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sparkle-d · 2 years

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waiting game | daniel ricciardo

pairing: daniel ricciardo x you

summary: in which you switch your phone with daniel's without knowing

tags: falling in love; chatting and messages; kind of enemies to friends to lovers

warnings: insecure reader; f!reader; dumb people

chapter: 6/?

(you: blue/ daniel: orange)

✧.* tag list: @bloodyvalentine93 @organasith @verstappens-hat @idkiwantchocolatee @landhoe @theplobnrgone @iamasimpingh0e @chiliwhore @buendiabebeta @icecoldtiress @holy-macncheese-balls @caosfanblr @cxliforniadream @calmleclerc @hannahholland1811 @dr3lover @charlewiss @moneymasnn @mk15x @oneoftwoghosts

chapter 6 - cinderella

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Charles asks, frowning his forehead. He is already dressed as Danny Zuko, his hair with so much hair gel, you can see it reflecting the light from the ceiling of his room.

You pout “To be honest, I’m not one hundred percent sure. I’m more at seventy percent at the moment.”

You let out a sigh, staring at your mask. You look up at Charles, he looks like a heartthrob that just came out of an 80’s movie, with his skinny jeans, tank top, all-stars, and black leather jacket. You, on the other side, are completely covered with a tight skeleton jumpsuit. At least you won’t catch anyone’s attention with Charles looking like that by your side.

The party is at Lando's house and Pierre is already there, since he went with other friends. You text Pierre, letting him know you and Charles are already leaving for the party. You take the last deep breath you can before exiting the door.

—

Daniel drinks from his cup, already thinking the beer is not cold enough for his taste. The music is very loud, making it difficult for him to listen to the conversation his friends are having, but he is almost sure it’s about other people's costumes that night.

They take Halloween very seriously and think everyone is like them too, when in fact some people just want to do something fun, look hot or not bother too much with a fantasy. Esteban is dressed as a nature nymph, matching with Mick who dressed up as Persephone. Lando, Carlos and Pierre decided to go as the three aliens from Toy Story. Lando and Carlos look really cute, but Pierre’s costume is a little more… shirtless.

Daniel is the simpler of them all, he chose to go as a basketball player, with a cap on, sneakers and a tiny short. It’s not necessarily hot that night, so he decided to go with a hoodie over his jersey. Pierre gave him the looks when he saw Daniel’s effort for his costume, but soon he understood why he chose that.

“You see these?” Daniel stretches his legs in Pierre’s direction. They’re muscular and juicy and anyone in their right minds would want to take a bite on it “I want to show them off, but not make it that obvious.”

“Oh.” It’s the only thing Pierre said.

“What is beautiful is meant to be shown.” Daniel replies, with a smirk on his lips “I don’t care if I look lame, I don’t see it as competition.”

And it really isn’t for Daniel. He likes to be goofy with his fantasies for Halloween, like when he literally went literally as Goofy one year, or when he was going through his Pixar phase and thought it was a good idea to dress up as Sulley from Monsters Inc. and ended up looking like an old patched carpet.

This year Daniel wanted to look good, he wanted to show another side of him now.

Everybody already knows Daniel is funny. Well, they know he’s good-looking too, but he wants them to remember that he is also hot.

It’s not very late when Charles arrives too. He looks identical to Danny Zuko, so Daniel doesn’t even need to ask him about his costume. There’s a person beside him, her posture a little bent, trying to hide behind Charles. She’s totally covered, from head to toe, in a very tight costume with a skeleton pattern in it.

“Hey!” Charles greets everyone, already catching some eyes from the people around them “For those who didn’t recognise her, it’s my best friend, the skeleton.”

Charles laughs, tapping your shoulder and making you take a few steps forward. You raise your hand, with a very shy movement, and say hello to everyone. What happens next, Daniel has no idea because he keeps on staring at you.

Even with your whole body and face covered, Daniel can still notice that it’s you there. The way you tilt your chin looking around, or the way your fingers tap on your leg by the rhythm of the music, or how your silhouette moves slightly with the song that plays in the background.

Daniel can only see your eyes, because there’s two holes in the mask where they peak through, but around your eyes are covered with black makeup. That makes your eyes look brighter even with the dym lights around the room.

Your body is also something that catches Daniel’s attention. Now that you’re using something so tight, marking each and every curve in your body, Daniel can say you’re indeed fine in your special way.

