ੈ♡˳ NINE
what's your motive?

"MILA." SILENCE.

"MILA." SILENCE again.

"ugh," franco groaned, flopping over so that he was hanging off the edge of the bed. "milan."

mila had not moved for the past two hours. at first it was fine — it was eight o'clock when she'd slipped out of his bed to slide into the chair at the desk on the other side of the room. franco was pretty much still asleep at that point so he didn't put up much of a fight in trying to pull her back into bed. he was regretting that now.

it was ten o'clock. really, he should be getting dressed and packing his things for the friday ahead. the most he had done was get up to get his breakfast, which was now sitting empty on the bedside table, and also grab the container of fruit that was technically for him to give to her. that was all that was in his fridge right now, so . . . couldn't exactly let her starve.

so, shirtless and only in baggy tracksuit pants that he'd tied at the waist, he rolled off the bed in an awkward manner that made his landing feel like he was spider-man. silently, he closed the gap between them until he was standing behind her chair. she jolted for a moment as he leaned over her, wrapping his arms around her and burying his head into her neck.

"hola," she giggled, the kisses peppered across her neck tickling. mila lifted her right hand off the keyboard to tangle it through his knotted curls, fighting the urge to close her eyes and tilt her head back further. "franco, come on . . ." she groaned softly, "let . . . let me get this done."

"waited all morning," he mumbled, words vibrating against her skin. "and i have to go soon."

"mhm," she hummed, her hand dropping back to her keyboard. her research was basically done, scribbled down in the notebook she was never seen without. "go get ready, then."

"fine . . ." he grumbled, pulling away from her but not without one last kiss, this one on her cheekbone. "can you do my hair? i can't make my curls stay like yours."

mila instantly brightened, shutting the lid of her laptop and turning in her chair. "you're serious?" and when he nodded, she was immediately out of the chair and dragging him towards the bathroom.

"SIT STILL," MILA CUPPED his chin, cold water dripping down onto his chest from her hand. curl clumps hung wavy across his forehead, water droplets running down his nose. franco had already admitted defeat fifteen minutes or so ago when she got him to sit down on the lid of the toilet seat to drench his hair with a spray bottle.

"it is cold," he pouted, fingers fiddling with the drawstring threaded through her pajama shorts to stop himself from reaching up to move his hair off his face. "very cold."

"uh huh," mila hummed, unbothered, letting go of his chin and wiping her hands on her shorts to dry them. "if you stop complaining i will have it done quicker."

which sounded good, but then franco would actually have to get ready to go to the track . . . further meaning that he wouldn't see her until probably after both practice sessions. he was sure he could manage her putting effort into making his hair like nice for a little bit longer in that case.

franco's eyes didn't leave every part of her until she was done. her watched adoringly, cherishing every moment and admiring her like she was the greatest artwork to ever grace this earth as she went from scrunching excessive water out of his hair to diffusing it on a cooler and shaping his drying curls with her fingers in the process.

only once his hair was over fifty percent dry did she stop, switching off the hair dryer and setting it down on the edge of the basin to dry. "let it airdry now," she shuffled back a step to see if there was anything she needed to fix. "you look so cute."

franco rolled his eyes, a tinge of heat warming his face. "thank you, mila." he stood up, and her eyes remained locked with his as he did so, all the way until she had to tilt her head back a little with how close they were standing.

she just smiled, "you are very welcome." and as much as she was enjoying the proximity with him . . . "but you need to get ready now, and so do i."

"mhm, fine," he groaned, lifting his hand up to her hair to curl a sleep-destroyed curl around his finger. "you should match with me."

"i will think about it," mila promised, and franco smiled as he placed his hands on her waist to move past her out of the bathroom to go get dressed.

x

INSTAGRAM — MILAMARZ

milamarz: "why arent you interviewing today?" blame franco. he doesnt let me do my work

comments . . .

milamarz: kidding btw. i got the chance to interview a lot of f2 drivers tmrw and am focusing on that, and ofc i'll be doing my rounds post-race sunday <3
⤥ user2: who is on the f2 roster 👀
⤥ milamarz: kimi, enzo, paul, isack, christian and pepe
⤥ user2: lineup is insane pls do more f2

francolapinto: why are u spreading misinformation
⤥ milamarz: who even are you
⤥ francolapinto: hey im franco my tongue is usually down ur throat its nice to meet u
⤥ user3: um!

