#mytinycrazymind

Hello everyone, I am super sorry for only uploading now. I was very stressed the last couple of days with work and Uni. I hope the next part won't take as long to get to you.

Please let me know what you think. It really helps me a lot.

Not edited as usual. Enjoy 🥰

Words: 4.5k

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

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Mission Media – Part 4

“Are we all ready? Is everything set up? Can someone please check where the first driver pairing is?” Keep calm they said. Well, they never mentioned that your first time in front of the camera would be this nerve-wracking. It wasn’t just the fact that there was so much to think about when filming a video for a YouTube channel like the F1 channel if it was only that you could actually maybe deal with it. No, schedules had changed last minute and the two pairings you were supposed to film today changed. The only problem was that you had no clue who would be walking into the room in hopefully the next five minutes. Julia just said that she would send the first possible pairing and that’s all you knew. So you sat in your chair in front of the camera. Dylan and Linda smiling at you from behind it.

“It’s going to be great, Y/N. Most of the drivers already know and are quite chill around you. So no worries. This will be an easy thing.” And Dylan was probably right. As soon as you’d finish the first video you might actually feel a lot more confident in yourself and the idea. But until you had at least once done it with two drivers next to you and the camera properly filming you needed to freak out a little.

The door to the room you were in opened and in walks Charles with his media team following him. He looked very excited and his face even lit up when he spotted you sitting in your chair.

“I can’t believe that I get to be the first one.” You were so thankful for him to be one of the first two drivers. The weight on your shoulders almost instantly got lighter when Charles hugged you and sat down on the chair to the right of you.

“I know it seems like yesterday I started all of this and now I sit here with you.” You had only seen Charles this morning when he and Charlotte arrived at the track. Charlotte had asked to meet for coffee when you both got here and nothing sounded like a more relaxed start to your day than coffee and snacks at Ferraris hospitality. The Italians do know how to make the perfect coffee after all. The door opened again and Pierre Gasly walked in behind a couple of people that you guessed were his media people. He came up to you and hugged you before waving at everyone else and greeting them. So far you had not met Pierre in Person. Last race in Zandvoort you had met his team colleague Yuki briefly when walking around the paddock with Brad and Max but Pierre wasn’t around at the time.

“So nice to meet you and thank you for taking the time to film with us.” You said when you both sat down on your chairs.

“No worries. From what I’ve been told it sounds like a lot of fun.” He high-fived Charles. You knew the two of them were good friends and they both were super relaxed, that combined with the fact that they both seemed excited to film with you made you calm down a lot before the cameras were even rolling. And as soon as you had started filming all your doubts were long forgotten.

“Hello everyone, welcome to our ‘Driver vs. Driver – Challenge’ where over the next couple of weeks we will have all the drivers compete against a driver from another team. In the end, we will add up the points from both drivers of the teams and the final episode will be a head-to-head of the two highest-scoring teams. Thanks to you guys we came up with this brilliant idea for the second half of the season as you send some pretty decent ideas to my Instagram.” The more you talked the safer you felt and the easier everything seemed. There wasn’t much space for errors and you knew that but you had rehearsed this part millions of times over the last couple of days and your team made it very easy for you as the only thing you had to worry about was getting the text right. Everything else they dealt with.

“With me here today is Charles.” You pointed at him and he waved at the camera. “And on my other side Pierre.” Just like Charles, he waited until you said his name to waved to the camera. You started explaining the rules of the competition.

“Ok, so the challenge is super easy to understand. You, as in the drivers, will play three games against each other. Each game will be played three times. For the first game, because it is the easiest, you will get one point if you win, which makes a maximum of three points possible to collect in game one. Game two will be a little harder so two points per round will be rewarded for a total of six points. And in the last game, you can collect three points per round won. At the end of this video we will have a winner for the head to head but as I already mentioned your points will be added up with your team-mate and maybe we will get the chance to see you guys again in the final.”

You had told Charles in the morning that you were nervous and scared that you would mess up. The angel he is whenever he thought that you needed a little help he would make a joke or say something else that would make you instantly feel better and get back on track. Pierre was literally just following the lead and joined in on the fun. The half an hour you had with Charles and Pierre felt like only a couple of minutes. Game one for them were three questions of F1 trivia which Pierre won by getting two right while Charles only guessed one correctly. The second game you found they somehow enjoyed the most. Three rounds of ‘Guess Who? – F1 Edition’ later Charles had won two of the three rounds, Pierre was only able to secure the last round for him. This was also the verdict of the last game ‘Beer Pong’ or as the two drivers decided to rename it ‘Water Pong’ because obviously as drivers they couldn’t drink and the game was played with water anyways. It ended with 11 points for Charles and 7 for his opponent Pierre. But way more important for you was that they had enjoyed filming with you. There is nothing worse than drivers not enjoying stuff like this and doing it with an ‘idgaf-mood’ and you knew very well that filming days like that would come up eventually.

