xx.

"you sure you have your passport with you?" you ask mick. "your flight ticket? what about your traveling documents? everything else is with you?"

     an amused chuckle escapes mick's lips. "yes, catherine, everything is right here in this bag. now stop worrying, will you?" mick pulls you into a hug, where you quickly links your arms around his torso. his lips land on top of your forehead.

     "i haven't done this for a long time, mick." your voice was muffled against mick's chest. "and you're just home the other day and should be home until the next few days. but look where we are now."

     "i know. and it gets harder this time," mick admits.

     "call me first thing when you arrived, okay?" you remind him after breaking the hug. "you know what, video call me. yeap, that's even better, isn't it? so that i know you're not hanging out with other girls when you're far away from me."

     mick knows he will never such thing to you (being with other girls) but he laughs at you, anyway. he finds it adorable when you're jealous. "i promise."

     "say it. say you're not going out with other girls for any of the parties. say you'll call me every time you're free. even just for a minute. call me. tell me everything that i've been missing. and you don't lie to people. just tell them that you already have a girlfriend."

     "yes, yes, i promise." mick laughs again, looking at you in the eye as if to tell you not to worry about him because the only person in his mind right now is you. there's literally no one else. "i promise i won't go out with other girls for parties. i promise i will call you every time i'm free." then mick leans in, his mouth beside your ear, "unless you want to see me in the show–"

     "ew, no!" you scream. your face turns bright red. "oh my god, mick! that's not what i meant!" and now you cannot unsee it, thanks to mick's dirty mind!

     mick laughs and pulls you into his embrace once again.

     he had his entire life to learn about you as his bestfriend. he learned your temper, pet peeves, things that trigger, your body languages, the look on your face when you hate any men on the paddock, your secret codes. he feels like a privileged to have learned all these about you. and he thought nothing will change now once both of you are in a relationship. but his thought was wrong. and it might feel a little weird to see this side of you but he knows, he has years to learn them. and he doesn't care if people think you're a control freak because he likes it.

     "by the way, i have something for you."

     you frown. it's not like mick had never surprised you with birthday presents before, but nothing out of the blue like this. with eyebrows furrowed, you watch as mick shoves his hand in his sling bag. without having to rummage, he takes out a white envelope.

     you frown deeper. "is this what i think it is?" you ask. eyes still on the envelope in his hand.

     "i don't know what you're thinking," mick is playing pretend.

     "mick, i–"

     "just take it."

     slowly, you grab the white envelope from mick. the first thing that you could feel under your fingertips is that, it is hard. that something inside the envelope is hard, and rectangular, and there are definitely more paper-like things inside. nervous, you peek inside the envelope first before taking its contents out. and just as what you thought, there are f1 race tickets, wrist band and a vip access card and lanyard.

     you shake your head at mick, disappointed at him for not understanding your situation even after how many times you've told him about your situation. "mick, i cannot accept this." you push the envelope back into mick's hands.

     mick shakes his head and pushes the envelope back to you. "i want you to come to mine and sebastian's last race."

     "mick, i can't travel. how many times do i have to tell you that?"

     "you can."

     "but my father---"

     "yes, you can. i talked to annie and she said she could take care of your father for the weekends while you're away. so don't worry about him, okay? i made sure everything–"

     "no, i know annie would do that for him, for me. she's paid for that, after all, but mick... i can't be separated from my father. what if he dies while i was away?"

     "he's not going to die while you're away, okay? annie's going to take care of him, i promise. it's only for a few days. and it's mine and sebastians–"

     "do you want to know what i honestly think, mick? it's that i know 2022 isn't going to be your last season, mick. i know you're going to have a chance diving for f1 again in the new future. i know you will. so stop saying that this is going to be your last–"

     "but what about sebastian? this is going to be sebastian's last race. he would be happy to see you there for him."

     "yes, but we both know he has other projects in the future, mick." you take a deep breath, running your hands through your face. "mick–"

     "hey, look at me." when you look up, mick's blue eyes are already on yours. "everything's going to be okay so stop overthinking things, alright?" mick softly says. his hands are soothingsly squeezing your shoulders to calm you down. "it's in a few months. i want you to come, but if anything happens later, i understand."

     of course he would understand, what are you kidding? everything that you're going through, everything that's messing up your mind, mick schumacher would understand. and because of that, mick refused to let you worry too much because he understood and he knew what to do if things aren't going according to plan. and if there's anything you can do right now is stay calm and trust mick.

     trust. that's a big favour even for yourself.

     defeated, you sigh. what else can you say when you have a boyfriend as good as mick. slowly, a smile appears on your lips as you nod your head. "okay. i'll go."

     and you and mick are hugging again before mick, his manager and his performance coach have to go.