Chapter Text
Maikki woke, restless as usual on the anniversary of Nicky's death. She rolled out of bed, leaving Valentino to sleep with one hand buried in the side of her pillow. Quietly, she dressed in tight shorts and a sports bra and made her way to the patio with her mat and her phone.
It would be a beautiful, warm day, but Maikki had to don a sweater to ward off a little morning chill as she stretched into her mat, picking her playlist carefully. She let the music play through her phone, keeping the house quiet so she didn't wake up anyone in it - aside from Vale, Luca, Pecco, and Nicolo were around, Franco and Maverick were staying off site but would probably be around for breakfast.
Breathing deeply as she sought her center, Maikki watched as the sun started to make itself known before she shifted into a rigorous flow, letting her body take her in in a circuitous route around her mat, from one corner to the other.
Today was always hard. Today and the day he actually succumbed to his injuries. She tried not to focus on it as she worked through her flow; instead, she focused on opening her shoulders, working on burning calories for the drinks she knew she was going to have that night. She was planning on a run, too, at some point. All the activity would keep her mind off her emotions.
In a few days, she planned on finally going in to her local tattoo shop and getting 69 fit in between her tattoos. She had built up a bit of a rapport with the artists at the shop in her years in Tavullia.
"Need me to start anything for breakfast, cara mia?" Valentino's voice drew her out of her practice, and she glanced up at him, leaning in the doorway. God, he was gorgeous, even though he was all limbs and curls. He chewed on his upper lip as he looked at her, raising his eyebrow.
"No, I'm almost done."
"It's been almost two hours," He sounded a little concerned, but turned into the house, probably to make coffee.
Her grief over Nicky's death was mixed with the guilt that she still liked for the man, even in the face of everything she had now. He had never really been hers, anyway. Maik sighed, straightening off her mat. It had been a long time, and it was soaked. She left it on the patio to dry and paced into the kitchen, where Valentino leaned on the island, reading something on his tablet.
"Better?"
"No," She sighed, accepting a kiss and a cup of coffee from her lover. "I'm trying."
"I know it's not easy for you, Maik." He touched his fingertips to her chin, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "Go on, go take a shower before the boys get up."
She sighed, taking as big of a gulp of her piping hot coffee as she could manage before she paced back into Valentino's room. When she finally re-emerged, Valentino was still reading at the counter, sipping absently from his coffee cup. Maikki brushed her hands across his shoulders, pressing her lips against his cheek.
"What do you want for breakfast?" She asked as Vale reached for one of her hands to squeeze.
"Something unhealthy. Do we have syrup?"
"Thinking pancakes?" She asked, giggling as he grinned brightly up at her. "Ok, but only if you flip them."
"Deal." He left his tablet on the counter, reaching to hold her tight. "And I was planning on taking a trail ride -"
"I don't think I want to take everyone out -"
"- with you." Maik kissed his forehead, touching his cheek with shaking fingers. Valentino closed his hand over them, pressing them tightly to his stubbly cheek. "Maikki, we'll take it easy today. Just you and me."
They stayed still for a long minute, holding one another until one of the bedroom doors opened. Valentino unfurled to stand, following her direction to find the ingredients she needed as the guys started to wander into the kitchen.
"Hey, hey, hey, I flip!" Vale shooed her away from the griddle, spatula in hand. Rolling her eyes, Maikki sought out bacon to throw in the oven to accompany the pancakes - which might surely be done before the bacon was.
After breakfast, they ventured out to the garage with the guys, but instead of proceeding to the flat track, Maik and Vale took off into the trees, Maikki racing behind her boyfriend.
The pair threaded through the trails that wound through Vale’s property, making their way to a spot they both knew well. Vale didn’t try to engage her in any spats on the way there, his pace easy as if he knew she wasn’t in the mood.
Maikki leaned her bike against a tree at the edge of a large field, one that looked over the Italian countryside by Valentino’s house and the sunflowers that bloomed on the hills. There were a lot more of them now than there were on that chilly November day eight years ago, when she had ended up carting him back on the back of her bike thanks to a cracked fuel tank. It seemed like just yesterday, she mused, knuckling the small of her back after she laid her chest protector across her bike seat.
It was insane to think that Nicky had been gone for six years. The thought made her breath catch in her throat - six whole years.
Valentino crossed the field, into her line of vision, shuffling through the tall grass. It hadn’t been so tall that November, Maikki mused as she watched Vale walk. His long fingers trailed along the top of the blades, pausing to pluck a few wildflowers as he made his way to wherever it was he wanted to sit. She lost sight of him when he plopped down in the grass.
Maikki took a slug from her Camelbak before she started after Vale, reveling in the near-silence of the day. Sure, there were dirt bikes ripping around the tracks at Valentino’s house, but she could barely hear them here. It was quiet and peaceful.
She found Vale by looking for the hole he had created in the grass by braiding and pushing the tall blades out of the way of his view. The spot he sat in was at the very crest of the hill, where the earth started to fall away and left the spectacular view available from the ground. Maikki eased herself down beside him, letting her legs splay in front of her. Without a word, Valentino settled one of his legs over hers, settling his booted foot long hers.
Usually, Valentino would prod her, ask her what was on her mind, but today he remained silent. He worked on weaving flower stems together, his attention alternating between her face, the view, and his work. This time, he was waiting for her to say something.
Maikki leaned back on her elbows, staring at the distant sky above the sunflowers.
“I don’t know why I’m still so... upset about Nicky.” She finally admitted, plucking a nearby flower to hand to Vale. “It’s embarrassing.”
“It’s not embarrassing.” Valentino murmured, accepting her offering. “There are people who touch our lives more firmly than others.”
Laying flat on her back, Maikki reached her fingers toward Vale, hoping he would lace his through hers. She wasn’t disappointed, but was surprised when he laid down next to her, setting his work down on her stomach as he settled his head on his hand.
“Sic was one of those people for me. You think about what they could have done with their lives, what they could have been.” For a moment, as he remembered, he was looking past her. “It’s what we choose to do to remember that matters.”
“What, should I start a school for American racers in his honor?” Maikki frowned at how harsh the statement came across, but was relieved when Vale laughed. Of course he would laugh.
“No, you don’t have to be so extreme as I am.” Valentino chuckled, his faraway gaze snapping to her. He reached out to stroke an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “This is enough, I think. Just remembering him. How important he was to you.”
Maikki raised her fingers to her cheek, trapping his hand against her skin, nuzzling her nose into his palm. After a long moment, she pushed past his hand to press her face into his chest. Valentino wrapped his arms around her as she began to cry, mindless that she was crushing the flower crown he had just woven for her.
“He could have done so much, Vale. He could have brought MotoGP to America. He was about to get married. And I miss him.”
Vale held her, stroking her hair as Maikki sobbed into his chest.