THREE

"Stupid car!"

Anthoine Gasly shouted as he kicked at the wheel on the front drivers side, his friends car having suffered a tyre blowout.

How could she be a racing driver and yet not check her own car tyres?

"It's not my car! I borrowed it!"

Lara Llywelyn-Ricciardo raised her voice both in pitch and volume as she held her hands up in a defensive manner, having not meant to cause them to be late to the party.

The party was a party being held by a Formula One driver known as Kojo Miles, since they had managed to blab an invite due to their friend Elisabeth, the only problem was that Lara's car had been in the garage being repaired, so she borrowed the car of her neighbor, who hadn't been bothered to go to the party and who had handed her the keys to the vehicle.

"Fetu barely ever drives! He gets driven! Why take his car? I'd rather have a tuk tuk!" Anthoine released a groan, his hand running over his face in exasperation since the French boy wanted nothing more than to talk to as many Formula One drivers as he could.

He was in Formula Two and he wanted to socialise so that he would be in for a bigger chance of a seat in the future, but right now, he was going to be waiting for the recovery truck.

"I'll call my dad and see if he can come and get us." Lara released a sad huff of air from her lips at the thought of having to call her father, Daniel Ricciardo, but they had no other choice.

Lara just wanted to see her friends again, because she had barely seen them since they had moved up in to Formula One, and she missed them.

Elisabeth face timed her as much as possible and Lani often sent her gifts if they couldn't meet, but all she wanted to do was to spend time with them in person and enjoy each others company.

"You two heading for the party?"

A car pulled up beside them, the window down so that the driver could talk to them, their smile friendly, their black hair tied back in to a ponytail, their dark brown skin glowing in the sunlight.

"Kojo's? Yeah, we're trying to!" Lara smiled at the girl in the car, hoping that she could help them with a recovery vehicle.

"Lock that piece of crap up and get in! We're gonna be late and I've still gotta pick someone up!"

Zoha Ghai shouted at the pair of teenagers, watching as they both instantly listened and obeyed her, jumping in to the back seats of her Audi.

The Indian girl recognised them as her former competitors, having moved up from Formula Two with Elisabeth, Lani and Risette and joined Audi, she hadn't spoken to them because they weren't usually her type of people to socialise with, but she wouldn't leave them at the side of the road.

Kojo Miles' parties were never to be missed.

"How's Formula One?" Lara smiled at the girl, since she didn't want it to be an awkward silence, opting to speak and get to know the girl who was a friend of her friend.

"Great thanks, totally different and hard to adjust to but I'm loving it, and to think, I took the seat of Fernando Alonso is just mind blowing." Zoha smiled in to the mirror of her car, seeing the Llywelyn-Ricciardo girl smile back.

Fernando Alonso definitely had the longest career of any Formula One driver, he had retired two times throughout his career and yet he always came back.

His first retirement was at the end of the teo thousand and eighteen season and he was originally supposed to return near the end of the two thousand and twenty seven season, but he chose not to and stay in retirement when his niece, Larissa, was killed on track.

He retreated in to the unknown for nearly a decade, never seeing any media, only his family, and most racing fans felt for the guy, he had suffered so much.

When he did return in two thousand and thirty five, he would always recieve the most love out of all of the drivers. He battled for a championship two years in a row but missed out both times by just a couple of points and he eventually retired for good at the end of last season at the age of sixty three.

He was one of the most loved drivers of all time because of his successful career, it was just a shame how much that he had lost in the progress.

"Who's house is this?"

The Gasly boy questioned as he furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion, not recognising it at all as somebody who he knew.

"Erik's. He put it in the group chat that he needed a lift and I was closest to his house so I said I'd drive him so he can drink as much as he wants." Zoha informed the young boy, watching as he pulled a face of disgust.

"You don't like Erik?"

"I don't like his dad or his Opa." Anthoine spoke with a sour look upon his youthful face. "They hated my aunt Larissa when she was racing and she's not here to hold that grudge, so I'm gonna do it for her."

Erik Verstappen entered the car with a smirk upon his face as he noticed one of the newest Formula One drivers in the drivers seat and two young kids in the back seats.

"Your aunt Larissa was a bitch."

PUNCH!

"OW! What was that for?!"

