LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES. FEBRUARY 2025.

Once the GRAMMYs were over, everything began to get busy for the couple. Jake attended a variety of events with Olivia to promote her new album but strongly advised her to quieten down her schedule as her tour was quickly approaching. It seemed like Olivia, or at least her management, were keen to have Olivia work as hard as possible to build her brand.

For Jake, he had countless Zoom calls with members of McLaren to discuss the upcoming season, the engineers had planned for countless upgrades that would make the car more competitive, and give the team a chance to compete against the so-called 'big three'.

Their goals this year was to have a WDC contender, Jake knew that they would prioritise Lando, he was coming into his seventh season whereas this was only Jake's second. He knew he could beat Lando though, there were just a few things he still needed to work on. One of the biggest flaws he had was his tyre management, he hadn't fully adapted yet to the long, testing Formula One races and nearer to the end, his tyres would make life a lot more difficult for him against others.

He also knew this season would be tougher, growing up with Thierry meant he knew how good of a driver the Monegasque could be. In an extremely competitive car, Thierry was definitely a threat to look out for. Despite being the best of friends outside the racetrack, the second they were racing, Thierry was his biggest rival.

"Babe, I'm back!" Olivia announced as she walked in through the door of her apartment.

Jake got up from the sofa and made his way over. "Hey Liv, how was it?" he asked after giving her a gentle kiss and handing her a coffee he had made for her arrival.

"It was good," she answered, referring to the meeting she had with her manager about the tour, "we've got the setlist sorted."

Jacob respected Olivia's work ethic so much, she was a natural performer and had thought through so many small details other artists might've missed. She cared so much about giving her fans the best possible shows and doing good in the world.

"Can you tell me?" Jake asked, making his way back down to the sofa and lying horizontally, propped up by the sofa arms.

Olivia joined him, resting her back on his chest and lounging in between his legs, his arms wrapped around her.

She let out a sigh of content and relaxation, happy to be back in her boyfriend's arms before replying. "I can tell you the original plan, but I've got a few surprises planned that not even you can find out."

She began to tell him the original set-list, rather than the twelve songs she had in her first tour, this time she would have twenty-four. He liked the order, she finished with 'get him back!' which Jake thought was a nice upbeat song to finish off with. He initially thought it would be weird to listen to songs Olivia had written about her past relationships but he was mature. He knew that they were a good source of song writing inspiration and fully supported her. He wasn't insecure of their relationship, he knew Olivia loved him and he really loved her.

She was different from Jake in terms of she was in more, shorter-term relationships. Most of them did end up in heartbreak in completely different ways but it did hurt Jake, knowing that none of her past boyfriends could treat her how she deserved to be treated. He vowed to himself he would never do anything to hurt her, she needed to know that not everyone would be like her past relationships. Jake himself had only ever been in one proper relationship (he didn't count the 'girlfriends' that changed every other week back in pre-school and primary school). He dated his last girlfriend, Elizabeth for three and a half years. They were high-school sweethearts and everyone thought they were that couple that would eventually go on and get married however they couldn't cope with the distance and challenges faced once Jake's racing career got more serious.

Before Jake had to leave for England for the McLaren HQ for final season preparations, he wanted to surprise her with one last trip on her birthday. For their year anniversary he took her out for a nice dinner and bought her an array of makeup that he asked her stylist about for her tour. However, he also had planned a trip to Disneyland for her - for both her birthday and for before they parted ways for a while.

"Where are we going?" Olivia asked, blindfolded and sat in the passenger seat.

Jake laughed, keeping his eyes on the road. "You'll see, we're almost there."

They finally arrived and after he opened the door and helped her out the car. He was behind her and gently pulled the blindfold off her face.

"Surprise." he said, hugging her from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Oh my fucking god, no way!" she exclaimed, quickly spinning around and jumping into Jake's arms for a hug. "We're at Disneyland!"

Jake embraced her happily. "Happy birthday Olivia."

"Thank you so much Jake!"

"You're welcome pretty girl."

They walked hand in hand into the theme park where Olivia felt like she was a little kid again. They went on all the rides she wanted to, from the intense rollercoasters to the spinning teacups.