Daniel’s thoughts are completely cut as he notices that you are staring back at him. Daniel can’t see it, but he’s pretty sure you are frowning under your mask.

You approach where Daniel is, crossing your arms in front of your chest “Is this some kind of staring contest?”

“Oh, hi, cupcake.” Daniel scratches the back of his neck, trying not to make it so obvious that he was checking you out just some seconds before “It’s a surprise for me that you joined us in this party, that’s all.”

You seem to take a second to think, tightening your arms in front of you “And why wouldn’t I come?”

“Evaluating from what happened last week, I thought these kinds of social events weren’t your favorites.” Daniel shrugs. Charles and Pierre didn’t mention it with these exact words, but when you disappeared during the party last week, they said something about you not liking being around too many people “I thought you were more the type to enjoy hanging out with only a few people.”

Daniel sees an expression he now has seen a couple of times when he’s with you. It’s doubt mixed with a fiery spark of pure energy - Daniel asks himself if that’s not anger towards him, but that’s not quite it.

Daniel saw that type of stare towards him too once. It's pride.

That’s really hot, in Daniel’s opinion.

Since the first time Daniel laid his eyes on you, he’s always been finding new things about the latter. You are quiet and prefer to stay low, you’re not trying to catch anyone’s attention, but to Daniel, you’re the most interesting always.

You can communicate so well through your eyes, stares, expressions, the way your mouth moves when you speak, how your body reacts to things… It’s not very noticeable, but when you are around, Daniel’s attention is only on you, so it’s easy for him to notice it. Daniel wants to find out more about you, what is hidden inside your thick skin.

“I’m just not used to these things, but that doesn't mean they aren’t for me.” Daniel imagines that you pout while saying that. Daniel wants to believe it, even if it’s something very not like you.

“I’ve never said that.” Daniel smirks.

You shrug, sounding careless for once “But you thought about it, I know it.”

Daniel raises his eyebrows, has she been drinking? “Well, sorry for fitting you into a stereotype, it wasn’t my intention.” Daniel grabs a beer with his free hand, making a move with his fingers and showing it to you “Are you drinking tonight, perhaps?”

Your eyes being the only thing Daniel can see, bright and sparkling, but they’re showing nothing to Daniel right now. They’re like a blank canvas, there’s no feeling radiating from it, which makes it a little difficult for Daniel to read you. It makes him bothered, because he wants to know everything that is going inside your head.

You accept the beer.

“I’m not used to drinking, but I’ll let myself enjoy a few drinks today.” You open the can and chugs from it “Just don’t tell Pierre.”

Definitely tell Pierre, Daniel thinks. But until Pierre is too involved in some flirting near them that Daniel prefers not to understand or even pay too much attention to, he can watch over you.

You know, be a good friend and make sure you won’t do anything you shouldn’t. Unless, of course, Daniel is the one to offer three cans of beer to you - who gladly accepts and gulps down the not-so-cold beer in just minutes. Daniel likes to see how excited you become after some alcohol is running through your system. Your hips are slowly dancing to the pop song that is playing, and Daniel can definitely tell, even without seeing, that you’re smiling and enjoying yourself that night.

“I need to go to the bathroom!” You almost scream too high in Daniel’s direction, but Daniel finds it extremely adorable “I will be right back!”

Daniel just nods, letting a flutter grow inside of him. You walk away from Daniel, disappearing in the ocean of people in front of him. Suddenly, Daniel feels like this party isn’t as good as it was before. He can notice the stares around him, the girls trying to approach and hit on him, but they are too… ordinary. There’s no mystery behind them, there’s no deep secret hidden behind their eyes and they surely don’t speak like a 90’s romance writer trying to insult you every now and then.

They aren’t as interesting as Daniel wishes they were. It’s not their fault, it’s Daniel only projecting things he discovered he likes in a certain person onto those girls. They can’t beat you because they’re not you, and that’s what Daniel is looking forward to in a person right now.

He takes a sip from his can, trying not to look extremely bored when Lando comes and saves him “You have to look at this.”

Lando grabs Daniel by his arm and pulls him into the crowd. Daniel has no idea what Lando thinks is so interesting that Daniel would want to see it, but he follows his friend because anything is better than people asking ‘do you come here often?’, when he has seen those faces all year in every in party.

When Daniel starts to hear some cheers and there’s a ping-pong table next to them, he knows that’s where Lando found the most amusing thing to show Daniel. It is actually very amusing and interesting, because it’s you playing the game.

