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It was the first race of the 2021 season, and they were currently in Bahrain. "You wanna drive us there? I can always call us a driver." Kalliope spoke, walking down the stairs of the company's private plane. Kaylen always preferred private planes ever since their father's accident and Kallie couldn't blame him. Kallie didn't mind using commercial but Kaylen needed her to be with him on the plane at all times. "Nah, I wanna drive. You know I don't trust other people driving." Kaylen said.

"Are you sure? You're not gonna be tired?" She asked in concern, following him to the car he had ready for them. Of course it was a Mercedes. "It's fine, Kal. I don't want you to drive either, you've been up for days." Kaylen opened the trunk of the car and set the luggage inside before going to open his sister's passenger door. "Thank you." Kaylen smiled and walked around to get in the driver's seat.

They drove to the hotel, Kaylen got them checked in and made sure there was two beds. He liked to have his sister very close by especially in different countries. He was a very paranoid person. "You know I could've gotten my own room," Kallie says as she walks into the large hotel room, setting her luggage on the bed. Normally, she would unpack but if she was being honest, she hated unpacking cause then she would have to put everything back before leaving and she was far too lazy for that.

"No way. You know how many women get murdered in foreign countries? I'm not leaving you alone." He argues, and she sighed knowing she would not be able to convince him otherwise. "You realize I'm older than you? I'm supposed to be ordering you around," she jokes as she sits on the bed, watching as he frantically checked for bed bugs or anything out of place, even going as far as checking the mirrors.

"And I would allow that but now that mum and dad aren't here to protect you, it's my job." Kaylen switched the lights back on and noticed the sad look on her face at the mention of her parents. "Hey, you know mama is gonna watching at home, why don't you call her?" Kallie sighs at his words, shaking her head in objection. "No, she wouldn't answer. She doesn't like talking about races. She's only watching for you. I guarantee if it was me out there, she wouldn't bother."

"Kalliope, you know Baba wasn't your fault, right?" He asked in a concerned tone, he knew she took his death hard but he didn't think she thought it was her fault.

"He got on the plane because of me, Kay. I begged him to come to that race even though he was concerned about the weather. I put him on that plane. You tell me how that's not my fault? You can't." Before Kaylen got the chance to respond to that, a loud knock echoed their room from the door.

"We're not done with this conversation," he says before getting up to answer the door.

Kallie looks up to see it was just Charles and Carlos who knocked on the door. "Oh hey, Kallie. How you been?" Charles smiles warmly at her as he and Carlos walk in the room. "Been good, you?" He shrugged in reply and she chuckles. "Hey Kallie. You look good." Carlos says, giving her a fistbump in greeting. "Thanks. What are you guys doing here?" She asks, seeing Kaylen going through his suitcase for some clean clothes.

"We all agreed on getting some lunch. You're coming with us so get ready." Kaylen said towards her, clearly not giving her room to argue. "I don't want to impose," Kallie denies, shaking her head. Before Charles or Carlos could respond, Kaylen spoke up. "You're not, and I'm not leaving you alone in a hotel where you have no friends around." Kallie shoots him a glare, "was that last comment really necessary?"

"You can't deny it, Kal. You have no friends, and Keziyah's friends don't count." He shrugged, getting an eye roll for Kallie at the mention of their older sister. "You make me sound insufferable." She scoffed.

"You're not, don't listen to him. We like your company." Carlos comments with a grin, getting a nudge from Charles, silently telling him to knock it off with the flirting. "Anyways, we'll meet you down at the lobby in 30? How does that sound?"

"How about an hour? Kallie takes a bit longer," Kaylen adds and they nod in understanding, leaving the room after sharing goodbyes.

"Way to embarrass me in front of your friends," she scoffs, standing up to grab some clothes for a shower. "If I made you look good they'd try to get with you and no one on that grid is getting their grubby little hands on you." Kaylen said stubbornly, he'd be dammed if any of the drivers tried to get close to her. He knew a few of them had small crushes on Kallie and Kez which made him a bit overprotective.

"First off, you don't need to do that cause I don't date white boys, no discrimination or nothing but it's just not for me. I'm not Kez." She said, walking over towards the bathroom, hearing him chuckle at the small dig at their other sister. "Well the only black driver we got besides me is Lewis and that's never gonna happen. Doesn't mean the others are gonna chill with the flirting." Kaylen says loudly for her to hear through the bathroom door.

Kallie chuckles awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck. "Yeah, never gonna happen."

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Everything was going good so far, Kalliope wasn't at all worried about that. She was only concerned with Kaylen's first race for Formula 1. To say she was nervous was an understatement. Not to mention being back there brought up old memories and feelings she tried to push down. Kallie followed behind Kaylen, the younger sibling holding onto her hand tightly, not wanting to lose her as camera's flashed at them. Unfortunately, she was wearing heels again so she almost fell quite a few times.

