far away I stayed, and it wasn’t fair to any of you. I never gave any of you an explanation or a reason, and now I realized the reason for staying away wasn’t that important. It isn’t as important as you guys.”

The three brothers looked at each other, none of them expecting an apology from you. “Took you long enough,” Lorenzo said, first coming to hug you.

“No more staying away y/n,” Charles said, joining yours and Lorenzo’s hug.

Arthur stayed frozen in his spot looking at you, as Charles and Lorenzo pulled away. “Does this mean you’re gonna come to my races again?” Arthur asked, he chose his words carefully for that question. ‘My races,’ he wanted to park his car and come out to you at the end of each race. He didn’t realize how much it meant to him to have you waiting at the finish line for him, until you weren’t there anymore. He didn’t want anyone else to be waiting for him but you.

“All that I can attend,” you said, knowing that was all you could promise at the moment.

“Okay,” Arthur whispered, coming to hug you.

When he pulled you close, wrapping his arms around you, did you bury your head into his chest, “I’m sorry,” you whispered once more. As the two other Leclerc’s looked at you and Arthur, they wondered when you guys were just gonna get it and start dating.

Later that night all five of you guys decided to get dinner together. You and Charlotte left the table to go to the restroom. You left your phone by your seat next to Arthur. No one paid any min, until your phone kept going off. Arthur picked it up to see what was going off. He was amazed at how many notifications from social media you had.

Curiosity killing the Leclerc, he opened your phone. It was a picture from a photograph of you congratulating Carlos on his race win from today. Arthur thought nothing of it, until the top comment caught his eye.

‘And another one bites the dust’

Arthur, finding the comment odd, began scrolling through the comments, trying to find the meaning behind it.

‘Maybe she’s after Ferrari boys’

‘Isa better throw hands with this b’

‘She’s just congratulating a driver, I don’t understand’

‘This is the girl that Charles was cheating on Charlotte with’

Arthur wasn’t that bothered by the comments, knowing people will just use anything to tear someone down. However it was the direct messages that really got him heated. People were sending you death threats, telling you that Isa would ‘kick your ass for touching her man.’ Someone told you that if they ever saw you, it was on sight. Another person said that if Isa and Carlos breakup, they would find where you live and end you.

“Have you seen this?” Arthur asked his brothers as he showed them the phone, displaying all the messages.

When you and Charlotte made your way back to the table. The two of you saw the three brothers huddled close together looking at one phone. You looked towards Charlotte, to which she just shrugged. As you got closer you could see it clearly on their faces, all three of them were upset.

“What are you boys looking at?” You smiled, hoping they were looking at something funny. When their expression didn’t change you began to get nervous.

“Is that y/n’s phone?” Charlotte asked, noticing the color of the phone in Arthur’s hand.

“Arthur, what are you doing with my phone?” You asked, getting defensive. Arthur knew your password, but he never went into your phone without asking. As you moved to try to grab your phone from Arthur’s hand, he moved back, not allowing you.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Arthur asked, he sounded so angry.

“How long has this been going on?” Charles asked, looking at you.

“Is this why you stayed away?” Lorenzo asked, his tone clearly upset. You felt like a child caught red handed.

You went to grab your phone from Arthur’s hand, this time being successful. “It’s not a big deal,” you took a seat across from Arthur now. Charlotte sat next to you.

“There’s death threats in there y/n,” Lorenzo said pointing to your hand, holding your phone. Lorenzo’s tone scared you, he was always the most reasonable between the three of them, that you knew if he was angry it was bad. “Is that why you moved?”

You stayed silent, not wanting to tell any of them.

“We could’ve done something, we could’ve said something, why didn’t you tell us?” Charles asked, his tone being more sad than angry. You knew already from his voice that he was feeling at fault. You watched as Charles looked at Charlotte, the gears turning in his head. “You knew,” he said to Charlotte, “you knew the entire time.”

