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A blaring alarm wasn’t usually a very pleasant sound to greet you first thing in the morning, but Gabriel sprang up from bed with a grin on his face upon being woken up. He could barely sleep last night from the excitement.
He opened the blinds to reveal a beautiful view, gentle yellow sunlight lighting up the room. The beautiful streets of Melbourne, Australia, greeting him.
He could hardly believe that today was his first proper day as a Formula One driver. He’d done pre-season testing, yes, but it didn’t feel the same. It didn’t feel as monumental.
The next stop was the bathroom, brushing his teeth and quickly fixing his hair, before putting on a new change of clothes. By the time he was done, he felt refreshed and ready to face the day.
The hotel room they had given him was nice. A good view, much-needed space, and all the privacy he could want. He was worried they would make him share a room with his teammate, but they were roomed on opposite sides of the building. Which, admittedly, was a relief, considering how badly they got along on track.
His teammate didn’t matter right now. He shook the thought away, keeping a smile on his face as he opened the door to the kitchen area his room came with, then immediately froze.
There was a man there.
A blond man, about his height, but undoubtedly older. He had his back to Gabi, facing the kitchenette as he hummed over the soft sounds of the coffee machine.
For a second, Gabi couldn’t move. Then he stiffened, opening his mouth to ask the man who he was and what he was doing, but before he could, the blond turned to him.
A flicker of recognition hit him, one he couldn’t quite place his hand on. The man’s face looked familiar, but deeper, like he was now seeing the muse behind a simplified painting. They held each other’s gazes for just a moment, a wide, warm smile spreading on the man’s face at the sight of Gabi, which made him uneasy.
”Ah, you woke up. Good morning,” the man greeted as one would greet their loved one first thing in the morning. He turned to the kitchenette for just a second, picking up a cup and holding it out to Gabi.
Gabi stared at him for a moment, waiting for elaboration, an apology for entering the wrong room, or anything really. When none came, he cleared his throat.
”Uh, sorry, but I think you’ve got the wrong room.” He said, trying to ignore how the man sounded like he was expecting him.
”I don’t,” the man explained simply, looking almost entertained. It confused Gabi, glancing between his face and the still extended hand. “I came here to talk to you.”
”Well, I didn’t invite you here, and I don’t even know you. If you need to talk to me, do it through my team. And if- are you a fan? How did you even get in here?”
The man didn’t seem bothered by Gabi’s hospitality, or lack thereof, just chuckling quietly to himself. “I can’t talk to you from your team, I can’t have anyone know I’m here.” He finally set the cup down on a corner table near them. “As I said, I’m here to talk to you. You can dismiss me afterwards, but you need to hear this.”
Gabi was so confused, he couldn’t even fathom how he should respond to that. A stranger just entered his room and now was refusing to leave? He didn’t look like danger; if anything, he looked like a wholesome old man. A hot one, he would say under different circumstances. He took a step back, staring at him suspiciously.
”Give me one good reason not to call security right now and charge you for harassment.”
The man’s eyebrows rose, and Gabi couldn’t blame him; he didn’t expect himself to say that either. But, well, it’s not like he had ever thought up a situation like this, so of course he couldn’t imagine how he’d react.
”Okay, okay, calm down,” the man answered slowly, carefully holding his hands up like a criminal caught red-handed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you. I should have probably thought of that beforehand.” He paused, before explaining, “It’s me, Nico.”
Gabriel stared at him blankly. “I don’t know any Nico.”
Well, that wasn’t true. He did know a Nico, his current teammate at Sauber. But it obviously wasn’t this guy; he was centuries older and probably closer to Gabi’s dad’s age than his.
Nico, apparently, returned his stare for a moment before saying, “You drive with a Nico.”
So this man was a fan, it seemed like. “I don’t know any Nico your age.”
”Ouch,” Nico answered, but the smile didn’t drop from his face until he sighed a moment later. “But no, I guess not, but you will. In fifteen years, the Nico you know will be my age. Same name, same face, same job, the same person.”
”I’m not following,” Gabi interrupted.
Nico took a breath. “I’m Nico from the future.”
A beat of silence passed, then he continued with, “Wow, that sounds weird to say. I mean, I still am Nico, just the Nico you know from the future. Fifteen years, to be exact.”
Gabi didn’t react, not visibly at least. He wasn’t sure if he should laugh in his face, call the police to get this crazy man out of his hotel room, or run out the door and as far away as he could. He was from the future? Wasn’t time travel disproved like a million times?
