F1,F2 and F3 One Shots Book 9 (REQUESTS CLOSED)

623 - Nicholas Latifi

Requested by tcr_lover

623: "This may be our last race for the same team, but this definitely isn't the last you'll be seeing of me."

The final Sunday of the 2021 season was far more emotional than you ever could have anticipated. Rather than this being because of how heated the championship battle between Max and Lewis was and how controversially it had ended, it was instead because it was your final race for Williams before you would go to Mercedes next season and it was only on your final race weekend for the team that you realised just how attached you had become to your teammate, Nicholas.

Once yourself and Nicholas were both in your garage after the race, there may have been a lot of noise around you bothh, there may have been many heated discussions about who your team members believed should have won the title, but that didn't stop yourself and Nicholas from focusing on each other. It was only after a few moments that you realised that you were fixating on him from your side of the garage and it was just as you were about to rush to look away, that you realised he was returning your warm smile, this making you want to melt into the floor in case he was weirded out at the realisation that you were looking at him. Knowing that your interviews were soon going to start, you had just made the decision that you were going to head into the media pen early, but before you had chance to turn to the door, Nicholas rushed over to you before you were able.

"Y/N, can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked hopefully, trying, but failing miserably to hide the desperation in his voice.

Your heart began to pummel against your chest, your cheeks flushing scarlet at the sound of those words because of how much you hated confrontation. However, you quickly realised that rather than making Nicholas feel uncomfortable, he was in fact feeling exactly the same way as you were.

"First, let me just say thank you so much for everything you've done for the team this season," Nicholas began professionally, before he lowered his voice as he leant in closer to your ear. "I'm just going to come out and say this right now because I don't know when my next opportunity will be, but I've reallly enjoyed spending time with you this season and I hope that we can continue to see each other regularly when you're fighting at the front of the field and that you aren't going to forget about little old me."

A few saddened chuckles left your lips as a broad smile spread across them, before you wrapped your arms briefly around the back of Nicholas' neck and pulled him in for a brief, but tight embrace, but as you held each other at arms length, you couldn't help but notice that his cheeks were even more crimson than your own.

"I could never forget about you and of course we're going to spend time together next season," you replied warmly, getting ready to leave for the media pen once more, but being stopped by Nicholas, who gently grabbed you by the wrist as you were about to walk away.

"Don't you see what I was just getting at?" He asked you nervously, before he let out a shaky deep breath as he plucked up all of his courage to meet your eyes, his grip on your wrist tightening ever so slightly because of his rapidly increasing nerves. "I didn't just say that to be polite. I said that because I really like you, Y/N. I should have said something so much sooner, but I knew that it would be too late if I waited any longer than today. I'd love it if we could meet up sometime soon and go on a proper date, rather than having one of our old professional lunches."

Nicholas felt sick to his stomach at the thought of your reaction, but he was immediately put at ease as you beamed at him, your cheeks soon aching because of how broadly you were smiling.

"A few minutes ago, I was feeling disappointed because I felt as though I could have done so much better today, but now that you've asked me that, you've made my day. I've been wanting the exact same thing," you admitted joyfully, before Nicholas retuned your enormous smile.

Yourself and Nicholas then descended into a blissful silence, but rather than being full of awkwardness, the two of you loved it because it gave you chance to appreciate how amazing you considered the other one to be and how lucky you were to have them, but after a few minutes, which only felt like a matter of seconds, both of you were ripped out of your deep trance as your respective engineers were calling you over to them, wanting to have a short debrief before your interviews.

"This may be our last race for the same team, but this definitely isn't the last you'll be seeing of me," Nicholas muttered flirtatiously into your ear as you were about to return to your separate sides of the garage.

You then felt as if you had froze, you being left stunned by how Nicholas had pressed a gentle peck to your cheek before he had left you, making you feel like a giddy teenager and as if you would have one hell of a job to get him out of your mind and focus solely on your debrief and then your interviews.