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nathaslosthershit · 21 hours

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Tensions Fall (Teen Dad!Oscar AU)

(part 2 to Tensions rise, also apart of this AU although these two fics can be read separately)

A/N: 7 weeks since the once happy couple have actually talked. 7 weeks since they shared a bed, but with their two toddlers starting camp for the first time, maybe they can try and mend their problems.

Warnings: Parental separation, a super mean mom like the ones I have to deal with at work, angst WITH A HAPPY ENDING

May 28, 2024

It had been 7 weeks since the fight in Suzuka that effectively ended Oscar and Honey’s relationship. It had been 7 weeks since Oscar had taken a leave of absence from racing in order to try and make amends with his family. He still trained everyday, he still worked with McLaren and did Sim Racing, he just never attended any of the Grand Prixs.

It had also been 7 weeks since Honey and Oscar had shared a bed.

Since that night she left their room, she had stayed in her kids’ hotel room till they got home. She then packed her things and moved into the guest bedroom. Things had been far from amicable between the two parents. In the beginning, Oscar had done all he could to try and make up with Honey but when she continued to give him the cold shoulder, he had given up and reciprocated her attitude. The children, about to turn 4 years old, didn’t know the full extent of what was happening at home. They knew that when they would go to their parents’ room in the morning, only Dad would be there, but this was easily explained away when Honey told them that Oscar snored too loudly and it kept her up at night.

They had of course also noticed how different their parents had acted towards each other, and how often their father was home now, but they just didn’t question it because at the end of the day, they were too young to begin to understand, and they still had two parents who loved them as much as they could.

Since the fight though, it was clear Oscar was making much more of an effort to take his kids out to do activities. At first it was nice, Honey got some time alone, something she rarely got anymore, but the more Oscar took over planning activities, the more she began to hate being alone. After three, almost four, years of being around her kids almost 24/7, the silence started to eat away at her. And in turn, her kids started to miss their mom more.

Finally though, Honey had put her foot down, after a long conversation, ending in a fight, Oscar had agreed to more full family activities, even if it meant having to pretend with Honey that they were still the happy and perfect family.

While their kids loved going to the park as a family, any parent around could see that the two parents watching their twins on the bench were fighting but trying so hard to conceal their whispered harsh words behind smiles.

With the twins' fourth birthday coming up on June 8th, Oscar and Honey had been stressing on how they were going to plan their birthday while they couldn’t get through a conversation without being at each other's throats. They also had the kids’ first day of camp coming up May 29, a day that may seem insignificant to most parents, but as the kids had never been to preschool, nor a daycare, camp was their first introduction into that whole system. It was a big step for everyone.

Honey had been trying to prepare the kids the best she could for their first day at camp. She knew they didn't fully grasp the concept and she was nervous about leaving them alone, scared they would feel abandoned as child-care with non-familial adults wasn’t something they had experienced with their mother being a stay at home mom, only ever enlisting help from grandparents, cousins, and even ‘honorary uncles’ such as Logan and Lando. She had to keep telling herself that in the end, they will at least have each other.

Oscar and Honey decided to make a day of it. Camp wasn’t until 9, so the pair took the very excited Hudson and Frances out to breakfast where the 3 year olds managed to cover themselves head to toe in maple syrup and chocolate from their pancakes, causing them to have to rush home to change, thus leading the family to a late arrival to the preschool building that the camp was held in.

“We are so sorry, oh my goodness!” Honey said to one of the two teachers who were clearly waiting for them outside the door to the classroom.

“We decided to take these two to breakfast and they got more food on their clothes than they did in their mouths. Which reminds me, I added two extra changes of clothes to their bag in case they need it.” Oscar added, causing Honey to shoot him a glare that was luckily not seen by the younger of the teachers, as the younger teacher was too busy ogling at Oscar to notice. It was her that added the clothes to their bag, it was also her idea, he was being petty by taking credit.

After a few moments of silence as they waited for the woman’s reply, she managed to snap herself out of whatever daydream she was concocting only minutes after meeting the young father in front of her to reply with a quick, “No problem! We know how these kids can be.”

The older woman next to her clearly could sense her coworker was a little two focused on one of the parents and pointedly urged her to take their bags to their cubbies while she sorted the family out, which Honey was grateful for. She may have not been with Oscar anymore but that lady didn’t know it and had no right to eye fuck him in front of her and her children of all people.

“Why don’t you all say goodbye out here, we are just about to start morning meeting with the other kids.” The older woman said as she stepped to the side to give the family privacy, thought she was close enough to hear all they would say.

Oscar and Honey both felt tears begin to form as they squatted down in front of their kids.

“Alright, Mommy and Daddy have to go now, but you both are going to stay here and make some new friends. I know this is new and might be a little scary but if you guys get through today, we can all go get ice cream later. How does that sound?” Honey asked, nervous one of her kids was going to break down in tears at any moment.

“Okay! Bye Mommy, bye Daddy!” Frances yelled as she ran through the open door to the classroom, clearly ready to get started.

Oscar and Honey weren’t necessarily shocked at what their very clearly extroverted daughter had just done, but they still had expected a little bit of pushback from her. They could see the older woman by the door laughing softly to herself at that interaction.

Their son, Hudson, was less enthusiastic. He didn’t cry, which they had fully expected him to, but he gave them crushingly tight hugs, or as crushing as he could manage, and a quick kiss on the cheek before following after his sister.

Wiping away tears, they both stood up and laughed once they looked at each other's faces, realizing they were both far more of a mess than their kids.

“Wow, maybe we should have been giving ourselves pep talks for weeks instead of them” Oscar joked. Honey laughed, it was the first normal interaction they had had in what felt like forever.

The older woman, still by the door, quickly joined in, “Oh don’t worry, we find parents are usually the ones with the most trouble at dropoff, but that moment they find you both after a day of camp or school, you will feel just how much they missed and love you. Plus you two are young, you’ve got plenty of more time to make more of those babies. You have grown yourself a real sweet family by the looks of it. Relax for a few hours! Enjoy the time off, maybe even add to your family.” The woman said, laughing, as she closed the door.

“Did she really just suggest we go make more babies?” Honey asked in disbelief.

“I think she did, yeah.” Oscar answered, just as confused as she was.

The air felt light as they both walked to their car, relishing in how nice it was that they weren’t arguing, realizing how miserable they had been.

But that didn’t last long.

“Come on, Oscar, you can’t be that dense! She was so clearly eye fucking you!” Honey argued. The conversation in the car had been light for a few minutes until Honey made a comment about the younger teacher and unintentionally started an argument.

“She was not! And if she was, who cares? We aren’t together anymore, you can’t get jealous over something as trivial as someone who thinks I am attractive. Sometime in the future I will get a partner so you better learn to stop being jealous.” Oscar yelled. He didn’t mean it of course, he knew even if he and Honey never got back together, he would remain single. She was the only one for him.

But what he had said, wording it in a way that made Honey fully think about their situation really tore her apart. Yes, they were separated, but she never felt like they were fully broken up. And from what he said, it sounded like he planned on moving on much faster than she ever would.

With tears rolling down her cheeks, she decided to not dignify his comments with a response. Once exiting the car, she swiftly went to the guest room she had been staying in since the separation and slammed the door.

After a few minutes in the car, Oscar had mustered up the courage to apologize, knowing what he did was uncouth. Hearing her cries as he walked up to her door made him stop just short of knocking, deciding maybe it was better to give her a bit of time for now and come up with a way to make it up later.

After two hours of contemplation, Oscar had decided to get a lunch reservation at her favorite restaurant that always had a live band playing. It was impossible to get a day of reservations but with a bit of bribing, he had managed to pull it off. What was also nice about the band was that they could sit and eat silently without any awkward silence. If they were going to fight, they didn’t need to speak.

She wasn’t crying when he knocked on her door, having managed to seemingly get all her emotions out in the two hours by herself, then clean up to look presentable for pick up. But now she felt empty, like a shell of a person in a house with a man who once loved her to pieces but now seemed to despise her, and no kids because they were away at camp.

“Come in.” Was all she said.

“I um, I got us a reservation to your favorite place. I understand if you aren’t up for going- or if you’d like to go alone, but I did kind of bribe them so one of us at least has to go, I fear.” Oscar muttered out fast, clearly sensing the awkward energy between them, not knowing whether they were going to ignore the fight or not.

But Honey’s heart burst at the idea of him trying so hard to get into her favorite place. She always urged him to use his name to get into places, like Lando loved to do, but he was always too humble to do it, so it meant even more that he had this time.

“That… sounds wonderful. Thank you, Oscar.” Was all she said as she started to tear up again but quickly turned so he wouldn’t see. “Let me get my stuff and I can meet you in the car.”

The energy in the car wasn’t light like it was before, but it also wasn’t heavy. A comfortable silence stayed between the two until it got too much for Honey and she burst out into tears, seemingly unprompted.

“Darling, what's wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Oscar asked, openly concerned for her well being for the first time in what felt like years.

“I c-can’t take it, Oscar! We used to have so much love for each other, god, you used to look at me like I hung the stars in the sky, now you can’t seem to look at me for more than a second without realizing how much you hate me now. Then after saying you are going to move on to someone else- you do this really sweet thing and I am- I am so confused and hurt and don’t know what to think or do!” Honey rambled, everything truly coming to the surface. Everything she thought, everything she felt, everything she had tried too hard to push down and pretend wasn’t there.

“Honey, I have never hated you for even a second,” was all Oscar was able to reply as he registered everything she had just said.

“What?”

“I don’t think I am capable of it. Truly. I have tried so hard to be the best I could be for you after the fight. I stopped racing, I planned more activities with the kids, but I couldn’t do anything right. I let rumors continue about you making me stop racing, which I wanted to stop but was told to leave alone. I took the kids to do activities and left you out too much. When you continued giving me the cold shoulder, I gave up when I should have kept fighting. I then tried to love you less, to make it hurt less, but I couldn’t, even if I acted like a dickhead to you. I am so sorry, Honey, and I would never in a million years be with someone else, even if you had an entire other family and were happily married. You are it for me, always have been, always will be.”

With all finally being said, the two went to lunch happier than they had been in weeks, ready to work on their relationship. It was surely not going to be easy, but how they had been these past two months had broken them enough that they were certainly willing to try.

Near the end of the meal though, things once again got tense. These two couldn’t catch a break it seemed.

Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, called Oscsar out of the blue and as the phone rang, Honey’s heart sank, awaiting Oscar’s reaction.

“Shit, I should get thi-”

“It's okay. I promise.” Honey said, already feeling doubt beginning to creep in.

She couldn’t hear much of the conversation as Oscar quickly walked out the door to talk to Zak. He was also turned away from her so any chances of learning information by reading his facial expressions went out the window.

Finally, he returned to Honey biting her nails waiting for what he would say to her. She already started to panic thinking he could have to go to work, race again, and this vicious cycle would never end, that nothing would ever be right between them.

“What did he want?” She asked.

“Asked when I would be ready to come back to race. I said I didn’t have a date in mind. He told me to come in next week for a meeting on it, but I said I wouldn’t make a decision without talking to my family. I am not going to lose you all over this.” He reassured her.

Honey smiled, doubt leaving as quickly as it had come. Until she herself got a phone call, this time from the camp her kids were at. Stressing that they had missed pick up, she realized after checking the clock that they still had an hour and a half. Confused once more, she answered the call.

Being told on your kids' first day away from you that there was an issue you needed to go deal with immediately, that you needed to fill out both incident and accident report forms wasn’t something that the young parents had envisioned for themselves.

Rushing to the classroom, Oscar and Honey saw both of their kids crying in the hallway with the older teacher when they arrived, accompanied by another mother and her upset son. Concern laced their features as they took in both their kids, looking for any hints of injury on the two, but they seemed fine, apart from the crying.

“God, don’t tell me these two kids are the parents, no wonder this happened.” The other mother muttered under her breath. Before Oscar could question her, the older teacher spoke up.

“It seems there was a problem between the kids today.” She began, clearly trying to mediate the situation before it got ugly between the parents. “Mattias here stole a toy Hudson was playing with and pushed him over when he tried to get it back. In turn, Fraces bit the Mattias. It didn’t even leave a mark so I know it wasn’t hard, and both kids got a talking to as well as exchanged apologies, but it seems that they might need to go home early for the day to recuperate. We will certainly work on sharing and using our words tomorrow.”

Both Honey and Oscar were shocked. While Hudson was quiet and they had been worried it would make him a target in the future, and they knew their daughter was fiercely protective of her twin, they didn’t think she would result to biting.

“Wow, alright. You two, let's discuss this in the car, yeah?” Oscar said, ready to leave the place as he felt the wrath of the other parent glaring at him. “Really? You are just going to walk away without so much as an apology to me and my son? Unbelievable.” The mother scoffed. “This is why young people shouldn’t be parents. Clearly you two need to grow up just as much. I pray your already terrible daughter grows out of this and doesn't end up like you, spreading her legs too young and becoming up a teen mom because of it.”

Both Honey and Oscar were stunned. They had faced backlash before, sure, but never to their face, and never from someone so clearly in the wrong.

“Excuse me?” Honey asked.

“Oh, you heard me.” The mother replied.

“No, I don’t think I did, because what it sounded like was you were asking for an apology for something your kid started, because I am sure as hell my kids do not have sharing problems. Then when my three year old daughter retaliates to seeing her sweet and vulnerable brother being so blatantly bullied, even though she apologized, you believe you and your snot nosed brat deserve anything else. Guess what, we don’t owe you shit. And while you are so worried about how our kids will end up, why don’t you worry about your own child, who clearly takes after his bully of a mother. Grow up, asshole.” Honey retaliated. She shouldn’t have sworn in front of the kids but damn was it wonderful to see the look on that lady’s face.

Oscar had never been more turned on by Honey in his life.

After the fight, the family of four got out of there as soon as they could, stopping for ice cream on the way home. They hardly scolded Frances more than a “If someone does something mean, you can’t bite them, use your words” to which she replied “Like Momma did with that lady?”

The kids were playing quietly in their room once Oscar got alone time with Honey.

“That was the sexiest thing I have ever seen.” He said, arms circling her waist.

