The first race weekend of the season had arrived: Bahrain.

Friday morning brought the burning sun and blustery wind to the paddock which was bustling with drivers and engineers working to get the cars up and running. CFR was no exception.

Emma walked into the garage wearing her blue, form-fitting long-sleeve and pants. The middle eastern sun was beating down on them, heating up the room. The race suits were too hot to wear, so when she ran into Killian, he could see every inch of her curves, though the clothing covered them.

Killian's blue eyes widened when he saw her. He shook his head and blinked a few times before looking away and speaking to her. "Swan! Ready for the first practice?" he asked.

"Of course. Are you sure that you are, Jones?" she replied, a hint of humor in her voice.

Coughing, Killian glanced back at Emma's eyes. He smiled and said, "Yep. See you out there." He mussed up her golden hair that she hadn't pulled back yet and walked away. She turned to watch as he walked towards his car, admiring how she could see every inch of him when he wasn't in the suit.

"Emma!" a voice called from behind her. Emma whirled around and saw Regina wave her over. "Get in your suit! It's practice time!"

—

There was only one way to describe their first practice of the weekend.

A disaster.

They started out pretty well, both Killian and Emma warming the tyres up well and putting up decent times. But when ten minutes remained of the practice, Emma's steering locked up, and she drove herself into a barrier at 240 kilometers an hour.

"Uh, guys, we might wanna get that figured out before Sunday," Emma said as she climbed out of the car, which was currently struggling to stay together. The front tyres had completely fallen off and the wings were bent and twisted.

Regina's voice came across her radio: "We'll check it out once the car comes back to the garage." She sighed and Emma heard a click as her radio went out.

When Killian got word of what happened, he was immediately on his radio, asking about Emma. "How is she? Is she alright?" he said, his voice quivering.

"She's fine, Jones. Just keep driving," Robin responded.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Killian, your girlfriend is alright."

"She's not my- oh, whatever," Killian said, turning his attention back to the track. He finished the lap in record time and raced back to the garage.

When Killian stopped, he ignored all protests from the engineers and pulled himself out of the car. He yanked his helmet off his head and paced around until he caught a glimpse of blonde hair.

"Swan!" he yelled, running over to her.

Startled, Emma looked around until she saw Killian rushing over to her, his helmet hair peeking through. He slowed as he neared her and stopped in front of her, panting. Killian brushed her hair from her face as if he was checking her for injuries.

"Killian, I'm fine!" Emma said, laughing. When he ignored her, asking the doctors how she was, Emma reached up and pulled the balaclava off his head. "Killian!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, love?" he asked, his eyes wide with concern.

Emma rolled her eyes and grabbed his hands. "I'm okay. Really."

"You're okay?"

"Completely."

—

The rest of the weekend up to the race went smoothly, including qualifying. Emma qualified at P4 and Killian at P5. When the results came in and the two were standing next to each other, Killian grabbed Emma's shoulders and rubbed them softly.

"Excellent job, Swan," he whispered into her ears, bringing her back to the day they met.

Finally, it was race day. Emma was at the paddock early, decked out in her CFR-branded gear. Confidence was pouring off of her after a surprisingly good qualifying and a car that was running well, despite the problems earlier in the weekend.

Killian, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. This was his first season in F1, and even though he was living up to everyone's expectations, he hadn't spent much time competing with the top teams like he would be doing during the race.

"Where's Jones?" Emma asked as she pulled on her bright blue race suit.

Regina only shrugged. "No clue. I haven't even seen him go near his car today." She turned her attention back to her computer, but tapped Robin and pointed to Emma.

Robin chuckled from next to her,. "He's in his suite!" he called.

Emma sighed and finished putting her race suit on. She walked over to Killian's suite and opened the door, not caring to knock. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Killian jumped at her voice. "Emma!" he shrieked. He looked over at her, his shoulders scrunched and his voice small.. "What if I was down to my underwear?"

"Um, we have a race to get to, so if you'd like to join us-"

"I'm working on it, love!" he yelled.

Emma noticed his arms shaking. "Are you okay, Killian?"

"Of course," he whispered with a shaky voice.

She threw her arms around his neck from behind him and pulled him in for a hug. "You're going to be great. Don't even worry about it." As he turned around to hug her back, she noticed his short breaths. "Breathe, Killian."

His breathing slowed to a normal rate and Emma felt the rise and fall of his chest as she hugged him. After a few moments, he pulled away and looked down into her emerald-colored eyes. "Thank you, Emma," he whispered. He grabbed her hand, opened the door, and led them out into the garage where both of their cars were waiting.

"See you after the race," Emma said with a smirk.

Killian nodded and climbed into his seat. "Oh, and Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"When I beat you, it's not personal!"

"Shut up, Jones!"

—

As the race started, Emma and Killian lined up behind Verstappen, then Norris, then LeClerc. The five lights counted off and then went dark, and the race began.

The race started pretty boring, with no overtaking and clean racing. Killian had started to catch up with the top four and had an opportunity to overtake her, but nothing came of it. They merely drove on as Killian inched closer and closer to Emma.

The real drama came when it was time for the first pit stop. CFR had to double-stack the drivers, but Killian came out behind Piastri. He had to work doubly as hard to overtake the other young driver, but eventually, he ended back up in P5.

Halfway through, a radio call from Red Bull caused Verstappen to retire, leaving Emma in the top three with Killian right behind her.

"Emma's in the top three, mate," Robin said on his radio.

"Tell Regina to tell Emma that she's doing a lovely job," Killian responded with a laugh.

"Copy. Keep your head in the race, Jones."

The rest of the race came and went like a blur with no problems coming to CFR. On the last lap, Killian was once again informed that Emma was in the top three, but he was close enough to catch her on this lap.

"Not a chance, Robin. She's earned this one."

"Alrighty then. I'll inform David of your decision."

Killian defended for Emma for the entire final lap, blocking any chance of someone taking her podium. So when the chequered flag waved, he cheered like they had won the championship.

"WOOHOOOOO!" he yelled, hearing a chuckle on his radio.

"Great racing, mate! Bring it back for us and we'll celebrate then."

When Killian stepped out of the car, his first thought was only Emma.

"Swan!" he yelled. She whipped around from in front of her car and looked at him. They ran towards each other, and when they met, he hugged her tightly. "You did it, Swan. You got the podium!" he said, his voice muffled in her golden hair.

Her smile beamed as he let her go and waved her off to go find David and Mary Margaret. But as he left, the press bombarded him with cameras and microphones.

He couldn't make out any of their questions, not with them all talking at once. Finally, they slowed down enough for him to hear one question:

"Are you and Emma Nolan in a relationship?"

Killian thought back to the time they had spent together, how she comforted him before the races, how they joked with each other constantly. But through all of that, nothing had happened. So he had to answer with only a "no".

—

As Emma made her way onto the podium, she looked around and saw her parents, the engineers, and Killian all smiling at her. She stood as the Monegasque national anthem played, but her eyes remained fixed on the blue-eyed British man who was her teammate.

She popped the bottle and sprayed the champagne at her fellow podium finishers, but as she did so, she realized something.

She liked Killian Jones.