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Hearing the words straight from Christian’s mouth hurt. “You’re getting demoted.” Was what he said. Liam was sat on his bed, thinking about it. The hotel was silent around him, leaving just his thoughts. How could they do this to him? He’d done two races!
They were replacing him with Yuki. Made sense, Yuki had more experience. But, God, if it didn’t hurt, he’d be lying. He laid back on the bed, picking up his fork and stabbing the cake on the bedside table. Also, really, a whole cake? His trainer will kill him when he finds out. He took a bite, it was lemon. Sour, a bit, like his demotion, but also sweet, like his new teammate. Isack. The way Isack’s eyes shone in the sunlight, the curly hair sat upon his head, even when it was flat from the helmet.
Liam definitely wasn’t mad about having a different teammate. Max was cool, sure, of course he was. It’s Max. Maybe someone closer to his age and skill level would be good for him, and it turns out he wasn’t immune to the Redbull second seat curse after all. It still stung, and he could feel the salty tears rolling down his cheeks.
—
Liam heard a knock at the door. Rude. Who would knock on someone’s hotel room door at… what was it, 11 PM? He got up, admittedly a bit slow. Must have been all the cake. He swung open the door, looking… unamused.
“What do you want, cun–” Liam cut himself off, realising it was his new soon-to-be teammate, Isack. He quickly rubbed his eyes, trying to hide that they were full of tears about 30 seconds ago, to no avail.
–
Isack just came here to hang out. Despite never having been teammates, they were friends, Isack would like to say. Upon receiving the news Yuki and Liam were doing a switch, he was slightly disappointed. He really liked Yuki, he was funny and cool, and also had experience. Liam, however, was a rookie like him. And he wasn’t saying Liam didn’t have experience, but, from what he’d seen this year… yeah. It wasn't looking great, to not be harsh. They were… friends, though. And Isack had a massive crush on him. How he would tell him, he didn’t know. Maybe one day.
Isack looked at Liam, who looked upset. His eyes were red, and he didn’t smell any weed, so he wasn’t high. His hair looked messy, not the usual look.
“Liam? You good? I thought we could hang out to, um, y’know, celebrate our new teammate status. Go get drunk, or something.”
Liam huffed. Why, why would Isack think, when he was looking like this would he want to go to a club? Liam didn’t dignify that a reply, just looking dead into his eyes.
Isack blushed a little bit, floundering with his words. “Or we could, uh, um, just hang out here? Your hotel? Can I come in?” He asked, hoping he didn’t seem too pushy, or God forbid creepy. He wasn’t trying to make moves on Liam. Yet.
Liam shuffled aside, holding the heavy hotel room door open for him. He knew he wasn’t looking, or doing great, but he’d still like to spend time with Isack, maybe. Everybody knew VCARB did a lot of social media stuff, and it was likely him and Isack would be doing that soon. Better to not make things awkward, and then have to do stupid TikToks. “Come in then, mate.”
Isack walked in, noticing the entire cake on the nightstand. Were they allowed to eat unhealthy stuff like that? His trainer got mad if he ate a granola bar with chocolate on it, nevermind a cake. “Uhhh, nice cake.” Isack said. Stupid decision, as he felt Liam’s grey eyes narrow behind him, even if he couldn’t see it.
“What, are you calling me a fatass?” Liam scoffed, immediately getting back on the bed and looking up at Isack expectantly, waiting for him to get on the bed with him as well.
Isack rubbed the back of his neck. “No, no, no I wasn’t, I promise.” He said, not wanting to upset Liam. He could tell something was wrong, and had his guesses what it was about. He picked up Liam’s cue, getting on the bed and laying back. Mean Girls was playing, but Isack wasn’t watching. He was looking at Liam, his perfect side profile. He wanted to boop his nose and then lean in for a kiss. God, he was weird.
Liam felt Isack’s eyes on him. Was he concerned? Was he worried? Liam hated when people acted all sympathetic and nice about shit. It wasn’t nice what they did to him, after only 2 races, but people would act like it was. He looked at Isack. “You staring?”
Isack’s blush made his cheeks rosy pink, as he met Liam’s steely gaze. “Yeah. Liam, um, are you okay? You can talk to me, I know it must hurt being dropped like that…”
Ugh. Why was Isack bringing this up. “Do I look okay, Isack?” He snapped, admittedly a bit harsh, but he was fed up. “Obviously not, you stupid cunt. I got kicked out, and now I’m stuck on a shit team. With you.” He spat, looking pissed. Liam, of course, didn’t mean to be so cruel to Isack, but he was having a horrible day, and Isack was right there asking stupid questions. He watched as Isack’s gaze unmatched his own, looking down into his lap. “I-, um, Isack-” He got cut off.
Isack looked up, looking more angry than upset at Liam’s words. “What? You just called me a cunt, I was trying to be nice. It’s obvious you did this to other people, or else maybe someone else would be here comforting you instead of your new teammate you barely know.” He snarked, not feeling bad at all.
Liam looked down, feeling the sting of those words. Isack was right, he’d pushed away everyone else, even his mom and sisters. Wouldn’t talk to anyone about it. Suddenly, he could feel the hot tears spilling down his face, and he turned away. “Fuck off, Isack.” He said through a shaky voice, trying to not cry in front of him.
“Are you… crying?” Isack said, incredulously. He’d never seen Liam like this. He definitely seemed the type to get angry, not sad.
“What the fuck do you think?” Liam said, turning to stare right into Isack’s eyes. “You made me cry, idiot.”
Isack huffed, not liking the insinuation that this was his fault. “No, I didn’t. Come here.” He said, shuffling closer to Liam and wrapping his arms around him.
Liam had weak thoughts of resisting the hug, but didn’t try, crying in Isack’s arms. If Christian could see him right now, he’d call him pathetic. Just like he called him after he crashed in Australia.
Liam felt the crushing weight of expectations pushing him into Isack’s arms, and he let it as he cried. He felt Isack’s strong hand pushing through his hair, and the blanket pulled up to his shoulders as the outside noise was drowned out.
Maybe moving to VCARB would be for the best, at least he hoped.