You took your mask off and now there are only two black holes around your eyes and your messy hair pushed to the back, so the strands aren’t in your vision’s way. To Daniel’s surprise, you are extremely good at beer-pong and make perfect hits every time you’re with the ball. People are cheering for you, not a single sight getting away from you.

Everyone’s attention is on you.

You seem to glow, not only because you’re a bit sweaty, but because you indeed look happy. Your smile is big and when you get another ball inside the cup, you let out a very cute and sexy groan. Daniel could watch you playing beer-pong all night, just to see that different side of you.

“Another free shot for our biggest player of the night!” Someone shouts, bringing a bottle of tequila near you. You don't think twice before opening your mouth and drinking from the bottle.

People are cheering again, but as soon as your head lowers from the shot, Daniel can see that you’re not feeling too well.

Daniel approaches you, grabbing you by the waist “I think our champion needs a little rest and a cup of water!” Everybody laughs as other players come to the table and get on your spot.

“But I wanna play another round…” You say, trying to get away from Daniel’s grip, but you have no strength on your body “Did you see it? I’m like the best at this and I didn’t even know it.”

“Finding new skills, I guess.” You let out a giggle, giving in and letting all of your weight on Daniel’s shoulder.

“And there I was thinking I have no talent.” You smile, but suddenly your expression changes “But I think I drank too much, I’m feeling really dizzy right now.”

“How many rounds did you win?” Daniel asks, he hasn’t been away from you for too long, but enough for you to get completely wasted.

“Three? I think.” You move your body in a funny way, and Daniel manages to carry you to the outside of the house. There’s a huge pool there, where the party continues with a crowd dancing and drinking.

“So you took three tequila shots?” Daniel asks with his eyebrows raised. You had those cans of beer with him and took more than two tequila shots, no wonder you were this drunk “I left you for half an hour only!”

“Don’t blame me for being too good and winning free booze.” You pout and Daniel can’t control the butterflies that appear inside of him.

“I blame Charles who left you alone at a party.” Daniel sees a spot where you can sit on the stairs outside near a big three.

You sit on it and let your head hang on Daniel’s shoulder. Daniel goes to the freezer and takes a cup and some ice with tap water, giving it to you “I don’t need Charles or Pierre to babysit me at a party. I can take care of myself alone.”

Daniel wants to reply to that, but he would only be replying to a drunk person and also probably going into your insecurities “I know, but they could be with you right now, taking care of you. I don’t even know where they are…”

The breeze is not too cold, but Daniel is wearing mini shorts, so his legs are shivering. He looks around, to see if any of his friends are around, but even Yuki is nowhere to be seen.

“Daniel?” Your voice is very soft and if Daniel was a little far away from you, he wouldn’t listen to you “There’s too many people here outside…”

Daniel’s eyes look around and indeed, there’s way more people outside the house, than inside. Your body is uneasy and Daniel can notice that you start to breathe faster.

“Are you okay?” Daniel asks, brushing your hair away from your face with his hand.

“I just don’t like crowded places.” You shut your eyes, trying to control whatever was happening inside of you. Daniel doesn’t know how it works, because you were totally fine until a couple of minutes ago, and now you’re back at this mindset again.

“You were playing beer-pong to a crowd just a moment ago.” Daniel said but that doesn’t make anything better. You aren't listening or thinking straight, this is the first time you become aware of the people around you in a while.

You touch your hair “And I lost my mask.” Your face is a mixture of feelings, but Daniel can notice you are starting to become too anxious “I-I…”

Before you can go deeper into those feelings, Daniel makes you stand again, grabbing you again by your waist.

“I think we should go for a walk, what do you think? Until you sober up.”

You just nod, letting your head hang on Daniel’s shoulder again. You take a couple of deep breaths as Daniel leads you to the path to this amazing yard. The whole city is probably inside that party, so they have to walk a little longer until there’s no one around them. You don't seem to be hyperventilating anymore, but your body is still being carried by Daniel.

“Are you too drunk?” Daniel starts “Like really drunk?”

“Definitely.” You just answer, your foot getting in Daniel's way and almost making you fall “Maybe not that much, but enough for me to feel like I’m made out of jelly.”

“Should I take you to your house?” Daniel doesn’t have time before you groan “So anywhere but your house?”