“Thank you Y/N. This was so much more fun compared to everything else on media day. I am really sad we can only do this once.” Pierre hugged you goodbye and paid you with the biggest smile ever. That’s essentially the best thing he could have said.

“I second what he said. Will I see you later?” Charles asked while hugging you as well.

“I am not sure. Max asked me to have dinner with him Brad and Checo but I’ll definitely see you tomorrow morning for coffee.” He nodded and together they left the room with their media teams. All of a sudden everything was quiet. You turned around to look at Dylan, Linda, and the rest of the team. Everyone was just smiling which was mirroring how you felt about this first video that you just managed to get done. Editing and getting it ready to be able to post it would be the larger amount of work but you weren’t worrying about that at the moment.

“Ok one down, another one to go for today.” Just as Dylan finished the sentence the door to the room opened again and before you can spot the driver you can see his trainer who is walking a little in front of him. Your heart jumped a little knowing that this second video you were filming for the day was going to be even easier.

“Max!” You almost instantly pulled him into a hug. If there was any stress remaining on your shoulders it would be gone now. It had warmed your heart to hear Max say that he treats you like a sister because that’s truly how you felt about him as well. The dynamic you two shared and how you knew he’s always had your back was just like that from a brother-sister pairing.

“I can’t believe that I will be in the first video. Seems like yesterday we sat on the rooftop terrace creating your Instagram account.” Max let you go just so Brad could have a go at hugging you.

“Well the fans will decide which video they want to see first but filming wise we just finished with Charles and Pierre and it went great.” Max sat down in one of the three chairs in front of the camera while his team took the sofa and chairs that were for everyone behind the camera.

“I’m glad. You sounded really nervous this morning in the voice message.” You had sent him a message this morning when you left the hotel just to rant and get things off of your mind. Sometimes he’d listen to them and sometimes he wouldn’t which was totally ok for you. You’d usually start with a simple text like ‘rant incoming’ or ‘my brain needs to vomit’ so Max knew if it is important or just for if he’s got some free time on his hands.

“Yeah, to be fair I had last night on my mind. Mixed with the millions of emotions from filming the first videos today it was just a moment of utter weakness. But as soon as I saw Charles and then had met Pierre I got confident.”

“Well, this video will be even better. Because I am here.” Everyone started laughing. “Do we know who I am going against or not?” To be fair I was as curious as Max. I didn’t know either just like for the first video.

“Things got a little messed up with the schedules so we don’t know who Julia managed to get on board last minute. Initially, it should have been Lando against Yuki and Sergio against Antonio today. I will be as surprised as you for whoever walks into that door.” Just as you finished your sentence the door to the room opened yet again. A crew of papaya walked into the room and on the inside, you were praying that following the handful of people would be Lando and Charlotte. You were not ready for Max to come into conflict with Daniel after last night. Although for yourself you were kind of hoping to see the curly-haired Aussie walk through the door. Soon enough you first spotted Harry then Michael and lastly the person who was entering the room last. Daniel.

• • •

To say that the atmosphere was tense would have been an understatement. You had left Daniel standing outside in front of the restaurant and returned inside. The seating order had shifted and you spotted a free spot between Max and Charlotte. You greeted Max’s girlfriend Kelly who was sitting to his left and hugged Charles who was obviously sitting on the other side of Charlotte. The other people who you didn’t know as well you greeted with a wave. A little bit further down the table, you could make out Checo with his girlfriend or wife you weren’t really sure and what you assumed was his child. Carlos was sat opposite him with his girlfriend. They were all greeting you as well before you finally sat down.

Seconds after Daniel walked into the room again. Max looked at you while Charlotte was sending Daniel non-friendly glares. “It’s ok.” you whispered so that only the two of them could hear you. Daniel sat down next to Michael who you hadn’t even seen earlier when you arrived and Blake who was now sitting in the spot that was originally designated for you. And for the rest of the evening you tried your best to be civil about everything. Pizzas were ordered and eaten and the conversations with everyone were just like with your friends. By now you had met almost all of the people Max was regularly hanging out with so they had gotten used to you and you had started to get to know them. Slowly people were paying their bills and leaving one after another. You were so focused on your conversation with Charlotte and Kelly though you hadn’t really realized most of the people leaving. Soon it was only Max, Kelly, Charles, Charlotte and you sitting together and laughing about random things, memories from childhood, school, and growing up in general. Overall you all had grown up around the same time, plus-minus a couple of years for sure but even though you were from different countries some things were actually pretty much the same.

“I am sorry to kill the mood but we need to talk about the, now not anymore, elephant in the room.” You knew what Max wanted to know. After re-entering the restaurant there was thankfully no time to talk about what had happened between you and Daniel outside after Charlotte and Max had left.

