Chapter Text
Kimi couldn’t sleep before his first race in Australia.
So, he went to bother George, who was two rooms down.
He always felt so strange being in a hotel room on his own when his family were all literally in the same building as him (which was why he insisted on staying in George’s room occasionally throughout his F2 and F3 career and at Bahrain testing this year) but now he’s been forced to grow up (by Lewis’ reprimanding about independence) and face the music - or the silence you could say. He didn’t want his Papa to worry (He knew that Nico would let him stay with him but he would get too concerned) so he decided that George would be the safest bet.
Knocking on George’s door at 12am before qualifying was to shoulder a risk of being yelled at but Kimi persisted and stood there. It took George a good 50 seconds to reach the door, making Kimi more worked up.
George opened the door with a disgruntled look on his face but the quick surprise of seeing Kimi washed it away.
“Oi! What did Dad say about you staying in your own room?” George complained as if he wasn’t expecting Kimi anyway.
“Dad’s not here.” Kimi whined as he tried to enter his room, when George’s hand grabbed his shoulder, preventing him from going any further.
“I could go get him.” George tilted his head challenging his brother.
Kimi turned towards George with a disinterested looked, along with some desperation that George could spot with the redness around his eyes.
“Fine, come on.” The older man sighed as he let go of Kimi, turning in to close the door.
But instead of passing George to his bed, Kimi stuck himself right into George’s chest- soaking up his presence and burying his face in his shoulder.
“Oh, hello.” George stumbled a little backwards by surprise.
Kimi’s heart was pounding so hard it almost hurt. He’s been looking at Instagram a bit too much and everyone has been making countdowns of his age to certain achievements like “Youngest Podium Sitter” can only be achieved in the next two races or “Youngest Race Winner” will only be achieved in the next five races.
“Yous nervous for tomorrow then?” George said into Kimi’s curly hair with a soft voice.
“No, shut up.” Kimi snapped, but it was muffled by his face squishing into George’s collarbone.
George snickered and wrapped his arms around the boy too, shuffling the two of them closer to the bed whilst reading his watch. The taller Hamilton-Rosberg sat down and the younger followed, kneeling on the bed, shuffling over to keep hiding his face from George’s watchful eyes.
“You wanna talk about it?” George let go of his teasing tone, trying to settle his tense younger brother. Even he could feel how stiff his brother was sitting, how his hunched shoulders were held taut.
It happened to George and he understood Kimi perfectly. He knew that Kimi was sensitive, even more than him (if anyone would believe that). If the media pointed judgement fingers at George for crying, what could they do to Little Kimi, who used to cry once a day before bed before he turned 13. At least George had until 21 to get ready for Formula 1 but his brother, who was finally allowed to enter pubs a few months ago, was now pushed into this seat with headlines touting how he was the next Verstappen. (George had that too, the champion of F2, look how that was panning out for him.)
Kimi stayed silent, hanging on to his brother. He’s been this clingy like since George started to not be home as often after his F1 career started. And over time, George let him cling.
“Okay.” George whispered, laying his brother down. Kimi clung on to his brother’s shoulders, not wanting to feel the cold of the AC by himself – even when he’s in a fluffy white bed of high hotel quality.
“You’re going to have to let go, Kimi, I have to turn off the lights.” George laughed lightly, moving his elbow to the side, shifting his weight to touch the switch above the bedside table.
When the room returns to night, the moon shone through the gaps of the curtains. The yellow warmth from the hotel lights transferred into the warmth between a cuddly Kimi and his gangly older brother.
“Please go to sleep, okay? Dad will kill me if you even yawn once tomorrow.” The older man said in the dark, only seeing the highlights of his younger brother’s eyes lashes that seemed to be closed.
Kimi hummed a tired agreement of some kind before burrowing down in the mattress with thick covers over him. George smiled in the dark, fond eyes looking over the kid’s young face. It was unreal to him that his TINY LITTLE brother was going to be in a real Formula 1 qualifying tomorrow, the concept was frightening to believe. There were many times in the past two months that George has complained about this fact to his parents. Lewis had told him that this was going to happen, whether he liked it or not, Kimi was going to grow up. Nico had told him, if it comforted George, he will just have to look after him to the best of his ability. Neither of them helped with the feeling, especially since they weren’t sure about that either.
George combed his fingers through his brother’s curls as Kimi’s breaths started to even out, trying to memorise the sight of the last night Kimi’s going to be a true kid.
—
Sometime, during Kimi’s sleep, he stirred to semi consciousness when he heard some voices far from him. When his senses came back into his sleepy body, he realised that there was no warmth or brother next to him.
Kimi shot up—adrenaline swallowing his heart whole. His wide eyes spotting two shadows at the door, outlines highlighted by the light in the hallway.
He squeaked out a disoriented “George?”
He then heard a small “shit” that was followed by a larger shadow, now appearing as George, turning around and speeding toward him.
“Yeah, it’s me, it’s alright.” George sat on his side of the bed, holding Kimi’s shoulder and the back of his head, threading through his curly hair.
“Wha- where were you?” Kimi stammered, avoiding the blaring light from the hotel hallway, too bright for Kimi’s eyes at the moment.
“I’m just chattin with a friend at the door. It’s alright, go back to sleep.” He urged, he was used to Kimi waking up and feeling afraid because something had changed- like someone rearranged all the furniture in the room without him knowing.
“Oh, ok.” The littlest person in the room nodded fuzzily, leaning into his brother’s touch a little.
As he melted back into bed, George patted his shoulder a little before getting up to walk again, sleep already washing over himself again. Kimi could hear a faint Dutch accent in the background. When he opened his eyes a little, whilst lying on his side, he saw the figure of a stocky, shorter man brightly contrasting George’s shadowy tall figure as he stood in the hallway, illuminating Kimi’s vision like a lamp.
Kimi felt a cloudy smidge of embarrassment to have the best driver of a whole generation see him need his brother’s reassurance to sleep but he continued to blurrily watch their interaction. George shifted back into place with Max Verstappen, each of them occupying one side of the door frame. Kimi could see Max goofily grin at his brother, doubling over with stifled laughter over something he said. They talked, their faces were closer together than Kimi thought they ought to be.
As Kimi faded back to sleep, he swore that one of them leaned in and…
—
The first thing Kimi did that morning was to run to his dad’s room. When he knocked on the door, he was almost jumping in excitement. For many reasons.
“Is George dating someone?” The words spilled out of his mouth with an urgency as he watched Lewis slightly open the door.
His dad smiled at him tired, “Hello to you too, Kimi, happy first Quali day. Why are you asking?”
“I think I should know these things.” Kimi puffed out his chest, bouncing over to hug his dad.
“Ask your brother, he should be the one to tell you- or maybe he’ll decide not to.” Lewis felt his younger son absolutely vibrating with delight as he bounced on his heels.
