Race weekends were always stressful.

It had been so long that Val had forgotten just how stressful they were plus this was so much worse for her this time since it was the first time that she would be stepping foot in a Paddock in two years.

They had just arrived at the track and Malina was picking up their paddock passes from the ticket people, Val felt like she was going to be sick but tried to seem as normal as possible for Malina, this meant a lot to her best friend and she was not going to be the one to ruin the experience for the younger brunette... Val knew better than anyone that watching your first race from a team garage was a completely different experience than just watching it from the grandstands. Malina rejoined her handing the pass to Val who with shaky hands placed it around her neck as they approached the place where they scanned the passes.

Malina furrowed her brow giving her rather pale best friend a concerned look, "are you okay Val?"

She tried to give the best smile that she could manage, but it was more of a grimace "Yeah Lina, it's fine, I'm fine." which was far from the truth she was not fine and still felt like she was going to be sick, but was trying to push through it. 

The younger girl did not look like she believed her but knew better than to push it. She just linked her arm through Val's as they walked through the Paddock, Val through her nerves got the biggest feelings of nostalgia as she looked around it made her realize that she honestly had missed this, they had just walked past the Red Bull garage which was where a certain former Australian Red Bull driver was talking to Max as they had a bit of time before fp1.

The man had glimpsed her at first and then did a double take once he realized he was really seeing her there, "I'll be back." he said to Max who looked confused at the suddenness as the Aussie driver practically sprinted out of the garage, he had to be 100 percent sure that it was her. "Well, well, well, look who we have here," he said, grabbing her attention.

Val blew out a breath as she stopped forcing Malina to stop as well since their arms were still linked before she unlinked her arm from her best friend and turned around, "Valentina Rossi."

Malina had a confused look on her face as she realized who had called out to them, which increased at the small smile she noticed on Val's face, as she looked at the Australian driver "Danny Ric... you'd have been so embarrassed had that not actually been me."

There was a wide smile on his face as he laughed at her response, "You know I just barely caught a glimpse as I was talking to Max and had to double-take and then confirm that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me..." he pulled the girl into a hug which she returned... She had missed them the friends that she had made through her ex but it was too painful of a reminder of what happened to keep in touch with them except for Lewis, who she was the closest to out of them all.

They pulled away from the hug and he was still smiling widely at the girl, "Never thought I'd see the day, that Valentina Rossi, would grace us with her presence in the Paddock once again," Val rolled her eyes and flipped the Aussie driver off, for his dramatics but you could tell there wasn't any heat or malice behind it. "So what's brought you back to us V?"

Val blew out a breath, "my best friend Malina, who was invited by McLaren and allowed a plus one. Lina guilted me into coming with her, so here we are... it's weird being here and I constantly feel like I'm gonna hurl, have since we walked through the gate, it's going to be a long fucking weekend, and I'll probably end up hiding in the McLaren garage the whole time or the Mercedes garage one of the two."

Malina was standing beside Val looking confused as hell about everything that just happened. She had no clue that her best friend had ever been to a race before.

Daniel nodded at Val, "Well you do look a little pale V if I'm being honest... Do you think he knows yet?" That last part confused the younger brunette even more and she for sure was going to press for answers about all of this later.

Val snorted, "god I hope not, because I plan to spend the entirety of the weekend avoiding him..." Daniel gave her a look, which she sighed at, "But knowing my luck that's not going to fucking happen... but I'm going to try."

"Mind if I walk with you to the McLaren garage then? I was going to head there after I finished speaking to Max anyway."

Val gave Malina a look who had her brows furrowed but shrugged as if to say whatever you want to do. Val took that as a yes. "sure why not." then she decided to introduce Malina to Daniel, "Right so Daniel, this is Malina." she nodded to the girl beside her, "Lina, Daniel Riccardo or Danny Ric or just Daniel or Danny, whatever you want to go with."

He smiled at the girl, "Hello there, nice to meet you."

She smiled back "Hi, you too." He noticed the confusion on her face as she looked between him and Val, but chose not to question it right now.

Daniel grinned at Val, as they walked, Lina walking on Val's other side meaning that she was in between the two, Danny gave her a look, "You know V... it's weird seeing you in McLaren colors..." he trailed off they were all used to her rocking the custom Ferrari merch which was red.

She chuckled, "It feels weird to me, to be wearing McLaren colors... but being a guest of the team it seemed like a good idea."

The Aussie driver gave her a look, he may not have been as close with her as she is with Lewis but he knew her well enough to know that she had some sort of ulterior motive to wearing McLaren colors other than the reason she just gave... "sure V... that's the only reason..." he trailed off with a slight smirk and a teasing look.

