Hit the Brakes - Daniel Ricciardo x OC

Part 18

I have a nice quiet lunch with the old lady, give her my phone number and a big hug for all the advice she gave me. I stroll through some more of the town, popping into a couple shops to see what I can buy from the small stores. I purchase a new book to read on the flight to the next race, a little bag of Belgian chocolate for Max and another bag for Daniel. I get a couple of postcards to send to my parents for when I'm back at the paddock. 

Looking at my phone, I realise that nearly 4 hours have passed and it's getting late. I also have a late night dinner with Max planned, to just have a little catch up. Yes, we talk everyday, but sometimes I just want to know how he's doing without F1 getting in the way. Everyone has always been so harsh on him and I want him to know that someone is there for him even without the race helmet on. 

I manage to walk back the way I came, and start to walk to where the car dropped me off. However, the walk is taking a little longer than I remember. I walk about 45 minutes down the road and realise that I have gone the complete wrong way and I can't seem to find my way back. All the signs on the roads have gone out of sight and the sun is quickly setting. 

With the sun now gone, it has taken any of the spring warmth with it. The wind sets in, making my hair blow all over my face and forcing me to shove it up in a bun. I am freezing, and try and wrap myself in my t-shirt to conserve some heat. It's not working however, as I can feel my lips go blue and I'm shivering hard. 

Worst part is, my phone is now dead because I forgot to bring my portable charger with me because it was on a high percentage when I came over here - but Apple batteries aren't reliable enough to last that long even on 80% battery. 

I start to panic. I'm stranded in the middle of Belgium, on a deserted road and no one knows where I am because I thought everything would be fine and I wouldn't even take that long so I didn't tell anyone where I was going. My phone is dead so no one even has my location. 

I plop myself down on the grass next to a tree and rest my back against it and start to cry. Not even cry, I start to sob. Tears are streaming down my face and they won't stop. No one is ever going to let me out of their sights again if I ever get found. I'm going to be put on one of those kid leashes and Jamie is going to have to walk me around the paddock from place to place. I'm probably being a little dramatic but right now, I'm in panic mode and genuinely think I'm going to starve to death out here. 

It's hit around 7PM now and I'm still on the side of the road. I decided to walk a bit forward and backwards but I'm now completely lost and don't know which way I came from, so I don't even know how to get back to where I was before. I am well and completely fucked. 

A couple of cars have driven by, I've tried to wave them down but they probably believe that I'm some trap to get them killed in some remote area so they've just driven away without even checking if I'm okay. 

At this point I'm so cold and tired that I drift off a little bit with puffy eyes and my mascara completely gone. It's all over my cheeks which are bright red, matching my nose. I look like Rudolf. 

I don't know how long I'm asleep for when I wake up to the sound of a car driving near me. It sounds like a very expensive car - a turbo engine which woke me up because of how loud it is. I open my eyes and get hit by headlights blinding me as much as possible, I shield my eyes and look over. It's a bright orange... McLaren. 

I immediately jump up and start waving it down. Someone inside sees me and slams on the brakes, and opens the butterfly doors. 
"Poppy? Is that you?" The voice asks. 
"YES!" I shout back. 

I walk closer and see that it's Daniel and I don't think I've ever felt more relieved. We run to eachother and he scoops me up and hugs me so tight I feel like I can't breathe. But I don't even care. I'm just so happy that he's found me. 

He lets go of me and puts his hand up to my cheek. 
"Oh wow Pops, you're so cold! How long have you been here?" He asks.
"I don't.. even.. know." I say and start to absolutely sob. I'm so cold that my jaw is chattering so much I can't even speak properly. 
Daniel goes into the car and grabs me a blanket and wraps me around in it. It's an orange fluffy blanket, perfectly on brand for them. 
"Oh, baby." He says, scooping me in his arms again. 
"I was so scared. I was walking and went the wrong way. By the time I realised, it was too late. I didn't know where to go." I say. 
"It's okay, get in the car. I'll take you back to the hotel. Everyone is waiting for you." He says. 
"How did you find me?" I ask. 
"Your location was on until it stopped a few hours ago. Then, everyone stopped hearing from you. I just went to the last ping and then drove around to see if you were near. You were far out from there, Pops. You walked a long way." He starts the car and starts to drive away, blasting the heating on so it warms up the whole car.
I start to cry again and he takes his right hand from the steering wheel and puts it on my thigh. 
"We've found you now, though. So that doesn't matter." He says. 

We drive about an hour before we make it back to the hotel room. 
"Dan?" I say, as he's parking. 
"Yes?" He replies, taking out the keys from the ignition. 
"Can I stay with you tonight? I don't care if anyone sees me. I just.. need you." 
"Of course you can. We'll grab your stuff from your room and I'll run you a bath. I'm not letting you out of my sights until you need to go somewhere tomorrow." He says, opening the doors. 

He runs out and walks to the other side and opens my door for me, and grabs my hand to help me out. He wraps his arms around me to secure my blanket and we walk into the hotel. 

There is a whole group of people in RedBull team shirts in a cluster in the lobby. One of them points at me and then everyone comes and swarms me, including Max and Jamie. Max pushes everyone out of the way so he can hug me. 
"Everyone was worried sick. Poppy. I'm so happy you're safe." He says. 
Jamie scrapes him off me and looks at me for a second and starts crying, which makes me start crying. 
"Max came rushing into my office to ask if I had heard from you and I knew something was wrong. We've been sat here for the past 3 hours waiting to hear something. I'll tell you the whole story tomorrow morning. Oh, Poppy. I'm so glad you're here." She says, hugging me too. 

After everyone hugging me and saying how glad they were that I was okay, I mention that I'm going to head to bed and I'll see everyone tomorrow, and thanking them for waiting for me to come back.
The F1 family simply is the best. 

I get up to my room where Daniel meets me, and carries me over to the bed and cuddles me that we just fit together like a puzzle. 
"I was so scared, Pops. So scared. I'm so glad you're okay." He says, wiping a tear from my eye. 
"I didn't know what to do. I was going to be stuck there for what felt like forever if you hadn't had found me." I say. 
I get his chin and pull it up so his lips are on level with mine, and slowly kiss him, and go deeper with my tongue. He does the same. I slowly grab my hand and try and run it down his chest, but he pulls it back up.
"I will do anything like that with you anytime other than tonight. I'm cuddling you all night and making sure you're okay. Tomorrow, it's free game." He says, winking at me. 
"Sounds good, Mr Ricciardo." I reply. 

I grab my stuff and get into Dan's bed with him, and I fall sleep with my secret boyfriend after he's just saved my life wrapped in his arms.