“IS IT MAX?” Kimi practically yelled, Lewis shushes him immediately, pulling him into his hotel room.
The unimpressed look on his dad’s face made Kimi calm down a little. But only a little. Lewis led Kimi to sit down on the bed, checking the time before looking back up at his boy.
“Kimi. People will date people; it’s just how it goes. It is nothing special.” Lewis explained, starting to pack up what he was going to bring to the track from around the room.
Kimi, even with the warning, he continued to ramble, “But it’s Max. He’s like… the best driver of the decade and everything. And I thought —I thought they didn’t like each other— they FOUGHT last year. And we’ve known Max for… for FOREVER. I never ever thought that…”
“They’ve been together for a while actually.” Lewis zipped up his purse, grabbing his phone to his pocket.
“But why didn’t he tell me?” Kimi looked at his dad with more feeling than before.
“You’re not great at secrets, are you, sweetheart?”
“When was he GOING to tell me?” Kimi started to get up, his dad gesturing that they have to leave now.
“When they were ready. No one knows, just me, your Papa, Vivian, Sophie and Victoria.” Lewis started to open the door, putting his finger to his lips – telling Kimi to be quieter when they enter into the hotel corridor.
Great, he just saw Nico and his step-mother the day before – so they were all lying to him.
“Did you tell Seb too? I saw you with him yesterday.” Kimi grumbled.
Sebastian Vettel just decided to appear for Free Practice yesterday at the Red Bull hospitality, making polite conversation with Lewis. Seb made his dad laugh loads, there were tons of photos taken where Lewis looked like an idiot. Lewis snapped his neck up to look at him. His mouth opening and closing before shaking his head. Kimi squints at him suspiciously but he lets it go.
“So, Max’s sister was allowed to know but I wasn’t.” Kimi questioned growing annoyed.
“You’re still so young, they didn’t want you to have the burden of keeping that secret – especially with all the media you’re about to go through this year.” Lewis calmly explained as he hurried his son along into the elevator.
“Were you going to tell Leya before me then, because she doesn’t have to do media.” Kimi’s grumbling turned to a sourness, bringing up his 5-year-old half-sister for the sake of it.
Lewis gave Kimi a long look. He knew that when Leya was born, Kimi did have a little jealousy problem for a few months. From not wanting to go to Nico and Vivian’s apartment in Monaco after, to crying at Lewis about George’s old room being painted over for the newborn baby when George was the one that gave the permission for them to do so. But it has been 5 years, he very obviously loved his little half-sister like the rest of the family, so it was petty of him to bring those feelings up again.
“Kimi. Stop. George just wanted the best for you. Not that I agree with him about keeping this from you, but he didn’t want to put more pressure on you as it is.” Lewis put a hand on Kimi’s back as they started to walk out of the elevator into the parking lot of the hotel, trying to spot George’s car as they were going to the track together.
“Fine, I’ll just pretend not to know. I’m great at keeping secrets.” Kimi mumbled still annoyed, spotting George waving at them from afar, the lights of George’s weekend car flashing.
Lewis huffed a small laugh, “sure, sweetheart, you do that.”
“Don’t tell him. I’m proving a point.” Kimi said quietly.
They approached the grinning older Mercedes Driver, Kimi brushed right past George, opening the backseat door and crawling into the car without saying anything to his brother. Shutting the door in his face.
“Hello? I guess.” George knocked on the window of his weekend Australian Mercedes car, trying to look at Kimi through the tinted glass.
“He came into my room last night for a cuddle and I don’t even get a thank you?” George questioned with his eyes squinted in slight confusion at his dad.
“What did I say about indulging him like that?” Lewis sighed as he pulled George in for a hug. George leaned down to reciprocate – he had grown annoyingly taller than both his parents.
“Tell me you wouldn’t have let him in when you know he was going to cry if you looked away the next second.”
Oh. That’s how Kimi found out then, spotting George sneaking a look at Max at midnight probably – knowing them.
A smirk slowly appeared on Lewis’ face, figuring out George revealed his own secret. “YOU shouldn’t have done it.”
“What does that mean?”
“Get in the car, Georgie, or I’m driving.”
—
Over the next few races, Kimi watched his brother a little closer and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed that he was dating Max before. It was so obvious. Every time someone would ask George about Max, he’d come up with a weirdly warm answer but also a little insulting. Like they were teasing each other in public. It was frankly disgusting. Whenever Kimi was on camera when George was being asked about Max, he had to school his face into something that wasn’t pure revulsion when George’s face lit up like a lamp.
Max was really nice to him from race to race too. He’d ask him how he’s feeling in the car now, what it was like to drive these tracks right now, compared to before in F2. Max continued to invite Kimi to iRace with him (like he did when Kimi was a little younger) – only when he was home though. His dad banned him from gaming during races after that incident in F4 - when Kimi had raced from when he got back to his hotel at night till he had to leave the hotel the next day.
As time dragged on, he wondered if George was EVER going to tell him.
It’s been 11 races into the season; Kimi has handled the media pretty well, he though. Well… except for the credit card story with Ollie he told on a podcast, Lewis was in disbelief – Kimi didn’t think he’d ever be afraid of what his dad had to say until Lewis walked into the Mercedes Hospitality the day after.
It was worth it though, to see Ollie laugh.
Seeing Ollie less this year was a little depressing. And seeing Ollie closer to Gabi and Carlos because they cycled made Kimi almost sick. Kimi knew that was because he had a giant, incurable hole in his stomach that poured in butterflies whenever he saw Ollie – but he didn’t want to do anything about it just yet. He had too many things to focus on right now.
—
It was right at the beginning of the Silverstone weekend, the amount of questions Kimi, George and Max were getting about Max’s rumoured move to Mercedes were ridiculous. Silly Season had started in full swing. Kimi could feel the eyes on the Mercedes garage and hospitality every time he was inside.
After George’s round around the media pen, he went for a break in his room above the hospitality. Kimi wanted to go for a break too but he was called in for a few more interviews - meaning many more questions about Max and George and who’d he prefer to be his teammate next year. His older brother or the best racer of this decade. Kimi bit his tongue, trying not to yell how THEY would LOVE to be EACH OTHER’S teammates.
When Kimi finally found his way back to his room, George’s door was mostly closed. He wanted to go in anyway, he was tired of everything going on outside.
It was only when Kimi walked closer, he realised the door was definitely supposed to be more closed.
“You liked that, d-don’t you, stressing out-t Toto-” Max moaned.
“YOU like the fact that Christian was already half way out and now I’m fully killing him for almost losing you.” Kimi could hear the grin in his brother’s voice, with some excessive panting.
“You’re stressing Kimi out too.” Max puffed.
“He has nothing to do with this.” George pushed back a bit meanly.