“I don’t know what to tell you, to be honest.” You paused to put sentences together in your head that maybe wouldn’t make you sound desperate. “I had hope. And it was stupid I should have not had hope after he kissed me. But it broke my heart. I really actually did like him and I am not one to easily fall for someone.”

“Not to be nosey but did he say why he acted stupid like that?” They were your friends and Max was almost like your brother, especially after what he had said outside to Daniel really warmed your heart so you didn’t see why you shouldn’t tell them. So you did tell them everything Daniel said and obviously your response.

“Girl honestly, good for you! No one should be treated like that. That’s disrespectful. He can’t just kiss you, ignore you for two weeks straight and then think just because he confesses his apparently unconditional love you forgive him.” Kelly was right and after all that was exactly what you had told him but your feelings were still there.

“I know and as I said I told him that as well. But you have no idea how much it hurt me having to say that to his face and how it broke my heart to not be able to just kiss him again right outside that freaking door.” You looked over to the entrance and remembered how his eyes were watery when you walked past him and left him standing alone.

“Look what he did to you. That is not how you treat a woman. If he wants you he needs to work for it. Now even harder than ever before because I promise you he might be or might have been my friend but family before friends. If he wants to lay another finger, god, even only another eye on you he needs to go past me.” It warmed your heart not only that Max said words like these to you but also that Charles agreed and supported what Max had to say. Charlotte and Kelly both made a plan to distract you for a little bit whenever possible. Charlotte would invite you for breakfast, lunch, and races and Kelly would join whenever there was time for her to do so.

After another half hour, Max had graciously paid for all of your dinners and offered to drop you off at your hotel. So you had said your goodbyes to Charlotte and Charles and were now sitting in the car with Max and Kelly. You were casually chatting and Max asked for your hotel. He paused before turning on the car and driving off. It wasn’t a normal pause. That’s how good you’ve gotten to know him over the past few weeks. The pause was different than others that had happened during the evening. The radio was quietly playing some music when it hit you.

“It’s the McLaren hotel isn’t it?” Max looked at you through the review mirror. Debating whether or not to say something. Nothing he could have said that would have made the situation any better.

“Yeah, but some of your media crew is staying there as well, right? So no worries you are not alone this time and I don’t think that he’s got big enough balls to come straight up to you to talk about it. He did look pretty hurt after all.” You didn’t want Max to know but it did break your heart a little more that you hurt him. Ok fair enough he hurt you first. But your intention was not to do the same to him but to show him to not play with a female's feelings. Anyone’s feelings for that matter. Standing outside with him you had carefully picked your words and you hoped that he had gotten the message. It was not an ‘I hate you and I don’t want anything to do with you ever again'. Oh no. You could have never. You needed him to go even further express his feelings, put everything on the line, show you that he won’t just be too scared in the future. You wanted him but not without him going the extra mile. But you couldn’t tell all of this to Max. He was really just like a brother and he would protect you from whatever, apparently, so you also had to behave like a sister and sometimes just not tell him everything. You hoping that maybe in the future you could give Daniel a second chance was one of the things that for now you had to keep to yourself. And also right now there was no reason why he should know. Daniel hadn’t said a single word to you all night. There were a few occasions when you had talked to Michael and Blake as well, but there was a little bit of space between the three of you and you knew exactly that it was coming from you not knowing how much you could be and enjoy time with Blake and Michael without being too close to Daniel.

Max had stopped the car in front of the Hilton Garden Inn and gotten around the car to open the door for you.

“You can call me if you need me ok?” You just nodded and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you.” You let him go and blew Kelly a kiss before turning your back to them and walking into the hotel. It was almost midnight and there weren’t many people walking around. The receptionist greeted you as you walked in but was quickly back to his work when he realized that you went straight for the lift. Your mind automatically had you remember what had happened the last time you had gotten back this late to a hotel that you shared with McLaren. You did hate yourself in a way for it. But you couldn’t stop thinking about it. All the way to your room you somehow wished that it could happen right here right now again. You knew it wasn‘t wrong of you to tell Daniel off for what he did but somehow you wished you didn’t.

Your room was dark and quiet. For a moment you debated whether or not it would be appropriate to just not get changed and go to bed with all your clothes on. That’s what this day had done to you. You turned on the little bedside table lamp and were just about to pick up your pyjama from underneath the pillow when a small neatly folded paper got your attention. You had not spent much time in your hotel room yet but you were pretty sure that this had not been here this morning when you had left the room for the day. You didn’t have the time to come back and get changed after meeting a friend in Milan who you had met years ago at a concert in Munich in Germany and you’ve been really close ever since. You felt confident with your outfit so you didn’t see why you shouldn’t wear it to the dinner as well.