“When I went full bitch mode on that lady?” She asked, laughing at the desire so evident in his eyes.

“When you stood up for your family, and cursed that dickhead out.” He replied as he started kissing her neck.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, I liked it too but in a different way than you did.” She laughed.

Laying on the bed, cuddling as they basked in the love they still had for each other. Oscar managed to ask the question that had been plaguing him for weeks.

“Honey, will you please move back in here and be with me again? I miss you too much.” Oscar pleaded.

“Fine, but you need to work on another proposal. It is only fair since this all kind of started because of you.”

“Deal, this time I will knock your socks off with my proposal, but first I intend on showing you just how much I missed you.” He said as he began to kiss her deeper and more passionately.

Life was starting to get much better.

#oscar piastri x you #oscar piastri x reader #oscar piastri imagine #formula 1 imagine #formula 1 x reader #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #lando x reader

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hugsandchaos · 3 days

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Danny in an Encanto crossover gives the impression of someone trying to befriend a stray feral cat and bring them inside to give the love and shelter, but the stray feral cat doesn’t trust them and keeps hissing every time they get too close.

Although, I’d love to see everyone being completely accepting of Danny. They don’t look at him with suspicion or hatred when they see him slip up, they’re amazed! He has powers just like the Madrigals? That’s super cool! And he has more than one? Not just phasing through solid objects, but also invisibility and sensing ghosts nearby? Even better!

I bet that Bruno would relate to him in a way. They were both looked down on for their powers, but in different ways. Bruno because he mostly predicted bad things with no control over it, and Danny because a lot of people, including his parents, really didn’t like “Phantom” because the sole reason that he was a ghost. Alma knew that it was Bruno who had the powers, Danny’s parents didn’t know he was the ghost they keep shooting at.

Also, Danny 100% defends Bruno from any villagers who blame him for having bad visions. Bruno’s lacked social interaction with other humans for ten whole years, but Danny’s up for fighting for him. His favorite line to use was “If I’m a child and I have to explain this to you, what does that say about you as an adult?”. He didn’t get in trouble for it.

Danny talks about space and teaches them about it! He’s more than happy to explain it all and answer their questions the best he can!

Danny eats Julieta’s food and is honestly freaked out because his ribs are suddenly not broken anymore. Take it a step further and say that he’s sleep deprived, and one of the side effects of having food that heals you is that it can make you really tired if you haven’t slept well for a while, so you can’t help but take a quick nap. So he just falls unconscious after a few bites and wakes up in the early morning not knowing what year it is.

It doesn’t get rid of his death mark, though, which confuses everyone. Speaking of his death mark, Danny doesn’t like to talk about it, but eventually explains that it’s a scar from being zapped. He doesn’t go into detail or talk about what exactly the incident did to him, though. He just mentions that he got zapped and has a scar from it.

Eventually, the Madrigals will come to the realization that he doesn’t just have ghost-like powers. He’s actually a ghost. Half ghost, at least.

Also, Danny swears he sees Pedro around the house, not just in the paintings, and the most often place is by Alma’s side. He’s even had conversations with him. To everyone else, it looks like he’s talking to thin air, but he seems so fixated on something that’s actually there and listens to nothing so much that they think he’s actually being serious. Once, during a conversation with Alma and she was telling him about Pedro, he looked at her very confused and said “What are you talking about? He’s standing right next to you”.

At first, she was upset, but he said it with way too much confusion and conviction that she starts to realize he’s serious. Every time someone says that he isn’t, Danny gestures to nothing and goes “Are you blind?! He’s right there!”. In his eyes, Pedro really is there, looking awkward because this kid sees him and is arguing with his family about it.

Honestly, Danny doing something by himself and then suddenly turning around and making immediate direct eye contact with Pedro would be really funny. Pedro is honestly freaked out because something seemed off with the kid from the beginning, and he just made eye contact with a ghost?

Oh, and you best believe that after being treated so nicely by everyone, Danny will start throwing hands the second another ghost tries to cause them trouble.

Make it even better by combining it with Good Vlad. The two just show up one day trying to find a place to live. Their dynamic confuses more than a few people because people usually treat their god father or technical uncle with love and respect. Danny’s constantly getting on his nerves for the fun of it, doing things including but not limited to taking his coffee. He also calls him a “fruit loop”, which apparently means someone insane. Vlad calls him “Little Badger”, and yes, he’s actually been bitten by Danny once because Vlad startled him when he grabbed him to pull him out of danger and Danny’s first instinct was to bite him.

#danny phantom #danny fenton #encanto #encanto x Danny phantom #danny phantom x Encanto #danny phantom crossover #Encanto crossover

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sweetbans29 · 2 days

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Power Couple Part 2 - CC

Pairing: Caitlin Clark x Reader

Summary: You and Caitlin get to support each other at the Olympics (based on THIS request)

Warnings: I actually don't think there is any, fluff

Word Count: 2.8k

Power Couple

Sweetbans Masterlist

AN: Another cute one here for ya!

Time passed faster than either of you knew it could. Both you and Caitlin were named Rookie of the Year, you in the WNSL, and Cait in the WNBA.

Since then, the two of you have found two houses when you originally thought it would have only been one. A nice townhome in Chigaco and a neighborhood home in Indiana. Where you lived depended on who was in season. Both of your managers were very supportive of the two of you and would help organize your off-season life around where you would be. It would still require travel but your home base was still with each other.

Since that initial conversation about marriage, the two of you talked about it a little more. Most of it was just talk about what life would be like after the two of you are married but you have yet to see a ring. It was nice that it wasn't something that either of you needed right away to solidify your relationship. The two of you had been through so much already that you knew the other was stuck but in the best way.

Caitlin ended up proposing about halfway through your next season - all thanks to your manager. He was able to help her set it up without you having any idea it was coming - and you were thankful it wasn't on any sort of public platform.

The two of you actually ended up having a really small wedding in the back of her parent's house with just your immediate families. It was perfect and could not have been fitted better for the two of you. Of course, you had a celebration with both of your teams after your honeymoon which just turned into one giant party.

You surprised Caitlin with a golden retriever on her 24th birthday. It had taken you a little longer than you had hoped to get a dog but trying to navigate life through rookie season and what the W looked like for both of you was too much to add another character into the mix. But when things began to feel more of a routine, you knew it was time to add to your family.

You had planned the whole day for the two of you. Starting with a brunch with her team then off to a few more little things that the two of you enjoyed, eventually making your way back to Chicago. The night ended at a rooftop bar overlooking the water. At the end of dinner, the two of you sat there talking about life, reminiscing on all of your favorite memories.

"Thank you for today, babe," Caitlin says. The two of you are sitting with your chairs next to one another, looking out at the way the Chicago lights hit the lake.

You hum and look down at your watch - a gift from Caitlin for your birthday last year.

"How would you feel about a little walk along the water before turning in for the night?" You ask.

"That sounds perfect." She says as the two of you head from the restaurant.

The two of you walk hand in hand along the water. Something begins to approach you. You are intently watching Caitlin as the little figure makes its way towards you.

You hear Caitlin gasp and bend down. The puppy runs right up to her.

"Look at you! Where did you come from?" Caitlin is talking to the overly excited pup who just wants to cover her with kisses.

"How peculiar..." you say letting your girl take in the moment.

"Who do you belong to little one?" Caitlin asks, laughing at the puppy who is starting to settle down.

"Why don't you take a look at its collar?" You say, Caitlin just now noticing the collar around the dogs neck.

She took a second to orient it so she could read it. The second she does, her face shoots up to look at you.

"You did not." She says in complete disbelief. A smiling beaming on her face.

"I did not what?" You ask, pretending to be clueless as to what she could be talking about.

"You did not get me a puppy for my birthday." She says picking up the puppy.

"Why wouldn't I?" You say as you come over and pet the little one. The puppy gets excited again picking up a familiar smell.

"He is all ours," you say as you kiss the puppy's head and it licks your face.

Welcoming a pup into your life was an easy transition. Your favorite thing became seeing Caitlin curled up on the couch with the pup. They would often nap together and you would always snap a picture. On the flip side, Calitin would always find you in your yard kicking around a soccer ball with the little one (who was not so little anymore). She would always take videos of you scoring on your furbaby and running around the yard celebrating with your pup closely behind, jumping up and down just as excited as you were.

The next year or so was one of the best years for the two of you both professionally. It's also the year that the two of you get to see each other the most.

The Fever is on the uprise as they are looking to head to playoffs. It will be Cait's second time going to playoffs with this team. Last year was their first, getting knocked out in the second round. Watching them struggle to get their footing during Caitlin's rookie year to seeing them dominate on the court now has been a testament to the work Cait and the team have put in. It was also an amazing accomplishment for your girl to get Rookie of the Year and then MVP in her second year. As much as people wanted it to be in the same year - that was never Cait's expectation for herself. She just kept pushing to become better. You saw it, the team saw it and the world saw it. Not only that - but the expansion of the W that came with the up-rise of support is a continuous reminder of the effect that your girl has had and continues to have.

Your team has also benefitted from the rise in women's sports. It was neat to see the influx of fans in women's soccer in the US. It started with your team in Chicago. The spike happened drastically as Caitlin began attending your games - part of you felt like your manager had some sort of political agenda when he began talking to Cait but soon saw the genuine friendship that built between the two. The fanbase grew, not as much as women's basketball, but grew enough to have a few team additions to the US over the years.

Now the two of you are headed to the 2028 Olympics being held in CA. The last time the Olympics were held in Los Angeles was in 1984 (which is just over 50 years from when the Olympics were first in LA in 1932).

When teams were announced, it came as no surprise to either of you. Both of you were at the 2024 Olympics but on the second-string team - not getting much playing time. This year would be different, this year both of you were going as the face of your sports. Both of your teams had an all-star line knowing gold was within reach.

Being at the open ceremony and walking out to represent the USA while the Olympics were being held here was an experience you know would never be matched. It would never top the first time the two of you represented the USA but this would be a special one.

The two of you are standing next to each other the whole time, your respective teams close by. One thing that your relationship has opened the door to is relationships with the girls in your sports. Often times when Caitlin would come to support your games, she would bring a few teammates along and they would hang with the team after. You did the same with your teammates. Your two teams just naturally became one big family. It was nice to see that happen even within the USWNT and USAWBB teams. There was much less time acclimating but your two teams bonded thanks to your relationship.

It was the next morning when the media took to pointing out the two of you in LA together.

Looking through your feed - everything is about the Olympics. What catches your eye is a picture of you and Caitlin standing next to each other, both of your hands behind your backs looking up at what was happening in the opening ceremony. You scroll through to then see some photos of you exploring LA, one at the beach and one with the two of you shopping. They were all cute photos and you lean over to Caitlin who is scrolling on her phone.

"The first one is my favorite," you say as she takes a look at the photos.

"They are all my favorites," she says examining each photo. "But ya, that first one is fire."

She hands your phone back to you and sets her phone down turning to face you.

"How are you feeling about game 1?" She asks.

"I am feeling pretty good. Excited mostly. I am ready," you say as you take one of her hands into yours. "You?"

"I am ready." She says. "I feel more ready than I ever have." Her fingers now playing with yours.

You each have your own rooms but opted to stay in one, only using the second if really necessary - which neither of you foresaw needing.

Caitlin was the first to play out of the two of you. It was funny that you were always more nervous for her to play than she was and vice versa. When she was on the court - there was no doubt in anyone's mind that she didn't belong there and her lack of nerves came from her confidence in her ability and love. For you, it was growing up on the field - knowing who you are on the field never affected who you were off the field.

The way the Olympics set it up this year was better than the last time. There were special box seats for other athletes to come watch - not needing to hide or get bombarded by fans. Although you always made a point to go sign some autographs and take photos with those who have traveled to come and see you.

You brought some of your team along to watch Caitlin's team.

The level of play was so much fun to watch. You were cheering on Cait and the other women so much that one of your teammates had to tell you multiple times to calm down so you wouldn't lose your voice the following day.

They are down in the first two quarters but make a comeback in the third. The fourth was just a battle of who wanted it more.

The US took home the first win and could not be more proud of Caitlin and her team.

After the game, you ran up to her, crashing right into her.

"Watching you on the court will never get old," you say to her.

She lets out a laugh.

"I sure hope not babe, because I am nowhere near done." She says. "That one was too close for comfort for me."

"You were all adjusting and seeing what it's like to play on this sort of stage - the next one will be even better," you say letting her go.

The girls on your team all congratulate Caitlin and her team. They all begin talking about how they are stoked to come to watch your team play for the first time tomorrow.

As you all walk out - Caitlin makes time to sign some autographs and talk so some of the young girls who came out to watch them play.

You are pulled to the side by someone from ESPN and they ask if they can ask you a few questions. You nod saying you have time for one or two. This wasn't the first interview you had since coming to LA but you knew it would be the first one where you were going to get asked about your girl.

"How does it feel getting to be here not just playing for your country but watching Caitlin also represent the USA?" The reporter asks.

"It is almost surreal." You say. "I mean it is one thing to be here to represent our country but brings it to a whole new level getting to be here to support Caitlin. I could not be more proud of her."

"She was incredible in the US's first game against Japan. She really led the team well today." The reporter says and continues. "There has already been a handful of photos going around of you and Caitlin at the opening ceremony and out and about in LA. The two of you were named the W power couple during both of your rookie years and now you are here at the Olympics. Can we expect you two to now be the US Olympic power couple?"

You laugh at the question. It still is crazy to you how much attention your relationship has gotten even after all these years.

"It has been fun seeing how much the media loves our relationship," you say in a fun manner. "I mean at the end of the day I will be there to support Caitlin whenever possible and I know she would do the same. It is something really special that we are both here representing our country and being able to support one another on this platform is one that neither of us will ever forget. It is always nice to have your biggest fan with you as you take on the world in your sport."

"Well, we look forward to seeing Caitlin cheer you on tomorrow as you take on Zambia." They say and you thank them, making your way back to Caitlin.

Over the next few days, you and Caitlin switch off going to watch each other play gaining another huge following of people bringing back the nickname 'US power couple'. On the days the two of you didn't have games, you both would go out and explore the city. Most of your time is spent at the beach or going to watch other US games.