"I imagine that's what being in an F1 car feels like." Olivia commented after going on a rollercoaster.

"Sort of..." Jake replied, "not really..."

They spent the day just enjoying each others company, Jake was happy to do whatever Liv wanted. He just liked spending time with her and seeing her so happy. As cliche as it sounded, he was happy just by seeing her happy.

The day ended quickly but not before they snapped some photos in front of the infamous castle. Jake was Olivia's personal photographer and took as many as she wanted. She had trained him well, he knew that whenever he was with Olivia he should take as many photos as he could.

"Excuse me ma'am, could you take a photo for us?" Olivia asked a passer-by who happily agreed. The two stood in front of the castle and both wore large smiles as the lady took photos.

Jake then turned to give Olivia a kiss on the cheek to which he could feel her cheeks heat up ever so slightly. The woman gave a quick "aw" as she kept on taking pictures on Olivia's phone of the couple.

Olivia then turned and gave Jake a kiss on the lips to which he happily reciprocated, his arm wrapping around her waist.

"That was my Disney princess moment." Olivia smiled happily once she had thanked the woman and taken her phone back and looked at the two kissing in front of the castle. She quickly made that photo her brand new iPhone wallpaper.

"You're saying I'm your prince?" Jake commented, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Who else would it be silly?" she replied.

"I can be your prince, you can be my princess and we can live happily ever after."

Olivia smiled. "I'd love that. Happily ever after sounds perfect with you."

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA. FEBRUARY 2025.

Jake was currently in his family home, raring for the season to start. Pre-season testing was held in the same place as last season in Bahrain, and Jacob arrived early ready for the 2025 season. In between leaving LA, he made a pit stop in England where he had to do a variety of responsibilities as a driver. This involved taking a lot of photos for the media, recording social media content and obviously attending the car reveal.

It looked promising this season for McLaren, he thought they could definitely get into the top 3 of the Constructors' this season and Jacob was striving for a higher-placed finish than last year.

"Right everybody line up on the grid please, we'll do the video first and then a photo." the camera-man said.

It was the traditional grid photo and video at the start of the season. For one of the photos, Jake stood next to Lando in front of the McLaren car and to the left of him was Thierry stood with his new teammate Carlos in front of the Ferrari race car.

After all their media obligations and photos, they could finally get stuck into pre-season testing. The car felt good and with a year's experience under his belt, Jacob felt more confident than ever.

He met up with Thierry afterwards who was deeply pleased that he was in a more competitive car. He had expectations to live up to and he was ready to meet them all.

Now, in Melbourne, he was ready to kick start the season with a strong race in his home country. His dad had been training with him, pushing for his son's success and a good start into his second season in a healthy manner.

"Quicker, react Jake, react!" his father instructed as they were training his reactions. Jake was exhausted, after a weights session and a five kilometre run, he was already fatigued. However, he needed to build his endurance, endurance was key for a Formula 1 race.

"Good work son." Marcus Thompson praised at the end of their training. "This season isn't ready for you."

Jake grinned. "Thanks dad."

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA. MARCH 2025.

The first race of the season had been pushed back further, it was now mid-March instead of late February. This meant Jacob had more time to put in the hours with his father in Melbourne. He had also been calling Olivia, but with the time difference and her hectic schedule it was getting harder. Her first show was a success and the moment she stepped out on the stage, all her doubts of another tour so soon immediately dissipated as the crowd welcomed her with open arms.

He knew Olivia would be in North America until the end of April in which during that time he would be in Australia, China, Japan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and it would impractical to see her as he had a race every weekend apart from the week in between China and Japan. It would be difficult to see her that week and Olivia stressed the fact Jake should spend that week off relaxing rather than more travelling.

Annoyingly, Jake would be in Miami once Olivia started the European leg but the week off he had in between Saudi Arabia and Miami meant that it would be possible for him to see her last few shows in America before she moved on.

After Miami, Jacob had three races in Europe whilst Olivia was performing there meaning it would be a lot more convenient for him to visit her and vice versa. It would be difficult for sure, but they both had no doubt that they could make it work.

Race week came about quickly and being so close to the actual start of the Formula 1 season always brought a surge of excitement and nerves for Jake, even more so because the opener was his home race. He was hoping for a repeat of last year's, perhaps even better.

