I Hope - Daniel Ricciardo one shot

I Hope...

It had only been three weeks since you split with Daniel, and it was still raw and hurt so much.

You had found him with another girl on the night you returned home after a weekend away for work, he tried contacting you several times to tell you it wasn't what it looked like, that it was a mistake and that she meant nothing, but it had come out that he had been secretly seeing her when he was away for race weekends, it was hard for you, finding out that most of the other drivers knew and never told you, you counted them as friends but you cut them out of your life as soon as you knew that they had been lying to you. You had moved in with your best friend until you found a place of your own, your previous apartment you shared with Daniel and you really didn't want to go back to that place that had all the painful memories.

Your friends had enough of you feeling sorry for yourself so they went about surprising you with a pamper session followed by a night out going to different clubs.
"Right, come on Sophie, that's enough, Im so done seeing you feeling sorry for yourself. I know its hard for you, finding out that he cheated on you, but you need to let go and have some fun, I miss my fun loving, bubbly, happy-go-lucky best friend, which is why, we are going to go to have a pamper session, get our nails done, get our hair done and our make up done, go shopping and go out so you, can have fun and let go of this" your best friend Lily said handing you a mug of coffee
"Lily, Im really not in the mood"
"Tough, you've had enough time to mop around, Im not letting you do this anymore" you sigh knowing that she was right
"Fine, when are we going"
"We have a taxi booked for an hour and a half, so drink up, get yourself sorted out and wear something cute"
You roll your eyes and get up going to the room you were staying in and sort out your outfit, you decided on a pair of denim shorts, a vest top and a white cardigan with a pair of slip on converse shoes, you picked up your sunglasses and added some jewellery and decided that you would take a couple of selfies and post them on your social media, it had been a while since you had posted anything and everyone knew why, within a matter of seconds, you were receiving likes and comments, most of them wishing you well, hoping you were ok and saying they missed you.
A few minutes later you got a message from Max.

Max:
Its good to see you back, we've missed you.
If I could go back and tell you about Dan I would
Please believe me, me and the guys feel awful
We miss seeing you and talking to you
Look, we're going to a karaoke bar later
Maybe you could come and see us I'll message you the address later if you want to come
Just take care of yourself ok

You sat on your bed looking at the messages, you felt awful but you knew that they had kept this from you for a while, you decide to message Max back.

You: You lot should have told me, we were meant to be friends.
But I miss you lot too... Whats the address of the bar?
I'll be there to see you guys

Max sends you the address to the bar and you go back out to the lounge to find Lily, and your other friends Katie and Ana waiting for you.

"Ready?" Lily said to you and you just nodded
"Oh, do you mind if we go to a karaoke bar later? It looks like fun and I have the address"

"Whatever you want to do tonight, its all about you" Ana smiled

A while later you're getting a manicure and talking to the girls, enjoying yourself and feeling a little better, you then decided to go shopping and have a bit of lunch at your favourite restaurant that you and the girls always went too, after that you went and got your hair and make up done before changing and getting out to the first stop of your night out.

Walking through the crowded bar with your girls, you felt the best you had done in weeks, and you were so thankful that they had made you go out and have fun, a few drinks later you all decide to go to the karaoke bar, but you didn't mention to your friends that Max and the rest of the boys would be there and Max never told you that Daniel would also be there, as you walk in you smile seeing Max and waving to him, your smile soon fading when you see Daniel also looking in your direction, before you could react Lily pulled you to the bar and had got some shots lined up for you all to drink, not hesitating, you throw them back as fast as you could and ordered more, soon you were starting to feel tipsy and thought it would be a good idea to have a go at karaoke yourself. You stand at the edge of the stage looking at the song list and find one that you had listened to a lot over the few weeks.

When you were announced on to the stage your friends and the boys screamed and shouted, the music started and you were in the groove and when it got to the chorus you focused your attention solely onto Daniel and sang the lyrics right to him;
"I hope you both feel the sparks by the end of the drive, I hope you know she's the one by the end of the night, I hope you never ever felt more free, Tell your friends that you're so happy I hope she comes along and wrecks every one of your plans, I hope you spend your last dime to put a rock on her hand, I hope she's wilder than your wildest dreams, She's everything you're ever gonna need, And then I hope she cheats, Like you did on me, And then I hope she cheats, Like you did on me"

You carry on singing, the crowd loving you and when the song finishes the crowd goes wild, chanting your name, screaming and shouting, you rush off the stage and back to your friends
"You were amazing Soph!"
"You were so good!"
"That was INSANE!"
"But why didn't you tell us the boys were here?"
"This is why you wanted to come here isn't it?"
You looked down at the floor in shame "Yeah I knew, Max messaged me after I posted on Instagram and well I thought why not? He never told me that Daniel would be here though, and well...when I saw he was here and I saw the song in the list, I knew I had to sing it, Im sorry for not telling you guys, but I knew that if I did you wouldn't want to come in here..."
"You don't need to be sorry, but you should have told us"
"I know and Im sorry I didn't..."
"Its ok!"

You hear a cough behind you and you turn around to see Daniel stood there, with Max, George, Lando and Charles not that far behind him
"Whatever you have to say, save it, I don't want to hear any more excuses from you Daniel"
"I know, but Im here to say Im sorry, I never should have cheated on you, and I definitely should not have asked the guys to lie for me and not tell you, I should have been up front with you and...well I am so sorry, but please, whatever you do don't take it out on them, this is my mess not theirs. They miss you. I miss you. I know it will take a while but Im hoping you can forgive them and in time forgive me"

You stand there looking at Daniel, he looked broken, sad and stressed, he looked like he hadn't slept in days if not weeks, he didn't have his usual cheeky spark, you sigh
"It will take time, but I want us all to work towards being friends again, but Dan, in terms of us...we're done, forever, and this will take the longest to heal and to forgive"
"I know and again Im so sorry, but please, I know the boys messed up, but they did it because of me, because I kept telling them not to tell you because I was going to tell you" Daniel turned his head to look at the group behind him before turning to you
"Things aren't the same without you around the paddock, just think about coming back, not for me or for them, but for you, everyone misses you" you see Max and George nodding in agreement
"I'll think about it, but no promises okay?"
They all smiled widely at you, they knew that they had to work hard for your forgiveness and that it wouldn't be easy, but you missed them all and things hadn't been the same for you since you left

A few weeks later, you were attending your first race weekend for the first time in months, George had offered you a guest spot for the Williams garage and you gladly accepted, you had been speaking to most of the guys again daily, and even though they weren't fully forgiven yet, you decided that you could work on everything as a group and being back with them made you feel almost at peace with the situation.