The lights of the circuit had faded, the sound of engines now a distant echo. It was one of those nights when everything seemed to hang in the air, when every little detail held a significance unnoticed by most. The night when everything between them began, the night when everything changed.
Kevin Magnussen stood alone in the shadows of the deserted paddock, helmet still in hand. His breathing was heavy, his heart pounding harder than it had during the race. Yet there was no victory, no celebration in sight. Just the strange sensation of emptiness, as if he had lost something without even knowing what.
Then, Nico Hülkenberg appeared. He, too, seemed exhausted, the glow of the floodlights casting deep lines on his face. He walked toward Kevin, hesitating, almost as if something was holding him back. Their eyes met, and in that instant, everything came flooding back to Kevin: the night they had first met. The night that had both broken and bound them.
Kevin remembered the confusion, the chaos of that first meeting. They had hated each other, driven by the rivalry that had led to sharp exchanges and confrontations on the track. But beyond those moments of tension, there had been that one night. The night he had met Nico in a way he had never imagined.
They had both been at a party after a race, the dim lights creating an almost unreal atmosphere. Nico was there, alone, shoulders hunched, a drink in hand, while Kevin watched him from a distance. He didn't know what had driven him to approach, to cross the insurmountable distance between them.
"I had all and then most of you, some and now none of you..." Those words echoed in his mind like a sad melody, a refrain that had lodged itself there since that first night. Kevin didn't understand why, but he felt drawn to Nico, to the emptiness he saw in his eyes. He had tried to fill that void, to get closer, to understand him. But with every attempt, Nico seemed to slip further away.
Now, standing in the quiet paddock, that same feeling crept back into him. "Take me back to the night we met..." It was a fleeting thought, almost desperate. He wanted to go back to that moment when everything could have changed, when he could have said or done something different, something less painful.
Nico walked up to him, hands in the pockets of his racing suit, eyes cast down. The space between them felt tangible, like an invisible barrier.
"Kevin..." Nico murmured, his voice rough with emotion. It was the first time he had called him by his first name in a long time. Kevin felt a shiver run down his spine.
"Why is it always like this?" Kevin asked, his throat tight. "Why is it that every time we get close, we end up ruining everything?"
Nico lifted his gaze, his light eyes shining in the darkness. "Because we're too much alike. We fight, we hurt each other... and in the end, we get lost."
Kevin nodded. He knew Nico was right, but that didn't stop the pain from gnawing at him. He thought back to that night, to how he had felt like something between them was possible. They had talked for hours, shared moments of vulnerability he never thought possible between them. Yet, as soon as the day had broken, they were strangers again—rivals.
"And then I can tell myself what the hell I'm supposed to do..." Kevin closed his eyes, searching for answers he knew he'd never find. He had hoped, maybe naively, that this time would be different. But he no longer knew how to go back, how to regain that connection they had, even briefly.
"I feel like I lost everything that night," he said softly, his voice almost breaking. "And I can't seem to find you again."
Nico remained silent, but his gaze grew more intense. He stepped forward, closing the gap between them. "Maybe we shouldn't try to go back, Kevin. Maybe we just... need to accept it."
Nico's words echoed painfully in Kevin's mind. Accept. Accept that the night they had met would never come back. That it would remain frozen in their memories, a reminder of a possibility that had never materialized.
They stood there, face to face, in a heavy silence filled with everything they could no longer say. The tension between them, made of hope and regret, was almost palpable. And yet, despite everything, there was a sense of peace, a mutual understanding in their eyes.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do, haunted by the ghost of you..."
Perhaps that night would always remain a mystery to them. A moment frozen in time, a fragile instant between two men who should never have gotten close, yet who couldn't stop searching for each other.
A/N:
I know, I've been a bit absent lately, but I'm finally back! I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Good reading! 💫
