5 times Kevin doesn't know what Nico is saying and 1 time he does

Step 1

It all started in Hungary in 2017. Yes, you guessed it, the "suck my balls" incident was the cause for everything that followed after. Well, okay. Maybe not the cause. But definitely the trigger.

There had always been this kind of tension between Kevin and Nico. It had never been really noticed by the public, though. Not until Hungary. After that everybody was talking about Kevin and Nico's relationship. Or at least what they presumed it to be.

Kevin had never been good at making friends. He had never been popular in school and that hadn't changed in Formula 1. His only good friend on the paddock was Romain. Everybody else either tolerated or hated him. Except for Nico. Kevin couldn't really read into Nico's behaviour. Sometimes he ignored him, sometimes he insulted him and sometimes he joked with him.

Something about the German's behaviour intrigued Kevin. It was unpredictable, somehow exciting. And maybe that was why he secretly hoped to run into Nico in the paddock, to be paired with him for the press conferences.

Something close to that happened in Italy in 2017, just two races after Kevin told Nico to suck his balls on live television. They were on the truck for the driver's parade. Kevin was leaning on the railing on his own, no one seemed to want to talk to him. So, he did what he did best. Observe.

He spotted Nico talking to Sebastian not too far away from him. They were talking loud enough so he could hear them, but it didn't matter because they were speaking German. And Kevin barley knew any words in the language.

So, he didn't know what Nico was talking about when he said: "Ich weiß nicht. Er ist einfach so..." [I don't know. He's just so...] Apparently, he was at a loss for words. But Seb didn't hesitate helping out. "Heiß?" [Hot?], he smirked and immediately had Nico's elbow in his ribs. "Ouch!", the elder complained but couldn't bite back a laugh.

And Kevin wondered if Nico and Seb had been talking about him, because a few seconds later Nico noticed Kevin staring at him and his face went bright red.

Step 2

The next time Kevin overheard Nico and Seb talking was in Australia in 2018. They were standing behind the Renault motorhome, shielded from all of the cameras and microphones. Kevin had been thinking a lot about Nico in the past months. Hell, he had even dreamt of him sometimes during the winter break.

He didn't know what was going on but he knew one thing. Nico made him feel different from anything anyone had ever made him feel. Even just looking at the German's pictures made him feel better. Sometimes, when he had a shit day, he just opened Instagram, went to Nico's profile and looked at the photos there. It felt weird, kind of like stalking. But it unexplainably made Kevin feel better. He hadn't talked to anyone about it, though. He was scared of what they might say.

But as good as it felt to see Nico's life through social media, it felt so much better to see him in person. Kevins heart felt like it jumped inside his chest when he spotted the two Germans talking to each other and he couldn't help but listen in, despite knowing that he probably wouldn't understand anything.

"Verdammt, Seb." [Damn it, Seb!], Nico was saying. He sounded desperate. "Wie hast du das bei Kimi bloß hingekriegt?" [How did you do it with Kimi?] Seb smiled at the mention of Kimi's name. „Ich hab mit ihm geredet. Solltest du auch mal versuchen." [I talked to him. You should try that too.] It sounded like a suggestion to Kevin. He was probably giving Nico some kind of advice, a thing he was known for.

"Haha, wie stellst du dir das den vor? Ich geh zu ihm und sage: 'Hey Kevin, ich bin übrigens in dich verliebt.'?" [Haha, how do you imagine that? I go to him and say: 'Hey, Kevin, by the way I'm in love with you?] The Dane had been about to turn around and leave, when he stopped in his tracks. He wasn't absolutely sure, but to him it sounded like Nico had just mentioned his name.

He had never regretted not knowing German, but he did now. Kevin was really curious about what Nico had said about him. Now he would never know what the German thought of him.

Step 3

Nothing happened between Kevin and Nico until France 2018. They had both scored points with Kevin coming in P6 (again) and Nico in P9. It wasn't great, of course, but it was points and so Kevin found himself in a club. He hadn't wanted to go at first but Max and Daniel had invited the whole grid and Romain had convinced him that it didn't matter if Kevin spend the night alone in his room or alone at the bar. Noting, that the bar had much more alcohol than Kevins hotel room.

So, that's were he was now. Sitting at the bar, alone, drinking, observing. Max and Daniel were already dancing for quite some time, moving together on the dance floor. Seb and Kimi were subtly holding hands, a bottle of vodka in Kimis other hand while Seb slurped some cocktail.

Suddenly, someone slid onto the bar chair next to Kevin. "Hey.", a familiar voice said. Kevin flinched. He had thought it was just some stranger he could easily ignore. But no, next to him was Nico Hülkenberg. "Hi.", Kevin responded without looking at the other. He was already a few drinks in and he didn't want to be tempted to make some comment about how pretty Nico's face was. Or worse, say something referring to the 2017 Hungary incident.

There was a period of time when none of them said anything. Then: "Will you dance with me?" At first, Kevin was perplexed. Did he just imagine Nico Hülkenberg asking him to dance? But then he looked up and saw Nico looking pleadingly at him. Seemed like he wasn't the only one who had had some drinks. Kevin blushed.

"Okay.", he whispered and Nico's pleading expression was immediately replaced by a big grin of motivation. The German jumped from the stool, grabbed Kevin's hand and dragged him to the dance floor, luckily far away from Max and Daniel, who had stopped dancing and were now shamelessly smooching. Their luck that they had rented the whole VIP area, so there where no reporters hiding out with their cameras and they could mostly just be themselves.

