it's an extra long one today!
Happy qualifying (hopefully lol)
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"Happy birthday!" Dad cheers as I make my way through the kitchen, glass of orange juice in hand. It's the third time he's said to the words to me today, insisting on sharing them at each and every opportunity. I only smile graciously thanking him as I join mum at the kitchen table. Daniel is on his way and I'm buzzing with excitement to see him.
"I can't believe you're twenty six now." Mum says wistfully. As if watching a replay of my life through her eyes. I cringe a little at the expression on her face as I sip from the cup in front of me checking on my phone. It's 10.30. Daniel said he'd pick me up now.
"And less independent than I was at 24." I add jokingly getting an eye roll from Mum. My words were a joke but true, she hates most reminders of my misadventures at work. At twenty four I was moved out in a flat of my own (shared with Lill) and working full time in London. It seems like a lifetime ago now. "What do you think?" I ask gesturing to the new earrings they had gifted me with this morning. It's a convenient change of subject. The three diamonds on each piece were fixed onto a white gold stud which I'd carefully clipped into my ears.
"Beautiful!" Mum cheers looking proud that I love their present in turn making me grin. I thank her again for the gift as she smiles in pride. "Who's coming tomorrow?" She asks and I try my best not to flush as she raises an eyebrow. My birthday meal with family is taking place tomorrow, on Friday, as opposed to today. It was easier to organise with work schedules, travel and everything else. I know Mum is fishing for information about Daniel. I've never told her a thing but I'm sure she knows there's something going on.
"Just us, plus Lill and Daniel." I reply. The 'just us' makes it sound like nobody will be there. By contrast there'll actually be a fairly large group of eleven of us. Lilly has joined for the last five birthday meals and now Daniel is the newest addition (after Mila and Luisa, of course).
"And you're going with Daniel today?" Dad asks taking a sip from the coffee cup in his hands. He's working from home today, so I'm lucky enough to see him for more than ten minutes. I try to ignore the way this seems to have turned into an interrogation all of a sudden and instead shrug lightly, taking a sip of my juice.
"Yeah, I'm not sure what we're doing." I admit. Daniel had only instructed me to dress in 'comfortable' clothes when I asked yesterday, 'trainers only, no heels' was my only firm clue. It had only made me more confused. "He should be here any minute, so hopefully I'll find out soon." I add thoughtfully checking my phone. Dad sends a look with raised eyebrows to Mum who just waves him off. Dad seems to huff to himself before waving bye as he returns to his home office.
"So what's with Daniel..." mum's voice begins slowly.
"Mum!" I groan, my face twisting a little as I shake my head.
"I was just going to..." she shrugs, trailing off her words, looking coy and innocent. There wasn't anything innocent about what she was going to ask. A small sigh leaves me and I resist the urge to dramatically roll my eyes or massage at my temples. Instead, I chew on the inside of my lip as I think over my next words carefully.
"Look, I don't want to lie to you. So it's best I just don't reply at all." I say honestly as my phone buzzes on the table between us.
"Does Lando know about this?" Is all Mum asks, her eyes still assessing. My lack of reply is all she needs to know. My eyes are too fixed on the screen of my phone, Daniel's name is on the screen with a message reading 'here x'. She's only smirking at my reaction. Maybe she doesn't need to ask me anything, she can read me like a book.
"I've gotta go." I say with a small but excited smile. I press a small kiss to mums cheek, she sends me a knowing look.
"Be careful." She warns voice firm, her hand reaching to give mine a comforting squeeze. I nod at her words, she doesn't mean just be careful today with Daniel and we both know it. "Have fun!" She cheers as I move away slipping out of the room and down the hall.
"I will!" I reply as I skip down towards the front door, reaching for the bag I've packed under Daniel's instruction. When I open the door he's stood there, long legs outstretched as he leans against the door of the new car he has this week. It's a jeep of some sort and (as always, as everything with him seems to be) just dreamy. He's dressed in his usual relaxed fit tee, dark jeans and vans. It makes me all the more confident in my jeans and vest combo for the day (with trainers, as instructed, of course).
"Hey birthday girl!" Daniel cheers. I'm on a slow jog until I meet him by the car. My bag is dropped onto the gravel of the short driveway so that I can envelope my arms around his neck, clinging to him at the words.
