Work Text:
It was a cold december night, Yuki couldn't sleep, given he was kicked off F1 the previous day. "You've had too much outbursts recently, people are getting fed up" the team manager said "We have better drivers to replace you with" Tsunoda kept repeating the words in his head all night. He wasn't sure if his teammate knew of this, but it was whatever. He can't fight for his position on Redbull Racing anymore, they wouldn't take him back, he knew that.
He decided the best he could do was just take a melatonin pill and go to sleep, he needed to stop worrying about this, there was no point anyway, it already happened. Yuki took the pill and just sat on the hotel couch till he fell asleep. He only got 3 hours of sleep before he got an e-mail from the F1 team managers that he could still attend the final dinner. At least he got to see the other drivers all together a final time, he was especially happy that he's getting to see Pierre again.
The following morning he got dressed in just jeans and a white t-shirt and texted Gasly asking if he'd be there too and, luckily, the answer was a yes, thank god! He couldn't wait to see Pierre again, although Yuki wasn't sure wether the others already knew about him being kicked off or not.
______________________
After getting to the dinner he noticed the others had already started feasting. He didn’t think much of it, I mean it’s not like they were obligated to wait, he wasn’t a driver anymore anyway. Pierre called him over, saving a seat for Yuki next to himself. Tsunoda walked over to him, sitting down and turning his head to Gasly nervously.
“I heard you weren’t gonna drive anymore?” - Pierre spoke, it sounding more like a question than a statement.
“Oh- uh, yeah. I guess not” - Yuki tried to look him in the eye but couldn’t, every time he looked back at the man next to him his heart raced. Shit.
He couldn’t have liked Gasly THAT way, “what would the other divers think? Yeah, maybe they were completely supportive of Gabi and Nico, but…” the man thought to himself, but… what? I mean what’s the difference, he couldn’t even come up with an excuse.
The dinner went just fine, even though Tsunoda was terribly nervous of being obvious about his feelings towards Pierre. He was sure someone had noticed, if not Pierre one of the others. And the way Gasly looked at him, like he reciprocated those feelings. Maybe he did, at least that’s what Yuki so much as desperately wanted.
After the dinner everyone went off in their own ways. Yuki quickly went back to his hotel room to gather his clothes and other stuff to get on the plane. He finished packing his bags and rushed to the airport, constantly worried about being late even though the plane is boarding in 4 hours. When he got to the airport he took note of the fact that he would be flying the same airline as Gasly, not only that but also the same plane. He decided maybe he could sit down next to his friend while waiting for the plane.
After getting everything checked out and being sent to his gate, he saw Pierre already there on one of the waiting chairs. He walked over to him and sat down next to him. They talked for a bit and exchanged thoughts.
“You know… you shouldn’t worry that much about the kicking off the team thing, at least you can start following a bigger passion, or race in a different way.” - Pierre re-assured.
“Maybe you’re right” - Yuki sighed - “I still want to pursue this though, it’s not my fault I’ve got these issues is it? Even though, I kind of understand everyone, I’m probably tiering.” - he added.
“You’re not. I mean, to me at least. They just gotta learn to live with it. They kicked you off because they’re assholes, they could’ve just helped you with anger management and that’s it.” - the taller rested a hand on Tsunoda’s shoulder, making his heart beat minimally faster.
“I could get anger management and then try again… not sure if they’d take me back though.” - Yuki laughed dryly.
“It’s worth a try Yuki, don’t give up what you want to some incoherent dudes who think everyone should be perfect.” - those words made Tsunoda the happiest man alive. Pierre was re-assuring him and that’s all he needed to earn back hope.
They continued their conversation up until boarding the plane. It was now a bit after 2 AM, it was pitch black outside when they got out the airport to board the aircraft.
“hey Yuki?” - Pierre spoke as Tsunoda turned his head to the side.
And suddenly his eyes closed shut as something hauled him up and slammed against his lips. The only thing that could piss Pierre off about Yuki was the fact that he was way too short for random kisses.
The connection wasn’t that long, but it was real and that’s all that mattered. Most of that flight they slept against each other, sitting next to one another, finger laced.