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~~~~

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2021 // 2022 // 2023 // 2024 // 2025

~Archived Masterlists~

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#*garlic* breadsticks -- asks/random talking

Private but not secret was your motto. Granted, it only went one way because all of your socials were private, so you posted Arvid quite a bit. You were just a very private person, and the only people you had were your closest friends and family. You didn’t even have some of your classmates on there. You were just a very private person who didn’t care to share your life with them.

But out there (on Arvid’s very public account), it was a whole different ballgame (or racetrack, whichever sport you prefer). Arvid had a very public social media presence because he has a very public career. You knew this was a possibility (and knew it would eventually come to fruition someday (today)), and you accepted that long ago.

That didn’t make it any less awkward whenever you would scroll and see either a sliver of your arm or your shoe in the corner of some of his posts. You’d obviously know it was you, but not everyone else did, you had to remind yourself of that.

Then you got a seemingly normal notification.

Arvid Lindblad made a new post.

Knowing it was something to do with the race result, you opened it, and yes, it was a normal race weekend review post. Until the last slide.

The last slide was a selfie you had sent Arvid with him mid-interview in the background and you, doned in one of Arvid’s shirts, blowing a kiss to the screen. You were kind of in a daze as you called Arvid, and it didn’t take him that long to answer.

“Hey, I’m on the way to the airport. How did that report go?” He rattled off and you could hear the engine running in the background.

“It went good, my team didn’t let me down completely for one,” You said with a small smile as you leaned against the counter. “Um, did you mean to post that picture? The one in your weekend dump.”

“Which one? The one where I was in the ice bath?” Arvid assumed. “Liam said the fans live that type of content, but I can take it off if you’re uncomfortable with it.”

“No, that one was fine,” You trailed off for a second. “The last one. The one I sent you.”

“What?” He paused, and you could suddenly hear more going on in the car. Liam was definitely playing the music, Isack was complaining about it, and someone was driving silently, probably Max. “Don’t say anything stupid, my phone is on speaker.”

“That better have been directed at your teammates,” You chuckled halfheartedly as Arvid looked at the post before muttering a curse. “Did you see it?”

“I didn’t mean to add that, I’m sorry!” He immediately started apologizing profusely. “That was a total accident. I didn’t even think I had that selected, but then again it is a really cute picture of you. I can delete it though! I know you’re a very private person and just wanted to hold off from telling everyone.”

“It’s a little late for you to delete it now,” You laughed nervously as you’ve already seen multiple gossip pages repost the same picture, many of which already had thousands of likes and comments. You let out a sigh, “It’s already out there. I don’t want to look at it, but I want to know what they’re saying.”

The top comments were what you expected. People talking about your looks, saying you’re not worthy of being a wag/hab, or even just joking about who you even are. That is, until you reach one in particular.

“That’s @/youruser, we used to be in the same class.”

“Well, I’m screwed,” You muttered, and almost immediately, your inbox started filling with people adding you, and your message requests skyrocketed. 

“You’re not screwed, just let me handle it,” Arvid comforted as you heard the car stop. “Don’t go too far down the rabbit hole, but we’re getting on the plane now. I should be back to you in a few hours.”

True to his word, the Red Bulls were back in Monaco before nightfall, and not listening to his request, you looked through every single comment you could find. How could you not, with how the supposed “fans” began blowing up not only your DMs but also started posting on your family’s posts? Your phone was going off hundreds of times per minute, it felt like, and it probably was.

“Stop worrying about it,” Arvid said as you two laid in bed when he got back. You’d told him about the comments you saw, him promptly taking your phone and logging you out of Instagram, before putting a random movie on in the background, “I’ll handle it.”

A few weeks later, you were walking into the paddock for the Monaco Grand Prix. You were not going to let whatever people said keep you from cheering your boyfriend on in his rookie season. You’d walked in together before leaving Arvid to go do a few interviews while you met up with Liam’s girlfriend in the Racing Bulls hospitality.

You’d pulled up F1TV on your phone to watch the weekend warm up, and to your surprise, Arvid made a guest appearance there.

“Arvid, it’s your first Monaco weekend as a full-time driver,” Lawrence started out as Arvid messed around with the microphone in his hand, “How different does it feel compared to preparing for F2 or F3?”

“It’s not much different, honestly,” He chuckled, “The goal is always the same - come out and win. Sure, we haven’t been in the position to win recently, but we are contending in the top 10 consistently. I think we’ll still be able to prepare like any normal race.”

“Considering you are the only rookie in the field,” Laura said, gesturing to him with her note cards, “Do you feel like that adds another layer of pressure coming into a track as difficult as Monaco?”

“Not really?” He answered honestly. “There’s more eyes on me, for sure, but I don’t feel like it distracts me from the goal of getting points, getting experience. Thankfully, my friends, family and my girlfriend have all been really supportive and helpful with not focusing on all of the eyes on me.”

“More on your girlfriend, if we may,” Juan touched on, waiting for Arvid to give the go-ahead. The smile and nod from Arvid told Juan he could ask about you. “You two were very private until recently, was that the plan? If so, what made you decide to go public?” “That was my fault, actually,” He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck, “I didn’t mean to post the picture, but now that it’s out there, I get to bring her to all of the races! She is easily the best part of my weekend, so while it may be unfortunate that I destroyed her peace of privacy, I am selfishly happy that I get to have her with me more.”

