Foggy Mirrors | Max Verstappen

Chapter 27 - THE PRESENT

He waited patiently outside of the room, standing a bit lost in the corridor as he waited for Max to return from his bedroom. He was looking around, trying to not feel so much out of place only for his eyes to land on a picture of Max and Leanne. They were sitting under a tree in a garden, playing cards in what looked like autumn. They were both smiling, Leanne laughing in triumph and Max trying so hard to hide his smile behind a pound but not really succeeding. It was a cute picture, they were teenager, but still looked so young.

It was movement coming from the room which caused Checo to pull his gaze from the picture to look at Max.

"How is she?" Checo asked standing a bit lost in Max's corridor as he watched the Dutchman quietly closing the door to his bedroom where he had tugged Leanne into his bed.

"Asleep now." He muttered while moving past Checo into the living room. The Mexican following him instantly. Not sure what else he was supposed to do. Frankly, he was still a bit shocked while Max just seemed tired from the bit of alcohol that was still in his system.

That was the thing with wild nights. They easily spiralled out of control, not that anyone was ever in control of that night in the beginning.

"Good, but I still think we should call Isa." Sergio advised, while Max allowed himself to flop down onto his couch, his hand coming up to brush over his face. "It's her sister she properly knows whatever that was and can handle it better than us."

Checo tried to be reasonable, to be an adult, but all Max thanked him with was a sarcastic sounding snort.

"I can handle Lea just fine, don't worry." The tone in Max's voice suddenly changed, harsher than the Mexican was used to, which caused Checo to sit down in the armchair on the left side of Max. Whatever had happened this night, Sergio still wasn't entire sure what it was, Max seemed to know exactly what was going on. He seemed to know how to approach it which honestly was a great help because the Mexican was at a loss right from the start.

"You can't tell me that she behaves like someone who's alright." He pressed on, which caused Max to snort. Honestly, he would be surprised if Leanne, someone deeply wounded, would act normal when drunk.

"You're not calling fucking anyone." He exclaimed, his hand coming down on his thigh in a harsh movement, before he signed. "Listen, I appreciate your help here, mate, but I know how to take care of her. Nobody will ever hear of this, and Isa of all people can never know about this."

"You know what 'this' is, right?" Checo wanted to know which caused Max to bite his lip.

"I know shit, mate." He muttered while getting up, moving into the kitchen to get himself a glass of water while the Mexican was following him once more.

That was a lie if Checo had ever seen or heard one. Max knew, he knew fucking well, but he wouldn't admit to it. As if Sergio hasn't already figured out that something was going on between the two of them. It wasn't fucking rocket science to see when two people were in love. Especially when one was as obvious as Max Verstappen.

"Isa mentioned something once. Said that Leanne was protecting her for a lot of shit and that she believed it all to be fun and games until she was way older." The Mexican pointed out while watching his younger teammate. Max had put his hands down on the front of the kitchen sink, she shoulders tense while he watched the filled water glass sanding in the sink.

Isa knew shit. She had no idea how terrible her parents were and now she still had no clue was a fucking riddle to Max. It was so clear, so noticeable. The moment Leanne and her mother were in one room.

"Mate, I'm with Isa, I don't know for how much longer but I'm also no coward. If they need protection I'm not leaving them just like that. So, wouldn't it only be fair if you told me what she was being protected from? So, I can protect her from that too. If it ever comes to that." He tried again. But it wasn't Max's place to tell. It wasn't his family... wait stretch that. It was his fucking family and that realisation alone nearly robbed him of all sanity.