The Red, The Silver, and The Girl Who Liked Both

Abu Dhabi (Part 2)

Max is scrolling through his phone when I step out of the bathroom. I didn't bother to dry my hair, figuring I would let it air dry and try to regain some of my natural waviness. I hadn't straightened it this morning in Saudi, so it was already a bit wavy. I probably have some heat damage, so I'm not going to even think about touching my straightener until at least the race weekend is over. I know I will eventually fold for the race, but for now I'm staying stubborn.

When I flop back down on the bed Max is resting on, he finally looks up from his phone and clicks it off. The room has two beds, but Max and I usually just hang out on one of them until it's time for bed. Our flight was at 6pm in Saudi, 2 hours and 40 min in the air, which put us at 9:40pm Abu Dhabi time. Then it was around a 15 min drive to the Yas Viceroy hotel. After my shower it was basically 10:30 and I was exhausted. I had no idea what time I woke up, I didn't bother to check since I was too preoccupied with all the news articles between Max, Lewis, and me.

"So what now, Horner?" Max asks playfully and I give him the best glare I can through my tiredness.

"It's 10:30 at night genius," I shoot back and huff when Max laughs at my dramatics.

"Are you really that tired?" He teases and I stretch to smack him, "Wow Horner, you peaked. Guess those party days are over huh?"

I sigh and laugh slightly. Max is trying to get under my skin, and I can't be mad at him. I don't know how he isn't exhausted dealing with my stupid ass, but as a driver I guess he's used to the fast traveling (hah, since he's a racer) and the occasional drama.

"Verstappen you're such a bad friend," I joke and Max pulls a face and sinks down to my level.

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it, huh Horner?"

"Perhaps ignore you, that'll teach you a lesson!"

Max laughs and pokes my face, "You can't ignore me, I'm far too attractive!"

"Attractive?" It's my turn to laugh, "More like cracked."

We fall into hysterics, laughing and rolling around on the bed trying to catch our breaths. I feel 15 again, practically dying from the stupid shit me or one of my friends popped out of nowhere. Max catches my hand and I'm finally able to catch my breath. We stop slowly, our breathing in tandem. There's tension, and it's palpable, my chest tightens. Max leans in, and I find myself following his lead. Our lips meet and we kiss softly, no urgency, no rush. Not like the first adrenaline filled time. Yet my heart is beating just as fast as it did in Texas.

I'm the first to break the kiss, hovering my lips mere centimeters from Max's. I open my eyes, but his are still closed. With my free hand, I cradle Max's face and that's when his eyes flutter open. I suck in a breath and Max squeezes my hand gently. We're laying on our sides and I swear it wasn't this warm in the room before we even started laughing.

"Max," I breathe and he closes the distance between us again and I'm being sucked in again. This kiss is not as long, though, and I come to my senses sooner than last time.

"Max," I say again, a bit louder this time. He moves back and regards me with an expression I've only seen one other time. I saw it when I told him my dad died. I was still kind of drunk from the previous night's bend.

"Victoria," Max answers and this is when I know he's serious about whatever he is going to say next. "Do you want to do this?" I wasn't expecting him to say that though.

"I don't know, my head feels funny and I don't know what to think. Everything is so muddled and funky," I say quietly, and Max brings his hand to cover mine that is still cradling his face.

"Maybe we should go to bed, and think about this in the morning, yeah?" Max says after a few moments of silence. I nod slowly in response, but then remember something,

"Didn't you say you needed to shower?" I ask, but Max just shakes his head.

"I can do it in the morning. Don't worry about me, okay?"

"Okay, as long as you're sure."

"I'm sure, Vickie, don't worry."

I nod and gently extract myself from his hold and move over to the other side of the room. I grab my pajamas from the top of my unkempt pile of clothes in my suitcase. At least pre-break up me was smart enough to put them on top. I hold up the articles, and Max just nods at me. He moves off the bed as well and I figure he's getting sleep clothes as well. I head to the bathroom and lock the door behind me. I revel in the events that have just transpired. We kissed, again, twice. Damn I feel like a fucking teenager. Like this is every female fan's dream to be in a hotel room with Max Verstappen kissing on his damn bed, I'm pathetic, I really am. Kissing Max when Lewis and I just broke up. God what kind of best friend am I? I'm not really any sort of best friend at all, really, I'm more like a whore who's taking advantage of my best male friend.

I dress myself angrily, being careless with my nice silk pajamas. Fuck, Lewis got me these. I slam my hand on the counter then yelp in pain. I pray to whatever god will listen that Max doesn't come knocking. I strain for any sounds of Max coming to the door, but thankfully I don't hear anything. I finish dressing myself and carefully open the door and flip the light off. When I walk back into the bedroom section Max is on the phone with someone.

"Yeah we made it alright," Max answers to whoever is on the other line, "Yeah she's okay."

I linger by the wall, not wanting to intrude on his conversation. But Max sees me anyway and motions me over with his hand. This time when he does it, I don't hesitate to go lay back on the bed. I look at Max expectantly, seeing if he'll mouth whoever it is that he's talking to. When he doesn't I shift up onto the pillows and turn on my side facing away from him.

"Yeah I'll mention it," Max replies again, it was a considerable pause from when he last answered the mystery caller, "Alright, see you then. Bye."

After a pause Max clicks off his phone and shifts towards me. He shifts and pokes me gently to see if I'm awake. When I turn over, Max greets me with a smile.

"That was Chrisitan on the phone," Max says without even me needing to ask. I nod and glance away from his face. Max frowns over the corner of my eye and I look back at him.

"Do you want to talk about it or go to bed?" He asks and I sigh slightly.

"I'd rather just go to bed, Max," I reply and he nods.

"Here or separate?"

"Would it be weird if I said here? I kind of don't want to be all alone, even if it's a meter away."

"Here is fine, Vickie, don't worry."

I nod and shimmy under the covers. Max helps by getting up and untucking the sides from under the mattress. He settles down next to me and grabs my hand gently. I shift my pillow closer and he does the same. I reach over and flip off the lamp. Max releases my hand and gently rubs my arm with his fingertips. My skin tingles lightly, and I can feel myself getting goosebumps. I shove any feelings I have about this whole thing and close my eyes. I figure Max does the same and falls asleep fairly quickly. His slow, deep, and oddly soothing breathing fills the room. I finally relax and fall into an uneasy sleep not long after him.