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Luke and Dino have always been touchy with each other. Reaching out for grasps of the hand, leaning into each other’s sides, hugging for a bit longer then maybe they needed to. They both knew they touched each other for a bit too long, just a bit too much. They both knew there was something behind their actions, something they hadn’t touched on, something they didn’t know if they wanted to try to unpack.
They enjoyed the time they took to just bask in each other’s presence, until it all changed when they became teammates.
When you start to spend as much time together as teammates do, but you also have a weird thing going on, said weird thing gets kinda shoved in your face. It becomes something you find that you need to face.
Dino really didn’t want to have to talk to Luke, he was fine the way they were. He didn’t want to have to face his own feelings, he didn’t think he was ready for it, but now he was sitting here, trying to have a normal conversation with Charles Leclerc of all people, when the conversation of him and Luke’s relationship came up.
Really Dino wasn’t expecting it. They had been talking about their teammates, when Charles had asked him about Luke.
“So, you and Luke, what’s going on there?” Charles asked, leaning back on his chair, a sly grin crossing his face.
Dino tilted his head confused. “What?”
“You two are very touchy.” he said, his grin growing wider, and Dino’s confusion faded as he realized what Charles was trying to imply.
“Oh.” It came out at a whisper, nobody had yet vocalized the thought of them being something more, and Dino hadn't been ready for someone to say anything. “No, we’re…” he trailed off thinking. He could see the way Charles was watching him, trying to discern just how Dino felt.
“I’m sorry, did I overstep?” Charles asked, rubbing at the back of his neck nervously.
“No, I just haven't…” he trailed off again. Haven’t what? He thought to himself, haven’t thought about it? He had definitely done that, much too much of that, then what? Haven’t spoken about it? Haven’t had anyone mention it? Or maybe, haven’t wanted to face his feelings, haven’t wanted to look too deep into what was really going on and realize that maybe they were something more than just good friends.
Charles shifted a bit uncomfortably, “Listen if I overstepped you can tell me, I really don’t mind.” he said.
“No, no, I meant it, you didn’t overstep, it’s just not… simple.” he ended lamely. He knew there were better words, words that conveyed his feelings better, but at that moment he really couldn't come up with any in English or for that matter any language he spoke.
“I get that.” Charles said, he really did look like he understood. Dino wondered who he was thinking about. A name crossed his mind. He knew he shouldn't ask, but he was curious, and maybe he was allowed a more invasive question, Charles had asked him one earlier anyway.
“Max?” Dino asked, trying to stay calm at asking such a personal question.
Charles looked vaguely surprised, but nodded nonetheless. “Ya, fuck, who knows what we are, there is somthing more, we touch for too long, he pays just a bit too much attention to me, I laugh a bit too much, and we clearly hold eachother to different…somthings… but I don’t know.” he said, his brows furrowing.
“I feel the same about Luke.” Dino said, sighing, “But without the rivalry, and childhood pining or whatever.” he joked, trying to get the mood up a bit. It worked, and Chalres let out a bark of a laugh.
“True, true. You're about ten years behind us.” he said with a chuckle.
“I don’t think we’ll ever catch up.” Dino said, his face breaking into a smile.
“Though if you want advice about being in love with your teammate, I’m the wrong Ferrari guy.” Charles said, his smile widening.
“You aren't suggesting I ask Lewis for advice about being in love with my teammate are you? I feel like that would end badly.” Dino grimaced, imagining the look on Lewis’ face if he were to ever ask the older driver about his history when it comes to being in love with his teammate.
“You might get some good advice on what not to do.” Charles said, and Dino snorted at that. Charles was really poking fun at Lewis right now.
“Oh so you're going to do better? I don’t see you asking out Max now do I?” Dino teased.
Just then Lewis walked in. “Oh are we making fun of Charles’ crush on Max?” Lewis asked, plopping down next to Charles, who frowned at him. “I love to do that.” he said, with a wide grin.
“No we were talking about how Dino here is in love with his teammate, something you know a lot about, ya?” Charles snapped back.
“Low blow Leclerc, low blow.” Lewis said, shaking his head at Charles.
“My bad, I forgot you were still helplessly in love with him.” Charles said, his tone teasing. “How long has it been again?” he asked, and Lewis glared at him.
“How long has it been for you and Max?” Lewis shot back, and Charles blushed violent Ferrari red.
“Fair.” He muttered out.
“We could make a bet.” Dino blurted out, and the two other Ferrari drivers blinked at him confusedly. “You know, first one to ask out their crush gets something, and last one to ask out their crush gets some kind of punishment.” He continued quickly.
Lewis and Charles considered him.
“That's… not a bad idea.” Charles said, thinking. “We're all very competitive by nature, I wonder if it could work?” he continued, considering Dino thoughtfully, Dino’s eyes went wide at the prospect of his stupid idea being something they were actually considering.
