Amelia took a deep breath; taking in the warm, evening air of Bahrain. The last few months went by crazy fast and in a few days the Formula One 2023 season was about to start. She just flew in with Max and his private jet, as he offered to bring you early with him.

"I always love to land in the evening," Max laid his hands on Amelia's shoulders and gave her a smile. "Especially when the evenings aren't too hot, but also not too cold."

Amelia gave him a smile back, she couldn't disagree. "But, they are very tiring." She had been awake since 5:00 (AM), had to take a regular flight to Monaco and then a 9 hours flight to Bahrain, which started at 10:00 (AM) and currently it was 9:00PM (21:00u) in Bahrain. She was drained from her energy.

"If you flew with a regular airline, you would've been death by now."

Amelia gave Max a playful push. He was right and she was beyond grateful Max asked her to fly with him. Kelly had some family issues to resolve and Max could use the company, so she had agreed. 

"How are you and Josh?" Max suddenly asked while the two were waiting for their taxi to arrive, he had a smirk on his face, which gave away he only asked so he knew if he could add 'matchmaker' on his resume, probably right next to 'Two-time World Champion F1'. 

"Actually, we are doing really good," Amelia answered honestly. "We've been on a couple of dates." 

Winter break definitely was very interesting; Josh had asked Amelia on several dates, which he always completely took care of, from basic restaurant dates to spectacular bungee jump dates. She actually started to really enjoy his company and she developed feelings for the new PR-manager of the Red Bull driver next to her.

"And?" Max asked curiously. 

"We kissed."

Max cheered internally. "I am so happy for you, Amelia." 

Amelia punched Max in his arm. "Shoved already. You can add 'matchmaker' to your resume, alright. He asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes."

Max punched his friend back. "I am genuinely happy for you. And I will add that to my resume. Right next to my Formula career." It was suppose to be a joke, but he saw a change in Amelia's look, the happy and in-love look changed into a bit of worry. "What's wrong?" 

"Just... just don't tell Charles yet."

"What does he have to do with your relationship?"

Good question. Not going to answer that honestly, Amelia shrugged. "I want to tell him myself. We've had some tension back in Mexico and then, of course, the fight."

Max nodded. "My lips are sealed."

"Thank you, Max."

"Josh will be coming this week. So, either talk to him about boundaries or talk to Charles before he finds out the hard way. And you know what happened the last time he found out something about you in the hard way."

Amelia knew Max was right. "Meh, yes... I know and we don't want to repeat such behavior again. Let alone for a whole season again." She was going to talk to Charles to moment she saw him. 

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Of course, Charles was the first person Amelia saw when she walked to the Red Bull hospitality the next morning. He wasn't wearing a shirt and looked sweaty. He was probably just done with working out. The moment Charles saw Amelia and their eyes met, he gave her a smile and waved. In a panic Amelia rushed to the hospitality; she was not ready to face him, let alone tell him about her relationship with Josh. 

Just before she could open the door, his voice called her. "Amelia?" 

Fuck. She took a deep breath and turned around. "Charles, hi." She looked him in the eyes and he gave her a small smile, creating dimples in his cheeks. 

"How have you been? I missed you." He stepped forward and touched Amelia's arm.

"Do you want to drink something?" She asked in a split second, perhaps  it was better to tell him in a peaceful setting and she had to say something to avoid the subject for the first few minutes. She was scared to tell him, without knowing why she was so scared and made her a bit confused. Which only added one more bullet point on her list of 'Things that confuses me"; on which Charles' or his behavior passed by more often that this particular moment. 

Charles' face lit up. "Yeah, I'd love that actually." 

Amelia welcomed him in the Red Bull hospitality and walked directly to her drivers room. Charles followed her as a happy puppy, or so Amelia thought of him. She needed to tell him immediately, because he probably took her invitation in another way.

"There's something I need to tell you," Amelia turned around as Charles closed the door. "I'm really-" Charles interrupted her as he pulled her towards him and turned around. Amelia was trapped between the closed door and Charles' muscular arms leaning against the door. She was immediately lost for words. Her heart started racing and she blushed as Charles took her by surprise. 

"Tu m'as manqué." He whispered.