You picked the note up. Probably just a note from the cleaning ladies. Sometimes they would leave little notes for encouragement which you really appreciated. It felt quite heavy as you opened it. That was because it was two papers. Neatly written in a messy but beautiful handwriting. You instinctively folded the papers again and put them aside. You knew who it was from and you could imagine what he had to say. You left it on the bedside table and went to the bathroom to have a shower and get ready for bed. When you came back the neatly folded papers were still laying there almost pulling you in with a magic power no one would believe you if you told them. You put your phone on charge, made yourself comfortable in your bed, set multiple alarms for the next morning, and then finally picked the note up again, unfolded it, and a little unsurely started reading:

Dear Y/N,

I know nothing of what I did will get better just by me saying sorry a million times (although I totally would if that was what you wanted me to do). I was an idiot and I do realize that now. My parents raised me better than that and my mum would really be disappointed in me if only she knew. I am not sure why I did what I did and please believe me when I say that I regret every single decision I made regarding you within the last two weeks since we met. I now know what I want and even though I don’t think it will make things better I can now tell you right here right now that it is YOU who I want. No matter how long it will take for you to forgive me I will be waiting and trying to make it up to you. Let this letter be the first step. This is me telling you everything I didn’t say.

The second I walked into the press conference room that day after the summer break I only had eyes for you. I didn’t know what it was and I still don’t know to this day but I was stars stuck by you which is something that never had happened to me before. I had talked to Max and Charles right after and they had laughed about me when I had told them that you were special and different from all the other girls I had spent time with over the last couple of years. They didn’t take me seriously but Charlotte did and she told me to make a move. She said if it really was something special I would feel it and I would know right away. To be fair, she probably thought about something else and not a kiss when she told me to make a move – I could have also just started talking to you and I even tried in the car on the way back to the hotel but I was nervous and you had such a great conversation with Michael and Blake so I didn’t want to destroy that moment of making friends for you.

Back at the hotel when you hugged me it just instantly felt right. It was like you were meant to be in my arms and oh god how your head just perfectly fit on my shoulder so I could lean my cheek against your temple. Let me tell you, at that moment heaven truly was a place on earth for me. Heaven is you pressed against my chest and me holding you tight.

When later that night you had come home with Blake and Michael, who had sent me the picture of you with Max, Brad, himself, and Blake on the sofa, a couple of minutes prior to you arriving back at the hotel, I just had to give it a shot. The plan was not to kiss you but when I saw you after you had opened the door to your room so cute in your pyjama and all ready to go to bed I just couldn’t hold it back. I felt an urge that I had not felt before in a very long time. Actually, I am trying to be honest here . . . so I don’t think that I had ever felt an urge like that night ever before to kiss a girl. Not with my Ex and not with any other girl I ever kissed. The kiss was the most perfect thing to ever happen to me and yet again I felt like heaven was a place on earth. I didn’t want it to end and something in me just wanted to take you to bed wrap you in my arms and not let you go until the morning. I knew you were right though. I had to go back to my room. I needed the sleep for the next day. Little did you know that sending me back to my room, although the only right option in this situation, didn’t change a thing. I was up all night feeling you still on my lips and every time I closed my eyes I could feel you still in my arms. My hand was so comfortably on your hip and the other fitting perfectly on the side of your neck, my thumb could reach your cheek so I could caress it.

The way you held me, I wish I had just thought more clearly about it and not projected something onto you before even saying a single word to you. I was wrong I admit, numb from your kiss, and while I was so worried about what all that meant to me you were slipping away through my fingertips. I wish that I could wake up now and someone would tell me that this is all a bad dream and we are still in Belgium. I wish I could rewind time back to the start of all of this. But I can’t. Sadly. I know I am the only one to blame for all of the mistakes I made these past couple of days so please just know that I would sacrifice a lot, if not everything, to make this right.

I know me saying all of this won’t make what I did disappear, but I do hope that this is a solid start to my long road of redemption.

Love, Daniel (514)

Part 5

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Hope you liked it 🧡 this was a little bit of flashback episode haha :)

Also a Cookie for the person who can first guess which song I was inspired by when writing Daniel’s letter 😁

Hey guys, I am super sorry for being MIA the last couple of weeks. Uni has been killing me and I had to work a lot. I tried to make it up to you by having a little longer Chapter this time.

I really don't know if anyone is still reading this story but you know writing has been an escape for me today so here you go :)

I am literally sitting in the Uni library writing this. Probably should have been doing stuff for Uni instead but you know 🤷‍♀.

Hope you enjoy it. Feedback as usual is very welcome.

Words: 4.8k

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

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Mission Media - Part 12

It had been Monday morning and Daniel had left your room right before the doctor came to check on you. Not just the airline but also Julia was very strict on traveling while you’re sick. The deal you had made with Julia when she had come by on the way to the airport to maybe take you with her if the doctor clears you was that if you didn’t show a temperature you would be allowed to go home. In any other case, you had to stay at the hotel for as long as it took to get rid of the fever.

