⌞ the chain ⌝

⌞ twenty-seven : brace ⌝

"Equal gains."

_ 

A smile didn't leave my face until I got back to the hotel, Jem sitting on the floor outside my door. Lando had left to go hang out with George and Alex. I was supposed to join them later but all I wanted was a shower and to call one of my fathers, and tell them about today's session and how Lando was perfect. But it seemed like my plans were about to get sidetracked. 

"Wright." 

"Leclerc." 

"Get off the floor." 

He stood, brushing off his pants before shoving his hands into his pockets. I rolled my eyes, keeping my distance. I didn't want to give him the idea that he was going to go into my room. He could sit out here like a wet dog for all I cared, but my curiosity was killing me. 

"Speak your peace or leave." 

"Demanding." 

"I have plans." I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow as I waited for him to go on.

He sighed. "What you pulled today, it was... smart." 

"Thanks." 

"Jesus, Lu. Give me something here." 

"We're not friends. You said it yourself, you're not being nice. We're equals, rivals on a track." 

He raised an eyebrow, taking a step toward me and I took one back which stopped him in the middle of his next step. He nodded. "And if I wanted to be friends. Would you ever give that to me? Or do you just rely on what your boy band tells you?" 

"I trust Lando, he wouldn't have a reason to lie." 

"Maybe, maybe not." He shrugged. "But you're a person, not his teammate." 

"Jem, what do you want?" 

I was starting to get annoyed. I knew he was probably just doing it to get under my skin and I was letting him but I couldn't help it. Everything he said was like a personal jab at the person I was and yet, he knew nothing about me. He was shooting in the dark and I was letting it pierce me. 

"A truce, of sorts. Call it the beginning of a friendship." 

"Why?" 

"Because I have a feeling that you're a lot more like me than you care to admit." 

_ 

I sat with my headphones on in a dark corner of the garage. Jules's old race day playlist played in my ears, the soft lilting folk music helping with my nerves as the rain poured outside. They'd pushed qualifying back a bit in the hopes that it would calm down. Damon said it was a good thing but all I could think about was the endless nerves. 

I took the time to mentally prepare myself before even leaving the hotel. Sure, some of my thoughts went back to what Jem had said the night before. He'd given me my space to think about it all. And he was wrong. We weren't alike. I wasn't a bully or an asshole. I fought for my place, sure. But that didn't mean we're alike. 

"Lu, hun." 

I looked up from the floor, seeing Damon kneel in front of me. I pushed my headphones off, raising an eyebrow. Maybe it was time to race. 

"Someone's here for you, kiddo." 

I leaned around him to see the familiar face. I stood, smiling growing on my face as my feet carried me across the garage and into his arms, spinning around in a hug. The scent of his cologne wrapped around me like a childhood blanket. I pulled back to see the smile. 

"Lewis..." 

"Hi, love." 

"What are you doing here?" 

He shrugged, a smile growing on his face as he turned and I saw Nico leaning against the entrance of the garage. Seb came to stand next to him with Kimi. Jenson and Daniel peaked their heads in too, goofy smiles on their face. And then Toto came into the garage, looking as tall as always but that frown turned into a smile. 

"You're all here..." 

"We were close. Figured a small flight wouldn't hurt." Toto shrugged as I walked away from Lewis and into his arms. He gave me a big hug, ruffling my hair. "You cut it." 

"I got tired of it." 

I heard Nico snort. "You and you're constant need for change." 

I hit his arm as I went in for a hug, getting a kiss on the top of my head before I went to hug everyone else. Seb pinching my cheeks, a smile from Kimi which was better than a good poker hand. Daniel picked me up, almost breaking my ribs from hugging me so hard. Jenson just ruffled my hair, knowing I was probably getting overwhelmed. My heart swelled to see them all here, even if it also brought nerves of wanting to impress them. Damon came in, arm falling over my shoulder as he waved at everyone. 

"Sorry to interrupt this beautiful moment, but I need to steal our Lu." He leaned down to me. "Suit up."

_ 

My hands gripped the wheel. The rain had slowed down but within five laps, it was coming down harder than before. I hadn't heard anything from Damon and I was too scared to move my hands from the wheel to hit the radio button. If the information needed to get across, it would happen. But I needed to focus on the fact that I was trying to get around Jem for pole. Lando was behind, already agreeing to let me take pole so he could get P2 and we could fight for the first two steps tomorrow morning. 

But that meant getting around Jem. Which was proving harder than I thought. He was being a complete ass and some of the things he was pulling were dangerous. I was in his DRS and Lando was in mine. Anything he did, dragged all three of us into it. It was stupid and it was going to get all of us hurt if I didn't pay attention. 

"Lu, you have to be careful with Wright. Back off." 

"Hell no. He needs to learn a lesson about driving." 

I hit the button, turning off the radio. I didn't need Damon telling me how to drive right now. Jem wanted to prove to me that we were the same and I was going to prove we weren't. I pulled ahead, forcing Lando out of my DRS so he didn't have the chance of getting hurt as I went into this turn. 

Jem was going to go wide and I would use the DRS to slingshot me on the inside. But I had to play it right. Speed was everything in this moment but with the rain, it was a borderline awful decision. I didn't care. I needed to prove him wrong. I needed to help Lando to the front. I needed to show my fathers that I was in the right place and they put their faith in the right person. 

So I followed, foot pressing harder as I went into the turn. Jem did exactly what I knew he would and I could almost feel the car pulled up to meet him in the turn. I pressed on the brakes, knowing I would need to slow down before the climax, and turned the wheel. But there it was. 

I always wondered why the brain made things move in slow motion when something was coming. It could have been a way to make sure everything was processed or maybe it was because to make it go at speed would only prolong whatever was about to come. If it was slow, the fall would never happen, the hit would never make contact, and the car would never spin out. 

But slow motion didn't stop the lock-up of wheels, it didn't stop the hydroplane, and it most definitely didn't stop a car from sliding across the grass to a concrete barrier as the rain poured down, only adding to the speed at which the car moved. It didn't ever stop any of it but it did make it feel like you had time to prepare. 

Hands off the wheel.

Across the chest. 

Head down. 

The darkness wasn't talked about in the lessons about bracing but it did come. It came quickly, with barely any pain. Maybe that's why it all moved so slow. 

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a/n: BEFORE YOU START YELLING AT ME, REMEMBER! the brocedes fic is a bribe for this and everything else to come :)
i love you all, promise. and as always, love it or don't :p