Charlotte didn’t say anything. Lorenzo continued to scold you for not speaking up or coming to them about this. The entire time Lorenzo talked you stared at Arthur, as he stared back at you. There were few moments when you couldn’t read Arthur, few moments when he didn’t wear his heart on his cheek. Moments like Jules’ funeral, moments like his father’s passing. And at this moment you couldn’t read Arthur. You had zero clue as to where his head was right now.

The next morning, you awoke to thousand and one social media notifications. Your first thought was what did I do now? When you opened your account, you saw lengthy social media posts from Arthur, Charles and Lorenzo. Each reading the same thing.

‘Recently, it has come to our, me and my family’s, attention that a close family friend has been harassed online by people claiming to be our fans. We want to preface this message, that our friends and family have never asked to be in the public’s eye. They are people that are continually affected by our own personal career choices.

Firstly, they are human, just like the rest of us, their every move does not need to be critiqued. They make mistakes, they repent, they apologize, and they make amends just as all of us have done at some point in our lives.

Secondly, it is unacceptable to be sending anyone death threats. Especially if they are receiving death threats for actions that require two people.

Thirdly, some of the online harassment of our friends and family has transferred to in person harassment. Any type of harassment is inappropriate, immoral, and unethical, we do not stand for any harassment.

Lastly, it is wrong to blame one person for actions that involve more than one party.

We, as the Leclerc family, ask that you stop harassing our friends and family. If not, we will be forced to take legal action.’

You thought about clicking through the comments, but you stopped yourself before you could even open it. However you noticed Charles’ post was just a little longer. Charles post added on;

‘I did not speak up earlier about Amsterdam, 2021. I know now that I should have spoken up sooner. Me and Charlotte have addressed the incident privately and both of us have talked to the person involved. We know what happened, we addressed and dealt with it privately. As that incident was a private matter. Myself and Charlotte have a good relationship with the other person involved. We ask that you respect our right to deal with personal matters privately, and we ask that you respect our decisions about who we continue to be around.’

Just as you finished reading the post there was a knock on your door. You went to open it, to reveal Arthur standing on the other side. He was standing there in a loose button up with a pair of jeans. Sunglasses at the tip of his nose, his head tilted down, staring up at you. You giggled at his appearance letting him in.

“Good morning,” you said with a stretch as you made your way to the bathroom.

“Morning,” Arthur said, as he went to lay on your bed. “Charles and Charlotte want to spend the day together.”

You were brushing your teeth, and you mumbled out a question that no sane person would understand. But Arthur got it perfectly.

“Yes Lorenzo is coming too,” Arthur answered, “so are you coming too? Or are you gonna stay away again.”

You finished brushing your teeth, walking out of the bathroom, “no more staying away,” you said clearly.

“Good,” Arthur smiled.

When you and Arthur showed up to the adventures of today together, both Charles and Charlotte smiled at each other. They were both happy that you were back and Arthur had his best friend back. Now if they could only get the two of you to finally confess your feelings then maybe they’ll be completely satisfied.

“Y/n,” Lorenzo said, grabbing your attention, he decided if he was gonna be fifth wheeling the two couples, he would have fun, “Arthur has a crush on you.” Just a little older brother mischief thrown around. No one could miss the red creeping up Arthur’s ears, confirming Lorenzo’s words.

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02 > 03

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clxja16 · 1 year

Text

Since Day One

Part Three

Arthur Leclerc X Reader

Genre: childhood friends to lovers

Warnings: language

Word Count: 4K

Author’s Note: okay this is it, I don’t think I’m gonna do a part four. Unless idk if you guys absolutely beg for a part four. But yeah this is it. It is insane how many people like part two and asked for a part three. I was genuinely stunned, idk what to say guys. Thank you so much for showing this so much love. I’m sorry if this doesn’t live up to expectations, i felt like I made you guys wait long enough for it.

Part one, Part two

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Charles and Arthur had to be in Austria before Thursday to prepare for the next race. You were adamant about not going, saying you did not prepare to be away from home for more than a week. That even staying in the UK for the weekend was setting you back in a multitude of things.