Finally, he managed to gather his thoughts enough to form a coherent sentence, which ended up being, “That’s- you’re what? Stop bullshitting me, what are you doing in my hotel?”
Nico sighed, his face dropping to a frown. Gabi couldn’t believe that this guy expected him to believe him that easily. “I’m not bullshitting you,” he said, his tone sounding a little more irritated, which sounded surprisingly human. He then nodded over to the cup of coffee cooling down on the table next to them, saying, “I’ll prove it. Take a sip of the coffee.”
Gabi didn’t budge. “Are you trying to poison me?”
” It's your favourite,” Nico corrected, “Medium hot latte with enough foam to make a little moustache if you tilt the cup enough, one and a half sugars, and a little coca powder sprinkled on top since you didn’t use to drink anything that didn’t taste like chocolate.”
Gabi blinked, his eyes immediately moving to the coffee, surprised to see that the description was probably right. And that was, in fact, how he made his coffee every morning. He remembered on the second day of testing, Nico accidentally took a sip from his cup, and immediately made a disgusted face at how overly sweet it was. He wouldn’t expect Nico from the future to care about his taste in food, which made him suspicious. Not that he actually believed this guy was from the future.
He narrowed his eyes at him. “Why do you know that?”
”I told you already, I’m from the future. I know you.”
“That’s not what I mean,” Gabi said, as he took a step towards the table, starting to slowly pace the room, as he did when he was nervous. “Why would ‘future Nico’ know how I like my coffee?”
Nico’s reply came so easily, Gabi almost didn’t register at first when he said, “Because we’re married.”
A long, almost painful silence stretched between them, as Gabi stared at him with wide eyes.
When he finally managed to form a thought, he helplessly muttered, “You, I- what?”
”I make us coffee every morning,” Nico continued, smirking a bit at Gabi’s shock. The fucking jerk. “Or, I guess I make me and future you coffee. You’re more into cappuccinos now, though.”
Gabi felt like he had seen a ghost. Or, more like a ghost had possessed his body and made him unable to move or think. What in the world was becoming of his first day as an F1 driver?
And then he remembered he had a track to get to. He quickly pulled out his phone, checking the time. He was supposed to leave ten minutes ago.
He looked at Nico again, really looked at him this time, and saw the affection in his eyes as he watched Gabi process the information. Maybe he really was the Nico he knew, since he was acting like a prick.
”I-I need to get to the race track,” he sputtered out before he could decide on what to say, narrowing his eyes at Nico. “This conversation isn’t over. Don’t you dare leave until I’m back here, okay?”
Nico didn’t seem bothered, and Gabi suspected he wasn’t planning to leave, either. “So now you want me to stay? Your morals change that quickly, huh?”
Gabi sent him another glare as he went back to grab his bag from the other room, hesitating as he passed the table again, but refused to take the coffee cup. Maybe, he told himself, if he just got to the race track, he would forget whatever sick dream he was stuck in.
Nico waved him goodbye as he left, which Gabi felt too petty to return.
The very moment Gabriel set foot in the paddock, he knew for a fact he could never look Nico in the eye ever again. Not the Nico in his hotel room, but his Nico.
God, that felt disgusting to say. Not his Nico, but the one from his universe. His timeline. Whatever it was.
There was still absolutely no way that someone went back in time to speak to him, let alone it being Nico. He and Gabi, to put it simply, didn’t get along. Unfortunately, it was more complicated than that; They constantly argued during the testing periods. Maybe it was just their competitive nature, but whenever Gabi tried to get closer, Nico wouldn’t just turn him down but actively push him away.
And that caused Gabi to get annoyed, and start doing it too.
He usually tried to enter the garage with a smile on his face, which wasn’t too hard, since he was always excited for another day of racing. Only today, the thoughts were still running wild in his head, and none of them were pleasant.
They had a debrief meeting before the first practice session, and Gabi made sure to go inside as quickly as possible to avoid being seated next to Nico. He fidgeted awkwardly in the chair, watching as the room filled with various faces. As soon as Nico did eventually enter, one look and Gabi felt the guilt of a man committing murder.
He looked exactly like Gabi imagined. The same face, much like future Nico’s, but younger and full of hope. Holding the excitement that Gabi thought he would have on the first day. Much to his horror, Nico took a seat right in front of him, and if Gabi hadn’t immediately looked away, he knew they would have made eye contact.
