DELILAH SUB-CONSCIOUSLY REACHES for Charles' hand as if she had a need for comfort. Charles' heart seems to skip a beat at the sudden touch of contact, causing him to glance at Delilah. His eyes shift to the fans, who are pointing their phones at them. ''Rumours are planted,'' Charles mentions, shifting his eyes to the road. Delilah glances over her shoulder, noticing her hand on his, and withdraws it. ''My apologies,'' Delilah excuses, ''I did not mean for my hand to-'' ''It is alright, my lady,'' Charles interrupts her, ''really. It is okay. Don't you worry.'' The Monegasque casts a glance aside, meeting her eyes. The eye contact causes him to smile, showing Delilah his dimples. "Okay," she whispers and sends him a smile. Delilah couldn't help but feel a nervous knot in her stomach. ''I must admit,'' she speaks, looking out of the window, ''I find this quite ... how do you call it in English ... singyeong sseulegi ... I can't tell the English word nor the Dutch one.'' ''Exciting?'' Charles tries. ''Something like that but more ... terrifying but terrifying isn't the right word,'' Delilah tries to explain herself, noticing she feels frustrated. She rests her head against the headrest. ''I know how it feels,'' says Charles, glancing aside briefly. ''You do?'' she questions, causing Charles to nod. ''Needing to speak English in all interviews is sometimes exhausting,'' he explains. The Monegasque glances aside, noticing a look of recognition in her eyes. The realisation hits her. ''You are Monegasque of course,'' she whispers, ''you speak ... Italian?'' ''As well as French,'' Charles replies. ''Trilingual, impressive,'' Delilah chuckles, even though she is trilingual as well. The Monegasque frowns, thinking. ''Aren't you trilingual yourself?'' he asks confused. ''Yeah,'' she laughs. A sound that could light the darkest room, Charles thought.

Delilah and Charles make their way to Charles' apartment. "Make yourself at home, I'll be right back," says Charles. Delilah nods and glances around the apartment. The Monegasque's eyes rest upon her before finally taking his leave. Delilah sits down on the couch and unlocks her phone. Her thumb automatically reaches for TikTok; shortly after, she watches several videos. Then she crosses a video that caught her attention.
     CHARLES LECLERC HAS A GIRLFRIEND?! It was a video of a woman's face, questioning whether Charles has a girlfriend before showing the photos of her and Charles in the car. "Als een vuurtje," Delilah mutters. "Als a vuurtje?" The voice makes her glance over her shoulder. "What does that mean?" he asks curiously. "Als een vuurtje?" she questions, causing him to nod. "Oh, I saw this tiktok," she explains and shows him the tiktok, "and then I said that the rumours spread like a fire. It's a common saying in Dutch." "Als a vuurtje," Charles repeats and chuckles. He disappears once more, while Delilah keeps scrolling on her tiktok. She scowls the moment she sees herself, in an edit. MAX'S SISTER: DELILAH. She curiously taps on her screen, showing the comments.

:)
Max has a sister?
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abbey✨
She is beautiful tho😮‍💨
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F1_lover
Isn't it rumoured she is dating Charles?
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Lys
Bi panic is hitting hard🫠
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Delilah chuckles while shaking her head. She turns off her phone as she wanders through the living room. Her eyes lay on several trophies and photos. Her gaze fixes on a photo of Charles and an older man. Her hands reach for the photo before she stares at the man. "That is me and my godfather." Charles' voice seems to have startled Delilah, causing her to let go of the photo frame. The Monegasque's fast reflexes reach for the frame before it shatters on the floor. "Charles, I'm so sorry!" Delilah gasps. Charles takes slow breaths while slowly shifting his gaze to the woman. He slowly places the photo back on the sideboard and lets out a slow breath. "It is alright," he breathes, "it is just ... this photo holds a lot of value to me." He shifts his gaze from the photo to Delilah. He opens his mouth, yet he speaks of a different sentence than he initially intended. ''Shall we go?'' he questions softly.

