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There’s silence stretching between them, long and deep and almost static as the seconds tic away somewhere.
James is acutely aware of it. He can feel it heightening his senses. The sound of his breathing is suddenly too loud, he can feel the grounding roughness of the faded carpet below his bare feet and he’s half afraid his heartbeats can be heard throughout the room.
Niki is waiting for him on the other side of it; his scarred face determined in stark contrast with his hands, which he curls up into fist in an attempt to stop them from fidgeting with his trousers.
James sighs. There’s nothing more surprising than seeing Niki Lauda nervous and hesitant about something. James would have prided himself for being the one behind it were he not in the same situation.
Nervousness
Hesitancy
Fear
The silence that heaves above them is coloured by those too.
But they also are something that comes inevitably with love.
You can’t expect to find love if you are not prepared to face vulnerability too. The vulnerability that comes when you drop all those masks you wear every day to show the remaining contradictory bits of your soul and give them to someone else.
It’s a risky business because then you can only hope that person will accept them and guard them safely; and that is not always the case.
James doesn’t have the need to do that. He can keep being Hunt the Shunt, the reckless racing driver with hundreds of girls at the mercy of a smile; all good and safe and known.
But there’s also Niki, with bright unknown things to offer on the other side. All he is asking is trust.
James closes his eyes for a heartbeat and opens them to find bright blue eyes watching him, expectant and hopeful.
Well, he certainly is not a person who shies away from risks.
So, he gives a step forward, closing the distance between them. Niki gives him a smile, the kind of smile that stretches his lips over his overbite, that puts soft wrinkles and makes his bright blue eyes dance, catching the soft light of a still morning.
He returns the smile, basking in the warmth of Niki’s arms. His fears leave him as their lips meet, softly and tenderly.
The silence changes its nature around them, now it's soft and warm and bright; and although James is not certain of what will come out of this, he’s sure he won’t deal with it alone.