Chapter Text
The first time Liam posted anything involving Arvid after they'd started dating was innocent enough for it to be seen as nothing more than two teammates having fun.
~~~
The Monaco Grand Prix hadn't begun too well for either Racing Bulls driver. They were constantly far from the top 10 in practices. Liam had only managed to snatch the last spot of Q3, while Arvid ended Saturday with a quite disappointing P15.
After the session, Liam walked back to the motorhome to shower and change before leaving. To say the least, he wasn't too surprised when he found his boyfriend already sitting in his driver's room - despite Arvid having one of his own on the other side of the hallway.
"Hey," he smiled at the Brit, who stood up as soon as he saw Liam enter the room.
"Hi," Arvid answered, barely louder than a breath, as he threw his arms around Liam.
The older, knowing his boyfriend's qualifying result was not what he'd been expecting, immediately understood Arvid's need for comfort. God, he'd felt the exact same way so many times before. He was glad he could be there for the younger in moments like this.
He wrapped his arms around Arvid's back, pressing a soft kiss into his curls.
"It's okay, love. You will make up for it tomorrow."
Arvid didn't have the strength to answer; he just nodded, burrowing his head farther into Liam's shoulder.
They stood in the embrace for what could've been both minutes and hours; neither of them cared as long as they had each other.
Arvid was the first to pull back, not completely, just enough to be able to see Liam's face.
"Want to go home now?" he asked.
"Yeah, of course," the older replied. Thankfully, they didn't need a hotel room, as the Kiwi's flat was only a few kilometers away. "I have to change, so go ahead; I'll meet you there."
They had decided to leave separately, as Monaco was one of the most paparazzi-filled areas in the whole world at that moment, and pictures of two Formula 1 drivers entering an apartment complex together - with only one of them living there - would turn into a scandal that neither they nor the team wanted to deal with on top of the issues they had with both cars.
"Alright, see you in a few," Arvid attempted a smile, and pressed a small kiss to Liam's lips before letting go entirely, turning to leave the room.
"Bye."
~~~
Once Arvid arrived at Liam's flat, he started preparing dinner - strictly following the race-week meal plan, obviously -, to keep more of the little time they have together for talking and cuddling.
He was almost done by the time the Kiwi managed to get through the chaos of Monaco. They finished the food together, and sat down to eat as the stupid quiz show Arvid's been into played in the background.
"Are you okay? Like, for real," Liam asked, sitting on the couch once they finished eating, looking sincerely into Arvid's eyes.
The younger sighed. "I am. I will be," he corrected himself. "It really isn't anything serious. Anyone can have a bad quali result sometimes."
"I have a feeling you could make it into the points tomorrow. Anything can happen, love."
"Yeah, I hope so. I'd love to have both of us in the points. It would be our first."
"Me too," Liam smiled, and pulled Arvid closer into his side. The Brit went willingly, leaning his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, which might have been his first actual moment of peace that day - being an F1 driver came with a lot of stress, especially if one was a rookie in the unforgiving Red Bull system. But Arvid had Liam, his favorite person and safe space, so in the end, he really would be alright.
~~~
On Sunday morning, the principality was practically buzzing with anticipation.
Team jersey-clad fans flooded the streets, influencers and celebrities pretended they understand racecars, mechanics and engineers clocked in early to start preparing for the race.
Arvid and Liam decided against a joint commute to the track once again, as they still weren't willing to risk news of their still relatively new relationship getting out.
They barely had time to talk once they arrived in the paddock; they were both quickly whisked away by their respective teams of trainers and engineers.
The race couldn't have gone any better for Racing Bulls: Liam managed to keep his nose clean, and finished P5 due to the DNFs and penalties towards the front of the field. Arvid pulled off an amazing stint in the beginning, and the red flags gave him a free pitstop, which had him finish just behind Liam.
And there it was: their first double points finish in 2026.
Upon getting out of the car, Liam's first instinct was to look for Arvid. He knew they couldn't properly congratulate each other in parc fermé, in front of thousands of people, but he needed to see the Brit.
It seemed as if his boyfriend had the same thought, because Liam saw Arvind walking towards him within minutes, his smile obvious even just through the gap of his lifted visor.
They clasped hands as soon as they reached each other, the dap having to suffice instead of the actual contact they craved.
"We did it! We have our first double points finish, Liam," Arvid exclaimed beaming, looking into the older's eyes.
They walked over to the corner of parc fermé to get in line for the weigh-ins.
"Yeah, we did. See, I told you you'd make it into the points," Liam grinned back at his boyfriend. "I'm so proud of you," he said sincerely, lowering his voice just in case anyone walking by was listening.
Arvid smiled back; he didn't have time to answer as he had to step on the scale - only to be whisked away by his media manager as soon as he got the slip with his details on it.
~~~
The next time Liam saw Arvid was when the team gathered to celebrate post-media.
They took a team picture, the two drivers proudly holding their pit boards with the results on it - P5 and P6 were their respective personals bests, after all.
"Do you want to jump in the harbour?" Arvid asked Liam, the familiar glint of mischief present in his eyes.
"You know what? Why not?" the Kiwi agreed immediately. He usually wasn't one for ideas like this, but how could he say no when his boyfriend looks so utterly happy?
Obviously, the media crew and their cameras had to follow the drivers down to the harbour as well. This content will generate an amazing amount of engagement, they'd said.
Liam was the first to stand on the edge of the balcony they planned to jump from.
"No turning back now, mate," Arvid teased him.
"Oh, of course not," Liam answered, and with that he jumped into the water - which was cooler than he expected it to be, but it was survivable. Arvid followed him suit, surfacing right next to him, the upper halves of their soaked racesuits floating around them as they laughed together, finally feeling relief after this highly stressful weekend.
The video taken by one of the admins was the first thing Liam posted of himself and Arvid as a couple - he included it in his usual picture dump about the race weekend.
To many, it might've seemed like nothing other than two teammates having fun, but to Liam it meant a lot more. Moments like these, weekends like this assured him that Arvid was by his side through both bad results and celebration, and that he didn't have to face it alone anymore.