“I think I just got a cavity,” Hanna groaned as she looked over your shoulder at the stream.

“You’re just jealous Liam doesn’t say the same thing about you,” You quipped with a smirk as you distantly heard Arvid say something about going to find you anyway. 

“You didn’t even like the idea of him posting your arm a month ago!” Hana barked out a laugh. “God forbid your elbow made an appearance, oh no! Now, your face is plastered in his weekend dump, and you are walking into the paddock of the biggest race of the year beside him!”

“Hey! I’ve come around to it,” You defended yourself as you felt, who you assumed was, Arvid’s arms wrap around your shoulders and lean into your neck. 

“After blocking quite a few people, you’ve come around to it,” Arvid chuckled, placing a kiss on your cheek. “Did you see my interview?”

“Of course I did,” You responded, leaning back against him. “‘Best part of your weekend’ is some high praise.”

“Not high enough for what you put up with.”

~~~

Main MASTERLIST // F1 / Arvid Lindblad // HITLIST

~~~~~

It’s been a long day. Longer than usual, you’d swear on it. You had back-to-back classes in the morning, followed by a brief 30 minutes for lunch before you had to go to work, where you had meetings lined up the entire afternoon. 

All you wanted was to go home and hide away until you inevitably had to wake up and do it again tomorrow. Yay adulting!

You pulled into the car park and immediately noticed someone else in your signed spot. You groaned before going to park in one of the visitor spots, making a note in your phone to follow up with your leasing manager because you were tired of this same chrome Tesla asshole taking up your paid spot. 

You slammed your door closed a little harder than you originally meant to before moving towards the stairs and lift to your apartment. At least as you were walking over to the lobby, you noticed Fraser’s car already in his normal spot, so at least you knew he was home. He’d been away on a team retreat or something for the last few days, and you’d been missing him. You honestly needed to see him in person after a day like this.

You got up to your apartment, and before you even opened the door, you could hear music through the door. You couldn't make out exactly what it was as you pulled out your keys to unlock the door. As if your day couldn’t get worse, you dropped your keys right in front of the door.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” you groaned, banging your head against the wooden door. It didn’t take long before the music stopped, and the door was being unlocked from the inside. You jerked your head back just in time as the door swung open, and there stood Fraser. He looked you up and down briefly before his eyes landed on your keys on the ground. He quickly snatched them up before moving to let you in. You sent him a small smile, “Hi.”

“Hi, how are ya?” He asked, mimicking the voice from Normal SpongeBob and tossing your keys into the key bowl you had in the entryway.

“God, you’re so awkward, I love you,” you muttered more to yourself than him, knowing full well that he still heard you anyway, as you walked through the doorway. You dropped your bag in its normal space before making your way towards your room, Fraser following aimlessly behind you. “Could be better, but you’re here, so I’m okay.”

“Y’know, I think it’s kinda crazy that you love me,” Fraser admitted, watching as you went to change out of your work clothes.

“What does that mean?” You scoffed, poking your head back into your shared room where Fraser sat with his trusty, dusty notebook, which you’ve come to associate with him.

“Like I’m just…I don’t know. I play piano, read, write. I’m like a nerd, and you're you,” He said, letting out a quick laugh, “You’re so out of my league.”

“Fraser, I’m going to say this in the nicest way possible, but you are literally an NHL player. Don’t even test me right now.”

“I’m not downplaying that,” He chuckled, tossing the book to the side and walking over to stand behind you as you washed off your face. “I’m just saying, you are literally everything.”

You paused as you rested your hands at the edge of the sink. The water was still running before Fraser shut it off.  You eyed him through the mirror, and his gaze didn’t waver from you. “How are you this clueless? For someone who reads as much as you do, I’m surprised you miss the point sometimes.”

“So please enlighten me then,” he huffed out, squeezing your sides gently.

“I love that you play the piano because, as calming as it is for you to play it, it’s calming for me to listen,” You started off quietly before you began listing everything. “I love how you read so much, and how when you get to a really interesting part, you start reading aloud under your breath. I love watching you write because your handwriting is surprisingly beautiful, and when you struggle to find the right words, your eyebrows bunch together, and I think it’s really cute. I like that we have a quiet routine because outside of us, it’s too crazy, loud, and overwhelming.”

You waited a moment while Fraser let everything sink in, feeling a little caught off guard and very flustered as his cheeks heated up.

“So, you call yourself a nerd, like that’s a bad thing, but I don’t agree.” You shrugged, turning in his hold as he lifted you to sit on the counter.

“I…I never realized,” He admitted at a loss for words. “Maybe I’ve been comparing myself to the other guys too much.”

“Well, stop it,” you snapped with a pout, using your hand to grab his chin to make him look at you. “There’s a reason some of their relationships don’t last longer than a night. Not to call a spade a spade, but most of them don’t have personalities outside of hockey, and it gets really boring after a while.” 

That got Fraser to break, rolling his eyes as he laughed and leaned into you.

“Now, no more overthinking,” you added, squishing his face between your hands, “I want to live a mundane life with you, and that starts with a mundane night, maybe some food, maybe some piano.”

“I was experimenting on the piano earlier, and I made your favorite earlier, so it should be done soon,” He trailed off, looking down at his watch, noticing the time had been going off on silent for who knows how long. “Shit.”

“Delivery?” You offered, tilting your head.

“Or Digorno?” He retorted, shrugging his shoulders.

