SILVERSTONE was going to be a bitch and Monica knew it. The circuit had always been a hard one for her to drive, no matter how many times she did. It frustrated her that she never was able to reach the top step, or even the third on the podium, but she learnt to deal with it over the years.

It would also be a hard weekend for her seat wise. Fred Vassuer had so far had multiple meetings with both Oscar and herself separately, and she was desperate to impress this early on in the season.

So far, they're deal about using no money to bribe the Italian team was working a treat, there weren't any articles spreading rumours either, which helped a lot.

Monica tried to put the seat fight out of her head as much as she could, but if she was honest, she struggled to think about anything else.

Her entire career was on the line, and she didn't really have a safety net. Her Carlin contract was up at the end of the season, and Liam Lawson was set to have Monica's seat from next year, which Monica didn't mind: Liam was a good guy, and great racer.

She would miss Carlin, the team having helped her out of so many tricky spots in the very early stages of her career.

As a McLaren junior, Monica had always been on good terms with Lando Norris, who raced for Carlin in some of his junior career, and who also put in a good word for the young Canadian before she moved up to Formula Three.

Monica would always be thankful for Lando's input, and promised him that she'd pay him back in the future. (Lando's wishes were that she let him through if she ever made it to F1, something Monica said she would do once, and only once. After all, she owed him big time.)

Silverstone in July was very hit and miss, however, they were all lucky this year. The heat was blaring down on the track, warming it before anyone even stepped on it, and the sky was plastered with large clouds, which covered the sun just enough for visibility to be perfect.

Monica walked through the back of the paddock, through to Carlin's small tent and motor home. She walked passed a few mechanics, greeting them hello, before she spotted her teammate resting against the edge of the motor home, scrolling through his phone.

"Hey Dan."

Dan immediately looked up from his phone, smiling at Monica. "Oh hey Mon. Uh great day." he said quickly shutting of his phone and placing it in his pocket.

Monica smiled back, looking back out at the blue sky. "Oh it's perfect conditions. Will be fun to race in no?"

"Yeah yeah it's great." Dan said, rocking back and forth on his heals. From the corner of his eye, he could see two of his mechanics, Peter and Dave peering around the wall to watch the two interact.

"You excited to be back home?" Monica asked him, looking away from the sky and back to her teammate.

Dan looked away from his mechanics abruptly and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah no it's great. I always love racing at home."

Monica smile dropped slightly. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I miss it."

Dan's eyes widened. "Oh yeah, I'm sorry-"

"It's okay. Canada will be back." She gave him one last nod before she gestured to the motor home door. "We'll I gotta get in."

"Yeah. I'll uh, I'll see you later. On track probably. Yeah." Dan said as he watched her jog towards the steps.

"Dont beat my quali time." Monica joked, as she disappeared into the motor home.

Dan let out an airy chuckle, before he heard slow clapping from behind him. He turned around, tongue poking the inside of his cheek as he saw Peter and Dave stood nearer him, sarcastic applauding his attempt to talk to Monica.

"The weather. Great small talk mate." Peter spoke first.

"Just how you get the girl." Dave piped up from beside him.

"The pair of you shut it and go back to fixing my car." Dan said, rolling his eyes.

It was a known fact to many members of the Carlin family that Dan had a crush on his teammate, but was too scared to do anything about it.

If anything, he was more scared of Oscar than actually asking Monica out, because Oscar was her best friend, and no matter how friendly he may seem, Dan did not like him.

Plus, the Australian had some fire in him, and could be scary when he wanted to be.

Pete me raised up his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, we weren't the ones who crashed it in Baku. Not our fault it's still got issues."

"Hey come on it was a Friday practice crash, it wasn't even the race." Dan tried to defend himself.

"Still work for us." Dave said, as he and Peter turned back around to head back over to the number 5 car.

"OH you can go to hell." Monica sighed as she shoved Oscar's shoulder.

The pair were walking through the paddock towards the pit lane entrance, all kitted up in their race gear as they prepared for qualifying.

