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It was late evening in Miami. Most of the drivers had already arrived there, even though the race wasn't scheduled until the week after next. But they had to get used to the time difference and arriving early was always a good opportunity to get to know not only the track but also its surroundings. But now it was dark outside and the drivers were in their hotel rooms, watching tv, reading or occupying themselves otherwise.

Kevin was watching a random documentary about some animal he couldn't remember the name of. Well, he wasn't really paying attention to the tv anyway, he was far to busy with staring at his phone all ten seconds and desperately waiting for a new message on Instagram, WhatsApp or anywhere else that he could answer.

It was at 10:13 pm when suddenly the screen of the tv and the small lamp that had been burning on his bedside table went out. The whole room was now dark, Kevin couldn't even see his own hand in front of his eyes. What the fuck is happening?, he thought to himself, as someone knocked at his door. Carefully he stood up from his bed and turned on the flashlight of his phone, so he wouldn't trip over something on his way to the door.

When he opened it, he stood in front of Nico. Nico Hülkenberg, to be specific. "What are you doing here?", Kevin asked confused. And even though the light of his phone's flashlight was the only light to be seen anywhere near, he could see Nico rolling his eyes at him.

"I thought you would be happy to see me!", the German pouted but Kevin could hear the grin in his voice. "I am!", the Haas driver quickly answered. And he really was. He was just as happy to see the German as he had been six weeks ago in Bahrain and five weeks ago in Saudi Arabia. "I just didn't expect you here! Just like this black out.", he added, sighing. Nico laughed. "Yeah, well, that really is unfortunate because I wanted to see your pretty face and now, I can't see a thing." Kevin could feel himself blush by the mentioning of his "pretty face". In that particular moment he was kind of happy, Nico couldn't see his face. Because hell, that would've been embarrassing.

The Dane was about to invite Nico into his room (because he had only just realized that they had been standing on the corridor the whole time) when suddenly two bright points appeared out of the dark and rapidly came closer. At some point Kevin could identify those bright points as the flashlights in the hands of Lando and George. The younger drivers came closer until they saw Kevin standing in his doorway.

"Oh, hi Kevin!", greeted Lando. He was quite enthusiastic and sounded not at all tired. "Hi Nico!", he added when he noticed the silhouette of the tall German next to Kevin, not sounding the littlest bit surprised. "Hey.", Kevin replied, followed by Nico who also greeted the two younger drivers.

"You might have noticed there is a black out.", George started talking eventually. Kevin snorted. As if one could not notice the fact that all electricity didn't work. But he didn't say that. Instead, he replied with: "Yes, indeed." "Well, we kinda were in the middle of watching a movie when that whole black out thing happened.", Lando began to explain, "And now we obviously can't keep watching it and are a bit bored. Soooo...", he paused dramatically, "We were wondering if you would like to come to my room and play some games? Like truth ore dare or something."

Kevin was about to say no because he had a guest and he really wanted some alone time with Nico but the German was faster to respond. "Yeah, sure. Why not?" And he sounded so motivated that Kevin didn't have the heart to contradict him.

So here they were. Lando, George, Alex, Charles, Max, Pierre, Mick, Carlos, Daniel, Lewis, Seb, Nico and Kevin. All of them were sitting in Lando's room, which was only lighted by the lights of their phones and the flashlights Seb and Mick had brought. To be fair was a bit crowded with thirteen people in it, but somehow, they had managed to sit down in a circle. Or rather what was supposed to be a circle. To Nico it looked more like a potato but whatever.

"Okay.", Lando spoke up, "Let's get started, shall we?" It was silent for a second, then he said: "Max. Truth or dare?" The Dutchman thought for a moment. "Dare.", he decided eventually. The Brit didn't even need to think about the task. "Sit on Daniels' lap for the rest of the game!", he exclaimed, grinning proudly but Charles only called: "Boring!" as Max moved to sit on the Aussies' lap without hesitation.

"Great. Now it's my turn!", said Max before anyone could say anything more and settled a bit more on Daniels' lap. "Hmmm, Mick, truth or dare?", he asked the German, who replied: "Truth.", in an instant but immediately regretted his choice as he saw the grinning expression on Max' face. "Well then...tell us about your secret crush. Who is it?", the Dutchman wanted to know. "Ich hasse dich!", mumbled Mick and although most of those present didn't speak a word German, they knew the words hadn't been something friendly.