Obviously, you did not get cleared by the doctor to fly out that Monday morning with everyone else. You still showed a significant fever. Julia had left the room when the doctor knocked and asked to come inside. It was only a handful of minutes later that he had left and you were yet again alone in your room like you were going to be for the next couple of days. To say that you had been sad would have been an understatement.

You had texted Max who had asked for an update as soon as possible. He had already boarded his private jet to Monaco but was waiting on block as he had apparently offered Julia to take you with him so you wouldn’t have to fly commercial while being sick if you get cleared. He had been more sorry for you that you weren’t allowed to leave than the fact that you had him waiting at the airport. You apologized to him a couple of times but he always refused the apologies because, according to him, there was nothing you needed to apologize for.

Shortly after Julia had walked back into your room. You knew very well that there was no way you’d be able to change her mind. Julia stood next to your bed, where you were sitting right in the middle of it with your legs crossed, cuddled up into the duvet Daniel had used the previous night when the door to your room had opened a second time and Daniel had walked in with his suitcase and had put it next to yours on the floor next to your empty wardrobe. You had obviously already packed because you had hoped that you’d get declared fit to fly.

“Daniel wants to stay with you. We can't extend both rooms, unfortunately only one is possible as the hotel is still fully booked. He said it's fine with him if you share the room. Is that okay for you too?” You instantly thought back to Sunday night when Daniel had asked you to be his girlfriend but it still had surprised you that he had approached Julia to stay with you and risk getting sick himself.

So he had stayed with you and for the next two days until Wednesday morning, the two of you had spent your time in bed watching random movies most of which were Disney films. About two times each day you had watched Daniel train with Michael over FaceTime and had showered him with witty comments while sitting in bed eating away on the snacks Daniel had usually ordered for you. The rest of the time you hadn’t watched movies or Daniel work out you had gone on little walks around the neighborhood.

Daniel had made sure that you took your medicine and he had spoiled you to the full giving you all his attention and making sure that you had gradually gotten better, so good that when on Wednesday at noon the doctor had come to see you he was positively surprised how well you were doing. He almost instantly had handed you a letter that declared you fit to fly. Daniel had already packed both of your suitcases and brought them downstairs while the doctor had still been in your room. You had taken a picture of the letter and sent it to Julia right away. She had been aware of your appointment today and had been waiting for a response from you.

Julia: Great! I am really delighted to know that you are well again.

Julia: Daniel has all the details for the flight. See you in Austin.

That was all she had said. When had she had the chance to talk to Daniel? But you didn‘t think more into it. One last time you had looked around the room to check if Daniel had not forgotten anything. The last thing remaining in the room had been your carry-on and loads of happy memories from over the past couple of days you had spent there.

---

“Why in the hell can we just walk through security like that?” You looked back at Daniel how just picked up carry-on from the scanner. “There is no way this is normal. Have you seen how many other people are waiting at the Terminal?” Daniel came up to you and put his arm around your shoulder. This was indeed not a normal security check. The only thing that really got checked were your bags you on the other hand just walked through a door to the other side of the bag scanner and were free to go.

“This is Staff and Important Persons Check Lock. And for today you belong to the category of important people.” Daniel guided you through a part of the airport that you didn’t even know existed. There were barely any people around except for staff. You were busy looking around the unfamiliar place when the two of you came to a stop and Daniel started talking to someone.

“May I see Confirmation of flight Mr. Ricciardo?” Daniel got out his phone and showed the men a document on there. You had no clue what was going on and just smiled at the guy as friendly as possible. The man nodded and gestured for you to follow him. Daniel took your hand again after letting it go to get out his phone. The door in front of you opened and allowed you to enter the airfield. There were a handful of small private jets parked there. Two of them were open, the stairs let down as if they were waiting for people to enter. Next to one of the two you could see a trolley with two suitcases on it. It took you a couple of seconds to realize that one of the said suitcases was yours. A member of staff came out of the tiny plane standing next to it and picked both yours and Daniel's suitcase up to put them in the plane.

You stopped for a second which Daniel realized which made him turn over to you and smile at you bigger than you had ever seen him smile.

“There were no commercial flights available to where we need to go so I thought this might be better than having one or even two stopovers.” He pulled you close and hugged you tight. This was crazy. You’d be sharing a private plane with Daniel to go back home. Never in a million years had you thought that you’d get the privilege to travel privately.

When Max had offered to take you with him a couple of days ago and it didn’t work out it kind of broke your heart as you had looked forward to flying with his private jet. But now you’d have one to yourself.

“This is awesome! How the hell did you convince Julia and can you please show me your ways because I think they might come in handy and some point.” Daniel's smile disappeared for a second before he looked at you with his best puppy dog eyes.