“You said you weren’t gonna stay away anymore,” Charles said. As all of them, Charles, Charlotte, Arthur, and Lorenzo, crammed into your hotel room before going to the airport.

“I’m not trying to stay away,” you said, shoving more things into your luggage, as Arthur and Charlotte deliberately unpacked things.

“Then why can’t you come to Austria with the rest of us?” Charles asked, crossing his arms.

“Because I did not plan to be in Austria,” you exclaimed. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to go, but Austria wasn’t in the original plan. “I’ll come to Monza.”

“What is it that you are really rushing back to Monaco for?” Charles looked you dead in the eye.

“It’s not your job, you said you were able to work remotely,” Charlotte deduced.

“It’s not your parents, because they don’t require you to be home like before,” Lorenzo added, he always kept in close contact with your parents.

“It’s not a guy, because you just told me that the last guy fell through when you found out he was a Ferrari fan,” Arthur then added.

“It can’t be money, your job pays you more than enough to travel with us,” Charles said.

“You know, I have no clothes for the rest of the trip, nor a plane ticket to Austria like the rest of you,” you said, trying to give any excuse to not go to Austria, “not to mention I was planning on splurging on a trip for my parents and their anniversary, and I don’t think a last minute trip to Austria will fit in the budget.”

“I’ll cover you for Austria,” Lorenzo, Charles, and Arthur said in sync.

“We’ll cover your expenses for Austria y/n, we really want you to be there with us,” Lorenzo said.

“You’re not taking no for an answer huh?” You said, looking at the three Leclercs. All of them shaking their heads. “Let’s go to Austria then,” you sighed in defeat, as all of them cheered.

“Okay good, here is your ticket,” Lorenzo said, pulling the paperwork out of his pocket. You looked at Lorenzo absolutely dumbfounded, “when you showed up for Arthur's sprint race, I knew you would have to come to Austria with us, so I got the ticket then,” Lorenzo revealed.

You took the ticket from Lorenzo, waving it in his face, while saying “normal people don’t do this Lo,” then you looked at the other two brothers, “normal people don’t expect their friends to be able to drop everything and travel to a different country with them.”

Unfortunately for you, Lorenzo couldn’t get you on the same flight as the rest of them. You were leaving the UK the same day as them, but several hours later. Lorenzo and the rest of them will arrive in Austria, Tuesday afternoon, while you will arrive closer to Tuesday night. You really didn’t mind it all too much. The few hours alone will allow you to gather your thoughts. Or so you thought.

“Y/n,” you heard your name from across the airport. “Y/n,” it was Felipe Drugovich, “that is you.”

“Felipe,” you said, going to hug him, “it’s been a minute.”

“It has, how have you been? Are you coming to the races again?”

You smiled, you weren’t close with Felipe, but the two of you always had a friendly relationship. “I’ve been good, and I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to attend all the races, but I’ll definitely start coming again. What about you though, race winner”

“Only a couple,” Felipe smiled, he was always so humble.

“A couple? You have three feature race wins, and you’ve scored in almost all of the races,” you smiled.

“Not all, and you’ve kept up with us?”

“Just because I’m not attending the races, doesn’t mean I didn’t keep up with them.”

“Just surprised you kept up with F2, there isn’t a Leclerc in F2 at the moment,” Felipe joked, raising an eyebrow at you.

“There doesn’t need to be a Leclerc for me to keep up with something,” you took slight offense.

“I’m just saying the Leclerc princess was only focused on the Leclerc's last season,” Felipe said. You let his statement sit for a moment, and watched as Felipe realized what he called you. His face changed from cocky to shocked.

“The what?”

“You weren’t supposed to know that,” Felipe quickly corrected his mistake.

“Leclerc princess? Who is calling me that?”

Felipe sighed, knowing that he was going to have to explain now. “It was a joke between the F2 guys last season because you were only focused on the Leclercs and you were treated like a Princess by them,” Felipe revealed.