He kept his gaze focused on his team principal as the meeting went on, his leg bouncing impatiently under the desk to be let out.
Finally, after what felt like forever, he was let out. He was the first to get up from his chair, the legs of it scraping the floor as he made his escape. He felt suffocated, like every second spent longer in that room made the walls shrink closer to him.
He sighed to himself as he slowly walked towards his driver’s room, trying to steady his heartbeat. It was fine. He was going to be alright. He’ll forget about everything, he’ll tell himself it was a weird dream, and deal with it after practice. He can’t mess this up; he has to do well. Nico shouldn’t even cross his mind, he’ll just drive and try his hardest with the car and-
“Bortoleto,”
Gabi’s thoughts were interrupted when he felt a tug on his arm, whipping around to come face-to-face with Nico. His entire body stiffened, the touch burning his arm until he snapped it back to his side.
“What do you want?” He asked defensively, taking a step back. He shouldn’t act so intimidated; it’ll get to Nico’s head. He shouldn’t let him think he’s better than him.
Nico looked annoyed, crossing his arms after Gabi stepped back like he didn’t know what to do with them. “I know that we don’t get along, but you don’t need to pretend I don’t exist. I’m in this team as much as you are.”
Gabi stared at him for a moment, barely registering what Nico was saying, before it clicked. “Are you upset I didn’t look at you?”
He didn’t mean to say it that bluntly, tone astonished, like Nico was doing something he found very pathetic. Which, in honesty, he had. He watched the way Nico’s face flushed with embarrassment, scoffing as he rose to his own defence.
”It’s not- I- forget it. That’s what I get for trying to be a civil teammate.”
”You call that being civil? How does anyone get along with you?” Gabi shot right back. If this was the civil side of Nico, he didn’t want to see him when he’s mad. There was absolutely no way this annoying guy was the same one who broke the laws of the universe to give him a cup of coffee.
Nico retorted with a scoff and some rushed words Gabi didn’t pay attention to before he turned around and walked off. Gabi stood there for a moment longer, staring at him, before he groaned and resumed his walk to his driver’s room.
He just wanted to race, god damn it.
Getting into his race suit and talking with his team helped get his mind off the ordeal, not that going into his first F1 practice was any easier. When he finally got in the car, though, everything went away.
Racing was everything he loved, everything he fought for, and made it all worth it. He managed to get some good laps in where the other rookies seemed to struggle, trying different setups until he got the car in a comfortable but exciting rhythm. It wasn’t easy, not one bit, but it was the kind of difficult that had a reward that made it worth it.
By the time FP1 ended, he felt much better and almost forgot about his worries, until he passed Nico in the garage again. He considered saying something; he did feel a bit bad, even if Nico was being just as much of a jerk as he might have been. Yet, the moment Nico spotted him, he turned away and walked in another direction.
Right, and Gabi was the one acting like they weren’t teammates. God, he hoped not all teammates were like this.
Then a worrying thought struck him again; how in the hell will he ever get married to this guy?
This just proved further that future Nico, or whatever he was supposed to call him, was lying. Was he messing with him, and Gabi just didn’t notice? Probably. Please, may his hotel room be empty when he returns, and he’ll find out it was all just a dream.
He didn’t have long until FP2 started, and he was back in the car again. The session went about as well as the previous one, but Gabi shifted his focus under Jose’s advice. He compared him to Nico a lot, which he should have expected, since they were teammates.
It wasn’t his first time driving high-stakes with teammates. In F4, F3, and F2, he got along with his team great, and made connections that lasted even now. But for some reason, a fire that was more than competitiveness flared at him when Jose explained his fastest lap was a quarter of a second off Nico’s; a mistake he wasted no time in fixing.
By the time he left the car, he was exhausted, and all he wanted was to go back to his hotel. He could eat, take a long nap, and relax before qualifying. He’d take it easy before going all out tomorrow and think of nothing but racing. Everything will go to plan.
Gabriel stopped to order takeout on his way back to his hotel, humming a tune to himself as he opened the door to his room. He was thoroughly exhausted, ready to step in and go right to bed. He tried to convince himself as best he could that Nico wouldn’t be there.
Unfortunately, the sight of Nico sitting on his bed and waving to him when he entered proved him wrong.