"Get the fuck out of my car!"

Zoha screamed at the Red Bull driver as she cradled her hand, pain rushing through it from how hard she had punched him.

Oh god.

She was going to be in so much trouble.

"You said that you would drive me to Kojo's!" Erik complained, a glare now on his face as he stared down at the Ghai girl who was trembling slightly.

"You just insulted the most successful Formula One driver of all time in front of her nephew! She is the reason women like me can race against the men due to her campaigning! Now get out! You can walk!" Zoha yelled, trembling in fear but she knew that she had to stick up for Anthoine and his aunt.

The Verstappen boy released an angered scoff as he climbed out of the vehicle, lifting his middle finger up to the Indian girl who simply rolled her eyes and returned the gesture before she sped off.

"Uh, thanks for that." Anthoine muttered, a large feeling of gratitude evident in his body for the young woman.

"Don't mention it, but when we get to the party, I could do with some ice because my hand is so painful."

Lara and Anthoine glanced towards one another before nodding their heads up and down, speaking in unison.

"Whatever you need."

____________________________________________________

"Larissa asked me to meet her here."

Imogen Lizzie Russell frowned in confusion as her crystal blue eyes glanced around her surroundings and could not find one of her best friends, Larissa Ocon.

"She asked me to meet her here too."

Greta Vettel chewed nervously on her bottom lip, since she did not know what was happening and that always made her anxious, some times it made her so nauseous that she was forced to have a nap in order for it to go away.

The two girls knew each other, not very well since they were different ages and each grown up with different people, but they definitely knew enough about one another to themselves friends.

"Hey G!"

Greta released a gasp at the sound of the very familiar voice, with the German girl running straight towards the person who's voice it was.

Matias Raikonnen chuckled to himself as the Vettel girl launched herself at him, his arms quickly looping round so that he could catch her, his blonde hair becoming slightly squashed from where her hands had wrapped around his neck, his blue eyes sparkling.

The pair had grown up together, he would babysit her when he was a teenager and when she was a baby, he had been given the very important job of bottle feeding her so that her mother, Hanna, could get some sleep.

"Larissa has stood us up, did she send you a text too?" Imogen questioned as she stepped closer to the pair, not wanting to be left out even though she had not grown up with a Raikonnen. She had grown up with an Ocon, a Norris and a Keahi.

"Nope, I just dropped her off for dinner with Kojo and Massa, because apparently they are Kojo's favorites. She told me to meet you both here and to say hi, so hi." Matias chuckled, not used to talking as much as he was, but he was around Greta which usually caused him to talk.

Usually to scold her but talk nonetheless.

"So why are we here?" Imogen frowned, a slight accusing tone leaving her lips aimed at the man before her, she scowled up at him as he towered over her.

If she had to fight him, she would aim for his knees. They were easy to reach.

"How should I know? I'm not mystic Meg." Matias rolled his eyes at the girl.

"Sorry we're late."

Zahra Ocon and Fernando Alonso smiled as they both walked towards the trio, seeing them immediately looking incredibly confused as to what was going on.

Zahra thought that it would've been easier for her daughter to communicate with the three of them, because they always responded to her messages, and they wouldn't have responded to her own.

"Hi aunt Z." Imogen smiled, waving at the Ocon woman who was very good friends with her father, George Russell.

"Hey darling, look we're sorry that Larissa dragged you all here." Zahra spoke with an apologetic smile upon her face as they stood in a quiet and isolated park.

"We need your help and you wouldn't have responded to Zahra."

Fernando Alonso muttered, his hands behind his back so that nobody could see how he was ringing them together constantly, stress, worry and grief still in his body even eighteen years on.

"What's up?" Matias asked, his face now filled with worry and concern.

"The family are planning a party for the twins to celebrate them being in Formula One together and they won't listen to us how they don't want one."

"Let me guess, Jules is trying to protect Rissa?" Matias nodded his head up and down as he realised what was happening.

Risette never had a party because of how uncomfortable she was surrounded by lots of people, loud music and bright flashing lights and Jules knew that she wouldn't want one this year either, so he would give up his party to look after her.

Zahra nodded her head sadly.

"It's in three weeks... please I beg you, plan something with the pair so that it can't go ahead."