“We don’t have Digorno,” you sighed with a soft smile. “We have cereal?”

“We don’t have milk,” He answered with a frown.

“Damn, it’s pretty hard to live a mundane life,” you said with a sad chuckle. “I can't have anything today!”

“How against going out are you?”

“Like where? I’d prefer not to get out of the car if we’re going somewhere,” you responded honestly, looking down at your (his) rolled up sweatpants and your (his) old Blazers hoodie. “I’m already comfy.”

“Drive through is an option,” he nodded along as if you annunciate his point, “or I could go into whatever restaurant to pick up the food.”

“God, you think of everything, don’t you?” You asked sarcastically as you leaned up to peck his lips. “You’re so smart.”

~~~

Main MASTERLIST // NHL // HITLIST

~~~~~

“When is the boyfriend reveal tho?” Started the conversation between races. You were preparing for the 24 Hours of Nürburgring by running in an open lobby with some of your teammates, plus a couple of your iRacing buddies.

“Why do you wanna know?” You replied cheekily to your chat as you cracked open another energy drink. “It’s not all that interesting. He’s busy, so it’s not like he’s gonna come on here with me.”

“That’d be funny if he did,” Max laughed as the race started loading.

“Like you know him,” You chuckled back, glancing at the chat. “‘Does your team know him?’ No, not really. They know he exists, but that’s about it.”

“He could be fake for all we know,” Layne added, and you could hear the amusement in his voice. “Delulu is the solulu.”

“He’s literally not,” You laughed, rolling your eyes. “How about this, for every stream leading up to Nürburgring, I’ll give you a hint, and if we win, I’ll make him join for a full stream.”

“You’re putting a lot of pressure on us to win,” Inez muttered as you all virtually started the race.

“If my threatening to tell you who my boyfriend is pressures you to win, you needed the motivation,” You scoffed, going about your race. A few hours later, you were wrapping up the stream, and one of your mods reminded you of your earlier promise. “Oh, right, uhhh. He’s taller than me.”

“Oh come on! That’s not hard! I’ve met leprechauns taller than you!”

“Tune in next time for another hint!”

A couple of nights later, you were casually streaming. Not really training on iRacing, more just having fun with some of your viewers when the topic was brought up again. 

“If one of us wins, can we get an extra hint?” Someone asked over the voice channel.

“More than the one I’m already doing at the end?” You chuckled, glancing to the side as the man of the conversation was literally sitting right off the camera angle, drinking a Red Bull. “You’re sounding greedy, but I’ll give it to you anyways. He is always drinking from my stash, and while I’m saying that, oh dear boyfriend of mine,” you teased, causing him to look up and meet your eyes, “can you throw me one of those?”

He didn’t answer you verbally but threw an unopened can of Red Bull at you, to which you also caught it.

“‘Nice catch’ thanks, I’m a Red Bull athlete for a reason!” You replied in a cheery voice. “I will add this about the hint, you may not know that he’s always drinking from my stash. He’s very secretive about it, not about drinking an energy drink per se, but from my stash specifically, he’s not outward for his love of Red Bulls.”

“Dude, and the servers are down now,” One of your iRacing buddies groaned.

“Great,” You dragged out, “So I guess that’s gonna do us for the night. Anyways should probably log off anyway since I haven't eaten dinner yet and it’s already like 9 PM here.”

“Oooo, whatcha gonna have?” Layne laughed, “Chipotle?”

“Nah, not really feeling it,” You said, scrunching up your nose before looking over to your boyfriend, who side-eyed you. The two of you had a conversation with your eyes before you sighed, “We’re going to Chilis, probably.”  

The next night, you were back with the gang (plus a few iRacing friends) for a charity stream, and this time, chat was unrelenting.

“‘Each race you lose, you tell another hint,’ bro you are joking!” You groaned after yet another random car crashed you out. “How am I supposed to live laugh love in these conditions? I don’t even stand a chance!”

“Sounds like avoidance,” Inez replied in a sing-song voice.

“I’m not avoiding anything!” You defended. “How am I supposed to drag this out for another week? I’m running out of niche hints!”

“They just want you to spill the beans already,” Cleetus teased, and you could almost see his smirk despite not having his camera on.

“Fine, you guys wanna play it that way! Fine, we’ll play it that way,” You complained, full screening your face as the lobby loaded. “You wanna know some details so bad, let me tell you all about it!”

“None of this 'he’s taller than me’ and ‘he drinks my stuff’ bullshit!” Max mocked you before shouting into his microphone, “Give us juicy details!”

“You want juicy, fine. He never finishes first,” You said in a matter-of-fact tone before you could actually think about it, as everyone in the call made disgusted noises (well, all but one). “Wait, actually that one time, he finished first, but other than that, generally not. I’m usually the one who finishes first.”

“You’re disgusting!” 

“And that’s all you're getting for this week. That’s what you get for trying to make me share more hints, so I’m leaving you with that. Think about what you’ve done.”

“You’re not streaming the rest of the week,” Carson muttered after a second.

“Don’t tell them that,” you groaned, rolling your eyes. “Yeah, so anyways guys, yeah I’m not streaming the rest of the week anyway since Carson had to spoil it, but it’s because I’m going to be at Charlotte! IRL meetup with Carson and probably Cleetus, so I’ll have a vlog appearance or something for that.”

