It's race weekend in Italy. The past two race weekends Carlos has been having a hard time staying away from you, especially since he visited you in Vienna. He comes over for coffee a few times a day instead of his normal two times, and he makes you come to his drivers room more often to for a "refill." You don't mind it, every time you see him walk towards you, your heart goes into overdrive, but it makes you a little nervous when you see team members look at you two with raised eyebrows.
You're on your way to the garage to bring the mechanics some coffee when you see that Carlos is there already. You smile at him, receiving a smile and a wink from him before you walk towards the group on the other side of the garage. Your smile fades as quickly as it came when you hear the conversation Carlos has with his trainer. "Are you guys together or something? I can see the sneaky looks you give her all the time!" you hear Carlos chuckling, "oh no mate" you don't see the unconvinced look in his eyes, quickly making sure everyone has their coffee before leaving the garage in a hurry.
You've taken a stroll around the paddock, taking a few deep breaths when you see a familiar blonde girl walk around with a camera. "Hey!" you call out to her, and she looks up and smiles while walking over to you. "Hello there! Fancy seeing you here. We should really get on first name basis though, it's a bit awkward when we only say hey and chat in the paddock without knowing each other's names! I'm Nell" she chuckles while extending her hand. You shake it, smiling at her, "I'm Marie! Every time we've seen each other I was like, should ask her name, but I forgot every time because you always have to run!"
You chat some more with her before walking towards the Ferrari hospitality together. "Want to have a drink? Or do you need to go again?" you ask, she looks at her watch before shaking her head, "I can do with a tea before I'm going back to Dan. He's in a meeting for 30 more minutes anyways." You nod, walking into the hospitality to make two cups of tea. "Could you make that three please?" you look up to see the dark-haired girl from the Hungary race and smile, "Hey! We've missed you the last two race weekends, had to work?" she nods. "Nell and I went on first name basis already, we only need to know yours now" you tell her, and she chuckles before telling you that her name is Sofia.
The girls form a welcome distraction for you, you get to know each other better and exchange phone numbers and social media. Nell tells you that she needs to run soon though, and you ask her the question you've been dying to ask for the last few weeks. "What are you to Daniel though? Do you work together?" she giggles while shaking her head. "He likes to work with me as well yeah, but I'm his good friend turned girlfriend. We've known each other for years and started dating a few months ago. We're basically a married couple by now if I'm honest." You smile when you see how her eyes light up while she talks about Daniel, and it sends a pang to your heart when you realise what Carlos said to his trainer earlier that day.
You zone out of the conversation a bit until you hear Nell say that she's got to run because Daniel texted her. "Let's keep in touch though! I'll see you guys around this weekend! Cheers" she says before grabbing her belongings and jogging towards the McLaren garage. You and Sofia sit together until she's going back to the Ferrari garage to watch the FP1. She tells you that she'll join you back here when her boyfriend is in meetings again, and you nod while waving at her. It's time that you find out who her boyfriend is though.
You manage to avoid contact with Carlos as much as possible. You don't reply or reply really late when he texts if he can see you, coming up with a lame excuse, or you send someone else from hospitality to bring him his coffees. He's texted you 15 times already if something is wrong, not that you were counting, but you ignored them all. You weren't sure how to act around him, his words hurt, even though you weren't officially together. You thought that he was also falling in love with you, especially since the days in Vienna where he was holding your hand all the time, and if that wasn't possible, he'd wrap his arm around you. Hell, he even met your friends!
You know that you should talk to him about it, but you're a little bit too sad to do that now, so you'll just tell him after the race that you want to talk about something with him. It's Saturday now, and qualifying is done and you're on the afternoon shift when Carlos bursts through the doors of the hospitality, walking towards you quickly. "Please come to my driver's room because I need to talk to you" he says while motioning for the espresso he always has. You sigh, putting the cup under the machine, avoiding his pleading eyes. "Please Marie, I can't concentrate when we are like this. Just 5 minutes of your time guapa" he begs, and you nod after looking at him. He walks out before you follow him a little later when your colleague is back from her break. "I'll be back in a few, forgot something at the garage" she just raises her eyebrows before throwing a thumbs up, and you hurry to Carlos' drivers room.
