REMEMBER THE NAME

Epilogue

Sophie had never believed in happy endings. They were overrated. The idea that from one singular point in your life that everything would be sunshine and rainbows from them on was idealistic but highly unlikely to be real. But that moment standing underneath the mistletoe wasn't Sophie and Lando's happy ending, but more like a happy beginning and the start to a new adventure.

With the 2020 season approaching they were unsure where their relationship stood, it was new and unfamiliar which made the couple anxious about announcing it, so instead they decided it would be best to keep it private but not a secret. Their families and closest friends knew about their relationship and were thrilled to hear that they had finally seen what they had noticed all along - that they were in love with each other. And by the end of the season the fans had began to see it as well, from the stolen glances and short hugs all of the jigsaw pieces were clicking together to give them a clear picture.

However following the high of 2020, 2021 was a whole different challenge. For Sophie, her personal growth expanded beyond measures with her passion for driving consuming her whole life. She was promoted to the second Redbull seat following her impressive season at Alphatauri, which gave her a fighting chance in the championship. Her main competitors were Max and Lewis, causing both tensions internally with the team and externally with Mercedes. The competition with Max was always very fair and respectful, he had been her best competition in recent years, and whilst they fought tooth and nail on track there were able to separate that from their personal lives and still be great friends when the helmets came off. The biggest challenge she had was being respected by non other than Christian Horner, who originally didn't even view her as championship worthy material and thought she should only defend Max. Let's just say that didn't go down well.

What else didn't go down well was Toto's realisation that he was being beaten by none other than his own stepdaughter. Sure he knew the potential she harvested, but he had never predicted that his downfall would be in the form of her - his words not hers. As you can imagine Sophie didn't exactly take it well, especially when he would consistently make little digs both in person and to the media. Therefor it broke Sophies heart but she drastically reduced the amount of time that she spent with her family in person, delaying the inevitable which would be a blow up of words.

As much as Sophie would like to think it didn't, the tension definitely had an effect on her relationship with Lando. Most of the time she was affected by her anger and unfortunately would accidentally take it out on him through nippy words and a sour attitude. For a while he stayed silent on the situation, understanding that her already complicated family situation was deteriorating and deep down one of her worst fears were coming true - she was losing the last strand that she had of a picture perfect happy family, leaving her with only a broken home. Of course in Lando's shoes he could never relate to this as for his whole life his family had only provided unconditional love and support, however he did his best to support her despite whatever hurt he was feeling. But one day it all got too much, and he finally exploded with his feelings. Firstly Sophie went straight in to denial, causing the argument to grow heated, but the longer they argued the more she realised that he was right. Apologising had never been an easy thing for Sophie, but for him she would apologise until her dying breath, so soon enough they worked through it, with Sophie even agreeing to go to therapy to allow her to talk through her struggles with a trained professional, ultimately making their relationship grow stronger which is exactly what Sophie needed to prepare her for the final race of the season - the final battle.

When the battle concluded there she stood upon the highest podium, looking up at the stars and trying to hold back her tears. She had done it. She had become the first ever woman to win a WDC. And when she finally looked back down there he was. Standing with the proudest smile on his face, his sea green eyes sparkling with happiness with his hands above his head clapping and cheering her name. In the moment the trophy didn't matter to her, neither did the title - but she doesn't exactly mind it, all that mattered was that she had him, through the ups and the downs they were there, together, stronger, and even more in love than that day under the mistletoe.