I’ve never met a racing driver sadly but I do want to know yours
I have a few, actually, and I don't know if it's a good thing or not.
Let's say the awkward one happened back in october with ugo (for those of you who don't know him even with my yapping sessions about him, he was a formula regional eu driver that's now part of prema's f3 lineup). After the quali for the freca race on sunday all of the drivers were in Alpine's hospitality to have a chat with fans and hand out signed cards. The prema boys were first, and I had never interacted with a famous (or relatively known person) before, so I was kinda nervous. Ugo asks me to stop for a second, as if I wasn't already almost fainting just for being nervous, and snaps a photo of me that I believe to be quite brutal as I was on two hours of sleep and a lot of study for my first responder exam. But that I didn't quite catch until later on, 'cause I was without my glasses, and that's where the awkwardness lays. To see better what he was doing, I tried to adjust my glasses on my nose like I always do, with my pointer finger. But remember? I didn't have those glasses on, so the finger buries itself between my brows.
Summary: During the F3 break something is up with Zak, so Y/N finds out and comforts him.
Started from the prompt "You’re avoiding the subject and you know it. What are you hiding from me?"
Wordcount: 1.7k
Warnings: it's kinda sad and like a liiiiitle angsty bc Zak is sad bc Williams did a shitty thing. Other than that its like cute or smt its a lovely relationship (with a little bit suggestive at the end but y/n stops it to play games lol)
Guess who lives! And it's my biiiirthdaaaay so here's a gift for you xx
This got me out of my writer's block and I wrote this in a day (but! i am on @clemswinecorner-socials more often because those can get some creativity out of me even when I have a writer's block, I've got a new post ready for you there as well mwuah x) and also I graduated in the mean time so go me, and now I have time to get back to writing and the inspiration so thank you Zak! Enjoy Zak girlies :)
Ps. don't think about the title too much because I struggled making up one (suggestions are welcome)
Main Masterlist
It wasn't unusual for Zak to keep to himself like now, especially when he'd been busy and his social battery was low. Zak was a very laid back person, so people were used to him not bringing attention to himself in general, but he was usually up for a chat and often cracking jokes. He had spent a lot of time with friends and family, so you understood him seemingly wanting some time to himself, sure. What was unusual, however, was how he was distant even to you. The last race before the long break wasn't a good weekend for the British driver, his feature race ending early due to damage from the opening lap after struggling to make it into the top 10 on Friday. He'd been frustrated and quiet on the way home to England, but when you went to Spain, where you'd spend the first couple of weeks of the break, the championship went somewhat forgotten.
It was now only 3 weeks until the final race of the season came around, and you were seated next to Zak in his parents' garden as his dad and uncle were busy with the barbecue. He absentmindedly scrolled on his phone, occasionally responding to some texts with his other hand on your thigh. He wasn't physically distant, he'd never been, but there was something different between going on. Something hanging in the air, which was weird- you’ve always been very open and communicative to each other. "Zak, can you come help for a second?" You look over as his dad calls him, but Zak doesn’t seem to notice. You nudge him, "your dad needs help." Zak nods and puts his phone in his pocket standing up, his hand leaving your thigh. You watch as he talks with his family, a small smile on his face, though you could see it wasn't fully there. He was still chatting and joking around, you assumed from the way his dad was laughing, but his own smile seemed a little more forced- but maybe that was just you.
"So, how's my favourite in-law? The job going well?" You smile at Zak's cousin, who was around the same age as you, sitting down next to you. "I'm good, I'm alright. I've been having fun during this time off, but also can't wait to get back to the track with the team and Zak. And you, how's the boyfriend?" You chat for a while, until you get interrupted by your boyfriend appearing next to you with a hand on your shoulder, handing you a plate with some salad and a little bit of everything from the barbecue. "Thanks babe, looks good," you smile and you give him a quick peck. "Always for my girl," you blush and his cousin looks at the two of you fondly as Zak makes his way back. "So, everything going great between you two I assume?" You look at Zak with a sigh before looking back at her. "Yeah, we're good, I think. He's been a little off, or something, but I think it's work related. I've been wanting to talk about it but you know how things are in the motorsports world, you can't always say," His cousin looks over with a sympathetic smile. "Oh, well, you know how he is. If he's ready and wants to tell you, he will. And you can always ask," you nod as you look at his 3 year old niece, who has just come in, running up to him. "Uncle Zaaaaak!" Zak turns around and looks down with a smile. "Hey there princess!" He says and you hear an adorable squeal as he lifts her in the air. "He'd be a good dad," His cousin raises his eyebrows at you and you shake your head. "Nope, way too early, we are not having that conversation."
"Are we going too?" You softly ask Zak after you've said goodbye to his niece and her parents. "Yeah, sure, whatever you want," you grab the keys from his back pocket and rub his arm. "Alright, I'll drive. Let's say goodbye to your parents and go," You walk back to the garden, where you hug both his parents before quickly waving to his siblings. "I'll see you guys next week, right? Alright, bye!" You automatically grab Zak's hand as you walk back to his car, him going more quiet liked you'd seen at home the past couple of days. You hand him your phone with Spotify, not entirely sure what type of music he'd prefer, and drive home. "Do you want a milkshake? I could also get nuggets to share or a McFlurry. I won't tell any of the trainers," You mention when you see the exti that leads to the McDonald’s. You glance over at Zak who gives you a tight but genuine smile. "Nuggets and shake, please," you smile as you pull into the McDrive, ordering your usual favourites. "Thank you," he quietly says when you're back on your way. "Ofcourse," You smiled.
