But I Definitely Need A Happy Ending To This - Blog Posts

I have so much love for her but she seriously needs to stop breaking my heart 🥲

Too young — DR

Author: tiktok gives me good ideas

Summary: in which she’s too young for him…

Warnings: angst, painhub, sorryy

Pairings: daniel ricciardo x horner!reader

“One day when you’ll be old enough I’ll let you hit on me.”

“Y/n, stop flirting with Daniel. He’s my driver and too old for you.” Christian Horner, also known as your father, would always complain about this. For at least one year that’s the only thing he’d tell you whenever you came around the paddock. You would roll your eyes and leave it, only to come back the following day to tease Daniel and see how long it would have been before he’d break. But Daniel could bend but never break. Some may say you were being ridiculous, embarrassing, inappropriate. But never once Daniel had told you to stop. All he did was trying to hide a smirk, watch your father kick you out of the Redbull building and wink at you as you turned around. If he had ever told you to stop it you would have. Last thing you wanted was to make him uncomfortable or at unease. Besides it wasn’t like you always were around for Daniel. But you didn’t think you had ever had an interaction where you didn’t make it obvious you liked him.

“Too young, kiddo. Maybe in a few years I’ll let you ask me out.” Daniel told you once, pressing a kiss to your temple and running towards his driver’s room. So many times you had thought of giving up, but it was in those times that he was the one to tease you. He’d rest his hand on your thigh as you spoke to him and Max during one of their breaks or kiss your cheek way too long for it to be a chaste kiss or let his eyes wander for a bit too long on one of your curves. You weren’t imagining things but he let your father believe so because he couldn’t lose his Redbull seat. At that time you were around your early twenty’s. He remembered very well those times of his. He didn’t want to deprive you of all the experiences you could go through at that age. That was one of the reasons why he let you go. He was almost thirty. He didn’t want to settle down just yet but even if he would have wanted to in a couple years, it would have meant you had to be ‘locked’ in a relationship with someone at a young age. If he asked you, you’d have done that most likely. But he didn’t want to put you in that position. He liked to think you’d have grown out of this phase, this crush and just live your best life.

“I’m leaving next year, sweetheart. But I’ll see you around the paddock anyway.” He had told you one night when you were waiting for your dad by his car. You laughed, thinking he was kidding. He smiled but he wasn’t joking. You didn’t think it would have affected you the way it did. You frowned as he explained more. But you didn’t want to hear it. He wasn’t just leaving Redbull, he was leaving also you. And maybe looking back at it now you’d think you were being ridiculous and childish but at that time it felt like a betrayal. Daniel didn’t think you’d take that so badly. He didn’t think you’d care that much about it and it flattered him. He forced himself to think it only flattered him but it wasn’t like that. As much as he attempted to hide it, he had developed more than friendly feelings for you. Maybe it was because he couldn’t have you. Maybe it was because of the way you’d look at him. Maybe it was because of all the shared memories. He didn’t exactly know why but he knew it was something more than he let everyone know.

“This is ridiculous, y/n. You’ve been ignoring me a whole week, all because of a childish behavior of yours. If you actually cared about me, you’d be happy nonetheless.” He bursted out after a week of having to go through a silence treatment. You were sitting by your dad’s office, reading through your notes. You briefly looked up at him. His words hurt you because Daniel had never been mad at you. Sometimes you’d piss him off but he had never gotten angry at you. You leaned back against your seat, looking at him. The Australian man felt guilty the minute those words came out of his mouth. He wasn’t the type of guy who’d lose his temper easily. He had a rather cheerful personality. Always smiling even when he was at his worst. But with you. In that moment. He couldn’t bear to live another second with you ignoring him. He struggled to admit that he hated whenever you wouldn’t be there to even just annoy him. And the fact that he knew you hated him now. He couldn’t stand that feeling.

