summary: after being dumped for âbeing bad luckâ, you donât expect that drowning your sorrows will lead to getting married with a fellow heartbroken soul
a/n: Surprise! I am still working on my Vegas fics! Itâs justâŚthereâs only so many ways you can get accidentally married in Vegas and Iâd like to make them all unique
a/n2: this is set in the 2024/2025 seasons
Masterlist
yn
liked by lando, carmenmmundt, oscarpiastri, and 2,111,445 others
tagged: lando
yn:Â 4 years with the best man I know đ§Ąđ§Ą here's to many many more, my love đ
view all comments
user1:Â I love them so much
âłuser2:Â couple goals for real
âłuser1:Â exactly!
oscarpiastri:Â congratulations on four years!
âłyn:Â thanks osc!!
user3:Â I love how lowkey they are?
âłuser4: seriously the best thing a famous couple could be is quietly in love
âłuser5:Â yes!
âłuser3:Â *side eyes certain couples* I completely agree
lando:Â đ§Ąđ§Ą
âłyn:Â đđ
user6: âŚok is it just me or was that veryâŚunderwhelming?
âłuser7:Â no seriously??? She posted so many nice pictures and wrote poetry about him today and the most he's commented is 2 hearts???
user8:Â all men do is disappoint, honestly
user9:Â has anyone else seen ln4fans post?
âłuser10: âŚhow dare they??? yn has been by lando's side for YEARSâŚ
ln4fan
liked by user, user, user, and 728,183 others
ln4fan:Â save my man! This is not his season and I do believe it's all yn's fault! He's had 3 dnfs and a dns in the last 6 races and it's only been the races that yn's been at. He really needs to dump the bad weight
view all comments
user11:Â wow
user12: I couldn't agree more!
user13:Â every single word you just said was wrong actually
user14:Â I've never seen anyone be so extremely wrong in my life really
user15:Â finally someone else is saying this!! I've BEEN saying it for years oh my god
âłuser16:Â I don't know why you're celebrating? Lando and yn have been in love since before he started f1? Like he talks about their unspoken thing all the time
âłuser17: be for real she's totally not fit to be a wag â she's never at the races, she's done nothing to support his brandâŚ
âłuser16:Â she has her own life? She doesn't need to revolve her life around his
âłuser15: but a little more support to him wouldn't be too much to ask?
user18:Â I'm still stuck on the fact that Lando has had so much bad luck lately
âłuser19:Â I went back to see which races she's been at and what lando finished and it's not great
âłuser18:Â what really?
âłuser19:Â he's never scored higher than 7th when yn is at a race â and that was only a single race, more commonly it was 9th or lower
âłnot_lando:Â what?
âłuser18: that's so crazy!
f1gossip
liked by user, user, user, and 1,823,813 others
f1gossip: Trouble in paradise? Fans spotted Lando Norris and long term girlfriend yn ln fighting after his disastrous qualifying today. Is this just a bump in the road or are certain rumors (that state that yn is Lando's bad luck charm) true?
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user20:Â Lando if you make my girl yn cry, I'm gonna make you fight
user21: dump her dump her dump her
âłuser22:Â oh my god get a life
user23: I've been a Lando fan for pretty much his entire career and have watched them grow up togetherâŚI've never seen them act like that
âłuser24:Â no my heart is literally breaking for them
user25:Â are we children of divorce right now?
âłuser26:Â I think we might be
âłuser25:Â đđ
user27: I need more information right now actuallyâŚ
f1gossip
liked by user, user, user, and 1,922,111 others
f1gossip:Â Something must be in that Vegas air â mere hours after Lando and yn were spotted arguing, Alexandra Saint Mleux (Charles Leclerc's girlfriend) was seen storming through the Harry Reid International Airport. Is this the end of another one of the paddock's iconic relationship?
view all comments
user28: I don't know what's happening in Vegas but if it touches either of the lily's I'm hopping on a flight and fisting fighting them myself
âłuser29: mood
user30: ok but we don't actually know if yn and lando are broken up!
âłuser31: dudeâŚthey're totally broken up
âłuser30:Â we don't know that yet! Let me have hope
user32:Â good! I never liked her
âłuser33:Â just say you're jealous and get over yourself
user34:Â petition to ban Vegas forever? I can't take this anymore
âłuser35: SIGNING RIGHT NOW
Private Messages: The Leclercâs
Instagram Stories
user36 responded noooooo this is the worst timeline
oscarpiastri responded did you guys really break up?
user37 responded what do you mean you broke up???
user38 responded FINALLY YOU DROPPED HER
alex_albon responded lily is yelling at me right now what do you mean you guys broke up?
user39 responded this is gonna be good for you
user40 responded girl I'm so sorry
lilymhe responded what happened?? The one race I actually miss
user41 responded omg he actually did it
carmenmmundt responded call me hun
user42 responded was it mutual??
Private Messages: Charles and yn
lasvegasgossip
liked by user, user, user, and 17,222,125 others
lasvegasgossip: word on the street is that a famous but heartbroken athlete got hitched last nightâŚwho could it be?
view all comments
user50: oh my god who's in Vegas this weekend?
âłuser51:Â the raiders and the browns are in town
âłuser52:Â so are the knights and the kraken
âłuser53: and so is f1âŚ
user54:Â so many teams in the city this weekend and yet it could be any athlete that's not playing too
âłuser55:Â I'm more focused on the heartbroken part like who's recently been heartbroken??
âłuser56:Â I mean Lando Norris and yn ln just broke up?
âłuser57: there's like 5 recent breakups with the hockey teams it could be
âłuser58:Â there's no one in the football teams that could be described as heartbroken?
âłuser59:Â there was something weird happening with Charles Leclerc and Alexandra Saint Mleux?
âłuser60:Â so it could literally be anyone?
user61:Â I'm placing money on lando
âłuser62: he does seem like someone who would get spontaneously drunk married
âłuser63:Â drunk?
âłuser62:Â all marriages in Vegas are drunk
f1fan
liked by user, user, user, and 2,822,193 others
f1fan:Â in a shocking turn of events, Lando Norris finishes the 2024 season with a DNF, DNS, DSQ, and a rare DNQ respectively â what a massive disappointment this must be for the British driver that was the favorite underdog of the season
view all comments
user64: HA this is totally because he dumped his biggest support system like a loser
âłuser65: harsh but I agree
user66:Â who do I need to fight?? Like what the hell was that
âłuser67:Â that was KARMA and JUSTICE for yn!!
âłuser68: JUSTICE FOR YNÂ
user69: I justâŚwhat the fuck happened? He was literally catching up to max and then all that shit happened??
âłuser70:Â she probably cursed him or something honestly
âłuser71: seriously! Like did you see how she confirmed the breakup? He was all respectful and sheâŚwasn't
âłuser70: I still cringe when I think about it
user72: the whiplash I get between this post and charles'⌠good lord đ
âłuser73:Â Charles took all of his bad luck and dumped it on Lando!
âłuser72:Â for real!
charles_leclerc
liked by maxverstappen1, scuderiaferrari, oscarpiastri, and 2,778,445 others
charles_leclerc:Â what an amazing end to the season â thank you to Ferrari and to my good luck charm. now it's time to rest and recharge for next year
view all comments
user74: hell yeah!
âłuser75:Â you totally rocked it!
maxverstappen1:Â Congratulations Charles liked by charles_leclerc
âłuser76:Â they still don't follow each other btw
user77:Â fricking amazing to watch this!
oscarpiastri:Â congrats!!
user78:Â good luck charm??? Who??
âłuser79:Â it's not Alex is it?
âłuser78: highly unlikely - it seems like they've broken up. they haven't been seen together since Vegas and while Alex has privated her instagram, the number of posts have gone way down
user80:Â calling it now! Charles is the one who got married in Vegas
âłuser81:Â iconic if true!
user82: 4 wins right in a row? Sexiest thing Iâve ever seen
Private Messages: Charles and yn
charles_priv
liked by notyn, madmax, op81, and 2,945 others
tagged: notyn
charles_priv: spending the winter break with my wife âĽď¸âĽď¸
view all comments
notyn:Â the best winter break I've ever had
âłcharles_priv:Â same chĂŠrie
madmax:Â when did you get married???
âłcharles_priv:Â when I got drunk in Vegas
âłnotyn: not gonna lie I don't remember anything about that nightâŚ
âłcharles_priv: me either
âłmadmax:Â hilarious but congrats
pierre:Â you've been married for months now and are just telling us???
âłcharles_priv: âŚoops?
âłnotyn:Â that's on Charles!
âłcharles_priv:Â chĂŠrie!
âłpierre:Â oh you're perfect for one another
op81:Â awkward but congratulations
âłcharles_priv:Â we would appreciate it if this news doesn't reach Lando
âłop81: yeah that's not going to be a problem, I don't even know who you people are
op81:Â but fyi he's hard key moping
âłnotyn:Â he made his bed
arthur:Â it was great to get to know you! Might have to take your side if you get a divorce
âłcharles_priv:Â Arthur!
âłarthur:Â only one of you 2 made me fresh baked cookies and it wasn't you
âłnotyn: you're welcome arthur đ
âłop81:Â wait cookies are in the table?
âłcharles_priv:Â only for Leclerc's!
âłop81:Â you adopted me so I count! liked by notyn
âłnotyn: he's got a point babe
f1gossip
liked by user, user, user, and 1,182,283 others
f1gossip: romance in the air? Charles Leclerc has been spotted with a new girlfriend in recent weeks â who might this mystery woman be?
view all comments
user83: don't worry guys it's just me
user84:Â who is she????
user85:Â that's so fast?
âłuser86:Â really?
âłuser85:Â it's only been a couple of months
âłuser86:Â a lifetime for him honestly
âłuser87:Â ummm rude??
âłuser88: but fair I feel
user89:Â twitter detectives! Who is she?
âłuser90:Â no idea yet! It's still too new
âłuser89: but I need to know??
user91:Â I don't really care who she is because HE looks so happy with her
âłuser92: he does! And I'm so happy for him
Private Messages: Charles and yn
charles_leclerc
liked by yn, pierregasly, maxverstappen1, and 2,111,203 others
tagged: yn
charles_leclerc:Â that mystery woman happens to be my wife, thank you
view all comments
user93: holy shit PLOT TWIST
âłuser94: I honestly did NOT see this coming
âłuser93:Â it definitely wasn't on my bingo card for the year
maxverstappen1:Â Congratulations again you guys
âłyn:Â thanks max!
user95:Â I'm loving this so much?? Like Lando really dumped her for being bad luck and then Charles is literally dominating this season liked by yn
âłuser96:Â It's even better! He calls her his lucky charm
âłuser95: I can see why!
landonorris: what the hell is this?!?
comment has been deleted by the author
yn: love you too babe! liked by charles_leclerc
user97: did you guys seriously get married in Vegas?
âłyn: we did!
âłuser97: âŚand you're gonna stay married despite it starting in Vegas?
âłyn: well something good had to come from our broken hearts liked by charles_leclerc
âłcharles_leclerc: despite the beginning, you are the best thing that's ever happened to me liked by yn
f1
liked by user, yn, user, and 2,991,988 others
tagged: charles_leclerc
f1:Â This weekend decides it all! Should Charles Leclerc score a single point this weekend, he becomes the 2025 World Drivers Champion â will this be the year the MonĂŠgasque driver takes home the championship? Or will Max Verstappen become a 5x champion?
view all comments
user98:Â Charles! Charles! Charles
âłuser99:Â Leclerc! Leclerc! Leclerc!
user100:Â we're all rooting for you Charles!
yn: it'll be my husband for sure
âłuser101:Â alright there Mrs Leclerc, flexing on us
âłyn: đđ
user102:Â I'm so sat right now
âłuser103:Â BIG SAME
âłuser104:Â it's gonna happen for sure!
charles_leclerc
liked by yn, arthur_leclerc, maxverstappen1, and 3,102,291 others
tagged: yn
charles_leclerc:Â I got to marry my lucky charm all over again
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This ask is so good i had to write it immediately!!
Ohhhhh, heâs the BIGGEST girl dad TRUST!!!!!
girldad!damian whose his heart almost rips out of his ribcage when the doctor confirms the babyâs sex.
girldad!damian who cries, like actual tears when he first hears his babygirl cry out, his fingers clutching yours, a look of absolute awe and adoration on his face as his eyes keeps slipping from her to you.
girldad!damian who is SOOOOOO nervous about becoming a father, wanting to be better than the paternal figures he had in his life. Who buys every single parenting book he can get his hands on, listens to all the podcasts, and reads all the research papers about building and maintaining a healthy relationship with your child.
girldad!damian who canât believe that someone that soft and beautiful and fragile could born from his blood.
girldad!damian who stands over his baby girl the whole time the two of you are in the hospital, making sure she is comfortable and well-rested and fed, only leaving her side to press kisses and whisper sweet nothings into your ear.
girldad!damian who painted every flower and vine on the walls of your daughterâs childhood bedroom, who spent his weekends shopping for cribs and decorations with you.
girldad!damian who sits by his daughterâs crib the whole night when you finally come home from the hospital.
girldad!damian who whispers sweet nothings and promises of the best life to his daughter in Arabic.
girldad!damian who has to fight back tears when she ages out of her first onesie (he keeps them all, washed and neatly folded in a drawer in your closet).
girldad!damian who almost faints when your daughterâs first word is âbabaâ, laughing with a softness youâve never seen in him, even when it was just the two of you.
girldad!damian who waits outside of the kindergarten the whole day because his babygirl asked him to, until he sees her running towards him, ready to tell him all about her day.
girldad!damian who sits front and centre during your daughterâs first recital so she can see him and not get nervous, who has the biggest grin on his face when she dances her part perfectly.
girldad!damian who finds it very difficult to leave the two of you in the morning, tempted to call in sick at the hospital just to spend more time with you.
girldad!damian who absolutely SPOILS his babygirl, because sheâs his favourite princess and she should have everything she wants.
girldad!damian who always has his girl perched up on his shoulders because the view looks better from there.
girldad!damian who brings her to every store that pops in his mind when she is buying her first school bag (she gets two, one of them has wheels, which you are vehemently against but they buy anyway).
girldad!damian who watches as his first dove walks into class, already starting a new chapter of her life, ready to face the world with a determination that reminds him of you.
girldad!damian who almost yells from happiness when you find out youâre pregnant with a girl again.
Thank you so much for the ask!! Pls keep them coming đđ
Pairing: Max Verstappen x Dr. Anastasia "Ana" Wolff (Original Character)
Summary:
Max Verstappen to Mercedes? The paddock is buzzing. The mediaâs in meltdown.
Dr. Anastasia âAnaâ Wolff, Mercedesâ notoriously brilliant, emotionally unavailable lead systems engineer and Toto Wolffâs eldest daughter, is not handling it well. Because Max isnât just a potential signing, heâs the man sheâs been sleeping with in secret for nearly a decade.
And if the rumours are true, and Max Verstappen really is joining Mercedes, then Anaâs carefully compartmentalised world is about to explode.
Warnings and Notes:Â Uh...Susie kinda verbally destroys Toto, mention of child abuse and neglect...
For Housekeeping Reasons, this is fiction. I don't know any of these people in real life. The world portrayed in this story is obviously not real life, and I am sure that none of the people mentioned are anything like I portray them in this piece of fiction. (Apparently, this needs to be said for some of the people in my inbox.)
Let me know if I missed something else, and I'll add it!
As always big thanks to @llirawolf , who listens to me ramble.
Maison Ătoiles, Monaco - 10 October 2025
Ana found Max surrounded by half-open luggage like a man preparing either for a family trip or a strategic retreat.
The lawyers were done. The papers were signed. The hearing still existed somewhere ahead of them in the near future like an official echo, but the worst of the procedural part was finished, and now all that remained was Scotland.
Or rather: Max, Jack, Susie, Toto, the private plane, and whatever version of rural weather Oban intended to weaponize against them this time.
Ana stepped into the bedroom and stopped for one second to take in the scene.
Max was on the floor by the bed with one suitcase open in front of him and another on the bench, folding clothes with the intense concentration of a man who did not trust the universe not to punish him for carelessness in knitwear selection.Â
The crutches leaned nearby. Jimmy sat inside the open suitcase as if contributing. Sassy, more dignified, supervised from an armchair.
Max looked up.
âThere you are.â
Ana set down her bag by the wardrobe. âSo I am.â
âHow did it go?â
The question was simple. Careful, too. Not too careful.
Ana loved him for that in small, stupid increments all day.
She crossed toward him and sat on the edge of the bed, shoes still on.
âThereâll be a hearing,â she said. âBut we signed things. The lawyers donât foresee any issues.â
Max nodded once, accepting the answer and also the words that she wasnât saying, the stuff that she wasnât willing yet to unpack.Â
âThat sounds good.â
âIt is.â
Ana sat there a moment longer, watching him.
He was absurdly domestic like this, which remained one of the more disorienting parts of loving him.Â
The world got Max Verstappen in fragmentsâdriver, headline, provocation, winner, problem, myth.
 Ana Wolff got him half-buried in travel bags, sorting socks with complete seriousness and apparently taking personal responsibility for whether they reached Scotland in weather-appropriate layers.
Max, as if sensing the exact emotional bandwidth available and deciding not to tax it, returned to the suitcase. He picked up something soft and suspiciously small from the bedspread and tucked it into a side compartment with surprising care.
Ana looked down.
Then at the object.
Then back at him.
âAre you packing the stuffed animals?â
Max, caught in the act of carefully transporting soft creatures for a family trip to Scotland, had the decency not to look embarrassed.
âYes.â
Ana watched him place Nova with proper respect, then his lion.Â
She looked at it.
Then at him.
Then back at it.
ââŚDid you finally give it a name?â
Max, caught halfway through deciding whether the lion should be packed near the books or near the headphones, looked down at it as though the question had not previously been a matter of urgent policy.
âI may just call him Lion.âÂ
Ana stared at him. âNo.â
He looked offended. âWhat?â
âYou cannot name a lion âLion.ââ
âWhy not.â
âBecause that is not a name,â she said. âThat is his species!â
Max held the stuffed lion up slightly, regarding it with calm loyalty. âHe knows what he is.â
âThat is not the point.â
He narrowed his eyes at her in the way he did when he knew perfectly well he was being unreasonable and had decided to persist from principle.
âYou name him then.â
Ana took the lion from him. The toy was soft. Better made than average. Sensibly so.
âAt least call him Leo,â she said.
Max made a face immediately. âNo.â
âWhy not?â
âThatâs the name of Charles Leclercâs dog.â
Ana looked down at him. âThat is an extremely specific objection.â
âItâs also valid,â Max said. âAlso my nephew is Lio.â
She opened her mouth. Closed it again. Unfortunately, both points were somewhat reasonable.
Ana looked back down at the lion. âLev,â she said after a second.
Max frowned. âWhat?â
âLev. Itâs Russian for lion.â
That got his attention properly.
He looked at her, then at the toy, then back again.
âLev.â
âYes.â
Max considered the lion in silence for a moment, as if assessing whether the creature in question had the personal gravity to support the name.
Then he nodded once. âOkay.â
Ana handed him back the lion.
âGood.â
Max placed Lev into the case with more care than was strictly necessary, which told her immediately that the lion had been fully accepted.
Then she looked back to the suitcase and realized, with growing disbelief, that he actually packed one of the two suits he owned.
She actually laughed.
Max looked up. âWhat?â
Ana gestured at the open case. âIâm trying to work out what version of Oban exists in your head.â
He narrowed his eyes. âWhatâs that supposed to mean?â
âIt means,â she said, moving to the wardrobe and pulling out a soft sweater she could actually tolerate in the rain, âthat Scotland is not a Riviera extension. It is going to be cold,â Ana said, riffling through her wardrobe. âAnd rainy. And the chances of Jack and I spending a significant amount of time outside getting mud on ourselves are extremely high.â
Max stared at the suitcase. Then at her. Then back at the suitcase again.
âSo,â he said slowly, âI donât need to pack one of the two suits I own?â
Ana looked at him with deep patience. âNo.â
That landed hard enough that he actually sat back on his heel and frowned at the neat little stack of fantasy-Scotland clothes as if they had betrayed him personally.
âI thought maybe there would be dinner?â
âThere will be dinner,â Ana said. âEvery day, if all goes well. Food continues to exist in western Scotland.â
âYou know what I mean.â
âYes. You think we are going to have a formal dinner, in which I wear a cocktail dress, and you need to wear a suit.â
She softened a little, because he did mean it sincerely. He had been imagining some version of the weekend in which they all looked vaguely civilized and went somewhere lovely and he got to participate in family life without looking like heâd been dragged through a hedge first.
The problem was that Ana knew Oban better than that.
Knew the weather. Knew the engines. Knew Jack. Knew herself.
âTell you what,â she said, reaching for her own pile at last. âYou can bring your suit. I can pack one dress and one pair of high heels if we do somehow decide to actually go out for dinner one day.â
Max brightened immediately. âSee.â
She held up one finger.
âBut most of the time,â she continued, âwe get engine grease on ourselves.â
Max let out one breath through his nose. âThat sounds less glamorous.â
âIt is a lot less glamorous.â
âWhat are you people doing in Scotland that results in engine grease?â
Ana folded her hands in her lap with exaggerated calm.
âThat depends on weather, what John has decided is repairable, and whether Jack becomes emotionally attached to a mechanical project within the first six hours.â
Max looked at her for one beat longer.
Then at the suitcase.
Then at the blazer.
And finally said, with deep suspicion, âI am underdressed for none of this and overdressed for all of it.â
âYes,â Ana said. âThatâs most likely.â
He dragged one hand over his face.
Ana watched him for another second and then, because she had by now understood him well enough to see the real thing under the packing choices and the excessively civilized knitwear, asked: âYouâre nervous.â
Maxâs eyes cut back to her immediately.
âNo.â
Ana just looked at him.Â
He looked back.
Then: âMaybe a bit.â
There it was.
She softened at once.
Because yes, of course he was.
John and Sally were not frightening people by any objective standard, but they were important in the way the people who had once held pieces of your childhood tended to remain important forever.Â
And Max, for all his confidence and all the baffling public mythology around him, took the private people seriously. Especially the ones who mattered to her.
Ana pulled out the much more practical clothes she intended to rescue both of them with. Thick socks. Old sweaters. Waterproof layers. Things soft enough to survive weather and work and old Scottish houses with their own opinions about heat retention.
âJohn and Sally are great,â she said, half into the wardrobe.
Max made a noncommittal sound that meant: elaborate.
Ana smiled faintly to herself.
âJohn let me take apart an old motorcycle engine the first time I met him.â
That did it.
She turned back just in time to see Maxâs face shift from mild anxiety into utter disbelief.
âThe first time.â
âYes.â
âHow old were you?!â
âTwelve, I think. Maybe Thirteen?â
He stared at her.
âThat was your first meeting.â
âYes.â
âHe let his daughterâs boyfriendâs teenage daughter dismantle an engine.â
Ana considered that.
âYes. Heâd noticed I was hiding from everyone and brought me into his workshop with tea and a box of tools like he was handling a feral animal. Then he let me take apart half the engine,â she said. âWhich was either extraordinary trust or a complete lack of judgment. Iâm still not fully certain which.â
Max laughed.
âThat sounds right.â
âHe just started talking to me about the bike. Not in the condescending way adults do when theyâre trying to include a girl in a conversation they donât think she really belongs in. Properly. â
There was a pause.
Then Max said, with great seriousness, âI like him already.â
Ana laughed again, quieter this time.
âHe liked that I didnât talk much but had opinions about carburettors.â
Max looked down for a second.
Then back up. âAnd Sally.â
Ana smiled properly now.
âSally is just like Susie. Sheâs competent, funny, impossible to intimidate, and can spot nonsense at forty metres.â
Steady. Warm. Impossible to bluff. Capable of both kindness and devastating observational accuracy before lunch.
Max exhaled once through his nose.
âThatâs⌠a lot.â
âYes,â Ana said. âBut in a good way.â
He looked at her for another second, then admitted, âI just donât want them to think Iâm an idiot.â
Ana tilted her head. âThey already know youâre a racing driver.â
âThatâs not helpful.â
âItâs a baseline.â
He gave her a look.
She stepped closer then, smoothing one hand lightly over the front of his shirt where it had twisted. âTheyâll like you,â she said.
âThat sounds suspiciously easy.â
âIt is easy.â
âYouâre saying that because you love me.â
âIâm saying that because John likes people who are direct, loyal, and practical, and Sally likes people who donât perform nonsense at her.â She looked up at him. âYouâll be fine.â
Max considered this in silence. Then, because he was himself, said, âIâm still bringing one good shirt.â
âThatâs acceptable.â
âAnd proper shoes.â
âThatâs sensible.â
âAnd Lev.â
At that, Ana smiled again.
âYes,â she said. âObviously.â
He looked down at the suitcase, then back at her.
She leaned back on her hands and watched him for a moment longerâthe concentration, the crutch, the way recovery had made him slower but not less himself, the quiet steadiness with which he had simply incorporated her and her complicated cargo into the shape of his life.
âHow was Alastor?â she asked.
Max looked up with immediate betrayal. âCruel.â
âThat sounds promising.â
âIt sounds criminal.â
Ana nodded. âAnd yet you survived.â
âBarely.â
He zipped one compartment of the suitcase shut and then looked at her properly, some of the dry humor easing out of his expression.
âHow are you?â
There it was.
Not how did the lawyers say it went.
 Not what happened exactly.
 Not are you happy in the clean, demanding way people sometimes asked when they wanted you to make emotional clarity for their comfort.
Just: how are you.
Ana looked down at her own hands.
âTired,â she said finally. âStrange. Fine in a way that may or may not be real.â
Max nodded once like that made perfect sense.
Because of course it did.
âCome here,â he said.
She crossed the room without argument, stepping carefully around the suitcase, and he reached for her the moment she was close enough. She let him pull her in, let herself settle between his knees while he sat on the floor like a very injured and slightly overdressed domestic menace.
His arms came around her waist.
Her hands rested lightly on his shoulders.
The room was quiet.
