Daylight, paul aron

chapter five

-"We should head to the podium soon. Before we miss it." Paul broke the silence. We had been sitting for a while, I wasn't sure how long though. "Ari would want you to be there."

He was trying to convince me. Luckily for him, it worked. I nodded, drying my eyes for what felt like the millionth time today. I stood up brushing myself off and offering Paul a hand on instinct. When I realised what I was doing he was already standing up, using my hand to pull me out of the dim hall.

I looked down at our hands and dropped mine so no one would see what we were doing. Rumours spread quickly and I didn't want to be known for dating fellow drivers. It wouldn't get me anywhere.

"Come on. We have to be fast." Paul said with a laugh.

"I'm not slow." I said, trying my hardest not to roll my eyes.

"I never said you were." He looked back and smiled at me. Man. What was going on? I walked a little faster, suddenly remembering Ari. My teammates wouldn't miss me at their podiums, but Ari would.

We caught sight of the crowd gathered below the podium. There was more of a crowd than during formula four podiums, but definitely less than any of the formula one or two races I had been to.

I suddenly felt proud. Proud of Ari. Proud of Gabriel. Proud of Oliver. Proud that I knew them. That I could call them my friends. I knew if they had a similar race to mine and I had any of their results, they would be proud of me too.

I smiled and clapped for them. Putting my hands around my mouth and yelling support.

My smile spread as I caught Ari's eyes. They were filled with such joy. I was glad Paul had found me. I was glad he had stopped me from missing the podium.

I glanced to my side and noticed he was already looking down at me.

-

"Hey! What do you want to do tonight?" I asked Ari after we had both changed and showered.

"Aren't you spending it with your sister and mom?" He asked using a towel to dry his wet hair.

"They're leaving in an hour. I'm going to head to the airport with them but I'm still free to celebrate with you."

"Okay. What can we do at night in Bahrain? We can't go to clubs. And everything else is closed." He stated with a shrug. I thought for a moment.

"We could go to a restaurant, or order some food and watch a movie." I got another idea. "We could invite Gab and Oliver over too!"

Ari gave me a look.

"If we're inviting your teammates, we're inviting mine." I laughed and agreed. It didn't matter too much to me. I knew Ari was just joking around about my teammates and I.

Trident trio 🔱3️⃣

Hey
Do you guys want to come over to
Ari's hotel room for a movie night and
Dinner?

Gab 🏆:
Sure

Goethe 🧍🏼:
Okay, what time?

6:30 ish
Is that all good?

Goethe 🧍🏼:
Yeah

Gab 🏆:
Is it just us and Ari?

No, Paul and Dino too
But don't worry, his room is MASSIVE

I turned my phone off.

"Oliver and Gabriel are all set. What about Paul and Dino?" I asked Ari. Getting up from his spare bed. It was time for me to drop my mom and sister off at the airport.

"They said 'as long as we order Italian'. That's fine right?"

"We can make multiple orders." I shrugged. I was in the mood for sushi and I bet Ari was too.

-

Walking back to Ari's room made me feel a little numb. I went from being sad to happy to sad again in such a small amount of time. I had just said goodbye to my family. I wouldn't be seeing any of them for a couple of months.

It made me realise how much time I spent with my family since starting karting. I spent more time with Ari than my actual siblings.

I shook those thoughts away. "We can be happy tonight," I told myself.

I knocked on his door and was surprised to see everyone there already. Dino had answered the door since Ari was wrestling Oliver on his bed.

"What." Was all I managed to get out watching their 'fight' unfold in front of me.

"We were bored." Gab shrugged. Not fazed by it all.

"Oh."

"Yeah, we even made bets." Dino explained excitedly. I walked over to the spare bed and sat down.

"Why? Even I could beat Ari." I asked. I was genuinely curious.

"Hey!" Ari got distracted by what I said and Oliver pushed him off the bed. We all burst out laughing.

I felt a shoulder brush mine and sit down beside me. Paul had moved from the chair in the corner to join me on the spare bed.

I knew I would enjoy this night.

A/n:
i'm starting school on wednesday ☹️