Oscar laughed, throwing his head back as he watched Monica's annoyed expression. "Hey I'm just saying, maybe you and Charles can start a "we never finish this race" club."

"Oh Piastri you are so dead. Y'know what' I'm taking that pole away from you." Monica threatened as she pointed a finger at him.

Oscar raised his eyebrows, "Oh really? Do you remember what a pole lap feels like? You haven't been on pole since your uh... F3 days was it?" he was grinning at her now, knowing that she was getting rilled up.

Monica opens her mouth to respond, before she finally registered Oscar's teasing expression. "You are the worst."

Oscar threw an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. "No I'm not, you love me." he said looking down at her, the teasing expression still adorned on his face.

Monica rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop the smile from creeping on her face. "Well, you're pushing your luck right now."

As she looked away, Oscar continued to look down at her side profile, and noticed how the wind was blowing a few loose strands of hair she had missed whilst platting it over her face. He reached out, pushing the hair behind her ear, his hand brushing against her cheek.

Monica looked up at him as he lowered his hand, and gave him a small smile, her faint dimples appearing slightly.

Oscar opened his mouth slightly to say something, before he hit someone in front of him hard in the back.

"Hey, maybe watch where you're going Piastri."

Oscar resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the British accent coming from the man he just bumped into. "Maybe don't  stand in the middle of the doorway and people would be able to get passed you without hitting you." he suggested coldly.

Dan tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes at the Australian. "You really need to hold her like that" he asked, gesturing his head to the arm which was still draped around Monica's shoulders. "She has legs, I'm pretty sure last time I checked she could used them fine."

"We are extremely close Dan this is normal for us." Oscar said, giving the British driver a sarcastic smile. "It doesn't make you uncomfortable does it?"

"Okay." Monica cut in before Dan could retort. The two boys looked at her, all the tension between them building up.

"I'm sure you two would love to find a ruler somewhere but I kind of want to make it to qualifying in time," she looked up at Oscar, "so can we go please?"

Oscar nodded at her, looking back up at Dan. "Have a good quali."  he said, his tone not matching his words, before Monica took a hold of his shirt slightly, pulling him along.

She turned her head around to Dan who was watching the two walk away, "I'll see you in there okay?"

"Yes you will." Dan said, a little to loudly.

When they were out of her teammates earshot, she stared up at Oscar, "What was that?"

"That was your teammate being a di-"

"Oscar."

"What? Oh come on, he was attacking me because I had my arm around you." Oscar said, holding his hands up.

"Did you have to be so hostile about it?" Monica asked.

"You're saying that like he didn't start it." Oscar said, raising his eyebrows at her.

Monica narrowed her eyes at Oscar, as they continued to walk. What was up with him?

Oscar bit the inside of his lip. "He likes you."

"What?"

"He likes you. He's jealous of me because we're close. Come on, like you haven't noticed." Oscar explained.

"No Oscar-"

"Yes Monica." Oscar said, looking back down at her, his teasing smile slowly returning. "Little Daniel has a little crush on little Monica." he said, jabbing his elbow into her side.

"Oscar I'm gonna' shove your front wing so far up your ass-"

Oscar pulled Monica into his chest, giving her a small kiss to the forehead before turning around and walking towards the Prema mechanics. "You love me!"

"Debatable!"

But Monica let a smile back onto her face, as she watched Oscar scare Rob, who was sat on a stack of wheels next to his car.

She bit the inside of her cheek, her mind going back to those few minutes where Oscar was silently arguing with Dan.

She remembered how Oscar's arm tightened around her shoulders, and his finger grazed her shoulder as he traced patterns into her overalls.

Why had he been so up-tight? Monica shook her head slightly, trying to understand why Oscar was being so protective over her.

Of course, he'd always been protective, they had been best friends for so long, but this was different. There was something about Dan that set him on edge, and she didn't know what it was.

Monica ran a hand across her face before she turned to walk towards some of the Carlin mechanics, who were stood laughing by her car.

When they spotted her, there was a universal "Monica!" between them all, as they all held their hands out for a fist bump.

Monica grinned widely. She loved this team.

idk this chapter felt like ass

but anyways oscar <33