user11: if my girl was acting like this she wouldn't be my girl anymore
⤥ user12: right!! it's gross
⤥ user13: if he isn't embarrassed i'd be surprised

user4: why hasnt williams pr done anything about this 💀💀
⤥ milamarz: i have them all blocked

user1: the relationship i deserve

francolapinto: time and place.
⤥ milamarz: dont do this to me rn
⤥ francolapinto: time n place milan
⤥ milamarz: i'll let you know 🤭

user12: is this a hard launch or what im confused

avesharris: mimi babe this is degenerate
⤥ olliebearman: we say with love ofc. do u need help? can get u in with prema therapy i swear
⤥ kimi.antonelli: are you saying shes crazy
⤥ jakcrawford_: insane even kimi.antonelli
⤥ dinobeganovic_: this is more insane than the paul era what the fuck!
⤥ milamarz: ignoring you all actually

user5: outfit kinda serves

user6: mila is all of us i fear
⤥ user7: she voices all our thoughts (slide 2)

user8: do u even have a dog
⤥ milamarz: no but my brother in law does
⤥ emiliolopez: it was a gift from us 🥰🥰
⤥ malakaimarz: 🥰

jemmajazairi: dm'd you 💕
⤥ milamarz: bet
⤥ user9: odd friendship
⤥ user10: i kinda fuck with it

user11: your shoes are so gross
⤥ milamarz: lol

x

INSTAGRAM —

JEMMAJAZAIRI + MILAMARZ

JEMMAJAZAIRI
hope you dont mind me
messaging, but im gonna
be hanging around today
if you'd like the company :)

(idk anyone here its super
awkward lol)

MILAMARZ
idm at all!! avery was gonna meet
up with us a bit later if you wanted
to come with us to f1?

JEMMAJAZAIRI
for sure omg

thank you sm

you seem so cool and i didn't
wanna make things weird 😭😭

MILAMARZ
girl i didn't wanna
overstep 😭

JEMMAJAZAIRI
omfg

where can i meet you?

MILAMARZ
the gates to the paddock might
be easiest :)

x

THE ONLY WAY FRANCO would be able to keep his hands to himself would be if they were tied together, but even then it definitely wouldn't stop him.

his hair was completely dry now, each little curl defined more than they ever had been before. mila had spent longer in the bathroom doing her own, and now dried ringlets hung down her back and framed her face. she'd pulled it half up — one little ponytail hanging low on either side to pull it out of her eyes ( except for the two curls she had hanging forward ), and, all innocently, she had two blue ribbons tied around the hair ties.

"stop it," mila slapped franco's hand away from her thigh. he didn't look at her once the whole drive there, but that didn't mean he didn't feel her gaze bore into the side of his head. now that he had parked, it was a different story. "i have someone to go meet."

"your point is?" franco asked, the ghost of a smirk already across his lips. "i'd make sure you'd get there on time . . ."

"mhm, still no," mila unbuckled her seatbelt. she quickly leaned across to press a kiss to his cheek, "thanks for driving me."

franco was quicker, turning his head barely half a second after he felt her lips against his cheek and kissed her properly this time. it was hard to not grin when he felt her all but melt.

it took immense effort to pull herself away from him. "your driver room thirty minutes after FP2," she shot him a wink as she picked up her bag, pulling on the door handle. "don't be late."

franco blinked, not expecting her to actually give him an answer to the very public conversation they'd had in her post's comments. "see you then," he nodded definitively, letting her leave without another word.

MILA wasn't worried. no, she was super excited at the fact that she was about to meet jemma in person. jemma jazairi was a lot like her peers — she wanted to do something that no one else was doing, which happened to be karting, and when she was good enough to progress, she was held back and told she should stop.

however, even as a kid, she had diamond-encrusted skin of resilience, and she kept pushing through her teenage years despite everything thrown at her. she moved out of her home in algeria and had to learn to look after herself at thirteen, all so that she could have the opportunities that europe provided. now here she was, finally being given a chance in the F1 academy in hopes that she could move up into the other formula categories to prove that women have a place, too. she was nothing if not driven.

mila almost stumbled over the gate to let her in when she caught sight of jemma. here mila was in an oversized grey shirt tucked into baggy jeans ( because she had no reason to be dressed up all nice today ), and she only slightly regretted it when jemma had on a cute skirt, sweater, and boots. either way, mila smiled when their eyes met, and jemma's face lit up as she waved.

when her media pass let her in ( because using that was just easier than having to try get a personal one ), mila crossed the fake grass and met jemma over off to the side. jemma slid her phone back into her little handbag, "i can't believe i'm meeting you right now," a light pink blush decorated her cheeks, "i'm actually quite the fan."

"which is kinda crazy," mila laughed softly, shaking her head. "you're pretty damn cool, though, i'm, like, the number one supporter of women in motorsports." which definitely wasn't true because women like susie wolff existed, but mila liked to think she was up there.

"aw, thanks," jemma waved off, her smile not once disappearing. "you've actually saved me today, uh . . ." she lowered her voice, her gaze shifting around them to ensure no one was close by. "paul convinced me to fly out for the weekend . . . i think he forgot i don't know anyone."