"Of course." Greta nodded her head, her blonde hair bouncing around as she did so, her eyes meeting her uncle Fernando who offered her a reassuring smile.

They were the same, both trying to pretend that they were okay but in reality, they were far from it.

"I'll ask Jacqueline for help, she'll subtly cancel it whilst we take the twins." Matias glanced at the two young drivers beside him, seeing them instantly agree to his plan.

Jacqueline De Araujo was a close friend to most of 'the family' mainly because she had known Larissa in the few years before her death, and was the reason why the twins had been born in the first place.

She had been the surrogate for Larissa's frozen eggs and had carried the twins for nine months, so they knew that she would have their back and help them.

"Does Charles know?"

"No, he would be so mad at them and he doesn't need that right now, he's trying to support Risette because she is really struggling with being in Formula One." The Alonso man informed them, seeing the realisation on their faces.

They knew now who it was that was planning the party, and it did not surprise them in the slightest.

Lando, Pato, Nyck, Nicholas and Yuki.

"I thought that my dad had told uncle Lando and uncle Pato that she hated parties?" Imogen released an annoyed scoff that her uncles had ignored the warning from her father.

"If he did, then they forgot."

Great.

The group of five stared at one another as they realised what a mess they were in, and how difficult their task would be.

Greta raised her hand in to the air, gaining everybody's attention solely on herself, gulping thickly a couple of times due to it.

"Operation ruin the party is a go!"

___________________________________________________

"Hey Khal."

Moses Holt grinned as he fell in to step beside the girl who had replaced him at Porsche, seeing the Syrian girl turning her head to smile at him, dimples on her cheeks.

"Hey Mo, are you doing okay?"

Massa Khaled smiled at the American man who she had replaced, figuring that he wanted to tell her that there were no hard feelings between them, but she already knew it.

Moses was all that her new team mate, Mika, talked about.

"I'm good, I get to cruise at the back of the grid." Moses laughed to himself, frowning in confusion when the Muslim girl halted in her steps to stare straight at him.

Massa gently wrapped her arms around the man to hug him, feeling him placing his own hands on to her shoulders.

"You're welcome to spend time in my garage as much as you want... no spying though." Massa grinned, offering the boy reassurance that she wasn't about to ignore him now that she had his seat.

"Nah I'm good, it's your seat now and you've earned it." The Holt man stared at her with a look of appreciation, happiness within his body that she had offered him such thing in the first place.

"Just look after Meeks for me, yeah?"

"I will." The Khaled girl nodded her head up and down a couple of times, her eyes sparkling as the sun hit them, wrinkles forming around her eyes as she smiled.

"He misses having you as his team mate, the way that he talks about you is the way we talk about Allah. He worships you."

Mika Hayashi only ever talked about Moses and how great he was as a driver, as a person and as a friend, that Massa knew that she would never come close to that, but she was okay with it.

They were best friends, brothers, platonic soul mates.

She was just Massa, the new team mate, the replacement.

"And Oscar worships you."

"يا إلهي،."

The new Porsche driver laughed as she remembered her old team mate from last season, Oscar Piastri from Minardi, who was now going to be losing his mind because he was driving with the daughter of his very first Formula One team mate.

He would essentially be a babysitter, since Elisabeth was known as a menace who never used her media training. and would always cause chaos.

 She missed Oscar, he was very nice to her and he had learnt many phrases in Arabic in order to communicate with her. Her father, Orhan had even had him in their home for dinner. 

"I gotta go and speak to Adrìan, apparently he needs my advice with something, but it's great to see you and I really do appreciate your offer, Khal. Thank you."  Moses smiled brightly at the young woman, patting her on the shoulder before he disappeared to find the Ferarri driver that Adrìan was.

As the Khaled girl walked in to her garage, her dark eyes fell upon two figures talking to one another, their faces lighting up at the pure sight of her arriving in to her garage.

"Habibti, I brought you some food so that you're not hungry." 

Orhan Khaled grinned in delight at his daughter, his whole world, the Syrian man having his arm around the shoulders of the person next to him, the person he had been talking to.

"My mom made me some sushi, and I thought that you would like to share it with me."

Mika Hayashi smiled at his team mate, seeing the young woman giving him a grateful smile that only made his own grow bigger.