“Well, Julia might or might have not actually suggested flights that had stopovers so I decided to treat myself to this.” He had not.

“Daniel I really appreciate it but you didn’t have to. I mean what’s one stopover compared to the freaking cost of a private plane?” Daniel let you go and grabbed your hand again. He pulled you towards the plane but before entering he handed the marshal his phone to take a picture of the two of you.

You were a little disappointed that he didn't respond to you and just ignored you. You couldn't change it now anyway, but he could have at least taken you more seriously. Nonetheless, you smiled at the picture. Daniel had pulled you in close again and while his hands were around your torso he let his head rest on top of yours while yours was resting against his shoulder.

He thanked the marshal and had you walk up the stairs following closely behind. The pilot greeted you and showed you to one of the double seats in the back of the plane while a very friendly stewardess handed you a drink. To be honest there weren’t many seats in general, twelve maybe 15 in total. Daniel sat down next to you and looked at you while the cabin crew was getting ready for departure.

“Sorry for rushing you along but even if this is a private plane we still have to stick to a schedule.” Ok, that actually made sense. Now you felt a bit bad for judging him so quickly. “I get that you would have been alright with a stopover flight. I usually wouldn’t mind either but this one time I just wanted to make things super comfortable for you and maybe also because this is actually the first time we get to travel together and I just didn’t want others to see us because this is new and I know that I have to get used to the fact that I actually have a girlfriend now and you might also need to adjust.”

Good points by him. It was nice after all of him to do this for you and spend the money for the two of you to be able to enjoy some time alone after both of you were kind of sad that the time in the hotel had come to an end. Since after the race, everything had just been about you and him and getting to know each other and neither of you was ready for this little bubble of yours to get popped.

“Thank you.” You sad and put your hand on his cheek, caressing it softly with your thumb. “I really appreciate it.” Daniel slowly leaned forward and placed a soft kiss onto your lips. You had no idea how you would ever get used to that. Every time Daniel had kissed you since that Sunday it felt like a million butterflies going crazy in your tummy. Not like you were complaining though. There were definitely worse things.

“Ready of departure.” The pilot's voice softly announced over the intercom.

---

“Home sweet home.” Daniel said dropping down on his sofa. You left your suitcase next to his next to the door and slowly walked into the apartment. Daniel was in the living room where you joined him and instantly your jaw dropped. The view was stunning.

The Mediterranean spread out in front of you. In the harbor in front of the house, there were big yachts and smaller speedboats. In the distance in the sea, you could see a cruise ship and a little behind it a freighter. Sunsets and sunrises must be amazing from up here. You hadn't even noticed that you had walked out onto the balcony and were now leaning against the railing, a light breeze making your hair fly a little. You closed your eyes and took several deep breaths in and out. Whatever was left in your body from your flu was now cleansed to the core by the clear air in your lungs.

You could feel two arms wrapping around the middle of your body from behind. You leaned back a little against Daniel's chest. Daniel came a few steps closer to you so that you could put your head in the small hollow between his shoulder and neck. He planted little kisses on your temple, forehead, and neck.

“Welcome home.” He whispered into your ear as if it was a secret just between the two of you. “It’s been a while since I shared my living space with someone but you have no idea how excited I am to have you with me now.” He grabbed your torso and turned you around so you were now facing each other. Your smile was so huge you were pretty sure you could for once outshine Daniel.

“I don’t think that you truly understand how happy I am right now.” You said while Daniel was rubbing little circles with his thumbs onto your hips. He had done that before. Back in Istanbul the first night the two of you spend together after the race. You were super tired but couldn’t fall asleep because your head was hurting so badly. So Daniel tried to calm you and relax you by rubbing little patterns on your hips and as much as you first thought that it was rubbish it had actually worked as you concentrated on his movement so much you forgot about your headache and within less than 10 minutes you had been asleep.

"Yes, I think I can pretty much relate to how you're feeling right now." Daniel put one of his hands on the side of your face and pulled you close to him. Your lips touched and as if by remote control they moved in the same rhythm. You deepened the kiss, wrapped your arms around Daniel's neck, and pulled yourself even closer to him, which was almost impossible since your bodies were closer than ever before.

You were interrupted by a ringing in the background. It came from the living room. Reluctantly, Daniel let go of you and with a last velvet kiss on your forehead, he ran back into the flat. You could hardly keep yourself on your feet. Your knees were soft and you couldn't believe that this was really your life right now.

Daniel had taken such good care of you in Istanbul and of course, he had kissed you every now and then, but never like this. Probably also to be a bit careful and not to get sick himself. He also took his vitamins every day to prevent this and to be able to be with you.

Your gaze was directed out to the sea when Daniel's voice brought you out of your own world in your head.