"Hi." I grin in reply as Daniel wraps his arms around me. He swings me around a little in front of him and I make a small squeal of surprise in response to the action. Excitement running through me. Dan only chuckles at the reaction, leaning to kiss my cheek sweetly as I grip to him tighter.
When he pulls away from the warm skin of my cheek I catch his face with my hand, fingers delicately touching his freshly trimmed facial hair to softly bring his lips to mine. The kiss is soft and short but just enough to have me wanting more, my body warming at the contact, butterflies readying in my stomach as they aslways seem to in his presence, but especially when his lips are on mine. We kiss slowly for what feels like long minutes, but is probably seconds.
"That's new." Daniel hums when we part, nuzzling his head into the crease of my neck as we continue to cuddle in the driveway. His fingers are running up and down my back in the way I like as I pull myself closer to his body. He takes in a final deep breath, squeezing me a little tighter in his grip before releasing me. His hands going to my hips, his usual spot to hold onto, as I'm kept at arms length as if he needs to take me in infront of him.
"Well, It's my birthday, I can do what I want." Is all I reply with a shrug. The words make him laugh and as it does everytime I have that effect on him, pride shoots around me. I love the sound of his laugh, I love even more being the one who makes him laugh.
"That it is." Daniel cheers with a grin, and I feel myself completely relax in his hold. "Are you ready for your birthday date?" He asks with a casual smile, his hands giving my hips one final firm squeeze before he reaches for the bag I'd ditched on the floor.
"I'm very excited to see what a date with thee Daniel Ricciardo has in store." I tease, as he leans again to brush his lips against my cheek.
"Oh, you should be." Daniel agrees with a smile, handing me his car keys as he heads towards the boot of the car, tossing my bag inside of it before pressing the button which closes it (yes, the car is that fancy you don't even have to close it yourself!). I weigh up the keys in my hand, leaning my weight against the car as Daniel types something on his phone. He looks dreamy when he relaxed. Although, come to think of it I'm struggling to think of a time where he doesn't look gorgeous. If I think about it too much my heart will get all fluttery and panicked as if it's overwhelmed with the feelings for him.
"Did you know your Dad's watching us?" Daniel suddenly asks, eyes still on his phone and my cheeks flush with the question, head snapping towards the window by the front door.
"What?!" The word is louder and more panicked than it should be. I feel like a fifteen year old who's just been caught making out with her date after curfew...I suppose in a way I kind of am. Sure enough, when my eyes focus back by the front door, Dad is stood, coffee cup still in hand, a casual smile on his face as he eyes the pair of us with raised eyebrows. My own eyes have tripled in size, I'm sure of it.
"I think he might have seen all that." Daniel notes casually, fighting a smile as he sends and awkward three fingered wave in my fathers direction. I'm just glaring in his direction, too embarrassed to do anything. My mouth has fallen open at him as he returns Daniel's wave before pressing his mobile to his ear speaking into the device.
"Let's leave...please." I groan, feeling my cheeks reddening. The tightness in my chest loosens as I look to Daniel who looks entertained by the occurrence. Panicked anxiety and excitement buzzes through me at the thought of finally being able to share this with my family. If they didn't before, my parents now most definitely know there's something going on - Dad can't keep a thing from Mum even when he wants to. Every year he blurts out her Christmas present or something that she's not supposed to know about. He's tried with the grand romantic gestures and surprises and ruins it for himself every time because one question from the Flemish woman he loves so much and he'll tell her anything.
We may be completely rumbled here. There's no way I can deny this if he did in fact see everything.
"Yeah, let's." Daniel instructs, moving around from the back of the car to the passenger door. He opens the door and climbs in as I watch him with confused eyes. Shouldn't that be my seat?
"Forgot to say," Daniel begins, leaning over the centre console & speaking to me through the open window of the car as he settles himself in the leather seats. Daniel clears his throat as if in fake deep thought. He's not really thinking, I know he's not. "You're driving." My eyebrows furrow at his stated words.
"What?!" The word leaves me and I sound as alarmed as I feel.
"I need to assess your driving skills." He says, a shrug falling off him, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Is he joking with me? Is this some kind of birthday prank? He can't be serious, I'm so confused. "Plus, I really prefer being the passenger." Daniel continues simply. I knew he prefers being the passenger, he's told me this before, but I just didn't expect to have to drive him now. Especially today of all days; Especially when I have no idea where we're heading and I've done absoloutely no mental preparation for the task.