"I'm gonna get dressed for the conference, I want you to stay with Jamie at all times." Kaylen said, walking into the driver's room, offering Lewis a smile in greeting as he was already there. "Yeah, about that, Jamie isn't here." Kallie said awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck.

Kaylen turns to her with a confused look, "what do you mean? He should've been here hours ago." Jamie was Kalliope's bodyguard, he usually went with her to any large events, such as these. He was hired years ago by their father after they found out she had a stalker. Quite common for celebrities, luckily he got arrested after breaking into Keziyah's home when she was staying there for the weekend.

"I gave him a few weeks off," Kallie shrugged, leaning up against the wall.

"Kallie, seriously? He's your bodyguard, he's supposed to be at these things to protect you. You're not some Z-list celebrity, people know you, and it's dangerous. You're gonna give me a heart attack, I'm still young and good looking, I can't die yet!" He ranted, forgetting about the fact that his teammate was still in the room. "You know what? You're gonna call Jamie and make sure he gets to the next race, okay?"

"I can't just do that! He's on a vacation with his family. Are you heartless?" She argued, throwing a pillow at him that lied on the couch.

"Really, Kallie? Who's gonna protect you now?" Kaylen deadpanned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I can protect myself. You seem to forget that I used to race here, I'm well protected." She pointed out with a smug smile, but he didn't find that at all funny. "I don't care. I don't trust people. And by the way, the only reason you were protected here was because of Jamie, you know, your bodyguard." He says, speaking the last part in Korean. "Can we do this later? We have an audience." Kallie mutters in Xhosa, gesturing over to Lewis, the man on his phone pretending he wasn't eavesdropping.

Kaylen scoffs, "he doesn't care. Do you care, Lewis?" The younger guy turns to glance at his teammate. Lewis looks up from his phone at the mention of his name. "Uhh, nah, I don't mind. I can leave if you need some privacy." He stands up from his seat, his eyes remaining on Kallie. "I know we're not like close or anything, but could you keep an eye on her, please? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened." Kaylen asks.

"No, it's cool. I can watch her." Lewis smiles, getting a grateful look from his teammate. "Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Kallie, stay with him until I get back, okay?" Kallie rolls her eyes but nods nevertheless, "Fine. Just hurry up. I don't need reporters bombarding me with questions." Kaylen nods, pressing a kiss to her head before she walks out, Lewis close behind her.

"I'm sorry about him. He's a bit paranoid. It got worse when our father passed. It'll dwindle down eventually." She mumbled, walking alongside Lewis. "It's fine. I understand." As they walked a few people started to approach, making Lewis subconsciously pull her closer to him, his hand set on her lower back. "Can I get a picture?" A man asked and Kallie went to move, assuming the picture was with Lewis. "With both of you," the man said.

"Oh, yeah, of course." Lewis pulls her back in and they all get in the frame, the man snapping a picture. "Thank you. I hope you come back, Kalliope. We all miss you." She smiled warmly and he left, a few more people approached for pictures, some even asking for separate pictures with Kallie. "I see why Kaylen's paranoid, you're quite popular around here." Lewis comments.

"Ah, they only pay attention to me now that I'm gone. I didn't get half as much attention as I am right now when I raced here." She says, both of them entering the cafeteria. She just grabs a water bottle, not really in the mood to eat. "Is that why you left?" He asks, she could see what he was doing, the man clearly trying to find out the real reason for her departure. "You can ask as much as you want, the answer stays the same."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"That I just did, no reason." She shrugs, walking out to find her brother who should be dressed already. Lewis follows after her, "you know, I was a bit hurt when you didn't call me." Kallie looked over to him, seeing him fake an offended look. "I didn't call because there's no reason to. You're my brother's teammate. I'm not interested." Lewis holds a hand over his heart, pretending to be hurt. "That hurts, truly. Is it because I spun you off the track that one time? Cause I apologized."

"So you admit you did it on purpose?" She shoots him a pointed look and he winced dramatically, shaking his head in denial. "And you didn't even apologize. You just sent flowers, to the wrong address by the way." Lewis furrowed his brows, "what? Who got the flowers then?" Kallie chuckles to herself, "you sent them to my sister's house. Maybe it's sign. I could give her your number. She thinks you're cute."

"But I don't like her. I like you."

"What's going on?" They both look away from each other to see Kaylen standing in front of them, wondering what they had been talking about. "Nothing. Are you ready for the press?" Kallie hooks her arm with her brother's and smiles, brushing off the words Lewis had said to her. "Yes, and don't worry, Neela gave me the rundown on what not to say if they ask questions about you or Kez." Kaylen had obviously knew that these reporters would ask questions about his sisters so he talked to Neela seeing as she also managed Kalliope.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry that you had to do that. It should be about you, not us." Kallie gives him an apologetic look as the three walk towards the small building where the conference would be. "It's cool, Kal. I'm not ashamed. I got powerful sisters. If anything, I'm grateful for you guys. I wouldn't be here without you." Kaylen said, walking through the door, ignoring all the cameras focused on the siblings, Lewis already separating from them.