âWe signed things,â she said after a moment, more quietly this time.
Max pressed his forehead lightly against her ribs.
âI know.â
âIt feltâŚâ She paused. âI donât know. Like paperwork trying very hard to catch up with something that had already been true for a long time.â
He looked up at her.
âThat sounds about right.â
She let out a breath that was almost a laugh.
âYes.â And then, because she was too tired not to say the truest thing in the shortest possible form: âIt mattered anyway.â
Maxâs face changed.
Small. Serious. Completely there. âI know,â he said again.
That was the strange mercy of Max. He understood even when she didnât always have the words.
Ana reached down and brushed her fingers through his hair once, absently. âWe need to leave in an hour.â
âThat sounds fake.â
âIt isnât.â
âThatâs unfortunate.â
âYes.â
He tightened his hold on her very slightly and sighed once like a man persecuted by logistics and love in equal measure.
Ana looked over his shoulder at the open suitcase, at the lion now called Lev, at her Nova, at the half-zipped layers of clothing and medicine and weather preparation, and thought with a tired, private kind of wonder that this, too, had become ordinary somehow: lawyers and signatures and grief and claimed names and then coming home to find Max assigning a Russian name to a stuffed lion before a family trip to Scotland.
Life, she thought, had a deeply questionable sense of sequencing.
Still.
She rested both hands now on the back of his neck and let herself stand there for one more minute in the bright disorder of the bedroom, held and tired and named correctly by the people who mattered.
Then she said, âCome on. Finish packing.â
Max looked up at her with immediate offense. âYouâre very bossy for someone who just got back from legal emotional warfare.â
***
Text Messages: Gerhard Berger & Sebastian Vettel
Gerhard Berger: You have a minute?
Sebastian Vettel: For you, yes.
What happened?
Gerhard Berger: Iâm taking over at Red Bull.
Sebastian Vettel: Well.
Sebastian Vettel: That is one hell of a text message.
Gerhard Berger: Yes.
I thought youâd appreciate the direct version.
Sebastian Vettel: I do.
Congratulations.
And also⌠good luck.
Gerhard Berger: Iâm choosing to hear that as sincere rather than ominous.
Sebastian Vettel: It is both.
Gerhard Berger: Fair.
Sebastian Vettel: Still â congratulations, truly.
That is not a small role to walk into.
Gerhard Berger: No.
It isnât exactly a quiet inheritance.
Sebastian Vettel: That may be the understatement of the month.
Gerhard Berger: Possibly the year.
Gerhard Berger: And congratulations to you too.
Sebastian Vettel: On?
Gerhard Berger: Running.Â
Sebastian Vettel: Ah.
Sebastian Vettel: Thank you.
Gerhard Berger: Took you long enough.
Sebastian Vettel: Yes.
A number of people have had that opinion.
Gerhard Berger: It suits you.
Sebastian Vettel: You think so?
Gerhard Berger: Yes.
You care too much to stay on the sidelines forever.
Sebastian Vettel: Thatâs probably true.
Gerhard Berger: Also, it annoys the correct people.
Which is always a healthy sign.
Sebastian Vettel: That is a very Austrian endorsement.
Gerhard Berger: Itâs an experienced one.
Sebastian Vettel: I appreciate it.
Gerhard Berger: Youâll make them uncomfortable.
Sebastian Vettel: I donât mind discomfort if it produces useful change.
Gerhard Berger: Exactly.
Thatâs why Iâm congratulating you.
Sebastian Vettel: You know people are already going to make the story larger than it is.
You at Red Bull.
Me running.
Everyone will try to turn it into symbolism.
Gerhard Berger: Of course they will.
Thatâs their hobby.
Ours is work.
Sebastian Vettel: Iâd prefer that, yes.
Gerhard Berger: Then do the work.
Let them exhaust themselves with interpretation.
Sebastian Vettel: You sound unusually philosophical.
Gerhard Berger: Donât tell anyone.
It will ruin my reputation.
Sebastian Vettel: Your reputation survived the eighties.
I think it can survive one wise sentence.
Gerhard Berger: Rude.
Accurate, but rude.
Sebastian Vettel: How are you feeling about it, honestly?
Gerhard Berger: Like I have agreed to take over a very fast, very expensive knife fight.
Sebastian Vettel: Yes.
That sounds about right.
Gerhard Berger: And you?
Sebastian Vettel: Like I have voluntarily attached myself to a political storm because I still believe institutions can be better than the people running them.
Gerhard Berger: That sounds exhausting.
Sebastian Vettel: Probably.
Gerhard Berger: Still worth doing.
Sebastian Vettel: I hope so.
Gerhard Berger: It is.
Gerhard Berger: For what itâs worth, Iâm glad youâre doing it.
Sebastian Vettel: Thank you.
Gerhard Berger: And for what itâs worth, Iâm glad someone with a conscience is willing to walk into that building and say difficult things out loud.
Gerhard Berger: Also if you win, I expect the first reform to be a ban on idiotic paddock parking.
Sebastian Vettel: That is not currently top of the list.
Gerhard Berger: Weak leadership.
Sebastian Vettel: Iâll add it under âmiscellaneous tyranny.â
Gerhard Berger: Excellent.
Now youâre sounding presidential.
Sebastian Vettel: And youâre sounding like someone whoâs already planning to complain to race control.
Gerhard Berger: Iâm getting into character.
Sebastian Vettel: Congratulations again, Gerhard.
Gerhard Berger: And to you, Sebastian.
Gerhard Berger: Letâs try not to set the whole sport on fire.
Sebastian Vettel: No promises.
Gerhard Berger: Thatâs the spirit.
***
Group Chat: Â The Old Wolves
(Members: Â Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, David Coulthard, Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso)Â
Sebastian Vettel: Well.
Jenson Button: That sounds ominous.
David Coulthard: Or impressed.
Hard to tell with Seb.
Sebastian Vettel: Maybe Red Bull arenât complete idiots after all.
Mark Webber: Steady on.
Fernando Alonso: Impossible.
Nico Rosberg: What happened?
Sebastian Vettel:Gerhard Berger is Red Bullâs new Team Principal.
Jenson Button: Ah.
David Coulthard: Well now that is interesting.
Mark Webber: Okay, yes.
Thatâs not stupid.
Fernando Alonso: No.
That is annoyingly sensible.
Nico Rosberg: You say that like they passed a cognitive assessment.
Sebastian Vettel: Iâm choosing generosity.
Mark Webber: Donât overdo it.
Jenson Button: To be fair, itâs a strong move.
Experienced, credible, not trying to cosplay stability with a PowerPoint.
David Coulthard: Yes.
And not easily bullied by the room.
Fernando Alonso: Or by Helmut.
Mark Webber: Thatâs the more important qualification, honestly.
Nico Rosberg: Anybody heard anything from Max?
Jenson Button: Not directly.
David Coulthard: Nothing useful.
Mark Webber: Heâll know before us hopefully.
Whether he cares is a separate matter.
Fernando Alonso: Heâs fine.
Nico Rosberg: Heâs engaged.
Jenson Button: Heâs what.
David Coulthard: Excuse me?
Mark Webber: Oh, for Godâs sake, Nico.
Sebastian Vettel: Iâm sorry.
What.
Nico Rosberg: Engaged.
Jenson Button: Max Verstappen and Ana Wolff are engaged?!?!
Jenson Button: How do you know this?!
Nico Rosberg: Because Lewis texted me specifically to be insufferable about it.
Mark Webber: That tracks.
David Coulthard: Entirely.
Sebastian Vettel: And you believed him.
Nico Rosberg: He saw the ring.
Fernando Alonso: Lewis as information source is never ideal, but unfortunately often correct. They are engaged.
Jenson Button: Thereâs a ring?!
Nico Rosberg: Apparently enormous.
Mark Webber: That also tracks.
David Coulthard: Of course itâs enormous.
Fernando Alonso: Max does not really do ârestrained.â
Sebastian Vettel: Wait.
He actually proposed?!
Nico Rosberg: Yes, Sebastian.
That is generally what engagement means.
Sebastian Vettel: Thank you, Nico.
Iâm aware of the sequence of events.
Iâm just adjusting.
Jenson Button: This is a strange amount of chaos for one conversation.
Mark Webber: No, this is pretty on brand for Max, honestly.
Secret relationship, giant ring, zero warning, carry on.
David Coulthard: Yes.
Emotionally catastrophic but efficiently managed.
Fernando Alonso: So let me understand this.
Red Bull make a sensible team principal appointment, and Max gets engaged in the same week.
Nico Rosberg: Apparently.
Sebastian Vettel: Thatâs too much administrative progress all at once.
I donât trust it.
Jenson Button: Did Lewis actually say anything useful or was it just psychological warfare.
Nico Rosberg: Mostly psychological warfare.
But also that he was invited to a housewarming party and I was not.
Mark Webber: There it is.
David Coulthard: Now weâre at the real injury.
Fernando Alonso: It were only current drivers, Nico. And significant others, if they chose to attend.
Nico Rosberg: Thank you.
Sebastian Vettel: You werenât invited to Max Verstappenâs housewarming and this is somehow the bigger wound for you.
Mark Webber: Harsh but fair.
David Coulthard: Did Lewis at least send a picture of the ring.
Nico Rosberg: No. He is helping to choose the wedding dress though.
Jenson Button: Iâm sorry?
David Coulthard: That is excellent.
Mark Webber:
That makes perfect sense.
Sebastian Vettel: Why does that somehow feel like the most logical sentence in this entire conversation.
Nico Rosberg: Because apparently Ana asked him and I was not consulted on this either.
Jenson Button: In fairness, Lewis Hamilton is a very strong choice for wedding-dress support.
David Coulthard:
If one must outsource, thatâs a high-level appointment.
Mark Webber: Nicoâs really had a rough twenty minutes.
Fernando Alonso: No invitation.
No ring photo.
No bridal authority.
Nico Rosberg: You are all enjoying this too much.
Sebastian Vettel: A little.
Jenson Button: Quite a lot, actually.
David Coulthard: But to return briefly to your original point, Seb â yes.
Berger is not stupid.
Mark Webber: No.
And we will respect him more than weâd respect some corporate placeholder in a navy suit talking about âstability.â
Fernando Alonso: Respect, maybe.
Trust is another thing.
Sebastian Vettel: Yes.
That will take more than an appointment.
Nico Rosberg: Maybe an apology.
Mark Webber: A real one.
Jenson Button: And not the kind written by communications.
David Coulthard: Thatâs the key distinction.
Sebastian Vettel: Still.
Better Berger than some committee-approved mannequin.
Fernando Alonso: Agreed.
Mark Webber: So, Red Bull maybe not completely idiotic.
Max engaged.
Lewis insufferable.
Nico excluded.
Anything else?
Nico Rosberg: Actually yes.
I am still offended none of you are reacting strongly enough to the fact that Max is engaged.
Sebastian Vettel: Nico, you dropped it into the chat like a gossip grenade and then made it about your invitation status.
Jenson Button: That did affect the tone.
David Coulthard: Considerably.Congratulations to them, obviously.
You may pass that on if you speak to either of them.
Mark Webber: Yes.
Tell him well done, even if the ring probably makes the rest of us look undercommitted by comparison.
Sebastian Vettel: That sounds exactly right, actually.
Nico Rosberg: Fine.
Iâll tell Ana the old men approve.
Sebastian Vettel: Perhaps Red Bull arenât complete idiots.
And perhaps Max has unexpectedly become a fiancĂŠ.
Fernando Alonso: The sport remains deeply unserious.
Nico Rosberg: As do all of you.
Jenson Button: And yet here you are.
Nico Rosberg: Yes.
Because someone has to maintain standards.
Mark Webber: Says the man crying over a housewarming invitation.
Nico Rosberg: I hate this group.
***
Group Chat: 2025 Team Principals
 (Members: Toto Wolff, Andrea Stella, Fred Vasseur, Laurent Mekies, Andy Cowell, Ayao Komatsu, Alan Permane, James Vowles, Jonathan Wheatley, Flavio Briatore)
Jonathan Wheatley has removed Laurent Mekies from this chat.
Andrea Stella: Good afternoon to you too, Jonathan.
Fred Vasseur: Very subtle.
Ayao Komatsu: So weâre really doing this like a hostage extraction.
Alan Permane: I respect the efficiency.
Andy Cowell: To be clear, Jonathan, are you now moderating Red Bullâs personnel changes from Audi?
Jonathan Wheatley: No.
I just happened to still have admin privileges and a sense of civic duty.
Flavio Briatore:
Excellent
Keep the power as long as you can
Andrea Stella: The more important question is: who on earth is actually running Red Bull right now?
Fred Vasseur: Iâve now heard five different names and one of them was almost certainly invented.
James Vowles:
My favourite rumour so far is âinterim committee,â which sounds less like a Formula One team and more like a municipal crisis.
Ayao Komatsu: I heard they were ârestructuring leadership responsibilities.â
Alan Permane: That means nobody wanted to say the actual answer out loud yet.
Andy Cowell: Do they have an actual answer.
Jonathan Wheatley: I donât know.
And before anyone asks, no, nobody tells me anything anymore.
Flavio Briatore: Probably because you work for Audi now, Jonathan
Jonathan Wheatley: Thank you, Flavio.
That had not previously occurred to me.
Andrea Stella: To be fair, I also donât think anyone inside Red Bull knows.
Fred Vasseur: That seems possible.
James Vowles: Itâs gone very quiet, which usually means either a very smart plan or absolute chaos.
Ayao Komatsu: Historically, in Formula One, it is more often the second.
Alan Permane: Who is even on the pit wall in Austin at this rate?
Andy Cowell: Someone with a headset and a thousand-yard stare.
Flavio Briatore: They can borrow one from Alpine
We have plenty of people with stare
Andrea Stella: I genuinely thought a name would have surfaced by now.
Fred Vasseur: Yes.
Even unofficially.
James Vowles: Especially unofficially.
Jonathan Wheatley: Nothing credible has reached me.
Alan Permane: The fact that even you donât know is hysterically unhelpful.
Jonathan Wheatley: Iâm choosing to hear that as affectionate.
Toto Wolff: Perhaps theyâre enjoying the theatre.
Fred Vasseur: Toto knows something.
Andrea Stella: Yes.
That reads like a man looking at cards the rest of us donât have.
James Vowles: Agreed.
Alan Permane: You absolutely know something.
Toto Wolff: I know that silence tends to produce highly inventive speculation.
Andy Cowell: That is not a denial.
Flavio Briatore: He knows
Heâs very pleased with himself
Toto Wolff: Iâm not pleased.
Merely observing.
Jonathan Wheatley: That sounds worse somehow.
Fred Vasseur:Come on.
Just a hint.
Toto Wolff: No.
Andrea Stella: Not even a first letter?
Toto Wolff: Absolutely not.
James Vowles: That confirms he knows.
Ayao Komatsu: Yes.
Alan Permane: Wonderful.
So Toto has the answer and Jonathan, who used to work there, does not.
Jonathan Wheatley: This is an insultingly accurate summary of my morning.
Flavio Briatore: I enjoy this group very much
Andy Cowell: Letâs do the sensible exercise.
Who are the actual plausible options?
Fred Vasseur: Internal promotion.
Andrea Stella: Short-term caretaker.
James Vowles: Someone from outside the current structure.
Ayao Komatsu: Someone old enough not to care about the politics.
Flavio Briatore:Maybe they bring Christian back with a fake moustache
Jonathan Wheatley: Flavio, please never type âfake moustacheâ into a professional group again.
Flavio Briatore: No promises
Andrea Stella: The longer this goes on, the funnier it gets.
Fred Vasseur: Not for the person who has to answer media questions.
James Vowles: That poor soul is currently speaking only in âthe team remains focusedâ statements.
Alan Permane: As is tradition.
Toto Wolff: To be fair, whoever takes it has inherited a bonfire.
Ayao Komatsu: That may be the most diplomatic description possible.
Andy Cowell: So definitely not an internal committee then.
Toto Wolff: I said no such thing.
Fred Vasseur: He is enjoying this far too much.
Jonathan Wheatley: Toto, I want you to know that if I find out later you knew all along, I will take it personally.
Toto Wolff: That seems emotional.
Jonathan Wheatley: It is.
Flavio Briatore: Maybe if none of us know, Red Bull also doesnât know, and the next race weekend is just open mic
Andrea Stella: That would, in fairness, be on brand for 2025.
James Vowles: Iâd watch it.
Alan Permane: We are all already watching it.
Fred Vasseur: If the announcement drops today and it turns out Toto was sitting on it in this group chat, Iâm muting him for a week.
Toto Wolff: That sounds like a very empty threat.
Ayao Komatsu: No, Fred means it.
Andy Cowell: I support sanctions.
Jonathan Wheatley: Same.
Flavio Briatore: I support chaos
Andrea Stella: Shocking.
James Vowles: Well.
Until Red Bull remembers it is legally required to have a team principal, I suppose we continue as normal.
Alan Permane: Define normal.
Fred Vasseur: Impossible.
***
Toto Wolffâs Private Jet, somewhere above Europe - 10 October 2025
The first thing Max noticed about Totoâs jet was that it was offensively quiet.
Not in the ordinary way private jets were quiet.Â
 No, this was a more expensive kind of silence.Â
Soft leather, low light, polished wood, the whole aircraft arranged to make movement feel almost indecently easy. It looked less like transport and more like a place designed by people who resented inconvenience on principle.
It was also, Max had to admit privately, very nice.
He did not say that aloud.
He had enough dignity left for that.
Jack had claimed the window seat almost before the plane door shut, immediately flattening himself toward the glass in the solemn ecstasy of a child who still found flight magical and had not yet learned adult boredom.Â
Susie sat beside him with a book she had not yet really opened, one hand occasionally straying to the back of Jackâs neck in the automatic, grounding way mothers did.
Toto had vanished briefly toward the rear cabin after takeoff, which Max assumed meant either calls, coffee, or emotions he intended to manage privately before they became visible to the rest of them.
Ana was beside Max in the cream-and-charcoal calm of the main cabin, shoes off already, one leg folded beneath her in the seat, laptop open and phone in hand, doing that thing she did where being on a plane somehow made her more, rather than less, likely to become terrifyingly efficient.
Max watched her for a moment over the edge of his coffee.
She was wearing one of her softer sweaters, hair tied back badly enough to signal fatigue rather than carelessness, glasses low on her nose. Her expression had the particular stillness it got when she was halfway inside work and halfway inside the rest of her life and refusing to let either side win decisively.
Then she said, without looking up: âI got an answer from Ola.â
Max looked up immediately. âAbout the Mercedes for Verstappen.com Racing?â
âYes.â
That got his full attention.
No more private jet interior. No more family weekend. Just work.
âGreat,â he said. âWho do I need to talk to?â
Ana glanced at the message again.
âStefan Wendl,â she said. âHead of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing.â
Max nodded once.
Of course. That tracked. âAnd?â
Ana looked up at him properly now.
âHe said they could do Tuesday.â
Max sat back a little. âWhere do I need to be?â
She held his gaze for one beat too long. âTheyâre coming to you.â
That stopped him. âWhat.â
âTheyâre coming to you,â she repeated, as though he had perhaps developed a temporary hearing issue rather than surprise. âWhich is sensible. Youâre the customer. Also probably the more difficult scheduling variable.â
Max stared at her.
Then, because it was true and because he was not childish enough to deny it completely, said, âThat sounds judgmental.â
âItâs logistical.â
He let out a breath through his nose that was almost a laugh.
There it was againâthat strange, increasingly normal experience of being in love with a woman who could say Iâve arranged a meeting with the head of Mercedes customer racing; theyâre coming to you on Tuesday in exactly the same tone most people used for your parcel will arrive before noon.
Ana nodded once and went back to the screen.
Toto, who had very obviously been listening while pretending not to as he took a seat across from them, looked between them.
Then said, dryly, âYou know, Ola is scared of her.â
Max turned his head.
Ana looked up at once. âHe is not.â
Toto ignored her.
âAnastasiaâ he said, âonce sent Ola a twelve-page document explaining why one of the AMG engines was inefficient.â
Max stared at Ana.
Ana looked deeply offended. âThere was an error in their documentation.â
The image arrived fully formed and deeply entertaining: Ola Källenius opening his inbox to find a twelve-page document from Dr. Ana Wolff explaining, in merciless technical prose, that something under his corporate roof was wrong and here was why, in detail, with supporting evidence and probably appendices.
Susie smiled into her coffee.
Toto kept going, because apparently fatherhood included occasional light public humiliation of his daughter for entertainment. âTwelve pages.â
âIt was eleven and a half,â Ana said. âAnd the issue was significant.â
Max looked between them both and felt a laugh start before he could stop it.
âYou sent Ola Källenius a technical essay?â
âI sent him a correction.â
âA twelve-page correction.â
âThere were diagrams.â
That did it.
Max laughed properly then, short and helpless, while Ana glared at all three of them with the calm resentment of a woman surrounded by people too committed to finding her objectively unreasonable behavior charming.
Max looked at her and thought, with enormous affection, that this was one of the many reasons nobody could ever accuse him of not choosing interestingly.
âYou sent the CEO of Mercedes a twelve-page document.â
âThere was an error.â
âYou couldnât just send one paragraph saying there was an error.â
Ana looked at him like heâd offered to solve an engine failure with prayer.
âThat would have been irresponsible. And Ola is not scared of me,â she said again.
Toto leaned back in the seat and folded his hands with infuriating serenity. âYes,â he said. âHe is.â
âNo.â
âYes.â
âIt was an engineering clarification!â
âIt was twelve pages, Anastasia.â
Ana said, to Max rather than Toto, âHe was not frightened. He was merely confronted with evidence.â
Maxâs mouth twitched.
âRight.â
Susie, traitorously, was smiling into her coffee.
For a few minutes after that, the conversation dissolved into smaller things. Jack asking what customer racing meant. Susie explaining, with infinite patience, the difference between buying a road car and buying a GT3 programme. Ana correcting two pieces of terminology automatically before appearing to decide that she was, actually, on holiday now and could perhaps let imperfect language survive at cruising altitude.
It was Toto who shifted the subject.
He had been quiet for a few minutes, reading something on his phone with that particular stillness he got when information had arrived in a shape he was still deciding how to present.
Then he looked over at Max and said, âI should probably tell you now.â
Max looked up.
That sentence, from Toto, could mean many things and none of them were usually restful.
âTell me what?â
Toto held his gaze.
âGerhard Berger is taking over as team principal at Red Bull.â
Max took a sip of coffee.
âGreat,â he said. âI donât care.â
That, in his view, should have been the end of it.
It wasnât.
Toto, to his credit, did not look offended. Just unsurprised. âI assumed that might be the first response.â
Max looked at him. âItâs the main one.â
Ana had gone very still beside him now, not intervening, just listening with that dangerous silence she reserved for conversations where every word might matter later.
Toto rested the coffee cup on the table between them. âHe wants to apologize.â
That got a different reaction.
Not dramatic. Not loud. Just the complete, immediate change in Maxâs body when a sentence hit somewhere closer to bruise than annoyance.
He looked away first.
Out the window. At the cloud line. Anywhere but directly at Toto for one second too long.
When he spoke, his voice had flattened. âI really donât know if I want to listen to that.â
The cabin stayed quiet.
Jack, sensing at least that the adults had entered a more delicate register, had gone back to the window and was now pretending not to hear anything while absolutely hearing everything.
Susie looked up from the book she still wasnât reading but said nothing.
Toto nodded once. âI get it.â
Max let out one breath through his nose.
No, he thought. People kept saying that. I get it. Usually what they meant was I understand the outline of why this is difficult and would now like you to behave in a way that makes my life easier.
But Totoâs face was wrong for that kind of ask.
Too careful. Too serious. âIâm not telling you that you should listen to him,â Toto said. âIâm telling you that I think he means it seriously.â
Max looked back at him then.
Because Toto did not vouch easily. He wouldnât hand out sincerity assessments cheaply. Not on people in power. Not on men walking into fires they did not start.
âHe reached out to you,â Max said. It wasnât a question.Â
âYes.â
âAnd.â
âAnd he did not want theatre,â Toto said. âHe did not want something public. He wanted to know whether there is any version of it where an apology helps instead of insulting you.â
That sat between them for a second.
Ana said nothing.
 Which, Max knew by now, meant she was tracking every contour of it.
He looked down at the coffee in his hand.
The truth was ugly in its simplicity: part of him did not want to hear anything from anyone connected to that side of the sport.Â
Not after Baku. Not after the car. Not after the line about driver error. Not after all the days and weeks before that, all the quiet arrogance and managerial stupidity and political nonsense that had made departure feel less like a choice and more like survival with paperwork attached.
And yetâ
Gerhard Berger was not Laurent Mekies.
 Not Christian. Not Helmut.
 Not one of the others.
And the possibility of a real apology, one that asked nothing in return and did not require him to perform noble closure for anyoneâs reputation management, was not quite the same thing as being asked to forgive.
Still, he didnât like it.
He didnât like that the sentence had made him think.
 Didnât like that part of him had already started sorting it not into yes or no but into maybe later.
âI donât owe them that,â he said at last.
âNo,â Toto replied immediately. âYou absolutely do not owe them anything.â
That helped.
It helped because it removed the pressure at once. No moral lecture. No for the good of the sport. No expectation of magnanimity because powerful men had finally become uncomfortable enough to notice their own damage.
Toto went on, quieter now.
âBut if he says it, I think it would be real. Thatâs all Iâm telling you.â
Max was silent for a while.
Then: âAnd if I say no?â
Toto held his gaze. âThen Iâll tell him you said no.â
No punishment in it.
No disappointment
 Just fact.
Ana finally moved beside him, not enough to become part of the exchange visibly, only enough that her hand brushed his for one brief second under the table.
A tiny thing.
An entire answer.
Max leaned back in the seat and looked again toward the window.
 Red Bull still trying, apparently, to leak into his day from the opposite direction.
âMaybe,â he said eventually.
Toto did not move too quickly at that. Good.