The media ate up every time the two of you were out, knowing the other wasn't far behind. The attention the two of you held was even more than your rookie year.

It is the last few days of the Olympics that has you excited. Both you and Caitlin. You are about to head into your final game, hoping for a spot on the podium.

As you are getting ready, you put your wedding ring on a safety pin and pin it on the inside of your jersey. You would pin it on the inside of your jersey while Caitlin would tie it into her shoelace. It was a way to have each other on the court or field.

Your last game of the series was the most challenging let. Both teams put in all they have for their country. The game goes into overtime with your team coming out on top at the end of it.

You don't remember much after the game but that night you see your mom has sent you a video.

Opening the message from her, you see a link to an article. As you open it, it is an article that someone has written about your relationship with Caitlin dating back to that first photo in high school. You scan through it seeing as they have included all of your milestones. At the end of it, you notice they have included your time together in LA. The last photo of the article mirrors the very first photo the world has of Caitlin supporting you.

It is a photo taken, field level with your hand raised in the air, yelling after your final win. Right behind you, you see Caitlin with her hands in the air, mirroring your excitement in the US support section. Whoever wrote the article must have been following the two of you for a while now. You look and see that they included a side-by-side of your senior year and today with the caption - 'Once a fan, always a fan'.

You save the photo and throw your phone away from you curling up next to your girl.

"Forever and always, right babe?" You ask.

"Forever and always," Caitlin responds, kissing the top of your head.

AN: CUTE. Let me know your thoughts. And as always, thank you for your love and support 🤍

#caitlin clark #caitlin clark concepts #caitlin clark imagine #caitlin clark x reader #caitlin clark masterlist

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charles-leclerc-official · 10 hours

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2024 Monaco Grand Prix Analysis

At the beginning of this season Charles said that his was a dream that writes itself in red, well this weekend that dream wrote itself in red and white on the streets of Monaco.

In these analyses I like to break down a race, share numbers, graphs, really dig into the technical elements of the sport. But I write these analyses to get my thoughts down about the sport I love.

This is going to be a lot more, let’s say, emotional than my usual style of analysis. Because analysis does go beyond just the numbers, it’s about the people behind the wheel, it’s about understanding the story of a race, and this race has a particularly special story.

Because for the first time in Formula One history Charles Leclerc won the Monaco Grand Prix.

Table of Contents Race Overview Ferrari - Charles: win, qualifying, data, strategy - Carlos: strategy - Data Analysis Mclaren - Oscar - Lando - Data Analysis Red Bull - Max: qualifying - Sergio: qualifying, crash - Data Analysis Haas Alpine Mercedes Williams Final Thoughts

Race Overview

So, there were other cars on the track this race, and they did in fact do things, so as much as I’d like to write only about Charles, I still have to talk about the race as a whole, because this race was revealing on the data side of things.

Before we get to Charles’ story this race, let’s set the stage.

This race really had two key components. The first being qualifying, it’s always crucial in Monaco, and that was no different this year. This race was largely decided in qualifying and we will look at the data there to see where it was won and lost. And second the red flag allowing teams to fulfill their mandatory pitstop after lap 1, which made this a race of tyre management and pace calculations. Teams put on hards, planning on them lasting the remaining 77 laps, because strategically not pitting and thus not risking losing track position was strategically optimal for everyone in the points.

There were really three races all happening simultaneously. The race at the front that involved Charles, Oscar, Carlos and Lando. The race in the middle involving George, Lewis and Max. And the race behind Yuki, involving the rest of the field. The timing gaps put these drivers all on different strategies, different pace management, with different goals.

While it may not have produced the most thrilling racing on track, there were a lot of moving parts to this race and a lot of skill was shown from all of the top drivers to get their results both in qualifying and in the race.

First Lap

On the first lap of the race there were 3 separate incidents. And these are all key to the rest of the race.

Kevin hit Checo resulting in a massive crash that took out his teammate Nico as well. This brought out the red flag and required a standing restart of the race. Fortunately all drivers walked away with no major injuries.

Carlos tried to pass Oscar, and in doing so they made slight contact, a bit of the carbon from Oscar's car caused one of Carlos’ tyres to puncture. It appeared as though his race was over, but because this puncture happened after the aforementioned red flag, he was able to keep his position in P3 on the race restart.

Esteban and Pierre had a collision, when Esteban tried to make a very dangerous pass on Pierre going into the tunnel. This was 100% his fault and resulted in him retiring from the race.

Fortunately with all of these incidents no drivers were injured. Checo, Nico, Kevin, and Esteban all retired from the race.

Finally note that Monaco is a very unique track and can produce outlier results. Teams that got good results here may continue to struggle on other tracks, and conversely teams that struggled here will likely fare better on other tracks. Teams that have been strong and were strong here are just continuing a pattern of strong performances from their car and drivers. However there are some things that this track can and did reveal about certain cars, that will carry through to future races.

With all that said, let’s get to the only real race that mattered this weekend. That being Charles in his scarlet SF-24.

Ferrari

Charles

Are curses real? That may seem a strange thing to ask in a race analysis, but for the past 6 years curses sure felt real. From a failing car, to a failing team strategy Charles’ luck in Monaco became infamous to us all, and at a certain point bad luck starts to feel like a curse.

Curses aren’t real.

And if they are, then they are made to be broken.

It started with a red car racing on the streets of Monaco, and a boy watching that red car. It has continued with that same boy, now a man, racing in that red car, winning the streets he’s always called home.

So let’s look at how exactly Charles won this race.

Charles is the first Monegasque driver in Formula One history to win in Monaco. Louis Chiron was the only other Monegasque driver to win this home race in 1931, before Formula One was officially established. It’s a small country, and the chances one of their own would even make it to Formula One, let alone bring home the win were slim. Charles does like beating the odds. So this isn’t just a meaningful win to one man, it’s special for an entire country, and will now be entered into their history books.

To say this was a meaningful win would be an understatement. Because this track is one of the crown jewels of Formula One, conquering it is putting your name alongside the greats. Conquering it as your home race is to make history.

Monaco

I have seen a lot of people not understanding Monaco as a track. And to really put anyone's drive this weekend into proper context, understanding this track is essential.

Put simply, Monaco is the most technical track on the F1 calendar. With tight corners, big speed changes, and the narrowest margins for error this track is one where a driver's skill can really shine. To drive it well is challenging, and it often sorts out the strongest driver between two teammates. This is why qualifying is so exciting, seeing drivers run on a razor's edge trying to get that perfect lap. The reason driver's love this track is because it allows them to really prove their skill to themselves and to their team.

It is also a track that involves unique race strategy.

The main component is that this is the most unforgiving track in the entire calendar. One move that is slightly too far off and you've hit the wall.

To put in a good lap and a good race around Monaco is a testament of a driver's skill. I am impressed with every driver who is able to pull this track off, and do it without error.

Qualifying

Monaco is a race that is usually decided in qualifying. And that is partially true. To win the Monaco grand prix you must put together a flying lap around one of the most challenging tracks in Formula 1, a track that offers next to no margin for error, and then you must complete 78 more laps around this technically demanding track, all without significant error, without losing focus, without letting what few opportunities for overtaking there are be your downfall.

Starting on pole in Monaco is crucial to having a chance at winning the race. The field this year is closer than it’s been in the last few years. This year Charles’ pole lap most certainly poised him to win the race.

Here is Charles’ pole lap from qualifying compared to Oscar who qualified P2. And this lap really was a lap of just superior speed and skill on Charles’ part. The little details mattered and that was where Charles brought out the extra pace, putting together a truly masterful pole lap.

There are quite a few details that set Charles’ lap apart from Oscars’.

Taking those corners at a higher speed, in a higher gear, using that early braking to be able to exit the sector three turns with more speed are what made the difference. It all really did just come together. The reason he could operate in a higher gear was because of his excellent application of the brake and the throttle with millisecond accuracy, as well as the SF-24 being solid on this track in terms of the grip and overall settings.

Oscar lost pace in areas where these little details that come with experience and skill to get those additional tenths matter.

Charles was ahead in all sectors. There were a few points where Oscar had the edge, but those were very brief. The gap between them really came down to skill on key areas of the track. We know the Mclaren has good top speeds, so it isn’t an issue in that area.

I think the real story of where exactly the difference between these two laps came is in the throttle and brake application.

Charles has a signature early braking, followed by a slight jump in throttle application. This allows him to lose less speed in those turns and leverage more control of his grip and exit speed. Rather than braking once for longer, in a few places we see him hit the brake several times quickly, again followed by a short burst of throttle. This is a point of fine control on those turns and allows for a more refined racing line.

Also because of this he was able to stay in higher gears earlier or for longer. Not only that, his gear management was smoother. Rather than jumping from 3rd gear to 5th like Oscar did on the straight going into turn 12, Charles increased to 4th then 5th, and this actually does give a little more control in terms of grip on the straight as well as the turn.

A lot of the differences we saw in their laps came down to these little details, where Charles' approach to the entire lap was just more refined and that put him consistently ahead and is the reason he was able to put this all together in a single lap.

Simply put this was a near perfectly refined lap. Pure speed does not put together a fast lap in Monaco, skill does, and Charles was on it in that department this weekend.

Oscar did put together a good lap as well, do not get me wrong, but it was clearly not as refined as Charles’ and that’s why he qualified P2.

The thing about qualifying at the front was that Charles was not ahead by a fine margin, it wasn’t by a few hundredths, or even just a tenth. It was by a little over 1.5 tenths(0.154s). And compared to the gaps the rest of the top of the field had to each other this lap was impressive, especially with how competitive Mclaren were. The next 6 cars behind Charles all had less than 1 tenth separating them from the car behind(ex Oscar was less than a tenth ahead of Carlos, who was less then a tenth ahead of Lando and so on)

The Race

Qualifying ahead is half of the equation, the other half is managing the following 78 laps with no errors. This race was interesting because it was a battle of pace control and tyre management.

Let’s look at the Charles' race pace graph. No one was driving for fast pace, so this isn’t quite like a lot of previous races we’ve looked at. Those first 10 laps they were feeling each other out, after that it was determined by whatever pace Charles set. And the final ten laps revealed just how well they had managed their tyres.

And as I have been saying all year, if it comes down to a tyre management contest, Charles will win. No one in the top 5 has been better in terms of tyre management all season. And once again Charles gave us another stellar performance in tyre management. This was really clear in those final laps when he was able to push for speed, and Oscar(who tried) wasn’t able to. Oscar managed his tyres well, but he didn’t have enough left to be able to really push for faster laps in the end compared to Charles. I will say I think by the final 3 or so laps Oscar stopped trying to push. Same goes for Charles. At that point the race was decided and everyone’s tyres were spent.

Here you can see where Charles slowed to artificially keep things at the right pace for the tyres and the time strategy for cars further behind. This wasn’t a race of who has faster pace, it was who can control things and who can keep their tyres in the best shape for the end of the race. So most of these lap times are going to be identical, and that’s just a symptom of the strategy.

But it was lap 66 when Charles started to really pick up the pace where actually being faster came into play. He was able to do this because he’d won in the area of tyre management, and so when he wanted to push he could get way more speed. I think he decided to push here because he wanted to win with a gap to second, mostly to assure there was no doubt about who won this race. He didn’t want it close. I also think he may have been attempting a fastest lap for that grand slam. It wasn’t necessary, it was more just a show of skill, which is what Monaco is for.

Oscar did push in those later laps as well, I think to see if he could keep up with Charles, not to pass but just to see if he had it. He didn’t. His tyres were worse off than Charles’ and this was reflected by their fastest lap times. Charles' fastest lap of his race was 1:15.162 on lap 70, and Oscar’s fastest was 1:16.281. So a full second off Charles, that second is really reflective of the tyre management from both of them. This was further highlighted by Charles finishing 7 seconds ahead of Oscar. That was a gap that reflected their tyre management over the race. Charles was able to push to get that gap(I think he wanted to win by a pretty good margin) Oscar did push, especially at first to try to keep pace with Charles but he did not have it in his tyres. That final gap is the real reflection of the difference between the two on their tyre management over the race.

From the start of the weekend to the checkered flag, Charles made it clear that he was the best driver this weekend, in multiple facets of technical skill. He put together a stunning qualifying lap, and followed that up with his superior tyre management and fine control of the SF-24.

Now on to the only real strategy concern of Charles’ race. The possibility of Lando pitting if the gap between George and Lando became great enough that Lando would be able to pit without giving up any places. What was the risk here, and would it have affected the outcome of the race if Lando had pit? The risk was that Lando would get fresh tyres, and with a field of cars all operating on old tyres that’s an advantage, and that he wouldn’t have to give up track position to do it. So he’d come out behind Carlos on fresh mediums. The concern would have been that he’d be able to overtake Carlos and then Charles would have two Mclaren’s behind. But Oscar couldn’t pass Charles. We saw Charles late in the race had the pace to be able to defend if he’d been seriously threatened. And this would have required Lando to pass Carlos, which we saw Max couldn’t overtake George when Max was on much fresher tyres, so I highly doubt Lando was getting past Carlos, and I further doubt that Oscar would have let Lando by to attempt to attack Charles.

I think it’s very likely that the moment Lando pit George would have increased his pace and possibly taken the spot. So it’s possible this would have just compromised Mclaren’s race and there was no real threat to Ferrari at all. The gap was fine so a little pushing from George was all it would take.

One argument was that both Mclaren’s could have pushed Charles to go faster, and Charles would have had to wear his tyres more, but we saw in the data that Charles was managing best, so he’d likely have been able to respond to this. And again this is all acting on the assumption that Lando would be able to overtake Carlos which I really do not think was going to happen. Carlos has shown he can defend against a Mclaren.

Also Charles was the one controlling the pace of the entire race. His pace was the one affecting Lando the most, not Carlos’, as Carlos pace was again dictated by Charles. That’s one of the key strategic advantages of getting pole in Monaco is that you get to set the pace of the race. Charles was the one in control of all 4 cars behind him, and the main car controlling both Mclarens. Carlos’ was making the smaller pace adjustments to both Mclarens to further refine the strategy and work off the control Charles was already exerting. Again excellent teamwork from both of them on this. But make no mistake about who was in the greatest amount of control and keeping Mclaren’s pace in check

The biggest risk Lando posed was to Carlos’ race, not Charles’. And even then that is a big if.