"That's not true." Kallie denied, crossing her arms.

"Except it is." Kaylen walked into the press room, two other drivers already taking their seats. Max Verstappen was on his left as Charles Leclerc was on his right and he was in the middle. Kallie watched on the monitor, feeling Lewis stand beside her, probably keeping an eye on her courtesy of Kaylen. The first question had went to Max, the reporter asking what his opinion was racing against his former partner's brother. Max didn't mind at all, even making a joke about if Kaylen was a good as Kallie.

The next one went to Charles before they went to Kaylen. "Can you confirm all the speculation about your sister Kalliope's potential return?" Kallie rolled her eyes, hating that he was being asked such a thing. It was supposed to be about him. It was his rookie year, a very important year for him. "That's all it is, just speculation. My sister currently has no plans to return and if she did, I'm sure you would know." Kaylen answered with a forced smile. He knew they wanted the real reason for her departure and that annoyed him. They needed to respect her decision and leave it at that.

Another question went to Max before they went back to Kaylen. "What is your response to people saying Mercedes only signed you because of your relation to Kalliope Kumalo and even Keziyah Kumalo?"

"If anyone's expecting me to be upset or angry about that, they're going to be very disappointed. I am here because of my sister, and I'm not ashamed of that, she was a wonderful driver, having been the whole reason I even showed interest in racing. She had a lot of influence in my decision to sign with Mercedes, and they did show interest because of my last name. But as of today, I'm here to prove why Mercedes made a good decision to sign me."

Kallie smiled, liking the way he answered it. Most men would've been defensive if a woman was the reason they were at the top, but he wasn't. He was proud of it. The next question was for Charles before they circled back to Kaylen. This time the reporter had been a woman. "Hi, Kaylen. I would like to say, I love how you praise your sisters, most wouldn't respond the way you have." Kallie smiled, she recognized this reporter, she had been the only one to give Kallie actually good questions unlike the stupid ones she got from the men.

"Thank you. They're my biggest inspirations. I'm very proud to be their brother." Kaylen smiled proudly.

"That's sweet. So, coming up on your rookie year, I can imagine you have a lot of pressure on your shoulders, being Kalliope's brother and all. Is there a reason you chose not to sign with Red Bull and follow in your sister's footsteps?" She asks. Kallie knew the answer to this obviously, she had been the one to sway Kaylen's decision in the first place, encouraging him to sign with Mercedes instead.

"Yes, actually, there was a lot of reasoning for my decision to turn down Red Bull. It wasn't an easy choice as I had showed a lot of interest in them because of their success with my sister. But we felt I should have a fresh start and give my last name somewhat of a chance to shine somewhere else. We saw the success Mercedes had and came to the decision that they could give us a fresh start. Not to mention I've always wanted to race alongside Lewis Hamilton."

Kallie glanced over at Lewis seeing the surprised look he had on his face from the last sentence in Kaylen's answer. "Surprised you didn't know about his secret obsession with you. He had a poster of you in his room." Kallie chuckles in amusement at the memory, she and Kez always teased him about it but he didn't care, he looked up to Lewis. "Really? He didn't mention it. I thought you were his idol." Lewis responded, taking his eyes off the monitor to look at her.

"Oh, I am. But before I was, he looked up to you. It was rare to see someone who looked like him in this sport, ya know?" Kallie looked away, back to the monitor where Max got asked a question.

"Trust me, I know."

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The race was almost over, Kallie was jumping in excitement as Kaylen managed to get P3. Max Verstappen got P2 and Lewis had won the race with P1. Kallie ran towards the barrier, calling out Kaylen's name when he climbed out of his car. He immediately ran towards her, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm so proud of you!" She grinned, pressing a kiss to his helmet. "That race was for you, Kal." He said, lifting her over the barrier carefully.

"Go to your team! Come on! I'm gonna call Kezie!" She grinned, pulling out her phone and he nods, separating from her. She called up her sister, the woman answering with a yawn, "Kalliope? Why you calling this late?" Kallie was too excited to even scold her sister for forgetting that the race was today. "Kez, don't freak out but our brother made freakin' podium on his first race!" She exclaims.