“Please don’t tell me that you guys actually thought that,” you were absolutely shocked. You knew the boys always took care of you at the races but you didn’t think you were being treated like a princess.

“Y/n, it’s fine,” Felipe said, trying to make amends. “Arthur them we’re taking care of their friend, we understand it.”

“I didn’t…”

“I promise we never called you that with malicious intent,” Felipe didn’t know if what he was saying was making the situation better or worse. “It was stupid Robert who started the joke because you rejected him, and Arthur told him off about it. I promise that nickname wasn’t made with vicious ideas.”

“When did Robert try to get with me?” You asked not recalling any moment when Robert tried to ask you out.

“Are you serious?” Felipe didn’t know what to say, everyone knew about Robert trying to get with you. “In Monaco, Robert asked if you wanted to get dinner after the race. You said that you had dinner plans with the Leclerc family and you would text him about getting dessert together, then you never texted him or spoke to him again. Then Arthur told Robert to stop bothering you.”

“I, I didn’t know he meant like a date. I actually had dinner plans already that night, Auntie Pa made food and Arthur kept bugging me that night, I must’ve completely forgotten about Robert.” You slapped your hands against your face, completely dumbfounded that you had forgotten about Robert. “I promise I never told Arthur to say anything.”

Felipe did nothing of the sorts to help you, just laughing at your recount of events. “It’s fine y/n, Robert has gotten over it, and Arthur wasn’t mean, he just told Robert to back off a little.”

“I feel terrible,” you said, not knowing what to do, not knowing how to apologize to Robert.

“Don’t even worry about it, princess,” Felipe teased further, causing you to blush further from embarrassment.

After checking into the hotel, and getting all of his stuff into the room, Arthur headed back to the airport to pick you up. He adamantly volunteered to pick you up, instead of sending a Uber for you, because he wanted a few minutes of you to himself. The drive from the airport to the hotel wasn't long but Arthur insisted he pick you up and he insisted on picking you up by himself.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Charles asked again.

“I’m sure, I’m just driving to the airport and back, I’ll be fine,” Arthur insisted.

“Text us when you got her,” Lorenzo said, before the two started back into the hotel.

Arthur wanted a few minutes alone with you because he didn’t want either of his brothers to be revealing any more information. When Lorenzo said ‘Arthur has a crush on you’ to you, Arthur felt his heart drop. He didn’t want you to reject him in front of his brothers. That would have been too much embarrassment for him. Instead you just said, ‘we’ll talk about it later, yeah?’ To which Arthur nodded, he had hoped that the drive back would be the perfect time to talk about it.

When Arthur got to the airport, he was still early, so he found a spot to park, and headed towards baggage claim to wait for you. He found you easily, you were talking to someone. As he made his way closer he noticed you were talking to Felipe. Felipe then grabbed your bag from the belt, while saying something that made you laugh. Arthur felt his heart stop for a moment, what did Felipe say to make you laugh like that? Was all he could think.

“I think your ride is here,” Felipe said, you followed his gaze to see Arthur standing there arms crossed. The sight of Arthur waiting for you, causing your smile to grow. You and Felipe end up being on the same flight, sitting right next to each other. “Still the Leclerc princess I see.”

“Shut up Felipe,” you blushed at the nickname that Felipe has been continually calling you the entire flight. “I’ll see you at the track,” you said, as you began to walk towards Arthur.

“See you then princess,” Felipe said, causing you to turn more red, blushing brighter. You were shaking your head at the nickname.

As you walked towards Arthur, you felt your smile get bigger. You tried to stop yourself from smiling, but you couldn’t contain it. You had to repeatedly remind yourself that Arthur still has a girlfriend. “Hi,” you said to Arthur.

Arthur hummed in acknowledgement, taking your bags from you. It wasn’t like him to be this silent. “Everything okay?” You asked.