You sigh, trying to gather the words that make sense to explain it to Daniel “I don’t wanna go there tonight. I wanna do things from another point of view, not just watching everything from my room’s door.”

You hiccup.

Daniel smiles, knowing what you mean. You walk a little more until an idea pops inside Daniel’s head.

“Do you want to go on an adventure then?” He asks, checking if he has the right keys he needs in his hoodie’s pocket “Just you and me, no crowd around us.”

It might be the alcohol you had until now, or the sweet feeling you get on your body, filled with excitement. You don't even enjoy Daniel’s presence, but you agree to whatever Daniel has in mind for that night, you don't ask what they are going to do, or where they are heading to.

Daniel feels like he have won an award, a difficult phase in a game he deeply adores, because you are trusting him with your life at that moment.

—

“How did you manage to get the complex’s covered pool key?” You ask, getting distracted by the reflections of the water on the ceiling.

Daniel smirks “Let’s say I won a bet with Lando once..”

Your eyes are locked in the way Daniel is walking around the pool, being on the opposite side as you are. He already took off his cap, and now is taking off his shoe and socks, sitting on the edge of the pool with his feet already in the water. Daniel takes off his hoodie, piercing you with his stare.

Daniel is only wearing his mini shorts and jersey now. And you can’t take your eyes off of him, it’s way too magnetic the way Daniel muscles move, how his body works when he decides to get into the water, getting used to the water’s temperature.

You take off your shoes too, put your cell phone with them, and sit on the edge of the swimming pool too, still watching Daniel in front of you. It’s way too smooth the way Daniel submerges into the water, swimming under the water until he is in front of you. His hair pulled back and the water dripping from it, his skin glowing with the faint light coming from one of the lights Daniel turned on.

“How did you know I like to swim? I was on the swimming team. In my school.” You say when Daniel gets closer to where you are sitting. Daniel shakes his hair slightly, making it messy with his fingers “I was very good actually.”

Daniel's smile glowing to you, he says “Why did you stop?”

“Because I became too aware of the fact that…” You take a second to think if you should speak to Daniel about those things, but you don't see why not “people could see my whole body when I was swimming.”

Daniel tilts his head, his eyebrows raised. You shrug because you can tell Daniel doesn't understand your reasons.

It makes more sense inside of your head indeed.

Daniel grabs both of your legs and pulls them inside the water. He finds a comfortable place in between them, and rests his chin on top of his arms.

“Well, I used to swim too when I was younger. I quitted swimming because I broke my elbow while training. Don’t ask me how, it’s too embarrassing.” Daniel lets out a giggle and brushes his nose.

“I’m a very curious person, so I will ask you how anyways.” You try to support your weight on your hands, but you feel too far from Daniel, so you lean forward again “It can’t be that embarrassing.”

Daniel’s fingers start to draw some patterns on your knees, but you think Daniel is not even noticing what he is doing “I went to literally kick someone’s butt in our locker room and slipped because the floor was wet.”

You grimace “It is actually embarrassing.” You conclude and Daniel laughs.

“He deserved that kick, but he didn’t get it and I went to the hospital with a broken ewbol and two cuts on my leg. It was an experience.” Daniel shakes his head again, making droplets of water hit your face “Now, what about you get in the water too?”

You don't know what to answer. A bigger part of you wants to go swimming with Daniel, but the doubts running through your brain are too loud for him to let the rest of the alcohol take control and ignore them.

Daniel reaches for your hands, holding them. His hands are cold compared to yours, but you don't mind it, you actually don't even notice the difference. Daniel is still looking at you, studying every single line on your face, every muscle that moves when you breathe - Daniel watches everything.

You nod when you feel the pressure Daniel puts on your hands, and let Daniel push you to the water. Daniel gives you a sweet smile leading you to the middle of the pool, his hands making sure to pull you closer inch by inch very slowly.

Even if you don't quite understand what is happening, you can feel your heart racing, so fast you get an odd feeling inside your chest.

The alcohol from before now is just a fog around your thoughts, making it difficult for you to focus on only one thing. You can feel Daniel’s finger touching you, the subtle grin on his lips, the way the water drips from his hair to his face and how Daniel’s presence makes you feel the most comfortable you have ever felt in a while.

“What are you thinking about?” Daniel asks, grabbing your attention to his voice.

You can’t tell the truth, you can’t admit that inside your mind, Daniel is everywhere.