Before Gabi could address him, Nico’s eyes ran over his body and settled on the bag of food. “You got take out? That’s sweet of you.” He then patted on the bed next to him invitingly, like he had any right.
Gabi stayed standing, even though his cheeks flushed at being called sweet by what was practically a stranger. A very unwelcome, annoying, upbeat, and handsome stranger, who he was supposedly married to in fifteen years.
”What are you still doing here?” Gabi asked, because he didn’t know what else to say, holding onto the bag of food like an anchor.
Nico tilted his head to the side, smirking without bite. “You told me to stay.”
That he did, unfortunately. The only thing Gabi thought worth doing was mumbling, “Well, I changed my mind,” as he crossed the room to make his way to the kitchenette to eat.
He should just leave Nico there and eat by himself. In fact, he should probably call someone to remove him from his room. And yet…
”Are you coming or what?”
Gabi tried not to catch Nico’s eyes as they set the table with the paper plates and forks from the bag, then divided the food between them wordlessly. He was surprised by how easy it was, since he expected Nico would be the kind of guy to want the ‘bigger half’. Or, well, maybe he did want it but just didn’t say anything.
Eventually, Nico broke the silence again, starting to eat his food like this was the most natural scenario in the world. “So, how’d practice go?”
Gabi hesitated, but did end up opening up a bit. Honestly, he was excited to get to talk about his first race weekend, and Nico seemed more than willing to listen. He talked with his mouth open, only stopping every so often to swallow, in which Nico would get in a comment, a follow-up question, or even a story of his own.
Honestly, it was… fun. The conversation flowed easily, their personalities matching each other perfectly. He even found himself laughing at some of Nico’s jokes, at least until he noticed that Nico’s plate was empty, and had been for a while, while he was still finishing his portion.
”You’re done with your food already,” he pointed out, digressing from the previous topic at hand, “You don’t have to wait for me to finish.”
Nico glanced down at his plate, then shrugged. “Sure, but I want to.”
”Why?”
Nico just smiled. “I like talking to you.”
Gabi swallowed the urge to ask ‘why’ again by burying his face in his plate until he was done, and abruptly rose from his chair.
”Right. I’m, uh, gonna go shower and head to bed,” he started, and only then did it occur to him that there was only one bed to sleep on in the room. Nico probably noticed it by the way his eyes went wide, but he didn’t say a thing, just watched with an annoying amount of pleasure.
Gabi huffed, pushing himself away from the table. “You should get ready too. There’s a sofa, hopefully it fits you.”
He watched as Nico’s smile dropped, looking like his plan had backfired. “You’re not seriously going to make me sleep on the couch, are you?”
”You expect me to give you the bed?”
”Well, yes.”
”Are you the one who has quali tomorrow? No? Then you get the couch.”
Gabi left the conversation at that, turning to head to the bathroom, leaving an exasperated Nico to clean up after them. The satisfied smirk stayed plastered on his face as he took a shower and brushed his teeth, only to widen later when he walked back into the room and saw Nico trying to arrange a spot to sleep on the couch.
Nico didn’t notice him immediately, so he just stood there for a bit, watching. He had to admit, teammate Nico did look good. Like, really good. But it didn’t compare one bit to how future Nico looked. His arms and neck were much bigger, clearly still in shape, which made Gabi wonder if he was still an F1 driver. He wore a loose red pajama shirt that didn’t hide much, so the chances were positive. That red shirt… wait, but wasn’t Nico wearing a blue one that morning?
”Did you change into pajamas while I showered?” Gabi suddenly asked, making Nico straighten up and turn to look at him.
After processing the question, he laughed softly. “Of course. Did you really think I’d go to the past without packing some clothes?”
Gabi frowned, because he hadn’t really thought of that, but now realised how stupid he must sound. He crossed his arms. “No, I was just…” he trailed off, realising he didn’t have an excuse. So he changed the topic. “Are you still an F1 driver?”
Nico’s lips twitched upwards. “Darling, what’s the first rule of time travel?”
As a lover of films, obviously, Gabi knew that the first rule of time travel was not to change anything major. And telling someone the fate of his co-workers was probably something major, at least in some aspects. But what made his body go stiff was the fact that Nico had called him ‘darling’.
It was said so naturally, like Nico had done it a thousand times and will do it a thousand more. He said it with so much love that Gabi almost forgot that he was being teased.