I fully believe that even if Carlos had been made to retire from the race, or had started further back Charles would have won. Oscar was faster than Lando and he tried putting pressure on Charles in the few places it was possible to do so, Charles defended and made it clear Oscar wasn’t getting by. Lando was not going to fare better than Oscar here, especially since his speed wasn’t as good as Oscar’s on this track.

Make no mistake, I do believe Carlos played a key role. His work against the Mclaren’s allowed Charles to stay focused on his tyres and getting his pace just right instead of having to worry more about the cars behind him. I think he could have managed anyway, but not having to worry about all of those factors because his teammate was covering him is the kind of teamwork we want to see. But Carlos is not the reason Charles won, Charles won because he was fastest, and also made the fewest mistakes on this highly technical track, and also had the best tyre management.

Now I will just take a moment to go over a few narratives forming around Charles’ win and performance.

“Oscar was faster than Charles”(in reference to qualifying): No, if you put together all of Oscar’s fastest mini sectors they add up to a faster lap than Charles’. But that isn’t actually fast, mini sectors don’t mean anything if you can’t string them together into one lap. It takes skill to not only be fast but to be fast over one lap for qualifying in Monaco. Oscar was certainly fast, but he wasn’t the fastest.

“It was a gifted win”: Monaco is often won in qualifying, the man who qualified the best, by a good margin is the one who won, that’s a win based on skill and speed, far from gifted. Also one’s team helping get a win isn’t gifted, that’s literally what a team is supposed to do. If you don’t understand that qualifying is a big part of winning Monaco I can’t help you.

“Charles got lucky”: He won Monaco the way it’s usually won, by putting together the best qualifying lap. Luck had nothing to do with it. He didn’t gain any positions based on luck, he wasn’t faster based on luck, he didn’t run the cleanest race of the weekend based on luck, it takes skill to pull that off.

Carlos

While this was Charles’ best performance all year, this race was also in my opinion one of Carlos’ best drives as well. Yes he’s had better results but the driving itself I think was better here. He really pulled off some great driving and was a key part of the team strategy to bring both Ferraris onto the podium. The only issue was in the first lap he would have been out on that puncture without the red flag, and that was in part his fault(he was the one attempting the pass so I place a little more responsibility for the contact on him) but after that his driving was quite good and he played very well into the team strategy. Not only that he did put together a very solid qualifying lap.

In terms of team strategy Carlos’ job was to keep Lando behind, and also to put pressure on Oscar so that Oscar couldn’t ever fully try to attack Charles(especially in those early laps) However the key battle for Carlos was against Lando. Keeping Lando back, and at the correct pace was crucial as if it had been too much or too little Lando may have had the opportunity to pit which could have compromised Carlos’ race(unlikely but not impossible).

There are a few key moments I want to highlight where Carlos was really pulling it all together in this strategy.

First was him holding off Lando in those early laps. The best opportunities for this race to overtake would have been the first 10-15 laps, and the final 10(depending on how a driver managed their tyres) , that is when they could afford to push the most, the middle of the race was all about keeping a certain pace.

The second was in the final 10 laps when Carlos essentially ping ponged between lap times to keep a little pressure on Oscar while holding Lando back by the correct margin to prevent any chance he’d have to try to sneak a pit stop. The team helped Carlos manage this quite well and he did great here.

He was mostly holding off Lando. Very rarely was he putting real pressure on Oscar.

The data reflects this quite clearly.

The swinging lap times in lap 55 -67 are the ones where Carlos’ exerting his control over Lando, and the rest of the pack’s pace is most apparent. Other laps in the middle of the race also reflect this. Faster laps were to be sure to remind Oscar that he could apply pressure, and to prevent things from slowing too much, slower laps were to keep the pace correct, he didn’t want to give Lando the chance to take more control of the pace of the cars behind. Great strategy from Ferrari, and good pace control from Carlos to pull this off.

I will say I am not sure about that attempt to get past Oscar on lap one that resulted in the puncture. On the one hand I get wanting to take the position, but also that’s so risky. I am not sure if that was a Ferrari strategy or if he made the move himself. I am doubtful Ferrari would risk something like that when both cars were already positioned so well, it was best to hold and manage from there rather than attempt the overtake which yes would have allowed full control of the front, but it also could have resulted in a collision which is more likely here, and that easily could have compromised Charles’ race as well. So I am unsure. I can see both approaches. I prefer the less risky one given Carlos was already in a good spot for himself and the team I don’t think it was worth the risk, and I mean I was right, it didn’t work for him. But fortunately he did get that bit of luck with the timing and his race after was really clean.

Now let’s just cover a few narratives that have formed around Carlos’ race.

“Carlos got lucky, he should have been out on that puncture at the restart”: No, the ruling that allowed him to keep P3 is consistent with previous rulings. He got a puncture after the red flag that triggered the race restart. Other teams, including Mclaren who are the main source of this complaint benefitted from being able to work on cars before the race restart as well, but it’s only unfair when Carlos benefits?

“Carlos keeping the position was unfair”: No, it was consistent with the rules. It can feel unfair all it wants, but I wouldn’t claim it’s unfair, if this were to come up again and benefit a different team I suspect people would be saying something different. It was consistent with the rules, and that’s what we want to see, regardless of who benefits and who loses.

Mclaren were the main team to claim that Carlos being allowed to start in his original position after the race restart was unfair. They aren’t reliable in this assessment, of course the rival team that stands the most to gain from Carlos being out is going to say this.

“Carlos got lucky”: Getting a tyre puncture at a specific time is a weird type of luck, but if you want to think that’s lucky I can’t stop you. If you are referring to him being allowed to keep his place that just came down to timing, and yes there was some luck with the timing there.

“Carlos should have been penalized for impeding during qualifying”: No, Carlos didn’t impede, Monaco is a narrow track and he got out of the way as soon as it was possible to do so.

“Carlos should have been penalized for contact with Oscar in lap 1”: The contact wasn’t solely his fault, it was a result of hard racing on both their parts, and since it was lap one this isn’t penalized.

“Carlos is the reason Charles won”: No. Carlos 100% aided in Charles’ race, as expected, he’s his teammate that’s what he’s supposed to do. But I am extremely confident that Charles still would have won without Carlos in P3. He helped, I detailed that, but to go this far is beyond a reach.

Carlos' result combined with Charles put Ferrari firmly in P2 for the WCC and only 24 points behind Red Bull, and kept a healthy lead to Mclaren. And this result obviously put Charles even more firmly in P2 in the driver’s standings, 31 points behind Max, and 25 points ahead of Lando who is now in P3. All in all Ferrari is in a strong position in both standings, and with the direction the team and car are going I think this trend will continue.

Monaco was yet another very strong finish for Ferrari. The fact both our drivers did well on this track is promising for what the SF-24 can do on street circuits. Monaco is a highly specific track but we did get some key takeaways about the strengths of our car this weekend, as well as the consistency of our drivers.

I want to finish this section with some fun statistics about Charles and Ferrari in relation to this win. Because of the technical achievement and historic importance, Monaco poles and wins are always something teams love to highlight in their legacy.

Ferrari has been on pole 13 times in Monaco. Of those 13, 3 of those poles were taken by Charles, making him responsible for 23% of Ferrari’s poles at Monaco.

Charles is the Ferrari driver with the most poles at Monaco with 3, the second most is held by Michael Schumacher with 2 poles with Ferrari at Monaco (Schumacher holds a total of 3 Monaco poles including the one he achieved with Bennetton)

This pole was the 250th pole for Ferrari as a team.

This was the 11th Monaco win for Ferrari. The last time Ferrari won in Monaco was Sebastian Vettel in 2017

This was Charles’ 6th career win, all of which he has achieved with Ferrari

Forza Ferrari

Data Analysis

I covered Charles’ race and qualifying versus Oscar in his section, as that was key to understanding the story of his victory. This section is going to cover teammate comparisons as well as Ferrari to Mclaren comparisons.

Here is a look at Charles compared to Carlos in qualifying.

Charles was ahead in every sector. Carlos was off Charles’ time by 2.5 tenths. The real difference came in the more technical areas in sectors 2 and 3. Carlos’ later braking style was not as suited to this track and it did cost him time on many key turns. He also did not achieve the same speeds on other turns and straights. It’s not a bad lap, again it’s a good showing, but this further highlights how good Charles’ lap was.

And a full comparison of Mclaren to Ferrari in qualifying. As we all saw this was the real qualifying battle. Mclaren and Ferrari were the clear front runners during qualifying, the order was the only real question. And it seems that Ferrari had a slight edge, and that edge I will attribute in part to the car and in part to the skill of our drivers, because yes I think Charles and Carlos are better at Monaco than Lando and Oscar. And the qualifying results seem to reflect this.

Carlos and Lando were extremely close. It came down to hundreths. And really Lando was on pace for a faster lap but a slight error into the final turn and lower speed on that final straight was where he lost that time to Carlos. It really came down to very tiny details. It was Lando’s P3 to lose, and well he lost it. Carlos put in a good lap, but Lando was going to get that P3 position if he’d been able to keep up the pace he’d set.

Looking at them all the thing that stands out is Charles early braking, especially in the medium and low speed corners of sector three. As well as his better top speed on the final turns and straight, and higher speeds in a few key areas throughout the track.

Mclaren

Another repeat of Mclaren’s best result so far this season with a 2-4. This time with Oscar getting his best result with that P2.

Oscar

Yes Oscar took some damage due to his contact with Carlos on lap 1(that did get at least partially repaired during the race restart) however, I do not believe he would have been able to make the pass on Charles, or have produced enough pace to keep the pressure on for much longer than he did. The damage didn’t affect his race that much, so I don’t think without this damage his results would have been any different. In fact Mclaren said as much. He didn’t have the pace to be able to pull an overtake in Monaco, that’s a very tall order and wasn’t likely even in the best of conditions. And in spite of the damage he ran a very clean race, and this was a good learning curve for him in tyre management.

Oscar was really showing that he’s the faster of the two Mclaren’s, or trying to make that point. I will be very interested to see if he can keep that up. Since he was faster on this highly technical track he has my attention(he already had it, but that lap was impressive)

Oscar made one real attempt at overtaking Charles, going into turn 10 around lap 8. He tested the possibility, and Charles responded very quickly. I think after that he didn't seriously consider risking it again.

Lando

Lando's race was mainly to put pressure on Carlos. The main point of interest for him strategy wise was whether or not Mclaren were going to try to pit him at a certain point for fresh tyres if the gap between him and George(who was about 17-18 seconds behind in P5) This pit possibility would have put Lando behind Carlos on fresher tyres.

However I actually do not believe Mclaren were seriously about to try this. It was considered, but given they had two good track positions I think it wasn't worth the risk. Lando wasn't going to be able to overtake Carlos even on newer tyres. The chances of that were slim to none, so it really wasn't worth the pit, which might have risked George upping the pace to try to pass while Lando was in the pits.

Would Lando have been able to put pressure on Carlos if he'd had fresher tyres? Yes. Would he have been able to pass Carlos? Highly unlikely.

"Lando was a threat to Charles' race": Not really. The worst he was going to be able to do was threaten Carlos and even that wasn't a massive concern. He wasn't going to be passing Carlos and Oscar and then catching Charles. This is Monaco, it isn't like other tracks where a much fresher set of tyres would equal being able to pass.

"Lando was going to be able to pass Carlos": Again highly unlikely. We saw something similar with Max on fresh tyres behind George. Max got within less than a second of George and couldn't make the pass. Lando wasn't getting past Carlos, who has been very competent defending against Mclarens.

Data Analysis

Continuing the theme of qualifying being key at Monaco let’s compare Oscar and Lando’s qualifying laps.

Oscar was faster by a little over a tenth. I think that what this shows is that overall they were very close. The place Oscar was consistently better was sector 3, that’s where Lando wasn’t catching him. On the slows Lando was clearly better. And the rest it came down to little things. Oscar didn’t brake for as long in a few key areas, but on others he was more conservative than Lando on the throttle. There are a few points where Oscar was clearly faster, and the finer points of sector three where his braking and throttle application are what put him ahead. Oscar’s speed and the spots where he was braver on the brakes and got the timing better are what set him apart from Lando. But Lando’s experience also came through in a few areas, especially on how to handle those slows best. Overall a great lap from Oscar. I think in another year he will be even better here.

I also think this highlights that the two Mclaren drivers are very close, probably the closest teammates on the grid right now as far as pace and speed goes. There are areas where Oscar is stronger and others where Lando has the edge. It’s going to be track and condition dependent that makes the differences between them this year.

I also want to note that the fact Monaco is a low deg track played to Oscar’s favor. He is still getting mixed results in higher deg conditions, so this weekend was a good show of his skill without having to contend with high deg.

Solid race for Mclaren. Oscar really showed his skill after several races where luck was not on his side. I think we will be seeing him on the podium quite a few more times this season.

Red Bull

So what happened to Red Bull this weekend? Because this is the first weekend when real weaknesses in their car are becoming a real problem. The most shocking thing was Checo qualifying P18(bumped up to P16 after the Haas DSQ, but to get an idea of the speed issue compared to the other cars the P18 is relevant)

Last year Max talked about one of the few weaknesses of the RB19, he mentioned this quite a lot, on tracks and post season; the issue being the car was not as strong on street circuits, especially when it came to the grip, taking curbs, and overall reliability for him. I think that because Red Bull was so dominant last year most people didn’t think much of this complaint, seeing it more as a nitpick rather than Max giving real serious insight into a problem with the car concept. Well, this year the field have caught up to Red Bull very quickly, and what was a minor problem last year compared to the rest of the field, is now far more significant. I don’t think these results are from the RB20 taking a step backwards, it’s more that Ferrari and Mclaren are catching up, and they don’t have the same problem as Red Bull on these street circuits. So now what was something Red Bull could manage is a genuine weakness that is becoming more highlighted by the rest of the field.

What shocked me was not just that these are Red Bull’s weakest results for that car all season. It was also the gap between Checo and Max.

