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Huh.
It’s not what Lewis would have expected to see on his explore page during his breakfast instagram scroll. Well, that was not entirely true — following pretty much every racing driver he’s ever raced against in his career led to loads of motorsport-related content popping up. Seeing Seb’s face appear was not unusual per se, especially after the end of the season (he’d had to stay off both his main and his burner account for a few days after that — far too many photos of him and Seb that made him choked up), but this photo was different for other reasons.
There was Seb — a clean-shaven, short-haired Seb smiling for the camera. Lewis had nearly scrolled past the photo too, until he realized that it wasn’t some old photo from the late 2000s that he had seen before. Nope, this was new. Like maybe-taken-within-the-past-week kind of new.
The short hair wasn’t new to Sebastian, but it had been a while since it’d been at that length. And the clean-shaven look. Wow, Lewis hadn’t seen Seb clean-shaven in what, months? Years even? He tries to recall when the last time it was that Seb didn’t have at least a little scruff on him and his mind draws a blank, giving him a date no later than 2009. God, they’d been so young then. At that point they’d already known each other for years, but who would have thought they’d end up where they were now?
But anyway, the photo looked good. Seb looked good.
***
“I need a haircut,” Sebastian said from the sink in the toilet.
“Is the three-step hair routine I built for you getting too strenuous now?” Lewis teased, putting his phone down and pushing himself off the bed to join Sebastian in the toilet.
“Oh, so the shorter my hair goes, the shorter my routine? Maybe it is time to experiment with a buzzcut,” Sebastian replied, quick as usual.
Lewis let out an amused snort at that and wrapped his arms around Sebastian’s waist.
“Nice try. I’d still make you do it everyday,” he says, grinning at Sebastian’s reflection in the mirror before pressing a kiss to his cheek. “What’s with the sudden desire to get a haircut? I thought you liked your hair long.”
“Well, I still do. I just, I don’t know, was thinking of a change. Maybe something shorter so it’s lighter.”
“Hmm, well whatever you do I’m sure you’ll look gorgeous as always,” Lewis said, taking delight in the way the tip of Sebastian’s ears seemed to turn just ever so slightly pinker at that statement.
Their relationship wasn’t new. The official date they started dating might have been less than a year ago, but both Sebastian and Lewis knew that it had been a long time coming, and that in some ways, they had been in a relationship before being in a relationship.
Regardless, it never failed to set off a spark in Lewis’ chest whenever he saw Sebastian blush, or when that confident, cheeky gaze of his would suddenly look away, as if what Lewis was saying was too much to bear and he could not return Lewis’ gaze. Lewis chased that feeling. Being with Sebastian felt so unreal. Sometimes he would look at him too long and suddenly realize just how lucky they were to have had their lives so intertwined. And now, Lewis was privy to more — things like how Sebastian’s hands always felt cold in the morning, or how he only ate one brand of oats even though Lewis insisted that they all about tasted the same, or how Sebastian wanted to change his hairstyle. To experience this sort of domestic intimacy with Sebastian still felt new, and Lewis hoped it would never change.
***
Lewis screenshots the instagram post and opens his chat with Sebastian.
> image attached
> i see you’ve gotten that haircut you were talking about
> you look beautiful, my love :)
Three dots appear almost instantly as Sebastian types out a response. Then, they stop. And then Sebastian is calling him.
“Hello Lewis,” Sebastian says almost shyly, and Lewis can hear the smile in his voice.
“Hello Seb,” Lewis replies, his smile that’s reserved for Sebastian already settling into the lines of his face.
“It was meant to be a surprise. I didn’t know that you would see it. At least it’s a few days old. How many hairdressers are you following?”
Lewis laughs.
“I’m quite sure none, actually. No, someone took a screenshot of the hairdresser’s story and posted it. Then that appeared on my explore page. You look very nice, Seb.”
“I don’t quite understand what that first bit means, but thank you, Lewis. It really was meant to be a surprise for when I got home.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’m still plenty excited to see your new hair in person. And you, of course.” Lewis was always looking forward to when he and Sebastian would meet. Perhaps especially so this year, with the two of them no longer sharing race weekends together. Lewis tries not to think too much about that.
Sebastian lets out a pleased half-sigh of sorts and Lewis can already picture his smile. “I miss you too, Lewis.”
“How’s Denmark?" Lewis asks, checking their shared calendar on his laptop. “Has the drive down been good?”
“Oh yes. The traffic was better coming down from Sweden. Made a few stops in some small towns and explored quite a bit. I have plenty of photos for when I see you. Souvenirs too.”
“Looking forward to them. And your new hair.”
“If I had known you would have such a reaction I would have gotten a haircut ages ago,” Sebastian teases.
“Well,” Lewis begins. “It’s just the first time in a while I’ve seen you with short hair.”
Sebastian lets out a little huff of laughter at that.
“Can I just say you look so young as well. I mean, you are still young, obviously, but the clean-shaven look just takes me way back, man.”
“Ah, I know. I was a bit shocked when the barber was done, to be honest with you. I thought my younger self had jumped into the future or something.”
“When was the last time you were clean-shaven, do you think? We must have been just barely adults then I bet.”
“Ah, I don’t know. Maybe 2008? 2009? It’s been a while for sure.”
A silence falls over them both. Then Lewis says what’s been on his mind since he saw that instagram post.
“I can’t believe I’ve known you most of my life, Seb,” he whispers, as if what he was saying was sacred. “And now I get to know you for more of it. That makes me a pretty lucky guy I think.”
Sebastian’s breath hitches.
“Lewis,” he breathes out. “I’m glad I get to keep knowing you too.”
Lewis’ jaw is starting to ache from how widely he has been smiling for the duration of this call. God, he was so gone for Sebastian. He tells Sebastian as much and Sebastian laughs, light and joyful like the first spring breeze dancing through a city. Lewis wants to make Sebastian laugh like this, always.
“I’ll see you soon enough, liebling. Thursday, right?”
“Thursday,” Lewis confirms.
Just a few more days. Sebastian was still on his sightseeing driving tour through Denmark and Germany on his way back from Race of Champions, and Lewis was flying off to the UK for the 2023 car launch soon. But once Sebastian was back and Lewis had settled his commitments, they would get a week or so to spend together before Lewis had to leave for pre-season testing.
“Okay,” Sebastian replies softly.
“Okay, call me again when you have the time. I love you, Seb.”
“I love you too, Lewis. I’ll call you tonight. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Lewis waits for the tone to beep before he removes his phone from his ear. He places his dishes in the dishwasher and gets Roscoe’s leash from where it is hanging in the closet.
“Come on, Roscoe! Time for a walk!” Lewis calls out, waking Roscoe up from his nap on the balcony.
And a trip to the supermarket, he thought to himself. After all, Sebastian might need some aftershave.