"I don't know where I'm going." I begin to protest, words getting stuck in my head as I try and understand this. I'm not opposed to driving, I actually quite enjoy it, but there's something about having to drive Daniel around which makes me nervous. I've never drove him around before. If anybody has any right to judge my driving skills it's him. I drive to Lilly's and back, sometimes Oliver's. Meanwhile, he's paid millions (literal millions of pounds) to drive every other weekend. Plus, nobody in my family lets me drive, they're all way too competitive with it, I always end up the passenger. For that reason I'm hardly well versed in being a chauffeur.
"I know the route to and from where we're going like the back of my hand now, babe." The way the words roll from his tongue, twisting with his accent are so casual they make me internally groan. Him calling me babe is just so...hot. My worry is dismissed, just like that, because to Daniel it truly is that simple. he knows where we're going, he wants me to drive, so it's happening. "C'mon, get in." He instructs, slapping his hand on the leather seat beside him.
"Is this even allowed?" I question, taking a step back as I open the door. My actions are slow as I assess every part of the car. I have to pull myself up to it, it's a little higher than I'm used to, I don't even know what make of car it is, never mind anything specific that Lando would be asking about the vehicle right now. Should I be asking questions? No, definitely not, I'd only make more of a fool out of myself. I cautiously slide into the leather seat, adjusting its position quickly with the firm black buttons to the right of it so that my feet can touch the pedals. I didn't realise how long Daniels legs were compared to mine until now.
"I got you put on the insurance policy so, yeah." Another lazy shrug rolls from his shoulders. He's not phased by my anxiety one bit. "You can drive manual right?" He asks suddenly frowning, as if the thought hadn't occurred to him until now. I almost gasp in offence at the question.
"I think you've been with too many American girls Mr Ricciardo." I mutter with an eye roll. I'm offended he doesn't know better. I may not have drove him anywhere before but surely he knows that I can drive a manual car. Until recently I thought it was the norm that everyone could drive manual - clearly I've lived a sheltered life. "Of course I can drive a freaking manual!" I snap at him with a small glare.
"Say my name again baby." Daniel cheers teasingly, sending a wink in my direction as I raise the height of the seat a little further. He doesn't care about the dig I've made at him or the offence he's caused, not that he ever seems to. I can only laugh at the cheered words, my heart aching with the happy smile sent my way.
There's no maybe or possibly about it, I love this man.
"You'll be the death of me Daniel Ricciardo." I say, fulfilling his request to say his name again. He beams at me with the words, shooting a cheeky wink in my direction. I just continue to grumble to myself, adjusting the seat and familiarising myself with the controls of the car. He presses a soft kiss to my exposed shoulder.
"Let's go!" He instructs, lips against my skin, making it prickle with heat of excitement. I agree, reaching for my seatbelt to fasten myself in. It clicks locked quickly and I press the ignition button and the car rumbles to life beneath us.
Daniel's phone connects to the sound system, playing music immediately as he directs me on which way to turn at the end of the street. It takes a little while to get there but he confidently directs me all the way onto the M25, at which point I'm told I can 'relax now, we're on here for a while'. The direction of travel leaves me none the wiser to the days activities and I'm scouring every information sign we pass for a hint. Every time I ask Daniel he just raises his eyebrows at me, grins and offers a teasing "Nope!".
Not knowing is driving me insane!
He plays music loudly and sings along when he knows the words, dancing in his seat making me laugh. He even records some of the journey and snaps photos along the way for (and I quote) 'memories'. It makes me excited how excited he is about what technically is our first date. For the full hour drive he keeps me entertained, holding my free hand, joking and singing until we make it onto country roads which wind around hills and dip up and down. I even find myself singing with him like an idiot when he plays Simple Times by Kacey Musgraves. Daniel grins with pride claiming 'I knew you loved this song', proud of himself for knowing me so well.
"Wait!" I cheer as we round a corner passing a blue sign, something that looks familiar. My eyebrows furrow with thought as I try to piece together the geography of our route and our current location. I pause in my spot as we continue down the road, my eyes assessing the area around us. "Are we going to Silverstone?" I ask my mouth dropping open in surprise as we pass yet another sign. Daniel pauses in his seat, I don't even need to take my eyes off the road to look at him to know he's smirking.
"That's like the fifth sign we've passed Ambs I can't believe it's taken you this long." He says smoothly and my eyes widen.