"typical," mila scoffed, laughing it off. "get used to it, i'm afraid. i can't tell if its a blonde thing or a man thing."

"both, probably," jemma nodded without a moment of hesitation. pleasantly surprised by her answer, mila couldn't help but smile. it was all just proof that jemma was going to be a fantastic addition to their friend group. "i fear i love me a dumb man."

"real," mila giggled in response. "okay, real talk, i can get us into a good spot on the grandstands or i can get us above the ferrari garage, up to you."

"ooh, grandstand, please," jemma decided, "i don't get to watch races much anymore."

"don't worry, we'll drag you to all of them where possible," mila shrugged. "we're picking up avery on the way."

"ooh, okay!" incredibly excited to meet new people, jemma wasn't too far from gaining a skip in her step. "and blue is your colour, by the way," she noted, a knowing look in her eyes as she caught the blue ribbons that had quite an obvious reason for being there.

"i'll bring you some so that you can rep hitech tomorrow," mila promised, leading her through the backways in the paddock to avoid the general commotion of a busy friday.

x

KEEPING HER MOUTH SHUT to abide by paul's request, mila was still pretty sure that avery had her suspicions about jemma's addition to their race weekend activities. still, avery didn't just blab, and she also wasn't going to outright say anything . . . about jemma. mila on the other hand was copping it with avery trying to dig into the nitty gritty of what she had going on with franco.

it turned up ten fold when the first free practice session for F1 ended. no matter how casually mila tried to excuse herself from the current conversation avery and jemma were having. she waited fifteen minutes until things started to die down a little bit.

"i am kinda just gonna ditch for a bit," was the best she could come up with. why come up with an excuse when she could just withhold the obvious truth? "got shit to do."

"no," avery scoffed playfully, "you have franco to do."

mila blinked. "uncalled for," she said while jemma fell into a fit of giggles. "at least i'm being considerate and it is behind closed doors."

"considerate?" avery laughed, "girl, that's just being a normal human being, i fear."

"i like a little bit of spice in my life," mila shrugged, standing up from her seat. "i will catch up with you guys later."

"bye!" jemma waved with a teasing smile, "i have a mirror in my purse if you need to fix your makeup after." mila snorted at her comment but took it into consideration either way — jemma was clearly a girl's girl.

"have fun," avery waved her off too, not really phased much because of how used to it she was. "we'll meet up with you after."

MILA sent a quick text to franco to check that he was around, and when he said he was just finishing up with some early debrief, she took that as her go-ahead. surprisingly, no one bat an eye about her casually walking through the garage to get to franco's driver room.

she knew her way around the typical garage, though it seemed it didn't really matter when, before she even could reach for the door, it swung open and a strong grip pulled her inside. "hi," franco basically used her to shut the door, pressing her back against it until it clicked and locked. "how was your day?"

"i think it just got a million times better," mila finally blinked, her hands lifting to lay flat on his chest, right around the zipper of his race suit. "yours? the session looked rough."

"a little," he said, "but i am still learning the car." her head was spinning from not only the proximity, but also his dizzying transition between spanish and english; how his voice went from smooth and mellow to raspy and jagged. "maybe you will be my motivation."

"you will become too reliant on me," mila chuckled softly, slowly starting to pull down the zipper. "how will you be motivated without me?"

"i will not need to worry about that," franco shook his head, "you will always be with me, no?"

"mhm," mila hummed, trying to refrain from smiling too hard at the white fireproofs he had on underneath. "you might be obsessed."

"was i not making it obvious enough?" franco raised his eyebrows at her incredulously. "you should've told me . . ."

god, mila could feel her face flush. she knew he was obsessed — she felt the same way. not in a crazed, toxic-induced haze of obsession, but of one where they were all the other could think about. they could live without each other, but why would they? why would they when they could inhale the same oxygen and share the same bed and tangle their limbs together to create a comforting lull to sleep rather than a plain old pillow and blanket?

"i will next time," she replied, swiftly pulling the zipper the rest of the way down. franco didn't think twice in slipping his arms out of the sleeves, the material of his race suit falling down his sides and catching at the waist. "but for now, let me make it up to you."

there was no arguing with that. her breath was warm and minty as she stood on her toes just to level them out that little bit more, pressing herself so close it was almost painstaking how their lips hadn't met yet. "sounds good to me," franco breathed, and she was slipping her shoes off and helping him with his race suit while their lips met.

IT WAS SAFE TO say that franco colapinto's motivation was quite clearly mila marziani when his FP1 placing of sixteenth rose to third in the second session. jemma and avery looked at mila with their jaws agape when the session ended, but the girl could only shrug in response.

notes,

live laugh love jemma jazairi shes adorable