When they reached the dance floor, Nico grabbed Kevin's other hand too and began swaying them around. They did that for some songs, then a new song came on and it was a slow one. Kevin wanted to leave but Nico pulled him close. He probably could have ripped away but deep down he did want to slow dance with Nico.

Their foreheads were touching and Kevin closed his eyes, so he didn't have to look at Nico. It felt good, being this close to the German. He felt warm and tingly and somehow secure. And suddenly Nico was whispering something, Kevin couldn't understand. "Ich würde dich gerade so gerne küssen." [I really want to kiss you right now.] He didn't know what to say in respond, since he didn't even know if Nico had been talking to him. So, he just did what his body told him to do.

He leaned forward, closed the gap between their lips and kissed Nico. And Nico kissed him back.

Step 4

Kevin and Nico had been secretly dating since shortly after that. The emphasis being on secretly, because no one knew about them. They had mutually decided to not make a big deal out of their relationship and to wait with the telling until the time felt right.

It was a few races later in Hungary when it first happened. They had been dating for about one month. Kevin had scored good points in P7 and Nico was just so proud of him. So, he went by the Haas garage after the race and knocked on Kevin the door of Kevin's driver's room. The Dane opened the door, spotted the German, smiled widely and drew him into a hug. He didn't bother closing the door, so they were basically standing in the corridor, hugging.

Which was the exact moment that Günther had chosen to pay his driver a visit. "Whot the fok!", he exclaimed, when he saw Kevin hugging Nico Hülkenberg quite intimately in the middle of the hallway. The two drivers startled, looking up at him but did not let go of each other. "What is going on?", asked the team principle.

Nico smiled. "Ich umarme nur meinen Freund, Günther." [I'm just hugging my boyfriend, Günter.] Kevin still didn't know any German (he had tried learning some but that language was just too freaking complicated) but Günthers reaction made him chuckle. "What did you say to him?", Kevin whispered curiously. "Nothing.", Nico grinned. But suddenly the grin faded. "We are boyfriends, right?", he asked seeming insecure. "Yes, obviously!", Kevin replied at once. That made Nico's grin return.

"Well, good luck to you.", Günther commented from where he was still standing a few metres beside them. "I will come back later, Kevin.", he winked, "Enjoy your time together."

Step 5

Even five years later Kevin and Nico's relationship was still going strong. They had lived through Covid together, quarantining in Kevin's house in Denmark. They had mastered the time where Nico hadn't had a seat and they hadn't travelled to all the races together.

And now there were teammates. It was great for them, they got to spend a lot of time together at work and even share a hotel room without anyone getting suspicious. They weren't publicly outed yet but many drivers and team members knew about them. They even had a name for them. #Hulknussen.

The present grid was much closer than the older ones. Some drivers arranged regular meet-ups, where they just spent some time together, doing some activities. This time it was mini golfing. They had been split up in five teams of four and one team of three. Sebastian and Kimi had also joined them, even though none of them was part of the grid anymore. But they happened to be Nico and Kevin's teammates.

The second team consisted from Lando, George, Alex and Max. The third team were Charles, Pierre, Esteban and Lance. Team four was made up of Lewis, Daniel, Valtteri and Fernando. Team five had Logan, Oscar, Zhou and Mick and team six were Carlos, Yuki and Checo.

It was a lot of fun. Lando, George, Alex and Max were just pure chaos and they managed to hit the balls anywhere but into the hole, with Daniel and Carlos laughing at their boyfriends constantly. All of the other teams were actually pretty decent, including their own. Kevin even managed to hit a few hole-in-ones. He had always liked mini golf.

His motivation was only spiked by Nico cheering him on and celebrating loudly every time Kevin reached the hole in less than four strokes. One time Nico even turned to Seb and said: "Ich weiß schon, warum ich ihn heiraten will." [I know why I want to marry him.] And Kevin cursed himself for still not having worked up the motivation to learn German properly. He and Nico were dating for five years now and he still couldn't understand every word his boyfriend was saying. Damn it.

They finished second in the end, only being beaten by Carlos', Checo's and Yuki's team. "Good game, Schatz!", Nico grinned at Kevin and kissed him shortly. "Yeah, good.", Kimi agreed as he patted Sebastians shoulder. "Thanks."; Kevin beamed at the praise, "You were not too bad yourself."

"You know,", Nico continued, "I've been thinking about something." He started fumbling in the front pocket of his jeans. "And I've realized, that I don't want to spend my life without you." A little box appeared in Nico's hand, as he fell down on his knee. Kevin gasped and brought his hands up in front of his mouth. "So, I'm asking you, Kevin Jan Magnussen: Will you do me the honour and become my husband?"

Kevin could feel the tears pooling up in his eyes. He nodded rapidly and pulled Nico off the ground to hug him. "Yes, of course I will marry you!" The kiss that followed drowned out all the clapping and cheers from their fellow drivers.

+1

"I, Nicolas Hülkenberg, take you, Kevin Jan Magnussen, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

"I, Kevin Jan Magnussen, take you, Nicolas Hülkenberg, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

Now it was official. They were husbands. They kissed, everyone cheered. Their parents were crying, Max was leaning onto Daniel, Lando onto Carlos. Seb and Kimi were standing behind them, their best men.

It had been a long way from Hungary in 2017 until now, Kevin thought as he took Nico's hand to walk down the aisle together. Past their families, their friends, even past Günther, who had supported them the whole time.

And when they finally reached outside, they hugged each other closely. "Ich liebe dich.", Nico whispered into Kevin's hair. Finally, the one phrase that Kevin knew in German. He smiled. "I love you too."

Well, that was fast.

I literally just wrote this haha. I hope you like it!

MsReyland