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It's 8,30 on a Sunday morning and he's still on holiday, so the ring of the bell of his house comes quite unexpected to Lewis, who was still laying in his bed and uselessly scrolling down Twitter. He's been awake for a while already, but without the rush of the races or of the training, at least for one day, he just wanted a lazy morning in bed. He frowns and looks for some clothes, the first pair of sweatpants and a hoodie that were lingering on a chair, before answering it.
When he opens the door, he's more than surprised. Nico – freshly shaved, clad in a pair of light jeans and a cozy-looking sweater – stands in front of him, and for a second they don't say a word, Lewis too stunned and Nico seemingly nervous. Nico being nervous, that's also quite something to remember. And Lewis is just relieved that he chose to wear his hoodie before opening the door, not really keen on discussing anything with Nico while shirtless.
«I... Uhm. Sorry to disturb you but –»
«I have a card for Roscoe!»
Lewis jumps at the voice. He had been so absorbed in looking at Nico – Nico, his not friend Nico ringing his bell at 8,30 on a Sunday morning – that he didn't even notice he's holding the hand of one of his daughters, Alaïa, if he doesn't remember wrong (who does he think he can kid, he perfectly knows the names of his daughters and recognizes them without thinking twice).
«A... card for Roscoe?»
Alaïa looks at him as if he's dumb, and doesn't she look completely like her father now. Well, it's not Lewis' fault if they decided to be at his door in the morning, he's allowed to still have a non completely functioning brain, he didn't even have breakfast yet, he's not supposed to be having conversations already.
«It's a Valentine card. This year he can't get one from Coco and I made him one. It's sad if you don't have someone for Valentine.» The logic of a six year old can be ironclad. And it doesn't help that her accent brings back memories of Nico when they first met, when he wasn't used to speaking English so much yet and his consonants sounded sharper, and sometimes Lewis had to fill in a gap of a word he didn't know in English.
The girl is looking at him all hopeful and kids are always going to be his soft spot in general, if they're Nico's even more. «Sure thing, you are right then. Do you want to come in and give your card to Roscoe now? He's in the living room, still sleeping, I am sure he'll be happy to see you and your present,» he says. The dog actually likes the two girls, every time he finds them in the elevator they coo over the dog who's always more than happy to receive attentions. He just hopes Roscoe won't drool all over the paper and ruin it.
Alaïa looks up at her father and says something in quick-fire German, to which Nico smiles and answers in the same language, before nodding with his head towards Lewis and looking at her expectantly. This kid already speaks more languages than Lewis, and he can't help being a little jealous.
Alaïa looks at him with a very serious expression painted on her face. «Thank you, Lewis,» says her politely, to the amusement of Lewis and the clear pride of Nico, who can't help beaming. Then, she lets go of her father's hand and jumps into the house, running in the hall and halting in front of the sofas.
Nico exchanges a look with Lewis, who gives him a half-smile and nods to the inside. «Just come in.» He's happier than ever that he took the time to throw on actual clothes before answering the door, now.
Nico eyes him, still a bit unsure, but then takes a few steps inside the house. «Thank you. They did it at school, they had to draw a Valentine card for a classmate, and instead she decided to create one for Roscoe. The teacher tried to talk her out of this, but trying to talk her out of something is nearly impossible.»
Guess from who she learnt this, then. He knows better than to say this out loud, though. «It's okay, really, it's actually nice that she did it, although I don't think Coco ever did something this nice for Roscoe, or that she has ever been his girlfriend. Not that I think Roscoe actually has ever had the desire to date anyone, dating is hard work and he's too lazy for this 95% of the time.»
He wonders if he's still talking about Roscoe now. Well, don't they say that pets tend to resemble their owners?
Alaïa has brought her present to the dog, and she's explaining him all the story behind it. Roscoe might not be terribly interested in a piece of paper, but she's scratching his fur all the time while she talks, and that is also good as a Valentine's present. Lewis and Nico are wearing matching grins while they look at the scene.
«Well, uhm. Do you want a coffee? I think I really need one.»
Nico, completely absorbed by his daughter, is startled at first, and then looks at him almost embarrassed. «Sorry for coming this early, but Naila was awake since 6 to come here and she was being completely restless, I really hoped you were already awake because I ran out of things to distract her.» Lewis just shrugs and starts for the kitchen with Nico following him, leaving Naila and Roscoe alone.
Nico sits down at the counter there, and he looks like a memory long hidden in his mind and never forgotten. Lewis shakes his head while starting the coffee machine. He really doesn't have the right to think about that any longer, but Nico still looks like he belongs to this picture of a shared breakfast in Lewis' apartment that it's impossible not to.
Nico doesn't comment when Lewis puts in a mug the exact amount of sugar he likes his coffee with and sets it in front of him, before taking a bigger one for himself and starting the machine again.
He's just had the time to sit down on the other side of the counter before a loud, squeaking sound comes from the living room and Nico gets up worried, running to see what happened to her daughter, only to find her laughing at Roscoe who is playing with a ball.
«Is that – »
«Uhm. Yes.»
Of course, of fucking course it had to happen. They were being civil, polite with the other even if there were no cameras around to play nice to (well, there's Alaïa so maybe Nico doesn't want his daughter to witness how ugly his dad can become, but still), and it was too good to last, Lewis should have known.
«Didn't think you'd still have it.» Nico's tone is so cold it could replace his refrigerator.
The stupid, freaking ball that Sebastian brought to Roscoe and that he had the idea of mentioning during an interview. Of all the many reasons he and Nico had had a fallout, that must be one of the most stupid ever.
Lewis just shrugs. «It still annoys the hell out of me when he uses it at night, but Roscoe likes it.»
«Of course he does.» And then, Nico mutters to himself, «it's Sebastian's ,» and Lewis would gladly strangle him, if it wasn't for his daughter a few meters away from them.
