Work Text:
Alex’s heart stops as Pato loses his rear in front of him. He bites his lips as he braces himself, his sole focus on not making it worse. The red is called and he sees the replays on the screens. It takes everything he has not to jump out of his car and run to the medical centre.
Pato would never forgive him if he gave up his own race too. Pato had been tense all weekend. The team was mourning a valued member of their team and on top of that Alexander Rossi had broken his thumb, which led to the chaotic at arrival of Theo. The incident between them in qualifying hadn’t helped Pato feel better in anyway. Alex didn’t take it personal.
Alex had tried everything to calm Pato but the only thing that really helped was holding him close, playing with his hair, planting soft kisses all over his face.
Alex closes his eyes briefly as they wait in line. He thinks back to the morning, to Pato still sound asleep in his arms. He’d give anything to really be back that. The message that everyone is cleared by the medical team and the race will resume pulls him back to his car. He just has to hold on.
After the race, Alex is still nervous. He rushes to Pato’s motorhome as soon as he can. He doesn’t care that he’s still in his racesuit. He doesn’t care if anyone sees. “Baby?”, he calls out from the door opening.
“In here”, Pato let’s out quietly. Alex walks in closing the door behind himself. Pato is laying on his bed with an icepack strapped to his leg. “shit. Are you okay?”, Alex rushes to his side and sits down on the bed. Pato rolls his eyes, “I am angry. A local yellow with my car sideway on track in a blind corner would have been nice”.
Alex gently places his hand on his chest, “fuck, I was so worried”. Pato sighs softly, “I am okay, I promise”. Alex nods, “yeah, I just need to look at you for a bit, see that for myself”. Pato rolls his eyes, “I am fine. Race control won’t be once I am done with them”. Alex smiles and pats his chest, “okay, let’s not go threatening to hurt anyone”. Pato supresses a small wince.
Alex instantly frowns, “what was that?”. He’d become very familiar with every little movement and twitch of Pato’s body this was not something good. Pato sighs, “just bruised”. Alex tugs Pato’s shirt up and off very carefully. Deep bruises from his belts and seat are starting to blossom on his chest. “fuck, baby? The doctors see this?”, he gasps out.
Pato nods, “nothing is broken and the bruises will almost be gone by the time we have to race again”.
Alex frowns, “this is not okay! you should not have been hit by 3 cars after you and Ericson came to a stop”. He catches the slight pitch in his voice as he feels his eyes start to water. Pato nods, “It was fucking ridiculous”. He tenses a little too much thinking back to it and groans softly in pain.
Alex sighs, “okay, how can I help?”. Pato takes a deep breath, “I don’t know”. Alex kicks his shoes of and climbs on the bed properly. “let me hold you?”, he asks softly. Pato nods, “yeah okay”. Alex leans against the pulls and gently tugs Pato’s back against his chest. He plants a soft kiss to his shoulder.
He’s very careful of Pato’s bruises as Pato leans heavily into him. Alex listens to him breathe. He watches Pato’s chest rise and fall. Pato falls asleep in his arms and Alex just looks at him. He doesn’t know for how long they stay like that. It could be hours or minutes. At some point Alex feels tears streaming down his cheeks, he just lets it happen, muffling his sniffles in Pato’s hair.
The thought that briefly flashed through his mind, losing Pato, he would never survive that. He quickly wipes his cheeks with the end of his sleeve as Pato wakes up a little. Alex kisses his cheek, “hi sleepy head”. Pato smiling at him sleepily, “have you been watching me the whole time? That’s a little creepy”. Pato blinks a few times adjusting to the light. Just as Alex is about to respond, Pato shifts to look at him better and strokes his cheek, “ah, shit! Did you cry?”.
Alex nods a little embarrassed. Pato moves in closer and kisses him deeply, his own pain forgotten for a moment. Alex instantly kisses back. They lose themselves in the kiss for a moment. Until Pato gasps softly in pain and pulls away.
Alex sighs, “can just see for myself that it’s just bruises that you’re really okay? because it doesn’t feel real yet. It feels like I am still stuck in my hot car in the burning sun on pitlane while you’re being extracted from your car.” Pato strokes his hand through Alex’s hair, “I got out on my own, babe, but do whatever you need to do”.
Alex takes a deep breath, “okay lay down?”. He sits on his knees next to Pato, waiting for him to get comfy. Alex pecks his lips, then he places a flutter light kiss on where the bruise on his chest is the deepest purple already. Pato smiles softly.
Alex keeps going planting soft kisses on every single bruised part of Pato’s chest. He pauses and looks at Pato. “can I see your legs too?”, he asks softly. Pato nods, “yeah, I’ve iced it long enough I think”.