Unsure what to respond, he turned to his bed and changed the topic again as he went to unnecessarily fluff the pillows. “How long are you gonna stay?”
”Three days,” Nico explained, “I’ll be gone by the time you’re back here from the race.”
Well, that was comforting. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with this forever. Or, well, he supposed if he and Nico ever would get married, then he would. But like that would ever happen. His teammate and this man were two completely different people in mind, even if they were the same in body.
Gabi paused for a moment, considering his next question, then asked, “Why are you here?”
That now almost familiar smile returned to his face. “Can’t tell you.”
Gabi frowned, turning to look at Nico again. “So I’m just supposed to let a stranger stay in my hotel room, without even knowing what he’s doing while I’m at work?”
Nico rolled his eyes heavily, like he had expected this. “I already told you, we’re not strangers. You know me, and I know you. But if it bothers you that much,” He paused to go over to a bag he had settled in the corner of the room that Gabi had only just noticed, “I can give you my number.”
Gabi’s eyes shot up, “You have a phone?”
Nico stared at him like he was stupid. “Well, obviously. Do you think in a measly fifteen years people would stop using smartphones?”
”I… guess not, no. Alright, I’ll add your contact, just don’t text me during practice or qualifying. I’ve got enough on my mind already.”
Nico added his number to Gabi’s phone, which worked perfectly normally, and made him heavily reconsider whether he really should trust this man. But, eventually, they said their good nights, and each went to sleep at the other side of the room. Gabi failed to drift off without wondering what it would feel like if he let Nico stay in the bed with him.
Gabriel arrived at the track with a weird knot in his stomach. The pressure was starting to get to him, he had to admit, feeling butterflies all over as he thought about his first qualifying session. He wanted desperately to get a good result, but compared to Sauber’s last season, almost anything would be a good result.
He still had FP3 before qualifying, though, which he told himself he could use as some training to get the fastest possible laps.
By the time he got out of the car, he was feeling a lot more sure of himself. He got in decent laps, and even a few good ones, and Jose sounded very positive over the radio. He’d even done better than Nico, which he could see had pissed him off.
But all Nico did was send him a dirty look as he passed him in the paddock, still refusing to talk. Gabi rolled his eyes at him.
He still had a bit of time before qualifying, which he would ideally use for strategising, but the moment with Nico pissed him off. He went back to his driver’s room, debating if he should call up one of his friends to complain, when he remembered he had Nico’s contact.
He stared at it for a bit without pressing anything, debating what he should do, but eventually pushed himself to press the call button.
It rang for two beats before Nico picked up, and his “Hello, darling,” sounded delighted.
Gabi stiffened. “Why do you call me that?”
A moment of silence passed, like Nico had only just realised what he said, and he laughed softly into the phone. “Is that what you phoned me for? To ask why I call you that?”
”You’re avoiding the question.”
”Touché.” Gabi could practically hear Nico rolling his eyes as he explained, “It’s a force of habit. I called you that on our first date, and you got really embarrassed, so I kept doing it.”
Gabi listened wordlessly, glad there wasn’t anyone else in the room to see the way he fidgeted. He didn't doubt that he would get embarrassed by that.
”Right,” he muttered, before changing the subject to the one he called about. “But no, I called because, well, Nico’s being a prick to me again. My best lap was half a second under his, and he gave me a look like I murdered his entire family!”
Nico hummed, waiting until Gabi finished his rant before suggesting, “Why don’t you compliment him after qualifying?”
Gabi blinked. “I, what?”
”You know, say something nice to him,” Nico explained, as if the issue was that Gabi didn’t understand what he meant. “Do your best in the race, but try to be nice to him afterwards. Even if it’s really hard.”
”If you want compliments so bad, why don’t you ask your husband?” Gabi shot back in a mocking tone, immediately regretting it, since he was being rude for no reason. He sighed. “I don’t want to be nice to him.”
”Why not?”
”Because I’ll look like an idiot, telling someone who hates me that he drives well.”
Nico snorted, “You think he hates you?”
Gabi frowned. “Obviously.”
Nico sighed, his tone exasperated with a touch of softness in a way that made Gabi’s shoulders slump a bit.
”Just trust me on this one, okay?”
Gabi hesitated for a moment longer before muttering, “Okay, okay. I’ll give him a damn compliment.”
After they hung up, Gabi went to get refreshed before heading to the pit lane to get in his car. He watched Nico drive off before him, but didn’t let his gaze linger on his car. The only thing that mattered to him right now was driving as fast as possible.