The next time one of them groaned rather loudly, Kimi flinched away from the door and dashed into his own room - covering his ears with his hands.
He hated this.
Firstly, he hated that George thought it was alright to have sex in the room RIGHT next to his.
Secondly, there was a (very large) part of Kimi that knew that George didn’t mean what he said as if… as if he didn’t want Kimi to be a part of his life. But he was still pissed at him. Kimi wasn’t just a stupid kid anymore, he was George’s peer. They were driving the same goddamn machinery- exactly like their parents used to. And maybe Kimi isn’t as quick as he is yet but he will be. He thought he wouldn’t be dismissed anymore.
At the end of media day, Kimi found himself avoiding any sight of George but unsuccessfully.
“Kimi! We’re getting dinner with your brother, Max, Alex and Lily, you want to come? We can ask Lewis and Nico first.” Charles stopped Kimi with the same goofy smile on his face that Kimi had known all his life, stopping the 18-year-old on his way to his weekend Mercedes ride in the parking lot.
Kimi could tell his parents that he was going to have dinner with Charles and them, he knew that they’d allow it in a heartbeat too, they thought he was still that little kid who really wanted to be around REAL racers, especially those that were winning against them.
“I promised to have dinner with them today, though. I'll see you guys tomorrow.” Kimi nodded politely at the man in red. He could tell Charles was a little taken back. Kimi’s heart jumped a little, feeling maybe he’d made the wrong choice but when Charles smiles back at him, he relaxed.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow, K.” Charles ruffled his hair as they all did.
—
The rest of the race weekend was just fine. He didn’t actually get to see George much. There was so much press around Kimi’s first home race or Mercedes’ thing with Max that they were pulled away a lot. George was also spending a lot of time away from his family for “mysterious” reasons. At this point, Nico and Vivian had also figured out that Kimi knew about George and Max because of slightly irritable comments he’d made. So maybe Kimi wasn’t great at keeping secrets, but maybe George should pay Kimi at least some attention during his first Silverstone race because MAYBE Kimi was nervous.
Kimi wasn’t bitter though, he continued on working, even when an old Bono noticed the tension that would course through the teenager when George would round a corner and give him a wave.
“Is everything ok? Why are you avoiding him?” Bono looked away from his computer to analyse Kimi instead. Bono was really good at spotting tension between teammates, especially of the Hamilton-Rosberg variety.
“He’s avoiding me.” Kimi quickly corrected his race engineer before moving on.
It was only before the race when George decided to say hello.
“Big one, huh?” George approached Kimi with helmet in hand.
It was really late into the day for George to approach him. Kimi wondered how many times George had seen Max that day.
“I’ve actually measured this track being literally 87 miles from home.” George grinned as he put his arm around his little brother. His brother, though, dodged it as he pulled into his side of the garage.
Kimi found his own helmet on one of the shelves, adjusting the straps and putting it on, all in one swift action. He finally breathed when he put it on. He had a bit too much hot air in his mind and in his lungs for him to calmly speak to his brother. It was very childish of him, Kimi knows. But he couldn’t be near him right now.
“What? Kimi.” George called after him but Kimi pretended not to hear him (and he barely did with his helmet on anyway).
Kimi heard someone call his brother away to his side. If George came to see Kimi 5 minutes before, he would have had time to speak to him. Funny. It didn’t really matter, Kimi thought to himself, as he walked to the track with a few guys from his side. He didn’t think that much as he pulled down his visor and climbed into his car on track.
The race was rainy, Kimi didn’t expect much. He hoped to finish in the points at least.
Atlas, he didn’t.
After the safety car restart, the Red Bull in front of him spun. Sending Kimi straight into the wall on the right side, not just any wall though. The side of Kimi’s car hit the pit entrance and pain shot through his elbow and ankle. Nothing was broken but it did hurt.
It wasn’t until Kimi got to the Medical Centre, did he realise what just happened.
He’s out of his first home race, the home race that his dad had podiumed at for 10 years in a row and had gotten pole and podiumed in his rookie year. Kimi could walk but everyone insisted for him to stay in bed. It wasn’t his fault but he still felt the rain blur and his confidence in the car drop. Did he take his foot off the throttle? Did that cause the Red Bull to run into him?
Very quickly, Lewis, Nico and Vivian poured into the centre and the sectioned off medical bed. Lewis was very glad that was only a mild elbow dislocation, they set his joint back before his parents could arrive. Apparently the crash looked very scary. Nico was terrified anyway, checking over Kimi’s entire being, despite the whining from his younger son. Vivian kept an eye on the slight redness on the side of Kimi’s face, swearing that it might turn into a bruise as she fed him water.
Tears kept brewing up and down behind Kimi’s eyes. He didn’t know what he was supposed to be doing. He begged Lewis to turn on the TV to watch the rest of the race but he didn’t.
It was only 1 and a half hours later, when the media ended, did George show up with an Alex in tow - rushing, hitting the curtains away to get to Kimi’s bed.
“Kimi, Jesus, are you okay?” George knelt down to Kimi’s bedside with a mighty worried expression, Vivian scooting a little to the left to give them some room.
“My elbow got dislocated but I’m fine.” As Kimi spoke, he remembered he was supposed to be angry at him. But as George’s eyes scanned him, softly sliding his hand under his elbow to support it - watching his face to see if he’s uncomfortable, the younger boy realised he was stupid for doubting George for not caring.
“That’s dumb, you’re not fucking fine. If one of my joints just popped out, I wouldn’t be fine.”
Oh. George was angry about the incident.
“Be gentle, George.” Vivian said, resting a hand on his arm, Nico walked over too - watching George’s temper on his face grow more erratic.
In the background, Alex was speaking to Lewis about something. Kimi couldn’t hear him but his dad looked back and forth between George and what Alex was expressing. It wasn’t long before Kimi found out what Alex was warning Lewis of.
Max opened the curtains next to Lewis, poking his head through. Kimi spotted Charles next to him, more apprehensive than the Dutch man himself. Lewis started walking towards Max with his mouth open ready to say something but Max beat him to it.
“Oh god. Kimi. I-” The wavering voice of the reigning world champion hit the air of Kimi’s corner as he walked to the foot of the bed.
George swerved around from Kimi's side, getting up to his feet with no seconds. His hands balling into fists at his sides, his back tensed to a fault.
“What the fuck are you doing here.” It wasn’t a question; it was sharp but heavy.
George’s stare bore into Max’s eyes, enough to blind. No one moved.
“YOU could have KILLED HIM.” His voice raised many octaves as everyone heard it echo. None more than Max, of course. George jerked forward, which triggered almost everyone in the room to move into place.
Lewis swiftly put himself between the men, Nico put a hand on George’s chest and Vivian on his arm, ready to pull him back if they needed. Charles held Max’s arm too, however, he was already pulling him away but Max was rooted to the sterile ground. Alex just watched on miserably, like this was bound to happen.
