Robert huffs and says, “Alright, I’m gonna head on out.”
“Okay.” Matt’s fine, he just needs a little time to process his entire life.
“Anyways.” There’s a pause long enough for Matt to turn back around, to see if Robert is still there. He catches his eye and gives him a small smile. “See ya, Teo.”
Despite everything he knew crashing down around him, Matt can’t help but smile back. “See ya, Bobby.”
Robert’s toothy grin is all Matt can see, even after the door closes behind him.
Matt spins out, stranding his car in a gravel trap during Free Practice 3.
“I’m okay,” he says on the radio, though he feels anything but.
The car looks fine, but he’ll bribe the guys with some dinner or drinks to make up for the amount of work they’ll have to dobefore qualifying. It’s not fair to them, how often they have to pick up after his mistakes.
Matt is a burden to his peers. Always has been, ever since he was five. Probably always will be.
He gets checked out by the medics as a precaution, though the gravel helped slow his stop. Afterwards, he hops a motorbike and rides back to the garage.
Matt doesn’t need to look at the pit wall to know they’re disappointed in him, so he makes his rounds inside the garage. He apologizes to his mechanics and engineers before hiding away in his driver’s room.
Though Robert’s literally the reason Matt has a knocking policy, he only lightly taps the door before entering. “Passed your car out on the track. Looked okay, if it makes you feel any better.”
“Don’t just let yourself in, I could’ve been changing.” It’s a pathetic attempt to send him away, but that’s all the energy Matt has right now.
“Changing? Into what? We still have qualifying.” Robert looks around, as if his own driver’s room is any different. “You okay?”
“It was just a gravel trap.”
“No, I mean…” Robert taps the wardrobe with his shoe. “How are you?”
He’s probably asking about their conversation last night. God knows Matt has thought of practically nothing else since, but he prefers to be difficult instead. “Slightly nervous that you’re gonna try’n break my nose again.”
“Oh yeah.” Robert looks up. “I’m sorry about that, by the way.”
“Seemed to enjoy it at the time.” And in the weeks afterwards, since he kept bringing it up.
“Not as mu—never mind.”
Not as much as you did.
Matt will never live it down. “That doesn’t sound very much like an apology.”
“Yeah, I suck at them.” Robert never sucks at anything. “The important part is that it won’t happen again. Promise.”
Matt makes a non-committal noise in the back of his throat.
“Look, at the time I didn’t know what you were going through with the team or anything. I just thought you destroyed my race because of our history. I was already on edge with my parents, and then Lucía kept telling me howniceyou were, and then you fuckin’ ran me off the track.”
Here we go again. “I didn’t, though!”
This feels good—a fight Matt knows how to win. Fighting with facts beats dealing with emotions any day.
“Yeah, I know, I watched the replay.” Robert deflates and turns, leaning against the wardrobe. “I’m also sorry I moved under braking. Just add it to the list.”
“Sure.” Matt doesn’t need a list of apologies, he’s got enough of his own. “Is Lucía your girlfriend?”
“Uh, she was.”