âMaybe,â Max repeated. âNot now. But maybe.â
Toto nodded once. âThatâs enough.â
And there it was againâthat thing Max respected most in him, when he was at his best.Â
The refusal to overtake what had been given. No grabbing at it. No pushing the door wider than Max himself had opened it.
The conversation loosened after that.
Not fully.
 Enough.
Jack, sensing the danger had receded to adult-manageable levels, turned back toward the center of the cabin and asked, with the timing of a child who had inherited both excellent instincts and no shame about using them: âCan I have crisps now?â
Susie smiled into her book.
Toto actually laughed once. âYes,â he said.
Jack accepted this as the natural moral conclusion to everything.
Ana shut the laptop at last.
Max looked at her.
âYouâre done.â
âFor now.â
âYou say that like a threat.â
âIt is a promise.â
He smiled despite himself.
Then, because he was still thinking about Tuesday and Customer Racing and her saying theyâre coming to you as if she had not rearranged an entire logistical universe before breakfast, he reached for her hand under the table and squeezed once.
She looked at him.
No words.
None needed.
***
Group Chat: Â âTEAM 33â
 (Members:  Max Verstappen, Jos Verstappen, Raymond Vermeulen)
Max:Â Gerhard Berger is the new Red Bull team principal
Jos:Â What? Are they serious?
Max: Apparently yes
Raymond: Interesting.
Jos: Interesting is not the word I would use.
Max: Toto told me on the flight
Jos: Of course he did.Did he sound certain?
Max: yes
Raymond: Then itâs real.
Max: apparently Berger wants to apologise
Jos: Absolutely not.Apologise now?
Now?
Jos: After Baku?
After âdriver errorâ?
After all the rest of it?
Raymond: Yes, thatâs roughly my reaction too.
Max: Toto said he thinks he means it seriously
Jos: I donât care if he means it from the top of the bloody mountain!The team failed you.
Repeatedly.
Publicly.
Arrogantly.
Raymond: Also, an apology is not a strategy.
Or a repair.
Or a replacement for competence.
Max: I know
Jos: Do not let them use you to clean up their conscience.
Raymond: That is the key point, yes.
Max: Toto didnât push
he just said maybe think about it
Raymond: That sounds like Toto being annoyingly reasonable.
Jos: He can be reasonable on his own time.
Max: i said iâd think about it
Jos: Why.
Max: Because iâm not twelve
Jos: That remains under review.
Raymond: Ignore your father.
Jos: No.
Raymond: Max, whatever you want.
If you want to hear Berger out, hear him out.
If you donât, donât.
Raymond: But it must be on your terms.
No theatre.
No public phrasing.
No âfor the good of the teamâ nonsense.
Max: yes
Jos: And no forgiveness just because he sounds sincere.
Max: i know
Max: also Raymond
you need to come to Monaco on Tuesday
Raymond: That sounds expensive.
Why?
Max: GT3 talks
Raymond: Ah.Now that is a better message.
Jos: With who?
Max: Mercedes AMG customer racing
Jos: That also sounds expensive.
Max: Ana got the meeting
Raymond: Of course she did.
Jos: How?
Max: Ola Källenius answered her personally.
Raymond: Personally?
Max: yesApparently she once sent him a 12 page document about why one of the AMG engines was inefficient and now heâs scared of her.
Raymond: âŚThat is the funniest thing Iâve heard all week.
Jos:
If Anastasia Wolff sent me twelve pages explaining why I was wrong, I would also answer her emails very quickly.
Max: she says heâs not scared and there was an error in their documentation
Raymond: That is exactly what a frighteningly competent person would say.
Raymond: Tuesday where?
Max: theyâre coming to me
Jos: That is good.
Raymond: Yes.
Very good.Iâll be there.
Max: good
Jos: I am still furious about Berger.
Raymond: We know.
Jos: Good.
Raymond: For the record, Iâm furious too.
Raymond: But GT3 on Tuesday is useful, and useful things take priority over old idiots trying to apologize late.
Max: agreed
Jos: Fine.
Be useful first.
Then decide whether Berger deserves oxygen.
Max: thatâs roughly the plan
Raymond: Good.
Jos: And Max?
Max: what
Jos: If Berger starts with corporate language, hang up.
Max: obviously
Raymond: Please do let me enjoy the Ana-Ola story for another few hours though.
***
Oban, Scotland - 10 October 2025
Susie stepped down from the plane and felt something in her spine loosen.
Home, some old part of her said at once.
Not Monaco-home.
Not Switzerland-home.
The earlier thing.
The harder-rooted one.
Behind her, the little procession came down in order of decreasing willingness to admit they were being moved like luggage: Toto, carrying more than strictly necessary because he never seemed able to approach family travel without making it a logistical campaign.Â
Max, slower, crutches and all, jaw set in the particular way it always was when he refused to let recovery dictate his dignity.
Ana, quiet and watchful, coat zipped high against the wind; and
Jack, already talking about clouds with the reverence of a child encountering proper weather again.
The rental car waited in the small private lot exactly where it was meant to.
Toto took one look at it, then at Susie, and said, with the long suffering expression of a man who knew her very well, âI assume youâre driving.â
âYes,â Susie said, already reaching for the keys.
That got the smallest visible tightening at the corners of his mouth.
Good.
She was not above enjoying that.
Toto hated when she drove in Scotland.
Not because she was bad at it. Quite the opposite.Â
Susie drove Scottish roads the way some people spoke a first language they had never managed to lose, no matter how long they had lived elsewhere.Â
Fast enough to make him tense, precise enough to keep him from ever having a valid technical objection, and with the kind of cheerful confidence that most unsettled him because it meant she would not be responding to his stress with caution.
âSusie,â he said, in the tone that usually preceded a request for restraint he already knew would not be granted.
She smiled sweetly. âYes, darling?â
He looked at the road. Then the car. Then her.
âNothing.â
âWise.â
Ana only watched with the faintest trace of private amusement in her eyes.Â
Max, who had not yet had enough direct experience of Susie on Highland roads to know the proper level of concern, merely looked curious.
The bags were loaded with the usual family-travel inefficiency disguised as order.Â
Somewhere among them were Jackâs things, Max and Anaâs things, Totoâs coat that he would pretend he didnât need and then steal back later, several small comfort objects, and enough soft knitwear to prepare them all for whatever version of Scottish rain had decided to greet them first.
Susie slid into the driverâs seat and looked in the rear-view mirror.
That was when she nearly laughed.
Because all three of them were in the back.
Jack in the middle, naturally, because life had made him the gravitational center of the whole arrangement and none of the adults around him seemed especially interested in resisting that fact.Â
Ana on one side, dark coat, dark eyes, already turned slightly toward Jack even while fastening her seatbelt.Â
Max on the other, long legs arranged with the irritated creativity of a tall man in temporary inconvenience, one hand braced near the door.
The sight of them thereâher daughter, her son, and Max Verstappen, all somehow collected into the back seat of a rental car in western Scotlandâstruck Susie as so completely ridiculous and so intensely dear that she had to grip the steering wheel for one second before starting the engine.
Toto got in beside her and followed her gaze back.
His face changed too.
Not with laughter.
 Something softer.
 A little stunned, perhaps, by the same thing that had hit her: how strange and whole this shape of family had become when no one was looking directly at it.
Jack was in the middle of explaining to Ana that Scottish rain was âmore committedâ than Monaco rain.Â
Ana, without missing a beat, said, âThat depends how one defines commitment.âÂ
Max was listening with the expression of a man who had become engaged to a systems engineer and was now required to listen to sentences like that.
Susie started the car.
âThis is very funny,â she said.
Max looked up from the back seat. âWhat is.â
âYou three.â
Jack frowned. âWhy.â
âBecause,â Susie said, pulling out onto the road with the complete ease of a woman who had learned these roads long before any of them had learned how to be complicated, âyou look like I picked you all up from school.â
That got an actual laugh out of Ana.
Jack seemed pleased by the concept. âCan we stop for snacks?â
âNot before we get to Granny and Grandpaâs,â Susie said.
Jack accepted this with the grave disappointment.
Toto was already doing what he always did when she drove here: holding himself very still and pretending that was not the same thing as bracing.
Susie glanced sideways at him. âYou know, itâs deeply rude when you behave as though Iâm about to put us in a loch.â
âIâm not behaving like that.â
âYou are absolutely behaving like that.â
âIâm behaving like a man who respects blind corners.â
She smiled and took the next bend exactly fast enough to prove the point without giving him grounds for complaint.
From the back, Max said, âIâm starting to understand why this stresses you out.â
Toto made a quiet, deeply vindicated noise.
Susie laughed. âOh, nonsense. He just dislikes skill.â
âThat is not what this is,â Toto said.
âThen what is it? Scottish roads require decisiveness.â
âScottish roads require restraint.â
âOnly for cowards.â
Ana, looking out at the dark green rise of the land beyond the window, said mildly, âI do remember this dynamic.â
Susie met her eyes briefly in the mirror.
There it was againâthat sharp little ache, so familiar now she barely flinched from it.Â
Ana in the back seat, older than the child Susie wished she had known sooner, but still carrying enough of that teenager she had first met to make the overlays inevitable.Â
The thin, guarded girl in Switzerland who had watched everything first and trusted later.Â
The girl who had sat in her fatherâs shed dismantling an engine before she would willingly make small talk in the kitchen.Â
And now here she was, beside Jack, beside Max, being driven through Scotland by Susie herself.
Mine, that fierce private place in her thought again.
The road unwound ahead of them in wet gray ribbons, stone walls, gorse, distant sheep, flashes of water, all the old scenery arriving with the same rough, unsentimental beauty she remembered from childhood.Â
Scotland never tried to charm people. It simply existed hard enough that charm became irrelevant.
Jack eventually leaned against Ana.
 Ana allowed it without comment.
 Max, after another turn, let his head tip back and watched the clouds through the side window with the expression of a man who was trying very hard not to admit he was tired.
Susie saw all of it in the mirror.
And smiled to herself.
***
Stoddart Residence, Scotland - 10 October 2025
Max decided almost immediately that Susieâs parentsâ house was the kind of place that made a man feel judged by his own city shoes.
Not because it was unfriendly.
Quite the opposite.
The house sat low into the Scottish landscape as though it had grown there instead of being built, all stone and slate and windows that caught the late afternoon light in warm squares.
Smoke curled lightly from one chimney. The garden was less âgardenâ and more well-loved wildness. Beyond it, the land opened out in damp green folds under a sky that looked as though it had been assembled from seven different shades of grey and one act of stubbornness.
It was beautiful.
Also, Max thought as Susie turned off the engine and the cold hit them all the moment the doors opened, offensively real.
This was not Monaco-beautiful. Not curated. Not polished into aspiration.
This was the sort of place where mud was not a possibility but a category of life.
Jack was out first, obviously, half-bouncing with excitement, immediately shouting, âWeâre here!â as though the people inside might somehow have missed the arrival of a rental car, a private jet transfer, and five members of one increasingly implausible family.
Ana came out next, pulling her coat tighter around herself and visibly changing at the sight of the house. It was small, if one didnât know her. Smaller in the shoulders. Softer around the mouth.Â
Max saw it and stored it away.
Then he got out, negotiated the leg and the crutches and the damp Scottish ground with as much dignity as possible, and looked up just as the front door opened.
The first thing that came out was not a person.
It was a Bernese Mountain Dog the size of a tactical vehicle.
Max actually stopped.
The dog launched down the front steps with unrestrained joy, a blur of black, white, and rust-colored fur, heading straight not for Susie, not for Toto, but for Ana and Jack with the absolute certainty of a creature who had already sorted the hierarchy of the universe and saw no reason to revisit it.
âQuinn!â Jack shouted, delighted.
Quinn ignored everyone else completely and barreled into Ana first with enough enthusiasm that Max instinctively shifted his grip on the crutches, but Ana only laughedâactually laughedâas the dog rose half-up against her, tail wagging with enough force to alter weather patterns.
âHi,â she said, hands going immediately to the dogâs face, fingers sinking into all that dense fur with the ease of long practice. âYes, I know. Youâre very offended we were late.â
Jack was already hugging Quinnâs neck.
Max stared.
The dog clearly adored them.
Not tolerated.
Not liked.
Adored.
Quinn leaned into Ana like he had been waiting specifically for her and now considered the delay a personal insult. Jack, meanwhile, was buried half into the dogâs shoulder, talking to him in the serious rapid-fire way children used with animals they considered intellectually worthy.
âRight,â Max said under his breath. âSo Iâm competing with a horse-sized dog.â
Ana glanced at him over Quinnâs head, eyes brighter now than they had been in Monaco. âYou will lose.â
Then the actual humans arrived.
Sally came first, wiping her hands on a towel she had clearly abandoned halfway through some kitchen task. She was exactly as Ana had described her and not at all like any image Max had tried to construct from that descriptionâso like Susie in one glance it was almost startling, not because they were identical but because the architecture of them was the same. The same steadiness in the face. The same precise eyes. The same expression of warmth that did not need to become soft to be real.
And behind her came John.
John looked like the sort of man who could repair a tractor, insult you affectionately, and hand you tea in the same sixty seconds without any contradiction in tone. Broad-shouldered, weathered, moving with the unhurried confidence of someone who had built enough real things not to be impressed by performance.
He also, Max realized the moment he opened his mouth, had a Scottish accent so strong it could probably be measured scientifically.
âWell then,â John said, looking at the full arrangement of them in the drive. âTook your bloody time.â
Susie smiled immediately. âHello to you too, Dad.â
Sally kissed her daughter, kissed Jack, kissed Ana, and then turned toward Toto with the kind of familiar affection that made it instantly obvious he had long ago been folded properly into the family structure whether he deserved such luck or not.
John, meanwhile, was still looking at the group with practical assessment.
His gaze landed on Max.
Not cold. Not suspicious. Just direct.
This, Max thought, was fair enough.
Susie had apparently warned them that Ana was bringing a âfriend.â
Max, standing there on crutches with a duffel bag at his feet, did not look particularly like anyoneâs harmless unnamed friend.
âMum. Dad,â Susie said, already in the mode of managing introductions before anybody else could make them worse. âThis is Max.â
John looked at him for one beat.
Then stepped forward and held out a hand.
âRight,â he said. âYouâre the racing driver.â
The accent did extraordinary things to the sentence.
Max took the hand.
âThatâs me.â
John shook once, solid and dry and with no interest in ceremonial nonsense.
âJohn.â
âMax.â
Sally was watching all of this with a far more dangerous level of observational intelligence. Her eyes moved over him, then to Ana, and thenâvery briefly but unmistakablyâto Anaâs left hand.
The ring.
There was the smallest visible shift in her face.
Not shock exactly.
Recognition.
Immediate, total recognition.
Ah, Max thought.
There it is.
She looked up at Ana again, and the look she gave her daughterâs daughter was so warm and so quick and so knowingly delighted that Max almost smiled on principle.
But she said nothing.
Not yet.
Good operator, Sally.
John, by contrast, remained gloriously focused on the important things.
He looked at Maxâs leg, then the crutch, then back at Maxâs face.
âYouâre still in one piece, mostly.â
âMostly.â
âGood. Canât have you fallinâ apart before I show you the shed.â
That got Maxâs attention immediately.
Ana, beside Quinn, didnât even look surprised.
Told you, her expression said without words.
Max looked at John. âYou have a shed.â
John looked mildly offended. âCourse I have a shed.â
âDad ,â Susie said, though she sounded amused rather than corrective.
âNo, let the lad ask,â John said. Then to Max, as if clarifying a matter of moral seriousness: âMotorcycles. Bits of engines. Other things your future mother-in-law says are âorganised badlyâ and I say are âexactly where they should be.ââ
Maxâs mouth moved before he could stop it.
âThat sounds excellent.â
Johnâs entire face shifted into approval so immediate it was almost funny.
âGood,â he said. âThereâs hope for you yet.â
Sally, who had now fully clocked that the âfriendâ situation was not only romantic but structurally advanced, looked at Ana and said, perfectly calmly, âYou might have mentioned the ring, darling.â
Ana, still half-bent to Quinn, looked up.
âOh,â she said, as though this had only just now become a visible issue again. âYes.â
That made Sally laugh.
Susie closed her eyes briefly in the way she always did when Ana did something so deeply Ana it reset everybody elseâs expectations in one sentence.
Toto, standing beside her, looked equal parts fond and resigned.
Ana straightened, one hand still buried in Quinnâs fur. âI meant to.â
âNo, you didnât,â Susie said.
Ana considered that. âThatâs fair.â
Sally looked at Max then, then back at the ring, then at Ana once more. The whole exchange took perhaps three seconds and made Max realize, with a kind of tired admiration, that every capable woman in this family could probably assess an emotional situation faster than most pit walls.
âWell,â Sally said warmly, âthatâs lovely.â
And there it was.
No theatre. No interrogation. No making it bigger for sport.
Just: lovely.
Ana softened visibly.
Max saw it. So did Susie.
John, only now catching up to the specific nature of the ring conversation, looked from Ana to Max and then back again.
âYouâre engaged.â
It was not a question. More a practical update arriving late in the file.
âYes,â Max said.
John nodded once, as though this clarified several things and did not particularly destabilize him.
âRight.â
Then, after one beat:
âYou race properly, then.â
Max blinked.
âWhat.â
Sally laughed. Susie put a hand over her eyes. Ana actually made the small strangled sound she made when she was trying not to laugh in front of people she respected too much to encourage.
John looked entirely unbothered.
âWell, if youâre goinâ to turn up here with a sapphire the size of a lighthouse and ask to marry the girl, Iâd hope you do at least one thing seriously.â
Max laughed then. Couldnât help it.
That seemed to settle something.
Quinn, done with greeting priorities, finally turned his enormous head toward Max, gave him one evaluative sniff, and then wandered back toward Ana and Jack as if the matter had been decided and Max had been classified as acceptable but secondary.
âUnbelievable,â Max muttered.
Anaâs mouth twitched. âI did warn you.â
John, hearing that, looked between them with the sort of practical satisfaction that suggested he had already filed away a great many conclusions and had no need to announce them all.
âRight then,â he said. âStanding in the drive isnât useful. Get in the house before the weather remembers itself.â
Sally herded them all inside with tea-first authority.
As Max crossed the threshold, crutch and all, he looked once toward Ana. She was turning to wipe Quinnâs paws before he could charge mud through the hall. Jack was helping with grave seriousness. Susie was already taking control of coats and bags. Toto was answering something from Sally with the ease of a man long past being a guest here.
And Max, in the middle of it, felt the same strange thing he had felt at the housewarming in Monaco and on Totoâs plane and in a hundred quieter moments with Ana since: that the life he had somehow fallen into was ridiculous, intimate, and much bigger than anything he would have chosen if heâd been asked sensibly in advance.
John clapped him once on the shoulder as they entered and said, in that fierce Scottish accent of his, âYou can see the bikes after tea.â
Max looked at him.
Then at the hallway. At the warmth. At Quinn pressing himself shamelessly against Anaâs legs. At Ana herself, home here in a way that made some private protective part of Max stand up straighter.
And he thought: Yes. This was going to be just fine.
Warnings: male reader, child reader, fluff, reader faces harassment at school, crush turned creepy towards reader, consent issues, bullying mentioned, swearing, papa bears Ilya and Shane, good dad's hollanov
Notes:
Summary: (name) was a chill kid, despite not being biologically related to his dad's he took after them personality wise to a T so when telling the teachers doesn't work, he goes to his parents... Only for them to get called in when he yells at his stalker to fuck off.
Tag list: @polluxhasrisen @lazyanimal-things @ilocuras24 @rainglitchblonde
âPapaâ (name) wandered to Ilya who was scrolling on his phone âhm, what is it?â He stopped looking at his phone and gave his son his direct attention and (name) signed âhow do you deal with girls who won't leave you alone?â He asked and Ilya seemed very invested, his ten year old son seemed less shy and first love and more put off âyou have admirer?â He asked and (name) grimaced.
âShe won't go away, she steals my sweaters and I have to threaten to tell the teacher to get them back! She also writes on my stuff, it's annoying!â He said and Ilya could see how that would be frustrating especially because the man didn't even think (name) noticed girls or anyone romantically (he was thankful for that honestly, he didn't want his son worrying about such things till at least highschool) âwhenever I tell her I don't like her and to go away she just pursues harder! It's creepy!â
âDo you want your dad and I to talk to her parents?â Ilya asked and (name) shrugged âI'm just tired of it, whenever I reject her people call me a jerk and try and make me feel badâ
Oh he was having a chat with the parents.
âYour dad and I will handle, ok?â He said to his son who nodded â/you go take Anya for a walk, ok?/â He fluently transitioned to Russian and his son hugged him â/thanks dad/â he said before running and calling for Anya âwalk time, Anya!â
âMy love, come here!â Ilya called after (name) left and Shane wandered into the kitchen/livingroom space âwhats up?â
âOur son is having girl troublesâ Ilya said simply and Shane looked curious âlike a crush?â
âGirl likes him and he hates her, she harasses and classmates pressure him to talk to herâ he said before mentioning the vandalism and theft issue and Shane looked less than thrilled âso we're picking him up tomorrow and talking to that kids mom, right?â
âYou read my mind, my loveâ
(Name) Dreaded school, it took ten minutes of him on school grounds while he hung out with his friends for her to make an appearance â(name)!â She beamed and his friends looked equally put off, he was thankful they didn't tease him about this âplease go away, I actually can't stand youâ he said coldly and she just grinned âawww you flirt!â
âI looked up how to get a restraining order and I'm asking my dad's for one against you from my birthday.â
âSo, you got any plans this weekend?â
âNothing that involves youâ
âI heard you have a hockey game tonight, I'm totally going to be there!â
âPlease don'tâ
No one could question who his dad's were, the boy having both of their deadpan annoyance and Ilyaâs sharp tongue as the bell rang, saving him.
It wasn't until lunch that she stole his pudding cup and he damn near lost it.
âSeriously, you're creepy and pathetic! Leave me alone you fucking stalker!â He snapped at her when she touched his hand and the cafeteria froze.
Ilya and Shane were called during practice, everyone understanding that they had something to handle with (name), the man telling the team situation and a few of them had their own stories like that âgirls like the idea of dating a hockey player, those parents need to teach her to take rejectionâ
So when they pulled up at the school, they had a gameplan put in place for this.
(Name) Was sitting with his arms crossed, he looked pissed but not ashamed in the slightest âHollander-Rozanov?â The secretary asked and Shane went to check on their son and Ilya went to the desk âwe got call that our son was in troubleâ
âYes, let me get the VP and principalâ she said and Ilya turned to his son âwas the girl?â He asked his son who nodded âshe stole my pudding cup and touched my hand, she wouldn't go away all day and I just had enoughâ it was a valid crashout after constant harassment and neither parent could really blame him, (name) was a chill kid and was very kind normally so this was clearly his breaking point.
âGlad you two could comeâ the principal spoke and Ilya looked them up and down, sceptical and Shane wrapped his arms around his son's shoulders âshall we go to my office?â They asked and the three followed, (name) knowing his parents wouldn't let this slide. âthere was an incident at lunch today, (name) screamed at a female student âSeriously, you're creepy and pathetic! Leave me alone you fucking stalkerâ according to teachers, making her cry-- he's looking to face detention and possibly in school suspension for bullyingâ the principal said and (name) huffed and Shane furrowed his eyebrows at her words.
âHow many times has he reported this girl to teachers for harassment?â
âI don't see--â
âI think it's very relevant, she's been stealing from our son, harassing him and refuses to take rejection to the point he feels he needs to scream at her to get the point acrossâ papa bear came out â(name) has no history of this behavior, he is being borderline stalked and I must ask why her parents aren't here because I would love to explain to them that their daughter doesn't respect consent and the word ânoââ he seethed and Ilya was so attracted to his husband âso you don't see how he handled the situation as problematic?â The principal fired back and Ilya scoffed âhe handled it the only way he could, she didn't respect gentle rejection, no?â
âWhere is the principal, who made our kid cry?â A voice called and Ilya and Shane stood up and stepped out âyour daughter is the one who has been stalking and harassing our son?â
âExcuse me?â The mother snapped and Ilya dead stared âwe have many records of him reporting her for stealing and unwanted touching, that is sexual harassmentâ he snapped and (name) felt so loved by his dad's as the parents froze âshe's just playing around, a harmless crushâ
âHe said no, he said he's not interested in herâ Shane pointed âteach your daughter consent before she gets arrestedâ and looked to his son âgrab your bag, were going homeâ he ordered his son who ran out to get his bag âwere taking our son home, consider us not suing for harassment and teacher negligence as a warningâ
The two left the office and Shane sighed, a weight on his shoulders âpapa bear ready to strikeâ Ilya teased and Shane looked at him with exhaustion âshould we transfer schools?â
âOk! I'm ready!â (Name) Said and the dad's each put a hand on his shoulder ânormally we would ground you for the swearing but this time will be a pass, if someone's harassing you in any wayâ Shane stopped (name) in the parking lot and crouched to his level âtell us, I don't care how small you feel it is, we want to know you're safeâ
âOk dad... Sorry for not saying anythingâ (name) mumbled and Shane hugged his kid and Ilya fixed (name)s hair lovingly âno sorry, we are just happy you're safeâ
(Name) Was doing his homework in the team benches while they practiced, the kid petting Chiron absentmindedly and his dad's glanced at him periodically to see if he was ok.
When practice was done, the team members chatted with the kid who smiled at his many uncles with kind eyes âyou gonna win tonight?â Troy asked and (name) nodded with a grin âyup!â
During the drive home Ilya glanced at his son in the back seat âdo you want to change school?â
âI like my friends so nahâ so casual and calm and Ilya can't help but mentally compare him and Shane, his kid had his monotone attitude and general aloofness.
But on the ice?
That was Ilya with him and Shane's combined skill.
