Love in thirds

5.3 Daniel & Nell

You're jogging back towards the McLaren garage after chatting with the two new girls you just met. They seemed really nice, you'd definitely be seeing the strawberry blonde hospitality girl from Ferrari, since she joins every race week as well. You hope the other girl joins for more races as well, it would be nice to make some new friends for the weekends. You wave at the mechanics while walking towards Michael. "They wanted to know if you could take some shots outside when the pitstop with Dan is happening, do you want to do that?" you nod, "obviously!" he chuckles, "I figured that, but they wanted me to ask you anyways. It's nice to have you here every race weekend now. Will keep Daniel a lot saner as well."

You look at him with raised eyebrows, how much did Daniel tell him? He smiles when he sees your confusion, "don't worry, apart from his parents, Blake and me, no one knows. You know he can't shut his mouth when he's very happy about something, and trust me, he's very happy about this." You smile when Michael squeezes your shoulder before taking position to shoot some shots during the pitstop.

You're waiting in Daniel's drivers room after the race. You had seen him briefly walking through the garage, and his body language said it all. He was disappointed, and you were thinking of ways to make him happier. Daniel has two sides to this, or he wants to talk about it until it's all out of his brain, or he shuts down and wants to be alone for a while. You're not sure which of the two he is right now. If he shuts down, you'll probably go for a walk after making sure he's safely in the hotel room until he calls you to come back. It's a thing you've been doing ever since you were friends. You don't mind walking around in the warmth of the summer evening, so it's not a problem if he wants to be alone.

If he's in a talkative mood you might run a bath and talk while relaxing. That might lift him up. The door opens slowly while you're thinking of other things to do, and you watch how the "I'm okay" mask drops as soon as he closes the door.

You hesitate before you lean back on the couch while opening your arms for him. He walks towards you before dropping into your embrace. He's still warm, wearing his fireproof shirt and the overalls are knotted around his waist. Your fingers rake through his curls, and he sighs softly while closing his eyes. You sit like that for a long time, until he finally tangles himself from your arms. You look at him, wiping away the tears that left his eyes. You peck him on the lips, "love you" you murmur, and he smiles slightly. "Love you too. I'm going to shower really quick and then we'll go back to the hotel, okay? Let's have room service and stay in, please." You nod while squeezing his hand before he leaves to shower quickly.

You see that Grace texted you to give Daniel a kiss, and to tell him that they're proud of him always. You smile, it's so sweet that she thinks of texting you that, you tell her that you will tell him, and that you'll probably facetime them tomorrow before you're flying to Holland to see your family.

After Daniel is done showering, you make sure he has everything before he goes back to the garage to say goodbye to the team. Everyone pats him on the back, saying that it's not his fault, and that they'll come back stronger after summer break. He thanks everyone for their hard working, trying to hide how upset he is. You're waiting for him with his bags in your hands, and he smiles a genuine small smile when he sees you standing like that. You walk towards his car side by side, not touching, but close enough. You put his bags on the backseat before sitting down. He places his hand on your thigh when he drives away, and you intertwine your fingers, softly rubbing his knuckles.

Daniel drops down on the matrass after coming back to the hotel room. You chuckle slightly before sitting down next to him and rubbing his back muscles. You suddenly remember that Daniel always carries a small bottle of massage oil in case he gets stiff muscles. "Do you want me to leave for a bit?" you ask him softly, but he shakes his head. "Shall I give you an amateur massage then before we take a nice bath?" he shifts his head to look at you and nods, "don't tell anyone this though. They'll think I'm a wimp instead of the coolest guy on the grid." You giggle before pressing a kiss on his cheek. "Well, undress for me Mr Ricciardo, I'm going to change, and I'll be back in a minute." He chuckles while standing up and taking off his clothes, putting them sort of neat into his suitcase, so you won't nag at him tomorrow that he's messy.