"What?! You're fucking lying!" Keziyah's eyes widened, quickly moving to turn on the TV and put the race on to make sure Kallie wasn't fucking with her. "Oh, my God!" Kallie chuckles at her sister's reaction, making sure to take a screenshot. "Are you still coming to the next race?" She asks, Keziyah's eyes still focused on the TV as Max Verstappen was doing an interview. "No, I can't make it. The schedule is really crazy right now. But, I cleared my schedule for the race in Turkey. I'm gonna bring the kids, and Mike with me."

"That's amazing. I'll let him know. I gotta go, but I'll call you tomorrow." They quickly said their goodbyes, Kallie making her way over to congratulate her former teammate, Max. "Hey, I'm so happy for you." Max smiled at her words, accepting her hug. "Thanks, Kallie. It means a lot that you're back. It's not the same as being on the track with you but it's still nice to see you out here." He says, his hands on her lower back as they embraced.

"Yes, it's nice to be back. I'm so proud of you. This is your year, okay? As long as you don't get in my brother's way." She jokes, pulling away when she noticed a certain pair of eyes on the pair. "Hey, you wanna get dinner with me, maybe? Or not, that's okay too. No pressure." Max said nervously. "Uh, I'm not sure. I gotta see if Kaylen has any plans. Can I get back to you on that? You have the same number right?" Max nods, "yeah, same number. Just call me or come by the garage."

"Okay, great. Congratulations again." Kallie offered another smile before separating from him, her eyes finding a monitor where Kaylen was being interviewed. "I feel amazing right now. It was insane out there, and I just hope I made everyone proud. This was dedicated to my sister Kalliope. I love you Kallie, wherever you are around here." He chuckles, the crowd cheering at the mention of her name. She didn't even realize how much they actually missed her until how loud it got when he said her name.

"I don't get a congratulations? I thought we were friends now?" Lewis spoke, coming up next to her.

Kallie shrugs, "not sure how being my brother's teammate qualifies us as friends, but sure, congratulations." She pats his shoulder before separating from him to find Kaylen before he went to the cold room. Kaylen found her first, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You can't be out here by yourself. I told you to stay by Lewis or Toto." He scolds. She rolls her eyes playfully, walking him to the cold room. "Hey, what are the plans for tonight?"

"Well, I was gonna celebrate with the team. Why? Did you want to do something else?" He asked.

"Oh no, that's fine. Max just asked if I wanted to go to dinner to celebrate with him but I can say that I'm celebrating with you." Kallie says, ignoring the flashes of cameras on them. "Max asked you out? On a date? First off, I thought you didn't like white guys. Secondly, do I need to hire a hitman?" He deadpanned. "It's not a date. We were friends before this ya know?" She argues, hitting his shoulder for the last comment.

"If a good looking guy asks you out to dinner, it's a date." Kaylen's eyes land on Lewis walking over. "Lewis, back me up here!" The man awkwardly looks between the two, wondering what they were arguing about now. "Max asked her to dinner to celebrate. That means it's a date, right?" He asked and Kallie scoffs, avoiding Lewis's eyes. "Well, if that were me then yeah, I'd imply it as a date." Lewis pats his shoulder before walking into the cold room.

"See? Date." Kaylen says stubbornly.

"Fine, then it's a date. I'm going on a date with Max." Kallie shrugs, walking away and Kaylen scoffs, walking into the cold room. "My sister is quite literally gonna give me a heart attack before I reach thirty." He says, putting on a cap and grabbing some water, taking a seat next to Lewis. "I assume she's going on the date then?" He asks.

"Yup."

Max walks in with a smile on his face, his cheeks red, clearly blushing until he noticed the looks he got from the two Mercedes drivers. He understood why Kaylen was probably upset with him but Lewis was a bit confusing. He didn't question it much, taking some water and leaning against the wall to watch the highlights on the television. "Hope you have a good date tonight, Max." Kaylen said, choosing to be civil for the sake of his sister.

"Oh, uh, thanks." Max smiled awkwardly, clearing his throat.

"Yeah, her last date did not go well. Poor guy practically got ran over by the pap." Kaylen winced dramatically as he spoke, Lewis nodding along with the younger driver. "I heard. It looked like a mess, just laid out on the concrete like an old cardigan. Scary stuff." Lewis adds for the dramatics. "Broke an ankle, I think? Even fractured his wrist." Kaylen continued.

"Oh, wow. That's...concerning." Max mumbled, a bit confused.

"But you shouldn't worry about that. It was only last month." Kaylen shrugs with an innocent smile.

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a/n: lewis and kaylen teaming up to scare max ☺️ that interaction was so funny to write lmao

btw, kaylen is replacing valterri bottas in the races! nothing against the guy but it just makes sense for the story 😭 and this probably isn't gonna be completely accurate to what happened in real life, im still kinda new to f1 so idk everything yk

and yes, in case it wasn't super clear, kallie raced for red bull formally and she didn't leave on the best terms but max was the only one who understood why she left and heavily supported and defended her decision!

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