I think that the gap between Checo and Max in qualifying is likely the result of a gamble by Red Bull. They probably went with two different setups in qualifying, hoping one would pay off. Because they tried so many setups during all free practice sessions and nothing really worked. And it seems that Checo's was probably the more extreme and thus was either going to pay off for him or fall completely flat. Given the results and his reaction to qualifying we know how that gamble paid off. I think with Max they probably played it to whatever he wanted and also the setup where they got the closest to some good speed. It seems with Max they chose more stability and speed and lower ride height

That many places off indicates an issue in the setup, and not just Checo being that much slower than Max. Max is faster, but that’s the biggest gap there’s been between them I think ever? Especially without any damage. So that many places off is a symptom of something beyond Checo himself. Checo is a solid driver and he has been fast in that car.

The problem isn’t aerodynamic. It’s mechanical. The relationship between the suspension and the required ride height for the curbs on this track. All weekend they tried different setup to mitigate the issue and nothing worked. The suspension being too stiff prevents it from absorbing the impact of bumps which leads to all that force being directed to the chassis. Which in turn leads to that bouncing. Every time they hit a curb they lost time, and every time they had to run a little wide to avoid a curb they lost time. It was a lose-lose and no amount of setup was mitigating enough.

This is a track specific problem that upgrades likely will not be able to solve this season. We will probably see this again, likely on more street circuits as well as circuits with higher curbs and curbs that require a certain camber on the tyres. Since it was a problem in Singapore last year chances are we see Red Bull have issues there again.

Max

During qualifying Max was on pace to actually place closer to Oscar’s time, but he hit a wall and that cost him the attempt. So he actually did have the potential for a top 4 if not a top 3 time. I think at the very least he’d have placed ahead of George. That error cost him, and it was very much due to the instability in the ride of the suspension. So he ended up qualifying P6, and that’s the position he held the entire race.

The only thing interesting about Max’s actual race was when he pit for medium tyres, and came up behind George who was still on old hards. There was a chance to maybe attempt an overtake. So why didn’t it happen? Well I think the reason is pretty simple that the reliability of the RB20 on this track wasn’t good enough to be able to attempt an overtake in Monaco. I think Max would have been able to make the pass if he’d had more faith in the car, he very likely had the pace, but being unable to handle corners well, when those are areas overtaking can be done really made it impossible for him.

Sergio

Because the Haas cars were disqualified from qualifying, they started in P19 and P20 from the pit lane. So they started behind Checo who originally qualified P18 and started P16 because of the DSQs. On the first lap Kevin made an attempt to pass Checo on the outside and clipped Checo’s rear, causing him to spin and slide down the track and along the barrier shredding his car and slamming into the barrier. This crash also resulted in both Haas cars being damaged and having to retire.

Thankfully the safety features on the car protected Checo and he was able to walk away relatively unharmed, no major injuries reported.

However there was an injury that resulted from this crash. A photographer who was behind the barrier Checo crashed into had to be taken to the hospital after sustaining injuries from debris that was essentially blasted through the barriers. This raises a very serious safety concern. The amount of debris that made it through could have resulted in worse injuries, and the opposite side of the barriers should probably be improved to prevent a bystander from being injured again in the future. The photographer is alright the injuries were minor. But a bystander being injured at all is of serious concern as far as track safety goes.

Checo had the racing line in this incident. He was not at fault. Kevin was the one attempting to make the pass and the one who made contact. He didn’t have enough room and tried to force his way by on the outside anyway. His front wheel made contact with Checo’s rear wheel and a bit of his suspension and that is what caused him to fully lose the rears and spin across the track.

Checo was on the inside, he moved to the middle, all while ahead of Kevin, and by the time Kevin had put his wheels next to Checo the gap between Checo and the wall was less than a car's width. Additionally with Valtteri directly ahead there was nowhere for Kevin to really go had he made that pass. He didn't have the racing line, he didn't have room, and he didn't have space after Checo. This was all information that he had before attempting that move. It was beyond bold, it was reckless and sloppy.

I think it’s very clearly Kevin’s fault. So why wasn’t he penalized? Well, the stewards felt it wasn’t anything bad enough in terms of the driving to warrant a penalty, and since it was the first lap they attributed it to hard racing. But is this just hard racing? What is the limit of what they will permit before it gets penalized on lap 1. I am usually a proponent of “let them race” in lap one, but this was way too far. I do not want to find out what the limit is if something like this goes without penalty. Checo is very fortunate that he wasn’t injured. It could have been so much worse.

Data Analysis

The data is pretty clear in reflecting Red Bull’s struggles. Here is Max vs Checo’s qualifying laps.

Max was just able to achieve better top speeds. And had better racing line through the areas where the curbs were an issue. As I stated above I also think this gap is due to a significant setup difference between the two. But it’s still interesting to see where the differences are under that assumption, one setup was clearly better than the other. I also think that Max’s ability to mitigate the issues was much greater than Checo’s.

What really highlights the problems Red Bull were having with the reliability and control around this track is comparing Max to Charles.

Here the control Charles had on the corners really highlights where the problems were with the Red Bull on those same corners. Max was braking much later, and I think that’s a result of him having to go around the curbs more. Also Charles in the Ferrari had better top speeds on most of the straights. But those straights are where the Red Bull made up some time. The car was still fast, it was the corners and the fine control this track demands where the car was struggling.

Red Bull still have a strong car. But it is far from perfect, and with other teams improving rapidly in key areas, the RB20 is going to become more track specific for performance. Which isn’t good for their reliability in the standings, but highly promising for anyone looking to beat them.

Haas

This was Haas’ worst result of the season. Worst result in the season for any team period. From getting both their drivers disqualified from qualifying because they didn’t have the proper rear wing measurements and thus were flagged for a technical violation, to both cars DNFing due to the fault of one of their own drivers, this weekend was a failure by the team on multiple fronts.

Haas failed both their drivers for failing the ensure the rear wing was in technical compliance. I don’t even know how they made that mistake. But this was no fault of the drivers. Both Kevin and Nico had to start the race from the pitlane and their qualifying results were deleted.

Then on the first lap Kevin attempted a pass on Checo and this led to him not only crashing with Checo and ending his own race, the crash was big enough it took out his teammate as well. Kevin was at fault here. Checo had the racing line, there was not enough space on the outside for that pass when Kevin made that attempt. Checo was under no real obligation to move. Kevin went for it anyway and the resulting crash was extremely dangerous for both drivers.

I explained above why the stewards didn’t give Kevin a penalty for this. His actions fell under “hard racing” which they are far more lenient on in lap one. However I think there is more to this. I think that this incident was too far to be considered “hard racing” especially when the fault is so clearly skewed as well. We had another lap one incident that was clearly one driver’s fault that did result in a penalty with Esteban. So why not Kevin?

I suspect that the stewards were more reluctant to issue the penalty because it would have resulted in a one race ban for Kevin, and they did not want that to be the outcome. That isn’t something that should be considered when looking at individual incidents, but I think that wanting to avoid him getting that ban was a reason for more lenience here, which to me is unacceptable. This is speculation on my part, so take it as conjecture, but to me it makes sense.

Overall bad weekend for Haas.

Alpine

There are two things worth noting about Alpine’s weekend, first Pierre got their best qualifying result all year coming in P10 and also secured his first points of the season. Big for this team that was struggling heavily at the beginning of the season. It’s looking like they will be at least challenging for some more points in the future. Great result and driving from Pierre, that qualifying lap he produced was extremely solid.

The other thing of note was the lap one collision between Pierre and Esteban. Esteban qualified P11 right behind Pierre in P10. Right before the tunnel he tried to pass Pierre on the inside and then in doing so pushed Pierre wide, on a track like Monaco the only place for Pierre to go when forced wide was into the wall, so he rammed into the back of Esteban, damaging Esteban’s car and his own. Esteban had to retire from the race, Pierre was able to race upon the restart having take minor damage.

This collision was 100% Esteban’s fault. Apparently he was told by the team not to attempt a pass on Pierre, and on a track like Monaco risking both cars for an overtake like that was just reckless.

Now it has come to my attention that while yes this incident was Esteban’s fault there was more leading up to it than him just doing this randomly. There had been more back and forth with him and Pierre earlier in the lap and also Esteban was getting squeezed by other cars before he tried that pass on Pierre. So this was in part from some crowding, it wasn't just he decided to barge past his teammate randomly or purely out of ego, there was a little more there. I do still think that this doesn’t excuse the move. He had room and should have stayed back instead of attempting a pass, and the degree to which he forced Pierre wide was also unacceptable, especially on a track with no runoff. I wanted to be sure to be fair and note that there was more context than the pass and resulting contact that has been making the rounds in coverage of the collision.

Esteban was given a 10 second penalty that was increased to a 5 place starting grid penalty in the next race since he did not race on the restart, his car had sustained too much damage to be ready in time for the race restart.

So a mixed weekend for Alpine, good results for Pierre, and more than a few issues with Esteban.

Mercedes

Mercedes actually had one of their best races in terms of results. George started P5 and finished P5, Lewis started P7 and finished P7. That P5 is the highest GP finish they’ve had since George came in P5 back in Bahrain. And Lewis was higher here so overall good result for the team in points. Lewis also set the fastest lap of the race, and this lap was actually significant because it was another record broken by him. With this fastest lap scored Lewis Hamilton now holds the record for the most fastest laps scored for a single team with 54 for Mercedes, just beating Michael Schumacher who scored 53 fastest laps with Ferrari.

George was solid at controlling the pace of the cars behind, including keeping Max off, even after Max had pit for fresh tyres. Lewis maximized his points given the position.

I think that Lando pitting was something Mercedes were almost hoping for. They also played a role in creating that gap. Because there was a chance that if Lando pit George could speed up and take a place. I suspect this is very likely because it’s one of the few possibilities the entire dynamic of the race would have presented to take a place like this. So this strategy may have been an attempt to tempt Mclaren into pitting.

All around a good weekend for Mercedes. Their car seemed to be better suited to this track. The upgrades seem to be paying off in some capacity because both drivers were at least competitive in qualifying and free practice.

There is still something odd going on that Lewis pointed out between the car in free practice vs qualifying, he said it just is almost a guarantee of losing 2 tenths of pace. Which this is likely due to a larger car setup issue. Unsure of what or how they might be able to go about fixing it. But the car does have some more potential than we saw at the beginning of the season. And both drivers do seem to be more comfortable. Yes George noted a lot of bouncing, but he also tied for his best result so clearly something was working.

Williams

This was Williams' best race. Alex qualified P9 and finished P9 bringing Williams’ first points of the season. And on the Monaco track to boot, that’s a really solid performance from Alex.

Logan also showed improvement from his Monaco performance last year. Of course the big upset was the fact he did out-qualify Checo in the Red Bull, this was certainly a symptom of something very off about the Red Bull and less to do with Logan's speed, but still that result had to feel good from his perspective. And after the Haas cars were both disqualified he was bumped up to P15 from his original position in P17. He finished in P15. This was his second best grand prix result of the season, after his P14 in Jeddah.

I also want to note that Logan ran with Williams 2023 rear wing, because apparently they didn’t have enough parts. I really don’t know how this keeps happening. He did well in spite of this, and clearly that still was a better setup than whatever Red Bull did with Checo’s car.

Anyway, the Williams upgrades do seem to have finally yielded them some results.

Final Thoughts

The question everyone had after this race was “Do we have a title fight?” And the answer to me is yes. In the constructor’s Red Bull is in trouble, especially when it comes to Ferrari. Checo having a few mid to bad results, and Max not being on the podium have left the standings much closer. 24 points, that’s all there is, and if Charles and Carlos keep putting in the reliable top performances they have been, that gap will continue to close.

Okay that was the constructors, but what about the driver’s championship, do we have a title fight there? Well the gap to Max is a bit wider. I think that in a few more races we can make that call. If Red Bull continue to struggle on the car setup and Max doesn’t start pulling in consistent wins like he did at the beginning of the season then we will have a title fight on our hands. I think also with more Ferrari upgrades coming in Silverstone this will also possibly put Ferrari more ahead. If those upgrades add more speed, as they are aimed to do then Charles will have a car that he can consistently challenge Max in. So there’s more at play for the WDC title, but we are close to it being a real possibility.

This race was a career highlight for Charles. And a privilege to get to watch live.

Monaco never going to forget this grand prix. Ferrari isn’t going to forget this race. And Charles is always going to remember this win. History was made.

That’s all I have, see you all in Canada!

#lucis race analysis #monaco gp 2024 #charles leclerc #scuderia ferrari #Formula 1 #F1 #long post

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zombiigrll · 2 days

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SHOT. ⋆｡°✩ carl grimes x reader .ᐟ WORD COUNT .ᐟ ⭑ 1.4K ꩜ .ᐟ WARNINGS ⭑ hurt to comfort, use of y/n, slight spoilers for 4x8-9, blood, walkers, injuries, basic apocalypse warnings yknoww .ᐟ SUMMARY .ᐟ ⭑ the governor came back to the prison, killing hershel and leading walkers in to kill more, along with having his people armed with guns to shoot at your people. and with your luck, you were a victim to the mindless shooting. ꩜ .ᐟ A/N .ᐟ ⭑ so sorry this took EONS to come out </3 hope u enjoy!