He held out a tray of sushi, his hand outstretched towards her which then allowed her to grab a single piece of it, not wanting to take all of his food.

Massa's face lit up as she tried the sushi, finding that it was in fact the best piece of sushi that she had ever tasted.

"It's amazing, thank you."

"It's my favorite food so my mom brings it whenever she comes to my races." Mika explained, offering a piece to the woman's father who gratefully accepted a piece of it too.

"ابن, thank you"

Mika's smile grew, seeming almost painful from how big and bright it was, his eyes sparkling, wrinkles all around them, his cheeks red.

"I will cook and bring some food for you to try, next time." Orhan lifted one of his hands to pat the young boys head.

"I'd love to try all your cooking!"

Mika couldn't explain the feeling that he had when with Massa and Orhan.

He had grown up not having a father since his biological father had died in a car accident when trying to get the hospital whilst he was being born, and it was strange because whilst Moses' father had treated him like he was his son, it kind of felt like that was also exactly like Orhan was treating him.

Massa was adorable, a cute little muffin who he could easily see as becoming a little sister of sorts, and he had known a lot about her past from Kojo  who was very fond of both the Khaled's.

With her as his new team mate, the pair could be unstoppable together.

If they worked together, he could get another championship title, but Massa would also be able to become a world champion which he knew would mean an awful lot to her.

Everything, perhaps.

It was just a shame that Moses hadn't gotten a title, or shared one with him, because they had both dreamt of it for so long and now it would never happen.

He knew that Moses pretended like it didn't upset him, but it had been his dream since he was a child to win, and he didn't.

He felt guilty that he had stolen Moses' dream when he had been within grasping distance.

He hoped that he could make his dream come true, that way the sleepless nights would finally stop.

____________________________________________________

"Our kids are in Formula One, how?"

Pierre Gasly laughed as he watched his daughter, Melissa, race around a track for qualifying, pride evident in his body as he bathed in the golden sunlight, his crystal blue eyes covered by sunglasses, a backwards cap on his head.

"Don't ask me, mate. I haven't got a bloody clue."

Lando Norris grinned as he waved as his former team mate drove past where they were, waving at him. He was strange, Oscar being paired with his daughter, but he loved it at the same time.

"My girl will beat yours."

Alexander Albon spoke up as he stepped up from  behind the pair, his arms wrapping around their shoulders.

His daughter, Kamala, was nothing like him.

The only thing that they really had in common was the racing, other than that, she was exactly like her mother, Lily.

"Nobody will beat our Larissa."

Esteban and Zahra Ocon joined the group, giving their hugs to their friends, all of them having spent so much of their lives with one another.

They all shared the same loss too.

"Michel for the win!"

Mick Schumacher shouted loudly as he jumped in to the small crowd, his son being a driver making him fill with pride, and he was a team boss so that was amazing.

He just wished that his sister could've lived to see his success. Larissa would've been so proud of him, he knew that.

"I don't have a child but I have a godson and I have to support him!"

Pato O'Ward nudged his way in to the group of ex Formula One drivers who he had become very good friends with over the years, thanks to one of his best friends, a certain Leclerc-Cohen woman.

"We know, you always bring your 'Go Jules!' banner with you to every race." The Schumacher man laughed, knowing that the Mexican man always backed his godson and would do until the world ended.

"I just want him to know that his Tio Pato, is here for hum! He loves me!" Pato chuckled, his hand resting on his chest as he did so.

He remembered being so shocked when Charles had offered him being Jules' godfather, but when the Monégasque explained that it was what Larissa would've wanted, he had immediately burst in to tears.

She would've known that he would always have his god child's back.

"I'm allowed to support all my kids!" Zahra laughed, resting her arm on the shoulder of the Mexican, since she was both Jules and Risette's godmothers.

"Mick?"

Esteban teasingly raised an eyebrow at his German best friend, seeing his face light up.

"Michel and Risette for the win!" Mick laughed, lifting both of his hands up in to the air, supporting his son and his god daughter.

God, they were so biased.

____________________________________________________

A/N

Chapter 3 and I've got flashbacks coming soon!!

What do you think?

Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you all soon for the next one,

I'm so proud of all of you, my loves

Love you all,

-RUBY 🇵🇸🇨🇩