It went well, a bit rough at first, but he quickly got the gist of it and managed to slowly but surely improve his lap time. By the time Q1 ended, he made it into the top 15, and cheered with Jose through the car.
He immediately wanted to go tell Nico, he was sure he was watching from his hotel. But, as he giddily made it to the paddock, he saw Nico sitting there by himself, looking bummed out. He’d gotten P17, which wasn’t bad for Sauber, but also wasn’t good, especially when his teammate made it into Q2.
He watched him for a moment, debating whether he should do something. He really didn’t want to talk to him, but he told Nico he’d do it. And, well, they are the same person, so surely there was a reason why he made that suggestion.
Taking a breath, he slowly walked over to Nico. He saw the moment when Nico noticed him, his expression going from frustrated to defensive. He saw him open his mouth, but Gabi spoke before Nico had a chance to.
”You were good out there,” he said, forcing the words out of his mouth. “It’s the first weekend, so everyone’s struggling, but I think…” god, it was almost painful to say, “You uh, you’re handling it pretty good.”
Nico stared at him like he had just grown wings. He looked shocked and confused, like something wasn’t making sense. Which, well, he supposed it wasn’t, since complimenting each other had no part in their dynamic. Why did he even agree to this in the first place?
He took a step away, immediately regretting it, and muttered, “I just… thought you should know,” and quickly walked away before Nico had a chance to respond.
He was going to kill Nico when he was back at his hotel.
Until he was back on track, he refused to look at Nico, and now felt just as petty as he was. He tried to push away the shame as he got through Q2, and he did his best, but with the car at hand, his best ended up being P15. He wasn’t expecting much else, though.
After the session, they had a meeting to go over data, which Gabi was late to because of the ice bath he took to relax his body after the strain. When he arrived, he looked on in horror as all the seats were taken but the one next to Nico, which he slowly and shamefully sank into.
He prepared himself for a meeting of having his gaze fixed on one side and wanting the ground to swallow him whole, but before he could, Nico cleared his throat.
”You, uh, you were great out there,” he told him, voice just loud enough for Gabi to hear and hushed enough for the team around them not to. “I watched.”
Gabi looked at him for a moment, really looked at him, at that embarrassed but hopeful look, the way his hands fidgeted under the table, at his eyes that wouldn’t look at his, and felt his heart twist.
Gabriel was tired from the day. He stopped once again for takeout, taking his time picking from the menu, but eventually the food was ready, and he had nowhere to go but to Nico.
He carefully opened the room’s door to find Nico sitting at the small table, texting on his phone, which he put away as soon as he noticed Gabi.
”Hey,” he greeted, leaning back in his chair to make room at the table. “What did you get?”
”Same thing as yesterday. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get something different.” Gabi explained, hesitating for a moment before sitting down in front of Nico, setting the bag of food down at the table.
Just like the day before, they set the table with the cheap paper plates and split the food between them as they talked.
”You should, they have some pretty good food around here. You’ll have no problem getting into restaurants without reservations as a pilot.”
Gabi nodded, falling back into the easy conversation as he started to eat. “Anywhere in particular you want?”
”Well, I won’t be here tomorrow when you’re done with the race, but there’s a fancy place I can point you to that’s pretty near the track.”
Gabi paused mid-bite, Nico’s words about only staying for three days rushing back to him. His gaze fell to his plate, and he let out a, “Oh, right.”
Nico stayed silent for a few moments, before pointing out, “You’re disappointed.”
”I’m not… disappointed,” Gabi protested, even though he knew it was somewhat true. “I don’t know. I guess I got kind of used to having you here.”
”You like having me around?”
”Stop teasing.” Gabi gave Nico’s leg a halfhearted kick under the table, watching him wince for a moment before laughing. “Are you going to finally tell me why you’re here, since you’re leaving tomorrow?”
Nico’s expression softened, and he set down his fork. “You asked me if I’m still a driver now, right?”
Gabi nodded wordlessly, waiting for him to continue.
”Well, I can tell you that you aren’t.” He paused, “Not because you’re a bad driver. Not one bit. But you got in an accident with your last teammate, not me, of course, and you’re much better now, but you can’t drive anymore. Even in a normal car.”
Gabi hadn’t been expecting that, to say the least. He was shocked, but also worried, since that meant he would have to go through that too.
