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"Don’t." Kimi turns away from Romain when he steps towards him. "I am not in the mood right now." And Kimi’s tone should have been enough to tell Romain to back off, but the kid is stubborn, and of course he never listens. He stands behind Kimi in the garage, and Kimi can feel his eyes on him, making his neck feel hot. "What do you want?"
It’s getting late after practice, and most of the team have left the circuit for the night, but there are still a few working. Surprisingly, Kimi and his physio are some of them, along with a few mechanics. Everyone in the garage is ignoring them, all of them painfully averting their eyes and making sure to stay as far away from the both of them as possible. Things are explosive between them and the rest of the team is smart enough not to ignite the fuse.
For a long time, Romain stares at the back of Kimi’s head and says nothing, but finally he clears his throat and says in what seems like the smallest voice he’s ever heard “I’m sorry.” And he should have known better than to say that. He probably could have said anything else and gotten away with it, but not that.
"Get away from me." Kimi’s voice was soft as ever but the aggression was palpable. Romain could almost feel tears in his eyes and he turned away slowly, walking back to his own side of the garage.
~*~
Later, Kimi’s phone buzzes and he picks it up, looking at the message— from Romain.
'What did you want me to say?' Kimi sighs loudly.
'anything besides “i don't know him” and “he's a bad teammate”' Because although Romain had said some positive things about him during the press conference, he’s also spewed out complete bull shit and honestly, it shouldn’t affect Kimi at all. People are free to say whatever they like and he knows that but he didn’t expect it from Romain. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t hurt.
'Next time I will tell them that we fucked while I cried that you were leaving me.' It took every bit of self control that Kimi had to keep himself from throwing his phone against the wall. Instead he shuts down, sick of thinking about it.
'ok.' He replies simply, and sets his phone to silent and places it on the nightstand in his room. He knows Romain has typed a response, and he knows as the minutes go on and he doesn’t answer, his teammate has probably typed ten more. The word ‘teammate’ hangs in his mind and his stomach flips.
He never expected to like Romain when the 2012 season started. He never expected to even speak to him but as the season carried on, he found it impossible to ignore him. They were opposites in almost every way. Romain was constantly smiling, always hugging people and shaking hands, and he was a complete rookie.
Kimi keeps to himself, he barely speaks with the team, and he’s a world champion for fuck’s sake. How did he get paired with a French rookie? And in the beginning of the season, Kimi felt nothing when the media started throwing the words “Crash Kid” around— it was harsh, but that’s the name of the game.
In Monaco, they’re all on the same plane together, and before they take off, he can hear Romain on the phone to his wife. They’re speaking French and Kimi has no idea what he’s saying, but he can hear the hitch in Romain’s voice, and the somber tone when he says “good bye.”
There’s a few extra moments before they take off, and something in Kimi’s brain tells him to stand up, and he does. He quickly walks up a couple of rows and takes an empty seat next to Romain, who visibly stiffens and looks at Kimi out of the corner of his eye.
"Don’t let it get to you." Kimi says flatly.
"What?" Romain says after a very long and awkward silence.
"The media. Saying stuff about you." Kimi clarifies and finally turns to look at the Frenchman. Romain is looking at him with half confusion, half hurt in his eyes and Kimi isn’t sure what to make of it.
"It’s easy for you to say." Romain forces out a laugh, and Kimi thinks it sounds wrong— not like normal. He sighs and turns to look forward again.
"You’re a good kid. I’m serious. Don’t let it get to you." The plane is taking off, and Kimi has to buckle himself in, forcing them to stay in each other’s presence for at least a few more moments, and Kimi looks relaxed as always, like none of this is out of the ordinary.
They sit in silence as the plane leaves the ground, and Romain is finding it difficult not to stare at his teammate. He wants to say something, but he doesn’t want to ruin the moment, because he’d be a liar if he said he didn’t admire Kimi. He’d be an even bigger liar if he said he wasn’t looking for his approval.
The lights for the seat belts turns off, and Kimi does unbuckle himself, but he stays in the seat next to Romain. He knows Romain is staring, and he glances at him for a moment, silently asking if he can keep his seat, and Romain doesn’t say anything so he stays put. He’ll think about what this means later.
Neither one of them says a word as the flight goes on, but eventually, Romain grabs a pillow, and places it behind his head on the seat, trying to get comfortable. He moves positions countless times and fusses with the pillow before sighing loudly.
"Here." Kimi says, and Romain looks at him questioningly. Kimi scoots as close to the other seat as possible and pats his shoulder. Romain blinks at him a few times before placing the pillow on Kimi’s arm, resting his head on his teammate’s shoulder. "Better?"
"Yes." Romain sighs, feeling comfortable. "Thank you." He says quietly, taking deep breaths and letting sleep overcome him.
~*~
Kimi is brought back to reality when there’s a knock on his hotel door. "What?" He shouts, not getting up from the bed. The only response he gets is another knock, and he sighs heavily, rolling out of the bed and walking to the door. He opens it a crack— Romain. "You should stop coming to my hotel room." He says coldly.
"Come to mine then." Romain replies confidently, nothing like the shy little Frenchman he was a year ago, and Kimi stares at him, contemplating the offer.
"No." Kimi tries to close the door but Romain shoves his hand in the way, stopping it with little effort. "You know we have to wake up early tomorrow."
"I know." Romain says, hand still firm on the door, not at all doubting that Kimi would slam the door on his hand if he loosened his grip. "Just come, please."
Kimi scoffs. Why should he? Romain has been nothing but distant all weekend, but the look in his eyes screams apology and regret, and Kimi can hardly stand it. "I'm getting my phone." He lets go of the door and turns to the nightstand, sweeping up his phone and grabbing a team jacket before leaving the room, following Romain downstairs.
Romain drives them to his hotel, which isn't far away, and as they walk inside, a few people stare, but it's late enough that no one bothers to stop them. "Why your hotel?" Kimi says when they're in the lift.
"Because yours has most of the other drivers in it." Romain explains. "They won't miss you if you're gone, but they'll definitely notice me." Kimi shrugs, accepting it as a decent explanation, and follows Romain out of the lift when they reach his floor.
They walk into the room and the door clicks shut behind them, and Kimi hears Romain sigh. "I don't want to fuck." He breathes out, and Kimi nods.
"Good." Kimi shrugs off his jacket and throws it messily on the floor. "I don't want to hurt you." The words sound cold, but it's the truth. They both have to drive the next morning, and as angry as he might be, the last thing Kimi wants is to compromise Romain's weekend. Instead he pushes his shorts down, kicking them off and climbing into the bed, lifting the blanket for his teammate to join him. He watches as Romain sheds his shoes and jeans, crawling under the blankets his back to Kimi. Romain hesitantly presses himself against Kimi, the warmth quickly spreading between them and Kimi sighs into his shoulder, draping an arm lazily over him.
"I needed this." Romain says softly, nuzzling in the acceptance of Kimi's embrace, and Kimi tangles their legs together.
"I know." He replies, burying his face in the Frenchman's hair. He wouldn't admit it— not right now, but he needed it too. The more tension the pair experienced, the more they craved each other and it was starting to worry Kimi. But it was something he would have to think about later, because he was quickly getting lost in the scent of his teammate and he placed a gentle kiss on his neck before the need for sleep became too overwhelming.