“Didn’t know Felipe was on your flight,” Arthur huffed out, his tone causing you to stifle your giggle.

“Are you jealous Arthur?” You asked, beginning to tease. “Are you jealous that me and Felipe were on the same flight together, and sitting, and talking together the entire flight?” The opportunity to tease Arthur, has been few and far between in your friendship with him. Being around Charles and Lorenzo his entirely life, had built Arthur up. There was nothing that you could say that would bug him. So whenever you did find something to tease him about, you would take it and run.

Arthur didn’t give any answer to your teasing, silently putting your bags into the car. Arthur didn’t respond because he was actually jealous. Why did Felipe get to be with you and not him? Why did it have to be Felipe? Couldn’t it have been someone, anyone else next to you. When Lorenzo told Arthur, he bought you a plane ticket to Austria. Arthur begged Lorenzo to change his flight to be with you. Why did Felipe get to be on your flight and not him?

You teased Arthur the entire car ride to the hotel, when you finally pulled up to the front. Arthur put the car in park for the valet boys. However before you could open the door to get out, Arthur locked the doors, stopping you. You looked back at him slightly confused, and all Arthur said was “yes I am jealous.” He then unlocked the doors and got out before you.

You rushed out after Arthur, to see him already grabbing your bags. “Arthur,” you said to grab his attention. Arthur instead of answering you, turned to hand over the keys to the valet. He then walked past you carrying your bags. You followed after him, “you shouldn’t be jealous,” you said just loud enough for him to hear. Arthur didn’t say anything, continuing to remain silent, “after all Felipe isn’t the one I’m rooting for during the races, nor is he the person that I’m gonna be with this weekend.” You watched as your words curved a smirk onto Arthur’s face.

Arthur had brought you up to the room, “so mine and Lorenzo’s room is just a couple doors over, and Charles and Charlotte’s room is a few more doors down.”

“We’re all on one floor?” You asked as you began to unpack your limited clothing.

“Lorenzo booked all the rooms together, so they put it all on one floor,” Arthur said, trying to find the courage to continue the conversation. “Y/n, don’t you think we should talk?”

“Talk?” You knew exactly what Arthur meant, but you were hoping to avoid the conversation just a little longer, in hopes that maybe your feelings for him would go away in a few hours. “Talk about what?” You didn’t meet Arthur’s gaze, because you knew the moment you looked into his eyes, you would fold.

Arthur grabbed your arm, pulling you away from your luggage, “you know what we need to talk about.”

When you looked up at Arthur, his eyes looking hurt, “don’t you have a girlfriend.” You watched as Arthur’s face changed, first being confused, then realization.

“No,” Arthur said with relief, “I forgot to tell you, we broke up.”

“Arthur did you actually break up,” you turned back to your own unpacking, “you and her are always going on breaks and getting back together…”

“I promise,” Arthur said, jumping onto your bed to look at you, “we’re done, for real this time.”

You looked at home suspiciously not really believing it, “well just because you broke up with her, doesn’t mean you and I are just gonna become a thing.”

“Why not?” Arthur sat up confused.

“Because you know how bad that will look, that you just left your girlfriend and started dating someone new. Everyone will think you only left her because of me.”

“What does it matter what anyone else thinks?” Arthur asked, as he got off the bed, coming towards you. Taking your face in his hands.

“Arthur,” you spoke softly, pulling his hands away from your face, “it matters the most. I…”. You paused, unsure how to admit your feelings about the situation. “I love you Arthur, I will always love you, but…”

“But what?” And all over, Arthur became unable to read. You couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Maybe,” you pulled away completely, turning your back on Arthur, “I shouldn’t have come to Austria.”

“Fuck y/n,” Arthur shouted out, “what are you talking about not coming to Austria?” You turned back to look at Arthur, who was red in the face, “you said,” Arthur pointed his finger at you, his words laced with venom, “you weren’t gonna stay away and now that I tell you how I feel, you’re just gonna run away.”