âHe's going to be a monster if he pursues this professionallyâ she mumbled as they saw him destroy the rink with a grin.
summary: after being dumped for âbeing bad luckâ, you donât expect that drowning your sorrows will lead to getting married with a fellow heartbroken soul
a/n: Surprise! I am still working on my Vegas fics! Itâs justâŚthereâs only so many ways you can get accidentally married in Vegas and Iâd like to make them all unique
a/n2: this is set in the 2024/2025 seasons
Masterlist
yn
liked by lando, carmenmmundt, oscarpiastri, and 2,111,445 others
tagged: lando
yn:Â 4 years with the best man I know đ§Ąđ§Ą here's to many many more, my love đ
view all comments
user1:Â I love them so much
âłuser2:Â couple goals for real
âłuser1:Â exactly!
oscarpiastri:Â congratulations on four years!
âłyn:Â thanks osc!!
user3:Â I love how lowkey they are?
âłuser4: seriously the best thing a famous couple could be is quietly in love
âłuser5:Â yes!
âłuser3:Â *side eyes certain couples* I completely agree
lando:Â đ§Ąđ§Ą
âłyn:Â đđ
user6: âŚok is it just me or was that veryâŚunderwhelming?
âłuser7:Â no seriously??? She posted so many nice pictures and wrote poetry about him today and the most he's commented is 2 hearts???
user8:Â all men do is disappoint, honestly
user9:Â has anyone else seen ln4fans post?
âłuser10: âŚhow dare they??? yn has been by lando's side for YEARSâŚ
ln4fan
liked by user, user, user, and 728,183 others
ln4fan:Â save my man! This is not his season and I do believe it's all yn's fault! He's had 3 dnfs and a dns in the last 6 races and it's only been the races that yn's been at. He really needs to dump the bad weight
view all comments
user11:Â wow
user12: I couldn't agree more!
user13:Â every single word you just said was wrong actually
user14:Â I've never seen anyone be so extremely wrong in my life really
user15:Â finally someone else is saying this!! I've BEEN saying it for years oh my god
âłuser16:Â I don't know why you're celebrating? Lando and yn have been in love since before he started f1? Like he talks about their unspoken thing all the time
âłuser17: be for real she's totally not fit to be a wag â she's never at the races, she's done nothing to support his brandâŚ
âłuser16:Â she has her own life? She doesn't need to revolve her life around his
âłuser15: but a little more support to him wouldn't be too much to ask?
user18:Â I'm still stuck on the fact that Lando has had so much bad luck lately
âłuser19:Â I went back to see which races she's been at and what lando finished and it's not great
âłuser18:Â what really?
âłuser19:Â he's never scored higher than 7th when yn is at a race â and that was only a single race, more commonly it was 9th or lower
âłnot_lando:Â what?
âłuser18: that's so crazy!
f1gossip
liked by user, user, user, and 1,823,813 others
f1gossip: Trouble in paradise? Fans spotted Lando Norris and long term girlfriend yn ln fighting after his disastrous qualifying today. Is this just a bump in the road or are certain rumors (that state that yn is Lando's bad luck charm) true?
view all comments
user20:Â Lando if you make my girl yn cry, I'm gonna make you fight
user21: dump her dump her dump her
âłuser22:Â oh my god get a life
user23: I've been a Lando fan for pretty much his entire career and have watched them grow up togetherâŚI've never seen them act like that
âłuser24:Â no my heart is literally breaking for them
user25:Â are we children of divorce right now?
âłuser26:Â I think we might be
âłuser25:Â đđ
user27: I need more information right now actuallyâŚ
f1gossip
liked by user, user, user, and 1,922,111 others
f1gossip:Â Something must be in that Vegas air â mere hours after Lando and yn were spotted arguing, Alexandra Saint Mleux (Charles Leclerc's girlfriend) was seen storming through the Harry Reid International Airport. Is this the end of another one of the paddock's iconic relationship?
view all comments
user28: I don't know what's happening in Vegas but if it touches either of the lily's I'm hopping on a flight and fisting fighting them myself
âłuser29: mood
user30: ok but we don't actually know if yn and lando are broken up!
âłuser31: dudeâŚthey're totally broken up
âłuser30:Â we don't know that yet! Let me have hope
user32:Â good! I never liked her
âłuser33:Â just say you're jealous and get over yourself
user34:Â petition to ban Vegas forever? I can't take this anymore
âłuser35: SIGNING RIGHT NOW
Private Messages: The Leclercâs
Instagram Stories
user36 responded noooooo this is the worst timeline
oscarpiastri responded did you guys really break up?
user37 responded what do you mean you broke up???
user38 responded FINALLY YOU DROPPED HER
alex_albon responded lily is yelling at me right now what do you mean you guys broke up?
user39 responded this is gonna be good for you
user40 responded girl I'm so sorry
lilymhe responded what happened?? The one race I actually miss
user41 responded omg he actually did it
carmenmmundt responded call me hun
user42 responded was it mutual??
Private Messages: Charles and yn
lasvegasgossip
liked by user, user, user, and 17,222,125 others
lasvegasgossip: word on the street is that a famous but heartbroken athlete got hitched last nightâŚwho could it be?
view all comments
user50: oh my god who's in Vegas this weekend?
âłuser51:Â the raiders and the browns are in town
âłuser52:Â so are the knights and the kraken
âłuser53: and so is f1âŚ
user54:Â so many teams in the city this weekend and yet it could be any athlete that's not playing too
âłuser55:Â I'm more focused on the heartbroken part like who's recently been heartbroken??
âłuser56:Â I mean Lando Norris and yn ln just broke up?
âłuser57: there's like 5 recent breakups with the hockey teams it could be
âłuser58:Â there's no one in the football teams that could be described as heartbroken?
âłuser59:Â there was something weird happening with Charles Leclerc and Alexandra Saint Mleux?
âłuser60:Â so it could literally be anyone?
user61:Â I'm placing money on lando
âłuser62: he does seem like someone who would get spontaneously drunk married
âłuser63:Â drunk?
âłuser62:Â all marriages in Vegas are drunk
f1fan
liked by user, user, user, and 2,822,193 others
f1fan:Â in a shocking turn of events, Lando Norris finishes the 2024 season with a DNF, DNS, DSQ, and a rare DNQ respectively â what a massive disappointment this must be for the British driver that was the favorite underdog of the season
view all comments
user64: HA this is totally because he dumped his biggest support system like a loser
âłuser65: harsh but I agree
user66:Â who do I need to fight?? Like what the hell was that
âłuser67:Â that was KARMA and JUSTICE for yn!!
âłuser68: JUSTICE FOR YNÂ
user69: I justâŚwhat the fuck happened? He was literally catching up to max and then all that shit happened??
âłuser70:Â she probably cursed him or something honestly
âłuser71: seriously! Like did you see how she confirmed the breakup? He was all respectful and sheâŚwasn't
âłuser70: I still cringe when I think about it
user72: the whiplash I get between this post and charles'⌠good lord đ
âłuser73:Â Charles took all of his bad luck and dumped it on Lando!
âłuser72:Â for real!
charles_leclerc
liked by maxverstappen1, scuderiaferrari, oscarpiastri, and 2,778,445 others
charles_leclerc:Â what an amazing end to the season â thank you to Ferrari and to my good luck charm. now it's time to rest and recharge for next year
view all comments
user74: hell yeah!
âłuser75:Â you totally rocked it!
maxverstappen1:Â Congratulations Charles liked by charles_leclerc
âłuser76:Â they still don't follow each other btw
user77:Â fricking amazing to watch this!
oscarpiastri:Â congrats!!
user78:Â good luck charm??? Who??
âłuser79:Â it's not Alex is it?
âłuser78: highly unlikely - it seems like they've broken up. they haven't been seen together since Vegas and while Alex has privated her instagram, the number of posts have gone way down
user80:Â calling it now! Charles is the one who got married in Vegas
âłuser81:Â iconic if true!
user82: 4 wins right in a row? Sexiest thing Iâve ever seen
Private Messages: Charles and yn
charles_priv
liked by notyn, madmax, op81, and 2,945 others
tagged: notyn
charles_priv: spending the winter break with my wife âĽď¸âĽď¸
view all comments
notyn:Â the best winter break I've ever had
âłcharles_priv:Â same chĂŠrie
madmax:Â when did you get married???
âłcharles_priv:Â when I got drunk in Vegas
âłnotyn: not gonna lie I don't remember anything about that nightâŚ
âłcharles_priv: me either
âłmadmax:Â hilarious but congrats
pierre:Â you've been married for months now and are just telling us???
âłcharles_priv: âŚoops?
âłnotyn:Â that's on Charles!
âłcharles_priv:Â chĂŠrie!
âłpierre:Â oh you're perfect for one another
op81:Â awkward but congratulations
âłcharles_priv:Â we would appreciate it if this news doesn't reach Lando
âłop81: yeah that's not going to be a problem, I don't even know who you people are
op81:Â but fyi he's hard key moping
âłnotyn:Â he made his bed
arthur:Â it was great to get to know you! Might have to take your side if you get a divorce
âłcharles_priv:Â Arthur!
âłarthur:Â only one of you 2 made me fresh baked cookies and it wasn't you
âłnotyn: you're welcome arthur đ
âłop81:Â wait cookies are in the table?
âłcharles_priv:Â only for Leclerc's!
âłop81:Â you adopted me so I count! liked by notyn
âłnotyn: he's got a point babe
f1gossip
liked by user, user, user, and 1,182,283 others
f1gossip: romance in the air? Charles Leclerc has been spotted with a new girlfriend in recent weeks â who might this mystery woman be?
view all comments
user83: don't worry guys it's just me
user84:Â who is she????
user85:Â that's so fast?
âłuser86:Â really?
âłuser85:Â it's only been a couple of months
âłuser86:Â a lifetime for him honestly
âłuser87:Â ummm rude??
âłuser88: but fair I feel
user89:Â twitter detectives! Who is she?
âłuser90:Â no idea yet! It's still too new
âłuser89: but I need to know??
user91:Â I don't really care who she is because HE looks so happy with her
âłuser92: he does! And I'm so happy for him
Private Messages: Charles and yn
charles_leclerc
liked by yn, pierregasly, maxverstappen1, and 2,111,203 others
tagged: yn
charles_leclerc:Â that mystery woman happens to be my wife, thank you
view all comments
user93: holy shit PLOT TWIST
âłuser94: I honestly did NOT see this coming
âłuser93:Â it definitely wasn't on my bingo card for the year
maxverstappen1:Â Congratulations again you guys
âłyn:Â thanks max!
user95:Â I'm loving this so much?? Like Lando really dumped her for being bad luck and then Charles is literally dominating this season liked by yn
âłuser96:Â It's even better! He calls her his lucky charm
âłuser95: I can see why!
landonorris: what the hell is this?!?
comment has been deleted by the author
yn: love you too babe! liked by charles_leclerc
user97: did you guys seriously get married in Vegas?
âłyn: we did!
âłuser97: âŚand you're gonna stay married despite it starting in Vegas?
âłyn: well something good had to come from our broken hearts liked by charles_leclerc
âłcharles_leclerc: despite the beginning, you are the best thing that's ever happened to me liked by yn
f1
liked by user, yn, user, and 2,991,988 others
tagged: charles_leclerc
f1:Â This weekend decides it all! Should Charles Leclerc score a single point this weekend, he becomes the 2025 World Drivers Champion â will this be the year the MonĂŠgasque driver takes home the championship? Or will Max Verstappen become a 5x champion?
view all comments
user98:Â Charles! Charles! Charles
âłuser99:Â Leclerc! Leclerc! Leclerc!
user100:Â we're all rooting for you Charles!
yn: it'll be my husband for sure
âłuser101:Â alright there Mrs Leclerc, flexing on us
âłyn: đđ
user102:Â I'm so sat right now
âłuser103:Â BIG SAME
âłuser104:Â it's gonna happen for sure!
charles_leclerc
liked by yn, arthur_leclerc, maxverstappen1, and 3,102,291 others
tagged: yn
charles_leclerc:Â I got to marry my lucky charm all over again
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Taglist
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áŻáĄŁđŠ đş đđđđ đđžđđđžđ!
áŻáĄŁđŠ oscar piastri x writer!reader
áŻáĄŁđŠ arranged marriage, eldest daughter x eldest son
á°.á After a controversy threatens the reputation of Oscar Piastri, a carefully staged marriage to a sponsorâs daughter is meant to restore his image, nothing more than a strategic fix in the high-stakes world of Formula One, but as their perfectly crafted relationship begins to feel all too real behind closed doors, the line between performance and genuine love starts to blur, and theyâre forced to confront whether what they have was ever just for show.
After seven years with Lily, Oscar isnât sure heâs ready to try again. Itâs left him cautious, careful, and more afraid to open up than he ever thoughtâor would admit. Then one blind dateâwith you, a burst of light he canât ignoreâmakes him question everything he thought he knew about healing.
Can Oscar let the light in, or will lingering hurt and ghostly guilt push him away before it even begins?
1: The Blind Date
2: The Second Date
3: The Days Between
4: CautiousÂ
5: The Third Date
6: Across Time Zones
7: Rollercoaster
8: Home-Cooked
9: Safe Enough
10: Fragile Spaces
11: Texting...
12: Treading Water
13: Limbo
14: Saltwater
15: Privacy
16: It's CANada
17: It's still CANada
18: Lego & Lavender
19: Crossroads
20: Edges of Permancences
21: Rumor Has It
22: Red Heels
23: Not Yet
24: Between the Noise
25: Menances
26: Hattie
27: Green
28: Three More Days
29: Cordially Invited
30: Stay Anyway
31: Gate 3
32: No Cameras Here
33: Spielberg in Papaya
34: Approved (For Now)
35: Suspended In It
36: Past Lives
đ Prompt me: OPEN
If youâd like to be added to the taglist so you never miss a new part, nowâs your chanceâjust let me know! đŤś
Also!! Please!! Feel free to slide into my inbox or scream in the comments with ideas, wishes, or unhinged thoughts about what should happen next. I will be reading. I will be influenced. đđ¤
oscar piastri x yn!singer | request â here | masterlist |
"One night I was bored in bed, And stalked you on the internet" in which a popstar's crush on a f1 driver turns into a front page story...
note â (all manips made by me!!) i love this fic soooooo much, like it's very dear me.... hope you all enjoy it (not proofread ignore any mistakes) <3 !! likes, reblog's and comments are really appreciated â¤
user3 y/n is holding her self back by not commenting
->user4 ik she's remembering her pr training right now
->user5 wait why????
->user4 it's a known thing among fans that she has a crush on oscar...
->user5 HUH!??!?!? how havenât i heard about this??!???
user6 You got this đď¸
user7 okay can mclaren invite y/n to a race please
user8 listening to obsessed?? why does oscar know ball
YnLnNews Y/N IN AUSTRALIA!!!!! Y/n sat with Oscar Piastri prior to qualifying, Y/n cheered on Oscar as he qualified P2.
view all comments
user1 EVERYONE STAY CALM
user2 very important things happening right now
user3 who else was with them???? do we know how long they hung out..?
->user4 i saw a video of them talking and the poster said they were talking alone for about 15+ mins until someone on the team wanted to meet y/n
->user4 he sat with them for 5 mins and they kept talking for around 30 more minutes and hugged goodbye
->user3 omg ty sm user4 !!
oscarpiastri It was great to finally meet you in person!
yourinstagram a pleasure to meet you as well!!!
yourinstagram ik you have a busy schedule so ty for sparing the time!
oscarpiastri SPARING?? I would've skipped qualifying just to keep talking to you
oscarpiastri I wanted to meet you! So the schedule was cleared just for you!
oscarpiastri It obviously wasn't the race I would've liked for you to have been present for....
yourinstagram at least you didn't finish last!!!
yourinstagram hopefully the next race i go to will have a better outcome đ¤
oscarpiastri Speaking of you going to another race have you been to China? đ
yourinstagram noâŚ. but iâve always wanted to go!!
oscarpiastri Well there is a race coming up in China if your up for that�
yourinstagram mhmmmm that does sound like something iâd enjoy
yourinstagram and if i were to goâŚ
oscarpiastri Mhm hmm đ¤
yourinstagram id like to find a place for us to get dinner, since you picked last time đ
oscarpiastri You drive a hard bargain.. but i think we have a deal
enews Brewing Romance? Y/n L/n and Formula One Driver Oscar Piastri have been causing a stir as of late.
While the pair have been linked to each other since late 2024, the two hadn't met in person till March 15th 2025. Piastri said after meeting L/n "We've talk prior to meeting, so it was nice to finally meet in person. She's lovely." With L/n's recent presence in China for the Chinese Grand Prix, people are starting to wonder if there's a couple in the making...
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user1 they're so cute! im here for it
user2 enews doesn't even know about their crushes on each other
->user3 i was fully expecting to see them mention that but was glad they didn't
->user4 truly don't know how i would react if there were articles written about my crush
user5 i've been rooting for them since she liked an edit of him on tiktok
user6 her with an athlete is scary but he seems chill
user7 not my favs being on the jumbotron wth
user8 i feel like ppl are going to say it's PR but i think they're dating honestly
enews Y/n L/n teases new music in Vogue Interview!
"Everything that I've been writing has been written in this notebook and I feel like my last two albums are very angsty and heartbroken and just as a creative endeavor and also because I'm experiencing so much joy in my life, I've wanted to figure out how to like inject that into the songs that I'm making. And I'm really proud of it so far!â
view all comments
user1 we are about to get such a lover girl song
user2 she could never make a bad song... im so ready
user3 not related but her face card is so insane in that picture wow
user4 i just know she has a hit song on the way
user5 "y/n to grace us with new music" i can't wait
Liked by oscarpiastri, rachelzegler and 5,631,874 others
yourinstagram drop dead is out now!!!! I was lucky enough to film the music video at the palace of Versailles a few months ago and Iâm so stoked with how it turned out. I hope you guys love it as much as I do xoxo
The breeze is warm against your cheek as you face the open door leading towards the pool, the water peaceful and untouched.
Your towel hangs over the crook of your arm, soft to the touch.
The weather is perfect, warm enough to allow for the hope for a beautiful day and yet still cool enough to remind you that the sun has yet to reach its peak in the sky.
The sound of your footsteps against the tiles are barely noticeable in the soft breeze, as you waddle over to the edge of the pool.
Pulling your towel open and draping it across the floor, you free yourself from the confines of your linen shorts and shirt.
You adjust the bra of your swimsuit over your chest, slippers falling off your feet and landing next to your towel on the floor.
The water is chilly against your skin, goosebumps poking their heads out before your body adjusts to the temperature.
It takes a few steps before youâre fully submerged in the water, hair fanning out across the surface.
Itâs quiet beneath the surface, more so than above it.
Your arms move into a familiar position, legs kicking softly in the water, swimming towards the edge of the pool.
When your fingers graze the glass separating the body of water from the edge of the cliff, your head resurfaces, droplets running down your lashes onto your lips and chin.
Your palms slide across your face, wiping the what water remains from your eyes and sliding into your hairline.
Before you, the beautiful mountains of Damianâs home stretch across the horizon, the tips still covered in snow, even in early June.
Your arms lay over the glass, chin resting on your damp skin as you try to imagine growing up here.
You know, from late night admissions and the soft murmurs of his past in early mornings that Damianâs life was full of scar-worthy training and heavy expectations.
The irony of the comparison between the heavenly views and the suffering he went through in this very home is not lost on you.
You imagine the sound of a much younger Damianâs feet, fat and slippery, slapping against these very same tiles, his motherâs soft laughter following him as his body meets the water. He told you once that this was his best memory, when he was too young to face his grandfatherâs brutal expectations, when his full cheeks were a sign of health rather than lack of training.
Your heart breaks as you imagine the boy who once looked at these views and saw more than just beauty and tranquility, the boy whose childhood memories are haunted by the desperate need for approval his grandfather rarely gave.
Youâre lost in thought so you donât notice Damianâs quiet footsteps over the tiles, nor do you notice as he sheds his outer layers, stripping himself down to his shorts before sliding quietly into the water, as if being welcomed by his domain.
His hands are soft as they wrap around your waist but you cannot help flinching at the unexpected disturbance.
âDid I scare you?â His voice is deep and quiet, barely above a whisper, against your ear.
âOnly a little.â You chuckle, turning your head back towards him to place a soft kiss against his cheek.
âIâm sorry, Beloved.â His lips shape around the words against your skin and you cannot help but think back to the boy who could barely bring himself to admit he was wrong, let alone apologise, all those years ago.
âYou were gone when I woke up.â
âLeague business.â His head turns towards your neck, lips ghosting over the muscles of your throat.
âAnything serious?â You hum out, lost to the softness of his mouth.
âNothing you need to worry about.â His nose nudges your jaw. âWhat were you thinking about just now?â
You smile softly, a quiet chuckle escaping your lips.
âYou, fat and young, running around this house.â
His scoff holds no real heat, as his brows furrow, a look of mock offence taking over his lovely features.
âI was not fat.â His protest is weak, even to his own ears.
âIâve seen those baby pictures, Dami, you looked like a big roll of dough.â
Now his offence seems genuine, an annoyed scowl taking over his face as you laugh at him.
âI still cannot believe you convinced my mother to show you those albums.â
âI didnât have to do much convincing, my love, she was happy to offer all the blackmail material!â
Your laugh is delightful, blending with the quiet chirping of the birds.
âYour alliance against me is horror inspiring.â He laughs softly against your damp skin. âBut I am glad she has taken a liking to you.â You hum and he carries on after a moment of silence. âEven if that means she keeps stealing your attention from me.â
Your smile is bright as you turn in his arms, your own wrapping around his neck.
âDonât be jealous, even if it is a good colour on you.â You lean in, lips meeting his softly and he all but melts into your embrace, arms tightening around your back. âMy attention is always on you.â You say between kisses, smiling again when his teeth roll your lower lip between them in appreciation.
âI am glad to know that.â He says, guiding your back against the glass as his hands wrap around your thighs, hoisting them against his waist. âI plan to make full use of it.â
Your laugh rings loudly as his head dips back where your neck meets your shoulder.
â
The french toast is soft and sweet, drizzled in honey, the fresh strawberry crunching beneath the pressure of your teeth as you chew happily.
Damian sits next to you, his plate decorated in blueberries and kiwi, the toast growing soggy the longer it remains untouched.
Damianâs nose is buried in a newspaper, the large pages crinkling slightly beneath his soft grip.
âYour breakfast is getting cold, my love.â You say, placing your hand over his, lowering one side of the newspaper.
His questioning gaze meets yours as you raise an eyebrow, eyes flickering down to his untouched plate, the very one he spent fifteen minutes perfecting.
Damianâs sigh is soft as he folds the magazine and places it on the table, his now free hand reaching for the tea set next to his bowl of yogurt.
âItâs cold.â He says, wincing at the now stale taste, placing the teacup back on the plate as you chuckle under your breath.
âI want to go into town today.â You say after a moment of silence.
Damian raises an eyebrow in your direction, mouth chewing softly on the bread.
âThereâs a new book shop and I want to buy some new vinyls too.â He hums, nodding. âYou can come with, if youâre free.â
Damian sighs softly, waiting until heâs swallowed, washing the toast down with a sip of your orange juice, before nodding again.
âSure, Habibti. I can come.â Your smile is radiant, reaching for the jug to fill your cup again. âDo you also want to go into the market?â
You hum in approval.
âThe apricots were delicious last time. I was thinking of making the jam again. I can bake the cake too if we pick up some flour on the way back.â
âSounds like a plan.â His grin is soft as he leans towards you, placing his sticky lips against your cheek.
âYour lips are covered in honey.â You tease, pinching his cheek.
âYou are imagining things.â He claims, grabbing your orange juice again.
âYou know you can pour your own, yes?â
âYours always tastes sweeter.â You chuckle, taking your cup out of his hold and placing it by your plate again.
The silence that follows is comfortable.
The sun shines into the room through the open doors, the curtains swaying softly in the breeze.
Moments like these are rare, with how hectic both of your lives are.
The bustling cities and unending expectations seem so far away now, tucked away from the world in your husbandâs childhood home.
You smile to yourself, watching as Damianâs fork stabs lightly through the kiwi, cringing when the sour taste erupts in his mouth.
âI got a new yoga instructor.â You say, reaching for your juice.
âWhat was wrong with the last one?â
âI donât know, but your mother suggested I get a new one.â
He sighs, fighting a smile.
âYou know, you donât have to take every advice she gives you, Beloved.â
âI know.â You protest weakly, watching his arm flex as he reaches for his chai. âBesides, apparently sheâs going to open me all the way up, so I can finally get pregnant.â
Damian all but chokes on his drink, doubling over himself as he coughs up the liquid that is no doubt sliding down his wind pipe.
âWhat?â He rasps out, in between coughs.
âYeah, your motherâs really hell-bent on me getting pregnant soon.â You say sweetly, running soothing circles over his back.
You try your best not to burst out laughing when he turns his bewildered expression back to you.
âWe are not even twenty-six, yet. What does she want?â His tone is so alarmed you canât help the giggle that escapes you.
âGrandchildren.â You laugh at his horrified expression again. âSheâs not the only one.â He looks at you, confused. âBruce brought it up the last time we were over for dinner.â
âFor Godâs sake.â He mutters, rolling his eyes.
âIâm not getting any younger, Iâd like to bounce a grandchild or two on my knee.â You deepen your voice, trying to sound like your father-in-law.
Damian flushes a scarlet so deep itâs visible even under his heavy tan.
âHeâs not even that old.â He grumbles and you can see him try to physically slap his blush away, hand falling softly on the back of his neck.
âHe seems to disagree.â You chuckle, popping another strawberry in your mouth, trying to ignore Damianâs stare.
He opens his mouth, looking for something to say, but you beat him to it.
âNot yet, Dami.â Your eyes slide over to his face, meeting his gaze. âBut soon.â
You try not to laugh as he fights the smile stretching across his full lips, lips that are on you before you can even register that heâs moved from his seat.
âSoon, then.â His voice is so so soft, you try not to melt under his loving gaze, emerald eyes tracing the soft curve of your cheek.
â
The summer sun is hot, even in your thin clothing, but the heaviness of Damianâs hand in yours is comforting, as he carries the books and records you kept handing to him until they almost dropped from his grip, in his other hand.
The umbrellas over the vendor stands do little to ease the scorching sun, but you donât complain.
When you spot the familiar stall, you pull Damian with you as you make a beeline for it.