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everything was normal again. well, as normal as it could get nowadays. you had came from woodbury to the prison after the governor had abandoned you along with the other residents. you and carl had gotten very close since you arrived. the two of you immediately found that you had something in common, reading comics. hell, that's how the two of you met. you walked over to the library and found some comics, and then carl spotted you, immediately sparking a conversation about the wolverine comic that laid in your hands. the two of you got very close. you thought you were finally safe again. that thought was quickly challenged after the governor came back, but this time, to the prison. with new fighters on his side, too. you heard the commotion and ran towards it with carl by your side, and the two of you witnessed hershel getting his head cut almost completely off. then everyone began shooting on both sides, causing walkers to get attracted to the sound and start roaming through the prison yards. you stood right next to carl, attempting to help shoot at the walkers despite having barely any training. you hadn't been at the prison for very long. so much had happened since you had arrived, you didn't get a chance to learn how to shoot properly. you were shaking. i mean, who wasn't? all of you guys had just seen a man-- the only doctor you guys had-- get brutally murdered. you ran out of ammo quickly due to the quick frantic shots you were taking that you had missed. "fuck." you muttered, trying to reload the gun as fast as possible. but, just as you finished loading it, you heard a loud bang, followed with a sharp, a brutal pain rushed up through the side of your torso, through your cotton zip-up shortly after. you froze, your eyes widening and your body shaking. you looked around for help, but everyone was too busy fighting again the walkers and the governors new people. your hand flung to your side that was now beginning to gush with blood, and you knew you had to move. you took off your jacket as the heat began becoming unbearable as you limped off to cover slowly. you leaned down, back against the wall, holding your side tightly with one hand while covering your winces up with the other as you sat down. an obnoxious ringing began playing through your ears and your vision began going in waves from clear to blurry. you looked around and everyone seemed to be dispersing, but you couldn’t tell from the glare that had started appearing in your eyes. but then, the ringing quited down, and a familiar voice began tuning in.

“theres her jacket — where is she?!” the voice yelled over the gunshots, breaking as if the person was crying. “..theres blood.” you coughed loudly, your voice becoming scratchy after your silent sobs. “…carl?” you heard footsteps running towards you. you blinked frantically, trying to clear your vision to see who or what was coming at you, when a familiar sheriffs hat came into view. “holy shit.” he crouched down to your level, taking in your bloodied and bruised appearance with his hands on your shoulders. the two of your jolt your heads to the side at the sound of an explosion in the distance. “we.. have to go.” you tried standing up, but the attempt quickly failed as the pain shot through your whole body right as you tried lifting yourself up, causing you to lose balance. carl catches you before you could fall.

“don’t get up, you’ll make it worse.” he sets you back down carefully, putting pressure on your gunshot wound and looking around for his dad. “we need to get you in a car.” “i can’t move, carl.” you shook your head with a scoff, closing your eyes tightly as the pain worsened. he stares at you, wide-eyed in fear, watching you bleed out as the blood stains his shaking hand. he moves his hand off of your side and places your hand back onto the wound before picking you up bridal style, turning around with you gently in his arms to look for his dad. your vision began turning from blurry to black the more steps carl took. he glances down at you with a frown, a tear falling from his eye and onto your face. "stay with me. please." his voice shook. "try and stay awake."

those were the last words you heard before you blacked out. ... you heard a sniffle. "you couldn't protect judith. you couldn't protect.. hershel or glenn or maggie. michonne, daryl, or mom. you couldn't protect y/n." the familiar voice angrily spoke. "you just wanted to plant vegetables. you just wanted to hide. he knew we were here and you didn't care! you just hid behind those fences and waited for... they're all gone now. because of you! they counted on you! you were their leader! but now, you're nothing."

you slowly opened your eyes, and though your vision was foggy, you could make out carl standing next to the couch in front of you, yelling at an unconscious rick.

"i'd be fine if you died."

as you heard him say that last line, the pain shot back through your body, causing you to wince loudly. carl quickly turns his head around to face you, his eyes wide and glossy and his mouth agape. he brings up a hand to cover his mouth as he slowly walks over to you.

"oh- oh my god." he cries, kneeling down to look at you. "how.. how are you feeling?"

you laughed, which caused the pain to come back quickly and your hand fell to your wound. "...not good."

he frowns. "i tried to patch it up. i-i don't really have any experience with bandaging up wounds, but i found a little bit of medical stuff. i tried."

"thank you." you smiled up at him, but you quickly frowned at the sight of the dried blood on his hands. your dried blood on his hands. "...i'm sorry."

"for what?" he raised an eyebrow as he moved a hand up to tuck your hair behind your ear.

"putting you through that." you pointed towards his hands then back at the side of your torso.

"it wasn't your fault. you didn't get shot on purpose." he reassured. his face was twitching as he tried to refrain from crying.

your eyes averted to rick, laying unconscious on the couch. his face was battered and bruised. "...you were yelling at him."

a guilty expression appeared on carls face as he looked away.

"why?"

he shook his head. "i.. i don't want to talk about it."

you wanted to persist, push the answer out of him, but by his expression and the things you heard him say? you knew the timing was wrong. "okay." you sighed. "i'm here when you're ready to talk."

he nodded with a smile, but quickly he jumped up and grabbed his bag. "i, uh, found your jacket." he said as he pulled the cloth out.

you smiled, weakly grabbing it from his hands. "thank you." you said with a laugh, carefully putting it on.

"i'm... i- i don't.." the boy stuttered.

"hm?"

"i don't... know what i'd do if you had died back there." his voice was wobbly and his hands were shaking.

you smiled at him as you felt your eyes get watery. you carefully leaned over and hugged him tightly, to which he quickly returned.

"when i saw you sitting down in a pool of your own blood, i felt so guilty. you were right by my side, and i let you get shot. it made me really realize that i can't lose you." he hugged you tighter. "you're my best friend, and more. i love you, y/n. more than anything."

you were shocked by his words, feeling the true genuineness behind them. "i.. i love you too."

he broke from the hug and stared at you, cupping your face in his hands before leaning into a quick kiss. your guys' first kiss.

it felt like paradise, like going home after a day of chaos. the two of you broke from the kiss, staring at each other with rose-colored cheeks. a smile began forming on your face, which transferred to his. the two of you laughed together, in the comfort of each others presence as you awaited whatever was going to come after this whole situation.

you had each other now, and that's all that mattered.

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#🌙 — maxines fics #carl grimes #carl grimes x reader #carl grimes x y/n #the walking dead imagine #the walking dead oneshot #the walking dead #twd #twd imagine #hurt to comfort #the walking dead x reader #twd x reader #the walking dead x y/n #twd x y/n #carl grimes oneshot #carl grimes imagine #carl grimes fanfiction

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k-s-morgan · 2 days

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TGSTLTH related

Ok so I decided to do it here cuz I don't know will AO3 allow me to write essay hahahahah 😂😂😂

I don't even know how to start this. I've been reading fics for 13 years straight, like I don't remember the period of my life where I didn't read them cuz I always have some ship active and I'm crazy BL fan. Only a small number of them can make me crazy to the point I don't wanna sleep, eat, skipping my obligations, killing the pain and your sebaciel did everything. I haven't felt like this reading fic..,maybe ever? This is totally another level of me being fascinated by some writer.

I adore sebaciel, I'm in fandom since 2016 but the biggest problem I had with their fics is that - either people go too much OOC with them orr they rush up the things between them, going quickly with sex and feelings. It bothered me so much so I was crawling for good SC fics as crazy!!

After some break with SC, I came back to ao3 and saw your long fic. I started reading it but I dropped it after 3 chapters, I got bored cuz I thought you are gonna just re-type manga and do classic thing which another people do. Quickly, I got disappointed with another one and idk how but I decided to give your fic one more chance and dear lord......that was one of the best thing I have ever read. Maybe even the best.

Like, how smart are you? What's your IQ? Your manage to explain me some things about Kuro plot which I haven't udnerstand by myself. And the way you write Sebaciel relationship. That's everything I have ever wanted. Everything. They have normal conversation and that's it, that's all I need cuz there is everything. I feel electric every time when they talk, fight, do things together, goood the little touches svbjhsdjvbvbvbvbvbsdjvhbdf. I was tense whole fic. I read it for like 10 days, abandon everything until I finished it and now I feel sad ahahhaahha. But you are really something special, cuz I always used to say that manga itself is the best fiction cuz Yana knows the best how to create good Sebaciel energy. You, next to Yana, did the best job. You kept them as they are, never broke the character, and that's what I am most grateful. Slow burn, with drama and angst, love and attention, all misunderstanding, you put all necessary spices for 5 star meal. My fav part is when Ciel told Sebastian to add slamming doors to his most dramatic moments of his life ahahahahahahhaha 😂😂 I laughed like crazy, they are so precious♥ And I really wanted kiss to happen when Ciel lied Sebastian about another demon, that was sooo svbjhsvjhjhvbdf. But okay, you know the best, I trust you fully with this♥

The fact that they are ready to kill each other before they have normal conversation about their feeling is my fetish. I am in love with toxic things. Ciel ready to throw all game just to prove Sebastian that his value is not only his soul, right after he told himself for 1000 times he needs to stay on distance..... I LOVE ITTTT!!! I also need to say that you find PERFECT balance for good plot and romance. Your games and their cases...I just don't know, deep bow for you queen🔥💯After all, you didn't retype drama ahahaha but you manage to keep it canon without changing anything but still adding your spices so it's not ordinary Kuro plot we see every day....

I just have one question. From time to time, I was like a Bard ahahhaha, so sick of their games and my head hurting me, but on a good way. I am clear about Ciel but what about Sebastian and his disgust for Ciel's nicer, soft, emotional side? I know Ciel doesn't have it a lot, but would Sebastian still be grossed out about it as he was at the beginning of a contract or not? Keeping in mind that he is more and more obsessed with a boy?

So, that's all. I don't know how to use Patreon/PayPal, but for you I'll try cuz I only have credit card and that's all I know ahhahaha, I like to keep money in my hands😂 I'm sad about the situation in your country and all under - war countries. It's not bringing any good for anyone, specially for civilians. I hope you are okay and I wish you alll the best, the good karma must hit you really quickly cuz you made one person really, really happy here♥

Looking forward how will you finish this story, have a nice day❤

PS - this is the longest comment for fic I have ever left ahhaha, it's crazy how you got me sooo hyped up bjcvsdghvbds.

Hi! Ooh, thank you so much for your amazing, wonderful essay! I can't tell you how happy it made me! I think the electricity was already started being cut off when I got it, so I could see I have some really lengthy ask, but it wouldn't load. It was the torture of the most delicious kind :D

Like you, I've been reading fics for ages now, and the moments where I find some fantastic story that won't let me sleep or work or even blink are always the happiest and the brightest spots I remember. So it's extremely flattering to know that my story has become something similar to other people.

I love writing about smart characters, but most of them are definitely smarter than me! The benefit is that since I'm writing, I can think and plan everything in advance. In real life, I only wish I were as quick-witted and inventive. Alas, the best ideas and arguments come to me when they are no longer needed.

I love slow burns, and I love characters who abhor the idea of expressing their feelings, so Ciel and Sebastian have the most perfect dynamic in my eyes. I feel like I could spend the eternity just enjoying their Gothic world with their games, arguments, plots, and so on. Them antagonizing each other only to instantly team up against the common enemy is my most favorite thing in the world.

As for your question, right now, Sebastian would be thrilled if Ciel were to show a softer and more vulnerable side - at least in relation to him. Well, a part of him would feel the automatic need to mock him for it anyway, some habits don't die easily, but Sebastian's feelings have evolved a lot, plus Ciel is cold more often than he is not. So Sebastian treasures every word of praise, every hint of appreciation and need because they are so rare - he's come to crave them, and he has memorized all known cases of them by heart.

And no worries about supporting me! I really appreciate you taking your time to leave such a fantastic review, it made my day!

#my fics #black butler #kuroshitsuji #sebaciel #ciel phantomhive #sebastian michaelis

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aldbooks · 2 days

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Read on AO3

This story will officially be posted starting in July for Elucien Week but I'm sharing the prologue early!

Summary:

Seven years ago, persuaded by both her elder sister and a male she chose for herself, Elain Archeron rejected her Cauldron given mate. A male without home or Court, exiled by his own father. An outcast and a good male.

Two years later, when Azriel abandons her in favor of his newly discovered mate, Elain decides it’s time for a change and some distance from her family as she begins to regret her decision. She retreats to the Day Court at the invitation of its High Lord, Helion Spellcleaver and finds solace in the sunshine.

Now, after having made a home and life for herself as a courtier for the last five years, news reaches the Day Court that the High Lord of Autumn, Beron Vanserra, is dead. His eldest son has taken the throne and his wife is now free to be with the man she’s always loved- Helion.

But the Lady of Autumn arrives in Day with more secrets than her past affair with the High Lord and Elain suddenly finds herself face-to-face with the mate she rejected all those years ago. Lucien Vanserra... the High Lord’s true son and Day’s heir...

Rating:Explicit

words: 3322

Lucien Vanserra was everything amiable and clever and good. He was, perhaps, the only member of her family who, without need of proof, had fully trusted in her abilities and had, upon her description of the firebird queen, volunteered to find her. Even if she had, in the end, been found by her own father, Lucien had been there to bring them all home.

He was a good man- male. She knew this from her own observation, despite whatever venom spewed from the mouths of the others. She knew little of their history, though it seemed most of the animosity between them stemmed from the actions of his family, rather than his own.

She'd been too consumed with her grief over the loss of the life she'd planned with Graysen, in the beginning, to spare him more than awkward glances and stilted hospitality. They'd only managed to have two or three private conversations, most of them before the war, thanks to her family's overbearing need to chaperone them. But, in those brief moments, he had been honest about his intentions and expectations. That he simply wanted a chance to know her. To see if this was something they might want to pursue.

Despite her sister's insistence that he had tried to claim her, he had been clear that her choices were her own. That she did not belong to him, no matter what the laws in certain parts of Prythian claimed. He had explained some of his own past, had related to her heartbreak, and, in those moments, she had seen the kind of future they might have had.

But, as soon as he was gone, the others began dripping poison into her mind again. Her sister and Azriel had been the main culprits. Nesta, because she was still angry over what had happened to them, and Azriel who's jealousy had been plain, even before she had decided she wished to pursue anything with him.

And thus, it was an unfortunate occurrence that circumstances contrived to keep him constantly away from her, working in the interest of both the Night Court and Prythian as a whole as they approached the various conflicts which threatened their lives and in which Lucien played a crucial role.

After the battle with Koschei, Lucien had been severely injured and had spent weeks recovering in Spring. In that time, Azriel had convinced Elain to give in to the attraction shared between them.

Their joining had not been quite as romantic and fulfilling as she had hoped, but he had convinced her that he loved her, and that her feelings were just as strong. Convinced her to finally make a decision regarding the bond that still strung her soul to her mate's.