“Glad you got that off your chest, Daniel.” You said before closing your notebook. He sighed as you left the room. It went on like that for at least another two weeks. You had stopped hanging around the paddock as much you used. Staying home instead of flying around with your father. It was weird not having you around as much but Christian didn’t ask you too many questions, having thought you were simply tired of constantly traveling around the world and wanting to focus on your studying more. But Daniel knew why. He knew and he wished he could change that. Maybe it was your pride. Maybe it was your dad. Maybe it was his job. But you parted away. You stopped laughing together, smiling at each other, cracking jokes, teasing each other. You drifted apart. At the end of the season he was going to leave. What was even the point anymore? Having some time off the paddock made you realize you were way too deep in this to think it was just a phase. You liked Daniel. A lot. You were tired of playing games, of fucking around. It was more than just teasing him or annoying your dad. It wasn’t a whim.

“Please come to the party. He won’t be part of the team next year and I don’t want you guys to end the year in bad terms.” Max begged you. You had grown closer to the dutch driver throughout his years at Redbull. He was the first to notice you genuinely liked Daniel. Everybody thought you were just bored and wanted to bother the Australian driver. But he could see by the way you looked at him it was more than a crush. He had seen you crying about him. He wasn’t happy to see his friend leave the team but he didn’t feel like he was on the verge of tears. He had seen you in the bathroom stall crying. You had never admitted it to him but he didn’t need you to. He knew already. Max didn’t want you to regret not having done something it could have helped make you feel better. So you went the party. It didn’t hurt as much to see him around and not speak to him. You would have always felt the urge to go up to him and just hang out like the old times but things felt different now. Both of you thought it was too late to try and fix what it had been broken. Days that turned into weeks and months had gone by. You were still the same but you were different.

“Max! C’mere, man! I’m going to miss you so much!” You didn’t even make it through the room filled with Redbull employees that Daniel was already hugging his future former teammate. Max laughed and hugged him back. You had seen them building a very strong friendship throughout the last years. You wouldn’t have been wrong if you said they had become brothers. You looked around, trying to focus on anything else but the good looking Australian man in front of you. He didn’t think you’d come but he hoped. He had worn his favorite shirt of his in hopes that you’d show up and maybe talk to him one last time. It was the beginning of Christmas break and you both knew you wouldn’t have seen each other until the following year and even that case scenario it was never going to be like this. He was going to be in another team. Far away but so close to you.

“Hey there. Glad you came, y/n.” His soft and welcoming smile didn’t fade away as he spoke to you. You forced a smile on your lips as you two exchanged a quick look. He always looked so good it was difficult for you to keep your usual stupid flirty comments to yourself. Especially after spending months telling him whatever went through your mind. But he didn’t want to hear it. He had never wanted to. In the time you had for yourself you had convinced yourself you were nothing more than a child to him. He had told you himself. Well, not that exactly. But wasn’t that the point? He had never seen you more than his boss’ daughter with whom he couldn’t mess around so he chose to never upset you by telling you he didn’t like you. It was the only thing that could make remotely be annoyed at him. Daniel didn’t know if it was appropriate to hug you or if a smile was enough. You looked so cold and distant. He hated how stubborn you had always been and now he hated it more than ever. Max had briefly been distracted by one of the engineers, leaving you two alone.

“Yea, Max promised me to take me out drinking Saturday.” Since when were you so close to Max anyway? Was the first thought that crossed Daniel’s mind. He was being irrational and stupid. You had always been friends, he was just used to being your favorite one. Were you going after him now? He almost shook his head as he tried to shake that thought out of his mind. No. You weren’t like that. You had never liked Max like that. Why would you start now? Nono. Don’t be stupid, Daniel. He thought to himself as he tried to get out of that headspace. He focused on how ravishing you appeared that night. But you always did. There wasn’t a time where you were less than beautiful to his eyes. If only he could tell you. His hands tickled, he felt the urge to touch you. He gulped, swallowing his primal needs.