“I was replaying things that happened tonight.” You think quickly, saying whatever “I think this is the first time I didn’t care much about the things around me. For the most of the time, at least”

Daniel frowns “Are you always thinking about it?”

“I’m always too aware of myself, and I don’t mean it in a very egocentric way.” You lower your eyes and watch your hands very near Daniel’s chest. You want to touch it, but you can’t “I’m always thinking about what people are thinking about me, and I prefer if I’m just invisible to them.”

You are always hiding, you don't like to be seen.

“Your bad, because I’m always watching you.” Daniel says and continues “I mean, not in a weird way.”

“Well, this sounded very weird.” You giggle with Daniel, who doesn’t seem to get embarrassed by what he said “Why would you watch me? I’m never doing anything special.”

“I’m always noticing new things about you. You are way more interesting than you think.” Daniel is moving with you, almost slow dancing inside the water “Your nose is very cute, specially when you’re in a bad mood and pinches it without noticing; your hair is so silky and shines very brightly under the sun and you probably bother every girl and boy because they know it’s only natural beauty, you probably don’t do anything to it. I like the color of your eye and how you move your shoulders when you’re embarrassed. Your hands are very smooth and probably your skin is too. But what I like to see the most are the wrinkles around your eyes, because aside from being cute, when they appear in your face it means I made you smile, even if it’s just a little bit.”

You know your flaws better than anyone. Your ugly nose, puffy eyes, legs and arms too long, way too glowing skin, weird lips and any other horrid features you could nominate one by one. But you never thought about your good traits, people never said them straight to your face. Not like Daniel just did. You can feel your face getting hotter, your cheeks feeling like they are on fire.

Daniel makes you feel weird things. He takes your hand and makes you place it on his chest, a better and more comfortable position for both of you. But he holds your hands a little longer, rubbing it with his thumb.

Your eyes are on your hands, and you notice something you didn’t before. There’s a cut on Daniel’s thumb, not very noticeable now as it is healing, but it is definitely there. You frown, because you don’t want to think about hot stuff when you’re with Daniel. You want to think only about Daniel at that moment.

You try to focus again, your thoughts about hot stuff going away. It’s Daniel, and he is the one in front of you, but you can’t stop staring at Daniel’s hands now and you can feel a shiver run through your body.

It wasn’t your intention, but you just feel like you just solved a mystery case.

No, it can’t be. But if it’s not, it’s a very, very strange coincidence. The cut on his thumb, the same way hot stuff described to you that happened with him.

“Do you like basketball?” Daniel says after noticing that your attention is on his jersey for too long “Don’t tell me you’re a Knicks fan.”

“I’m not.” You say, you actually don't like basketball that much. You try again to avoid the thoughts running through inside your head “Is 89 your playing number?”

Daniel looks at it and smiles “Not really! It’s my birth year, so I use it everywhere.”

You dazed off for a second, because something clicks inside your mind. And you don't know how to feel about it. If Daniel is really hot stuff, he knows way too much about you. He flirts with you and sometimes you flirt back, oh my god. Just a few days ago he said he likes someone, he fancies someone. He can’t be Daniel.

You’ve been talking everyday, all the time. You are actually very fond of hot stuff. You aren't fond of Daniel.

You are not.

You do the first thing that crosses your mind and puts both your hands on top of Daniel’s head, and pulls him inside the water. Daniel wasn’t expecting you to try to drown him like this, so he’s confused and takes a couple of seconds to understand what is happening. It’s the perfect timing for you to go under the water and swim until the other side of the pool.

You get out of the pool and it’s way too cold for you to be outside drenched like this, but you don't care. You don't stop for a second to think twice about leaving, running away immediately.

“I need to go.” You mumble way too fast, but you think Daniel understands.

“Wait, I was kidding about being a Knicks fan, I don’t really mind, actually.” Daniel is trying to walk and swim at the same time, anything he can do to stop you from leaving.

“I really need to go, Daniel.” You repeat, and lead to the exit.

“Hey, wait!” Daniel decides he’s too slow inside the water and gets out of it. You take your cell phone with you, the only thing that you couldn’t leave behind, and disappeared “You forgot your shoes…”

But you are long gone.

#daniel ricciardo #f1 #daniel ricciardo fanfic #f1 imagine #f1 x you #formula 1 #daniel ricciardo x reader #daniel ricciardo x you #f1 fic #dr3 #a little late #but hey happy halloween!!#wg #awriting

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