The Racing Line | M.V.

23. Back to Normal

Life was back to normal. Kind of. Ashley was away in Paris and New York for modeling gigs, which made Max and Liv's make up much easier. 

That same afternoon after their unexpected conversation at the roof, Max spotted Liv walking farther ahead at the paddock and he rushed over to her. He hadn't been able to erase the smile from his face the entire morning. Not only had Liv forgiven him, but it was also the first time in more than a month that he had only felt friendship there. No romantic feelings whatsoever. Maybe the fear of losing her as a friend had terrified the romantic love out of him. Maybe now he had some perspective as to what was truly important. And that was her friendship.

 As soon as he reached her he placed his arm around her shoulder as they walked. "Today's a good day isn't it?" he said looking up at the sky of sunny Portugal. 

Liv chuckled "Look at you all smiley". 

"I've got a lot of things to smile about" he said looking at her, flashing his bright smile.

"Oh yeah, I know what you mean. Media day. I know how much you love those" she said sarcastically.

"You know what? Not even media day could ruin this day for me" said Max matter of factly "Do you wanna watch a movie tonight?".

Liv actually had plans with Lewis, but since she had truly missed Max, she thought she could cancel those. "Sure, 9 pm?".

"Great, I'll get the snacks" said Max as they reached the Red Bull motorhome "This is my stop, I'll see you later" he said as he took his arm off her.

"Wait a second" said Liv grabbing his arm so he wouldn't walk away. 

"What is it?" asked Max.

Without another word, Liv threw her arms around his torso and hugged him tightly, burying her head on his shoulder. It took Max a second to gather himself, then the placed his arms around her and brought her even closer, resting his head on top of hers. The hug lasted a while, and Liv still wouldn't let go of him. With his arms still around her Max asked "Everything okay Liv?".

"Yeah" she said quietly with her head still on his shoulder and her eyes closed, just taking in the unique feeling that Max's hugs always gave her "I love you Max".

Something flipped inside of Max. His stomach? His heart? Something. His heart beat started racing and he swallowed tightly, but before he was able to speak, Liv spoke again "I really missed you, I hope me never fight again".

Max let out a deep breath that had been stuck in his lungs. It took him a second to recover while Liv finally let go of him "Well it took us 13 years to have our first fight. So maybe we don't have to worry about that for a while" he joked.

Liv smiled back at his slightly blushed face "Let's make it a first and only fight, please". 

"Done" he nodded "I'll make sure of it, I promise".

"Hey! You two are talking again! And smiling!" Checo walked over to them with his usual beaming smile.

Liv chuckled "Yeah, Max can be invited to dinner again".

"This is great because being your teammate while my sister hated your guts was very awkward mate. It was like being in the middle of a divorce while being an only child" said Checo.

"In this scenario, you the 31 year-old, were our only child?" asked Max with an amused smile growing on his face.

"Clearly" Checo shook his head. 

They started laughing "Well you don't have to stress about it anymore, everything's good now" said Max with a smile.

"Fantastic, now let's get over media day. Common Max" he said as he walked over to the motorhome.