A race to your heart (Zarry AU)

10.- Seeing Red 🏁

Harry's POV

The winter sun bathed the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in a golden light, throwing long shadows across the pit lane as the teams prepared for the day's testing.

I stood there, enveloped in the iconic red jumpsuit that now bore my name.
The excitement started to creep back. I was thinking about the car, the team dynamics, and how I couldn't wait to get out on the track and show what I could do. The environment was infectious, and I was caught up in it too, the thrill of the sport pulling me back in. I felt the weight of the moment, the realization that I was about to step into a Ferrari, a machine that carried the legacy of countless champions.

The team's engineers and mechanics, explained the car's new design, pointing out the details of this year's upgrades, my mind was elsewhere though.

Sliding into the cockpit, I felt the embrace of the molded seat, and the steering wheel under my hands. I pressed the ignition button, and the engine roared to life, a beast awakened under my control.

As I launched out of the pit lane, the G-forces pinned me to the seat, each corner was a test of my skill, and each straight was a moment to unleash the raw power of the iconic car. But amidst the joy, a nagging thought clung to the back of my mind.

"Why haven't I heard from him?" The question repeated like a broken record, disrupting my concentration.

No replies to my calls or messages. He seemed to ghost me completely. The realization hit me like a sudden downshift. Would the dream team become a challenge for our relationship? If we have a relationship still of course. Then I remember our last conversation.

"Whatever happens, we'll make it work," I said, squeezing his hand across the bed. "We're a team, remember?"

He smiled a genuine, heartwarming smile that made all the doubts fade away at that moment. "Yeah, we are."

The session flew by in a haze of speed and adrenaline. Every lap brought me closer to mastering the car, to understanding its nuances. But even as I pushed the limits, my thoughts kept drifting back to him. We were supposed to be doing this together, side by side. But now, that future felt uncertain, like a mirage on the horizon.

After my first run, I pulled into the garage, the car coming to a halt amid the controlled chaos of the team. I climbed out, my body buzzing with the aftereffects of speed.

I retreated to a quiet corner of the garage, trying to process everything. The fluorescent lights flickered overhead, casting a harsh glow on the polished floor. The reality of my situation hit me in waves—this was Ferrari, the pinnacle of motorsport, and I was here. Yet the joy of it was tempered by the gnawing fear of what it meant for Zayn and me.

Always Zayn.

It had been a week since I last heard from him, and the silence was eating me alive. After the day I got the call, after our last time together, everything had changed. He had become distant, and withdrawn, and now, he wasn't even here. I needed to talk to him, to understand what was going on, but he was nowhere to be found.

And then I saw him. I squinted my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing visions.

"What the fuck?" I whispered under my breath and felt a sudden void in my stomach.

Zayn emerged from the paddock, his presence unmistakable even in the bustling chaos of the circuit. He wore the white and turquoise of Mercedes, the colors stark against his tanned skin, making him look every bit the star he was destined to be.

For a moment, everything around me froze. The noise of the paddock faded into the background, and all I could see was him. My heart pounded in my chest, a mix of anger, confusion, and something I couldn't quite name. He hadn't told me. Not a word about Mercedes, about the move that would make him my rival. Again.