The man stood over the fruit with an iced bottle of water youâd kill for, smiles as he recognises your faces.
Your hand slips from Damianâs as you grab the plastic bag hanging from the nail hammered on one of the fruit boxes.
The apricots are ripe under your touch, their gooey softness mashing against one another as they fall into the pink plastic bag.
You hear Damian converse with the vendor as you move from apricots to strawberries to kiwis to big pink tomatoes that always remind you of home.
Moving from one end of the stall to the other, you spot a box of watermelons sitting a little lower than the rest of the fruit.
The skin of it is smooth under your palm as you gently hit the watermelon, checking for the sound.
Damian appears behind your back, repeating your motion until the two of you find one you both like.
Damian grabs another plastic bag, this one bigger than all the rest, waiting for the vendor to weigh your watermelon.
You hand the older man a canary melon to weigh when he slips the watermelon into the awaiting bag.
Before you know it, the two of you are making your way back to the car, while you munch on an unpeeled cucumber to help cool you down.
Your head is hot under your cap when you finally take it off.
Your hand reaches for the AC when Damian starts the engine and the cool air is a welcome relief from the stifling heat outside.
âDid we get everything we needed, Beloved?â Damian looks over at your nodding head before turning the gear and starting to drive.
âIt gets so hot here.â You say, slipping your sunglasses off your face.
âStill not used to it after all these years?â He teases, hand resting on your thigh.
âIâm not sure I could ever get used to this heat.â Your hand rests atop his, fingers drawing soft circles on his scarred knuckles.
âWe should go to the beach tomorrow.â Damian says, turning at the roundabout.
You smile, imagining the sound of the waves splashing against the sand and the smell of the salt in the air.
âSounds like a plan.â Your voice is almost a whisper, as your free hand reaches for the radio, the familiar tunes filling the car.
-
The drive up to the house is quiet, safe for the music at a low volume.
Damian looks over at your figure and smiles when he sees you dozing off, head resting against the window.
His hand is still on your thigh and your hand is still on his, where you were playing with his fingers before falling asleep.
When he drives past the gates and shifts the car into Park, Damianâs thumb traces over the soft skin of your thigh before slipping carefully from under your grip.
Damian carries the produce, along with your books and vinyls, into the house, which is quiet besides the soft breeze created by the open windows and the front door.
He slips back into his seat, moving your sleeping head away from the window, resting it against the headrest, unclicking your seatbelt.
When he reaches for you from the now open door of your side, your head falls against his chest, eyes blinking open lazily as he picks you up and closes the car door behind him with the kick of his foot.
âThanks.â You mumble into his chest and you can feel the low chuckle against your cheek from deep within him.
You settle into him, expecting a long walk up to your room when he places you down softly against the sofa.
Your eyes flutter open and you see Damian reaching for the new vinyls, picking the cover he most fondly remembers from his childhood and placing it under the needle of the turntable.
A soft voice fills the sunroom, the flowers above you saving you from the hot light of the sun.
When you turn your attention back to him, Damian is walking out of the room, only to walk back in soon after with two plates a bowl of washed fruit.
The china is placed on the low wood table and Damian slips under your legs, placing them on his lap before he starts peeling the peaches and the apples that glisten red under the sunlight.
You watch him with half-lidded eyes, waiting for him as he cuts the fruit into the thin slices that remind you of your motherâs sweet kiss against your cheek in the summer.
When heâs done, he taps your leg, motioning you to sit up.
You sink into his side when you do and he hands you a plate of fruit.
âEat the apple first.â He commands softly, placing a kiss against your hairline.
The apple crunches under your teeth and decide that youâd rather eat the peaches.
The sticky juice of it runs down your chin and Damian wipes it away with his thumb, bringing it to his lips to lick away the moisture.
âItâs sweet.â He comments and you nod, sinking into him further.
He chuckles quietly and takes the plate from your hand, wrapping his arm around your shoulders as he feeds you a slice.
And all you can do is look up at him with stars in your eyes and imagine this house, filled with so many happy memories that have overridden the bad ones, full of childish laughter and wonder.
And you think his parents may be right, maybe it is time to bring a new addition to the family.
AHHHH I WANNA SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH HIM FEEDING ME PEELED PEACHES đđđ
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.ăťă.ăťăâăť.ăťâŤăťăăťă.
You filming a tiktok suddenly gets you famous, for all the wrong reasons.
genre: fluff
pairing: f!reader x (secret)bf!charles
warnings: -
word count: 1k
.ăťă.ăťăâăť.ăťâŤăťăăťă.
You have been dating charles secretly for quite some time now, 7 months to be exact. You haven't been to any of his races due to your busy schedule, so it was even easier for you to stay hidden. You privated your instagram immediately after you got together, and to your surprise fans didn't notice him suddenly following a random instagram account with only 300 followers.
However, your tiktok stayed public, as you haven't really got any views and you barely recorded videos anyway. You wanted to stay unknown as you weren't ready for all the media and all the people to swarm you, to hate on you, to be obsessed with you, it was just too much.
Today was one day where you actually decided to post, hitting the record button with you showing off your new beautiful dress and outfit after a night out, spinning around in it. However, there was one little twist. You recorded it in the bedroom while Charles was getting ready for bed in the back, his torso and slightly messy brown hair visible in the corner of the video.
You didn't notice it at all, and hit post, not checking the video twice to see if there was anything wrong with it. And damn, that was your biggest mistake in a while.
"You ready to sleep amour?" Charles asked as he tucked himself in bed, waiting for you with open arms.
"Yeah just a sec!" You said as you quickly got unready, switching into your comfy PJs and jumping next to him in bed, putting your phone on silent.
"Goodnight baby" he said as he kissed your forehead, hugging you while drifting off to sleep.
"Goodnight Charles" you said with a sleepy smile, and closed your eyes.
-
The morning sun shined through the big curtains and you slowly opened your eyes. Charles was still asleep, his hair messy, mouth slightly open, damn he was gorgeous. It was quite the sight to wake up to everytime you slept together.
You picked up your phone, looking at the time. You knew you couldn't fall asleep back, so you swiped up, as you slowly opened your mouth in shock.
"99+ notifications from tiktok"
What could have possibly happened? Your first tought was that maybe your video has just gone viral, which was not exactly bad, but you never really got more than 50 likes, so it was still unusual.
As you decided to click on the notification, your heart dropped to your chest, your phone opening up the comments of the video immediately.
user 1: who is that in the back? doesn't that look like leclerc?
user 2: you're gorgeous wow
user 3: yall call me crazy but that guys torso in the back looks awfully a lot like charles's
user 4: guys stop speculating things you can't even see the guys face
⤡user 5: yeah but his hair looks EXACTLY like leclercs its so weird
user 6: oh so thats why he didn't answer anything about his relationships to media okay!
You panicked, seeing your tiktok DM's flooding already with questions, and your instagram requests suddenly being packed aswell, not staying so anonymous as Charles was following you here.
As if on cue, your phone just buzzed, your best friend sending you a picture. Terrified, you still decided to open it, as your panic just grew more:
You didn't know what to do, like seriously. Should you just delete the video and act like nothing happened? But that's impossible now, a lot of people saw it. Should you just delete yourself from everywhere? That would just raise more suspicion.
As much as you didn't want to, you kept checking the comments everywhere, the hate ones getting to you the most:
user1: she wants that BAGGG
user2: She aint allat
user3: Charles can do better ngl
user4: watch her leave when she gets famous enough
As you kept anxiously reading, you heard a sleepy Charles's voice:
"Good morning beautiful, you okay?"
He could sense that something was off, by your shaky hands and glossy eyes checking your phone, not even daring to look at him.
He leaned over and he read some of the comments along with you, his hands immediately taking your phone away, inspecting it.
"How the hell-"
"I messed up Charles" you said as you buried your face in your hands, sobbing. "You were slightly visible in the video I posted yesterday and it went viral, they figured it out and-"
"Shh"
He said as he put his arms around you, pulling you in a comforting hug.
"So what? Atleast you don't have to hide now"
"But you know I don't like having all this attention on me" you said, completely dumbfounded in what you should do next.
He pulled away from the hug as he cupped your cheek in his hands, and slowly kissed you, easing all the tension that built up in you.
"You know what you should do baby? Just ignore them. Act like nothing happened, that will annoy them the most. And when you feel ready, we can tell them."
It actually sounded like the most logical thing to do, as you really wanted to go to his home race to support him in a few days.
"But now they will be all around me in the Monaco GP won't they?"
"I'll send all the media away, just tell me what you wan't me to do mon amour, I'll do it immediately" he said as he started rubbing small circles on your back, still trying to comfort you as much as he can.
"And if any pictures get out, atleast they will know you're mine now" he smiled as he pulled you in tight hug again.
And just like that, you calmed down in his arms, suddenly feeling like it's not even a big deal after all.
"Maybe that was the universe's sign to tell everyone else" you said as you smiled, for the first time this morning.
"Je t'aime" he said as he wiped your tears away, you melting in his touch, and cuddling for a few more hours in the bed.
.ăťă.ăťăâăť.ăťâŤăťăăťă.
Small. Stupid. Jason shutting down the second things got too real.
Youâd asked him - gently - why heâd disappeared for three days after a rough patrol. No text. No call. Just radio silence while you sat in your apartment worrying yourself sick.
âI was handling it,â heâd said, voice flat, arms crossed like he was bracing for impact. âYou donât need to know every detail of my shit.â
âIâm not asking for every detail,â youâd replied, trying to keep your voice steady. âIâm asking you to let me in. Iâm your girlfriend, Jason. Not some civilian you have to protect from the truth.â
Heâd laughed - short, bitter. âYeah? Well maybe I donât want you in. Maybe I donât want you seeing the parts of me that are still fucked up from the grave.â
The words had landed like punches. Youâd stood there, chest tight, and said the thing youâd been thinking for weeks.
âMaybe we need a break.â
Not a breakup.
A break.
Time. Space. Air.
Jason had gone very still. âWhat?â
âJust⌠a break,â youâd said, voice cracking. âNot forever. I just need to breathe, Jason. And you need to figure out if you even want me in your life or if Iâm just another person youâre protecting from yourself.â
He hadnât argued. Hadnât fought. Heâd just nodded once, jaw tight, and left.
That was nine days ago.
Jason Todd had never been good at feelings.
Heâd spent years building walls so high no one could climb them. Death had only made them taller. But you - quiet, patient, stubborn you - had somehow slipped through the cracks anyway.
Now those cracks felt like canyons.
Heâd spent the first few days throwing himself into work. Patrols. Warehouse raids. Anything to keep his hands busy and his mind quiet. But every night he came home to an empty apartment and the silence screamed louder than any gunshot.
Then he saw you.
It was at a small cafĂŠ near the university. You were sitting outside with a guy â some tall, friendly-looking idiot with glasses and a soft smile. He said something that made you laugh, head tilted back, eyes bright the way they used to be with him.
Jasonâs stomach dropped.
He told himself it was nothing. Just a friend. You were allowed to have friends. But the image stuck - you smiling at someone else while he was falling apart.
That night he did something heâd sworn heâd never do.
He drank.
Not a beer. Not a glass of whiskey.
A bottle. Then another.
The alcohol burned going down, but it didnât quiet the noise in his head. It only made it louder. By 2am he was drunk for the first time in his life, sitting on the floor of his apartment with his phone in his hand, thumb hovering over your name.
He pressed call.
You answered on the third ring, voice sleepy. âJason?â
âYouâre out there smiling at other guys,â he slurred, the words tumbling out before he could stop them. âWhile Iâm sitting here like a fucking idiot thinking about you every second. You said a break. Not a breakup. But it feels like youâre already moving on. Like I was just a phase. Like-â
âJason,â you cut in, sounding more awake now. âAre you drunk?â
He laughed â ugly and raw. âYeah. First time in ages. Congratulations. You made the emotionally constipated zombie drink. Happy now?â
There was a pause. Then your voice, sharper. âStop it. Youâre spiraling. Come over. We need to talk.â
âNo,â he snapped, but his voice cracked. âYou wanted space. You got it. Go smile at your new friend. Iâm sure heâs nicer. Doesnât have blood on his hands. Doesnât wake up screamingââ
âJason Todd,â you said, voice firm but gentle, the way you always got when he was like this. âStop. Youâre breaking my heart right now. Iâm coming over. Do not hang up.â
He didnât.
He sat on the floor, phone pressed to his ear, listening to you move around your apartment, the sound of keys, the door closing. Twenty minutes later there was a knock.
He opened it.
You stood there in sweatpants and one of his old hoodies, hair messy, eyes wide with worry. The second you saw him - red-eyed, swaying slightly, looking smaller than youâd ever seen him - your face crumpled.
âOh, JayâŚâ
He broke.
The tears came fast and ugly, shoulders shaking as he tried to hold them back. âIâm sorry,â he choked out. âIâm so fucking sorry. I thought⌠I thought you were done. I saw you with that guy and I just⌠I panicked. I donât know how to do this. I donât know how to be someone worth staying for.â
You stepped inside, closing the door behind you, and pulled him into your arms. He collapsed against you, burying his face in your neck, arms wrapping around your waist like you might disappear.
âIâm not done,â you whispered, holding him tight. âIt was a break, Jason. Not a breakup. I needed space because I was scared too. Scared that youâd keep shutting me out until there was nothing left of us. But I never stopped loving you. Not for a second.â
He cried harder, the kind of raw, broken sound that tore at your chest. You guided him to the couch, pulling him down so his head rested in your lap. Your fingers stroked through his hair, slow and soothing, the way you knew he liked.
âI love you,â you said quietly. âThe angry parts. The scared parts. The parts that think theyâre too broken to be loved. All of them. Youâre not too much. Youâre not too damaged. Youâre mine. And Iâm yours. Okay?â
He nodded against your thigh, fingers clutching the hem of your hoodie. âOkay,â he whispered, voice hoarse. âIâm sorry I got drunk. Iâm sorry I said those things. I was just⌠scared. I saw you smiling and I thought Iâd lost you for good.â
âYou havenât,â you assured him, leaning down to kiss his temple. âIâm right here. And Iâm staying. Weâll figure out the rest. Together.â
Jason stayed curled in your lap for a long time, breathing gradually evening out as your fingers continued their slow path through his hair. Every so often heâd press a kiss to your thigh or your wrist, like he needed the constant reminder you were real.
âI love you,â he said again, softer this time. âMore than I know how to say. Iâll try to be better. Less⌠constipated.â
You laughed quietly, the sound warm. âI love you too. Even when youâre emotionally constipated. Especially then.â
He shifted, pulling you down so you were lying beside him on the couch, your head on his chest. His arms wrapped around you, holding you like you were the only safe thing left in the world.
The city hummed far below. The argument, the fear, the drunk call â all of it faded into the background as Jason held you close, his heartbeat steady under your ear.
âIâm keeping you,â he whispered into your hair. âFor as long as youâll let me.â
You smiled, pressing a kiss to his chest. âGood. Because Iâm not going anywhere.â
In the quiet dark of the apartment, Jason Todd â the man who came back from the dead, the one who built walls so high no one could climb them â finally let someone in.
And you?
You stayed.
Because loving Jason Todd had never been easy.
But it had always been worth it.
a/n : this is a newer request I got but Iâm working on older ones sorry! (Reqs open <3) @moviecritc bc u wanted to be tagged babe đˇ ac as usual : @/ciricearts
Pairing: Max Verstappen x Charlotte Fischer (Original Character)
Summary: Charlotte Fischer has spent years making sure no one in Formula One knows who she really is.
At Red Bull, she is simply Charlotte: Cambridge graduate, simulator engineer, owner of a deeply judgmental cat, and the woman responsible for making the teamâs broken 2025 car model finally tell the truth.Â
She prefers it that way. No family name. No questions. No one looking at her like she is someoneâs daughter, someoneâs mistake, or someoneâs failure to protect.
Max Verstappen notices her anyway.
Warnings and Notes:Â I wrote fanfiction of my own fanfiction. This is the result.
As always big thanks to @llirawolf , who listens to me ramble.
Winning Imola felt good.
It always did â the track, the flow, the way a lap could come together there like a sentence that finally made sense. The car had still been difficult, still on the edge of uncooperative, but heâd dragged it where it needed to go and stood on the top step anyway.
Applause. Champagne. Noise.
By the time Max made it back to the factory a few days later, the win had already settled into something quieter â pride instead of adrenaline. He expected congratulations. Handshakes. Smiles.
What he hadnât expected was how clearly, immediately, he knew where he was going.
Charlotteâs desk sat where it always did: half-buried in screens, notes taped at precise angles, a mug that had definitely gone cold hours ago. She was leaning forward slightly, chin tucked, eyes fixed on a replay loop from the simulator, fingers tapping lightly against the desk as she thought.
Max stopped a few steps away, watching her for a moment.
Still pretty. Still focused. Still not looking at him.
He cleared his throat.
She glanced up. Recognition flickered â quick, contained.
âHey,â she said.
Just that.
No excitement. No smile. No Imola! hanging in the air between them.
He waited.
Nothing happened.
âWell,â Max said finally, tilting his head, âwe won.â
Charlotte nodded once. âYes. Congratulations.â
That was it.
No follow-up questions. No gushing. No visible awe. She turned back to the screen, already rewinding a segment of the run.
Max frowned slightly. ââŚYou saw the race?â
âYes.â
âAnd?â
âAnd the mid-corner balance looked improved,â she said, still watching the data. âThe correlation update helped.â
He blinked. âThatâsââ He stopped himself, then tried again. âThatâs all?â
Charlotte looked back at him properly this time, dark eyes assessing, not unkind â just curious. âDid you want something else?â
Max stared at her.
People usually did something when he won. Even people who tried very hard not to care still leaked enthusiasm at the edges. Pride. Excitement. Relief.
Charlotte just⌠processed it.
He shifted his weight, suddenly aware that this wasnât going the way heâd pictured.
âI thought,â he said slowly, âyou might be⌠impressed.â
She considered that. âIâm glad the work helped,â she said eventually. âBut youâve won races before.â
It wasnât dismissive. It wasnât rude. It was factual.
Max felt something unfamiliar flicker in his chest â not annoyance, not quite â more like disorientation. ââŚRight,â he said.
She tilted her head slightly, studying him now. âIs everything okay?â
He huffed out a small laugh despite himself. âYeah. Justââ
He stopped. Tried to find the words.
Normally, this part was easy.
Normally, the women he was interested in reacted. There was a rhythm to it â admiration first, curiosity second, the unspoken understanding that this was impressive and he was part of it.
Charlotte wasnât playing that game.
She wasnât unimpressed.
She just wasnât impressed by that.
âI just wanted to say hi,â he said finally.
She nodded. âHi.â
Then, as if remembering something, she added, âGood drive.â
Two words. Earned. Clean.
Max felt more validated by that than he wanted to admit.
She turned back to her work, conversation clearly concluded.
Max stood there for a second longer than necessary, then walked away, hands in his pockets, brain spinning.
That had not gone according to plan.
At all.
Heâd come expecting to dazzle her.
Instead, heâd been treated like a variable that performed as expected.
And for the first time in a long while, Max Verstappen found himself genuinely, deeply dumbfounded.
Which was⌠annoying.
And, inconvenientlyâ
Kind of thrilling.
***
GP did not look surprised.
Which, frankly, offended Max a little.
They were walking down the corridor toward the sim wing, Max still buzzing with post-win energy that had nowhere to go, irritation prickling under his skin like static. Heâd tried to ignore it. Failed. Badly.
âSo,â Max said finally, unable to help himself, âI went to see Charlotte.â
GP hummed. Noncommittal. Dangerous. âAnd?â he asked.
Max stopped walking and turned on him. âShe didnât care.â
GP blinked. âAbout what.â
âAbout Imola,â Max said, exasperated. âAbout the win. Aboutââ He gestured vaguely at himself. âAny of it.â
GP sipped his coffee. Took his time.
âShe said congratulations,â Max added quickly. âBut like. Professionally.â
GP stared at him for a long moment. Then: âMate.â
Max folded his arms. âDonât.â
âYou have it bad.â
Max scoffed. âI do not.â
âYou came to find me specifically to complain about a woman not being impressed by you winning a Grand Prix,â GP said evenly. âThatâs not subtle.â
Max opened his mouth to argue. Closed it. ââŚShe just went straight back to her screen,â he muttered. âLike I was a meeting reminder.â
GP nodded. âSounds like Charlotte.â
Max frowned. âYou know her?â
GP shrugged. âSome. Hannah does more. Theyâre friends through one of the other sim engineers.â
Max perked up despite himself. âTheyâre friends?â
âYes,â GP said. âThey talk. Coffee. Normal human things.â
Max exhaled. âOf course they do.â
GP gave him a sideways look. âYouâre spiralling.â
âI am not spiralling.â
âYou are,â GP said calmly, âstanding in a hallway, emotionally compromised by a woman who complimented your driving efficiency instead of your ego.â
Max grimaced. âWhen you say it like that, it sounds ââ
âIt sounds accurate,â GP finished.
They resumed walking.
GP took another sip of coffee, then added casually, âAlso, you need to recalibrate your expectations.â
Max shot him a look. âWhatâs that supposed to mean?â
GP didnât hesitate. âCharlotte has a Cambridge degree,â he said. âSheâs been buried in sim models since she was about twenty-two. Sheâs not a wannabe model, influencer, or someone impressed by trophies.â
Max bristled. âI donât only go forââ
GP raised an eyebrow.
Max sighed. ââŚUsually.â
âExactly,â GP said. âShe doesnât orbit your world. She has her own. And sheâs not going to perform admiration on command.â
Max stared ahead, jaw tight.
âThat doesnât mean she doesnât care,â GP added. âIt means youâre going to have to try something youâre not very good at.â
Max groaned. âWhat.â
âBeing interesting without winning something,â GP said.
âThatâs harsh.â
They walked in silence for a moment.
ââŚShe said the car looked better,â Max muttered. âSaid the correlation update helped. That it was a âGood Driveâ.â
GP smiled faintly. âHigh praise. From her.â
Max glanced at him. âYou think?â
âI know,â GP said. âIf Charlotte Fischer tells you âgood driveâ and means it, thatâs about as close as youâll get to a standing ovation.â
Max absorbed that slowly. Then, quieter: âI didnât know what to do.â
GP looked at him then â really looked.
âGood,â he said. âMaybe this time, youâll learn.â
Max huffed a reluctant laugh, shaking his head.
âI hate this,â he said.
GP smiled into his coffee.
âNo,â he said. âYou really, really donât.â
Aero_Matt:rumour check
did max actually go to charlotte after imola expecting her to be impressed
Sim_Ruby:yes
Aero_Matt:oh my god
Garage_Pete:how bad was it
Sim_Ruby:she said congratulations and then went back to the model
Strategy_Leah:iconic
Composite_Tom:brutal
Powertrains_Nina:efficient
Garage_Pete:did she at least smile
Sim_Ruby:no
Aero_Matt:MAX VERSTAPPEN WON IMOLA AND GOT A CALENDAR NOTIFICATION RESPONSE
Comms_Jess:wait is charlotte even single
Aero_Matt:do we know literally anything about charlotte
Sim_Ruby:she has a cat
Garage_Pete:called tilly
Powertrains_Nina:tilly wears hats
Composite_Tom:crochet hats
Strategy_Leah:seasonal crochet hats
Comms_Jess:okay so we know cat lore
do we know boyfriend lore
Sim_Ruby:no boyfriend has ever been mentioned
Aero_Matt:has ANY personal human ever been mentioned
Powertrains_Nina:hannah?
Garage_Pete:hannah is not charlotteâs boyfriend
Strategy_Hannah:Thank you for clarifying.
Comms_Jess:no but seriously
sheâs pretty, terrifyingly smart, has an expensive accent, went to cambridge, and max is acting like a teenage boy
someone should know if sheâs single
Composite_Tom:âexpensive accentâ is so real
Aero_Matt:she says âcanâtâ like thereâs inheritance involved
Sim_Ruby:she was born in austria though
Comms_Jess:SHE WAS WHAT
Garage_Pete:welcome to charlotte lore part 2
Strategy_Leah:austrian but sounds like she was educated by the bbc
Powertrains_Nina:because she was
Aero_Matt:boarding school apparently
Comms_Jess:how do we know all this and still not know if she has a boyfriend
Sim_Ruby:to be fair charlotte doesnât talk about herself
Composite_Tom:she once answered âdid you have a good weekend?â with âit was operationally sufficientâ
Garage_Pete:thatâs romantic actually
Comms_Jess:max would probably propose if she said that to him
Engineering_GP:Do not give him ideas.
Aero_Matt:GP CONFIRMED MAX HAS IDEAS
Engineering_GP:I confirmed nothing.
Strategy_Hannah:You confirmed it by appearing.
Engineering_GP:I regret teaching any of you how to use Slack.
Comms_Jess:okay facts we know about Charlotte Fischer:
Austrian
Cambridge
sim engineer wizard
posh accent
cat named Tilly
crochets cat hats
immune to Max Verstappen Grand Prix victory flirting
possibly single
mysterious family situation??
Aero_Matt:what family situation
Sim_Ruby:her mother died, I think
Comms_Jess:oh
Powertrains_Nina:yeah. she doesnât talk about it much.
Garage_Pete:does she have family here?
Sim_Ruby:not really, I donât think
Composite_Tom:Iâve never heard her mention anyone
Strategy_Leah:she has Tilly
Strategy_Hannah:And before anyone gets weird: that is enough information.
Comms_Jess:understood
Aero_Matt:respecting boundaries in the gossip channel
growth
Garage_Pete:wait wasnât there also the cancer thing
Comms_Jess:the what
Sim_Ruby:Pete.
Garage_Pete:sorry
Strategy_Hannah:Careful.
Garage_Pete:no I mean not gossip way
just like
That why everyone is protective of her, right?
Powertrains_Nina:yes. partly.
Composite_Tom:she had a brain tumour a few years ago. sheâs okay now.
Comms_Jess:oh my god
Strategy_Leah:she gets migraines sometimes. we cover when sheâs out.
