"Nothing," Pierre said, curling into an even tighter ball, forehead pressed against his knees and shoulders tense.
Lewis sighed, reaching out and then stopping himself before he could touch the kid. "Clearly there is something wrong or you wouldn't be hiding away in this corner of the paddock."
His fellow driver didn't say anything to that, only pressed himself further into the cold wall behind him and shuddered.
This was.... concerning. Lewis for a brief moment had half a mind to call Seb to sort this out. Delicate situations like these were slightly out of his depth after all but, shaking his head, he took a deep breath and set his lips into a determined frown.
Pierre clearly needed help and calling Seb when he could do this himself would just end up delaying this further, so instead he shuffled over until he was sitting next to the kid. Shoulder to shoulder, leaning against the cold wall as well; he shivered. Man it was cold.
"Is it about what happened to Esteban earlier in the race?" He asked gently, and from the sharp intake of breath, Lewis guessed he'd hit the nail on the head.
Bumping their shoulders together he sighed. "He's fine. It was just a scare."
The kid huffed, it sounded strained. "I know."
"But it still bothers you doesn't it?"
"He could have..... he could have died."
"I know," Lewis said, reaching around and this time putting his arm around the kid's shoulders, pulling him close and Pierre fell into his side like a puppet with its strings cut off. "He's ok now. Nothing happened. He got out of it with only a sprained wrist and he's fine. He's fine, Pierre."
Nodding into his side, Pierre exhaled loudly. "He's fine," he muttered to himself, voice coming out shaky and slightly uncertain almost as if he was trying to convince himself. "He's fine and nothing.... nothing happened to him."
"Exactly," Lewis muttered back. "Nothing happened and hey, if you still need to be sure, you could go see hi---"
"No," Pierre shook his head; his hair brushing under Lewis's chin. "No, I don't need to do that. It's ok. I was just overreacting."
"You weren't overreacting," Lewis said, tone mildly scolding. "You were just scared for an old friend and that's understandable." He paused then, squeezing Pierre's shoulder once. "And I'm right here," he continued. "If you need to talk, I'm here. And Pierre?"
The kid hummed softly. "Yeah?" He sounded exhausted and Lewis's heart went out to him.
He must have been so worried.
"I'll stay with you for as long as you need."
Pierre startled, trying to move away so he could look him in the eyes but Lewis didn't let go, at least not fully.
"Don't you have to go back for your podiu-"
Lewis shook his head, cutting him off with a wave of a hand. "They'll understand."
Now the world champion could practically hear the uncertainty in the French driver's voice, so he chuckled lightly and nodded.
Exhaling softly, Pierre pressed closer into his side again. "Ok then.... and thank you."
