Featuring:

-Max Barczak as
Milan Schumacher-

&

-Millane Friesen as
Freyja Räikkönen-

{A/N: This can be read as a stand alone oneshot but also as a part two of -the winner takes it all-}

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"The loser has to fall?"

Anyone who had ever been around Milan and Freyja for at least 10 seconds, knew that these two could not go without bickering with each other. Like constantly. They always found something to argue about or to insult each other. It was just how it was, it started when they were kids and they just never really outgrew it. But their childhood rivality was a story for another day.

If someone saw them with each other when media wasn't around, the chances were very high that they were having another fight. Like Milan making fun of Freyja's irrational fear and taunting her about it because he obviously knew it very well due to their shared childhood. Or Freyja telling Milan that he would have never ever won the Formula 2 championship if she had been allowed to drive that year. Every interaction that these two had with each other ended in a screaming match.
They of course tried to hold the hatred back when the public was present so they left it mostly at death glaring each other and at quietly mumbling insults whenever no one was paying attention to them.
Everyone on the grid and in their friend circles knew, Milan and Freyja hated each other to death. There was no way around it.

But one day, much to Freyja's confusion, Milan started acting differently. He wouldn't look at Freyja anymore and just ignore her in general. Usually, it had mostly been him who started their fights but for probably the first time in their lives, he wasn't doing anything. Like at all. He avoided Freyja like some sort of sickness and didn't even really react when she actually tried to pick a fight with him. He just always turned around and left her standing there, frustrated and confused.

As the weeks went by, nothing changed. Freyja tried really hard but Milan was still giving her the cold shoulder, only responding with 2 word sentences if she was lucky. When they sat next to each other in post race interviews, he would sit as far away from the finn as possible, which wasn't anything new but something just felt different about his behaviour. About the way he always sat with his back at least halfway turned to her, acting like she did not exist. He didn't even really acknowledge her in any conversations with friends or interviewers.

Freyja couldn't help but to actually be a bit worried about all of this. Considering the fact that at this point, she was also slowly realizing that she was feeling something other than hatred whenever she thought of Milan. Slowly, but surely, she realized that, well, she was actually falling for this guy. That was in fact quite the little crisis for her.

Milan, on the other hand, had already understood exactly that a long time ago. He didn't even know how it happened, but one day it had just clicked in his head Suddenly he felt weird about being around Freyja, thus he started avoiding her. It was probably a bit of a douchbag move but he couldn't help it. Just being in her present made his head feel cloudy. He thought if he just denied it long enough, the feelings would go away but it didn't quite work out like he expected it to.

No no, it was much different actually. The feelings got worse and worse, up to the point where he couldn't even be standing next to Freyja on the podium without his heart beating like it would explode.
And on the next race, he just...well he hit the brakes on the last few laps until he was sure to be at least in P5 or something, just so that he wouldn't have to deal with those stupid feelings.

In hindsight, this was a bad idea. Freyja had already been worried about Milan's behaviour for a while but this actually gave her the rest. So after the race and everything was over, she marched right into the McLaren garage where she happened to actually catch Milan alone. And the german knew that he couldn't really escape her without causing a scene.

"What the actual fuck was that? First you ignore me for months and then this?" Freyja asked, looking at Milan with a serious expression. "You basically had the win secured! But no, on the last two laps you just decide to let people get past you for no reason. And don't tell me your car had problems, your car was fine" she said, confusion and maybe even a bit of frustration clear on her face. Or was it worry?

Milan looked away and stayed silent, he didn't really know how to explain all of this without revealing his feelings. "Probably the tires." he mumbled quietly, trying to get out of this. But he knew that Freyja was smarter than that. Of course she was.

"The tires? Milan, your tires were like 20 laps old. You don't think im that stupid, do you??" This was probably the first time that Freyja had actually taking Milan's name into her mouth. She was surprised about herself but it seemed like her feelings were showing as she looked into Milan's eyes, trying to read his expression.

"Well no" Milan sighed quietly as he finally met Freyja's gaze. They were standing closer than he expected, when did they move so close to each other? He felt his face getting warm. There really was no escape from this so it was probably best to finally tell the truth. "I...i..." This was awkward. He usually never stuttered before, especially not in situations like this.

Freyja couldn't help but get red cheeks away well when they had such intense eye contact. But she held her ground and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "So?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. "Don't think that you can get out of this now"

At this moment, he had two choices. Admitting his feelings or trying to make a run for it. Both sounded embarrassing to be honest. "Well i realized...that i kinda happen to like you" Milan finally dropped the bomb, looking like a kicked puppy. He expected Freyja to punch him again or something because in his head, that was the only logical explanation.

But Freyja didn't react at all in the first few seconds. Then her face turned bright red. "What do you mean? Like as in like like?" Why did she suddenly feel a bit like a teenager that talked to her first crush? What the hell was happening. She saw how Milan just nodded as the answer to her question and it made her a bit speechless. She did not think that she would ever have those feelings for Milan, but he even returned them?

What a plot twist.

"This may sound weird and i have no idea how it actually happened, but i think i like you too"she slowly admitted as she slowly and carefully cupped Milan's face with her hands. The situation felt awkward, but Freyja knew that those feelings finally needed to be addressed.

Milan was unsure if this was all a joke or if Freyja was actually serious. "You do?" He tilted his head slightly, looking at her with disbelief but slowly leaning in closer for some reason.

"Yeah i guess so. I have no idea why though"

They were closer than they probably have ever been before but for once it didn't feel weird for either of them for once. Actually, Milan leaned even closer until their noses were almost touching. He had no clue what else to say or do but he decided to just give in the urge and gave Freyja a quick peak on the lips. His cheeks immediately turned bright red. "...sorry. I shouldn't have done this" Was this too hasty?

Freyja felt her face flush but then she just smiled. "Oh shut up" With that, she pulled Milan close for another kiss, a longer one this time...