"Come on, Mick. You picked truth, now you have to tell us who your crush is!", Carlos said, "It can't be that bad!" Mick sighed. "It's not. I'm just not keen on everyone knowing and not shutting up about it. But since I don't really have another option, I think I'll just tell you." Everybody was silent, staring at Mick in curiosity. Everyone but Seb. Seb knew a lot of things about Mick, including his crush. So, it wouldn't be new to him. That was why everyone but Seb got excited when Mick finally spilt the tea. "It's Rob." "Rob? Robert Shwartzman Rob?", Charles asked excitedly. "Yes.", was the answer.

"Pierre, truth or dare?", Mick asked without waiting for everyone to calm down. "I guess I'll pick truth.", the Frenchman decided. So, Mick thought of a question for the Alpha Tauri driver to answer. "Hmmmm...pick one present driver for each Hogwarts house." "Phewww", was the first thing to leave Pierres' lips, "I guess for Slytherin I'll have to go with Kevin." Nobody was surprised about that choice. Not even Kevin himself. He knew he seemed like a mean, cunning kind of guy to most people. That would make him a Slytherin. "Gryffindor would be...Max." Also not surprising. Although there would have been a few more candidates for that in the room. Well, they all drove fast cars for a living so they had to be at least a bit brave. "Hufflepuff would be Lando..." A valid pick. Nobody could complain. "And for Ravenclaw I'll have no other choice than go for Seb." Yup, that was definitely the only logical pick out of their group. "Our little nerd.", laughed Lewis and wrapped an arm around Germans' shoulders. "It's not my fault that a bit of general knowledge is too much for your brains.", shrugged Seb, grinning. "I'll just pretend I didn't hear that.", replied the Brit next to him reproachfully. But before they could start getting into a fight Pierre cut them off.

"I believe it's my turn to choose someone. Kevin, how about you. Truth or dare?" "Dare.", answered Kevin confidently. "Oh no, you shouldn't have done that!", Daniel grinned, apparently knowing what would come next. "What? Why?" Kevin was confused. How could Daniel already know what dare Pierre would pick for him? He looked around the room and found most of the drivers grinning, too. Was it so obvious what Pierre would ask of him? "Daniel's room is next door. You'll go in there for...let's say...ten minutes.", decided Pierre and Kevin raised an eyebrow. What was he supposed to do alone in Daniel's dark room for ten minutes? But Pierre hadn't been finished yet. "But of course, you won't be alone in there.", he grinned, "Nico will join you. Don't kill each other though, please."

Kevin wanted to laugh. Because, how could everyone still think that being locked in a room with Nico was his worst nightmare? Wasn't it obvious, that in the last years they had become closer? Yes, at first, they really hadn't liked each other. Enemies was the wrong word. Rivals was the better fit. But eventually, rivals had become friends. And in the end friends had become what they were today. Boyfriends.

They hadn't really tried to keep it a secret but they didn't go around announcing it everywhere either. So, neither Kevin nor Nico had any idea, how the others hadn't noticed. "Okay, fine.", Kevin shrugged and got up from where he had been sitting on Lando's bed. Being inside a room with Nico alone sounded like a dream to him. Although the time was limited and he would rather have spent the whole night alone with the German, it was a start.

Nico followed his example and stood up, accompanied by many irritated looks. Kevin just rolled his eyes and asked impatiently: "So, are you accompanying us to the door or what?" To the others it might have sounded as if Kevin just wanted to get it over with but Nico knew the truth. He knew that Kevin wanted to be alone with him as soon as he could. He also knew that Kevin hadn't been eager to join the game but he really had wanted to spend some time with the other drivers again and it had seemed like a one-time opportunity to do so.

"Yeah, of course. We don't want you cheating.", said Pierre, still grinning irritatedly, as he stood up to escort them out of the room and into the one next door. Daniel had followed them and unlocked his room for them.

Once the door had fallen shut behind them, Kevin immediately searched for Nico in the dark and cuddled up to him once he found him. Then they heard someone yelling: "PLEASE BOTH BE ALIVE WHEN WE LET YOU OUT!" It was silent for a few seconds, until Nico and Kevin both began to laugh out loud. "How have they not noticed?", Kevin asked, still laughing. Nico shrugged, then remembered Kevin couldn't see him in the darkness and instead replied: "I have no clue." Then he added: "Although I think that Lando knows."

Hi and welcome to my new book, where everything will be in English! I don't think I'll post here very often, I just thought I needed a book where I could publish the things I write, when I feel like writing in English. So here we are! I hope you liked the first oneshot! Maybe there will even be a continuation ;-).

Yours

MsReyland