“George- stop—” Kimi whimpered, it was all wrong.
But George didn’t look at him, he didn’t look away from Max - watching him like he wanted the man decimated on the spot.
“What did you say to GP? The car was too shit for you to control it? Your RACE WINNING car? You KNOW that was YOUR stupid fucking mistake, right?” He spat as he got closer to Max, struggling against Nico’s arm pushing him back.
“George!” Nico looked scandalised.
“That’s enough! George!” Lewis shouted, putting a hand out to keep George away from the man opposite him.
“Come on, Max.” Charles said almost desperately as he pulled his arm but Max didn't move.
Max’s eyes were pleading. Looking between Kimi and George with his mouth slightly ajar, wanting to say something but every time he seemed to find some words George made him swallow them again.
“You are A. SHIT. FUCKING. Driver.” The fiery voice in his voice knocked Max back and Kimi shrunk into himself a little more.
Lewis gave George one last look of bewilderment before gently moving a shaking Max out of the room, with everyone seeing a very rare tearfulness on him. Charles followed them out, Nico too. Alex and Vivian stayed, eyes falling on George as he turned around immediately, returning to looking over Kimi.
“How about your shoulders? They’re bleeding too?” George pushed Kimi gently to bend over a little to see his back.
“George, please.” Vivian started. George knew they’ll start lecturing him after that outburst but he ignored her too.
“But you’re a bit small for that, usually it’s the g-force for taller drivers.” George smiled melancholically as he saw a tiny bruise blooming on Kimi’s back.
“It wasn’t his fault, Georgie.” Kimi sniffled slowly, his watery eyes scanning his brother’s face for another shout charging up but there was nothing but a sad gracefulness.
“He’s a 4-time world champion and he can’t prevent incidents like this, it’s his fault.” George’s brows furrowed as he brushed Kimi’s tears away and his curls back.
“George, come outside.” Nico opened the curtain and beckoned the older boy out.
He followed because there was no other choice, giving Kimi one last squeeze on the shoulder, like a kid all over again - walking out of the curtain constructed room.
Alex filled George’s space next to Kimi. Vivian patted Kimi on the head, kissing his forehead - trying her best to keep him from combusting from the stress he’s been under this afternoon.
“Kimi, that wasn’t your fault ok? George got way too angry, he was wrong to do all of that.” Vivian spoke into Kimi’s hair, she moved closer to cradle the boy in her arms, lifting him a little closer.
“That was really bad. Really really bad. Do you guys think… they broke up or something?”
Alex’s face contorted in surprise for a second - Kimi’s heart again - flew out of his chest. He just exposed his brother and Max’s relationship. He was such an idiot. But Alex settled.
“I didn’t know you knew– that’s fine - um. I don’t know. I… They argue all the time, Kimi.” Alex babbled in surprise but also, he was just as confused as Kimi in this situation.
“It’s not your fault. You and Max has a racing incident that put you in more danger than him. It wasn’t your fault, okay?” Vivian comforted, trying to sooth him by rubbing his back.
“You could ask George, their whole relationship—” Alex quietly added on.
“DON’T- don’t tell him I know about him and Max. He’s- he’s gonna think I did it on purpose.” Kimi’s voice trembled more.
“Don’t be silly, no one is going to think that. It was clearly just a racing incident. It’s ok.” Vivian with her sad expression pulled him a little closer, lifting his chin to see his eyes.
Kimi took a breath, tears spilling down his cheek.
“...I was mad at George this weekend. And I ignored him before the race today — I was being mean.” He wiped his face with his good arm.
“Don’t tell him. Tell dad and papa to not too.” Kimi bit his lip to stop it from escalating.
“Ok, we won’t. But no one is blaming you for that crash. Max and George have always fought each other, if you weren’t taken out, they’d have found something else to fight about.” Alex expressed.
Kimi shook his head as more tears flowed, resting his head on Vivian’s shoulder. In time for Nico to walk in and sighed with a hefty heart. The blonde man sat down on the other side of the bed, surrounding Kimi with warmth. Nico put his hand in the boy’s hair. Kimi wasn’t sure when he drifted off but he fell away.
The younger Hamilton-Rosberg forgot that this should never work. George and Max were never going to work like how his parents never worked. Even though it seemed that George and Max fell apart a little sooner than Lewis and Nico - they didn’t even wait to have two kids before breaking it off.
Racing broke people a lot, especially in the early days. But racing broke people apart much MUCH more often.
—
Ollie appeared from behind the curtain, inching closer to the bed whilst looking for permission from Nico and Vivian.
“Is he ok?” Ollie asked, he has never been a shy person so he wasn’t that afraid of Nico or his wife… maybe a little – they had very blue eyes.
“He’s ok. It’s just been a stressful day.” Nico explained to the young Brit.
“Can I… just sit here, Mr and Mrs Rosberg?” The boy asked, answered with a giggling couple. Ollie had a great sense of humour, he’s been told, but he failed to see what was funny in that request.
“Sure, Ollie.” Vivian nodded.
The teenager walked to the edge of bed on the right side, sitting near Kimi’s thigh. There were dried tear streaks on the shorter boy. The crash must have been pretty scary. Ollie just wanted to keep him in sight at all time. So he stays there for a while. It hurts him when he has to leave Kimi before he woke up. The ache was something familiar for Ollie, he just wishes he could force it out of himself to show Kimi how it felt to breathe around him.
Notes:
Another one! I'm not sure how long Chapter 2 is gonna be but I'm on it right away.
Poor Kimi, again going through what it means to be a racer and growing up to face difficult situations interpersonally with people around them.
Chapter 2: A Family of Love
Summary:
Everyone slowly figure Kimi out and tells him what he needs to hear.
Notes:
Sorry this took so long!!! I had class for months and now I'm going back to school so I have to punch it in right before!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The 7-time world champion pulled Max out of Kimi’s room, with Charles’ eyes darting all across Max’s teary face.
“Lewis, I’m so sorry.” Max stammered as Lewis reached up to hold his face.
Ever since Lewis and Nico decided that Jos was not a fit father for Max so many years ago, they’ve been looking over him instead. Since Sophie found it hard to keep track of all the races, she trusted Lewis and Nico with him most of the time.
“Max, this was just a racing incident. This sort of thing happens, you know that, Kimi or not.” Lewis pulled the man into his arms, feeling the roughness of Max’s Red Bull cap against his cheek.
It had been a grand minute since Lewis had seen Max so distressed, maybe since almost a decade ago, the year Lewis retired as he lost his final championship. With Max rested against Lewis’s shirt, his short breaths were driving fast. More and more, this week, Lewis has been reminded how imperfect Formula 1 was for kids.