«It's only a toy for a dog, I'll never get why it made you angry. If I didn't know better, back then I'd have said you were jealous.» He would take it back as soon as he's said this, actually – the last thing he wants is to fuel any discussion with Nico, not with his daughter here, not on what seemed to be a nice morning, not in general. It feels like they have had enough discussions for the rest of their lives, and for the next three lives too at least.
Nico though doesn't look like he wants to fight, he's wearing instead a thoughtful expression, tinted with something that can only be described as sadness. «With him you were always happy, always laughing. I was always sure one day you would come and tell me you wanted him and not me anymore.»
Lewis frowns – he could mention quite a few times where he definitely wasn't happy with Seb, Baku on top of everything, but that's not really the point here. «I’ve never wanted Seb.» Not like I wanted you, anyway . «And you said you didn't want anything more than casual, there wouldn't have been much to say anyway.» He adds, maybe too bitterly for someone who doesn't want to fight.
Nico recoils – he freaking recoils at the words, as if they'd just physically hit him in the face. He lowers his voice, to make sure his daughter doesn't pick up on this. «It was never just sex for me.»
There are moments in life where your mind almost takes a photograph of it and you remember it forever. Lewis will never forget the details of this moment: Nico worrying his lower lip between his teeth with his gaze obstinately fixed on the back of the sofa, the sound of the coffee machine recharging in the kitchen, the ones of the squeaky ball in the living room mixed with the laughters of Alaïa, his own heart missing probably more than one beat at hearing these words.
«You never said.»
Nico snorts, but somehow it's not done in the way the confident pilot Nico did when he wanted to annoy him. «I didn't want to hear you telling me no. I was scared of it. I was sure that if you knew I caught feelings for you, you'd use it against me.» For some seconds it's just silence between them, the words psychological advantage lingering in the air, heard too many times to be forgotten. «Well, it is what it is. I think we'd better go, now,» he adds, suddenly in a hurry to leave this house, and takes a step towards his daughter.
Lewis grips his wrist to stop him and Nico freezes at the touch. «Don't fucking run away again,» whispers Lewis. He pulls Nico towards him, behind the half-closed door of the living room and he kisses him, just a brush of lips while he settles his hands around his hips, looking for the shapes he remembers brushing again and again years ago. Nico sighs against his mouth before letting the hunger of years of feelings repressed take the best of him and assaulting Lewis with a very different kiss, clashing against his lips, all tongue and teeth, fingers clutching at his hoodie, and they both have to remember they're not alone before they let out any moan.
Lewis pushes him against the wall – well, he tries to, because Nico crashes against the low cabinet behind him and knocks off the photographs standing on it. They separate, giggling, and oh, if that's not something that makes everything crash down inside Lewis, the sound of his laughter, that sight of that smile. Nico turns to pick up what fell (thank God it's a picture of him with his father and not one with other drivers), and Alaïa is in a second next to him, pulling at his hand to get his attention. She's back again at speaking German. Nico's eyes widen when she speaks, and shakes his head.
Alaïa looks at Lewis. «Dad has something for you.» Nico looks like he'd rather throw himself out of the window instead of talking, and Lewis can bet the blush on his cheeks is not only because of the kiss they've just shared.
«Alaïa wanted me to make a Valentine card also for you.»
Lewis blinks. That's something unexpected, even more than what Nico has just told him.
Alaïa seems to be more merciful than her father ever was, coming to his rescue: «You and Roscoe are always alone. You are sad if you are alone on Valentine's day.» Once again, the logic of a six year old can be very ironclad, and leave Lewis without a proper answer.
Nico takes it out of the back pocket of his jeans – it's a bit crumpled around the edges and not in its best shape, but it only takes a look at it for Lewis to see that he and Naila chose to make it all glittery, black and purple. Nico must have hated every single second of putting all those colours he doesn't like on it. It’s all so disgustingly sweet. Suddenly there's something stuck in Lewis' throat and preventing him from talking, all he can think of is the waste of time they have done until now.
«It's... Well. Flashy. I love it,» he manages to say in the end.
Nico can only huff a “thought so” under his breath before his daughter starts talking. «I said we make it purple because you always have purple when you drive, and dad said we put a car on it because it's what you love, and my teacher said we choose a photo of what the person loves. I choose a photo of Coco for Roscoe.»
«Thank you, Alaïa. This is a very sweet thing to do for another person.»
«My dad made it, you tell him thank you. He chose the car for you!» she repeats, to be sure that Lewis picks this up because it seems he hasn't understood that her father made the card for him. Lewis can't hide a smile at Nico blushing furiously.
«Okay then, thank you Nico for it.» He winks at the girl, who smiles happily back, finally satisfied.
Nico just avoids to comment – the blush is still all there, but he looks very pleased with how this story turned out. «I think we should get going, it's bad already we came here so soon on a Sunday morning.» He looks at the daughter who nods at him, and listens carefully as her father says something in German, then nods again before turning to Lewis.
«Goodbye Lewis, thank you for your hospitality.» All very polite again, and Nico beams proudly at her again.
«Come and see Roscoe sometimes, okay? He's going to be happy if you do it.» She nods happily before following the lead of her father.
From the stairs, Lewis can hear: «Yes,I think we're probably going to see Roscoe again soon,» and the happy squeak that follows. Lewis leans against the doorframe, slightly hazed after the weirdest – in a good way, for once – Sunday morning he has ever had, realizing that Nico said this in English, specifically for him to understand it.
Roscoe, unnoticed, pulls at his sweatpants, and Lewis picks him up. «You didn't tell me you become such a playboy, buddy. Do you like the present of your new girlfriend?»
Roscoe licks his face in answer. Lewis takes it as a yes.