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"I can't believe I'm doing this." I mumble, eyes a little wide as I tug the race suit up my my arms, twisting a little so it fits properly. Daniel reaches for the material, his finger finding the zip and pulling it up for me. The action is slow and teasing and I find myself almost giggling at the sexual nature of the gesture. Usually zips between us are undone so to be fastening them is something new, I guess?
"I can't believe you've never done it before." He replies, still sounding surprised.
Daniel had enquired with Lando before organising today since he wanted it to be 'unique'. Apparently, he was floored when Lando told him I hadn't done so callled 'hot laps' in any sense of the word before. I mean, in my defence, Daniel seems to be the only person I'll do insane things such as this with - so I didn't think it was that surprising. "I just thought that at least this way you get to visit the track this year?" Daniel asks, but I think it's more to himself than me. I appreciate the thought he's put into the day already. Any time I get to spend with him alone is perfect, but the fact he's thought about it so much is what makes this the best day.
"I also suddenly see the appeal of the race suit, fuck amber." He groans slowly as his long fingers fasten the Velcro at the neck of my suit. His own race suit had been slipped on pretty effortlessly, I suppose it's routine for him though. Daniel takes the opportunity to run his hands over the soft material of the suit, tugging firm and suddenly at the fabric around my waist so I'm pulled against him. It feels like the hundredth time we've been pressed together since arriving.
Before I can reply to his groaned words his lips are smashed against mine, and his hands have slipped from the waist of my suit down to my ass which he gives a firm squeeze. Lucky for us, Daniel has hired out the whole track for the day and other than the skeleton staff that needed to be here, we had the place to ourselves. It would make me laugh about how much money he has compared to me if I wasn't able to enjoy it so much. Daniel has been taking full advantage of the fact we can be semi-affectionate in public with moments like this. His hands have barely left me since arriving and I'm loving every second of it.
"I told you; the race suit is hot." I reply when our lips eventually part, a wide grin on my face. I can't remember a point today where I've stopped smiling.
Daniel leads me through the building we're in, his hand in mine until we reach the track.
There's a Mclaren parked up outside on the track and I can feel my eyes bugging out of my head at the sight. Nerves fill me a little, but when Daniel's hands grip onto my waist they quickly dissipate. He's here and he's not going to let me get into any danger. He's almost bouncing in his place beside me as a staff member briefs us on the track. It's not something he has to listen to much having raced here multiple times, but I'm trying my best to take in all of the information without:
A - having a panic attack.
B - leaning into Daniel's touch and kissing him mid briefing.
When it's done, Daniel leads the way to the car and he smiles at me slowly, thoroughly assessing my face like he has since the moment we got here. "Relax." He instructs, placing a kiss on the top of my head before disappearing from my side, around the front of the car to the drivers side of the car. Being this affectionate in front of people is new and nerve wracking, but at the same time it feels completely natural and...right. It's another reminder that something needs to be said and soon.
I slide into the passenger side.
"Why do you always put your helmet on last?" I ask as Daniel reaches to fasten the clip of my helmet I'd pulled over my head. He's quick at doing things like this, having lots of practice with them.
"I just don't find it comfortable." He says with a shrug, reaching for his own helmet and slipping it over his head. He fastens it a lot easier than I managed. "It's a little tight and hot and-"
"You're really selling this to me." I comment dryly. Although, now that I'm wearing a helmet of my own I completely understand why - it is in fact a little tight and claustrophobic. It's heavy, tight fitting and warm (which I really, for some reason, wasn't expecting). Next is my seatbelt, the two straps loop over my shoulders and pull them tight against me. When I'm done Daniel pulls them even tighter over me. They press me firmly into the leather of the car seat. I'm fairly sure he brushes his hand over my chest on purpose, but I don't comment on it.
"Okay, you wanna like push yourself into the seat when we head into the corners, right?" He asks, eyes flicking to me as the engine of the car comes to life with a flick of the button. I take in a deep steadying breath, pushing it out of my mouth slowly as I shift in the seat, not that I can move much now. "Ambs," Daniel says my name, grabbing my attention from the track infront of us.
"Trust me." Daniel states, his voice firm and it makes any nerves fizzing in me lower. When I look at him, big brown eyes swirling with warmth, his hands steadied on the steering wheel and fighting a grin any remaining nerves completely disappear.
The dangerous thing is, I think with him I trust him enough to do anything.
