𝘽𝙄𝙏𝙏𝙀𝙍, max verstappen

chapter thirty-six.

max's messy hair tickled camila's neck, as she stirred awake, soaking in the warmth of their bodies tangled together under the sheets.

she had grown to miss this so much. and so had max.

upon instinct, camila found herself reaching out a delicate hand to trace across max's face, as he breathed softly, clearly still exhausted from all the tears he shed last night.

a slight pang of guilt entered camila's body — and no, not because she won and max hadn't, god, of course not, she'd never fell sorry for winning.

camila felt horrible that she couldn't have been there for him sooner. dealing with panic attacks alone was practically torture, camila knew that better than anyone, and she'd now promised herself that max would never have one without her again.

pressing a light kiss to max's temple, he gently stirred awake, lazily smiling at the feeling of camila's lips on his skin.

"sorry, i didn't mean to wake you" camila found herself quickly apologising.

but max grinned, pulling the girl into his chest. "don't apologise" he pressed a kiss to her cheek, "there's nowhere else i'd rather be than here"

max took his time looking around camila's face, almost as if she were art, and he couldn't wipe the grin on his face as he watched her cheeks turn a rosy colour.

moments later, camila found the guilt continuing to seep in, not just over max's panic attack, but also the reasons why.

she regretted pushing him away, she regretted all those horrible words she'd said, she regretted hurting the people she loved, those people specifically being max.

lost deep in thought, max must've seen the expression on camila's face change, as he began brushing stray hairs behind her ears. "what's wrong?"

camila frowned, sorrowful as she gazed into his eyes. "i wish i didn't hurt you the way i did, max i'm so sorry—" camila's voice broke slightly, tears brimming, as max quickly stopped her from continuing.

"no — mila, hey, shh" max comforted, as he sat up, pulling camila up into his arms.

"you didn't deserve any of what happened to you. i wish i could take it all away, i wish i could've done anything you told me to. anything." max whispered, holding camila's face in his hands.

camila closed her eyes, twisted in guilt.

they were silent for a few moments, embraced in one anothers touch before she spoke.

"do you hate me?"

max's heart dropped. god, he hated that she told herself these things. he hated that camila had people in her life that had made her tell herself these things.

"i could never hate you. even if i tried. i don't think i've ever hated you, even when i was supposed to"

all camila's life, she'd been conditioned to accept the love she thought she deserved. max wanted to show her that she deserved so much more. she needed someone to show her that, and he wanted to be that someone.

max delicately grabbed camila's hand, pressing light kisses to her knuckles. "please don't even think i'd hate you. i don't ever want you to feel hated, okay?"

camila's eyes softened, as she placed a soft kiss to max's lips. "okay" she whispered hesitantly, smiling as max nodded in approval.

they laid in bed for a few more moments, before max finally broke the comfortable silence.

"what are you thinking about?" he asked, smiling.

camila look at max shyly, nervously laughing as she shrugged.