Comms_Jess:okay suddenly max having a crush is less funny and more like
oh no he is going to be extremely sincere about this
Engineering_GP:Unfortunately, yes.
Aero_Matt:does max know about the cancer?
Strategy_Hannah:Not from this channel.
Sim_Ruby:good point
Garage_Pete:if max finds out heâs going to hover
Strategy_Leah:he already hovers
Composite_Tom:he does emotional hovering
Comms_Jess:what does emotional hovering look like
Sim_Ruby:asking whether the low-speed model has been updated when what he means is âis Charlotte here todayâ
Aero_Matt:walking past the sim wing three times
Powertrains_Nina:bringing coffee and pretending it was extra
Garage_Pete:liking Tillyâs strawberry bonnet at 01:13
Comms_Jess:HE DID WHAT
Strategy_Hannah:Please stop monitoring the manâs likes.
Aero_Matt:he followed a 39-follower cat account
thatâs public behaviour
Comms_Jess:back to the important bit
how did max take charlotte not being impressed by imola
Engineering_GP:Badly.
Aero_Matt:details
Engineering_GP:No.
Strategy_Hannah:He complained that she âdidnât care.â
Composite_Tom:HAHAHAHA
Garage_Pete:world champion defeated by woman saying âexpected performanceâ
Strategy_Leah:to be fair she did say good drive
Sim_Ruby:that is basically a standing ovation from Charlotte
Powertrains_Nina:that is Charlotte throwing underwear on stage
Strategy_Hannah:Nina.
Powertrains_Nina:sorry
Aero_Matt:did GP give him advice
Engineering_GP:I told him to be interesting without winning something.
Comms_Jess:that is the meanest and most useful advice Iâve ever heard
Garage_Pete:did he survive it
Engineering_GP:Barely.
Sim_Ruby:max has never had to flirt uphill before
Composite_Tom:flirt uphill đ
Strategy_Leah:Charlotte is basically Eau Rouge emotionally
Strategy_Hannah:Difficult, fast, and punishes arrogance?
Engineering_GP:Accurate.
Sim_Ruby:I am gonna go and find out if Charlotte has a boyfriend.Â
***
It happened over coffee.
It always did.
There was something about the Red Bull sim wing before ten in the morning that made people forget themselves. Maybe it was the bad coffee. Maybe it was the hours. Maybe it was the false intimacy of standing around half-awake with mugs in hand, pretending they were not all about to spend the day arguing with data that had the emotional temperament of a spoilt racehorse.
Charlotte had been halfway through explaining a small but irritating inconsistency in a tyre degradation model when one of the younger engineers, Ruby, â bright, well-meaning, and entirely too invested in the romantic prospects of everyone around them â looked at her over the rim of her mug.
âYou know,â Ruby said, far too casually, âmy friend is single.â
Charlotte paused. Only for a second. âNo,â she said.
Ruby blinked. âYou donât even know what I was going to say.â
âYou were going to tell me he works in aero,â Charlotte replied, turning back toward the screen. âPossibly that he is tall. Probably that he is normal, which is never as reassuring as people think it is.â
A beat.
Rubyâs mouth fell open. âHow did youââ
âYou have tried this twice before.â
âI have not.â
âYou have. Once with the gearbox analyst. Once with the composite materials guy who owned a bearded dragon.â
âHe was lovely.â
âHe brought the bearded dragon to a first date.â
âThat shows commitment.â
âThat shows poor judgment.â
Someone at the next desk laughed into their coffee.
Ruby, undeterred, leaned against the edge of Charlotteâs workstation. âOkay, but this one is different.â
âThey never are.â
âHeâs nice.â
âIâm sure.â
âTall.â
âAs predicted.â
âWorks in aero.â
âTragic.â
âAnd heâs normal.â
Charlotte looked at her then.
Ruby winced. âOkay, I hear it now.â
âGood.â
âOh, come on,â Ruby said, laughing. âItâs just coffee. No pressure. You might like him.â
Charlotteâs face settled automatically into something pleasant and final.
âNo, thank you.â
The words came easily.
Too easily.
They always had.
Ruby held her gaze for a moment, looking for a crack in the answer, some hidden hesitation she could widen into a yes. Charlotte gave her nothing.
Eventually, Ruby shrugged. âFine. Your loss.â
âStatistically unlikely.â
That earned another laugh, and the conversation drifted back toward the model, toward tyre behaviour and track evolution and the clean relief of problems that did not ask to be loved.
Charlotte appreciated that.
She appreciated people who knew when to stop.
Still, the thought followed her after Ruby left.
It sat beside her through the next simulation review, quiet and unwelcome. It lingered when she corrected an input error, when she sent an update to Hannah, when she stood by the coffee machine later and realised she had forgotten to drink the first cup entirely.
Dating required openness.
Not the fashionable kind of vulnerability people discussed in seminars, all neat language and tidy conclusions. Not the sort of thing that could be packaged into a sentence about communication styles.
Real openness.
The kind that meant letting someone close enough to see the places where you had learned not to expect much.
Charlotte did not have that in her anymore.
Or maybe she had once, and it had been worn away so gradually she had not noticed until it was gone. Either way, she had lost the ability to trust gently a very, very long time ago.
She had never had a boyfriend.
Not in school, where safety had felt temporary and affection like something that could be revoked without warning. She had been too busy learning which version of herself took up the least space.
Not at Cambridge, where she had worked until her eyes burned and her hands cramped, pouring herself into problem sets, libraries, lectures, late-night calculations, anything that could be solved by discipline. People had flirted. Some had even been kind about it. She had deflected them all with essays and deadlines and the cold, efficient belief that competence was a better investment than connection.
There had always been something more important.
Then there had been the cancer.
That had settled the matter in a very definitive way.
Charlotte still remembered the room where the doctor told her.
Sterile walls. Too-bright lights.Â
A poster about neurological symptoms curling slightly at one corner. The careful, gentle cadence of a specialist explaining timelines and treatment options and probabilities as if kindness could soften the shape of the words.
Tumour.
Surgery.
Radiation.
Chemotherapy.
Monitoring.
Support.
They had said that word several times.
Support.
As if it were a thing a person could simply decide to have.
Charlotte had sat with her hands folded in her lap, listening carefully, asking precise questions, nodding in the appropriate places. And somewhere beneath the clinical calm, a thought had arrived with perfect clarity.
This is not something you ask someone to share.
Nobody should be burdened with that.
The fear. The uncertainty. The possibility that she might disappear halfway through someone loving her.
She had survived, yes.
But survival had come with a cost.
It had taught her to carry her own weight and then some. To plan for the worst and apologise for nothing. To assume that if life dropped something unbearable into her hands, it was still her responsibility to hold it.
Opening herself up enough to let someone in would mean explaining too much.
Her mother.
Her father.
The house where she had learned to be silent.
The years no one had come for her.
The scars, visible and otherwise.
Charlotte no longer knew how to do that without flinching.
So she didnât.
It was easier that way.
Cleaner.
By the time Charlotte got home that evening, the migraine had settled in properly.
Not the sharp kind. Not the kind that made her vision blur at the edges and forced her immediately into darkness.
This was duller. Heavier. A pressure wrapped around her skull like a hand tightening very slowly, making the world feel faintly misaligned, as though everything was half a second behind where it ought to be.
She unlocked the door, stepped inside, and closed it behind her.
For a moment, she stayed there.
Bag dropped at her feet.
Forehead pressed against the cool wood.
Breathing.
In.
Out.
Again.
It was not panic.
It never was anymore.
But migraines still carried echoes.
Pressure behind the eye. Light sensitivity. The low, traitorous whisper at the back of her mind: you have felt this before.
Charlotte closed her eyes.
âI know,â she murmured, to no one in particular. âI know.â
A soft, questioning noise answered from the hallway.
Charlotte opened her eyes and looked down.
Tilly sat on the floor, tail curled neatly around her paws, a round orange face tilted up in stern disapproval. She looked profoundly unimpressed by human frailty.
âYouâre right,â Charlotte said quietly. âIâm late.â
Tilly blinked.
Judgment, but with affection.
Probably.
Charlotte kicked off her shoes and padded into the living room, switching off the overhead light before it could worsen the pressure behind her eyes. She left only the small lamp on near the sofa, its glow low and amber.
Muscle memory.
Survival habits never quite left. They only softened around the edges until they looked like preferences.
Tilly followed at her heels.
Charlotte sank onto the couch carefully, one hand pressed against her temple. The migraine pulsed, insistent but contained.
Unpleasant.
Not alarming.
She repeated that to herself automatically.
Unpleasant. Not alarming.
Still, every migraine carried the echo of hospital lights. Of MRI machines humming too close to her skull. Of doctors speaking gently in that terrible voice people used when they were about to change your life.
Itâs probably nothing, they had said at first.
It had not been nothing.
Tilly jumped up beside her without waiting for an invitation, circled once, then climbed into Charlotteâs lap with the deliberate gravity of a creature who considered herself medically essential.
Charlotte exhaled.
âThere you are,â she whispered.
Tilly tucked herself against Charlotteâs stomach, purring almost immediately.
Charlotte let her head fall back against the couch.
âCancer cat,â she murmured, resting one hand on Tillyâs warm back.
Tilly flicked an ear.
Charlotte had gotten Tilly on a Tuesday.
Charlotte remembered that with unreasonable clarity.
The shelter had smelled of disinfectant, old blankets, and damp fur. Charlotte had still been wearing the blouse she wore to the appointment. She remembered that too. White. Stupid choice. Too formal for a diagnosis, too ordinary for the fact that her life had just split neatly into before and after.
The doctorâs voice had still been in her head.
We caught it early.
The prognosis is good.
Youâll need support.
She had not called her father.
She had not called anyone.
Instead, she had gone to the shelter on the way home, because some part of her had known before the rest of her caught up that she could not return to an empty flat with a brain tumour and nothing alive waiting for her.
Tilly had been in the last cage.
Quiet. Watchful. Recently surrendered.
Not performing charm. Not pawing at the bars. Not begging to be chosen.
Just sitting there, looking at Charlotte with an expression that seemed to say, Well?
Charlotte had crouched in front of the cage.
Tilly had stared back.
And Charlotte had thought, with startling, absurd clarity: If I die, this cat will not understand why I left.
So she had stayed.
Through surgery.
Through radiation.
Through the long, ugly recovery no one put in pamphlets properly â the fatigue, the dizziness, the fear disguised as medical vigilance, the slow crawl back into a body that no longer felt entirely trustworthy.
She had stayed because every evening there was a cat waiting to be fed.
A cat waiting to complain.
A cat waiting to climb onto her chest as if she could hold Charlotteâs soul in place by sheer stubbornness.
Charlotte stroked Tillyâs fur now, slow and steady, feeling the vibration of her purr seep through her hand and into her bones.
âI stayed,â she whispered. âSee?â
Tilly pressed closer.
The migraine dulled, fractionally.
Outside, the world went on. Rumours, races, strategy calls, factory gossip, the noise of a season slowly trying to eat itself alive.
Inside, there was low light, warm fur, and the steady proof of something Charlotte still struggled to name.
Not happiness, exactly.
Not peace.
But life.
Chosen once.
Chosen again.
Chosen every day since.
Charlotte closed her eyes and let herself rest beneath the weight of the cat who had once made survival feel less like an obligation and more like a promise.
Just for a moment.
Just long enough to remember why she was still here.
***
The simulator room was wrong.
Not silent â the simulator room was never silent. There was always the low electrical hum of machinery, the faint murmur of engineers speaking in half-sentences, the click of keys, the shuffle of someone moving between consoles with a coffee in one hand and three problems in the other.
But it was missing something.
Max noticed before he meant to.
A rhythm.
A presence.
The far console, usually lit before the rest of the room had properly settled, was dark.
Charlotteâs chair was empty.
Max pulled off his gloves slowly, gaze lingering on the workstation as if she might appear if he looked long enough. Which was stupid. He knew it was stupid. He had known her properly for only a handful of weeks, and yet somehow his brain had already started cataloguing the room by whether or not Charlotte Fischer was in it.
He looked away.
âWhereâs Charlotte?â he asked.
Casual.
Perfectly casual.
Like he had simply noticed a missing engineer and not the absence of a particular woman with short dark hair, dark eyes, and the ability to make him feel like an idiot by raising one eyebrow.
One of the sim engineers looked up from their laptop. âShe called in sick.â
Max nodded. âOh.â
The word landed badly.
Too heavy.
Too obvious.
He made himself set his gloves down.
Another engineer, older and more familiar, grimaced slightly. âYeah. Migraines.â
Max paused. âMigraines?â
âYeah.â
âShe gets those a lot?â
The engineer hesitated.
It was small. Barely anything. But Max noticed it the way he noticed hesitation in a car before it snapped.
The first engineer glanced at the second.
The second shrugged. âAfter the brain tumour,â they said. âYeah. Sometimes theyâre brutal.â
Max went still.
For a second, the hum of the room seemed to flatten into one long, dull note.
ââŚThe what?â
Both engineers looked at him.
The older oneâs expression shifted first.
Realisation. Then regret.
âOh,â they said slowly. âYou didnât know.â
Max shook his head once.
âNo.â
The answer came out too quiet.
There was another pause, and this one was heavier. A silent exchange moved between the two engineers â not gossip, not panic, just the quick calculation of people who had learned there were things you handled carefully because Charlotte mattered.
That, somehow, made it worse.
The younger engineer spoke first, voice gentler now.
âShe had cancer. A few years ago. Brain tumour.â He said it plainly, without drama, which only made the words more brutal. âShe survived. Obviously. But the migraines stuck around.â
Max stared at them.
Brain tumour.
Cancer.
The words did not fit.
They refused to attach themselves to the woman he knew â precise, contained Charlotte, who rewound sim runs with a frown of intense concentration and spoke about flawed modelling assumptions like the data had personally betrayed her.
Charlotte, who crocheted tiny hats for her cat.
Charlotte, who had looked at him after Imola like winning a Grand Prix was a perfectly normal thing for a Grand Prix driver to have done.
Charlotte, who had made the car honest again.
âSheâs fine now,â the engineer added quickly, as if Max had asked. As if the room could feel the sudden, sharp drop in him. âItâs not⌠I mean, they monitor everything. Sheâs okay. Itâs just that sometimes her body reminds her.â
Max nodded.
He did not trust himself to speak.
Sometimes her body reminds her.
He looked toward the empty console again.
Her screens were off.
Her chair pushed in.
A neat absence.
The older engineer followed his gaze and sighed softly. âWe basically force her to stay home when it hits.â
Maxâs eyes moved back to them.
âForce her?â
âSheâd work through it otherwise.â
âOf course she would,â the younger engineer muttered, fond and exasperated. âLast time she tried to remote into the model review from her sofa with one eye open.â
âShe lasted eleven minutes,â the older one said. âThen Hannah threatened to change her passwords.â
Despite himself, Max almost smiled.
Almost.
âSheâs stubborn,â the younger engineer said.
âBrilliant,â the other added. âBut stubborn.â
Then their tone shifted, just slightly. Firmer. Protective.
âAnd we donât mess around with it. If Charlotte says sheâs not okay, sheâs not okay. End of.â
Max looked between them.
That was when he saw it properly.
Not pity.
Not curiosity.
Not the strange, hungry interest people sometimes had in someone elseâs tragedy.
This was different.
Quiet. Unshowy. Absolute.
They protected her.
Not because she had asked them to.Â
Max suspected Charlotte Fischer rarely asked anyone for anything.
They protected her because they had decided she was theirs.
The sim departmentâs. Red Bullâs, in that strange, territorial way the team had with people it loved.
The same way half the building treated Max like he was both weapon and child.
Except Charlotte had earned it without ever inviting it.
Something tightened in Maxâs chest.
âHow long has she been here?â he asked.
âSince she graduated,â the younger engineer said. âCambridge. Straight in.â
âBarely took time off even then,â the older one added. âHad to be bullied into it, obviously.â
Max let out a slow breath.
Cambridge.
Austria.
Boarding school.
The cat account.
Cancer.
Migraines.
The pieces rearranged themselves, but they still did not make a full picture. If anything, they made less sense now. Or maybe they made too much.
Charlotteâs composure. Her distance. The way she did not waste energy trying to be liked. The way she treated praise like a weather report. The way she had made herself necessary and still somehow almost invisible.
âShe never talks about it,â Max said.
It was not really a question.
âNo,â the older engineer replied. âAnd we donât push.â
The younger one glanced toward Charlotteâs empty console, expression softening. âShe earned that.â
Max nodded once.
He understood that.
More than he expected to.
There were things people did not get to know simply because they were curious.
There were parts of a person that had to be offered, not taken.
Still, the knowledge sat badly in him.
He had gone to her desk after Imola wanting her to be impressed.
The memory turned sour now.
He had stood there with a trophy somewhere in the building and a win still fresh in everyoneâs mouth, waiting for Charlotte Fischer to look at him like he was extraordinary.
And she had survived a brain tumour.
Of course she had not cared about Imola the way he wanted her to.
Of course she had looked at him like winning was simply what he was supposed to do.
Her scale for important had been rewritten by things he had not even imagined.
Max swallowed.
âRight,â he said finally. âOkay.â
It was neither right nor okay, but there was nothing else to say.
He turned back toward the simulator, movements automatic. Helmet. Seat. Straps. Wheel. Systems coming online around him, the familiar ritual settling over his body even as his mind stayed fixed on the empty workstation beyond the glass.
The run began.
The car loaded.
The model waited.
Max stared at the screen for a moment longer than necessary.
He was supposed to be thinking about balance. Entry instability. Rear load. The thousand problems of a car that wanted to punish him for believing in it too much.
Instead, he thought about Charlotte sitting alone somewhere with a migraine bad enough to keep her away from the one place she seemed to prefer over people.
He thought about her colleagues closing ranks without needing to discuss it.
He thought about a woman who had survived something enormous and then returned to work as if that were the logical next step.
A few days ago, he had been curious about her.
Annoyingly curious.
Embarrassingly curious.
He had wanted to know why she sounded British when she was Austrian. Why she crocheted hats for her cat. Why she looked at him like he was a variable instead of a world champion.
Now the curiosity had changed shape.
It had become concern.
Not abstract. Not polite.
Personal.
Max tightened his hands on the wheel.
That was inconvenient.
That was dangerous.
That was very, very bad.
Through the glass, Charlotteâs console remained dark.
Max looked at it once more.
Then he drove.
***
Max found Hannah exactly where he expected to find her.
In her office. Half-hidden behind two monitors, shoulders rounded toward a screen full of data, a mug beside her hand that had probably been hot once in a previous lifetime.
She looked up when he knocked.
Then immediately narrowed her eyes.
âYou have a face,â she said.
Max paused in the doorway. âI always have a face.â
âNo,â Hannah said. âYou have that face. The one where you are about to ask a question you have already decided is casual, even though it absolutely is not.â
Max exhaled through his nose and leaned one shoulder against the doorframe.
âI found out about Charlotte.â
Hannahâs expression changed.
Not dramatically. Not with alarm.
Just softer.
âOh,â she said.
That confirmed it before she said anything else.
Maxâs jaw tightened.
âThey said she called in sick. Migraine.â
Hannah nodded once. âYeah. That happens sometimes.â
âBecause of the tumour.â
She watched him for a moment, measuring how much he knew and how much he was trying very hard not to show he cared.
âYes,â she said eventually. âBrain tumour. Cancer. A few years ago.â
The words were not new anymore. He had already heard them in the sim room.
They still landed badly.
Max looked down at the floor, then back at her. âSheâs okay?â
âIf itâs one of the migraines, sheâll be fine in a day or two,â Hannah said. âShe knows her limits.â
Max gave her a look.
Hannah sighed. âMostly.â
That sounded more like Charlotte.
âShe tries to work through them?â
âOf course she does,â Hannah said, as if this was a deeply irritating fact of nature. âBecause apparently surviving cancer did not teach her that rest is not a moral failure.â
Maxâs mouth pressed into a line.
Hannah leaned back in her chair.
âShe doesnât like people making a thing out of it,â she added. âShe doesnât hide it exactly, but she doesnât volunteer it either. Itâs not how she wants people to see her.â
âNo,â Max said quietly. âI can understand that.â
Hannah studied him.
There was too much understanding in her face.
Max hated that.
He shifted, folding his arms. âSo sheâs alone?â
Hannah blinked.
âAlone?â
âAt home,â Max clarified too quickly. âI mean, if she has a migraine. Is someone there? A boyfriend or something?â
Silence.
It lasted half a second too long.
Then Hannahâs eyebrows rose.
Max immediately regretted everything.
âOh,â she said.
âNo.â
âOh, Max.â
âI am just asking.â
âNo, you are absolutely not just asking.â
He straightened. âItâs a normal question.â
âIt became abnormal the second you said boyfriend or something like the word boyfriend was trying to murder you.â
Max looked away. âForget I asked.â
âI will do no such thing.â
âHannah.â
âSheâs single,â Hannah said, far too calmly.
Maxâs eyes flicked back to her before he could stop them.
Hannah saw it.
Of course she saw it.
Her smile sharpened.
âShe lives alone,â she continued. âA few minutes from campus. Quiet flat. One cat. No boyfriend. No secret husband. No dramatic situationship with an aero engineer, despite several peopleâs attempts.â
Max absorbed that with a level of interest he did not want to examine.
âOh,â he said.
Hannahâs smile became unbearable.
âRight,â he added, because apparently he was determined to make it worse.
She rested her chin in her hand.
âYou want to check on her.â
âNo,â Max said automatically.
Hannah waited.
He made it three seconds.
ââŚMaybe.â
âThere it is.â
âI canât just show up at her apartment,â he said. âThatâs weird.â
âIt can be weird,â Hannah allowed.
Max stared at her. âThat is not helpful.â
âIt depends how you do it.â
âHow is there a non-weird way to show up at someoneâs home when theyâre sick?â
âBy not making it about yourself,â Hannah said simply. âBy bringing something useful. By leaving if she wants you to leave. By not expecting gratitude, vulnerability, or a scene from a romantic comedy.â
Max frowned. âI donât want a romantic comedy.â
âNo,â Hannah said. âYou want a woman who doesnât care that you won Imola to let you care about her without biting your head off.â
Max opened his mouth. Closed it. âThat is very specific.â
âAnd yet accurate.â
He rubbed a hand over his face.
âI donât even know her that well.â
âNo,â Hannah agreed. âYou donât.â
That should have helped.
It did not.
âBut you know enough to be worried,â she added.
Max looked at her.
Hannahâs voice softened. âAnd for Charlotte, someone being worried without trying to take over is not the worst thing in the world.â
âShe doesnât need me checking on her.â
âNo,â Hannah said. âShe doesnât need anyone.â
That hit him harder than expected.
Because Hannah did not say it admiringly.
She said it like it was a fact and a wound at the same time.
Max looked toward the corridor, though Charlotte was not there. Her empty console flashed in his mind again. Dark screens. Chair pushed in. The whole room subtly wrong without her.
âShe would hate people fussing,â he said.
âShe would despise it.â
âSo I should not fuss.â
âCorrect.â
âBut checking is different?â
âIt can be.â
Max huffed. âYou are being very unhelpful for someone who knows her.â
âI know her well enough to know she wonât want pity,â Hannah said. âAnd I know you well enough to know pity is not what this is.â
Max went still.
Hannah let that sit for a moment.
Then she stood, picking up her tablet.
âDonât overthink it.â
âThat is impossible.â
âFor you, apparently.â She moved around the desk, then paused beside him. âBring normal things. Migraine-safe things. Crackers. Electrolytes. Nothing scented. Nothing loud. Donât knock like the police. If she opens the door and tells you to go away, go away.â
Max nodded slowly, committing the list to memory with the same seriousness he gave race strategy.
Hannah looked at him and sighed.
âOh, you are completely doomed.â
âI am not.â
âMax,â she said, almost fond now. âYou came into my office to ask whether Charlotte Fischer has a boyfriend because you heard she has a migraine.â
He said nothing.
There was really nothing useful to say.
Hannah patted his arm once as she passed.
âShe lives on Hawthorn Close,â she said. âNumber twelve. I did not tell you that.â
Max stared after her.
âThat seems very much like you told me.â
âNo,â Hannah called over her shoulder. âI merely released information into the room. What you do with it is between you, your conscience, and whatever terrible romantic instincts you apparently have.â
âHannah.â
She glanced back, smiling now.
âYou really do have it bad.â
Then she was gone, leaving Max alone in her office doorway with Charlotteâs address in his head, concern sitting uncomfortably behind his ribs, and the deeply inconvenient realisation that, for once, winning something would not help him at all.
SUMMARY: Theodore Nott thought surviving Dueling Club would be the hardest part of his week. Turns out, surviving his angry girlfriend was significantly worse.
Based off of this request. @red--roses hope you like it<3
You were furious.
It wasnât the fact that Theodore had gotten hurt in Dueling Club. It was the fact that you had to hear it from Lavender Brown â three days later â that heâd taken a nasty curse to the ribs and had been walking around like nothing happened.
So when he finally found you in your room that evening, you didnât even let him speak first.
âYou got hurt,â you said flatly, arms crossed. âAnd you didnât tell me.â
Theo sighed, running a hand through his messy brown hair. âIt wasnât serious. I handled it.â
âThatâs not the point, Theodore.â You used his full name like a weapon.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
âIâm your girlfriend. You donât get to decide what I can and canât handle. You donât get to keep me in the dark âfor my own good.ââ
âI was protecting you,â he said quietly, jaw tight. âYou already worry enough.â
âIâm not a child,â you snapped. âIf you canât trust me with the truth, then what are we even doing?â
The argument ended in a tense stalemate. Theo tried to reach for you, but you stepped back and left him standing there.
And thatâs when you decided on petty terrorism.
The next evening, the entire friend group was gathered in the Slytherin common room for a casual dinner.
You sat right next to Theo like nothing was wrong â except everything was wrong, and you were making sure he felt it.
You picked up a piece of spaghetti with your fork, looked him dead in the eyes, and cut it cleanly in half.
Mattheo choked on his drink.
Theoâs eyes flicked to the broken pasta, then back to your face. He said nothing.
