Chapter Text
Austria, Red Bull Ring – Sunday, August 11th 2019
He was happy with the podium, of course he was. But something was still missing to make this Sunday perfect. When his team informed him Valentino had climbed up to the 4th place and was close, Fabio really wished he could finally have what he wished for since the start of the season: a fight with his idol for a podium.
Unfortunately, it didn’t come, again. He was happy though for the words the Italian champ had towards him during the post-race interviews. It wasn’t the first time the older rider underlined how fast and talented Fabio was and every time it made his heart beat faster.
The French man knew it was completely useless, but he couldn’t help being delighted every time the other man had a kind word for him, every little attention from Valentino was making him beyond happy because he was not only the reason why he decided to become a MotoGP rider, but also his secret crush for years.
“You’re daydreaming again.”
The voice of Franco brought him back to the reality of a meeting room where the usual debriefing with the team has just ended, without Fabio realising it.
“What?”
His team-mate rolled his eyes, an amused smile on his face.
“You zoned out those last five minutes… I bet you’re thinking about what Vale said about you.”
Fabio blushed. Franco knew about his feelings, he was the only one with his best friend and it hadn’t been as difficult as Fabio could have imagined, because he had to admit that his team-mate was really a good guy and they were getting along very well.
“I can’t help it.”
“You should talk to him, you know?”
Now Fabio widened his eyes, a terrified look in them at the only thought of having a face to face talk with Valentino in which, he was sure, he would have looked like the ridiculous and stupid teenager he felt every time they were close.
“Just a talk about the bike, your feelings about the race, normal stuff riders usually talk about. I’m sure it will be a good start.”
“A good start of what?”
“I don’t know, a friendship? A relationship?”
“That’s impossible.”
“Just because you’re too shy and you underestimate yourself. You look at him as a sort of God but he’s a man, like everyone else. And just because you are only 20 and he’s 40, it doesn’t’ mean you can’t get close. He’s used to be surrounded by younger people.”
Fabio knew that everything Franco was saying was true, it wasn’t the first time his team-mate tried to convince him to approach the older rider. But he simply thought there was absolutely nothing that could make him look interesting for nine time World Champion and he always dismissed the idea of going to talk to him as childish and silly.
“I don’t want him to laugh at me or think that I’m weird. You know I barely manage to form a coherent sentence when he’s near…”
Franco shook his head.
“Ok, I can’t force you. I’m sure it won’t go the way you think, but it’s all up to you.”
The Italian rider left with a wink and a pat on his back. For the first time since the tests at Sepang in February, Fabio felt his insecurities fading… maybe he could try, maybe it won’t be as terrible as he imagined.
When he was outside Vale’s hotel room door, the strength to knock evaporated and all his good intentions vanished for the tension. This definitely wasn’t a good idea and he turned to leave when the unmistakable shape of his idol materialized a few meters away from him.
“Hey, Fabio.”
Valentino was smiling warmly, a bit surprised, and in two steps he was in front of the younger man who was almost shaking, not knowing how to justify his presence there…
“Ciao.”
“Congratulations for the race, a well deserved podium.”
“Thank you.”
His voice was just above a whisper and he cleared his throat to try to regain some composure, but it wasn’t easy with Vale’s scent all around him and his eyes looking deeply into him.
“You’re improving with every race, I’m sure your first win is close. You seem the only one able to ride a Yamaha this year.”
The Italian rider winked and Fabio felt himself blushing. He couldn’t talk and, as he expected, was just making a fool of himself in front of his crush.
“I’m still learning.”
Valentino chuckled and shook his head but no sign of resentment or discomfort could be read in his eyes.
“We’re all doing it but you seem to be the first in the class. If you hadn’t had some bad luck, I’m sure you’d be ahead of me in the world standing.”
It looked like the older man was sure about what he was saying and Fabio finally could release a bit of the tension that was closing his stomach. He smiled.
“Thank you, again. I’m surprised, I didn’t thought I could feel so good on the bike right from the start.”
“That’s the most important thing, the feeling with your bike is essential to have fun, to know where the limits are, to understand what you can or can’t do. Then comes the team and all the rest but in the end, it’s you and your bike, you’re like a couple, you have to feel something to make things work.”
Fabio was entranced. Of course he’d heard Vale say this several times, but hearing it coming from him in person was different, this time, it was directed to him, not just a thing he said during an interview.
“It’s true.”
Vale nodded.
“Did you need something?”
Suddenly, Fabio realised he had to find a reason for him being here and he started to stutter.
“Oh… no… I… I just wanted to thank you, for the good words you’ve had for me today.”
He felt his cheeks on fire at the amused expression on Vale’s face. This wasn’t probably the first time the Italian rider was having this kind of conversation with a rookie, almost every young rider in the MotoGP grid had him as his idol, he surely wasn’t the only one with a crush on him.
“They were true.”
To his surprise, Valentino hug him, leaving Fabio completely astonished. Ok, the world around him could disappear, the time could stop, he was hugging Valentino, nothing else mattered.
But it ended too soon, with the older rider taking a step back before starting to walk to his door.
“You’re a really sweet guy, Fabio. Goodnight.”
With a last smile, Valentino disappeared into his room.
Fabio’s heart was beating so hard that he thought it would explode. Did the other man really call him sweet?
With a huge smile and a light heart, he went back to his room. Maybe it hadn’t been a long and meaningful conversation, but Franco could be right. It could be the start of something. Right now, Fabio didn’t even care of what, he just enjoyed the feeling of that closeness until he fell asleep to dream about Valentino again.