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Lewis was nervous, because Lewis had a date. Lewis had never had a date before, and Lewis was very aware of that fact. He paced up and down the garage flipping his phone in his fingers, breathing in and out as steadily as possible. What if she doesn’t show up? What if she secretly hates me? WHAT IF IT’S A JOKE?! The horror caused him to stop dead in his tracks, setting off a chain reaction that ended in him turning round and seeing Nico in a pile on the floor, bitch-glaring at him and holding his hands up.
“What the fuck was that?!”
Lewis’ eyes widened and he shot his teammate an ‘oops’ face. “Sorry, man. Were you behind me?” He held out a hand for Nico to take, which the German/Finnish/Monegasque driver did, with some huffing and residual resentment pouting its way to the surface as he let himself be hauled back onto his feet.
“Yes. I was.” Nico dusted himself off and ran a hand through his hair.
Why would she have said yes to me when she knows Nico? He’s so goddamn pretty. Lewis found himself staring back at the German sullenly. “S-sorry, man. I wasn’t paying attention.”
Nico gave him a look that said of this I am perfectly aware and narrowed his eyes as he studied Lewis’ face. “What’s going on with you?”
Lewis started flipping his phone again. “Nothing.”
“Pfffff.” Nico made a motion for them to carry on walking down the pit lane, and Lewis fell in step beside him. “Come on, what’s wrong?”
Lewis took a deep breath and sighed, hoping he wouldn’t have this information used against him in an on-track scenario. “I…I have a date.”
Nico shot him a sideways look. “Right. Is this not a positive thing?”
Lewis nodded and chewed his lip. “Yeah. But also… terrifying.”
“Terrifying?!”
Lewis glared at the shock on his teammate’s face and nodded. “Yes, ok. I’ve never actually…had a date. Like, a date. A date outside racing…with another person.”
“When you say ‘another person’…” Nico looked at him oddly. “What do you mean?”
“Like… a girl outside of racing.”
Nico nodded and looked away. “You just weren’t very…gender specific.”
Lewis’ eyes widened at he looked back at his teammate. “What?”
Nico shrugged at him and held open the door back into the building. “Why are you looking at me like that? Some people are gay. Not usually motor racing people, but some people are gay.” He rolled his eyes at Lewis’ stare. “No, that wasn’t me ‘coming out’, that was just me checking you weren’t coming out.”
Lewis shrugged slightly and finally put his phone in his pocket. “Ok, man. Whatever.”
Nico rolled his eyes again and looked away. “Can’t a guy just have good hair around here?”
Lewis laughed and the slightly elevated tension dissipated instantly. “Ok, ok. Sorry.”
Nico smiled at him and they realized they were heading for the same place: food. They chose in comfortable silence and sat down opposite each other at a table, out of habit or want Lewis was never sure. He hoped it was want. It was for him, anyway, but his teammate could always surprise him.
“So…” Nico attempted to talk and chew at the same time and somehow maintained his poise. Need to remember that for later. “Terrifying date.”
Lewis nodded and waited until he’d swallowed. “Yep. I mean…I’m so out of practice. Well... I’ve never been in practice.”
Nico nodded and thoughtfully wound his spaghetti. “Well..what’s making you nervous?”
Lewis sighed and put down his fork. “Like.. everything. But mostly…” He grimaced as he realized the crux of the problem. “The idea of kissing… her.”
Nico’s eyes widened once more and carbonara ricocheted slightly over his top lip as a muffled “huh?!” exploded out of his mouth.
“Yeah, ok.” Lewis could feel his cheeks burning incandescently under the unfortunately unforgiving halo of the hospitality lights. “I’ve not kissed anyone…for a long time.”
“Like, ever?!”
Lewis almost choked. “Yes, yeah, obviously… but like, years ago, man.” Nico held his stare and Lewis nodded. “Years.”
Nico’s face remained still, considering this new information. “Well…”
Lewis gulped, shrugged and took a swig of Diet Coke as he tried to keep himself busy under scrutiny. “Yeah.”