“That’s not,” you started to shake your head viciously, “that’s not what I meant Arthur, I…”

“Then what is it?” Arthur shouted once more, “you say you love me, you said you weren’t gonna stay away but now you don’t want to be here with us, with me.”

“Arthur please,” you felt the tears rolling down your face. Arthur has never yelled at you before like he’s doing at this moment. “Stop yelling at me,” your words were whispers, that fell on deaf ears.

“I am in love with you y/n, and I have spent years thinking I will always be second to Charles,”

“You’re not second,” you couldn’t find it in yourself to speak louder. “Arthur, I am in love with you.”

“Then why don’t you want to be here, with me?” You could finally see the tears welled in Arthur’s eyes.

“I can’t,” you broke down in full sobs, “I can’t take your fans.” His fans, “I can’t take the constant bashing from people that don’t know me, I ran away because I couldn’t take it. I am weak and I am ashamed,” you wiped away your tears, staring at the floor instead of Arthur, “and I just can’t handle it like you or Charles or Charlotte, I want to.” You looked up back at Arthur, his features had softened, “I wish I could do it Arthur, I do. I want to be at every race, under every podium, to be with you, always, but I don’t think I can, I’m sorry.”

Arthur wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer than ever before. You began to sob, feeling ashamed that little comments from strangers messed you up this bad. You buried your face deeper into Arthur’s chest, feeling safety in his arms.

“Where is y/n?” Lorenzo asked Arthur, as he was in the middle of training.

“Not sure,” Arthur shrugged, as he continued on unbothered. Lorenzo looked a little confused, because Arthur was the one that took your absences the hardest among the three of them. Why wouldn’t he take it the hardest though?

Just a few moments later, Charles joined Arthur and Lorenzo. Whenever their, Charles and Arthur’s, race weekends aligned together, the two would train together to prepare for a race. “Where’s y/n?” Charles asked, as he scanned the room, thinking he would see you tucked away in a corner. Arthur, not verbally acknowledging the question, shrugged.

Now it was Charles’ turn to be confused. Charles missed having you around very much, and it meant a lot to him that you were there in Silverstone. However Charles knew it meant more to Arthur that you were there, than it did to him. Charles exchanged a look with Lorenzo, to which Lorenzo just shook his head and shrugged as well.

“She’s gonna be at the races though, right?” Charles tried to ask nonchalantly.

“She said she would be,” Arthur answered, even more nonchalant. Charles and Lorenzo exchanged another look, trying to determine if you and Arthur got into a fight or what.

You currently sat at lunch with Charlotte, while the boys were doing their training.

“So, did you and Arthur talk?” Charlotte asked, after your waiter dropped the appetizers.

“We did,” you smirked thinking back to your conversation with Arthur.

“Your smirk indicates it went well,” Charlotte's eyes widened in anticipation.

“Well,” you paused thinking further about the entire conversation, “it ended well.”

“Ended well? It started off bad?” Charlotte let out a little chuckle.

“Yeah,” you laughed out, “Arthur mentioned he broke up with his girlfriend.”

“Oh, but that was a long time coming already,'' Charlotte reasoned, as she began to pick away at the appetizers.

“I know that, I just didn’t want Arthur to think that just because he broke up with his girlfriend. I would just jump into a relationship with him. Not to mention how that would look.”

“So you and him are not together then?”

“Umm no, yes,” you chuckled some more.

“What happened in that hotel room?” Charlotte laughed, trying to understand what the two of you talked about. “Something not innocent?” Charlotte eyebrows raised, as she giggled some more.

“No no, nothing like that,” you quickly corrected with a laugh. “We just talked, talked about a lot of things. Tried to make him understand what I felt.”

“That’s good,” Charlotte reasoned, “you definitely need to communicate more.”

“Me and Arthur are going to try being in a relationship together, slowly though and privately.” You began to blush at the thought of Arthur and you, together.