“You’re abandoning us in our time of need, wow,” Layne complained, but Layne, Max, and Inez all knew you would be online for your normal practices, just you wouldn’t be streaming it. 

It was the last week before the 24-hour race, and you would rather lock in than have your chat pestering you the whole time about your boyfriend. Plus, you just wanted to step away from the digital racing for a bit before you’d be starting at your screen for at least 12 hours.

~

Charlotte was lively. Nothing beats it, except maybe the Indy 500, but you’ve never been there. Maybe you just liked sitting on the couch while you watched the race from your boyfriend's air-conditioned hauler more.

“Y’know,” Carson piped up as Newgarden passed O’Ward for the lead, “Your last hint was foul.”

“It’s not my fault you decided to win Dega!” You laughed, sitting up from your spot against his side to send a look at him. “I thought I had a couple more weeks!”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t win?” He gasped incredulously.

“Not when I made the promise!” You defended. “Yeah, you were doing good up until then, but we’d made the joke about you never finishing first multiple times! I didn’t think a play track would be the one you take the win at.”

“Where did you think it would happen?” He asked curiously as the Indy 500 faded from his mind completely. Well, almost completely.

“Charlotte or Michigan,” You answered honestly, leaning back into his side. “I wanted you to have redemption in Charlotte or win your home track. I thought you got screwed over in the 600 last year and deserved a good showing. Then again, Indy has always been your favorite, so that would’ve been a good one, too.”

“So that’s why you made the bet,” He chuckled, kissing the top of your head. “You knew you guys were predicted to win your race, and you wanted to have all this lead up so you could finish first.”

“Of course, I always finish first,” You joked back, turning your head so you could kiss his lips instead. Then you muttered, “Except that one time.”

“You two are disgusting, by the way,” Cleetus groaned after a beat from the other side of the couch with his camera pointed directly at you two. “I’m making sure we put this in the video first, so everyone can see how gross you are.”

“Post it during my race. They’ll get a kick out of it.”

~~~

Main MASTERLIST // NASCAR // HITLIST

~~~~~

Walking into the paddock was second nature at this point, so why did it suddenly feel so different? You’ve walked into hundreds of race weekends, and still, this is the time you felt something off. Maybe not bad, but it definitely did not feel good.

You walked in beside your brother and cousin through the gates and through the crowd of people trying to get Carlos’ attention. You stood back with your cousin as the Williams admin walked up to ask him a few questions as he walked toward the hospitality.

“Do you know his schedule for the day?” You asked your cousin Carlos after bumping into him with your right arm. “Anything fun?”

“Not fun for you,” He chuckled before pulling out his phone and scrolling. “He has a driver’s meeting soon, a few team meetings, and an appearance with one of the football teams.”

“Oh, which one?” This piqued your interest a bit, given that you preferred one team and that your entire family lived, breathed, and died with Real Madrid.

“Barcelona,” He sneered, and you immediately rolled your eyes.

“We’re in Barcelona. I would assume their players come out for a big event,” You chuckled. “Just wait until Madrid, and you will see your precious boy crushes then, I’m sure of it.”

You had a feeling of something tagging on your finger, so you pulled yourself closer to cousin Carlos, thinking someone was walking past you. No one was there. You looked around, and that’s when you noticed a faint red string surrounded by a golden, glittery light leading into the paddock. You looked down, and the string was attached to your ring finger. You scrunched up your nose before holding your finger up to cousin Carlos.

“Is this your new way of flipping me off?” He chuckled, pushing your hand away before following after Carlos, who was finally able to head into hospitality.

“No, it’s…” You trailed off, looking at the string that led behind you. “Don’t you see it? The string?”

“The string? No,” he replied dismissively as Carlos rejoined your conversation when you got to his driver’s room in hospitality.

“What string?” He asked, putting his bag down and flopping down onto the chair.

“She said she saw a string or something,” Your cousin told him as he rolled his eyes. “Probably something on my jacket or something.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” You snapped after your cousin sat in front of your brother, and the two laughed you off. “And it is real! I’m looking right at it! How do neither of you see it? It’s so bright.”

“Then go follow it,” your brother said, waving a dismissive hand at you. “We have to talk about this strategy. I’ll meet up with you later.”

“Fine, I’ll show you,” You muttered as you stomped over to the door before turning quickly towards Carlos’ bag and grabbing some money from his wallet, “I’m taking money for food though.”

Neither Carlos answered you before you were walking out of Carlos’ room and through the Williams hospitality. The string led you through the main lobby area, through some of the sponsored areas, and all the way out of the hospitality area. You followed it all the way out to the main paddock and near the garages.

“Where are you taking me…” You said under your breath as you continued following it, holding your wrist as you stared intently at your ring finger and the extending string. There were times it got brighter, times where it got fainter, even a time where the string itself almost disappeared. 

Those were the times you stopped dead in your tracks and turned around.

After a couple of hours just aimlessly following this string, you decided to take a break. You found a little place that had good smelling food, and found a shaded picnic table to sit at. Surprising that it was completely open for midday in a busy paddock. You pulled out your phone and started frantically googling things as you started eating.

What does a red string on my finger mean?

Why did a red string appear on my finger?

Is a red string bad?

“Ay, excuse me?” A voice from above you said, Someone you immediately recognized as Pedri from FC Barcelona. “Do you mind if we sit with you? There’s no other tables.”

“Oh, sure,” You responded, moving your stuff to be closer to you. Pedri waved a few guys from the team over, namely Lamine, Fermin, Hector, and Pau. “Is that enough space for you lot?”