The streets of the city were alive with fans and when Jake and his family showed up, the Albert Park Circuit buzzed with excitement. Sadly, the time zones were just not ideal for Olivia back in America but she wished her boyfriend the best of luck and promised to catch the highlights the second she woke up.

Qualifying was smooth, Jake had qualified P3, setting himself up for a strong start, and he was eager to make his mark. Thierry had qualified right behind him in P4, which initially surprised Jake but then he remembered his best friend was in an equally competitive car, if not more competitive car, this season.

The morning of the race, Jake could barely control his excitement. He entered the paddock wearing team gear and made his way straight to his room in the McLaren motorhomes before joining the team for a team meeting two hours before the lights went out.

Liv <3

good luck my talented boy, i love you with all my heart <3

I love you too Liv ❤️‍🔥

The atmosphere at Albert Park was incredible. Jake could hear the roar of the crowd even through his helmet as he settled into his car. The formation lap felt longer than usual and the anticipation of it all was killing the Thompson.

As the lights went out, Jake made a clean start, holding onto P3 through the first few corners. Thierry was right behind him, an ever-present threat. The first half of the race was a tense affair, with Jake maintaining his position while keeping an eye on the charging Ferrari behind him.

After the first round of pit stops, Jake found himself still in P3, but Thierry had closed the gap. The final fifteen laps saw the intensity ratchet up. Jake could sense a different kind of aggression from Thierry, an edge he hadn't noticed before, a fire that the Arquette drove with that in his sixteen years Jake had raced with him, he had never seen before.

With just ten laps to go, Thierry made his move. Approaching the turn, he attempted an audacious pass. It wasn't illegal, but it was aggressive - bordering on reckless. Thierry forced his way through, pushing Jake off the track. Jake's car skidded onto the gravel, and by the time he regained control, he had lost three positions bringing him to P6.

"Shit!" Jake yelled into his radio, frustration boiling over. "Did you see that? He pushed me off! What the fuck? That's ridiculous!"

"Copy that, Jake. FIA has it under investigation. Let's focus on getting back. You're P6 now. Keep pushing." came the calm response from Rick, staying calm despite the anger of his driver.

Determined to salvage what he could, Jake drove with renewed intensity. He managed to gain a place and finish P5 at the checkered flag, but the disappointment evident. Thierry, meanwhile, crossed the finish line first, taking his maiden victory for Ferrari.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, Thierry had won his first race in a Ferrari and had gotten his first Grand Prix victory before him. Despite them being lifelong friends, in that moment Jake felt that he didn't deserve it. He had won with unsportsmanlike behaviour, that move wasn't right. Thierry was lucky Jake backed out from sticking to his racing line otherwise it could've been a nasty crash.

The FIA investigation came back and there was no consequence for Thierry, which Jake thought was blasphemous. "What a dick." he muttered under his breath when he found out, the years of friendship between the two momentarily evaporating.

Thierry was in high spirits, celebrating with his team and giving interviews. His comments, though subtle, were pointed.

"It feels amazing to win, especially after a tough season last year. I always knew I had the talent; I just needed the right car." Thierry said, his eyes glinting with a hint of arrogance.

Jake took a deep breath, trying to keep his composure. He was planning on walking past for his interview but Thierry approached him, a wide grin on his face.

"Good race, huh? Tough out there mate, not your day I suppose." Thierry said, extending his hand.

Jake forced a smile, gripping Thierry's hand perhaps a bit too tightly. "Yeah, good race. Congrats on the win." he said through gritted teeth.

There was something different about Thierry, something had changed during the season break, there was something off. He had this air of unnecessary arrogance, like he held this self-belief he was suddenly better than everyone, like he was better than Jake.

The evening was tense and when Olivia woke up and saw the highlights and all the posts on social media on both Jake and Thierry's side, she immediately called him and comforted Jake.

It was hard, but Olivia reminded him of the positives. It was only the first race of his second ever season and he still got points.

But in Jake's eyes, it wasn't the best start to the season and it made him realise that this season wasn't going to go as he planned.

Jake had a long season ahead of him.