Watching Kimi being called up by Toto last year was very similar to watching Max get called up to Red Bull from back in the day, Lewis wanted both these kids to stay in Formula 2 for at least one more year but both Kimi and Max insisted. Max insisted with the cool confidence his 16-year-old self somehow possessed; Lewis could not believe his eyes when Nico sided with Max after weeks of nagging. Kimi, however, just used Max as an example whenever his parents asked questions.
But starting in F1 was, inevitably, going to draw a long wound down your body and stay there long after your last race.
“I should get George.” Nico mentioned next to the two of them. Before Lewis could snap at him for that terrible idea, his ex-husband went through the curtains.
Lewis turned back to Max in his arms, “You don’t have to be here right now, Max. How about you go back to Red Bull and we’ll talk tonight?”
Max shook his head and pulled himself away, wiping his face rather aggressively. “It’s not fair to Kimi.”
“Max, c’mon.” Charles held on to his arm again, whispering when George reared his head behind Nico as they came out.
Max flinched at George’s stare and froze up. George was murderous, with the red around his eye bags making his big blue eyes even brighter and intense.
“No yelling. You scared your brother into crying.” Nico reprimanded his eldest son.
Everyone was watching George and every movement in his face.
“I don’t want to see your face unless it’s the national anthem and I have to be there.” George said shortly, his wild and large eyes. His accusing finger was pointed at his boyfriend, sharp enough to cut.
“Geor—” Max’s eyes followed George as the Brit whipped his head around and stormed out the door.
Everyone in the room made the same faces again, not knowing how to move forward and afraid of what Max might do in the media with his emotions this bare at the moment. It was Lewis to settle it.
“Let’s get you back to Red Bull, okay?” Lewis comforted him but Max turned away, sniffling.
“No one’s mad at you. George will cool off.” He’s known this for a while now but Max was very sensitive to personal conflicts, something Lewis and Nico wanted to kill Jos for. When Max was 16, he had once spent a day worrying about what George what going to say about Max drinking out of his mug.
Max lightly nodded, his face flushed and but slowly let Charles tug him away and out the door.
Lewis and Nico look at each other – for a second the tension leave their bodies. They were too used to this. Having many kids that competed in the small sports created too many spats and minor eruptions.
“When Kimi gets discharged, we’ll get Max.” Nico said.
“George is probably going to Alex and Lily now, but I’ll check up on him.” Lewis agreed.
George had a tendency to run away and avoid his issues after exploding, a little like Lewis, so it was Lewis’s responsibility to look after this part of his personality.
--
Kimi wasn’t enjoying his first break from Formula 1 as much as he should have been.
Sitting in Nico’s Ibiza summer home, the one with 5 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, Kimi tried not to have too many grievances with the beautiful weather and the sound of glittering and lapping waves.
He tried to not think about Canada – or mention it. Now Kimi’s biggest achievement was tied to the feuding couple that he probably shouldn’t mention, making it hard to be happy about anything. Everyone had tried to cheer him up too, Nico went into depth on how his races have been good for a rookie and the car was just atrocious. Lewis pulled Kimi to his side when watching these early 2000s American flicks that was Kimi didn’t really understand. Vivian helped Kimi set up his new simulator that she had shipped from Monaco, commentating as he tried it out for the first time. Even 5-year-old Leya climbed into Kimi’s lap or dragged him outside to watch her kart around the backyard in her tiny electronic kart.
George was probably the most annoying one. Always insisting that he joined Kimi on the sim and LETTING Kimi have the win half the time, showing Kimi data he’d already seen about each other’s cars.
In general, George was trying to make up the Max sized hole around them. Max, as always, was spending his time with his mother and sister in Belgium – but both George and Kimi could feel the difference of a holiday without hearing his voice on voice-chats or just phone calls.
Kimi also spent time on the sim with Ollie too, so he didn’t have to bear knowing someone was letting him off easily like George was. Watching Ollie’s profile lighting up on his discord voice channel was Kimi’s favourite past time, listening to him say stupid things about new F1 observations they didn’t know before. But even with Ollie, Kimi couldn’t seem to be completely satisfied with their conversation.
Ollie didn’t talk much about how his season was going – probably because he knew that Kimi was sad over Mercedes. Kimi could feel himself dragging the mood down. He wished Ollie was here but even then, would Kimi know the right things to say? Would Kimi have been able to explain the fluttering in his stomach to Ollie when he’s right next to him? Did he even want to risk it?
3 days into the short break, Sebastian Vettel decided to rock up to Ibiza too. When he was away from his beekeeping life in the Switzerland mountains like a nomad, he looked pretty normal (especially after shaving).
Somehow, he also picked up how miserable Kimi was being almost immediately. He and Lewis invited Kimi to take a walk around the beaches.
“Hating our jobs already? Imagine doing this whilst raising kids, Kimi.” Seb joked as Lewis shook his head smiling, watching Kimi. The boy just sighs.
“I’m joking… I know that the media now is crazy and stupid. That shouldn’t stop you from enjoying all of it.” Seb pushed his ice cream holding hand towards Kimi’s ice cream – Kimi dodged it.
“It’s not fun though. Only moments when I overtake someone.” He grumbled, lifting the ice cream up to lick pathetically as it melted quickly in the sun.
“In our time, there were girls, and guys, lining up from the Nice airport all the way to the Monaco paddock just waiting.” Seb gestured wildly with a nostalgic glint in his smiling eyes.
“Seb, he’s 18, please.” Lewis laughed, polishing off half his ice cream.
“But I guess racing is really quite only a job if you don’t adventure a little.” Seb winks at him.
“I don’t… I don’t like anyone though.” Kimi looked at the horizon line across the ocean, the sunset colouring his face a bright orange.
“Huh, I thought that Ollie quite—” Lewis fell into thoughtfulness for a moment. Kimi’s head swiveling over to look at him
“Ollie? What?”
“Bearman? Ah another paddock romance, how… genetic.” Sebastian laughed.
“No, I don’t even – I don’t want to date anyone.” Kimi gets shy again, the tips of his ear getting warm.
“Of course you don’t have to, you have the rest of your life to love.” Sebastian softened his tone, still smiling. He slightly walked closer towards Lewis but Kimi doesn’t notice.
“And… Ollie doesn’t even like me so much anymore. We were teammates but he’s so much cooler than me anyway.” Kimi kicked a rock forward in the street as both Lewis and Seb focused on his expression.
“Who knows, Kimi. We live in a small bubble of crazy drivers, we can’t get much cooler than each other.” Seb encouraged.
Kimi shrugged. He honestly didn’t know what Ollie thought of him now. Or if dating anyone was a good idea when the world seemed to be against anyone from his family dating a rival.
Loving and hurting seemed to be a theme for everyone he knew. It was only recently that he found out that Toto was on his second marriage and Uncle Fernando has had upwards of 8 relationships. Kimi didn’t want to gain and lose one more thing.