"But won't it hurt him?" she fretted, unable to stand the thought of causing another living being pain, regardless of how she felt about them. Lucien might be little more than a stranger to her still, but she did not wish to harm him for her own selfish desires. The bond might just as easily have been ignored as it had been the last three or more years, even if it meant they would forever be tied together.

But Azriel had wanted her with no strings holding her to another's mercy. "If he were a weaker male, perhaps," he said, a direct contrast to the way he had described the male not a day before as he tried to convince her of his own worthiness over Lucien's. "He will survive it."

"But will it hurt him?"

He'd pursed his lips for a moment before nodding, unable to lie to her. "A little."

In the end, Lucien had endured her rejection far better than Azriel- who had insisted on remaining nearby in case he lost control- had anticipated. Though there had been a moment, a brief flash of emotion, where she had felt his sadness, his pain, his humiliation, even a bit of anger- he had merely bowed his head, graciously accepted her wishes and left her in peace.

She had learned later, when her sister and her mate had confronted her and Azriel about it, that Lucien had formally declared his resignation from any and all positions held within the Night Court and announced his intention to leave Prythian entirely. Had departed within an hour of their meeting, not a single one of his belongings remained in the apartment he had kept, but rarely used in the city.

Rhysand had been furious at first. With Azriel more than her, at the loss of such an important ally, and Feyre's disappointment had been plain, though she did not speak against Elain's decision. Rhysand had fretted for weeks, worried that Lucien might change his mind about letting her go so easily. That he might invoke the ancient Autumn Court right of the Blood Duel in order to keep her, despite her rejection. A ritual Elain had been horrified to learn about, and shocked that anyone had actually thought it a real possibility, given what little she knew of Lucien.

But, when months passed without so much as a whisper from Lucien, or the Autumn Court, he had reluctantly accepted their relationship.

For two years, Elain had indulged in the bloom of a new relationship with the Night Court's Spymaster, ignoring every voice and instinct that told her she had made a mistake. Ignored the doubt in the back of her mind that told her she did not belong here. That, no matter how hard she tried, she did not fit in amongst the Night Court and Rhysand's inner circle. That Azriel's friends would never be her's, just as they had not been Nesta's. But, unlike her sister, Elain had never managed to cultivate her own group of friends outside of the inner circle besides the shadow wraith twins. And even they ultimately answered to Rhysand.

She remained alone and isolated in a court that was often too cold and too dark for her liking, with a male that, while he did not mistreat her, it became increasingly clear was incapable of fully opening up to her. Even after two years, she knew there were parts of Azriel that he kept from her. That there were things about himself he did not wish her to know. That he was holding back. It did not seem to matter that she trusted him, that she gave herself to him every night- most of the time, it felt like she was living with a stranger.

It didn't take long for her to regret her decision to sever the connection with her mate. The bond was still there, thrumming faintly in the background, just as Rhysand had warned her it would remain, but the constant pull, the song of his heartbeat, the warmth that had kept her sane in those early days, was long gone.

And then came the day that made her regret allowing herself to be persuaded by others the most.

---

Elain blinked once, and then again, clearing the shock from her mind as she stared blankly at the male standing before her, head bowed in shame, refusing to meet her eye. "Excuse me?"

Azriel winced, his shadows peeking over the edge of his wings. She'd been surprised to see them at all as they had a tendency to vanish when she was around. At first, she thought it a good thing, that it meant he felt no reason to hide with her. That is, until she'd seen them interacting with the young priestess friend of her sister. The way they had danced and played with the beautiful, copper haired Valkyrie, much to everyone's amazement.

She should have seen it coming that very day. But, once again, she had allowed herself to be convinced that her instincts were wrong. That she had nothing to worry about, Gwyn was 'just a friend'.

"She's my mate," Azriel now said, his voice quiet and carrying a thread of apology.

Elain's mind was numb. She hardly knew what she was saying as her mouth seemed to move of its own accord. "So break it," she said flatly. "Reject it."

Azriel's shoulders hitched up towards his ears. "I can't do that."

"Why not?" she demanded. "I did. It was what you made me do."

Azriel's shadows seemed to darken. "I made you do nothing. You chose-"

"You might as well have!" she cried, anger now replacing her shock. "You spent all that time, whispering in my ear, poisoning me against him, telling me he was not good enough, convincing me that rejecting him was the right course, when his only crime was that the cauldron chose him and not you!"

Azriel flinched again, his lip curling slightly, but still, he kept his eyes on the floor. She stepped closer, trying to force him to look at her. When he did not, her anger only grew. "So what's different now? You told me- you promised, that if you found your mate, it would not matter. That you would reject it. Because we had chosen each other, because we would be together-"

"I didn't think I had a mate," he admitted. "I never- I didn't think it would happen..."

She stared at him, seething. How easy it was for him to make promises that he thought he would never have to keep while demanding she make an irrevocable decision- one that he himself now refused to make for her. "You bastard," she hissed. "I gave up everything for you. I let you keep me locked away here, when all I ever wanted was to be free. I gave myself to you because you promised that you would fight for me when he wouldn't-"

"I did! I did fight for you-"

"And you're not now!" she roared. "You swore, you would forsake your own bonds for me if I did the same for you, and now, at the first hint of the bond, you abandon me. And for what? A half breed orphan who was too afraid to leave the library unless there's a battle going on?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Elain had met Gwyn several times over the last few years and found her to be a perfectly kind and charming young female who possessed a kind of strength and fortitude that she could not help but admire. She had heard her story in bits and pieces through the others and had been amazed, wondering where she found the will to carry on after losing her sister and everything that had happened to her. She only spoke now out of anger and jealousy. Jealousy that, in truth, was not truly directed at her.

Azriel's wings flared as a low snarl ripped out of him, his shadows swarming him angrily. She took an involuntary step back, faced with the sight of an angry, protective mate. Her heart ached at the sight, knowing she might once have had the same and had chosen to give it up.

"Do not speak of her that way," he snarled. hands fisted at his sides. Finally, his eyes rose to meet hers, burning with icy fire that made her shudder.

"I'm sorry," she conceded, bowing her head slightly. "I didn't- my temper got the better of me."

Azriel's eyes closed as he inhaled a deep, calming breath. Slowly, his wings refolded behind him and his shadows retreated, though his body was still tense. "I'm sorry, Elain," he said, eyes still closed. "I never intended for this to happen. Never thought it would. But- mates are so rare. They're revered, I-"

Elain laughed without humor. "Revered unless they're in the way of what you want," she spat. He had the grace to blush, to look ashamed. She pinched the space between her brows where a headache was beginning to form. She could feel her magic stirring, trying to tell her something, but, as she had done every time it tried to rise to the surface since the end of the fighting, she shoved it down. She had little need of it in times of peace and had no interest in the visions it might try to torment her with.

"You should go," she said quietly, turning her back on him to stare out the window at the garden behind her sister's house.

Azriel had been spending more and more time at the House of Wind as of late, another sign, perhaps, that she should have heeded, and as a result, she had begun making daily visits to the River House to visit her growing nephew.

Feyre and Rhysand would again be furious when they learned what had happened between them. Rhysand's relationship with his brother had already been strained following the argument they'd had when they'd first announced their relationship. Rhysand had raged at Azriel for interfering in his politics and endangering his court, though none of the consequences he had originally anticipated had come to pass. At first, she had thought it a sign of his devotion when she learned of Azriel's refusal to follow Rhysands' order to leave her be. Later, she learned it was more a natural result of his jealousy and stubborn temper. She couldn't help now, but feel like a pawn in Azriel's game. The placeholder he had coveted and used until he found what he'd truly been searching for.

As she felt him take his leave, she wondered if the priestess already knew? If she knew what had happened between them. That he had been unwilling to do the same thing he'd demanded of her. That he likely only wanted her now because of that bond that existed between them and not because of who she was. A shame really.

She could only hope she would not make it easy on him.

She didn't know how long she had stood in front of that window, staring at the garden. But day had turned to night, and she had reluctantly forced herself to sleep, staying in the guest room in her sister's house that had formerly been hers.

The next day, she found herself wandering aimlessly through her gardens that she still maintained, her mind whirling with a mess of disjointed thoughts she refused to allow to find purchase when she was interrupted. He came to stand beside her, silently observing the brightly colored flower beds as the light that seemed to radiate from him naturally warmed her side.

"Very beautiful," the High Lord of Day said. "You have quite a talent for growing pretty things, my dear."

"Thank you," she said, not quite able to muster a smile.

"I'm sorry," he said, more gently. "I heard about what happened with the Shadowsinger."

Elain stilled, the only outward sign of her discomfort she would allow.

"For what it's worth," he continued, fingering a bright yellow bloom that spread its petals further to capture the light that glowed from his fingertips. "I always thought you seemed out of place here. This court- as beautiful as it is- it does not suit you." He glanced sideways at her dark gown, his full lips turning down slightly at the corners.

She felt her hackles rise slightly. "And what would you possibly know about me, my Lord?"

He turned to face her then. "I do not mean any offense, darling. But this is the Night Court, its citizens thrive in the comfort of the darkness, whereas you- I always felt you were made for the light of day."

She glanced sharply at him, at the suggestion in his voice. "What are you implying?"

He stared back at her with a frankness she was unused to. The flirtatious High Lord he normally portrayed to the world was nowhere in sight now as he said- "Come back to Day with me. Just for a little while. I think you could use a break from this place," he said, glancing briefly around them. "You don't have to stay if you don't wish, but, I have a feeling you'll like it there."

"And what will I do in a foreign court?" she asked.

"Well," he shrugged. "For now, you'd be a guest. We have libraries with some of the most extensive collections in the world, a variety of landscapes, and of course, plenty of sunshine..."

Elain stood very still, her heart racing. Was he saying what she thought he was?

"If you decide to stay for longer however, I'd be happy to grant you a place in my court. There are many occupations open to those who wish to feel more useful, though I would value your company either way."

She slowly released the breath she'd been holding, feeling her eyes sting with the warmth of tears. For so long, even when she was a human, all she had wanted was to see more of the world. More than just the little village they'd lived in. But she'd gone from that little human town to Velaris, which, while larger, was still much the same as the village. The only other parts of Prythian she'd seen were war camps they'd stayed in during the fighting with Hybern and Koschei. Her sisters were too afraid to let her leave, though they were apparently free to travel as they pleased.

Now, here was this male, almost a stranger to her, offering her a chance to see more. To do more than just sit at home in her little kitchen or garden. To be more than just the High Lady's sister...

"Why?" she breathed. She couldn't seem to find the words to further explain what she was asking, but he seemed to understand.

"Because you seem like a kindred spirit. And..." an sort of sadness flickered in his golden eyes. "It would be nice to have some company."

She made a disbelieving sound. "No offense, my lord, but I find it hard to believe that someone like you is ever lonely."

The smile he gave her did not quite reach his eyes. "Oh, my lady, I may have all the bedfellows I could wish for, but a true companion is a far more rare and precious thing..."

Elain's hand reached out on its own, landing softly on his forearm and he reached to pat it gently. But, even as her heart urged her to accept his offer, she couldn't help that creeping doubt. The voice in her head that had driven her, for so many years, to sacrifice her own needs and wants for the sake of her family's happiness. She glanced back towards the house, to the sister who had done so much for her-

"I've already spoken with Rhysand and your sister," Helion said, his smile more genuine. "They know what I am offering you and seem to agree that it would do you some good to spend some time away from here. Whether that is to avoid further confrontation with the Spymaster or for your own sake, I cannot say, but the end result is the same."

Elain's head whipped back towards him.

"Either way though, none of us will push you to choose one way or another. It is your decision..."

Her decision. It hit her, in that moment, just how rarely she heard those words. How little of her life had truly been her choice. Even the decision to be with Azriel had been the result of the combined persuasion of him and her sister, who had not wanted her to leave.

She glanced back at the house again, noticing a flicker of movement in one of the upstairs windows. The curtain shifted slightly and she saw Rhysand peering down at her. She waited for that brush of talons against her mental shields, for him to offer his own input, but he merely smiled encouragingly

Elain felt lighter than she had in years, almost giddy, as she turned back to Helion with a slowly blooming smile. "When do we leave?"

#elucien #elucien fic #lucien x elain #lucien and elain #elain x lucien #elain and lucien #The Remembrance of Regret

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missywritesfor7 · 2 days

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❤️‍🩹Lifeline | MYG❤️‍🩹

Synopsis: It’s long been controversial for idols to date, but idols dating each other can be really beautiful or a complete nightmare. When Yoongi's relationship with another idol is discovered, he decides maybe it’s time to break the taboo and show people it’s ok for idols to date. Instead, they find themselves caught in the midst of one media frenzy after another and struggle to keep their relationship as strong as it had been the past 2 years. Yoongi finds a self destructive way to cope, and it causes even more problems than it solves. As they fight for their relationship and their careers, they discover that sometimes, the only way to truly be free is to let go.

Pairing: idol!Yoongi x idol!OC

Warnings: nsfw, alcoholism, cheating, depression, anxiety, Yoongi goes through a bisexy ho phase, Yoongi is also in his alcoholic phase, post-military BTS

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Ch. 22: Healing

Yoongi has come a long way, but he knows it’s only the beginning. He’ll be going home where he will be left to try controlling himself in this unpredictable world. He’s confident though and ready to face those tests. The first test is coming a bit sooner than he expected as he looks at Hyeri’s pained face as he’s sitting next to her on the couch. She said they needed to talk about something but it’s not easy.

Hyeri is trying to find the words to say but she’s struggling. She hates confrontation and tough conversations, but she hates the painful unease in her heart even more. So she starts with the straight facts. She tells him the situation with his Black card. She tells him about the call she had with the attorney and all of the information he gave her about Chelsea. She tells him about her taking photos of his license and passport. She tells him everything.

Yoongi can only silently listen to her and try to quell his feelings of shame, guilt, and regret. She’s trying to remain neutral as she’s talking, but he can see in her eyes how much it pains her.

“Yoongi,” Hyeri says once she’s done telling him everything. “Will you be honest with me?”

“Of course,” he nods knowing it certainly won’t be easy.

“Why did you let her in your room?”

“I-“ he pauses trying to find the answer. Truth is he can’t remember much of anything. He’s only just now finding out that the woman’s name was Chelsea. “I don’t know.” He hangs his head in shame.