“We’ll make it work,” Lamine chuckled before introducing himself, creating a domino for the rest of them to introduce themselves. At the end, you introduced yourself. “Sainz? Like the driver?”

“Yeah, he’s my brother,” You admitted, sliding your phone into your pocket. “Also, I know who you all are. I do watch football, but my family is Real Madrid fans.”

“And what are you?” Another voice from behind you said, and you turned your head to see Gavi standing with a bunch of food stacked, assuming it was for the rest of his teammates. “What team do you follow?”

You admitted what team you follow before adding, “But I just really love the sport. Football is probably my favorite sport.”

“Not Formula 1?” He laughed as he took the seat right next to you.

“I find it really boring,” You shrugged. “Unless you’re in a top team, and that top team is locked in, it’s just too predictable. I like the feeders or American series more.”

“How does your brother feel about that?” Hector laughed as he grabbed one of the wrapped tacos from Gavi’s tray.

“He’s more hurt that I don’t like Madrid despite being from there,” You chuckled, taking a bite of your own taco. As you went to take a bite, you caught a glimpse of your - now yellow - string, connecting you to none other than the right hand of the footballer right beside you.

Pablo Gavi.

You thought you hid your shock well, but Pau, being the one sitting directly across from you, noticed you freeze, and your eyes drift slowly to the side.

“Oh, what did he do?’ Pau chuckled before jumping to his own conclusions. “Does he smell? I told you to put more deodorant on, Gavi!”

“What did I do?” He asked as he handed out more food to Lamine and Fermin when his eyes stopped on his right hand. Similar to your reaction, he stopped at your left hand. He seemed to have snapped out of it on his own, leaning closer to you to ask, “Can I try something?”

“Sure,” You whispered back, and he grabbed your hand in his. The string turned from yellow to green before disappearing, and it felt like everything clicked. “Did you feel that?”

“Feel that? Did you see that?” He gasped, looking between you and your intertwined hands in shock. “Where did that even go?”

“The string? You saw it too?” You breathed in sharply. “I thought I was going insane.”

“No, definitely not,” He replied quickly, bringing a hand up to caress the side of your face. “I’ve been seeing it since we got here this morning. They all thought I was crazy when I said I wanted to follow a red string.”

“Ew, you just met, and you’re already making moves,” Lamine teased as he and a couple of the guys fake gagged.

“Leave him alone!” Pedri, ever the one to come to Gavi’s defense, complained to the rest of their team. “He’s clearly in love!”

“Who’s in love?” Carlos, your brother, asked as he came up to lean against the picnic table. “Who are all of you?”

“Oi, shut up, Carlos,” You groaned, turning to face him, “You’re the one that told me to chase the red string. Well, I found the end of it, and now it’s green. Also, Google said it was a soulmate thing.”

“Soulmates don’t exist. You’re just naive,” He rolled his eyes at you. 

“Or you’re just lonely and haven’t met your soulmate,” You snapped back. “I’m tired of playing second in your life, so let me make my own mistakes if I must. I get it, you’re my protective older brother, but I need to make my own path sometimes.”

“It’s not about that,” Carlos sighed before dropping his head, “Eres mi hermana menor y él es de Barcelona (You are my younger sister, and he is from Barcelona).”

“Los Palacios y Villafranca en realidad (actually),” Gavi spoke up, and Carlos sent him the harshest glare known to man.

“¿Tienes ganas de morir? (Do you want to die?),” You asked, turning to him with your jaw dropped. “Callar, yo me encargo de esto (Shut up, I’ll take care of this).”

“I love how they’re talking like we don’t also know Spanish…” Pau whispered, quite loudly, to Hector, and suddenly, Pau was on the receiving end of the glare.

“Carlos, please,” You sighed, closing your eyes briefly. “What can I say for you to let me live my life?”

“Just promise me you’ll be safe.”

“No, I’ll run out on the race track later before streaking at the World Cup,” You replied sarcastically. A couple of the boys laughed - including Gavi, much to Carlos’ dismay, but god, did you want to hear it on repeat. 

Was this an effect of the soulmate thing? Probably.

~~~

Main MASTERLIST // FCB // HITLIST

~~~~~

The start of the season hadn’t been going well for Connor. Everyone could see that. From getting crashed into by old teammates to technical issues, to just genuine rookie mistakes. It seemed like there was nothing he could do right. 

Vegas was one that he wasn’t super excited for, purely because Vegas isn’t that fun unless you are of age, and neither he nor you were able to go out with the team.

“I want pasta,” you said definitively after Connor came back to the hauler once he was cleared by the team. He was just pulling his suit down around his waist before collapsing on top of you. You let out a quiet whimper at the new weight right on top of your stomach.

“Is this okay?” He snapped up for a second upon hearing your groan.

“Could be worse,” You breathed out as he laid his head back down on your chest, “Just means if there’s blood on the couch, you’re cleaning it up.”

“That’s a problem for later,” He sighed, closing his eyes, breathing you in, and fully relaxing in your arms. You held him tightly as you ran your fingers through his slightly sweaty and matted hair; you had to take a shower later anyway. The TV continued showing an older race after the post-race coverage concluded, and it played lowly as you almost fell asleep.