--
Kimi snuck back into his room after their family dinner a few streets away – running ahead of everyone else under the pretense that he was meeting a friend on the simulator. He didn’t miss George’s look of curiosity and disappointment. The truth was that Kimi saw Max online in discord, the first time this break, and he was driving on Monza at the moment.
As Kimi turned on his computer, he shoots Max a message asking if he wanted to play.
Max messages back after 5 minutes and agrees, asking if he wanted to voice call.
“Hey Kimi, is it hot in Ibiza?” Max’s voice crackled through Kimi’s headphones as he logs into his account and starts quali in a Mercedes. Max seemed cheerful enough.
“So hot. Everyone keeps on forcing me outside. At least they have good ice cream here. What about Belgium?” Kimi complained. It was nice to hear Max laugh at him. Kimi didn’t know he needed the reassurance that there wasn’t any weird tension between him and Max but now he had it, it was nice.
“Belgium’s okay. But we have better ice cream though.” Max bragged softly.
They race for a little bit, Kimi aced Quali – packing the front row with Max next to him in first. Kimi loved Max. Not as much as Kimi loved George but close enough. He can’t even imagine losing either one of them. That wasn’t even a possibility to him until George started yelling at Max in the medical centre.
Apparently, Max was thinking in a similar vein. “I’m still sorry about Silverstone, by the way. I looked at the data and—” He sounded small, much smaller than what you’d think a 4x world champion would sound.
“It’s fine, Max. I’m completely ok. You didn’t do anything really.” Kimi assured him.
“Thanks, Kimi. But I’m still sorry.” Max seemed to let out a small sigh of relief.
Then the racing continued a little more. Max overtook Kimi in the 3rd last lap for the win but Kimi couldn’t even be frustrated, he was just glad to see Max actually racing him. Kimi crossed the line second, laughing as he hears some of the other players grunt and complain.
After everyone had finally stopped speaking and some had joined another race, Max spoke up to Kimi.
“Is George…” Max’s unsure voice slowly faded out, hesitating massively.
“He’s fine, keeps on wanting to sim with me but I know he’s better than me.” Kimi said casually.
To be honest, he wasn’t really sure what George was thinking regarding Max. Knowing George, he was probably still a little angry but doesn’t have an excuse to continue feuding vocally so he’s just quiet for now. And since Max was asking, he probably hadn’t spoken to him yet.
“Yeah, he’s pretty good, isn’t he?” Max was smiling, Kimi could hear it so clearly.
“Yeah, annoyingly good but he keeps giving me the win so I stopped playing with him.”
Max laughed and they kept on racing.
--
Kimi instinctually also laughed. With George right outside his door.
George had been listening in since Kimi decided to run back to the house like a maniac.
When Max’s iRacing username popped up on Kimi’s screen, George’s mind melted. Out of jealous anger perhaps? Or just shock.
He hadn’t spoken to Max since he crashed into Kimi at Silverstone and he had tried to keep it that way since. From George’s entire adolescence till now, he’d always trusted Max with Kimi. To babysit him or to talk to him when he needed extra guidance. He’s always loved Max for his gentleness and timidness when they were growing up.
And of course, George knew that on the track, things were different for him. The damage that Jos did to Max when he was young had stoked a fire in him that made him “Mad”. When Max was on track, he was different and George accepted him for that. But he couldn’t tolerate it when it’s anywhere near Kimi.
Last year, when things got fiery at Qatar and Vegas, George thought it was somewhat attractive. Seeing Max seethe and bellow against George’s sense of justice and using the media to play games with each other was just foreplay for George. It might have bruised Max’s ego a little but they sorted it out.
Kimi, though, was off the table.
Max nor George has ever raced with Kimi in a competitive environment and George was admittedly nervous about it. He wanted to wrap Kimi and his car in bubble wrap and before the garage doors even opened for the first time. So how was he going to feel when the first time Kimi collided and HURT himself in Formula 1 was the fault of Max’s.
In truth, George knew Max would never hurt Kimi, not in life or death. But they were racing, and when they’re racing, Max was unpredictable and ruthless. It didn’t matter that it was a mistake, it mattered that it was Max.
As George listened into Kimi and Max’s conversation though, Kimi sounded lighter. The season had taken quite a hit on the boy and somehow it was Max who brought him back.
It was so annoying. But also… charming as hell.
When Kimi fully laughs, George had already made up his mind.
--
3 hours later, when Kimi gets off his simulator.
George:
Max, are you close to Ibiza?
Delivered 23:54
Max:
I can be there at 6am
Delivered 23:54
George:
Book a hotel, there aren’t any spare rooms because Seb’s here.
Delivered 23:57
--
When George sauntered through the front door, the everyone having lunch at the table just assumed he went out for a swim or a run earlier – ignoring the bag he was carrying. Kimi would not be caught exercising this long on break.
“Hello family, do I have a portion?” George sat down between Kimi and Nico, tapping the table with his fingers like a supervillain.
Kimi rolled his eyes as he passed the large bowl of seafood pasta towards his brother. When George get absurdly cheerful, he starts to do random impulsive things.
“Good boy!” George ruffled Kimi hair as he cooed in a voice reserved for small animals.
As Kimi tried to shove him away, George kept his hand in Kimi’s hair – grabbing Kimi’s shoulder to stop him from using more force. Kimi stood up, trying to leverage the height against his brother— when obviously, Kimi could just turn around. George soon followed and started to tug Kimi closer with his usual wrestling moves.
“Boys! Please, don’t knock over the food.” Nico lectured irritated. Seb snorted as Lewis and Vivian watched fondly, with Leya just continuing to eat.
George pulled Kimi’s wrists to his sides and turns him around before wrapping his arms securely around Kimi, Kimi’s back pushed into George’s chest. Kimi tried to kick his legs to hit George’s shin but he fails.
“Feisty.” George laughed as he sat down, keeping Kimi to his lap. Kimi stomped on his foot finally and George hisses but lets him go.
“Jeez, what’s wrong with you? Honestly. Still haven’t figured out how to talk to Ollie, yet?” George dropped.
Everyone’s heads turned to look at Kimi, even Leya caught on and landed her eyes on Kimi.
Kimi’s face turned red.
“What? Didn’t Ollie come sit with you after Silverstone—” George looked around to his papa and step-mother but neither of them spoke up.
“Ollie?” Kimi looked at Nico and Vivian too, willing them to move.
“Yeah, but he was asleep, George.” Nico sighs as he takes a sip of water.
“Well, I guess that’s just more for you to sort out then.” George lightly smiles and raises his eyebrows at his little brother.
“There’s nothing to sort out!” Kimi’s voice gets high and whiny.
“Sure, because you don’t shiver every time he looks at you.” George imitates Kimi’s voice.
Kimi’s face and ears suddenly got warmer and stood up again.