“Did you always bring people back to your room?” Hyeri’s tone is soft and unassuming. It’s not her intention to interrogate him or make him feel bad, she just wants the truth.

“No,” he replies. “Never. I…there was one that drove me to my hotel but that’s all. She-Chelsea is the only one that had been in my room.”

“Ok.” She takes a big gulp and opens her mouth hoping she doesn’t regret asking. “If they weren’t in your room then…where were you…doing…stuff…with them?” She instantly regrets it. She doesn’t want to know. She doesn’t need to know. Her heart is beating wildly out of control.

“Hyeri…” as much as she hates that she asked, he hates that he has to answer. “It was usually in a car or…wherever…”

“Wherever?” She tightens her fists briefly. She didn’t want to ask. She doesn’t want to know.

“Anywhere that was dark or secluded. I don’t know, Hyeri.” He huffs starting to get frustrated with himself. He feels like a piece of shit and even more so because he can’t even remember much of anything.

“Yoongi, how many were there?” She doesn’t know why she asked. It’s only getting worse and now she wants a drink to get herself to stop asking questions.

“Hyeri,” he sighs in exasperation. “I-I don’t know. I was so fucked up the whole time, I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry for being a piece of shit. You deserve a better answer than what I’m giving you, but I truly can’t remember anything. I was so fucked up.” He’s trying to hold back tears but it’s nearing impossible.

“Yoongi,” she says softly.

“At least 6, maybe 7,” he spits out. “I don’t know, fuck! It was whoever offered at the right time.” He inhales sharply. “It was never about them. It was never about you. It was all me and I wish each and every single day I could take it all back. I didn’t want to face my feelings so I tried to be someone else, but I still made such a mess of everything and I regret it all.”

“Yoongi,” she repeats with a quiver. “Did you even think of me at all?”

“Yes!” He blurts in an explosion of tears. “Every fucking day! I know I told you to stop trying to talk to me, but every day that you didn’t broke my heart. I was so stupid, Hyeri. So stupid for trying to drink my feelings away. I wanted to die because I’ve been so terrible to you. You deserve the world, not a fuck up. You’re the greatest thing that has ever happened to me and every day I’m so grateful that you still stayed by my side. You don’t deserve any of what I put you through. I’m so sorry, Hyeri.”

“Yoongi,” she squeaks out past the knot in her throat. “I have to tell you something.”

There has never been a string of words that has caused him more anxiety, but he looks on through his tears hoping what she says next doesn’t break him.

“After you guys left for the start of the tour, I thought that I might have been pregnant.” Hyeri can already feel the bittersweet wave of emotions taking over as she reveals what she had truly been going through while he was across the world ignoring her.

“You what?” He asks in complete shock.

“I wasn’t going to tell you until I was sure. I wanted to tell you in person when you got back. I was scared, but at the same time I was so excited thinking of the possibility of having a baby with you. Then JJS confirmed the rumors of me and Kihyun and every little ounce of happiness I felt was gone. I was scared, Yoongi. You have no idea how scared I was.” She takes a breath as tears begin rolling down her face. “I wanted to say something to you but I had no idea how. I wrote and deleted so many messages that I wanted to send to you. I stared at my phone with my finger hovering over your name trying to call you but I couldn’t find the strength. I knew I had fucked up when Kihyun told me he talked to you. You should have heard it from me first and for that I will always be sorry. I was stressed out because you wouldn’t talk to me. I was more stressed out when I saw how bad you looked on tv. The worst feeling was thinking I’d lost the love of my life at a time when I should have been so excited about our future.”

“Hyeri, please,” Yoongi interrupts trying to get at least a brief moment to process what the hell she’s saying.

“Yoongi,” she continues. “I couldn’t sleep, eat, or breathe. I was hurting so much and I blamed myself for it all.”

“Hye-“

“I need to get this out,” she asserts. “You have to know. You have to know how I really felt during that time. You have to know how much shit was going through my head when you weren’t talking to me. You have to know that I was fearing for more than just our relationship. I thought I was about to lose everything, and when I would normally be able to lean on you, I couldn’t. I was scared and alone, Yoongi. That’s why I went out driving that night even though I was exhausted. I wanted to clear my mind, but I also was hoping I’d find the strength to drive off and never come back.”

“I’m so sorry,” he cries.

“It hurts me so much to know that you were with complete strangers, one of which a criminal, while I was home worried about my career, my relationship, and the possibility that I could be a mother.”

“Stop,” Yoongi chokes out. He can’t hear any more of what she’s telling him. His chest is twisted up inside and he’s afraid he may stop breathing if she says anything else.

“I’m not pregnant,” she reveals as the tears rapidly escape her eyes. “They tested me at the hospital after my accident and confirmed that I’m not actually pregnant. I was relieved but at the same time so sad. I was starting to get used to the idea of having a baby, but I knew it wasn’t the time. Not when I couldn’t even get you to talk to me, but I felt a change after that. I don’t know how to explain it, Yoongi, but after that I decided I didn’t want to be the same person anymore. I wanted to fight for myself and us, so I did. But I had no idea…”

“I’m so fucking sorry,” he says again with the guilt burning his skin through his flow of tears.

“If I had known at the time…I don’t think I ever would have forgiven you.” Hyeri breaks down and takes a moment to gather herself. “Actually, I hadn’t forgiven you at all. Nothing has ever hurt me so much in my entire life.”

“Hyeri,” Yoongi exasperates through sobs. He really wishes she would stop talking.

“I came here to prove to myself whether I could forgive you or not. I needed to see you and talk to you face to face to find out if I would truly be ok carrying on like this. I needed the truth from you to ease my mind.” She pauses with a sigh hoping Yoongi is doing as well mentally as he appears physically. She’s saying these things for her own healing, but she knows there’s a risk that it would make him feel bad and potentially cause him to crave a drink or anything else that may be self destructive.

“I’ve never been so disappointed and proud at the same time,” she continues. “I wanted to hate you when I got here, but when I saw you I felt like it was the beginning of our relationship again. Seeing you looking so healthy made my heart race like the first time you invited me over to your place.” She takes Yoongi’s hand and raises one corner of her mouth into slight smile. “Suddenly all I could think about was that first morning after I stayed the night I tried to make you breakfast but I couldn’t figure out how your fancy toaster worked,” she chuckles giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Even now after everything you’ve just told me, my mind can’t help but go back to how our walk outside reminded me of the midnight walk we took around the parking garage that one time when we couldn’t sleep.”

“Hyeri,” he says softly trying to stop her again before he starts crying more. He’s managed to pull himself together a little but her trip down memory lane is starting to pull his emotions out again. “You just said so much.”

“I know, but I needed to, and now…I feel much better.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah,” she nods. “I’ve been holding on to that for so long and I shouldn’t have, but I felt like I had no one to go to because I didn’t have you. Even when I got you back you still weren’t you. I tried talking to Namjoon, but there’s no way I could tell him I thought I was pregnant.”

“Pause,” Yoongi says raising his hand. “Can we talk about that.”

“I told you I’m not actually pregnant.”

“But you thought you were? How? Why did you think that?”

“My period was late so I was worried. I only took the test to make myself feel better because I thought there wasn’t a chance I would be. Then it came back positive but I guess that was just a faulty test or something. You can breathe a sigh of relief,” she jokes.

“Right,” he chuckles. “I hate that I wasn’t there for you. I hate a lot about what I’d done, but if you give me the chance I promise I will never hurt you or leave you lonely again.”

“Can we start over?” She asks hopeful. “Can we pretend this is the first night I stayed the night with you?”

“Start over?” He smiles.

“Yeah,” she nods. “I mean I’m not saying we pretend like nothing has happened. I feel like the wounds are still fresh, but this can be our new beginning. A new chapter where we learn from our mistakes and communicate with each other better. Can we do that?”

“Of course we can,” he says reaching up to stroke her damp cheek. “I promise I’ll never put you through this shit again.”

“And I promise I won’t let anything get between us. No agencies telling me what to do. I want to just let go and finally have control of my life and career.”

“Then let go,” Yoongi encourages. During his time here he’s done a lot of letting go. There’s still a lot more for him to let go of, but he can see Hyeri holding things in holds her back from being the brave and confident person he knows she can be. “I want to show you something.”

Yoongi stands and reaches his hand out for hers. She isn’t sure what he suddenly wants to show her, but she stands putting her hand in his and following him outside. He takes her around to the back of the cabin where there’s nothing but trees as far as they can see.

“This is something Minho had me do one day,” Yoongi says looking out into the distance. “Everything you’ve been holding in, let it go.”

“Huh?” She questions tilting her head.

“He had me come out here and let everything out.” He looks at her confusion but carries on. “He told me to take a deep breath and feel everything I have in me. Then let it go when I exhale. It seemed stupid at first but it actually helped a lot.”

“Take a deep breath and let it go?” She asks.

Yoongi nods. Hyeri looks out to the tree filled landscape and slowly inhales a deep breath. She holds it a few seconds then lets out a heavy exhale. She does it once more then looks at Yoongi as if looking for him to tell her she did a good job.

“After everything you just told me?” Yoongi asks shaking his head with some amusement. “That’s all you can let out? Don’t hold back.”

Hyeri nods and takes another deep breath. She thinks of how much time she spent worried about Yoongi and his health. She exhales into a brief groan that barely startles a fly. Yoongi chuckles.

“You can do better than that,” he says. “You said you wanted to let go, so let go.”

This time she takes a much deeper breath and holds it. Everything she’s been holding on to goes flashing through her mind. The nights alone wondering if Yoongi would ever speak to her again. The fear she’s continuously carried about losing her career. The constant anxiety and depression JJS put her through. The invasion of privacy and never ending rumors. The fear that she’d finally get the call that Yoongi had drank himself to death. The absolute gut wrenching pain of knowing he was intimate with multiple people while she was at her lowest.

Every little thing came flying through her mind with that inhale, and she unleashed it with a long high pitched scream that gradually swelled into a deep roar. She held it until she had nothing left in her and collapsed into Yoongi’s waiting arms. She takes a moment to catch her breath and find her footing, then she turns to look at Yoongi.

“Why,” she starts. “Why does it feel so…freeing?”

“It works, doesn’t it?” He smiles seeing the delight in her face.

“I just let it all go like you said. Everything. I let it out into the universe.” She rises up on her toes and plants a big kiss on his lips. “I want to let everything out into the universe.”

“Go ahead,” he encourages, smiling at the way she’s bouncing with excitement.

“I’m going to fucking kill this new role!!” She shouts into the distance. “I’m going to make JJS pay!!”

“Hell yeah!” Yoongi cheers.

“I’m more than just…just a FUCKING BABY!!!” She shouts bouncing on her toes even more. “I’m in FFFFFFUCKING LOVE WITH MIN YOONGI and I don’t want to HIDE IT ANYMORE!!!!”

“Wow,” Yoongi whispers in amusement.

“This is awesome!” She cheers still bouncing with adrenaline. “This whole place is awesome!”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “I’ve enjoyed myself here. Kind of sad that this will be the last night.”

“Then let’s make it count,” Hyeri smiles.

She throws her arms around Yoongi’s neck and hits him with a big kiss. A big, lingering, passionate kiss that passes her overflowing electricity through his body. No kiss has ever felt quite as satisfying as this one. His arms hold her tight around her waist as if it’s the first time he’s ever held her. She was right, he feels like it’s their first time all over again. The first time his hands explored every ridge of her body. The first time his lips swallowed hers and his tongue tasted how sweet she is. The first time he lifted her petite frame and wrapped her legs around his waist, except instead of carrying her to his bed like the first time, he’s carrying her inside to the dining table. He sets her on the top of the table because he simply can’t go any further. He’s letting impatience win this time.

“I love you,” he whispers into her mouth as he lays her flat on her back.

“I love you more,” she smirks. One thing she knows he loves to do is prove that he loves her more whenever she dares to challenge him.

“Don’t test me,” he smirks sliding his hand under her shirt.

She lets out a soft exhale at the feeling of him gently caressing every inch of her skin. The wave of goosebumps that prickles her entire body when he removes her shirt reminds her of the first time he pulled her into an embrace. The butterflies erupting when he lightly kisses a trail from her neck to her belly button takes her back to the first time she laid before him completely naked and his lips praised every part of her as if she were a goddess. The chill of the air hitting her erect nipples when he removes her bra doesn’t last long before he glides his warm tongue across each one.

He’s seen her like this many times. He’s marveled at her beauty while undressing her numerous times. It’s not the first time he’s taken his time to undress them both then stand over her wondering how he got so lucky. But it feels like the first time for them both. This euphoric build up of feelings and emotions mixing together when he bends down to kiss her softly as he teases her.

With a slow, gentle glide Hyeri exhales as if all of the pain she’d gone through were released in that single breath. She reaches for the back of his neck and pulls him closer to her. She needs to feel his skin against hers as his hips move to a steady rhythm. For every breath she releases, he feels more determined to love her the way he’s always felt she deserves. He’s more determined to make sure she’ll never regret giving him another chance. Every thrust is burning with determination. Every baritone moan is sharp with thunder. Every bit of salty skin his tongue tastes feeds his starving heart.

“I love you,” he growls.

The deep rumble of his voice is enough to make her hold a grip around him like she never has before. Her love is about to explode out of every part of her body and there’s no way she can stop it. There’s no way she wants to stop it. She breathes her love into him every time his hips connect with her pelvis. She’s so close. She’s so in love.

“Yoon…” she squeaks as she arches her back and digs her fingers into his back leaving red marks along his pale skin.

Yoongi holds her tighter chasing the release they’re both so close to. He wishes she’d never stop leaving marks on his back. He wishes she’d never stop calling his name. All of the sounds in the world could not compare to the sound of Hyeri moaning his name as she loses all control and melts underneath him. It powers him to his own climax that hits him so hard he has to pull Hyeri up to his chest and hold her tight until every bit of his love is released.

He peppers her lips with a few kisses then pauses just to look at her. Her love drunk face pulls a satisfied smirk from him. He’s never been so undoubtedly in love since he discovered music. He’ll do the dumbest shit for her, but he’ll be sure to never hurt her again.

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