“That is true…” Lewis said, similarly considering Dino, who now really wanted them to stop looking at him. “But, what would the reward be, and what would the punishment be?” he asked, still looking at Dino, as if Dino had the answer (he really didn’t).
“Okay, okay, I have an idea,” Charles said after a few moments of thinking, “the person who loses has to announce that they think the best driver of all time is the person who won.” Charles grinned wide, and Dino nodded. While he wouldn't mind saying Lewis or Charles were the greatest, he fully believed it too, the idea of the chance of hearing them say he was the greatest, now that made him want to win.
“I like this idea,” he said.
“Me too, but I also want to include that if you don’t ask them out at all on their own, we will ask for them.” Lewis said with a grin.
“Deal, then. Also that sounds like hell, but let's go.” Charles said, holding out his hand, they all shook hands, smiling at the strangeness of it all.
The game was on.
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Dino was unsure just how he was going to get to asking Luke out. While the two of them did definitely have something going on it wasn’t something he was positive was romantic feelings. He could hope, but it was nerve wracking. He loved Luke and was afraid of losing what they had now.
He knew that there was a similar problem across the board for all three of them, however Dino had an advantage of no baggage with the person he wanted to ask out. Really he could just do it, then watch as Charles and Lewis struggled to not be the loser.
He considered it for a moment, thinking.
Then Luke walked in.
The two of them stared at each other.
“Hey.” Luke looked like a deer caught in headlights. He was holding a Coke, frozen looking at Dino like Dino was going to shoot him.
“Hey Luke.” Dino said. He could just ask, it could be just that easy. They both stared at each other for a moment. “Do you want to go out with me?” Dino asked suddenly, and quickly.
Luke blinked at him. “What?” Clearly Dino had made a mistake, he had misread what Luke was telling him, and now he should run. Dino started to get up when Luke almost bloated over to him, pushing him back down into the chair he had been sitting in.
“No, no you don’t get to leave, if this is a joke or a bet I’ll kill you.” he said, Dino was suddenly a little afraid.
“It is kinda a bet,” Dino said, shrugging into himself.
Luke practically recoiled, he looked hurt, and Dino immediately went to explain further, “No No, I mean a bet to see who would ask out their crush first.” he said, and now poor Luke was looking even more confused. Dino was sure he had been through so many emotions at this point he wasn't sure how to feel.
“Oh, so you meant it?”
“Yes, please.” Dino leaned towards Luke, who smiled lopsidedly at him.
“Cool.” They looked at each other for a moment, basking in each other's presence.
“Okay I have two questions,” Luke started, and Dino jumped a little at being pulled out of his daydreaming. “First, are we boyfriends now? Second, who is this bet with?”
“Definitely boyfriends,” Dino said, pulling Luke down to sit with him, “and Lewis and Charles.”
Luke turned to look at him in shock. “No way.” he said.
Dino cuddled his way into the crook of Luke’s neck. “Yes way, also the bet was the last person to ask out their crush has to say that the winner is their favorite driver.” Dino said with a grin. “Speaking of that.” Dino pulled out his phone, and took a quick selfie, sending it to the group chat they had made, with the caption, “guess who won.” he smiled and closed his phone, ignoring the messages being sent to him, pulling Luke closer.
Of course the game wasn't over, Lewis and Charles still needed to battle for second place. Dino had won, but there was still P2 and P3.
Dino and Luke had decided that they were going to just sit back and enjoy the show.
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Of course Lewis and Charles wanted to properly meet Luke, something that didn’t intimidate Dino at all, why would you even suggest that idea at all. It was silly to be nervous, it wasn't like he was introducing Luke to his parents, but also Lewis and Charles’ approval almost meant more to him. Of course Dino was nowhere near the more anxious of the two of them. Luke was practically shaking at the idea of trying to gain Lewis and Charles’ approval.
“You know,” Dino started one day, while the two of them were tangled together in Luke’s hotel room. “They aren't going to kill you.” Luke looked up to Dino from where he had had his face smushed violently into Dino’s chest.
“Who?” he asked groggily, it looked as though his boyfriend had fallen asleep.
“Charles and Lewis.” Dino said, and Luke frowned.
“No, no, they are going to kill me, they are both going to hit me with their cars.”
Dino blinked at Luke, “no, I- I doubt it.”
Luke ignored him and went back to pressing his face into Dino’s chest. Dino sighed and kissed the top of Luke’s head, “I’m going to hit you with my car.” Dino said, and Luke hit him. Dino giggled and wrestled Luke down, pulling his boyfriend over, while Luke tried to keep his face in Dino’s chest.
“Nooooooooo.” Luke said, his voice muffled by Dino’s shirt. Dino giggled and pulled Luke closer, kissing him on the head again.
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Dino pulled Luke down the hall towards where Lewis and Charles were, Luke reluctantly following his boyfriend to his death.
