mstisshiiiit

When his alarm went off, Lance just turned it off. No point in silencing it if he was just sleeping though the day. Testing so far had been shit. The car was way off pace, media was taking his comments out of context again, and management were arguing over who was to blame. He didn't want to go out, he just wanted to hide inside and avoid whatever the world wanted to throw his way.

The sharp knock at the door made him jump. He checked his phone, it was eight am. Too early to function. He pulled the covers over his head and tried to ignore it. The knock happened again, this time louder and somehow more annoying.

"Lance."

Lance groaned, he knew that voice. What was George Russell doing at his hotel room on a Saturday morning. Shouldn't he be laughing it up with the rest of the Merc teams. Everyone knew they were sandbagging, Russell was going to be the next champion. He knocked again.

Lance groaned and threw off the covers. As Russell knocked, he skulked to the door and threw it open. Russell stood there wide eyed, as though he didn't expect Lance to answer. What an ass.

"What?" Lance didn't even try to hide his annoyance.

"Sorry to bother you," Russell finally said. "I was hoping to.. look can I come in?"

Lance sighed. He wanted to say no and slam the door in that smug face. Instead he slid the chain off the door and let Russell in.

"Well, I, uh…"

"Spit it out, Russell."

"I wanted to give you this."

A small package in bright red wrapping was pressed to Lance's chest. Lance looked at the gift and then back up at George. Who's face was slowly turning the same shade of red as the package.

"What is this?" Lance had to ask.

"A gift," Russell said blinking before he pressed an awkward almost kiss to his cheek . "For Valentines."

It took a moment for the words to sink in. Lance had never really been a fan of the holiday. His partners always expected him to spend a ton but never gave him anything in return.

"You have so much money." They'd usually say. "You could buy anything you wanted. I didn't know what you needed."

Blah blah, excuses, excuses. So whatever this was in his hands was a bit of a surprise. So was Russell.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" Lance asked examining the beautifully wrapped gift.

"No?" Russell tilted his head in confusion. "I've been single for almost a year."

Somewhere he may have read something about Russell breaking up with his girl. Lance tried to stay away from gossip blogs. None of them ever had nice things to say about anyone in his life. He looked at the gift again."

"You don't have to keep it," Russell said. He was biting his lip, Lance hadn't seen that before.

"Oh, I just…" Lance shuffled awkwardly. "I didn't expect to get anything for Valentine's this year."

"I know," Russell said, a small smile on his face. "That's why it was so important for me to do this."

Lance had always thought Russell was beautiful. Now those doe eyes and that soft smile were aimed at him he was a goner. He found the seam of the wrapping and slowly tore it open.

Inside the gift was a photo of the two of them, on podium as kids. Lance had never seen this one before Russell was looking at him and smiling. Usually he was scowling.

"What's this?"

"It's us," Russell said. "Despite what you may believe I do actually like you."

"You do?"

"I do," Russell continued, taking a tentative step forward. "Here I am, shooting my shot, and hopefully taking you out to dinner later?"

Lance's breath hitched. Russell wanted him? Was asking him? Lance could feel the smile break out across his face.

"Yeah," he said. "I mean uh, yes. I'd like that. Dinner."

The smile Russell gave him was almost blinding. Lance's stomach did a little flip. George liked him, wanted to date him. Maybe even wanted to kiss him.