Amber & Honey ~ [DR3]

53. Champagne

I'm a mess but thank you so much for reading! Also the response to the last chapter blew me away 🥰 tysm ❤️

Bodies fill the area, I'm pushed and pulled to and from the barriers as voices cheer and call Daniel's name. I feel like I'm in a daze, my mind in another place to my body. My eyes are blurry with tears which I blink away again and again, resisting the urge to let them fall with joy. For a long moment Daniel just sits in the car, frozen in time, hand pressed to the sides of his helmet-clad head. I've lost my breath, the jostling not helping as I just stare at the papaya car in disbelief.

Daniel can't believe it.

I can't believe it.

I'm pretty sure the whole team can't believe it.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I'm fully aware of my phone vibrating in my pocket. It's the only thing which makes me realise that this is actually happening, I'm really here and it's not a weird fever dream. The sensation of the vibration grounds me as I watch with wide eyes and a wide smile on my face as Daniel rises from the car. He's shaking his head slowly, his legs barely holding up the weight of his body as he punches the air in front of him once, twice, three times. My heart just pounds in my chest as I watch him with bright eyes, hand pressed to my face in adoration and surprise.

Daniel jumps down from the car and just stays there, frozen and staring at the machinery that got him his victory. The car he least expected to ever win in. He didn't trust it. He told me, told everyone, so many times. The peice of machinery was almost hated by him and yet...here we are. It shouldn't have happened. It was mostly just luck and, (as Lando would say) complete talent.

It takes Pierre coming over to slap on Daniel's back in congratulations to break the daze. They embrace for a small moment, Pierre shakes him by the shoulders in encouragement and excitement. It hasn't really hit him yet has it? Butterflies if excitement swarm in my stomach on behalf of Daniel as I mentally urge him to enjoy this moment. Charles is next. Daniel has his back to me but I can see the smile on Charles through his helmet. The expression at least makes me feel a little better for him but I can't fully appreciate that right now.

I'm too focused on Daniel.

I watch his every move, when he dives into the crowd of cheering engineers I find myself laughing and cheering with the rest of the crowd. When he breaks away from them to get weighed and take his heavy helmet off my eyes follow him. His cheeks are flushed, hair a disheveled mass of curls which he runs his hands through again and again. I'm too scared to blink, scared that I'll miss some complete joy filled moment because I want to enjoy this for him, with him.

At some point Michael rubs a comforting hand on my shoulder and I realise it's because I'm crying again. It's only when I press my hand to my cheeks, still a little taken back by the whole thing, that I realise my cheeks are soaked with prideful tears as I keep my eyes on Daniel, always Daniel. Even when I take a step or two back from the front of the barriers, allowing Blake and Michael along with a few others take front and centre I keep my eyes on Daniel. Even when it means stretching up on my tiptoes to do so.

I want this moment to be about him, I don't need extra attention on me. He likes to keep his private life private apart from the odd image online or cheeky comment in the press. This moment should be his, exactly how it is. He put in the work for it. I don't need to insert myself into it, I just need to be here. So I watch with warm eyes, my hands balled into excited fists as I balance on the balls of my feet to make sure I can still see him.

My heart rate only accelerates a little when his body comes over in my direction. He's glowing, the smile seeming to be five times bigger than I've ever seen. Daniel pulls Blake in for a hug first, the two of them slapping each other on the back. Blake congratulates him and they laugh as they pull away all smiles. Michael is next, they slap eachother on the back as Michael just cheers praise in his ear until Dan pulls away. His eyes scan to the left of Michael. Then, he does the last thing I would ever expect from him in this moment.