“How’s it going here? A good ol’ get together, uh?” Max wrapped his arm around your neck and pulled you closer. The last thing he wanted was to annoy Daniel. In fact, he wanted you to go back to what you were before. However that wasn’t what it looked like to Daniel. Every little touch now looked nothing like innocent acts. In his mind Max was trying to find any reason to be close to you and it caused Daniel to clench his jaw, like you were his property. He could already see you roll your eyes at him if he only tried to say anything as stupid as that. He tried to be rational. Max had a girlfriend and you were not interested in him. But did you still like him? Daniel couldn’t help but ask himself if those feelings— if he could call them so— for him were still there. If he asked you to kiss you, would you have let him? Because he could feel his lips dry and begging to touch yours. Your lipstick only exalted them more. He didn’t know where to look at this point.

“Sure… I’m going to drink something and say hi to my dad before he complains about me avoiding him. Excuse me.” You freed yourself of Max’s arm and walked past Daniel, brushing your arm against his. The dutch driver sighed in discontent. It was tougher than he thought. Daniel raised his brows, as a silent ‘told you’. You spotted your dad by the buffet, talking to some of the engineers. The last thing you wanted was to get drunk next to your father but did you have any other option? Max was going to be stuck by Daniel side the whole time and being anywhere close the Australian man wasn’t an option. You weren’t even angry at him anymore. But every time he spoke to you you just wanted to punch him and yell at him all the things you had never had the time nor will to say. There were a lot of unsaid things between the two of you and if by the end of the night neither of you would have grown a pair to tell them, then they would have forever stayed unsaid. New year, new life. Daniel was going to stay in the past where he belonged. You promised yourself you didn’t care but you always caught yourself— throughout the whole night — staring at him. Whenever you got distracted you’d always turn around to look for him, only to know he was okay. You thought it was pathetic but you were used to it now. One last night. You told yourself. Then he’s gone.

“Excuse me—“ your tipsy self made her way to the restroom. Luckily finding no line. Were the planets aligned for you for once? You could walk straight but sometimes you needed to focus to not let any inappropriate words roll off your tongue. You got inside one of the stalls without stumbling across anything. The troubles began when you walked out of it. Because by the sink, washing his hands there was him. Daniel was looking down at the water until he heard the door closing behind you. You gulped and not even bothered to fake a smile, going straight to wash your hands. He scoffed. He had some drinks himself, he wasn’t drunk though. Maybe if you looked back at that specific scene from the future you would have agreed on saying you were being childish but he was the one to start this anyway. The following few seconds were silent. Neither of you wanted to swallow their pride and make the first, until you went to dry your hands.

“Why do you gotta be so fucking annoying and stubborn?” He groaned. You gasped in disbelief. After months of silence that was the nicest thing he could say to you? You already missed the silent treatment. You rolled your eyes at his words. He was unbelievable. You couldn’t wait for him to leave. Maybe Pierre would have been nicer to hang out with.

“Wow, so classy… No wonder you can’t have a serious relationship. With an attitude like that not even your mom would date you.” Your words were filled with venom and your intention was to hurt him. He chuckled, getting in the way of the door as you tried to leave the restroom. You knew you were both going to say some hurtful things which you would have regretted in the morning but if he wanted to play that game, who were you to deny him of that? You took a step back, crossing your arms across your chest and raising an eyebrow, waiting for him to say anything.

“If I remember correctly you were begging me to be with you until last week, sweetie.” That was a low blow and he knew that too. Yet it didn’t stop the smirk from growing across his face. You gritted your teeth, not wanting to let him he had hit and sunk you. However you knew you could also hurt him just as much as he could hurt you. Two could play at that game and you were better than him at it. You wanted to wipe that smug off his face with a punch or a kiss. But you would have given him the satisfaction to see you break first. He looked pleased with himself.

"Yea, until I tried your teammate." he was now the one to clench his fists by his sides. He wondered if you knew about the jealousy he felt whenever he saw you and Max together. But what it was impossible because he had never told anyone. Was it possible that you knew him that well? Even after months of silence? He tried to convince himself you were unaware of his stupid jealousy and just attempted to hit him with anything that could piss him off. He knew just how good you were at annoying him. The Australian glared at you, not finding your joke remotely amusing but you didn't care because he had been the first to hurt you. Not just that day but also that night. When he told he was leaving you. You couldn't bring yourself to forgive him and you knew it was irrational, stupid, childish. But the thought of not seeing his smile first thing in the morning on most weekends after having the shittiest weeks of your life. It ruined your days. Although you had never taken it serious, neither of you, you wished you had. You treated the whole situation as a joke when it wasn’t, at least not to you.