“You’re – you’re just projecting! Shut up!” Kimi grabs his own shirt, both his hands turning into fists.
When Kimi said “projecting,” he was pretty sure that George was going to get angry too. But he doesn’t. George only tilts his head at the mention of Max, confused but amused at his brother’s tantrum.
“You’re deranged and projecting!” Kimi accused again, his voice getting even higher. Quickly after, Nico got up from his seat and rounded his way around the table to his younger son.
“Hey, he’s just making fun, yeah? Finish lunch before letting him ruin that for you.” Nico patted Kimi on the back, using the calmest tone he could find without revealing his smile.
Nico got Kimi to sit down, pressing a kiss in his hair.
Kimi glanced over to George one last time to see his brother’s shit-eating grin. Kimi turned away with more thoughts racing in his mind than he wanted this afternoon as he ate the remaining of pasta.
--
When night finally fell, Lewis and Sebastian had apparently gone on a late-night walk because Kimi couldn’t find his dad anywhere. Nico and Vivian were busy with Leya and – not that he was looking for him anyway – George was out of the house again.
So, Kimi only had one choice, to hide in his dad’s bed until he eventually would show up.
When the door finally opened, letting the light from the hallway clash into the room – Lewis caught a sight of Kimi scrolling on his phone – the blue light illuminating his face in the otherwise completely dark room. Sebastian, who was directly behind him, darted out of Kimi’s sight.
“Kimi? What’s wrong.”
“Nothing.”
“Okay.” Lewis shook his head, smiling, climbing into the bed beside Kimi. He pulled Kimi into his left side and the boy instantly melted into his touch – his head on Lewis’s shoulder.
“Tell.” Lewis patted Kimi’s arm.
Kimi didn’t say anything, he just laid there – holding his dad’s hand to his eyes, inspecting the tattoos he’s seen a million times before. Lewis tilts his head at him, looking to find his eyes.
“Are you… afraid? Of liking Ollie?” Lewis suggested, holding Kimi’s tight curls back from the side of his head so he could see his eyes.
Kimi worried his bottom lip, shuffling closer to his dad, the thoughts behind his eyes obviously going wild.
“I— I don’t even know if… if he likes me much, really.”
“Why? The both of you had such a blast in F2 last year, right?” Lewis remembered all the chaos from last year, needing to drive them both everywhere and telling them off whenever they joked around a little too much – at the expense of their team.
“He- He’s like doing the same or better than Ocon and he goes cycling with Carlos and Gabi and- he just knows more people now and he’s doing better than me.” Kimi could hear how whiny he was getting, but he really couldn’t hold it back anymore.
“It doesn’t mean you’re not still friends. Life is just moving faster now and you two are busier.” Lewis said.
“But, even if I want to… liking rivals are hard, right? George and Max – you and Papa. It’s too hard.” Kimi curled in on himself a little more.
He felt a sharp intake of breath from Lewis. His parents were great parents through and through, Kimi loved them both so much but no matter what Kimi tried – from the ages of 3-11 years old – they had stopped loving each other a long time ago. George had tried to explain it to him but Kimi only truly realised when Nico started dating Vivian. Nico could only love someone that he didn’t have to compare himself too and Lewis was okay with that.
“Bud. Nothing is too hard if… if you work for it.” Lewis breathed downbeat.
“It’s too hard, there’s too many things to worry about already.” Kimi slid down, taking the blanket and pulling it over his head.
Kimi still felt like a kid, he was driving at 200 mph for his career but he just wanted to curl up next to his dad and disappear most days. He knew his dad would let him too – sometimes he wish he didn't.
“Let you in on a secret.” Kimi heard his dad’s muffled voice from above him say, so he peeked his head slightly into the cold air to see him.
“Seb’s here, not just to hang out. He’s mostly here for me.” There was a faint smile on Lewis’s face as he said this.
“I’m sure he’s here for you, George and Leya too – but I invited him, to stay with me.” Lewis chuckled slightly as Kimi’s eyes widen with realisation.
“Really?” Kimi climbed to a sitting up position, watching his dad seriously.
“I talked to him a lot for the last few months, thought I might want to try something new.” Lewis shrugged.
“Dad!”
Kimi got up to his knees, now a head taller than his sitting dad, he bounced on the mattress as he shook his dad’s shoulders with both hands. There was a giant grin on his face that Lewis matched. Kimi’s always loved Seb whenever he visited, this was really the best-case scenario. Lewis got up to his knees to, pulling Kimi with a hug. When he pulled away, he had settled Kimi down to being calm too.
“So, there’s a lot to do, ALL the time. So of course, don’t rush. But don’t be held back by history.” Lewis held his son, swaying him a little.
“Especially our history. Your parents aren’t perfect. Neither is George and Max. Don’t let us get to you – to get to you before you could even try.” He looked at Kimi’s eyes, nodding at him with reassuringly.
But thinking about Ollie again gave Kimi another ache to ask for his dad.
“But what about racing… and everyone talking about comparing the rookies? Comparing me as a racer to you or Papa or George. It hurts still.” Kimi leaned in to stay in his dad’s arms.
George’s reputation in the media when compared to their parents has gotten very defined over the years. He had Nico’s beauty and Lewis’s sharp tongue – however, lacking a bit of Nico’s engineering mind and Lewis’s precision at times. Kimi was still trying to figure out what the world thought of him. Right now, he was young and what they would call “cute”. Some people thought his longish hair was like Nico’s when he was his age and he was starting to show some of Lewis’s overtaking ability. None of which made him think that the media liked him much because he wasn’t what they expected as a racer.
“You are so much more than just a racer, Kimi.” The deep rumble in Lewis’s chest radiated with warm.
“Anyone who loves you will know that.”
“You’re kind and sensitive, funny and ambitious. You’re a fast learner and great listener.”
Lewis pulled Kimi back into his side, sitting the two of them down comfortably against the headboard.
“Don’t let the cameras, media and fans get to you, baby.” Lewis kissed the top of his curls, holding a snug Kimi in his arms as he had done for years now.
--
“Did you fix Kimi? He seems happier.” George questioned as he sat down next to Lewis on the beach.
The sun was burning onto the sand and ocean but somehow Nico, Vivian, Leya and Kimi still had the energy to go in and wreak havoc on the waves. Lewis, however, had brought a book and Sebastian followed him to a beach chair and umbrella. George had once again, appeared out of nowhere – away from breakfast but around after lunch – decided to join his dad.
“I didn’t fix anything; I just listen to his feelings and talked to him. I highly recommend it.” Lewis laughed as George groaned at the cheesiness of the line.
“So, do we know why Kimi’s being weird about Ollie, yet” George sat down at Lewis’s side.
“Kimi isn’t weird, George, he’s just young.” Sebastian cut in, lowering his sunglasses to see George. George rolled his eyes, and Lewis put his book down on his chest.