You settle around the kitchen island in Zak's apartment, with him sitting and you still standing halfway across from him. "So, how are you feeling?" Zak frowns at your question as he dips his nugget in the sauce. "About what?" You shrug, "In general," and Zak simply shrugs back. "Just normal," He just says, and you look at him once more. "Zak, is... Really, are you okay?" He looks up at you now, seeing how serious you are. "Yeah, i'm fine. Just... There’s nothing, i just need to get back into the flow, and stuff. With Williams and everything I've just... You know how it is, different people and stuff, but I can't really say," It's only when he mentions the team that you realise how much he hadn't talked about them during the past few weeks, whereas he had mentioned his F3 team. He'd been over at the factory a few times, but not nearly as much as during the winter. "Zak, is everything going okay at the teams, and during training? We've not really spoken about that stuff for a while," he quickly shakes his head- too quick. "Yeah, did you hear Williams is finally allowed to break the cost cap for the new stuff? And Prema's been doing well, did you talk to Angelina about the new LAP's? I noticed they took over some of your filming habits," He talked quickly, not allowing you to interrupt. "I did, yeah, but you’re avoiding the subject and you know it. Zak, I know this is a secretive world, or supposed to be at least, but i'm your girlfriend. If you go through something I go through it with you. What are you hiding?" Zak looks at you and you see a change in his demeanour. "I, eh, I don't... I don't think I can really..." You walk over to him, the distress clear in his voice. "Listen, I'm here, okay. I won't tell people, I just care for you. Good or bad, i'll stay," you grab chin and make him look up at you as you tell him that, and he nods. "I know. Thank you," You smile as you hug him from behind the chair. "I love you, always." He nods in response as he leans into you, rubbing your arm. "I got sacked by Williams."
You freeze at those words. "Zak..." You say as you stand by his side. "That's what you've been keeping to yourself?" You ask, already knowing the answer. He looks at you with watery eyes and nods. "My god, Zak, I'm sorry," You pull him to stand up and embrace him, feeling him relaxing immediately at your touch. You stay for a long while as the words slowly sink in. Zak is still grabbing you tightly and from the way he's hugging you you can tell how much he needed this. He softly cries on your shoulder as you hold him, with here and there sobs that absolutely break your heart.
"You don't deserve this. That's... It's a dumb decision, really, why would they do that to such a good driver?" Zak has slowly pulled back, now leaning against your chest as you hold him. "They had to choose. With the Merc juniors and Logan already there they had to make a decision and they saw more in Franco. I really don't know what next, Y/N. I don't even know if I'll make it to F2," You sigh as you hold him close. "You will. And honestly, you're gonna make it to F1 anyways, might as well make it a team that isn't the worst on the grid," Zak gives you a eye roll and a smile in response. "Okay, okay, I'm still with the team until after Abu Dhabi. But maybe, yes," he admits and you chuckle. "Alright, now that we've got that out of the way, we should do something fun, because you need that. Put on your pyjama pants and I'll grab us a game, alright? Alright, I'm changing first, you finish the nuggies!" He chuckles as you walk away to the bedroom.
"I'm coming in," You say as you open the door, a bottle of rosé and two glasses in hand, placing them beside your bed. Zak walks out of the bathroom wearing just his underwear, and you look him over. "Put on some pants," you tease and he smirks. "I know you'd rather have me keep them off," You roll your eyes as you leave the room again, grabbing the games you figured you could play. "You don't need a shirt, it's fine like that," Zak looks at you from the edge of the bed and stands up as you put the games on the bed. "Thought you'd say that," he says as he pulls you close to him by your wrist, pulling you in for a kiss. As his hands slip lower to the shorts you're wearing you pull back. "We were going to play some games, weren't we?" Zak nods as you move yourself from his grip making your way over to the bed. "Uno and monopoly, really? You know that stuff has ended relationships, right?"
no but i have fallen so far down the prema youtube rabbit hole because like
- mick is ‘swallow your own tongue and forget how to breathe’ hot in every video
- oscar is just a mood, like in every single shot he’s a mood
- dino is literally, actually 8 years old and giggles like a toddler
- arthur is charles in concentrated form, like you know how there’s fresh orange juice and orange juice concentrate? whatever’s wrong with charles, arthur is that in concentrated form
- logan is... so very american, and i say that as an american
- fred is an infant and i will defend him with my life
- sean towering over literally everyone
- nyck is 4′6″ and you won’t convince me otherwise
- every time there’s a food challenge you wonder if one’s gonna miss a race because the other gave them food poisoning
- i don’t actually know why i’m laughing at this but i sound like a highly intoxicated hyena and i’m not lookin’ a gift horse in the mouth
