Unchained Melody (Daniel Ricciardo)

Home, but not home

"Are you ok baby? I know it must be weird being back here." Daniel says, placing his hand on Ayla's thigh as they drive through Zandvoort.
They have left Spa and decided to head straight to Zandvoort as the race will be held there that coming weekend.

It's the first time since she scattered her mothers ashes that she is back in her hometown and she isn't too sure how she feels.
Of course all the memories of her mom are just washing over her, giving her warm feelings for the fond memories, but also sadness that she is here but won't be able to see her mom.

She doesn't even know if she will see her father. On one side she would like to speak to him, to see how he is doing. No matter what he said and did, he's still her father who used to be a good one. A bit strict, but loving father who is the reason she fell in love with F1 in the first place. If he hadn't taken her to so many races, she probably wouldn't be where she is now.

So despite of everything, she does have that to thank him for. But before she would ever thank him he owes her a massive apology and a lot of groveling. Otherwise there's not really much to talk about.

They drive over the boulevard which gives a great view on the North Sea. A place she knows so well and once called her home. Now it doesn't really feel like home anymore. Her cottage at the Horner property is much more her home, even Perth felt more like home.

But there she is surrounded by people who really care about her. In Zandvoort she's not anymore. Surely there's Amy's parents and some other people she knows, but she hasn't heard from them in forever, not that she has been reaching out, but still.

"Too bad we won't really be able to explore much. I would love to get a tour by you. But I don't really want us to be stalked by fans." Daniel says with a sigh.
"Zandvoort isn't exactly a vibrant place. We have some cute shops and nice restaurants, but besides that it's pretty quiet. Except for this week of course. I can see the flags and decorations are already put up in the streets."
She points into the main shopping street where there's indeed a lot of checkered flags and other race related decorations hanging from the buildings.

"It's good that F1 is back here. The circuit is awesome and most people really enjoy this time." Ayla states.
Of course there's always the few who aren't fans of the sport, but it's only one week a year, so they will just have to get over it.

"Maybe we can try to go to some of the beach restaurants. I don't want to be stuck in the hotel room all week. We will just have to call ahead and maybe they can make sure we're the only guests there. Or we could go with Seb and Melissa, Lando and.... Oh shit. I almost forgot." Daniel quickly stops when he realizes the mistake he almost made.

Lando and Tina are not back together even though Ayla has tried to talk to Tina about it multiple times. Her friend didn't want to talk about it, she still feels like it's the right thing to do, but it's so obvious that she is devastated and she misses Lando a lot.

For Lando, Spa wasn't a good weekend because of it. He couldn't get his head into it. So for the first time Daniel out qualified him and he even finished before his younger team mate. Something that hasn't happened before.
He may only got one point by finishing P10, but it was good to score a point after McLaren sacked him. It gave him the feeling that he was maybe able to show them they made a mistake.

It could just be that one time, but he is hoping this weekend might go well again. Not just to prove a point, but also because it's Ayla's hometown and he would love to have a good result on the circuit they met for the first time.

He remembers that day so well, he was new in F1 and he suddenly saw the most beautiful, blonde girl walking around. She was so confident in that paddock, talking and joking with everybody, even the guys he looked up to so much. For her they were just her friends, people she grew up with.