“Want to practice?”
Lewis frowned and motioned out the window. “We just did. Next session doesn’t start for another 45 minutes.”
Nico rolled his eyes yet again and Lewis felt himself starting to get irritated with the German’s apparent disregard for the fact that he could see him doing it. Every time. “What? Stop rolling your eyes at me, man. I’m answering your question.”
Nico laughed slightly and pushed his now empty plate forward a few inches, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “No, idiot. I mean…practice kissing.”
Lewis’ face could have been auctioned as art. “WHAT?!”
Nico shrugged. “Hey, I’m just trying to help out, ok?” His eyes stayed locked on his teammate’s bewildered expression and he spread his hands mid-air. “It’s not such a crazy idea.”
Lewis sat stock still and stared. “It’s a crazy idea.”
“Worried you’ll like it too much?”
“No! Worried I’ll say no?”
“No! Worried you’re a horrible kisser?” Nico folded his arms in satisfaction as he watched Lewis splutter and try and keep his cool. “HA. So…you need practice.”
Lewis nodded uncomfortably and felt his cheeks burn again as he nodded. “Ok, yes, FINE. I need practice.”
Nico gave him a wicked grin and stood up. “To the kissing !” He waited for his teammate to accept the idea of actually following it through, which took a long time, before leading him down to the room they had for changing into their overalls and getting ready. “No one will see us here.”
Lewis gulped and looked around. “Are you sure?!”
Nico nodded and stood in front of him. “Promise.”
“You sound like you’ve done this before.”
Nico gave a little shrug and put his hands on his hips. “Maybe I have.”
Lewis felt his heart rocket again as he thought through both this scenario – the strangely keen but unflustered teammate – and the later scenario – the not-so-strangely keen and equally unflustered Eva. He floated back to reality as Nico clicked his fingers.
“Ok…so. We’ve just had a nice dinner – actually true- and now it’s the end of the night. What do you do?”
Lewis awkwardly moved forwards and put a hand on Nico’s waist.
“Ok, stop stop stop.” The hand was snatched back. “We’re not ballroom dancing.” Another roll of the eyes. “Just… get close. See how she reacts.” Nico took a step forward and they found themselves face to face. “Assuming she looks more keen than you do right now, go for it.”
Lewis could see the challenge in his eyes. Go for it. He gulped once more before finding his lips gently meeting Nico’s. Go for it…
It was weird. A lot weirder than he thought anything could ever be. It was so gentle at first, and it was pleasantly true that he could feel the kissing-rust fading fast he started to relax into it. This is almost… nice.
What he didn’t expect was the tongue. He’d cocooned himself into thinking that somehow that barrier would remain unbroken, but no. The German was invading. His mind started to process it and respond as he felt a hand snake around him and pull him slightly closer. This is weird. Because it’s good. But it’s also very weird. He focused on imagining Nico as a girl, any girl, before forcing his mind to imagine her. Eva. The girl he was meeting. That had an effect. He pulled the German in and focused on responding to everything Nico did, before finding himself pulling away, wanting breath, and leaning his forehead on his teammate’s. The eye contact, so close, wasn’t awkward. But it was intense. Nico took a step back and Lewis realized he’d been running his fingers through his hair. That IS slightly awkward.
Nico stood there and quietly assessed him, looking ruffled, smug and impressed at the same time. Lewis stared at him.
“So…?”
Nico flashed him that wicked grin again. “I, er… I think you’ll be ok.”
Someone shouted through from outside that Nico was needed. The German moved his head towards the noise to signal his departure and smiled at the expression on Lewis’ face as he tried to talk.
“S-so…see you in a few minutes?”
Nico crossed the space between them in two steps and planted another quick kiss. “We’ll see. Have to catch me first.”
Lewis watched him walk out and stared around the room, still not really able to move or process what had just happened. Oh, I will catch you.
“Th-thanks..?”