˚　 ⋆⁺₊✦⁺₊ 　 ˚　.˚  .　 ☁.　　. 　 ˚　⁺⋆₊　.˚  .　. ✦⋆⁺₊  　 ˚　. ☁ ˚　.˚　 ✩₊˚.   ☾      ⋆      ⁺₊✧  　　˚　⁺₊ . 　 ˚　.　　⁺₊✦₊　　 ☁  　˚　　 . 　⁺₊✧˚　　 . 　 ˚　⁺₊˚  .

The Italian sun burned brighter than ever in the Williams garage, where Evie stood, a pair of blue headphones on her head, as she waited for the first practice round in Monza to begin.

She had barely gotten there on time, not catching Alex to wish him good luck before he had already gotten in his car, ready to drive out of the garage.

She usually didn't oversleep, but she had stayed up the previous night, fighting to finish her third draft of an assignment that was due by Monday. Since Evie wasn't going to miss the iconic Monza Grand Prix, she did her best to be done with her responsibilities before Friday.

So, there she was, her laptop discarded back in her hotel room, her assignment ready to be sent away, definitely not perfect, but enough to ensure she gets a decent grade. Meanwhile, she was surrounded by mechanics in the garage, while she stared at a screen, as if she could will Alex to get a good result through it.

Evie's support to Alex dates back to when she was born, seeing as he had been racing cars in multiple categories ever since she could walk. Although she never sparked an interest in racing herself, she still loved watching races her brother was in, alongside Formula One races, even when he wasn't in them.

Now that he was, in fact, in Formula One, she did her best to attend every race she could. Which, of couse, wasn't possible for them all, but she always made sure to tune in, wherever she was. If a race clashed with a class, she multitasked, listening to the lecture with one ear, and to the race with the other, through an earbud, hidden behind her hair.

Some Grand Prix weekends were just impossible to miss, though. Enter Monza.

Free Practices were fun, despite what many people said, and Evie enjoyed them. What's not fun about cars with your favourite drivers in them running around?

Plus, her friend Kimi was driving in George's car in the first session, so she made sure to support him too.

The session finally started and Evie focused all her attention to the screen in front of her. She watched as the cars went flying out of their respective garages, ready to set times, all fighting to be the fastest of the session.

Kimi, unfortunately, didn't last many laps, as he crashed into the wall, making him jump out of the now undriveable car. Evie winced as she witnessed the crash through the screen, and decided to go see him in the Mercedes garage.

"Tough luck out there," Evie said as soon as she spotted Kimi watching the rest of the session from a screen, away from the driving chaos. The top of his racing suit was now off and resting at his waist, a typical thing for drivers to do when they got out of the car. The younger boy turned at the sound of his friend's voice, his fallen face lifting slightly.

"Yeah. I just hope they fix the car for George before the next practice."

Evie shook her head. "Nonsense. The important thing is that you're okay."

Kimi smiled at that, and Evie leaned in to offer him a quick hug.

"Thanks, Evie. Do you want to watch the rest here?" he offered, gesturing at the screen and the seats in front of them.

"Of course. I'll just head back when it's over to see Alex."

The pair of friends watched the remainder of the free practice session comfortably in the Mercedes garage, cheering on their favourite drivers. Mostly Lewis, though, since they didn't want to disrespect Mercedes in their own place.

With less than five minutes of the session left, Evie bid Kimi goodbye and made her way back to the Williams garage to see her brother. She hadn't seen him in some weeks, and she didn't have time to see him after she landed on Thursday, seeing as he was busy with his driver duties, and she with her school duties.

So, when he drove his car back into the garage and got out of it, Evie was quick to engulf him in a hug, despite his sweaty state. She ended up getting her hair ruffled, before Alex playfully shoved her off him.

"Is this your way of saying you missed me?" he asked, a teasing tone to his voice.

"What do you mean? I thought we'd established that I hate you," Evie joked back.

"Yeah, yeah. How'd you like this session?"

"I felt bad for Kimi. I was excited for him to drive today." She jutted her lower lip out. "But, P8!" she exclaimed, pointing to her brother with her hands. "Not bad."

Alex pretended to dust off his shoulder with a smug face. "I know, I know."

Evie gave his shoulder a light push, making him laugh, which, in return, caused her to laugh at their idiocy.

"I'm heading to my room for a sec, okay? I'll be back," he told her, to which Evie nodded.

Once Alex was out of sight, Evie turned her face back to the entrance of the garage, seeing some cars making their way back to their own garages. That's when her gaze found a guy in a Williams racing suit, the top half tied around his waist, like Kimi's was.

His brown hair was sweaty, and his hands were occupied holding a drink in one, and a towel, with which he wiped the excess sweat off, in the other. His messy state made Evie conclude that he must be Logan's replacement and Alex's new teammate.

He's gorgeous, she thought, as she stared at him, her mouth slightly agape, before she reminded herself to shut it.

Right when she thought she was about to get away with staring, his eyes landed on her. Her own eyes widened and she turned to look at anything that wasn't him.

Of course, the universe wasn't in her favour, because the guy appeared next to her, making her turn to face him when he spoke. She might have been embarassed, but she was raised with manners.

"Hello," he said, simply.

Evie pulled her lips into what she hoped wasn't an unnatural smile. "Hi."

"Did I have something on my face, or...?" he asked, not bothering to finish his question.

"Um... no. No, you didn't. Nothing on your face. Well, of course, you have... a nose, and eyes and... um. Nope. All good," she rambled, shooting up a thumbs up once she finally forced her mouth to stop spewing nonsense. She winced internally.

The guy's mouth pulled into an amused grin. "I do have all of those. So do you."

"I know. Yep. Are you trying to embarrass me further? Please stop, for both of our sanities."

To that, he laughed. "But it's fun," he argued, making more and more blood rush to her cheeks with every word he uttered.

Evie's hands shot up to cover her face, in an attempt to save herself from this situation. "God," she mumbled.

The guy in front of her let out another laugh, before reaching out to remove her palms from her face, by her wrists. Once her flushed face was in full view, he spoke again.

"I'm Franco," he said, offering her his hand to shake.

"Evie," she said hesitantly, as she accepted his hand and shook it. His grip was firm, the feel of his skin on hers lingering after they'd dropped their hands. "Albon," she added, for more context.

Franco's eyebrows shot up slightly, and he turned around to take a quick look at Alex, who had apparently returned from his room.

"I should've known. You look so much alike."

"We get that a lot," she nodded, used to hearing this observation from anyone who met the Albon siblings.

Neither of them got a chance to say anything else, because a third voice interrupted them.

"I see you two met," said Alex, as he appared next to the pair, making them both turn to face him.

"Oh, yes. Franco says we look alike," Evie said.

"Yeah. But I look better," Alex joked.

Evie simply rolled her eyes, used to that behaviour. She shot a look at Franco, who looked back at her in amusement.

"Anyway, I'm going to meet Lily. Wanna come?" Alex asked his sister, who jumped at the opportunity.

"Sure," she agreed with a smile, then turned to Franco to bid him goodbye. "I guess I'll see you around. I'll be here all weekend."

Franco hummed in agreement. "I'm looking forward to it," he said, before turning to leave, just as Evie and Alex turned to the other direction.

"You didn't tell me he was gorgeous!" Evie told Alex, not bothering with the tone of her voice, despite not knowing whether Franco was out of earshot or not.

Little did she know, her comment, which he totally wasn't supposed to hear, etched a smile onto his face for the rest of the day.

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dear reader!

this turned out long but aaaanyway