Alex gently takes of Pato’s sweatpants. He frowns at seeing the bruising forming on his thigh, “steering wheel?”. Pato shrugs, “I don’t know. Didn’t even realise it was hurting till I got to the med centre”.
Alex sighs, “adrenaline is a funny thing”, he reaches out careful not to touch the bruise. He plants a soft kiss to it. Pato laughs softly, “you’re cute”. Alex blushes, “sorry, I was just so worried about you”. Pato sighs, “if it had been the other way around under the red, I am not sure I would have had the composure to stay in the car”. Alex laughs softly at that and leans into Pato’s side, careful not to lean on any bruises. Pato pecks his lips. Alex is still processing what Pato just said.
“What would you have done?”, Alex strokes Pato’s cheek. Pato looks at him, “punched some people on the way to you. kissed you as soon as was close enough?”. Alex laughs softly, “what if I was being interviewed or something?”. Pato pecks his lips, “would not have been able to wait”.
Alex smiles softly at him, “good to know”. Pato reaches out carefully to undo the top of Alex’s racesuit, “you clearly didn’t waste any time getting here”. Alex looks at himself, “uh yeah, can I borrow something?”. Pato nods, “always”.
Alex gets up carefully. He quickly strips himself of his racesuit and his fireproofs and takes some clean underwear and a t-shirt from Pato’s closet. He sees Pato get comfy under the covers as he changes.
Pato frowns a little pained as he tries to find a comfortable position. Alex crawls in besides him and Pato settles against Alex’s chest with his back. “Do we need to elevate your leg?”, he asks quietly.
Pato hums softly, “It’s comfortable like this for now”. Alex kisses his cheek, “okay, but tell me if it’s not?” Pato smiles softly, “I will”. Alex plants a few soft kisses to Pato’s shoulder. Pato falls back asleep quickly. Alex clicks of the bedside lamp. He can just make out Pato’s features in the dark. He feels Pato’s chest rise and fall. He hears the soft puff of breath coming from his nose. Eventually he falls asleep too, despite fighting it for a while.
When he wakes up for a moment it feels like his worst fear, when the bed is empty, but then Pato walks in limping slightly with two cups of tea. “morning, babe”, Pato grins softly. Alex smiles back, “hi morning. Come here please”. His bruises have become bigger more pronounced now, Alex hates it. “I should be taking care of you”, he adds. Pato sets the mugs down on the bedside table and gets back into bed. Alex sits up a little and holds his arms out letting Pato lean against his chest.
Alex kisses his cheek, “I love you”, it had been stuck in mind for a few days. It broke his heart to see Pato in anyway unhappy. Yesterday’s crash and the crushing fear that he might have lost him without saying that, all of it combined, made it just slip out. Pato looks at him with a soft smile, “I love you too”.
Their eyes lock and Alex smiles, “good, that would have been really awkward”. Pato laughs but has to stop himself at the pain in his chest. Alex strokes his cheek, “easy, all good”. Pato nods, “yeah just when I saw the cars all coming for me at speed, I was seconds away from coming on the radio to say that I love you. I couldn’t bare you not knowing”.
Alex feels tears prick in the corner of his eyes but Pato wipes before they ever roll down his cheeks. Pato pecks his lips, “I love you so much”. Alex chases the kiss, “love you” he breathes out.
Pato kisses him softly before reaching for his tea. Alex rests his chin on Pato’s shoulder, “I love you. I am never gonna stop saying it now”. Pato holds in a chuckle, “please, don’t make me laugh”.
Alex kisses his cheek, “sorry Patricio, I will just hold in all my jokes till you’re better”. Pato takes a careful sip of his tea, “you’re the best”. Alex watches Pato and finally, slowly, his mind starts to easy that Pato will be okay, bruises heal and with time so does the heartbreak of a loss. Alex vows to himself to be there for Pato through anything. At the end of the day this is all Alex needs.
“you’re gonna win the championship”, Pato says, breaking Alex’s train of thought. Alex smiles, “you can win the next one”. Pato smirks softly, “don’t let your team hear that”. Alex kisses his cheek, “I don’t care. If Ralf Schumacher can come out, so can we, at least to our teams?”. Pato’s smile brightens, “yeah, I don’t want to hide you”. Alex pecks his lips, “I don’t want to hide you either”. Pato takes another sip of his tea. “can I have mine?”, Alex asks softly. Pato picks the mug up and hands it to him, “of course”.
If it wasn’t for the bruises on Pato’s chest, Alex can almost believe that this is just like any other morning they’ve shared since Mid-Ohio. He enjoys the silence as they sip their tea, knowing Pato does too.