Full Throttle

the call

Daniels POV:

The time is 3:27am in Monaco and my phone is ringing. 

"Hello?" I say in a tired confused tone.

"Yes hi, is this Daniel Ricciardo?" A lady asks me.

"The one and only." I reply back.

"I am calling to let you know that Finn Hartley has passed away and you are his daughters guardian so her only option is to come and live with you. If this does not suit you or you no longer want to be caring for the child we can go through the process of finding her a foster family, although until then she will have to stay with you."

It hits me like a ton of bricks. My best friend, who I haven't spoken to in 14 years is dead? 

"Finn is dead?"

"Yes he passed away in a car crash earlier today, it seemed that it was not an accident."

Guilt seeps into my veins.

"Is Lena able to stay with you?" The woman asks and snaps me out of this dreadful feeling.

"Yeah of course no problem."

"Great I will send you through all of the extra information you will need."

I hang up the phone and sit up in bed in my dark room and bring my knees to my chest. The last day I spoke to Finn, Lena's dad, was so long ago but I remember it like it was yesterday. Me and Finn were racing against each other in F3 and on the last lap of the last race of the season we were tied on points and I accidently ran him off the track causing him to crash and his career to end. At this stage of our lives we had been best friends since we went to highschool together and did karting together. He even asked me to be his kids legal guardian if something ever happened to him and his wife, Selena. At the time it felt like the biggest honour to be trusted with something so serious, but never in a million years did I expected to be asked to have to actually look after his kid. 

I had seen through social media that his wife, who I knew well, passed away around a year ago. The voice of the lady on the phone keeps replaying in my head, "it seemed that it was not an accident," lingered in my thoughts and a tinge of regret pulls at my heart for not reaching out to him. I saw the posts. Why didn't I just send him a message? Or give him a call? I ask myself. Maybe I could have prevented all of this happening. 

I was so hung up on the fact that Finn had died that I completely forgot that I will have to look after Lena. I have to look after a child. Will she want to come to my races? Does she like F1? Last time I saw year she was only a few months old. I do the math and realise she must be 15 now. I feel guilty for missing so much of her life.

Before I know it my 6:00am alarm sounds and pulls me out of my thoughts. I turn it off and check my phone. I received an email from who I am assuming is the lady on the phone giving me Lena's flight details. She is arriving at 5:00pm. So that gives me the next 11 hours to somehow prepare to be this kids guardian. 

I spent the rest of the day researching on how to be a parent and what I should be expecting from a teenage girl who just recently became orphaned. As well as getting one of my guest rooms ready for her to temporarily stay in before she can choose out her own room. 

~:~:~

The sound of my Mclaren 674LT is buzzing through my ears. I can feel the sound of the engine in my chest. It makes me smile. I am on the way to the airport to pick up Lena. She must be feeling so scared. Her dad just died and she's on a plane on the way to a foreign country to live with me, who I doubt she would remember or even know that her dad was friends with me. Finn was always so humble and conservative and never took the spotlight, always offering it to someone else, to let them shine. That person was always me. He could have won that race if it wasn't for me. He could have had the life I am living right now. 

I slide into a pick up bay and step out of my car and lean on the front hood with my arms crossed, looking out for her. 10 minutes later I see a small girl with long blonde hair who seems to be a spitting image of Finn. I don't even have to ask if she is Lena. 

"Hey kid!" I yell out to her when she is about 5 meters from me. She has a heavy looking suitcase by her side and I take it from her as she replies with a "hey, it's great to meet you." She has a smile on her face but I can tell that it is hiding a world of pain. 

I place her suitcase into the back seat and she slides into the passenger seat. 

"Nice car." She tells me. 

"Yeah thanks, I only got it recently"

The rest of the car ride was mostly silent on the way back to my house. I could tell that she valued silence, just like her father. As we are about 5 minutes from my house she finally speaks up.

"So you knew my dad?"

I knew she would ask this but it didn't make it any less painful.

"Yeah we used to race together."

"Race!?"

"Yeah karting then F3." I state with a confused look plastered on my face. Did she not know her dad was one of the biggest up and coming F1 drivers?

"You're telling me that my dad used to race in F3?"

"Did you not know?"

"I don't know anything about my dad's childhood or his early years, only where he went to school and grew up."

I don't blame Finn for not telling his daughter about his childhood. His parents were abusive and only cared about how he performed in the car. I can recall one time that he spun out during a karting race and his parents left him at the track, making him find his own way home and didn't feed him for three days. I always used to take extra food with me to school after he had a bad race because I didn't even have to ask what was happening at home. I could tell by his sunken eyes and prominent collar bones. 

I pull into my driveway and look over my left shoulder at Lena who has her mouth opened with wide eyes staring at my house. I chuckle at her before pulling her suitcase out of the car and clicking the remote to lock it. I lead her into the house and place her suitcase down in the hallway. 

"Come, i'll show you your room, it's only temporary for now until you want to pick out any room and we can decorate it how you like."

"Thank's Daniel."

"Welcome home kid."

Authors notes:

Hey everyone! Sorry for disappearing for a hot second. Things got super busy with term three ending at my school and going to my first grand prix in singapore! I am so ridiculously sad about all the rumours about danny rn. But Daniel was on my flight back to Perth! I got a photo with him at the airport and he signed my cap!! Anyway I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and make sure to comment and give me feedback!