“Why do you always have to act like this?” His tone wasn’t as harsh as it was earlier. He was tired. He sounded tired. This all situation was tiring, exhausting you two. The tension within the Redbull team was unbearable for you and Daniel so you stepped away. He stopped seeing you around the factory and as days went by he realized you weren’t coming back anymore. In a moment of desperation he even took into consideration renewing his contract with Redbull and trying to stay. But it wasn’t an option. His caramel eyes haunted yours, you had to look away but he wasn’t going to give up so soon and so easily.

“Like what?” Your tone was irritated and irritating. He was on the verge of exploding. You had been pushing all of his limits. He was having enough of your bratty behavior. He missed the sweet side of you, he missed the old times when you’d look up at him with adoring eyes. He was so scared of hurting you. You were made out of porcelain to him. He was always so graceful with you, afraid of breaking you. When did this all end? Was it really because he was leaving Redbull? Was it something else? Maybe. Or maybe not. He just knew he was done with this. With faking of not standing you when in reality all he wanted to do was be with you. But you were so young. You and Max were the same age and he couldn’t think about ruining those years for you.

“Like a bitch. I’m tired of this, y/n. Aren’t you? Of pretending like this is normal. This isn’t normal at all. We used to be so close, why are you so angry at me? I promise we’ll see each other again next year. I am not leaving you.” His tone had drastically changed into a desperate one. He sounded like he was going crazy. You were a bit taken back by his statement. You expected him to bite back but he suddenly let go and you almost lost your balance. He had said what you both had been asking yourselves this whole time. But was he really that blind? Did he genuinely not understand what the problem was? By the look on his face you could tell he was clueless. And maybe if you had drunk less you would have filtered your words more.

“Because I loved you, Daniel. But you didn’t. You never did and it hurt me. You just didn’t want to upset me because I’m your boss’ daughter. I really loved you and I wished you had just told me you didn’t care about me like that.” Your voice cracked as you finally admitted that out loud. It broke your heart even more to say that out loud. To admit to yourself for the first time ever that you were in love with him. Even if he wasn’t. You were slowly accepting the truth. As much as it hurt you to do so. Daniel was now the one a bit taken back. Clearly not expecting such an honest and blunt response from you. Silence filled in the restroom as you simply stared at each other. Daniel’s thoughts raced so fast through his mind that he struggled to understand them all. You couldn’t even believe you had just admitted your feelings not only to yourself but also to him. Suddenly the entire room felt like a chokehold and you needed to leave. Yet your feet were glued to the pavement.

“I didn’t know you felt like this…” Daniel wished he could explain the course of his thoughts easily but he didn’t understand them either. You gulped, feeling a rush of shame through your blood. You probably looked so stupid to him. He probably thought you were just a kid. It wasn’t fair that he got to play with you when he wanted to and now he could simply see you as a child. If you were a stupid teenager to his eyes, then why did he keep playing this game for so long? You had never begged him to like you back but so many times he showed you that he cared. Or so you thought. It was impossible for you to think straight or don’t let your emotions get the best of you. Especially when he stood there in silence. It caused your anxiety to increase.

“Forget about it.” You spat out trying to leave and finally managing to walk towards the door of the bathroom. A hand on your shoulder prevented you from taking one more step forward. You were ready to protest against it and try to free yourself of his grip but he pulled you closer to him, your chest hitting his hard and you almost tripped over. His scent inebriated your senses as you closed your eyes for a second and pretended everything was normal. Everything had gone back to normal and you were casually hugging each other like it used to happen a lot. But nothing was normal anymore. Not with him. Not with Daniel. The Australian man looked down at you with an enigmatic look in his eyes that you couldn’t decipher.