The ride was quiet. Delilah doesn't dare to speak up while Charles is sunk into his thoughts. Delilah stares out of the window while her mind is set on the past. She wondered about the photo on the sideboard. A guilty feeling engulfed her body, knowing she almost destroyed a valuable memory. The woman shifts her gaze from the window to Charles. She fails to see his eyes due to his sunglasses. She softly sighs, her shoulders slumping down. ''I'm sorry,'' she speaks, pulling Charles out of his train of thought. He tears his eyes off the road in order to look at Delilah for a split second. ''What do you mean?'' he asks, genuinely confused. ''I almost destroyed a valuable object of yours, I understand if you are angry with-'' ''No,'' Charles cuts her off, almost snapping. Delilah flinches and backs away from him. The Monegasque sighs and opens his mouth to speak. "I did not mean for my voice to turn out that harsh," he whispers, "I apologise. I am not angry, because you couldn't know. It is okay." "Okay," she whispers, somewhere feeling relieved.
"So, the rumour is spreading?" Charles questions, changing the subject. Delilah nods and pulls her phone out of her pocket. "Tiktok is going crazy," she says and chuckles, "I have seen thirst edits of myself. It's pretty odd to look at." It causes Charles to chuckle, "you tell me about it." "But Tiktok is going crazy," Delilah laughs. "And they will be even more when they find out we are together at lunch," Charles adds. They fell into the conversation until Charles pulled up into the parking lot. ''We are there already?'' Delilah questions, surprisingly glancing around. ''Yeah, it is a place with loads of options, but it is mostly Italian,'' Charles comments before scratching the back of his head, ''I didn't know what you would like.'' He nervously chuckles, denying her gaze. ''I am sure it will be alright,'' Delilah reassures, ''besides, I'm not a problem when it comes to eating.'' Her hand reaches for the door, yet Charles urges her to wait. He steps out of his car and jogs to the other side. He opens the door and holds out his hand, waiting for Delilah to get a hold of his hand. Delilah steps out of the car and before she knows, she feels a warm hand supporting her back. It is not uncomfortable, not as much as it would be if you are with a stranger. Charles slightly adds pressure to her back to get her to start walking.

Once they sat down, Delilah felt too disturbed and kept glancing around. ''Don't look at them,'' Charles whispers, reaching for her hand. She averts her gaze to their hands before glancing at Charles. ''Don't look at them,'' he repeats, ''look at me. Focus on me.'' Her lips parted, yet she remained silent. She notices the subtle and gentle movement of his thumb. The corner of her mouth twitched in a smile and nodded. ''You are right,'' she answers and decides to change the topic of the conversation, ''so ... A Ferrari driver?'' Charles smiles, showing his dimples. ''Yeah,'' he replies humbly. ''Well?'' Delilah urges, ''tell me all about it.'' ''From the beginning?'' ''Yes!''
''Okay,'' Charles laughs pensively. ''I started karting at the age of eight and in 2010 i was the youngest winner of the Monaco Kart Cup KF3. From 2014 I drove in motorsports, then F3, F2 and since 2018 I drove for Sauber in the F1 — Delilah nods in the meanwhile — and a year later, I signed with Ferrari." The way she looks at him, with a strange light in her eyes. "Your parents must be so proud," she answers. Charles slightly shifts in his seat, hesitating whether to tell. His lips parted, yet no sound came from his throat. "I am sure they both are," he replies, flashing her a faint smile. Delilah senses slight discomfort within him and apologises. "I'm sorry. Do you wish to talk about it?" she questions gently. Charles' eyes averted from her beautiful face, thinking of his next sentence. "My father grew ill and got diagnosed with cancer," he speaks softly, "he died at the age of 54. A few days before I won in Baku in F2 — Delilah softly squeezes his hand to show her empathy — and a few days after his passing, I signed with Ferrari." "I am sorry for your loss," Delilah speaks quietly, "yet, he will always be there with you. As the Dutch would say: Uit het oog, maar niet uit het hart." "Out get oog, mar nit out get gart?" Charles tries and starts giggling. He sees Delilah's face lit up before she burst out in laughter. ''It means if someone passes away, they cannot be seen with the eye but they remain in your heart forever,'' Delilah explains.
     Before Charles could add a comment, the waiter joins their table with their food. Charles withdraws his hand from hers and oddly enough, it feels cold. ''The carpaccio?'' Charles raises his hand and thanks the waiter. He automatically places the smoked salmon in front of Delilah. ''Thank you so much,'' she smiles and averts her eyes to the waiter. He politely smiles before he takes his leave. "Enjoy," they both say in unison. While chuckling, they assemble their cutlery before eating.

"I was thinking," Charles comments, between munching his food, "I need to fly to Italy for some business at Maranello and I thought it would make the press insane by showing up with you." Delilah nods at his saying as she remembers she is hired by Red Bull. "Wouldn't that raise any suspicions? As in, Christian is my boss," Delilah mentions, causing Charles to gasp softly. "Ah." He seems to ponder her questions, staring at his glass. "I assume the rumours have already reached him, right?" Delilah mentions, "should I contact him or should I wait until he contacts me?" "Perhaps we should inform Christian about the fake situation," Charles says, "to prevent any unnecessary ... issues." "But, wouldn't that count for Mattia as well?" she informs. "Probably yeah. We should call them."
Charles' eyes notice a man approaching them and stares him in the eyes. Delilah seems to notice his stare and wonders what he is staring at. It was only a few seconds off and she found out.

"Hello, Delilah."