"I would only do this shit with you, you think I don't trust you?!" I squeak as we take off. The car hums with life, revving as we move up through the gears, Daniel moving through the road with an expertise I could only dream of. He's grinning at me, his head flicking between me and the road as we pick up speed.
"I know you trust me babe." His voice calls as I watch the road in front of us approach at a speed I've never experienced before into the first corner. "You wouldn't have got in the car if you didn't." He finishes, and it's another reminder of how well he knows me and how deep our trust really lies. Lando has offered to do this with me multiple times, I've never even agreed to it, much less got in the car. Daniel has a way of making me do things I'm otherwise terrified of (see also: riding a scooter and jumping off cliffs into the sea). "I just meant... relax, try to enjoy it." He says with a small laugh at my appearance.
I'm clung to the door of the vehicle with both hands, I'm sure the sight is comical. I think the last thing I can do is relax right now. I can't help it though, moving at this speed doesn't feel natural to me, my pulse is echoing in my ears, heart bouncing in my chest. The things is, when I glance at the cars display even I know this isn't even the fastest we could be going around here in this car.
It helps that I know the track like the back of my hand. I've been here so many times, sat in a different stand almost every other year and Lando had a picture of the track hung on his wall when we were younger. There's 18 turns, three and four the sharpest, seven is the hairpin and after that it's pretty smooth sailing - at least it looks it to me. I count each turn as we get to them in my head the tentative expression on my face loosening as the number increases. My grip weakens on the door a little.
"You good?" Daniel checks on me, I can see the big grin on his face even when half of his face is concealed from me. I nod before realising he can't exactly take a long time to look at me and instead make a small noise of approval. Despite the nerves, I am beginning to enjoy this.
"Are you holding back on me Ricciardo?" I call, feeling brave as we hurtle down the straight and across the line. His eyes widen in surprise at my words, eyebrows shooting up and mischief spreading on his features. I've surprised him with my words. My heart flutters, warmth spreading around my whole body.
"You don't want me to?" He checks as he slips down the gears into turn one, hand tightening around the steering wheel as we round the corner.
"I told you, I trust you." Is all that leaves me, the words are quieter than they should be but they're simple enough that Daniel catches them. I can read it on his face, him processing them, knowing that when I say them it means much more than just in this situation. "Go for it!" I urge, the words almost getting stuck in my throat. The thrilled look in his eyes makes excitement shoot up my spine.
"Okay," he sings the word as we swing into turn three, I focus, doing as I was told and pushing my body into the material of the seat when my body tries to swing to the left. When we exit, Daniel doesn't keep his speed steady as he did last lap and instead presses his foot down of the accelerator pedal. A surge of adrenaline pushes through me, a small scream leaving my lips as we fly around corner after corner and before I know it I'm laughing.
The biggest grin spreads on my face as Daniel moves the car expertly around the track, his eyes drifting to me every so often, expression mirroring my own. Butterflies stir up in my stomach as the feeling of giddiness, adrenaline and admiration for the man beside me swell in my body.
"Brake! Brake brake!" I screech through a smile as we approach the final corner, Daniel is still speeding up and I'm convinced I'm about to die. I can see it in my head, our car losing grip and skidding off the track flipping over multiple times and then we...don't. Daniel has pressed his tongue into his cheek, a smirk on his features as the back tyres of the car swing beneath us, losing grip.
The car drifts and I watch with excited eyes as Daniel's hand tighten around the steering wheel as he tugs it in the opposite direction of our back wheels. He tightens his grip on the wheel as his eyes narrow in concentration as he shifts through the gears with a couple of clicks against the wheel. I know that under the helmet his jaw is tense with concentration and I suddenly wish the safer device wasn't there so I could see him. My hand reaches for Dan's arm, squeezing onto it as the car straightens, my jaw is dropped open in shock as I try not to let my free hand shake.
As we cross the line Daniel let's the car slow, I'm still stunned into silence. I'm a little high on adrenaline and definitely shaky, but somehow despite the thud of my heart in my chest I'm grinning again.
"Your turn baby!" Daniel cheers at me, eyes bright and excited as he looks for my reaction.
"I can't do that!" I deny with with a shake of my head because really, I think then we would fly off the track and...
"You can. I'll be right here." And with those words, I know I'll be fine.
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I hope you all enjoyed, also enjoy the next chapter or 2 of peace before chaos ensues
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