"Charles..." Amelia whispered back. She had to tell him now, but Charles was so close and her heart was beating so fast she could her it in her ears. She could see the shiny sweat on his forehead and the muscles in his arm were tightened, his eyes were scanning her face. He smirked; he could sense her racing heartbeat and he saw her staring.

"Something wrong?" He asked, still with a smirk and stepped away. "What do you want to tell me?"

"N... nothing.." Her breath stalled. 

Charles chuckled. "You're a bad liar, you know that right. You've always been a bad liar." 

It was silent for a few seconds, but the tension was loud. Way too loud, but Amelia was still lost for words and processing what just happened. 

"Perhaps you can give me that drink you offered."

Amelia snapped back into reality. "Yes, yes of course," she walked away from the door to her mini fridge. "Sorry, I only have Red Bulls."

Charles laughed and shook his head. "I didn't expect anything else." 

They sat down on Amelia's sofa, Charles laid his hand on Amelia's look, and looked at her with a soft and friendly look. "How was your winter break?" Yes. Change of subject. Thank you.

"It was..." Full of dates with Josh. Fuck, not so much a change of subject. "Lovely. How was yours?" 

Charles shrugged his shoulders. "It was fine, I guess."

Amelia suddenly realized it. Normally he would spend the entire winter break with Charlotte, but they broke up right before. She laid down her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Charles. I shouldn't have asked." 

He reached for her hand and smiled. "It is fine. I also went to Italy and had the most enjoyable evening on the beach I have ever had."

"Oh?" Amelia said jokingly with an eyebrow raised. "I remember a very cold and wet one.

Charles pushed Amelia softly. "Oh, shut up. It was fun." 

Amelia give him a smile and once again, it fell silent. She glared at him; still being shirtless and with a can of Red Bull on his lips. "Aren't you cold?" 

"No, actually not. It is very hot outside, you know." He smirked. "Why you asking? Don't you like the view anymore?" Charles came a little closer and leaned a bit towards Amelia. "Did you bring my jacket? I can put that one on, but then you have to give it back."

Amelia's heart started racing again, she could feel the tension hanging around them again and she knew Charles felt it too. He looked at her lips and then Amelia knew; it was a bad idea to invite him to her drivers room and she couldn't think straight for a moment. She looked into Charles' eyes, who were scanning her face again. He softly bit his lip.

"You have to go," Amelia whispered. "You should go... please."

Charles looked at Amelia's face, he didn't understand why she was sending him away again. They were both single, right? He wanted to ask, but Amelia had turned her face away. He got up and slightly brushed his hands over her knee. "You can talk to me, Amil. What's going on?"

Amelia didn't answer, but from the look on her face, Charles understood it was something that was difficult for her to say.

"You don't have to, alright. But we used to be friends... rival-friends... and I want to be friends again and forget about what happened last year."

Last year. They were in the same place as last year; the place were they had their last 'good' night.

"I am not gonna drink this weekend," Amelia said. "Charles, please go. I will talk to you when I am ready." Her voice softened. 

Charles nodded. "Text me whenever." He walked away and closed the door. Amelia rested her head on the side of the sofa. She wanted to tell him. She really did, but she lost all her words by just looking in his eyes. She wasn't the only one feeling the tension, right? Was Charles just playing with her? She sighed, she knew that from now one, trying to tell Charles would only be more difficult. 

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The moment Amelia dared to leave the hospitality, she saw more drivers had arrived on the grid. A lot of engineers were running around and talking with each other about the car and the last needed upgrades. Tomorrow would be the first practice and the cars had to be ready.

"Hey daydreamer."

Amelia snapped out of her thoughts and looked into the smiling face of Josh. Josh. 

"Oh, hey." She smiled at him and he wrapped his arms around Amelia and gave her a quick kiss.

"I haven't told anyone about us, you know." 

"Don't worry, darling. They will find out soon enough." He pressed his lips on Amelia's again. It made Amelia smile, knowing he was not going to hide her, like Lando always did. But, it also made her realize that she was going to have to tell Charles soon. Amelia and Josh started talking about the upcoming race, about Max' interviews and about her changes of driving this season. She lost her words a few seconds when she noticed Charles looking at them while talking with his teammate, Carlos Sainz. He winked, but Amelia could only quickly look away. 

A.N: Sorry, CL-fans... you'll have to wait just a tiny bit longer.