“That’s very good,” Charlotte smiled, she smiled a proud smile at you. In a way, Charlotte felt relieved, she would never admit it though. Charlotte knew that Charles will always feel some type of love for you, but Charles would never betray his brothers. A very small part of Charlotte will forever be jealous, and worried about your relationship with Charles, however now you being with Arthur she can rest a little easier at night.

“I don’t know if Arthur told his brothers yet though”

“Why wouldn’t he tell them?” Charlotte asked, slightly confused. The three of them were three peas in a pod, always telling each other everything. Charles and Lorenzo would be the first people on Arthur list to tell anything to.

“I don’t know, when I told Arthur I wanted a more private relationship, he was fine with that, but he insisted on being the one to tell his brothers,” you said with a shrug, not really understanding Arthur’s reasoning.

“Well Charles knows nothing, when I told him about lunch today, he told me to figure out what’s going on between you and Arthur.” Charlotte said with a giggle, recalling Charles' words from this morning.

Later that night, after all the marketing duties, training, and media request, did Arthur finally return to the hotel. Lorenzo had told Arthur that he would be having dinner with some people about Arthur’s future, and that he wouldn’t return until later. Arthur made quick work of showering and getting into a comfy outfit, before leaving his hotel room, and going up a couple doors to your hotel room.

As soon as the first knock came, you opened the door for Arthur sporting the biggest smile you could manage. “Hi,” you smiled more, that Arthur could only chuckle at you.

“Hi,” Arthur smiled, back before walking into your room. “Miss me?”

“Always,” you said, as you pecked Arthur’s lips. Arthur wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer that every part of your body touched his, as you wrapped your arms around his neck.

“You know, I love coming home to you,” Arthur whispered against your lips, before planting another small kiss against them.

“This isn’t home though, this is a hotel,” you smirked.

“Home is wherever you are.”

That night as you cuddled closer to Arthur, the two of you lay in the middle of the bed. Watching whatever movie sounded funny.

“You know,” you started off, thinking about everything you and Arthur talked about today, “when I said going slow with our relationship and keeping things private, I didn’t mean not telling your brothers.”

“I know,” Arthur smirked, “but I want them to sweat a little, they currently think we’re fighting.”

You furrowed your eyebrows looking at Arthur, “how do you know they think we’re fighting? Why do they think we’re fighting?”

“Because I know them, and I know they won’t ask directly what’s going on, they’re just gonna wait until I tell them”

“Are you punishing them for exposing you a few days ago?”

“Maybe,” Arthur chuckled, looking down at you cuddled into his side. “They deserve it, either way.”

You cuddled closer to Arthur, trying to soak up as much heat that was emitting off of him, as possible. “Thank you for respecting my wishes to keep our relationship private for now.” Ou spoke softly into Arthur’s chest, instead of to him.

You could feel the vibration from Arthur’s chuckle, “I’d do anything for you, anything to keep you by my side.”

After your initial disagreement with Arthur, the two of you talked more about the situation in Amsterdam last year. You talked about how the fans made you feel, how you thought staying away would be best for everyone, why you thought that as well. You made sure Arthur understood your viewpoint on the entire situation. Especially that you no longer felt safe being around any of them, because you thought whenever you were with them, you were on display for the world to judge.

Arthur spoke of how you made him feel, his disagreement with Charles, and just exactly how your interactions, although not meant to hurt him, did. Arthur made sure that you understood how he felt. He felt like you were staying away because that would be easier for Charles. Arthur thought that you cared more about how Charles felt rather than how he felt.

After the two of you talked extensively, did you guys begin to discuss your relationship. You finally admitted to having romantic feelings for Arthur, and that you wanted to be with him. Arthur admitted to always being in love with you, and just forever thinking that you loved Charles more than him. The two of you agreed that you would be in a relationship with each other, but that it would go slowly, and privately. Arthur was gonna do everything in his power to ensure you felt safe being around him. That you were no longer on display for the world to critique, that you were just the girl he’s in love with. And you had never been so in love.

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