"Hi" he breathes when you walk into the room. You see how his hands twitch because he wants to hold you, but he leaves them on his lap eventually. "Okay, I'm just going to guess why you're avoiding me, and then you can tell me if I'm right, okay?" you nod, shifting from one foot on the other. "Please sit down amore, you're making me nervous like this" you sit down on the other side of the couch, fiddling with your rings while waiting for Carlos to start talking. "I think you heard me tell my trainer that we're not dating, because you've been acting distant since that moment. You smiled at me when you walked into the room, but you ignored me when you walked out. Am I right?" you nod, letting go of a breath you were holding in.
"Okay, firstly, I'm sorry. I didn't know what to say, because we haven't labelled our relationship yet, and I freaked out. Secondly, I would like to talk to you after the race tomorrow, because I think it's time that we talk about this" he says while gesturing between you two, "I have some things that I need to get off my chest, even though they make me very nervous. I would like it if we're honest towards each other tomorrow." You nod, looking at him. He looks tired, and you miss the lights in his eyes. "I'm sorry that I told him that we're not dating, can we please act somewhat normal until we talk tomorrow? I don't like staying away from you" his voice sounds soft, and you swallow the lump in your throat.
"I think I overreacted a little bit, but I guess my insecurities about us just got the upper hand. I'm sorry I ignored you, and I would like to talk tomorrow. I think it's time that we come clean with some things." He smiles at you, blushing while nodding. You move a little closer to him, and he takes that as a sign to wrap his arms around you. He sighs, burying his face in your neck before pressing a soft kiss on your lips.
You're standing in front of Carlos' hotel room after he texted you that he ordered dinner and his room number. You knock on his door, fiddling with your rings while rehearsing in your head what you were planning on telling him. He opens the door 5 seconds later, as if he had been waiting behind it, wearing shorts and a white t shirt. He looks hot. 'Get your mind out of the gutter, we need to talk' you tell yourself sternly before smiling at him hesitantly and walking into his hotel room.
"Let's talk first, I think dinner will be here in 30 minutes or something" he says, sitting down on one of the lounges in his hotel room. You nod, sitting down next to him, without touching him. "Okay," he says, clearing his throat, "I've thought out what I wanted to say a thousand times but now I don't remember it" he chuckles nervously while scratching his neck. You giggle softly, and he looks at you with a smile. "Okay, I'll just start talking?" you nod, and he breaths in before starting.
"So, the last few months with you have been really amazing. I feel like I'm breaking down my walls around you constantly, I can be myself with you and I feel so happy around you. I've never felt this before, which is probably why it's so scary to me." He takes a deep breath, fiddling with his fingers while smiling shyly at you, "I really like you, but it's getting more than just liking you. I realised that when you became distant this weekend. I just wanted to tell you what I'd been up to, but you didn't react. It hurt me, even though I understand why you did it. I feel a bit stupid for not realising it sooner, if I'm honest, but yeah. I guess I'm not always a smooth operator." He chuckles before moving a little closer and grabbing your hands.
"Marie?" you hum, looking into his warm eyes. "I'm in love with you" his voice sounds soft and vulnerable, and you see the nerves in his eyes. You swallow, squeezing his hands before smiling at him. "I'm in love with you too. I've known it for a bit longer though, but I wanted to give you the time you needed. I realised this weekend that I'm more in love with you than I thought though. I've never felt that sad about a comment before" you giggle, looking at Carlos with stars in your eyes.
He leans in, kissing you softly before pulling you onto his lap, pressing you against his body. "I missed you" he mumbles, and you sigh contently. "Leaves me with one question though" he says, pushing you away a bit so he can look at your face. You cock your head sideways, a little confused. "Would you like to officially be mi amore?" you giggle, nodding your head before kissing him softly on the lips. "I'd love nothing more than that babe" you tell him before he kisses you again with a smile on his face.