“Nono wait…” he tried to stop you. He needed a moment. To think. To elaborate your words. To understand. But you were tiring of waiting. You had been waiting for him this whole time. For years now. Daniel had known you since you were twenty years old and now you were close to your twenty-three. It had been three years. What was left worth of waiting for? Nothing. Although it broke you heart to see him leaving part of you knew that it was probably the best decision for you. For the both of you.

“Say I’m wrong. Say I don’t get it. Say I am too young for you. I dare you, Daniel.” You stepped closer your face inches away from yours. He could see the fire inside of your eyes that lightened them up even more. You were so much to handle. You were hot and cold, water and fire, black and white. You were all and nothing at once. But he didn’t care. He never did. He could handle you. He wanted to handle you. He wanted you. But there were always so many but’s and what if’s. But you were Christian’s daughter. But you were young. But he was too old. But it was too late. What if it didn’t work out. What if it ended badly. What if it wasn’t like you thought it would. But what if love wasn’t enough. So many questions and so few answers. He couldn’t risk his chances like this. Not because of him but because of you. The last thing he wished was to break your heart like he had done in the past with others. Like he had just done to you too. Both of his hands came to rest on your cheeks as his features softened, his forehead resting against yours. You sighed. The anger that fueled your body now vanishing from your system as you let go. Let go of that rage. Wrath. Spite. You were so drained. So sick of this. Of being angry all the time.

“You’re the best thing that could ever happen to a man like me, y/n…” he mumbled out, his eyes closed. Those words hit your heart so deeply. You hated him because you knew you would’ve never been able to get them out of your head. You wished he didn’t have such a strong hold on you. When it came Daniel your brain stopped functioning. You were so irrational, stupid, naive. When he smiled at you, when his hands touched you, when his lips kissed your cheek, when his cologne hit your nostrils. You were so fucked for him. Letting him to whatever he wanted to you.

“Then why are you leaving me, Daniel? I love you…” you sobbed as your heart felt like it was being torn into pieces. A remorseful smile on his lips as his eyes looked into yours again. He had hurt you just in the way he didn’t want to. He was so scared of being with you and its effects on you that he had actually done last thing he wanted to do to you: hurt you. He could read it in your eyes that you meant every little word that you said. You weren’t stupid. You weren’t a kid. You weren’t superficial. You were so much more than daddy’s money or stupid flirty jokes. You were funny, loving, sweet, amiable, cute, determined, ambitious, genuine, precious. Yet you were everything he couldn’t have. As tears streamed down your cheeks, you tried not to make any noise to not make yourself look even more pathetic. If anyone had told you months ago this was how it was going to end you would have never let him get so close to you.

“Cause you’re so young, baby… You have the best years of your life ahead of you and I can’t take them from you. Maybe one day, when you’ll be old enough our paths will cross again…” he tried to smile but it looked so forced. You scoffed, attempting to pull away. But his grip only tightened around you as he pulled you into a hug. You let your sobs get the best of you and started crying. In that moment you didn’t care if you looked like a fool, you were hurting. The kind of pain no one warns you about. The kind of pain you never want to experience ever in your life. The kind of pain that takes you breath away. The kind of pain that consumes your entire being. It leaves you breathless. Daniel pressed a few kisses onto your temple as he looked ahead, his eyes getting watery. He wasn’t doing any better than you. To let you go was one of the hardest thing he had had to do in the last year. But he loved you too much to be selfish. To steal your best years from you. He couldn’t do that because he couldn’t bear to live the rest of his life knowing you despised him. He had to do what was best for you.

“Will you wait for me?” You asked him looking up from his chest. You looked so scared, sad, broken. He gulped, feeling like he was about to break down as well but he needed to hold it together because he couldn’t be selfish with you. Not when you were the most precious thing he had ever come across. He was lucky enough to have had you in his life. He couldn’t destroy beautiful things like you. He needed to keep you safe. A soft and genuine smile made its way on his lips as he stared down at you lovingly. He could never be grateful enough to have met you on that rainy day by the Redbull factory. He should have know it was going to be the beginning of something amazing.

“Always, baby.”