You’re gently shaken awake after who knows how long. It’s been long enough to the point where it’s dark outside now. You looked around bleary-eyed, immediately noticing that Connor was no longer on top of you, and you now had a blanket over you that you didn’t remember before.

Connor decides this is the moment to walk back into the common area, clearly post-shower, given his wet hair and the non-branded shirt he wore. 

You closed your eyes again as Connor walked around before you heard him approach you. “I know you’re awake.”

“How would you know that?” You questioned peaking an eye open.

“You responded,” He shrugged with a smile as he moved to lift you and carry you to the bathroom, where the shower was already running, and a pile of clothes was on the counter: a pair of leggings and one of Connor’s track hoodies. “Jump in, clean off, and we’ll go get your pasta. I already made a reservation.”

“You’re a godsend,” You muttered, tightening your arms around him quickly, imitating a hug, before he set you down on the toilet cover. “How long do I have?”

“Don’t worry about it,” He dismissed, backing out of the bathroom slowly. You chuckled to yourself as he closed the door and went back to cleaning up the common area of the hauler.

An hour-ish later, you were heading out to the streets of Vegas. You walked down the strip (and saw a random gorilla and way too many guys in g-strings, but anyway), and went on a zipline over the whole thing. 

When you made it back to the other side, Connor ordered an Uber to take you to the restaurant. Why a professional racecar driver can’t rent a car is still a laughing point for both of you. Still, you leaned your head against his shoulder as you went through the streets of Las Vegas, eventually stopping outside a casino

“Wait, is this right? We’re going to Giovanni’s,” Connor asked the driver, pulling up his phone to double-check the address.

“Yes, the entrance is through the casino and to the left,” The driver explained, and the two of you climbed out of the car.

“Are we even allowed in a casino?” You questioned, looking skeptically at the main doors.

“We’re just passing through,” He shrugged, “I don’t think they’ll have a problem with it.”

Oh, how wrong he was. 

As soon as you walked in, you felt the eyes on both of you, but you disregarded it under the thought of them just recognizing Connor. There was a sign hanging from the ceiling, pointing through the slots to where Giovanni’s was, so Connor held your hand just a bit tighter as he led you through the maze.

You could understand how people lost track of time in here. The lack of windows made everything feel stuffy, the rows upon rows of never-ending machines were loud, and the carpet was just confusing. If Connor hadn’t been holding your hand, you would’ve gotten lost on your own. You felt like you were right in the middle of it when a man in an ill-fitting suit approached you.

“I need to see your IDs,” He snapped, blocking your way. “You need to be 21 in here.”

“Sir, we’re just going to the restaurant,” Connor said, ever the calm one in the relationship. “We have reservations at Giovanni’s in a few minutes. I can show you the email-”

“No, I need your IDs now,” The man shouted at Connor as he smacked the phone out of Connor’s hand. “If you don’t give me an ID or I find out you’re under 21, I will have you forcefully removed from the premises.”

“Sir, we’re not even hostile,” You spoke up, pushing Connor to step to the side. “It’s not our fault you decided to put a restaurant in your casino and make it only accessible by going through the casino.”

“Don’t sass me,” He barked at you as he pushed you to the side, and that’s when Connor saw red.

Connor was fuming, and the two got into…not a screaming match, but a very harsh-sounding argument, and that’s when you noticed the door to Giovanni’s was right in front of you. You rolled your eyes and let out a huff before grabbing Connor’s arm and dragging him towards the restaurant.

“Stop! I’ll have you arrested!”

“I just want my fucking pasta!” You screamed back, pushing Connor off the carpet and onto the normal, tiled floor in front of the few restaurants. You stood directly in front of him before turning to the man, who was still on the carpet, staring up at the two of you, red-faced. “If you try to stand in my fucking way, I will make it everyone's problem before dragging your ass out into the parking lot myself. Now, is that what you want?”

“Is that a threat?”

“If you wanna take it as a threat, go right ahead, but don’t ever stand between a person and their hormonal support meal,” You seethed before turning to push Connor towards Giovanni’s.

“Oh, you’re on your period. Makes sense,” The man sneered under his breath, but you and Connor could clearly hear it. 

“Dude, what is your problem?” Connor scoffed, turning back around. “We’re literally just trying to go to dinner.”

“My problem is I have children,” He annunciated directly at you two, “in my casino.”

“We didn’t even want to be in your casino,” Connor mocked him.

“Oh my god, can we stop arguing like fucking babies?” You shouted, pointing at the man, “You’re acting more like a child than we are! Just let us get our food and leave! I don’t even want to be here anymore.”

“Hey, what’s going on out here?” You have never been so happy and relieved to hear Junior coming from behind you. There he was, standing in the doorway of Gionvanni’s, holding the door open for you two. He reached out to grab each of your shoulders separately, putting himself between you and the man. 

Connor wrapped his arm tightly around you as you hid your face in his chest, listening to the two argue outside. He waited a few seconds, just letting you cool down, before whispering, “How are you feeling?”

“I’ll feel better once I have my pasta,” You groaned, pulling back to rest your chin on his chest to meet his eyes. “I didn’t realize it would be so hard to get some fucking pasta.”

“I didn’t think so either,” He chuckled as Junior walked back in. “Thanks for saving us.”

“Don’t mention it,” Junior said, patting Connor on the back and and more gentle pat on your shoulder. “You might need to sit near us, though, to get him off your back.”

“As long as we get my pasta, I’ll be good.”

