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

Evie, for once in her life, had dressed up for a race. Not to say she didn't bother the rest of the races, but she had a good feeling about this weekend.

A dark red skirt sat flatteringly on her waist, the velvet brushing pleasantly against the skin of her thighs, and a cropped black sweater kept her warm. Nothing crazy, but a bit more formal than what she'd normally go for.

And the cherry on top, stark red lipstick, the same shade as her skirt. Not Williams colours, but she was in the garage with the rest of the team, so they'd have to deal with it.

That good feeling she had, quickly turned into nerves, considering the last fifteen minutes of the race. Alex and Franco were doing well, seventh and eight respectively. Even Ollie was good, in tenth. She willed the race to hurry up and end, not wanting any of her drivers to lose positions. She was confident they wouldn't, but she couldn't help the anxiety in her stomach.

The cars finally reached the part of the track closest to the garages, and Evie took slight comfort in the familiarity of the rumbling in the floor. She took a deep breath and tried to ground herself, not sure what was causing all the nerves. She ran a hand through her hair and glanced at the woman beside her, trying to draw confidence from what seemed like the never fazed Lily He.

Lily's eyes were fixated on the screen, but, feeling Evie's eyes on her, she glanced over and offered a smile, tucking the younger girl under her arm. Evie let herself be pulled in, and held Lily's hand comfortingly, knowing she was probably just as nervous as Evie, just not showing it.

Evie looked back up at the screen and was shocked when she saw her own face staring back at her. She let out a giggle and covered her mouth with her hand, waving nervously when she spotted the camera fixed on the two of them. Name cards popped up for the viewers, explaining who they were. Evie valiantly ignored the pang in her chest at only being known as Alex Albon's sister, not matching Lily's partner title, but with Alex's name replaced.

It was over almost as soon as it started, and the attention shifted back to the race. Only one lap left. Evie held her breath for what felt like the entire time, the rest of the team seemingly doing the same, the garage quiet in anticipation.

Finally, after what felt like centuries, the inevitable happened. The chequered flag was waved and Evie instantly erupted into loud cheers, jumping up and down with Lily as both Alex and Franco crossed the finish line, Ollie not far behind them.

Lily was the first to pull out of their hug, and guided Evie outside with a hand on her wrist to where the rest of their team gathered to greet their drivers and congratulate them.

Alex was the first one spotted, and Evie let go of Lily's hand so she could jog over and congratulate him, cameras trained on them all around. When Lily stepped back Evie slowly walked up and gave the sweaty boy a hug.

"Good job, idiot." She laughed, rocking the two of them slightly.

"Yeah, yeah. We all know what you're really here for. Go see my teammate, traitor." He stuck his tongue out at her, and she smacked him lightly before, annoyingly, she did go off and see his teammate.

Franco was surrounded by the team and reporters, loud voices everywhere trying to catch his attention. Evie tried to push through and make her way to him, but it was in vain. Unbeknownst to her, Franco had been eyeing the crowd amidst all this chaos, trying to catch a glance of her familiar face.

When he finally spotted her he quickly started to brush people off, halfheartedly accepting their hugs and pats on the back, all while subtly making his way through the crowd to her.

Evie's face lit up when she noticed him approaching, and in a sudden burst of adrenaline she pushed through the last remaining people in the way.

Once she was close enough she went on her tippy toes and threw her arms around his shoulders, his arms instantly finding her waist to steady them. Evie drew back slightly, just enough to whisper congratulations right into his ear, when one of Franco's hands left her waist to cup the back of her head.

Franco smiled brilliantly at her, and Evie found herself leaning back in, this time to press a firm kiss to his cheek. He might've flushed, but it was hard to tell, his face already a pretty pink from the race. His eyes flickered down slightly, and Evie's lips curled into a timid smile.

They were interrupted by someone accidentally bumping into Franco's back, and his hands halfheartedly unwound from her.

"I'll see you later, okay?" he said, and Evie hummed her agreement.

She kept her eyes locked on him until the very last moment, until he was forced to turn away, whisked off to his first round of interviews, though his own eyes kept looking back to her.

When she finally turned away, she smiled down at the ground and accepted that her face was as bright as a tomato.

ᯓᡣ𐭩

A day full of celebrations, to the point you'd think they'd gotten a podium, later, Evie was back in the safety of her hotel room, joined by her two usual suspects. She laid on her bed comfortably, doom scrolling through Twitter, looking at highlights from the race.

Ollie elected to sit on the floor, long legs crossed and back leaning on the left side of the bed, while Kimi made himself comfortable and sprawled out on the end of her bed, somehow taking up most of the bed.

They were sat in what was mostly silence, just enjoying each other's company before they had to go their separate ways again. Evie's nails tapped lightly against her phone screen, Ollie cracked his back and groaned, and Kimi laughed silently. If anyone entered, they'd surely wonder what they were all doing.

Evie's mind ran in circles, her eyes not even completely focused on the phone she continued to scroll on. Pictures from the entire day kept flashing behind her eyes. The points, the slight tipsiness after one too many glasses of champagne. And most importantly, the cheek kiss.

It made her think of their date, the way he had leaned in, how she could almost feel his breath against her lips...

Her thought was interrupted by, speak of the devil, Franco's face himself popping up on her timeline. A video, only 22 seconds long. She didn't bother translating the caption that was in Spanish, just clicked on the video and watched as Franco was in some sort of interview.

His face was still that same flush she remembered, and his lips were upturned. His eyes were focused on the interviewer, but his hands absentmindedly ran through his sweaty hair, in a failed attempt of taming it. Evie couldn't help but smile, until her eyes locked onto a single spot on his cheek.

Her jaw dropped, and a loud, slightly over dramatic gasp left her lips.

Kimi's head instantly jerked up, and he almost fell off the bed, while Ollie scrambled up onto his knees to see what the fuss was about.

"What the hell?" Kimi asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes tiredly. Evie burst out into a fit of giggles and turned to lay on her stomach, the laughter deeming her unable to stay still.

"Guys!" Evie wheezed out, giggles hurting her chest.

"What? What happened?" Ollie climbed up onto the bed and reached for her phone, snatching it before Evie could fight back. She protested, though she didn't bother trying to get it back.

Ollie collapsed back onto the bed, and held the phone up so both he and Kimi could see what Evie was laughing about. The video looped and they both immediately saw it.

Smack dab in the middle of Franco's cheek, a bright red lip-shaped mark stained his skin. Kimi's eyes widened, and Ollie raised a brow and glanced up at Evie, who was attempting to smother herself with a pillow.

"Girl..." Ollie started, but turned his attention back to the video as Kimi smacked him.

"Franco," the interviewer started, and Franco nodded his head. "Are you aware you have a... uh..." the interviewer trailed off, and Franco's brows furrowed as his eyes followed what must be the interviewer pointing at her own cheek.

He brought up two fingers and swiped them curiously across his cheek, smirking wildly when he saw the red tinting his fingers. He chuckled softly and rubbed the fingers on his pants, the red fading into the dark blue without a trace.

"You missed," Kimi stated, and Evie squealed into her pillow.

"You're sick." Ollie laughed loudly, and crawled back down to the floor. 

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dear reader!

franco alpine reserve driver who cheeredddd

anyway the lipstick bit is inspired by 'so it goes...' by taylor, ive wanted to write this for so long

my editor akiaoya mwah