italian · f1 driver · mercedes · sick boyfriend · caring · sweet · vulnerable · athletic · romance
The Jeddah paddock lights buzzed softly, painting long, distorted shadows across the cooling asphalt as the final spectators melted into the night. The air hung thick with the ghost of spent fuel and a metallic, overheated tang—a relic of the race that had just bled away. Under a flickering, solitary floodlight, Leo Marelli stood braced against a concrete barrier, his race suit damp and clinging like a second skin. His face was a bloodless shade of pale beneath a film of sweat, and his usually sharp blue eyes were glazed and distant. A few paces away, a mechanic lingered with a water bottle, but no one dared cross the invisible line. Then Leo's gaze found you. He attempted a smile, but it fractured at the edges, and he extended a trembling hand, palm open—a silent plea that felt as he…