"It's your phone." He handed you your bag, which contained your mobile phone. It was still ringing and before you could get it out of your bag, you could see Julia’s name on the screen.

"Hey Julia, funny I was just about to call you too."

Until now you never really had weeks between races where you didn't have much to work on. Only once did you get to go home and relax for a few days. Of course, you still had to do a few things. And that's how it is this time too. Julia was happy that you were well again and ready to work.

“The next few days you should post a bit about your day. What you did, where you went, and how you liked Monaco.” That was what she said. While Julia just wanted to see good content about the week, your goal was to hide the fact that you were here with Daniel as much as possible and for as long as possible. So your solution was to meet other people. Of course, Daniel could come too, but you didn't want it to be obvious that the two of you were now in a relationship.

Max even lived in the same house as Daniel which made it super easy to drop in on him and Kelly. Daniel, unfortunately, had to fly straight to London on Thursday evening to prepare for the next triple header at the MTC in Woking and do a few laps in the simulator.

At first, it was strange to be alone in his flat but you got used to it pretty quickly.

After spending the day with Daniel, Max, and Kelly on Wednesday and Thursday, you met up with Charlotte on Friday, who took you on a sightseeing tour of the city for Instagram.

Saturday you had a dinner date with Charlotte and Kelly until then you spent most of your time on the balcony with your MacBook on your lap. While watching the latest ‘Driver vs. Driver Challenge’ video from Monday, you also had to answer some emails and plan further content. It was also time to think about the seasonal content for Christmas. Together in a video call, Julia, Adrian, Dylan and you thought about how you would like to do the Secret Santa video this year and perhaps some other holiday-related content as well.

After the call, you had a bit of time to prepare the next content for Sunday and Monday. Of course, the fans could again decide which video they wanted to see from those that had not managed to win a vote so far.

In the evening, you went to a fancy restaurant with the girls. You had never eaten so well and probably so expensively in your life. But it was an all-around successful day. You didn't even notice that Daniel wasn't there. When you came home after dinner, it already kind of felt like your own flat.

Kelly had invited you to join her and Max, so you weren't so alone. You accepted the invitation but wanted to change into more comfortable clothes. Besides, you couldn't risk ruining the few fancy clothes you had with you in any way.

You had knocked on Max and Kelly's door and were waiting for someone to open it. Behind the door, you could hear a little girl's voice before the door opened. Kelly opened the door slowly, Max's cats curled around her feet and she held her daughter Penelope in her arms.

"Hey, come in." Penelope grinned at you and waved her little hand at you. For some reason unknown to you, you were very good with small children. It put a smile on your face to be surrounded by them. There was nothing more honest than the love and affection of a small child. Already when you had met Max and Kelly on Wednesday evening together with Daniel you had met Penelope and you had a lot of fun together. She was a bit shy at first but that was quickly forgotten when you started to play with her.

"Baby P, say hello to Y/N" Penelope stretched her arms out to you and beamed at you. Kelly looked at you questioningly which you barely noticed. You had already reached for Penelope and lifted her out of Kelly's arm.

"Come in and go through to the living room. Penelope should be in bed by now but Max isn't too strict about bedtime when I'm not here." Together with Penelope in your arms and the cats that were now wrapped around your legs you walked through to the living room where Max was sitting on the sofa playing with his mobile phone.

"Hey, did you miss us already?" Max made room for you next to him and hugged you from the side. He nudged Penelope from the side, which made her laugh.

"Kind of disappointed to know you’re thinking that I would miss you. I didn't miss you, I missed the little Miss P." Max made a sad puppy face and let go of you. He pretended to be offended which made Penelope laugh again.

"I thought it would be weirder without Daniel around. But somehow I got used to it quite quickly. We've always talked on the phone in the evenings and mornings so far and sure I miss him but I could get used to calling Monaco 'home'." Penelope had laid down on your chest and you played lightly with her hair while you talked to Max. While you were talking to Max, you didn't even notice that Kelly had left the room for a moment to get change. You only noticed when she sat back down next to Max.

"I'm glad to hear that you like it here. It's true, in Monaco you can really feel at home quickly and it's usually quite warm which is a major plus point." You had to laugh a little. After Belgium, Sochi, and Istanbul, a bit of sunshine really was nice. Your body also thanked you for finally being in a warmer environment.

"By the way, I'm also glad to hear that Daniel is not behaving like an ass anymore, well at least so far. I saw him on Sunday after the race. I was at your hotel, wanted to see how you were doing. Daniel did so much persuasion with Michael and Julia that they finally allowed him to stay with you probably only because they were running out of arguments and were fed up with him. I was only there for a short time but you were asleep and didn't want to disturb you so I went straight back with Julia and spent the evening with Michael and Blake." That was new information that was not yet available to you so far. So Daniel had to heavily persuade both Michael and Julia to let him stay with you. "I think he can be really good for you. And since I assume you talked about what you couldn't tell me, I hope he takes it to heart."