Pansyâs eyebrows shot up. Daphne pressed her lips together, trying not to smile.
Later, when Theo reached for the salt, you moved it just out of his reach.
When he gave you a look, you smiled sweetly.
âCommunication is so important in relationships, donât you think, Pansy?â you asked.
Pansy nearly lost it. âOh my god.â
Enzo was grinning like an idiot. Blaise leaned back in his chair, thoroughly entertained. Even Draco looked amused.
Theo's jaw ticked. You weren't done.
When Mattheo asked Theo something about Quidditch practice, you turned to Mattheo with an innocent expression.
âDo you actually listen when people talk to you, Mattheo? Or do you also decide what people can and canât handle?â
Mattheo laughed, raising his hands slightly. âIâm not getting involved in this.â
Theo finally spoke, voice low.
âCan we talk?â
You blinked at him, feigning innocence. âAbout what, Theodore?â
Blaise muttered under his breath, âSheâs evil. I respect it.â
Later that night, you âaccidentallyâ moved Theoâs bookmark three chapters forward in the book he was reading.
When he noticed, he gave you a long, tired look.
You just smiled and went back to your own book.
The group was losing their minds in the background.
âTen galleons says she wins,â Enzo whispered.
âIâm not betting against her,â Pansy replied. âSheâs unhinged right now.â
Theo eventually cornered you near the fireplace when most people had gone to bed.
He looked exhausted.
âAre you done?â he asked.
You crossed your arms. âAre you going to stop hiding things from me?â
He stepped closer, voice softening.
âI thought I was protecting you. I hate worrying you. I hate seeing you scared because of me.â
âIâm more scared when I find out from other people that youâre hurt,â you said, voice cracking just a little. âIâm your girlfriend, Theo. Let me be there for you. Even when itâs ugly.â
Theo stared at you for a long moment, then pulled you into his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around you.
âIâm sorry,â he murmured into your hair. âIâll tell you next time. Even if itâs stupid and small.â
You hugged him back, tension finally draining from your shoulders.
ââŚYouâre still Theodore for the rest of the week though,â you mumbled against his chest.
He let out a quiet laugh, the sound rumbling through him.
âFair enough.â
You smiled into his sweater.
Because no matter what, he was still your Theodore.
I've finally gotten enough motivation to go through my drafts and publish them lol.
heyyy loved your bimbo gf x damian and i was wondering if you could do like an angst story of where she hears like someone in the fam or damian saying something about her personality/her in general, and she pulls back and tries to act âless stupidâ IK SORRY I LOVE TJOSE calling their partner clingy and they start pulling awayđđ. all good if u canât đââď¸đ¤đ˝
â︾ pairing đ đ đ damian wayne x bimbo!girlfriend
ę° đ ęą synopsis đ đ đ damian trying to figure out why the girl who never stopped talking suddenly wonât even look at him.
BY GODâS GRACE â- OR ALFREDâS PATIENCE, WHICHEVER COUNTED AS THE BIGGER MIRACLE â NO ONE KNEW HOW DAMIAN WAYNE ENDED UP WITH YOU.
you, in your hot-pink mini skirt and glitter nails and perfume that could probably be classified as a biochemical weapon. you, who once asked if bats had âlike⌠eyelids?â and said it with total sincerity. you, who got distracted mid-sentence because you saw a dog wearing a sweater across the street and immediately forgot what you were talking about.
he didnât understand it. not even a little.
in public, he looked like he was enduring a hostage situation anytime you laced your fingers through his, and yet he never pulled away. even when your rings (all four on one hand, because of course) dug into his knuckles. even when your bracelets jingled like an incoming sleigh team every time you moved. even when people stared â and they did stare, because you were a walking neon sign next to gothamâs resident brood incarnate â he held on.
the part that truly terrified him was how natural it had become. you walked a half-step ahead of him, your attention flickering everywhere at once, like a very pretty, very distractible magpie. every few seconds youâd gasp softly, at a storefront display, or a pigeon, or a baby in a stroller, and damian would be forced to stop, recalibrate, and wait while you admired whatever had stolen your focus this time. he pretended irritation, checking his watch, sighing dramatically, muttering something about time management, but he always waited. he always looked back to make sure you hadnât tripped over a crack in the sidewalk or wandered into traffic because you spotted a cat.
he didnât like how instinctive that check had become. how protective. how fond. even now, walking beside you through gothamâs crowded winter market, he found himself cataloguing every variable: uneven cobblestones you might twist an ankle on, the man selling roasted chestnuts who had a suspicious glint in his eye, the group of teenagers he didnât trust within a ten-foot radius of you.
meanwhile, you were enthusiastically informing him that hot chocolate âtastes better when youâre cold, itâs like a scientific fact,â and waving your arms enough that he nearly intercepted a candy cane you almost smacked someone with. damian endured it with the same expression he used during board meetings: thin-lipped, jaw set, eyes forward like he was marching toward an execution heâd personally scheduled. you didnât notice. you never noticed. you were too busy being incandescent.
you tugged him deeper into the market, past the string lights dripping like molten gold from the eaves, past the vendors shouting holiday deals, past the speakers humming old carols warped by cold air. your boots clicked over the cobblestones, a rhythm at war with itself, but you walked like someone incapable of stumbling. pure luck, damian thought grimly. or some divine protection he absolutely did not trust.
you stopped every ten seconds. literally every ten. at a stall selling knit hats shaped like reindeer. at a booth offering âmood scarvesâ that allegedly changed color with emotion. at a stand where a man was playing holiday songs on wine glasses filled with water, and you stood there, enraptured, like you had just discovered music for the first time in your life. you pointed at everything. gasped at everything. oohed and aahed and squealed at everything.
damian â who had been dragged out of the manor under the pretense of âgetting fresh airâ â followed silently behind you like a highly disgruntled bodyguard, hands in his pockets, scarf wrapped too neatly. he looked miserable. he was miserable. the cold, the crowds, the noise. you, on the other hand, were explaining â loudly â that snow âshould be illegal because itâs too pretty and also slippery and also cold and also sparkly,â and damian was trying to figure out how one person could hold that many contradictory opinions in a single breath. then you gasped. you always gasped. this time it was because a vendor had tiny mason jars filled with glitter suspended in clear gel, labeled aesthetic snow globes. you sprinted.
damian muttered something in arabic that was probably a curse, then sped up to keep you from accidentally joining a passing family and wandering home with them. you pressed your face so close to the jars your breath fogged the glass. âdamian,â you whispered. âitâs like⌠the universe. but tiny.â
he stared at you, then stared at the jar. then back at you. ââŚitâs glitter.â
âIN A JAR,â you insisted, as if that changed the nature of the cosmos.
he pinched the bridge of his nose, which he did often around you, because loving you required full-body endurance. you were beautiful, incandescent, a human firework. but you also operated on a wavelength that fried ninety percent of his higher brain function on contact.
after several minutes of you debating which jar âfelt like your aura,â damian became aware of movement to his left. teenage boys again. different group, same expression: wide eyes, slow grin, subtle nudge. damian didnât turn his head, just let his gaze slide sideways with the precision of someone trained to kill you with eye contact alone. he assessed them like threats. measured distance, posture, intent.
then he exhaled, and in one smooth motion he unwound his scarf, his favorite scarf, the dark green cashmere one alfred bought him. you looked up just in time for him to loop it around your neck. it swallowed your collarbone, your shoulders, half your face. you blinked at him, startled, already forgetting the glitter jars existed. âoh.. but⌠this is your scarf,â you said, muffled behind fabric.
âitâs cold,â he said simply. âand youâre incapable of dressing yourself appropriately for winter.â
he did not mention the boys. he did not acknowledge the way they looked away instantly, suddenly very interested in a nearby churro stand. he just tugged the ends of the scarf tight, adjusting it so it framed your jaw the way he liked. âyouâre so cute!â you said, beaming, patting his cheek with a glove that had sequins glued onto it in a pattern that made absolutely no sense.
he closed his eyes, breathed in patience, and opened them. âweâre going home.â
ânooo,â you whined immediately. âiâm not done seeing things.â
âyou have been âseeing thingsâ for two hours.â
you crossed your arms, pouting so dramatically a small child walking by mimicked it. damian watched this happen from the corner of his eye and genuinely considered the possibility that god was punishing him for past sins. âiâm not cold.â you said stubbornly.
âyou were shivering.â
âiâm fine.â
âyour lips are turning blue.â
âblue is festive.â
damian stared at you for several seconds, long enough that you began to sway a little under the weight of his silence. then he sighed, one of those deep, despairing sighs that felt like he was exhaling his whole soul. âplease,â he said, voice barely above a murmur. âletâs go home.â
you paused. not because you understood, not because you perceived the emotional vulnerability behind the word please, but because your ears caught something else. âhome?â you repeated, eyes lighting up. âcan we make hot chocolate?â
âyes.â
âwith the marshmallows?â
âyes.â
âAND whipped cream?â
âyes.â
you clapped your hands, delighted. âokay! we can go home!â
damian exhaled in relief so palpable the vendor at the next stall looked over, concerned. he took your hand, firmly, because you tended to wander, and began guiding you through the crowd. you were a lot. exhausting. irritating. distractible in a way that defied physics. but as you swung your joined hands happily, humming off-key, damian found â to his own horror â that he didnât mind.
the manor came into view like a dark, brooding castle against the snowfall. you gasped again, you always gasped, as if you hadnât seen it a hundred times already. âit looks like a big chocolate cake with snow frosting,â you whispered reverently.
damian closed his eyes for a full second. âit looks like a historical landmark.â he corrected, pulling you toward the door before you licked the railing âjust to see if it tastes cold.â
inside, warmth hit you instantly, along with the low murmur of multiple voices. the wayne family was gathered like some kind of chaotic holiday constellation. dick was the first to spot you. âHEY! sparkles!â he beamed, using the nickname heâd given you on day one. he swooped in for a hug and you squealed, throwing your arms around him. damianâs eye twitched.
âyouâre freezing,â dick said, rubbing your arms. âwhy didnât demon spawn give you his jacket?â
âi gave her my scarf.â damian said, clipped, already regretting coming home at all.
âawww,â dick grinned, âlook at you being thoughtful.â
damian turned away before anyone saw the betrayal of warmth on his face. steph popped up next, nearly knocking you over. âBABE, oh my god, your outfit. youâre like a peppermint bimbo dream.â
you gasped. âdo you think i look like a candy cane?â
âyes,â she said solemnly. âbut in a sexy way.â
damian muttered something that sounded like a vow of vengeance. jason leaned against a pillar, arms crossed, wearing that insufferable half-smirk. âbarbieâs home.â
you waved enthusiastically. âhi jay!!â
he winked. damian glared so viciously jason only grinned harder. bruce looked up from a conversation with alfred, hands tucked behind his back. âwelcome home,â he said, in that quiet, unreadable bruce-wayne-trying-to-be-approachable voice. he always sounded slightly startled when he spoke to you, like he hadnât adjusted to your presence yet.
and then: alfred. alfred, who you adored. alfred, who adored you right back. you sprinted toward him like a toddler and he caught you with the reflexes of someone whoâd been catching vigilantes his whole life. âmiss,â he greeted warmly. âi see youâve survived another outing with master damian.â
âbarely,â you sighed dramatically. âhe wonât let me buy important things.â
alfred raised a brow. âimportant things such asâŚ?â
you lowered your voice. âa spoon.â
âi see.â
tim, on the other hand, lingered near the stairs. he nodded politely, said a quiet âhey,â and retreated upward with a mug of coffee. he didnât dislike you. he was just⌠overwhelmed by you. which was fair. you overwhelmed most people, including yourself sometimes.
the rest of the family, though, stayed gathered in the living room, one of those rare nights where the manor felt less like a museum and more like⌠a home. the tree lights glowed warm gold, the fireplace crackled, and someone (probably dick) had put on a playlist of aggressively cheerful holiday music that clashed horribly with gothamâs usual mood.
you plopped down on the rug with zero grace, legs out, nearly knocking over a stack of presents. âcareful.â jason said sharply from the armchair, leaning forward as if ready to catch whatever catastrophe you might accidentally summon.
âi am careful,â you insisted, immediately proving yourself a liar by elbowing a decorative nutcracker so hard its jaw snapped shut with a click.
damian lowered himself onto the sofa with the expression of someone bracing for incoming shrapnel. âtry not to break anything else.â
âi didnât break anything!â you said, horrified. âit just closed its mouth. maybe itâs shy.â
jason snorted. âyeah, thatâs what it is. the nutcracker is shy.â
âdonât tease her.â dick scolded lightly, tossing a pillow at jason.
âi just think he closed it on purpose. maybe heâs, like, alive.â
bruce, who had been reading the newspaper and trying very hard to pretend his home wasnât a sitcom, slowly lowered the pages. âthe nutcracker,â he said evenly, âis not alive.â
âwe donât know that.â you whispered.
alfred passed through with a tray of hot cocoa, perfectly timed as always. ârefreshments,â he announced. âand master richard, perhaps turning the music down two notches might save my hearing.â
âyes sir,â dick said, already adjusting the speaker. then he plopped down beside you on the rug, handing you a mug. âcareful, sparkles. itâs hot.â
âthatâs okay,â you chirped. âhot chocolate tastes better when itâs hot.â
jason choked on his drink. steph buried her face into a pillow to muffle her laughter. bruce closed his eyes like he was in pain. damian pinched the bridge of his nose. alfred, however, smiled with the serenity of a man who had survived decades of wayne-family chaos. âvery astute observation.â he told you kindly, handing you a marshmallow like it was a medal of honor.
conversation resumed, steph teasing jason about his inability to drink like a normal person, jason threatening to âaccidentallyâ drop a gingerbread house on her head, dick explaining some bizarre titans holiday tradition no one asked about, and bruce pretending the sports section of the newspaper was suddenly a riveting masterpiece of literature. you sat on the rug beside the couch with damian on the couch behind you, his arms crossed, expression unimpressed by everything except maybe you, though he would rather perish than admit it.
for a while, you stayed where you were, humming absently, nodding along to dickâs animated retelling of âthe time starfire tried to cook a turkey using only solar energy.â but then you noticed it. damian. on the couch. without you. your lower lip jutted out immediately, a soft pout forming like a storm cloud gathering over a cartoon sun. you twisted around, peeking up at him. he didnât look backâdidnât even pretend to notice your growing distress. he just sipped his tea like this wasnât the emotional betrayal of the century. so you rose to your feet, brushing off imaginary dust like you were preparing for something noble.
you stepped behind the couch. damian didnât turn. maybe he didnât think youâd actually do it. but you did. you leaned down, looped your arms around the back of his neck, and draped yourself over him like he was the most comfortable office chair in existence. your cheek pressed to the top of his head. his hair was very soft. you made a content soundâsomething between a hum and a sigh, happy and unapologetically attached.
conversation stopped just for a second. just long enough for everyone to register the image of gothamâs most glaringly intense son sitting rigid and red-tipped and tragically resigned while his hyperactive, glitter-brained girlfriend clung to him. âaww,â dick said. loudly. too loudly. âshe loves you.â
damian glared at him so hard dick shouldâve combusted. âi was sitting alone,â you murmured into damianâs hair, like it was a tragic confession. âand you were up here. and i didnât wanna be down there. without you.â
steph silently mouthed koala to jason, who nodded like this explained everything.
damian huffed, annoyed, increasingly embarrassed. âyou are incapable of functioning without proximity, it seems.â
âthatâs not true,â you said, tightening your arms around him. âi just like you.â
jason muttered, âsimp.â behind his mug.
damianâs head snapped up, eyes murderous. âwhat was that?â
âi said âsip.â this hot chocolate? amazing.â
bruce hid a smile behind his hand.
âweâre leaving.â damian announced abruptly, standing so fast your arms slipped from around him in a startled little flutter. his ears were red. his cheeks, too.
you blinked up at him, confused. âleaving? where?â
âmy room,â he said, already taking your hand, already pulling you up from the floor with a rushed, awkward gentleness, as if he was trying very hard not to look like he was trying very hard. âwe are going upstairs. now.â
jason smirked. âwow. didnât even last ten minutes.â
âquiet,â damian snapped without turning around, posture stiff, every inch of him radiating tightly wound embarrassment. âboth of you.â
dick waved cheerfully. âhave fun, you two!â
steph added, âdonât do anything i wouldnât do!â
âthat leaves very little.â jason murmured.
you didnât catch most of it, you were too busy trotting after damian, your smaller steps hurrying to keep up with his fast, purposeful stride. his grip on your hand was firm, determined, like if he let go for even a second the universe would see its chance and steal you. the manorâs main staircase curved upward in a grand sweep, damian practically marched up them, trying to retain some dignity, but his composure cracked every time he heard muffled laughter drifting from the living room.
you tried to keep closeâcloser than closeâyour free hand finding the back of his sweater as if you needed the extra anchor. he glanced over his shoulder, huffed, and tugged you along faster. âtheyâre so mean to you.â you whispered sympathetically.
âtheyâre insufferable,â damian corrected, though his voice wavered with residual fluster. âand your commentary is not helping.â
âi thought it was.â
âit wasnât.â
you reached the landing. damian inhaled deeply, the kind of breath someone takes when theyâre trying to reset their dignity. he released your hand, just to straighten his sweater, and immediately you reached for him again on instinct. he caught your wrist mid-grab. âwait.â
you froze. âwait?â
âstay here,â he ordered, pointing to a specific spot on the landing as if you were prone to drifting into the walls. âiâm going back down.â
you took half a step to follow him. he gently pressed a palm to your shoulder to keep you still. âno. stay.â
âbutââ
âi am getting more hot chocolate,â he said, like you were a skittish deer and he knew any sudden movement would send you spiraling. âyou donât need to follow me everywhere.â
you blinked. ââŚbut i like following you.â
âyes, I know,â he muttered, eyes briefly squeezing shut. âi am⌠acutely aware.â you leaned forward again. he immediately held up a hand. âstay.â
you pouted. âbutââ
âi will return in less than two minutes.â his tone took on that strict, no-argument cadence that only partially worked on you. âyou will be fine. stand here. do not go downstairs. do not wander. do not attempt to hug me while iâm on the steps.â
âbut youâre warm.â
he inhaled sharply through his nose. âi will be warm upstairs,â he said tightly.
âwill you be long?â
âno.â
ââŚare you sure?â
âyes.â
ââŚbut what if youââ
he placed both hands on your shoulders. âif you follow me, todd will never let me hear the end of it.â
you gasped softly like heâd revealed a national secret. âoh. okay.â you nodded, suddenly solemn. âiâll stay.â
damian exhaled, relieved. âgood.â
he released you, took one cautious step down the stairs, then glanced back again just to make sure you were still in place. you were. standing exactly where he told you to. swaying slightly, humming, waiting.
for about⌠twelve seconds.
that was the absolute maximum amount of time your brain could focus on standing still before it started whispering intrusive thoughts like i wonder if my phone is downstairs, and maybe alfred made cookies, and i want to hug damian again.
you looked around. nothing to do. nowhere to sit. no sparkly things to stare at. you fidgeted. tapped your fingers together. shifted your weight from one foot to the other like a restless cartoon rabbit. then it hit you like a tragic revelation: your phone. you had left your phone.
damian said to stay. yes, but he also said two minutes. and it had probably been two minutes. or close. or approaching the general vicinity of two minutes.
so you took a quiet step down. then another. just enough to peek around the railing, scanning for the pink sparkle phone case you left â- and you froze. damianâs voice drifted up toward you, low and sharp in that way he only sounded when he was frustrated and trying not to be. ââexhausted,â you make out. âshe drags me all over the city, asks the most ridiculous questions, wanders off every five secondsâi swear, i spend more time chasing after her than actually speaking to her.â
you blinked. damian complained all the timeâhe got grumpy, he lectured, he huffed and sighed and called everyone ineptâbut hearing it like this, when he thought you couldnât hear him⌠it stung.
then jasonâs voice cut in, louder, rougher, crueler in that careless way he didnât always mean but absolutely could be. âplease. you knew what you were signing up for. shes dumb as a bag of glitter and even clingier.â a snort. âsheâs probably losing her mind right now being, what, sixty seconds away from you?â
your stomach dropped. like the floor disappeared under your feet for a second, leaving you suspended in the shock of it. you backed upâone careful, trembling stepâthen another, until the voices blurred into an indistinct hum beneath you. they kept talking, but it all blended together, washed out, meaningless, like your brain had hit some emergency switch that dimmed the world to static.
your hands lifted slowly. you stared at them. glittery nail polish, tiny rhinestones youâd spent an hour arranging, a smudge of hot chocolate on your thumb. they looked⌠wrong suddenly. too bright. too silly. like something made for a different kind of girl, one who knew where she fit, one who wasnât just taking up space she didnât deserve.
clingy.
dumb as a bag of glitter.
exhausted.
the words looped, sharp and quiet and far too convincing. you curled your fingers in, palms trembling. for a heartbeat, you actually felt monstrous. like some overly loud, overly bright creature someone had accidentally let into a place built for competent people. did they ever want you here?
you tried to breathe, but your chest tightened instead, squeezing the air you needed. you took another step back, spine brushing the wall, grounding and suffocating at the same time. your own boyfriend had to leave the room just to vent about you. that part hurt the worst.
it made something in your stomach twist. damian always looked tired after spending time with youâhad you been misreading everything? all the little moments, all the soft touches, the tiny smiles he pretended werenât real?
maybe he was just putting up with you.
you squeezed your eyes shut. the staircase felt too narrow now. the ceiling too low. the air too thick. you felt cornered and foolish and painfully aware of every inch of space you took up. they were all downstairs being⌠normal. competent. sharp-witted. capable. they fit each other.
you didnât fit anything.
you pressed a hand to your chest and tried not to imagine what else they mightâve said once you stopped listening, but imagination didnât need permission. it filled in the silence fastâtoo fastâspilling over with every insecure thought youâd ever tried to ignore.
you talk too much.
you never shut up.
you make him tired.
youâre only good for your looks.
youâre embarrassing.
youâre not smart enough to belong here.
you donât know when to stop.
you make everything harder.
you make him miserable.
you knew you werenât smart, not in the way they were. not in the strategic, clever way that made the whole family feel like a universe made of constellations you couldnât read. you knew your thoughts came out tangled, loud, too bright. you knew you got excited about things no one else cared about. you knew you filled space you didnât mean to fill. you werenât stupid. you just⌠werenât them, and suddenly that difference felt like a crack running through your whole body.
your chest tightened again, frustration building hot and prickling behind your eyes. you hated that you were upset. hated that you cared. hated that you were fighting three different internal battles when, moments ago, youâd been fineâhappy, even. you didnât want to cry. not here. not over this. not when crying would only prove you were exactly what they thoughtâoverreactive, fragile, childish.
thatâs when damian came back up the stairs. the first thing you saw was the tension in his shoulders, jaw tight, knuckles red like heâd scraped them on something. his eyes snapped to you, scanning your face like he needed to make sure you were still in one piece. âletâs go.â he said, hand flexing once before he reached for you. you pulled away.
damian froze.
youâd never pulled away from him. not once. not even when he was irritated, or short, or lecturing you about âawarenessâ and âbasic survival instincts.â you were a limpet by natureâsticky, clingy, gravitational, so the tiny step you took back immediately raised his suspicion.
his brows pulled together. âwhat are you doing?â he asked quietly, like the words were foreign in his mouth.
you swallowed, forcing your face into something bright. something harmless. âi think iâm justâuhâgonna go,â you replied, voice wobbling in a way you desperately hoped he didnât notice.
âgo where?â
you gestured vaguely with both hands. âaway. you know. like⌠elsewhere. in the world.â
damian stared at you like you were speaking a language he knew but couldnât translate. âwhat are you talking about?â
âanyway!â you said, nodding too fast. âphone. downstairs.â you sidestepped him before he could reach for you again, before he noticed how your eyes were glassy or how your smile didnât reach anywhere near your eyes. your footsteps were too light, like you were afraid the floor would creak loud enough to force him to follow.
the living room felt too bright when you crossed it. everyone looked up. your phone sat exactly where you left it. you grabbed it without slowing, no one said anything. jason wasnât there anymore. you didnât look at damianâs family. didnât smile. didnât trip into a conversation you didnât belong in. for once, you were silent.
then you walked straight to the front door and stepped out before anyone could ask where you were going or why your hands were shaking so badly. the door shut behind you with a soft click. for the first time since youâd met damian wayneâyou left without waiting for him to follow.