“Kimi felt the pressure from racing and… was overthinking.” Lewis explained.
“Overthinking what?” George asked.
“Nico and I, you and Max. He thought maybe love wasn’t for between racers.” Lewis looked at George and said his words carefully slow.
“Oh.” George’s default smugness faded him his expression.
Lewis almost didn’t believe George thought he could hide this relationship well. He had been confused when George told him that he and Max had started dating a year ago as Lewis and Nico had thought they had already been for a while now.
“What – how did he find out?” George wiped the sand off the back of his leg.
“Apparently during the first race of the season, he saw Max when he was in your room.” Lewis huffs with Seb cough-laughs in the background.
George nodded, a little floatingly.
“So. Do I say anything?” George asked warily.
“You could. He loves the both of you. But if it hurts to talk about it right now, of course you don’t have to.” Lewis planted a gentle hand on George’s shoulder.
George’s eyebrows knit together for a moment and breathes with a confused laugh.
“Actually…”
--
When George knocked on his door that night, Kimi expected him to want to sim again and he was more than ready to reject his offer before seeing his older brother’s face. George looked sincere, which Kimi didn’t see much of. He was holding something just out of view behind door as he poked his head through the entrance.
“What?” Kimi asked as he was laid, face up in bed – scrolling through Instagram.
“Nothing, just want to talk. Can someone else come in too?” George asked.
“I didn’t agree to “talking” — wait, what?” Kimi straightened his back a little.
George pushed the door open a little more, revealing that he wasn’t holding just anything but the hand of Max Verstappen. Max smiled at Kimi and waved awkwardly. George and Max were HOLDING HANDS, their fingers intertwined and everything.
“Hey.” Max said lightly.
“What the hell! I thought you were in Belgium?” Kimi yelped as he jumped off his bed, phone forgotten by his pillow.
Kimi looked at the two of them standing together again, eyes flickering between their two expressions. Both somehow unsure how to carry the conversation that they started.
Kimi picked up his accusatory hand to point at them, saying “I thought you guys weren’t talking!”
“Surprise.” Max mumbled.
If Kimi didn’t know better, he’d say they looked guilty. What kind of stupid trick did they think they were pulling on him.
“Two nights ago when you were racing with Max, I heard and invited him over…” George confessed.
Kimi groaned, annoyed. If that was what it took he would have called Max in front of George’s face AND told them directly that he knew they were dating.
“Kimi, since you know about us now, we need you to know that we fight all the time.” George explained, all serious.
Max quirked a questioning eyebrow at him, George nudged him with force in response – getting Max to stumble but smile.
George looked back at Kimi, “Well. Like Silverstone – I shouldn’t have yelled. I… I was being unfair.”
“And we’re sorry that we didn’t tell you.” Max added on.
“Yeah.” Kimi said plainly, trying to not show any emotion to annoy them.
“Kimi.” George’s stern voice cut through. Kimi hated that voice his brother always need when he thought he was being smarter, because he often was.
“Me and Max are fine, ok? We shouldn’t stop you from… wanting something.” George stepped closer to him, his big stupid blue eyes that he got from Papa blinking loudly at Kimi.
As soon as George finished his sentence, Kimi realised that his dad had explained what he thought about Ollie to George and immediately wanted to shut down.
“Why is EVERYONE talking about Ollie now.” Kimi’s shoulders rose and fell dramatically, his hand flopping to his side frustrated.
George shook his head, “Kimi, you watch his back as he leaves a room and brings him up for random reasons just to talk about him. You’re young, you should be doing everything – including asking out someone you think about ALL THE TIME.”
Kimi recoil into himself a little. His whole life, George has had so many friends, from Alex to Max to Charles and the rest of them. Kimi really didn’t have many karting friends, he mostly just followed George around and wished he was old enough to drive with them instead. Ollie was really his own racing friend his age, he doesn’t want to ruin it.
“I haven’t dated anyone, let alone a… a competitor.” Kimi mumbled.
“Yeah but, being inexperienced doesn’t change your feelings, right?” George patting Kimi’s head.
“I could hurt him.” The youngest boy looked up slightly, his innocent eyes being shining as a reminder to his brother and Max that he was very very young.
“Dating is becoming vulnerable to another person so there’s always a chance of hurt. That’s love.” Max phrased delicately.
Before Kimi could fully sigh and give up on arguing with the apparent “love” experts of Max and George - George reacted to this beautiful line of Max by moaning and pulling Max’s face towards him, kissing him deeply. Max held onto George’s waist to stabilise himself.
Kimi jumped indecisively, to cover his eyes or to pull them off of each other.
“Stop touching him! You’re both are ACTUALLY GROSS.” Kimi took a handful of George’s shirt, trying to pull him away from Max.
“Get aWAY!”
Kimi stumbled back, unable to separate them as they continued to make out – both smiling sneakily.
“Well, I don’t want to stop now, what’s weird, isn’t it?” Max mumbled into George’s mouth.
“STOP KISSING HIM! Or I’ll…” Kimi shouted, looking around the room for something to threaten with.
“I’ll take a picture of you here and post it on Instagram and say that you want to switch teams!” He reached for his phone and clicked his camera.
“Kimi!” George pulled away from Max instantly, looking at his brother horrified.
“Ok! Ok.” Max’s hands shot up in defeat.
They both started heading for the door, still holding hands, looking all pleased with themselves as they left a very irritated Kimi inside. George stopped before either of them cross through to the hallway.
“You better give him a chance now though.” He pointed a finger at his little brother.
“Fine, makes you happy, Princess George.” Kimi relented with a use of his brother’s hated nickname.
“Oi!” George barked at him in jest.
“Princess George~” Max giggled lightly, eyes half-lidded, and pulled George into his arms again, smacking his lips against George’s as they tumble out of Kimi’s room.
Kimi croaked a giant disgusted “EW!” before shivering and turning to his desk.
It was only 10:24pm, he could still do some iRacing. He pulls up his Discord to spot that Ollie was also currently online. He calls him.
“Hey Bearman.”
“Hi Mimi.”
Kimi blushed at the nickname, just making him realise how gone he was for Ollie. He’ll ask him, one of these days. Even though Kimi was shy, he knew that at some point these things are inevitable. And he didn’t want to wait until his whole family got too invested in their relationship and started to trap Ollie in rooms for Kimi because he knew what George was capable of.
Notes:
Thanks for reading! Maybe I'll write some more of this universe one-shots, I love these dynamics. But no promises because university is looming again literally tomorrow so... rough tides ahead.
(also, WHAT A TOUGH RACE THIS WEEK JEEZ KIMI AND CHARLES AND LANDO AND CARLOS)
MagicalBoySoup on Chapter 1 Tue 22 Jul 2025 11:30PM UTC
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