But Nico continued. “Everyone suspects that if you two had gotten along better, it wouldn’t have happened. You asked me to go back and talk to past you, which is current you, I suppose, and help you get along with past me. We didn’t become friends until we were both in separate teams, let alone start dating.”
”That’s…” Gabi started, but trailed off, not knowing what to say. Each day with this man in his space brought more and more surprises. He still didn’t understand most of the scenario, but he could piece together enough of it to understand what Nico was trying to say.
”I didn’t, you… you’re really doing all that for me?”
Nico smiled again, that same soft, warm smile that Gabi was growing to recognise. “Of course,” he said, “I love you.”
Gabi let out a breath, feeling overwhelmed. It’s been a while since someone told him that, especially when he couldn’t say it back. He intended to talk about his teammate when he came back from qualifying, maybe press Nico for some answers, not… this.
But it wasn’t unwelcome, either.
”You sound like it,” he settled on, and went back to his food.
They finished up their food and moved to talk about the race, Gabi discussing the state of the car, and Nico offering up whatever advice he could. Which wasn’t much, since there was only so much you could do in a Sauber, but Gabi appreciated it nonetheless.
A few hours later, Gabi went to shower and get ready for sleep while Nico waited. He noticed he did a lot of that, waiting for Gabi to get to the hotel, waiting for him to finish his food, and waiting for the days to pass without doing much other than talking to him.
When he returned, freshened up in his pajamas, he saw Nico settled on his makeshift couch-bed reading a book he didn’t even realise he’d brought. He looked so domestic, like there was nowhere he should be but right there with Gabi. It filled his chest with a kind of warmth he hadn’t felt in a long time.
He leaned back against his bed without sitting down on it, trying not to stare. He then spoke, saying, “You can sleep on the bed, if you want.”
Nico looked up at him, a playful smile on his face. “I thought the one with a race tomorrow should take it, no?”
Gabi rolled his eyes, knowing Nico was teasing him, but he played along. “You know what I meant.”
Nico laughed softly, letting his book fall down to the couch as he stood up and walked over to Gabi. He gently ruffled his hair as he passed him and lay down on the bed, making Gabi scoff and quickly fix his hair.
He went to turn off the lights before joining Nico, leaving enough space between them so their skin wasn’t touching, but he could still feel the warmth radiating from the other side of the bed. He was starting to wonder if this was really a good idea, since he always thought a heart rate slowed down when someone slept, but his was going haywire.
He tried to sleep, he really did, but after a few minutes, he gave up. He shifted to face Nico, whispering, “You still awake?”
Nico turned his head to him, and Gabi couldn’t see his face in the dark, but he was sure he was smiling. “Last time I checked, yeah.”
Gabi went silent for a moment. He tried to make out the highlights of Nico’s face in the dark, the sharp tilt of his jaw, the way his eyelashes flickered on his eyes, and the breath he could almost feel on his face.
Then, before he could stop himself, “Can I kiss you?”
He wasn’t sure what he expected, to be honest. He knew he wouldn’t say yes, but he also didn’t think he’d refuse. But instead, Nico laughed.
A loud, wholehearted laugh, one which he had to wipe his face to stop. Gabi pushed himself up on his elbows, heart still running wild in his chest, embarrassed at being laughed at. Was it really that stupid to ask, when Nico said he loved him hours earlier?
Well, of course Nico loved him. Just not him him.
When Nico finally calmed down, he looked at Gabi again, still lying down like he had any chance of falling asleep like this.
”Do you really want your first kiss with Nico to be with me, and not him?”
Gabi was suddenly very grateful for the dark, as his face was absolutely flushed. And, unfortunately, the conclusion he came to was, “No.”
”That’s what I thought.” Nico huffed another soft laugh before turning to lie on his side, facing away from Gabi. “Good night, darling.”
Gabi sighed, turning in the opposite direction. He knew he had to reject him, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t disappointed.
”Yeah, good night.”
Gabriel woke up to Nico’s snoring face in front of him, and the bittersweet feeling he had when he saw him stayed with him through the whole day, since he knew it was the last time he’d see that face for the next fifteen years.
He arrived at the track early, taking the extra time to talk with the strategy team and polish it to perfection. It was his first-ever race, and he was determined to make the most of it.
When Nico arrived, Gabi greeted him, which was a bit awkward but accepted well. He really hoped they could get along, especially since Nico didn’t have a man from the future telling him to say something nice to Gabi; he genuinely thought he drove well and told him that.