~~(funny addition based on me and my friend’s first time in Vegas)

After you’d finished dinner, the last thing you wanted was to go back through that stupid casino, or ever see that man again. 

That’s why, while you were waiting for your desserts, you and Amy did some digging while Connor and Junior talked cars.

“Ah ha! I’ve got it!” You exclaimed, catching the boys' attention, “Oops, my bad, but would you two be willing to carry us out?”

“What did you find?” Amy chuckled, taking your phone to read out the casino’s rules, “‘If an underage person is caught on the casino carpet, they will be subjected to fines upwards of $2000 and jail time.’”

“The stipulation is if we don’t touch the carpet, we aren’t breaking the rules,” You chuckled.

And that’s how you found yourself on Amy’s back, Connor on Junior’s back, walking through the casino with the man from before, plus casino security. All of which were seething as you walked past.

~~~

Main MASTERLIST // NASCAR // HITLIST

~~~~~

This was your first IndyCar race. You’d been loosely following Indy since you got into F1 a few years ago, and you’d grown up with NASCAR. It only made sense to eventually start following the American F1 equivalent.

You hadn’t planned on going to Phoenix, to be fair. It was more of a spur in the moment type of decision, and when you found out your friend was going, it was an easy choice. You’d bought the cheapest tickets you could snag and started preparing for the race. 

The number one thing you knew you would do is bring your camera. Photography had been a side hustle of yours for a few years now, and cars had always been your hyperfixation. Combining the two just felt right.

Saturday was awesome. The cars weren’t nearly as loud as you were expecting, but that just meant you were fine to sit at your seat or walk around without your headset on. 

The race was coming to a close, so you made your way through the stands, grabbing an Icee as you escaped the brutal sunshine that comes with being at Phoenix Raceway. 

You scanned your pass to get into the infield area. You made a beeline for the victory late pit (always on the right side, it’s better) and staked your place at the gates. 

Upon the race’s end, you knew to expect Josef Newgarden and his car shortly. You pulled out your camera, switching the lens from your ultra-zoom to your portrait lens, just as Will Buxton walked by.

How and why no one in the pits recognized him will baffle you for years, but it meant that when you said hi to him, he actually came over and gave you a fist bump, too. 

“Who was that?” Some random boy asked you after Will Buxton walked away.

”Only one of the best F1 slash IndyCar commentators, Will Buxton,” You joked, more to yourself than anything else.

”Wait, the brainless guy from Drive to Survive?” He asked, but didn't give you a chance to respond before running after Will. Odd to say, but people are entitled to their opinions. The boy came back after a few minutes, breathless, “So, turns out he laughs if you mock him.”

”Cool,” You nodded slowly before moving further into the pit to get a picture when Josef got out of the car. You snapped away as he stood on top of his car, when he took his helmet off, and as he talked with his team a bit before pulling back to see what else was happening. 

To your right, David Malukas stood, congratulating some of the No. 2 team. You quickly got a few of him and Kyle Kirkwood, who walked up to David to congratulate him on third.

While taking pictures of the second and third place finishers, you acutely noticed someone bringing out a steak for Josef. 

Why someone made steak? The world will never know.

And if that was a way to appeal to NASCAR fans more or something like that, the amount of shit you heard the following day would shoot that theory down immediately.

They quickly set up a podium and started the ceremony.

”Finishing in third place, the No. 12 for Team Penske, David Malukas!”

The crowd cleared as he ran up to the platform. You pulled up your camera just as the steak guy offered the board to David. He looked between it and his team, laughing before he took a piece. He tilted his head back and stuck his tongue out as he ate it, and you knew you had the funniest shot of the weekend.

The rest of the ceremony, David was still chewing the same piece. Kyle (being the loser he is) rejected when they offered him a piece too, but that didn’t stop him from side-eyeing the board.

Fast forward to the next day, after you edited most of the indycar pictures of the day before. You got in early for a meet and greet with Michael McDowell, and while waiting for the Daniel Suarez meet and greet to end (which was right before Michael’s), you walked around the other haulers. 

You saw Connor Zilisch, Shane Van Gisbergen, Ross Chastain, and Chase Elliott before seeing that the Indy Penske team was doing a wristband-free team meet and greet about an hour after the Michael one. Perfect timing.

You got in line right after meeting Michael and started talking with the people around you. The guy in front of you was from Wellington, New Zealand, and you two bonded over your recent trip to Aotearoa. The couple behind you were on a quest to visit every NASCAR track, current and old, and they were on a string on the West Coast.

While talking with the two behind you, you created a gap in the line so people could still pass through. In the middle of your conversation, a couple of people walked by you.

”Holy shit, is that who I think it is?” You muttered before coming to your senses, “Taylor?”

He turned around quickly to see who called his name before his eyes landed on your hat. “I’ve seen that hat!”

The following conversation with Taylor Gray is a story for another time.

Eventually, you got to the front of the line. You jokingly called Josef Newgarden your “birthday twin,” talked about New Zealand again with Scotty Mac, and then, you walked up to David.

”Can I show you something funny?” You asked as he signed your hat and notebook.

”Please do,” He said, leaning forward.

“This is a picture I took of you, deepthroting a piece of stake in Victory Lane,” You laughed, turning your phone toward him. ”Probably some of my best work.”

”That is incredible,” He scoffed with a smile, swiping through the folder of all of the pictures you took yesterday. “These are really good. Can you send me these?”