Making Val roll her eyes, she should have known he'd pick up on that. She playfully shoved his shoulder as they arrived at their destination, the McLaren garage.

Lina pulled Val over toward the McLaren Team Principal, Andrea Stella, and CEO Zak Brown, who they spoke to for a little while before it was time for fp1 to start. They both had informed them that they would be meeting the drivers after the first practice was over since there was a gap between fp1 and fp2.

Once they were left to their own devices, Lina gave Val a look, "Valentina Maria Rossi... you have some serious explaining to do."

Val sighed she should have known that this was going to happen... "Lina can we please just get through the weekend and I promise that I'll explain everything."

The younger of the two sighed but nodded, happy that she would get an answer instead of just being completely brushed off about it, "Fine but when we get home after the race on Sunday, you're spilling everything."

Val nodded, "Promise." she really just did not want to get into all of that right there. They turned their attention to the practice.

Val was trying not to chew on her bottom lip as they watched sure it was just the first free practice but still she was getting to watch him race again, which used to be one of her favorite things in the world.

Once the first practice was over, Charles had finished first, with Max a few seconds behind him and Sergio or Checo in third. Both McLaren drivers were behind them in fourth and fifth.

Malina noticed Val slightly wringing her hands together as the cars pulled back into the garage, it's not that she was nervous about meeting the drivers it's the fact that Lando would recognize her and could tell him that she was there... she had never met the other McLaren driver Oscar.

The younger girl placed her hand on Val's arm, making the girl realize that she was subconsciously doing that, she let out a silent breath as she pulled her hands apart slightly gripping onto Lina's hand, Lina squeezed her best friend's hand back.

The two drivers were now being led over by the Team Principal, to meet the two special guests Lando's eyes widened when he saw Val, he like Daniel was surprised to see her there.

Thankfully she didn't look pale anymore and didn't feel like she was going to be sick, watching the practice had captivated her like it always did which made her forget about her nerves for a bit.

"Val?" the British boy said the surprise in his voice clear for everyone who heard him say the girl's name. Lina mirrored Oscar's confused look at that.

"Lando... Hi."

He pulled the girl into a hug, "It's good to see you V, it's been a while."

She returned the hug, with a small smile, "Good to see you too, Lando."

He smirked at her, "is it weird?" the questions confused the others.

But Val knew what he meant so she nodded, "Yeah a little, it was very weird at first, but then the nostalgic feelings hit and made me realize that I kind of miss it, all the chaos that race weekends cause."

Andrea looked between the two, "Well it seems that you two already know each other, but let's move this along before fp2 starts, Lando, Oscar, this is Malina Romero, she's our special guest this weekend, and her best friend Valentina Rossi who is her plus one." he motioned to the boys, "Malina, Valentina, these are our drivers, Lando Norris, and Oscar Piastri."

Malina smiled at the two "It's nice to meet you both."

Val smiled as well. "nice meeting you, Oscar; it was nice to see you again, Lando." Val sighed and looked at Malina, "I'm going to walk around a bit before fp2 starts, I'll be back in a little while." and then she walked out of the garage she wanted to go and talk to Lewis before fp2 started.

She found her way to the Mercedes garage without incident. She smiled at the Mercedes driver, "Hey Lew."

The older man smiled, "V! You actually came, I thought you'd find some way out of it."

Val shook her head, "No Lina was genuinely so excited about this, it's the first race she's seen from a team garage and she wanted to experience it for the first time with her best friend, I didn't have the heart to burst her bubble and tell her that I'd done it before... because to her I despise everything F1 and Motorsports related."

Lewis hugged the girl who returned it with a smile, then he noticed her outfit and snorted, "Nice outfit, a bit of a cheap shot showing up to your first race in two years wearing McLaren colors."

Lewis was the only one who knew anything about her feelings, so she snorted, with a shrug, "What we were invited by Mclaren I thought it was fitting and also I wanted to see if he saw me and if he would react to the colors... just let me be delusional here Lew..."

The man gave her a look, "I don't think that you're being delusional V, I think it will get a reaction..." his mind going back to the conversation he had with his team principal a few days prior.

She furrowed her brow, "what happened Lew?"

"I'll tell you later V, it's not something to be discussed so publicly," they spoke for a few more moments before Val decided it was time to head back to the McLaren garage.

She had made it about halfway back to the McLaren garage when she heard her name being spoken, "Valentina?" the voice caused her breath to hitch as she slowly turned to face him, she could have ignored it but she knew that he would have just followed her to see if he was really seeing her there or not.

note:

ah, I just love this sm already <3

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, this book will be more IRL scenes than social media but there will be some social media chapters.