Though now that he thought about it, it wasn’t like Nico would ever know about future Nico visiting him. If he’s gone when he returns to his hotel, it’ll be just like he was never there. Like the change came from Gabi, instead of outside intervention.
They didn’t have much time to talk before getting in their race suits and onto the track, but when Gabi spotted Nico getting into his car, he couldn’t help but feel a lump in his throat. He wanted to do something, say something, but he didn’t know what.
So before he could overthink it, he walked up to Nico and grabbed his arm, getting his attention. Their gazes locked through the helmet for a moment, and Gabi found himself speechless. Nico’s visor was down, but his wasn’t, and he knew he could tell his face was turning red. God damn it.
”I, uh, good luck,” He ended up stammering, jerking his hand back like he did something wrong.
And maybe he misheard it because of the helmet, but he swore that Nico chuckled as he returned a, “Thanks. You too.”
Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on Gabi’s side, since he ended up crashing after completing almost half of the laps. He was disappointed, and rightfully so, but his team had prepared him for this. He later went over the data with Jose as he waited for the race to finish, taking notes and corrections to practice in the sim.
He practically lived on the sim most days, though he didn’t have much time for it when Nico was around.
Gabi went with the team after the race was over to congratulate Nico, who had finished 7th, granting them their first points of the season. Despite the large amount of DNFs, the result was still impressive, and he cheered him on fullheartedly.
He actually spoke with Nico as they waited for the podium ceremony to start, nothing major, but they exchanged a few jokes and snickered like kids. He could tell that some of the other drivers were staring at them, particularly Ollie and Franco, who were probably surprised to see them get along after Gabi constantly complained to them about Nico, yet they said nothing.
The rest of the post-race procedures passed like a breeze, and soon enough, Gabi found himself heading to catch a cab and take him back to his hotel. There were two differences about leaving the track that day than the previous two before.
Firstly, there was the fact that his hotel was empty. But, more importantly to Gabi, he had Nico laughing by his side as they made their way to the Uber Gabi ordered.
When he spotted the car, he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulders. He was having a lot of fun finally getting along with Nico, and honestly, he wasn’t looking forward to going back to his cold, empty hotel and doing nothing by himself.
His smile faltered a bit as he stopped walking and turned to face Nico, suddenly feeling embarrassed.
”My Uber’s here, I should… probably go now,” he explained, but it felt like an excuse. Nico didn’t think he was being rude, did he?
Nico blinked, glancing off towards the car, as if he suddenly remembered that this would end eventually. “Oh, um, right.”
They stood there in silence for what was probably ten seconds but felt like an excruciatingly long time, until Gabi cleared his throat.
”Congrats on the points, also. You did really well, you deserved it.”
He watched Nico’s face light up, only for his smile to turn sheepish. “Thanks, mate. But you would have probably finished ahead of me if you look at quali.”
”Too bad we’ll never know, I was really looking forward to beating you,” Gabi joked, and thankfully Nico laughed.
”Guess we’ll have to wait and find out next week.”
Gabi grinned, the idea of racing again already exciting him. “Next race I’m going to crush it, but we can’t wait until then without an answer, can we? I have a simulator kit at my hotel, you should come and we’ll see who’s really better.”
As soon as the invitation left his mouth, Gabi immediately regretted it. He saw the wheels turning in Nico’s head, that he basically invited him to hang out. In his hotel room. Alone. At dark. For driving the simulator.
There was nothing romantic about that, not at all. He had no reason to be this nervous about it. He just assumed they were friends, which was already a step too far, but it was okay. He ruined their relationship; that’s fine, he can always start again. Though it’ll suck to lose those jokes and sweet smiles when he knows Nico is excited to say something but tries to hide it, even though he’s really bad at hiding it and-
“Um, yeah, that sounds good,” Nico suddenly agreed, snapping Gabi out of his thoughts. “Do we, uh, go now, or…?”
Gabi looked between Nico and the car, not having expected that at all, but quickly trying to backtrack. “Yes, um, yeah, now. I think. Yeah.”
Nico’s lips twitched upwards at Gabi’s stammering, which he wasn’t sure implied mocking or fondness, but he refused to think about it as they walked towards the car. Only inside it did he realise that if this Nico was the same as the man from the future, then he did, in fact, invite him inside.