𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐄, o. piastri

xv. quali quali quali

1st april 2023, afternoon
melbourne, australia

"... and Q3 decides the final order of the top 10 drivers?"

"yes, you go it!" aiden flashed her a toothy smile as olivia leaned in to peck his lips. caleb, who was driving, rolled his eyes but neither of them noticed, to infatuated with each other.

"we're here." olivia perked up when she caught sight of the big f1 sign above the paddock entrance. she fished hers and aiden's passes out of her purse as they reached the barriers.

aiden stared, dumbfounded, as they stepped into the paddock. his mouth hung open and his eyes widened as he took the whole place in, doing a 360 as he walked alongside his girlfriend. he looked like a kid at a candy shop and olivia couldn't help but smile.

"this way to the mclaren garage." she pointed in the direction of the papaya building, taking the blonde's hand and pulling him along.

"pretty cool, right?"

"this place is insane!"

the trio made their way to mclaren hospitality. olivia and caleb guided the way while aiden followed in tow, "olivia, caleb."

"charlotte!" olivia greeted the mclaren pr manager, "how are you today?"

"doing good. managed to get the boys film a video on time earlier today, which was a relief. are you looking for oscar?"

"yeah, we just wanted to wish him good luck before qualifying."

"i'll find him and let him know you're here."

"thank you." charlotte smiled at girl before walking away.

"okay, while we wait for oscar i say we get some food." caleb pointed to the free food that lined the far wall of the room. aiden agreed, patting his stomach.

the boys nicked a few snacks for them from the table, bringing them back to where olivia had situated herself on a comfy couch. "when's this thing supposed to start?"

"at 4, so in roughly 40 minutes."

"which means i only have 7 minutes free." olivia's gaze travelled of the mclaren driver who had showed up behind aiden. he wore his black fireproofs with his race suit tied at his waist.

"hey, man." caleb smiled, dabbing up the aussie. olivia rounded the couch, aiden following suit and standing behind her.

the american and the aussie made eye contact, but oscar broke it instead looking at the girl in front of him. he leaned down to hug her tightly, firmly gripping her waist.

"since you have such little time, quick introductions are in order. oscar, this is aiden, my boyfriend. aiden, this is oscar."

"the famous oscar. olivia has told me a lot about you, it's nice to finally meet you." aiden reached his hand out to shake the aussie's. oscar glared at his hand for a second before taking it.

"i've heard a lot about you too." he was stoic, his face holding a blank expression at the blonde.

there was a silence that followed oscar's words. the two men holding eye contact while olivia looked in between them. neither knew what to say next.

"i was telling aiden about all the alpine drama earlier and how proud everyone is that you're at mclaren." she tried to break the ice.

"yeah, it all sounded really rough. but mclaren's a great team. i love their cars."

oscar hummed, "it's a really great team. i'm very happy here."

silence again. olivia opened her mouth to speak again but a mclaren employee had yelled oscar's name. "i've got to go, but enjoy qualifying guys. i'll see you later, livvy?"

olivia nodded and smiled, oscar's lips immediately curved up when he averted his gaze from aiden to olivia. his features instantly softening. he leaned down, accepting one more hug from his best friend.

"good luck, piastri. i believe in you." she whispered.

"that's all i need." he muttered back for leaving.

p16, out in Q1.

oscar was disappointed to say the least. the mcl60 was definitely one of the slowest cars on the grid. oscar groaned as he pulled himself out of the car.

andrea, zak, tom and a few other mclaren staff surrounded the driver as he took off his helmet and balaclava. he nodded and hummed along with what they were saying, occasionally adding his own input.

"don't give up, oscar." zak clapped his shoulders, "we still have the race tomorrow."

oscar unzipped his race suit as charlotte approached him with the list of interviews he had to do in the media pen, but the australian wasn't listening to the mclaren employee. instead he stared at where he spotted olivia.

oscar could swear he felt his heart sink. olivia stood leaned against the papaya coloured wall. aiden stood in front of her, his hands on her sides while hers looped around his neck. she was giggling at something he said. aiden gently cupped the girl's face attaching his lips to hers.

oscar looked away, he felt like he was going to throw up. "oscar, are you okay?" charlotte seemed concerned for the driver.

"i'm fine. let's just get these interviews over with." charlotte nodded, motioning in the direction of the media pen, which was, of course, in the same direction as where olivia and aiden were stood, still kissing.

charlotte cleared her throat as she neared the pair, olivia gently pushing her boyfriend off and smiling nervously at the older woman. her eyes switched from charlotte to oscar, who was right behind her.

"os, hey i'm—" the brunette didn't even get to finish her sentence before oscar stormed away behind his pr manager, not giving olivia a second glance.

the brunette sighed, staring confused as her best friend's figure wandered farther away from her.

"hey, don't worry about him. he's probably just really upset from the result." aiden tried to console the visibly distressed girl.

"yeah, i just— i wanted to tell him i still believe in him."

SUNNY SPEAKS
these chapters just keep getting harder and harder to write 😭 AND NEXT CHAPTER IS GONNA BE EVEN SADDER I HOPE YOU GUYS ARE READY (who am i kidding i'm not even ready to write it 💀)

i would say 'happy tuesday' but tuesday was not happy for me and this is not a very happy chapter 😭😭 how was your day?? i hope it was great and you had a lot of fun 🫶