Lewis and Charles were discussing something when they arrived, cutting off their conversation when they noticed the two boys. They waved, and Dino excitedly pushed Luke forward, Luke dragging his feet, looking over his shoulder as if he was searching for someone to save him, or maybe he was just looking to make sure there weren't any cars around to hit him.
Lewis and Charles crossed their arms and looked Luke over, Luke looked over to a window by them and considered if the three story drop was worth it.
“Lewis, Charles, this is Luke, my boyfriend.” Dino said, the love and pride in his voice making Luke stop considering jumping out of a window to save himself. So what if he was about to die, Dino sounded so happy that he got to call Luke his boyfriend, it made Luke want to pull Dino over and kiss him as hard as possible, but also Luke really didn’t want to get hit with a car, and he was pretty sure doing that would get him hit with a car.
“Nice to meet you.” Lewis said, holding out his hand for Luke to shake, Luke took it. He was pretty sure his whole body was shaking, because of course he had to be dating someone who was close to THE Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
He turned slightly to look over to his boyfriend who was smiling at him, joy radiating off of his body. Luke supposed all this was worth it then. It was worth it to see Dino so happy. Dino pulled Luke closer, wrapping his arms around Luke’s shoulders. Charles and Lewis smiled at them both. Luke almost felt like they were about to coo at the two of them, as if they were little dogs wrapped around each other. Puppy love or whatever it was called.
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on who you were the interaction had to end quickly, both Lewis and Charles had quite a few things to do. Watching them leave Luke was almost positive he let out a breath of relief, Dino turning to look at him judgmentally.
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Luke was splayed across Dino’s lap, the two of them resting after a stressful race weekend. Dino was scrolling through his phone when he got a text. He shot up, displacing his boyfriend who glared at him, but Dino didn't care.
“Charles asked Max out on a date.” Ya now Luke was no longer mad, he shot up too, looking over Dino’s shoulder to see the message. Charles had definitely asked Max out. Charles had chosen to send a photo just like Dino had, but Charles’ photo was a little bit different. It was Max sleeping, face half pressed into the pillow, Charles’ hand grasping his. Charles had definitely asked Max out, but they had also totally done a bit more than just a date.
There was a text response under the message from Lewis, all it said was “fuck”
Lewis had lost the bet. Now he needed to both ask out Nico and tell the entire world that he thought Dino was the best driver of all time.
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It was a race weekend where Dino and Luke were both doing FP1, Lewis was quickly running out of time to ask out Nico and he still had yet to announce his opinions on who the “best driver” was. Both Charles and Dino were keeping a close eye on him. This weekend was also going to have Nico around as a commentator. They all knew, Luke, Dino, Charles, Max (who had been informed of the bet) they all knew this was going to be the weekend Lewis was going to fulfill his end of the deal.
FP1 was finished, Dino, Charles, Luke, and a reluctant Max were all hovering where Nico was interviewing Lewis. Anxiously shifting from hip to hip.
“So Lewis, how do you feel about the younger drivers who drove today?” Nico asked, and Dino could feel himself holding his breath. The anticipation of knowing that someone he respected was going to praise him on live television, it made him feel a little panicky. He knew it was just a bet, but still.
“I believe that Dino Beganovic is the greatest driver.” He paused, sighing slightly and Dino expected him to stop there. “He has shown he really knows how to handle the car and bring forth consistent good results.” Dino could feel himself turning red. That was not a part of the deal. Lewis had no need to praise him further. While Lewis clearly didn’t think Dino was the best, and Dino didn’t think Lewis should think that, he still seemed to hold high opinions of him, and that made Dino blush.
The interview continued mostly normal, until they were coming to an end. Lewis seemed to be conflicting with himself. Their group of people who knew about the bet looked to him confused, they most definitely didn’t think that Lewis was going to ask out Nico on live television.
“Nico.” Nico turned back to look at Lewis. “Do you want to go out tonight? Together I mean.” Nico blinked at him, saying nothing for a long moment.
“No.” Lewis dropped his hands, Charles brought a hand to his face. They hadn’t expected Nico to refuse. They had always thought Lewis had been the one stopping the two of them getting back together. “Lewis, I think before we go out we need to talk, but I would love to talk tonight.” They could all see Lewis let out a relieved breath as he smiled at Nico.
“Ya, let's do that.”
Later that night the group chat would receive a message, just a photo, two hands intertwined. Both looking as if they belonged together. Fingers that slotted together like a puzzle falling into place. While Dino might have won the bet, and Charles had gotten second place, Lewis was the one who had truly won. He had gotten his other half back, his soulmate.
Dino pulled Luke closer, he hoped they would never have anything like what happened to Nico and Lewis happen to them, but if it did, he hoped it would end the same way Lewis and Nico’s story seemed to be ending. They two of them, back where they belong, at each other’s sides.