THAT WAS THREE WEEKS AGO.
three weeks of quiet, of measured distances, of self-imposed walls that hadnât existed before. you had pulled back from damian, massively, and the change wasnât subtle. the way you used to lean on him, hang from his arm, brush against him with every opportunity, had dwindled to nothing more than casual proximity, a few polite touches that didnât linger. the energy you used to spill in torrents, in bubbles of laughter, tangles of words, and endless questions, was now trapped somewhere in your head, swirling in loops of overthinking and guilt.
you tried to talk less. you werenât⌠cold, exactly. not frozen. just cautious, careful, distant. it was easier this way, you told yourself. easier to manage the way your chest would tighten whenever he looked at you too long, the way your stomach twisted when you remembered the words that had come out of jason and damianâs mouth, the way the heat of embarrassment and self-consciousness would settle into your bones.
your energy had shifted, rerouted. the bursts of color, the endless chatter, the way you used to loop damian into every tiny moment of your day, gone. replaced with shopping trips, coffee with friends, scrolling endlessly through things that sparkled or made your brain go soft and bubbly. you stopped including him. little things, first: a funny text that once would have gone to him, now sent to a friend instead. small selfies, small stories, small jokes. everything you had once handed him first now filtered through other people, other spaces, other worlds where the intensity wasnât suffocating, wasnât steeped in the weight of knowing him too well.
you loved him. absolutely. you didnât stop loving him, you just thought you needed to be less. less clingy, less loud, less hyper, less distracting. damian had never asked you to shrink yourself, had never told you to dim, and maybe that was what made this worse: you assumed he preferred it. you assumed that by stepping back, by quieting yourself, you were giving him the room he needed, that the less obvious, less vibrant you was somehow easier for him to manage.
and yes, you missed him. some mornings you reached for your phone to tell him a dumb thing, and then stopped, realizing you were⌠stopping yourself. he hadnât reached out. not to notice the change, not to prod, not to tease you back into yourself. he noticed, of course he did. the weight of your absence pressed in on him in subtle ways, the way he scanned a room and didnât see your usual bright energy where he expected it, the way he thought of you mid-task and almost smiled before realizing you werenât part of it anymore.
he brushed it off. called it temporary, a mood, a phase, maybe even a test, something he didnât need to fuss over, but his chest tightened anyway. his thoughts lingered where you used to be. the absence of your voice, your laugh, the way you dragged him into ridiculous distractionsâit left a hollow spot, and for the first time, he couldnât just fix it by putting you in armâs reach or side-eyeing the world into submission.
it had been three days since youâd last spoken. three days. three whole mornings, afternoons, and nights without damian. three weeks ago, this wouldâve felt unbearable, but now you let it exist.
your phone buzzed. damian. the name made your chest twitch in ways youâd fought to ignore for days. you stared at the screen, fingers hovering, trying to gauge if this was courage or a trap. you finally swiped. âhello,â you greeted, voice careful, neutral. no enthusiastic hi, no giddy âi missed youâ that wouldâve given him too much.
there was a pause. long enough that you could hear him breathing through the line, waiting for somethingâmaybe the enthusiasm he always got from you, the little giddy inflections. you didnât give them. âthere is a gala tonight.â he said finally. âyou will accompany me.â
you blinked, caught off guard. gala. fancy. sparkly. the very thought made your chest flutter before your brain scrambled to caution: heâs probably going to hate how much i distract him, everyone will stare, iâll trip or say something dumb.
âprobably⌠not.â you decline, voice small, careful, almost mumbling. the words sounded foreign even to you.
âexcuse me?â
âi said⌠probably not.â
silence. you could almost hear him processing. âi was under the impressionââ he started, measured, but there was an edge. ââthat this would have been agreeable.â
you swallowed. you hated that your chest felt tight. âi just⌠maybe next time,â you said, hoping it sounded casual even though your stomach sank.
âyou love these events,â he said, almost accusing. âwhat is the matter?â
you fumbled, scrambling for somethingâanythingâsensible. âi think .. the cat might be mad at me?â
âthat is⌠hardly a valid reason to refuse a gala. do you have another?â
you chewed your lip, wringing your hands together, flustered. âwell⌠um⌠i⌠my⌠my shoes, they⌠they might be too sparkly. it could blind people.â
another pause. he was quiet for a moment, and you imagined the pinched line of his mouth, the narrowed eyes. âyou are speaking nonsense,â he said finally. âyet i can hearââ he hesitated. âsomething. you are hiding something. tell me.â
you swallowed, wishingâlike, really wishingâyou were smart enough to conjure a reason that sounded real, that would satisfy him, that wouldnât make you sound like a complete disaster. but your brain was doing that thing it always did: looping through sparkly shoes, cats, and ice cream flavors, none of which helped. âuh⌠okay, bye!â you blurted, voice a little too cheerful, and clicked the end call before he could ask anything else.
phew. you totally nailed that.
you flopped onto your couch, fuzzy pajamas tangling around your legs, grabbed the nearest pint of cookie dough ice cream, and dug in. you flipped through streaming apps with the emotional depth of a goldfish, settling on the first movie poster that had pretty colors. something with singing. something where no one looked like they were judging you from across a mansion living room.
the opening song started and you tucked yourself deeper into your couch cocoon, blanket shaped like a giant strawberry wrapped around your shoulders. ice cream: half-gone. brain: mercifully vacant. you werenât wallowingâyou refused to wallowâbecause wallowing required staying on one thought for longer than eleven seconds, and you simply werenât built for that. you tried once, earlier, to reflect on the past few weeks, but halfway through thinking âmaybe i am too much,â you saw a commercial for sparkly lip gloss and forgot what sadness was entirely.
so you watched your movie. you giggled when the prince tripped over the scenery, gasped dramatically at every plot twist even though it was a kidsâ film, and kicked your feet when the heroine got her magical dress. for a while, it was easy to pretend the world was simple and that your heart wasnât bruised in places you didnât know how to fix. and thenâ
âyou didnât answer my texts.â
you screamed. not like a cute scream. like a full-body, weaponized shriek. your spoon flew upward, brandished like a dagger, cookie dough chunk poised for battle. âWHOâOH MY GODâDAMIAN? WHY ARE YOUâTHATâYOU CANâT JUSTâTELEPORT!â
he did not look amused. or apologetic. or impressed by your ice-cream-based defense strategy. âi used the spare key,â he corrected, pinching the bridge of his nose. âand you clearly need instruction in self-defense. that was pathetic.â
you were still holding the spoon like it was a sword. âiâi couldâve blinded you.â
âwith dessert?â
âit has chunks.â
he stared at you, long and defeated, and only thenâonly after your heart slowed and your lungs remembered their jobâdid you realize he was here. in your apartment. beside your couch. shoulders tense, breath steady in that controlled way he used when something was wrong. something he wasnât willing to ignore anymore.
you froze. frozen like a marshmallow left out in the snow, like a popsicle that somehow knew it had to impress a god and didnât stand a chance. normally you wouldâve launched yourself at himâarms first, lips trailing kisses, a flurry of glittering enthusiasm that left him winded just from being near you. normally, you wouldâve clung. right now, you were⌠decidedly not normal.
damianâs eyes narrowed. âwell?â he prompted, voice flat but heavy with expectation, the kind of expectation that made you suddenly hyper-aware of every corner of your apartment. normally, this tone wouldâve made your heart skip in excitement. now it made it do a weird little hiccup of anxiety.
âuh,â you mumbled. âi just thought maybe⌠maybe galas are, like⌠too fancy?â you added lamely, as if words themselves could distract from the gaping void of uncertainty settling in your chest.
âtoo fancy? for you?â his shoulders stiffened as if the very suggestion was a personal affront. usually he would have let you flail a little, let you stumble through a hundred excuses. now⌠his chest tightened, frustration bleeding into something heavier. you stumbled back a half-step, then another, blanket bunching under your hands, your stomach doing that weird tumble-your-insides thing that always showed up when damian looked at you like this. tall. looming. imposing. âenough,â he snapped, and it was tight, like heâd been holding it in so long that the words barely cleared his throat before they landed hard. âyou wonât even let me touch you. what is the matter?â
you froze mid-step. your mind spun. normally, you wouldâve fallen into his chest without thinking, melting into the warmth of his hands and the press of his body. now⌠now your instincts screamed no, and the resulting flush of guilt and embarrassment made your chest feel too tight. damianâs brow furrowed, and then the corners of his lips tugged down in that small pout that made him look younger and frustrated all at once. âdo you understand,â he murmured, stepping closer, his presence filling every inch of the space around you, âhow⌠difficult it is to⌠not feel you next to me?â
his chest rose and fell faster, not from exertion, but from the absence of contact, the starvation of closeness heâd been used to every time you had been your usual clingy, adorable self. the pout deepened as if the lack of your touch was physically weighing on him. he stepped closer again, unsure if you would flee or collapse into him. âiââ you started, voice trembling, then stopped. all your words felt stupid, worthless, inadequate. your brain short-circuited under the weight of his eyes and the sheer want radiating from him, and you pressed your lips together, biting the inside of your cheek, retreating another half-step despite every rational part of you screaming to just lean in.
you swallowed, words tripping out of you before you could stop them. âi just⌠donât want to exhaust you. i donât want toââ your voice faltered, a squeak barely audible, ââmake things harder.â
damian froze mid-step, a slow inhale pulling the air into him as if heâd been holding it without realizing. his eyes widened slightlyânot with anger, but with something more jagged: shock, confusion, and a flicker of⌠hurt. âwhat did you hear?â he asked, careful.
âi heard. what you said to jason. and⌠and what he said.â
the silence that followed was almost unbearable. the pout faded, replaced by a rigid line of restraint. you could feel itâthe weight of all the emotion heâd been bottling for weeks. damianâs breath left him in a controlled exhale, the kind he used when he was forcing himself not to retreat behind pride or irritation. he lifted his chin a fraction, meeting your eyes headâon, refusing to let you look away. âi wonât pretend i didnât say those things,â he began. âi did. you do overwhelm me sometimes. you move fast, you talk fast, you feel fastâthings i was not raised to understand.â
his hands flexed once, then stilled at his sides. âbut that does not mean i donât want you near me. it does not mean iâm⌠tired of you.â his jaw clenched for a moment before he forced it to ease. âi was frustrated. not with youâ with myself. with not knowing how to keep up.â he took a step closer, the way he approached a frightened animal he didnât want to spook. âbut listen to me very clearly. i will never let anyone speak poorly of you.â another breath. âand when todd opened his mouth,â he continued, forming his words with visible disgust. âi struck him. immediately.â
your eyes widened, and he caught the flicker of shock before you could mask it. âi will not allow anyoneâfriend, brother, strangerâto demean you. even when i am frustrated. even when i am overwhelmed. especially then. you areâŚâ he hesitated, searching for the correct word, something true. âyou are too important.â
your mouth opened, closed, then opened again, nothing elegant, nothing clever, just a stunned scramble of breath. the words too important echoed through you like someone had rung a bell inside your ribs. warmth spread through your chest, an almost dizzy relief, ridiculous and overwhelming in the best possible way. âyou⌠punched jason,â you said finally, voice disbelieving. âfor me.â
damianâs expression barely shifted, but something in his eyes flickeredâpride, irritation, stubborn protectiveness. âhe deserved worse.â he mumbled.
you almost giggled. it was stupid, but the image of damian decking jason because of you made something in your stomach flip. of course damian would do that. of course he would. and yet knowing he actually hadâthat he hadnât just stood there letting it happenâfelt like someone had lifted a weight you didnât know youâd been carrying. you swallowed, voice wobbling as your thoughts spilled out. âbut⌠am i not embarrassing? i meanâmaybe this is better, right? i thought giving you space would help. that youâd⌠appreciate it.â you fiddled with your sleeve. âi thought maybe youâd finally get a break from me.â
the sound damian made was halfway between a scoff and an incredulous breath. âa break,â he repeated, as if the word personally offended him.
âi just thoughtââ
âno,â he cut in. âif i wanted space, i would tell you. i never asked for this.â
you blinked at him, startled by how quickly he closed the gap between youâtwo steps, maybe three, but enough that you had to tilt your chin up, enough that you felt the heat of him, the intensity he never tried to soften. âyou think this is better?â he asked, voice tight. âyou think thisâthis distanceâis something i want?â
your breath caught. he shook his head once, the movement irritated. his eyes met yours, almost pleading. âitâs maddening.â
âyou donât exhaust me,â he continued. âyou⌠unsettle me. in ways i am still learning to navigate. but i do not want you far from me.â his voice softened, but only barely. âi need you close. this distance,â he added, gaze flicking down to your hands before snapping back to your face, âis the only thing that has exhausted me.â
the relief hit first. then the warmth. then the stupid, overwhelming, giddy joy that flooded through you so fast it made your knees weak. then you were moving. âoh my godâdamiiiii,â you squeaked, and whatever distance had been between you shattered as you launched yourself forward, practically colliding with his chest. his hands flew up on instinct, catching you like he always did, prepared even when you werenât.
you wrapped your arms around his neck, squeezing him so tight he let out a soft, startled grunt. âyou need me close?â you beamed, already peppering his jaw with quick, excited kisses. âoh my god, i was dyingâi missed you so muchâyou shouldâve just said something, damian, i thought you hated meâand i wanted to go to the gala so badââ
âbelovedââ he tried, but you were already cupping his face, kissing him again, soft then messy then eager, like you were making up for every second youâd held back. his hands settled on your waist, grounding but firm, like he was afraid youâd vanish again. you felt him breathe out slowly against your mouth, tension draining inch by inch. âwaitââ damian tried again, voice catching somewhere between stern and breathless, but you were already kissing him for the fourthâfifth?âsixth time, youâd lost count, your hands on his cheeks, then his jaw, then his collar, like you were trying to make up for three weeks of starvation all at once.
âi needâlistenââ
another kiss.
âiâm trying toââ
another, this one landing on the corner of his mouth because you mis-aimed from excitement. âyou are impossibleââ
you kissed the complaint right off his lips.
he exhaled hard against your mouth, a shaky sound that betrayed how much heâd missed this. âi got you something,â he finally managed, pushing the words out between soft, stolen breaths.
you frozeâdramatically, predictablyâeyes wide, lips still brushing his because you had absolutely no spatial awareness when excited. âyou didnât,â you gasped.
he gave you a look that was half fond, half exasperated. âi did.â
you almost shrieked, clutching his shoulders. âwhat is it? oh my godâdamian, did youâdid you get me the spoon??â
he blinked. âno. not the spoon. i knew you wanted to go to the gala,â he murmured when you finally pulled back for airâonly because you had to, not because you wanted to. his voice was that low, almost-raspy softness he only ever used with you. âi know you.â
you were grinning so hard it was embarrassing. âyou do?â you asked, glowing, practically bouncing in his arms.
he huffedâfond, resigned, completely undoneâin the way only someone hopelessly in love could sound. âyes,â he said simply. âwhich is why i bought you a new gown.â
you gasped like heâd just offered you oxygen after drowning. âAWWW.â
âdo not yell,â he muttered, though his lips twitched like he was fighting a smile.
âdamian wayne,â you clutched his shoulders, scandalized and delighted and unhinged. âyou bought me a gown and you didnât even tell me??â
âi attempted to.â he gave you a look. âyou hung up on me.â
you took forever to get ready.
not âa little long,â not âfashionably delayedââno. this was a questline. a saga. a biblical-length journey of outfit changes, makeup crises, and one thirty-second meltdown where you thought your eyeliner betrayed you (it did not).
damian waited.
or rather: he stood behind you with his arms crossed, pacing once, sighing twice, and then finally submitting to holding your hair clips for you. but when you stepped outâsparkling, glowing, wearing the dress he bought youâhis entire posture changed. his breath literally hitched.
and at the gala? he didnât let you out of armâs reach once. every time someoneâs eyes lingered too long, damianâs hand slid to your waist. the kind of possessive that said: look all you want, sheâs going home with me. he guided you through the crowd. kissed your temple once when you made him laugh, glared at at least six people for daring to compliment you, absolutely threatened one guy with eye contact alone.
you thrived. you sparkled. for the first time in weeks, you felt entirely, stupidly, loudly like yourself again.
when the night wound down, you walked out with your heels dangling from your fingers, damianâs jacket around your shoulders, his hand loosely holding yours like he still wasnât convinced you wouldnât disappear. âwhere are we going?â you asked, swinging your joined hands dramatically.
âa detour,â he said simply.
the detour was the winter market.
the spoonâyour ridiculous, rhinestone-encrusted, princess-coded spoonâwas in a display window. damian walked inside without a word, bought it, and handed it to you.
you stared at it, serious as death. âdamian,â you whispered. âi will treasure this spoon more than i will treasure any of our hypothetical future children.â
âthat isââ
he paused.
ââŚdeeply concerning.â
you nodded solemnly. âtheyâll understand.â
he pinched the bridge of his nose. you hugged the spoon. somewhere in the back of your head, one final thought sparked:
when i see jason, iâm gonna⌠iâm gonna⌠unplug his phone charger. so he wakes up with like⌠4%.
a terrifying threat.
damian exhaled, half-laughing, half in love, tugging you against him, âplease never change.â
A/N: HAIII thank you for the love girl u already know i was on this shit the second i got this request ive been obsessed with the idea of bimbo!reader for some reason lately đđđ i hope this was okayyy
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âËęŠď˝Ą everytime you casually crack your back and shoulders around wayne manor, you trigger damianâs assassin-trained instincts when the sounds resemble those of seasoned vigilantes after combat. damian is convinced you're secretly hiding a double life, so he spirals into an obsessive investigation, analyzing your posture and movements only to finally find out it's because you suffer from scoliosis and chronic pain. f!reader
âËęŠď˝Ąrequest
Damian Wayne had heard bones crack before.
In fact, heâd heard bones crack in more ways than most people could ever stomach. Cassâs quiet, deliberate stretches before patrol, Dickâs relieved sigh after a backflip that landed slightly off center, Jasonâs absolutely atrocious habit of popping his knuckles before he fought someone, like he was threatening their existence with his joints alone. Even Bruce, who pretended to be invincible, cracked his neck sometimes after long nights hunched over the Batcomputer.
Damian, therefore, thought he fully understood the range of sounds the human skeleton was capable of producing. Until you walked into the Manor kitchen at 7:14 am on a perfectly mundane day, reached up for a mug on the highest shelf, and unleashed a crack so loud Damian almost dropped his tea.
He snapped his head toward you instantly, eyes wide, alarm bells exploding in his brain. You blinked, hand still hovering mid air, then casually brought the mug down, completely unaware that youâd just triggered Damian Wayneâs fight or flight response. âMorningâ you said, still sleepy, rubbing your shoulder. And then, you did it again. A rolling, echoing series of pops down your spine as you twisted slightly left, like bubble wrap being stepped on by God himself.
Damian stood frozen, teacup halfway to his mouth, staring at you like youâd just revealed you were secretly a cyborg. âAre youâwhat are you doing?â he demanded sharply, tone caught somewhere between horrified and offended on behalf of human anatomy. You yawned. âCracking my backâ
âCracking your back.â he repeated, as if he needed the words to settle into place before he decided whether to call for medical support or exorcism. You nodded. âYeah. I have scoliosis and chronic muscle tension pops like crazyâ You reached your arm across your chest in a stretch and your shoulder snapped loudly enough that it echoed. Damian flinched, actually flinched. âYouâre in pain?â he asked, voice dropping but eyes narrowing like he was analyzing intel. âSometimes,â you said. âBut itâs fineâ
It wasn't fine, at least not to Damian. You just didnât know he had already spiraled into a completely different interpretation of events.
Because Damian Wayne, raised by assassins, surrounded by vigilantes, and genetically predisposed to suspicion, only had one logical conclusion: no civilian cracked like that, no civilian made noises that dramatic unless theyâd seen years of combat, injuries, falling off rooftops, he had heard these exact pops from Nightwing after getting thrown through a skylight, he had heard similar ones from Tim after heâd dislocated his shoulder during a pursuit. Civilians did not sound like that before breakfast. Damian hid his reaction poorly, his eyes scanned you the way he scanned suspects: your posture, your breathing, the way you favored your left side slightly, the scars you always brushed off as âold accidentsâ
You poured your coffee, completely unaware that Damian was now reorganizing his understanding of your entire existence. âIâll⌠be in the living roo,â you said, confused by his stare. âYes.â he replied distractedly, âCarry on.â The second you left the room, Damian immediately abandoned his tea and went straight into investigation mode. Within minutes, he was in the Cave. By ten minutes, he had three separate monitors pulled up. By fifteen, he had a full conspiracy wall equivalent across three screens and twenty tabs. Surveillance footage: analyzing your gait. Medical records: sealed, suspicious. Public background: too clean. Social media presence: minimal. Obviously hiding something.
Bruce happened to walk by and stopped, eyebrow raised. âWhat exactly are you doing?â Damian didnât look away from the screen. âI am determining whether she is a vigilante.â Bruce blinked. âSheâs not.â âHow do you know?â Damian asked without missing a beat. Bruce gave him a flat stare. âBecause she told me she wasnât.â
âThat means nothing,â Damian muttered, typing faster. âPeople lie.â Bruce sighed and left. This was not his battle.
Over the next forty eight hours, Damian Wayne watched you like a hawk. Subtly, of course. Or, what he thought was subtle. âDamian is staring at me againâ you whispered to Dick at one point. Dick, unhelpfully, whispered back, âHeâs in loveâ Damian, ten feet away said "I can hear you."
Every sound you made, every stretch, every pop of your spine, Damian catalogued. Every time you reached for something and your ribs made a satisfying crack, he zeroed in like a predator hearing a twig snap. You bent down to tie your shoe, your lower back popped. Damianâs head shot up from across the room. You reached up to adjust your hair, your shoulder clicked loudly. Damian quietly gasped like he had just uncovered a lead. You leaned sideways on the couch, your hip cracked. Damianâs eyes widened, mind racing. He cornered Dick later. âHer joint noises exceed the decibel level of a normal civilian.â âWhat?â âHer spine sounds like Graysonâs after a four story fall.â âHeyâ!â âTherefore,â Damian continued, pacing now, âshe either has undergone extensive combat training, has participated in clandestine operations, or she is acquiring injuries not accounted for by her supposed normal civilian lifestyle.â Dick stared. ââŚor she just has scoliosis?â âNo,â Damian dismissed instantly. âYou donât understand. She cracked her sternum earlier.â
âHer whatâ?â Damian started sketching something on a notepad, some kind of diagram of a human skeleton with little red circles where he had noted your cracks. It was insane, it was unhinged but it was spectacularly Damian.
But the tipping point came when you were lying on the Manor couch, scrolling on your phone, and absently twisted your torso to stretch. The crack that came out of your spine was so loud it echoed through the entire room like a gunshot. Damian dropped the book he was holding. Jason yelled âWhat theâwas that you or the house settling?â Tim peeked over his laptop, concerned. Cass looked impressed. And you just sighed in relief. âOh thank god, that one was stuck since yesterday.â Damian stared at you like you had just confessed to murder. He approached you slowly, like you were a wild animal or an unstable grenade. âExplain.â he said. Just that. One word. You blinked. âExplain⌠what?â
âThat.â he said, pointing at your spine as if it had personally offended him. âThe sounds your body produces. The injuries you are hiding. Your combat background. The truth.â You squinted. ââŚDamian, Iâm not hiding anythingâ
âYou cracked your spine in seventeen places.â
âItâs scoliosis.â
âYou cracked your hip.â
âAlso scoliosis.â
âYour shoulder dislocates visibly.â
âChronic pain.â
He stared. Hard. You sighed and sat up slowly. âDamian, Iâm not a vigilanteâ He crossed his arms tightly, jaw set. âProve it.â You rolled your eyes, set your phone aside, and, because chronic pain people are built different, proceeded to demonstrate the stupidest, most painful, most benign reason for all your dramatic bone noises: stretching your arms up, bending to the side, rotating your spine, and yes, in a truly cinematic series of crunchy snaps, your body produced a full symphony of cracks. Damian actually leaned back in shock, eyes wide. You finished, shrugged, and said casually, âSee? Chronic tension. Not secret ninjaâ Damian blinked rapidly, stared at you for a long moment, and then, quietly, in a voice so soft it almost wasnât Damian at all.âDoes it⌠hurt?â You paused. His tone wasnât suspicious this time. It was gentle, concerned and vulnerable in a way he didnât allow himself often. ââŚSometimesâ you admitted. âBut itâs manageableâ Damian sat beside you stiffly, as if calculating the exact appropriate distance, then scooted just a little closer, trying to pretend it was casual. âYou should tell me,â he muttered. âIf your body is injured. Or if you are in pain.â âI donât want to worry youâ you said softly. âToo late.â he muttered. You smiled a little. He looked away quickly, ears slightly red. After a moment, Damian spoke again, voice low. âI only⌠I only suspected you were a vigilante because I feared you were putting yourself at risk without support.â You raised an eyebrow. âYou mean you care?â âI mean,â he corrected stiffly, âI would prefer to know the capabilities and vulnerabilities of people Iââ He stopped himself. Completely froze. You watched him, amused. âPeople youâŚ?â His jaw clenched. ââŚpeople I consider important.â
You didnât tease him. You just leaned slightly, not enough to startle him, just enough that your shoulder brushed his. Another tiny crack sounded. Damian glared at your joints like they were personally challenging him. âYou must stop doing that." he muttered. âI literally canâtâ you laughed. He huffed. After a long pause, he added, âIf it relieves your pain, then⌠I suppose it is acceptable.â That, from Damian, was basically a love confessional. You softened. ââŚThank youâ Damian didnât respond verbally. Instead, he reached out, hesitating just a heartbeat, then placed his hand very gently on your back, fingers warm, careful. âTell me where it hurtsâ he whispered. You exhaled and Damian Wayne, who had spent two days constructing a conspiracy board to prove you were a secret vigilante, now sat beside you with a hand on your spine like you were something precious he was trying to understand. Eventually, he spoke again. âNext time,â he said softly, âWarn me before your skeleton explodes.â
âThatâs not how scoliosis works, Damianâ âEvidently I still have much to learn.â he muttered. You smiled, warm, grateful, a little in love. Damian pretended not to notice. But he did. And later, when you cracked your shoulder again while reaching for a book, Damian didnât flinch. He just sighed softly, walked over, and took the book down for you like it was the most natural thing in the world. âYouâre ridiculous.â he said. âYouâre dramaticâ you replied. âWe are both correct.â he conceded. And maybe he smiled just a little. (He absolutely did.)
Damian loves you. It's why he didn't push you away when he first saw you. It's why he asked you to prom. It's why he started to care about his safety. It's why he proposed in a field of your favourite flowers. Why he spent days on his vows. Why he planned the wedding to your liking. Why he had a corner in your new house for your achievements.
He gave you a house,you made it home. He bought a couch,you put your snoopy blanket on it.
He bought the bed,you put your plushies on it.
Your shoe next to his. Your showering products next to his. Your jacket hung with his.
The "ŘŻ" initial on your necklace. Your initial tattoed on his heart.
He spent thousands for a walk in closet, a small couch in there so you could give him a personal fashion show.
Flying first class so you could see your favourite band perform.
Showing you off in galas he was forced to go to.
It's why he texts you whenever he can,to make sure you are ok.
It's why he takes pictures of you in every occassion.
Why he has two sketch books filled with you.
Why he became less snappy with his family.
Why he takes your makeup off for you when you're tired. Tracing your face, his pupils wide with love.
Why he makes you food, so you wouldn't tire yourself with standing.
Why he watches shows he has no interest in, just for you.
Why he wakes up everyday with a reason to live, the reason sleeping next to him.