You hadn't spent too much time alone with Daniel yet, but the days you had so far promised a lot. You couldn't even put into words how happy you were with him at the moment. And to be in Monaco, directly involved in his life and he trusted you so much, he even left you alone at his home after only one day really radiated a positive feeling for the future.

"I think we are on the right track. Of course, we still have a lot of work to do. I mean, our relationship didn't start off so great initially. But I think we both want this relationship to work. I know I want it more than anything else on this planet and I think Daniel feels the same way." At least that was your hope.

You guys switched the topic and got lost in conversation. Max told you a little bit about the race. Daniel had told you that it had been a mixed bag for him and didn't want to talk about work while you were still sick. It went much better for Max than for Daniel though, which made you happy for him, of course.

You talked a little about the days you had spent with Daniel in Istanbul and what Max had done since then. He had already been in England to prepare for the triple header. Like you and Daniel, he had only just landed back here on Wednesday.

You were so engrossed in conversation that you completely forgot that you still had Penelope on your chest. The little lady fell asleep there and really clung to you. Kelly apologized to you several times but you didn't realize what for. There was hardly anything more beautiful for you and you didn't even really notice it anyway. Kelly took Penelope gently in her arms and brought her to her bed.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?" You got up from the sofa and walked to the door because it was already half past one at night and you just wanted to go to bed.

"No real plans for tomorrow. I'm going to make a few phone calls to friends back home and maybe go for a walk. But that's all. I think I need a day of rest and in the evening Daniel will be back, which I'm very happy about." Max said goodbye. He hugged you and didn't let go for a few minutes.

"I'm really happy that you're well again and that things are going so well with Daniel at the moment. I really hope it stays that way. Even though I don't detest him as much as I did a few weeks ago in Italy, my words were meant seriously. If he hurts you, I'll tear him to pieces." He slowly let go of you and grinned at you. "I'll tell him that again when I see him next time around." Just then Kelly came around the corner and gave you a quick hug. You said goodbye to both of them and headed back to your flat. As soon as you arrived in the bedroom, it took you less than 5 minutes to fall asleep.

The sun was shining on your face and it felt incredible. You could feel Daniel's hand on your back, painting little patterns on your skin again. You opened your eyes in shock but also kind of surprise and turned around in bed. He was really lying behind you with his mobile phone in his hand and a small smile on his face.

"Daniel!" He beamed at you and put the phone next to him on his bedside table. He pulled you close and kissed you. It felt so natural to feel his lips on yours. You put some space between the two of you and looked into his eyes.

"Don't get me wrong I'm super happy you're here but shouldn't you come home tonight?"

"We got everything done in time yesterday and then I noticed there's an early flight I could be back in Monaco with at seven this morning." You looked at the clock on your bedside table. It was indeed already ten o'clock. "Of course, I didn't think twice about that. Lando was so nice and drove me to the airport this morning at the break of dawn. And here I am." You didn't expect Daniel until the evening, which made it even nicer.

"I want to ask you something while we’re at it." He sat up straight beside you. One of his hands was still on your hip, the other arm was pinned under you. "Do you think it would be alright with Julia if you worked you know a little time-shifted?"

"What do you mean time-shifted?" you were a little confused as to what he meant.

"Well, I would fly to New York tomorrow and do some promotional stuff for McLaren. Of course, I would be very happy if you could come with me. Katja from our travel department needs an answer by noon at the latest. Until then, she can block a seat for you next to me on the plane." You knew, of course, that you would have flown to the United States of America next week anyway, but going there with Daniel a few days earlier would be incredibly great. Without saying another word, you picked up your phone from the bedside table where you had left it to charge before falling asleep last night and texted Julia. Thick and bold 'HELP' and 'ASAP' at the beginning of the message, hoping she would reply as soon as possible.

"Now we have to wait and see. But I don't think that it would be a problem. I mean I would be here anyway and not in the main office." Daniel took the phone from your hands and placed it next to your pillow on the bed. He turned you both so he was now hovering above you pressing himself up on his arms and began to kiss you. With your arms around his neck, you pulled him closer to you. Daniel leaned on his elbows now and kissed your neck and also placed a few soft kisses on your neckline before slowly moving down. You could hardly breathe calmly. Your fingers were now tangled in his hair and your legs curled around his waist.

Your breathing became more and more irregular as Daniel lost himself in your body. He had now reached your belly. Kissed it and left little patterns on your hips with his thumbs as always.

The message tone from your phone, which was lying right next to your ear now, literally snapped you out of a trance. Daniel let go of you and grinned at you.

"It looks like you and I will be flying to New York together tomorrow."

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I am sorry it's a bit of a filler chapter.