Chapter Text
APXGP.
The team that shocked the world in Abu Dhabi the past season.
Sonny Hayes.
The driver who made it all happen.
And then, there’s the first female technical director of an F1 team.
Who not only built the car that drove a cross the finished line first, but also fell in love with its driver.
How he had made all the lines between them blurry, Kate still didn’t know.
Before him, the line between unprofessional and professional had been very clear. And she definitely didn’t intend to fall over it. But she also never met someone worth falling over for before him.
“Still here, huh,” Sonny says, coming up behind her.
She turns around, surprised by the familiar but unexpected deep male voice.
The voice she had imagined in her head every so often the past few days.
“What are you doing here?” Kate asks, her eyes brightening up as she sees him.
It has been a little more than one week after the big win in Abu Dhabi.
Mid-December was the time, the team usually reviewed the past season and gets ready for the upcoming break.
“I told you, I’ll see you down the road,” Sonny replies with a playful smirk on his face, halting a few steps in front of her.
“So soon?” Kate asked, not quite realising what he has just told her.
She feels like this lovestruck teenage girl who has no control of her feelings.
And she hates it.
Every time Sonny isn’t by her side, she tells her heart to stop feeling that way. To stop falling for him.
But she’s afraid it’s already too late.
“I can go,” Sonny huffs a laugh, walking slowly backwards, attempting to get back out of the garage.
“Don’t you dare,” Kate tells him, following his steps and pulling him into a hug.
His strong arms wrap around her hips, while he buries his head in the crock of her neck.
How he had missed the tickling feeling of her hair against his skin, the light smell of her perfume and her soft touch.
Just her.
The woman who made his life worth living again.
“Does that mean I can stay?” Sonny jokes with his typical grin playing on his face as they break apart.
Kate looks up at him with those bright blue eyes, certainty, and confidence displayed in them.
But underneath the surface of that blue ocean, he could see the question marks.
Will he stay?
Will he give up his freedom?
Will he stay longer than one season?
Would he stay for her?
Appropriate questions to ask.
But she knows, she doesn’t have to voice them because he knows exactly what she’s thinking.
It has been like that for the past racing season.
Reading each other’s minds and thinking like one.
Her gentle, strong and smart nature complementing his wild, risky and charming one.
“Does it mean you will stay?” Kate asks, not letting go of his hand in her own.
“For you, I’ll do everything, love,” Sonny answers her question, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
And it was the truth.
He rarely came back once he left. But with her, it was different.
She was like a magnet, pulling him back to her.
Even if he was on the other side of the world.
Kate moves her hands up his arms, resting them on his under arms, while he pulls her in by her waist, pressing his lips against hers. Their kiss, loving and passionate but also soft and gentle. Like a promise to one another.
Hours later, Kate sits on Sonny’s lap in her cottage, somewhere in the middle of England’s beautiful countryside.
“You won’t race though?” she asks, worried,
looking up at him. “Right?”
“No, I won’t,” Sonny answers her worries, stroking her hair gently. “Those days are over.”
“I’ll miss your car, though,” he adds with a bright smile.
While he will definitely miss racing and competing against amazing teams like Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes or McLaren, he had found something, rather someone, to stay alive for.
For whom risking his life by getting in the car again was simply not worth it.
And not only was she here with him, right now, she also shared his passion.
Cars.
Strategy.
Adrenaline.
Motors.
The roaring engines on a racetrack.
Racing.
With Joshua and Luca as Apex’s first drivers, the seats were filled, and Ruben would finally get his team’s money’s worth.
That was for sure.
Sonny would watch.
Maybe advise if his old friend will let him. His race days, though, officially ended with the win in Abu Dhabi.
Which Sonny found oddly peaceful.
His story in the sport was over. It was someone else’s turn now.
But as people always say:
In every ending, there is a new beginning.
“So, what’s the plan?” Kate asks further, letting her head rest on his chest, her fingers playing with the buttons on his white shirt.
“Following you around the world,” he replies without hesitation. “In the roar of a crowd.”
“Then next season can only be the best one yet.”