”Of course I can,” You said. already pulling up Instagram to send them through there (and this is where the fiction of fan fiction comes in), but instead of letting you pull up his Instagram account, he grabbed your phone and opened your messages. “What are you doing?”

“Giving you a way to send these to me,” He smirked, putting his phone number in. “And maybe we can look at some more over dinner after the race?”

”Or if you’re around infield later, I’ll be there. Either way, I’d love to,” You whispered back as he gave you the phone back.

”Now, don’t go giving that out! I don’t just give my number to random fans,” He said as the next person started walking up.

“Could’ve had me fooled,” You chuckled before moving back. 

Instead of leaving the area completely, you opted to get some candid shots of all three drivers. A couple of single shots of them talking with fans, and a few talking with the team. This is when you got a few funny ones of David making eye contact with the camera.

~~

youruser

🎵 Lipps Inc. Funkytown

Liked by yourfriend, davidmalukas, and 46 others

youruser: Spotted 👀

yourfriend holy shit

yourfriend2 these pics are 10/10 🔥

yourfriend3 is that your boyfriend?

davidmalukas maybe

youruser when he asks, we’ll see

davidmalukas did i not ask yet?

~~~

Main MASTERLIST // IndyCar // HITLIST

~~~~~

I'm getting the vibe of either childhood neighbors reconnected as adults, high school sweethearts or power couple from him

so we do mini canons for all of them lol

Childhood neighbors

Imagine him walking out and seeing his new neighbor (you) rollerblading down the street

As a joke, you'd challenged him to a race (and promptly lost, but it was all fun and games)

When you learned he liked hockey, you started playing street hockey with him, helping him practice

You'd both stay outside until the streets came on

Right when you'd gotten into a rhythm, you moved

It was before either of you had phones, so you'd gotten disconnected

When you got older, you'd gone back to Michigan

Jack was on a brief break, visiting his parents, when the doorbell rang in the middle of dinner

He'd been the one closest, so he answered it

"Hi Jackie!"

"You're kidding me."

You'd taken it the wrong way initially before he pulled you into a bone-crushing hug

He was a lot stronger than when he was a scrawny little 10-year-old

You were quickly invited in for dinner

It was like you never left

You and Jack fell back into the comfortable conversation

Even after dinner, you challeneged him to a street hockey game

For old times' sake (wink)

Totally not because you wanted to see what this 6ish-foot professional hockey player could still play

Definitely not because you half expected him to do something

And he did

Just as you gained possession of the puck, he came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your shoulders and spinning you around

High school sweethearts

You'd met in English class freshman year after he was benched for having bad grades, so you were sent to tutor him

Considering you were in all AP courses, you were fine with tutoring him

The first couple of meetings went as one would expect

"I don't need a stupid tutor" is uttered at least 10 times per session

"Your grades say otherwise," You'd always respond

After a couple of weeks, he started letting his guard down and actually learning

"What is even significant about Shakespeare? What did he do?"

"Beyond the answer of transforming the English language, he's also to credit with a lot of current phrases, and his stories are still relevant nearly 400 years later."

"You...sound like a nerd."

"And you sound like someone who hasn't actually read Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet."

That got him to laugh for the first time

After a month or so, he was asking you more about math and science as well

He wasn't doing particularly bad in either of them (he actually had an A in math somehow)

He just wanted more time with you

So after maintaining a strict mentor-mentee relationship for two months, homecoming came around

You'd off-handedly mentioned that you wouldn't go unless asked by one specific person

**cough cough him cough**

And he worked on a sign

He'd planned to do it at school the following day during your English session, but the night before, he was doing the finishing touches

Luke walked in on him, laughing at the quote

"It's stupid, isn't it? I knew I should've done something basic!"

At the same time, Quinn walked in, leading you, who Jack had forgotten that he'd invited over to review the science test

"To be, or not to be...my date to homecoming, that is the question...?"

"You're not supposed to see that!" "But if I was asking...?"

"I'd say yes."

No one at school was surprised to say the least

Power couple

You'd met on a tour of the University of Michigan, and the first thing he told you was that he didn't think he'd actually go to college

Why he was on the tour still baffled you

Years go by, and both of you have forgotten that conversation

But he saw your eyes from across the ice during the Devils vs Wild game, and he immediately recognized you

Turned out, you'd gotten a role as the Wild's physical therapist after college

He "accidentally" ran into you while trying to find Quinn

"So, we still ended up in the same place, huh?"

"Well, we're in the playoffs, and you're not, so..."

Damn, didn't need to humble him that quick

That didn't stop him from asking you out

In the same reunion, might I add

"We could still go to the same place after this. How about I take you to dinner?"

"Sorry, I'll be too busy celebrating my team's win. Maybe next time."

Ok, you were a little more stubborn than he expected

He'd have to call in the big guns

Older brother, Quinn Hughes

That's where Jack learned you were actually transferring to the Devils after the playoffs

So he walked into training camp a few months later and saw you taking up Nico's shoulder

"Wow, we just keep ending up in the same place, huh?"

"Don't make it a habit, I don't need to see you injured every week."

"But every other week is fine?"

"I think your coach would throw a fit."

"So what if I see you after hours?"

"Will that keep you from being injured?"

To which he nodded enthusiastically

"Fine, one date and if it doesn't go good, we leave it."

It didn't go good

It went great

~~~

Main MASTERLIST // NHL // HITLIST

~~~~~