"KIMI!"

"ISABEL."

"I AM here, too," sebastian added, leaning closer to the mic of isabel's phone.

"good for you," kimi responded bluntly, but they could hear a light smile in his voice.

"okay, i need both of your opinions and i need them now," isabel said. she was sat with sebastian out on his balcony in his swiss family home with kimi on speaker. isabel had planned to speak to both kimi and sebastian in person together, but kimi was currently visiting finland with his family, so it wasn't an option. sebastian's wife and kids were currently out at the moment grocery shopping, so isabel was taking advantage of the break away from his kids for at least an hour ( because his daughters had gotten her to play almost every board game available in the short amount of time she had been in the country for ). "i got an offer from red bull—"

"take it," sebastian said immediately, not completely serious but also decently serious.

kimi scoffed, "you are just saying that because isabel is too much like you when you were there."

"no . . ."

isabel rolled her eyes, "seb, don't deny it. anyway," she cleared her throat, "it's not a permanent seat, just a reserve spot. christian told me it's not something i have to agree to right away but . . . i don't know what to do."

"isn't, uh . . ." sebastian thought for a moment, "red bull signed liam lawson as a reserve, no? he was there last weekend, and he's racing another tournament."

"mhm," isabel hummed in acknowledgement. from what she knew, liam lawson had driven in fp1 in place of pierre in belgium, and he had done the same in fp1 in mexico in the place of max. he had been signed as a red bull and alphatauri reserve a few months ago whilst also having competed for f2. isabel knew she could do similar if she signed on as a reserve, but yet again, her interest for other motorsports was low. she wasn't interested in nascar and wasn't sure about indycar. le mans could be interesting, but it wasn't really an all-year thing.

"if you do not have to accept the offer now, why don't you wait?" kimi mentioned. "maybe you get an offer in another sport, and then even then, you might be able to take both deals."

"imagine the money in that," sebastian whistled, "that is insane."

"i could straight-up retire at twenty-three," isabel shrugged as she looked at sebastian. "maybe we retire together."

"you will end up like rosberg," kimi chuckled, "start a youtube thing."

she pulled a face, "i would rather die."

"honestly, belle," sebastian said. his tone changed to one that was more serious. "just wait until the season is over. maybe by then you will know what to do."

"i agree," kimi said. "also, it would be weird to see you in a red bull."

isabel snorted quietly, "thanks, kimi. i do really want to drive a red bull, though. might ask christian if he will let me."

"hey," sebastian said, "let me see if i can organise something with the rb9 and we'll get you in the cockpit, yes?"

eyes widening, isabel turned to face sebastian fully. "you are joking."

"i am not."

"there's no way they trust her in that model."

"bitch," isabel scoffed, "don't be mean. i could drive that easily." the serious-ish topic derailed from there, but it made isabel feel a little more at ease about the whole thing. kimi and sebastian were right, it wasn't something she had to worry about anytime soon since the offer was available for as long as she wanted it to be. and, at the very least, she was just glad that she still had kimi and sebastian because they had been guiding her ever since she started out in f1, and sebastian even before that, and now when it felt her career was sinking to the ocean floor, she still had them to act as a lifeboat.

x

ISABEL HAD SPENT THE next two days home in monaco with luca. her training had declined at the height of her injury, but with it now being almost two months since the crash at zandvoort, isabel was cleared to get back into most of her training again. most training she could do on her own, but luca was still monitoring and had to hold her up so she could use the pull-up bar without injuring herself further.

"why do you make me do this when i cannot get down myself," isabel grunted as luca set her down on the ground. isabel unclipped the heavy wait that was secured around her waist and handed it to luca. "plus, it feels ineffective."

"don't use big words with me, belle," luca rolled his eyes.

"ineffective isn't a big word," isabel muttered under her breath. "sorry, dad. jesus."

luca passed her her bottle of water. "it's better than not doing it at all. but we're done for today, just do your cooldown, yes?"

isabel nodded, gladly taking a sip of the freezing cold water. "i am training the next two days by myself."

luca sighed, "so when i asked you what time you wanted to start tomorrow and you said seven . . ."

"i lied," isabel shrugged. "i am not home, so you are welcome to show up to an empty house," she chuckled. "enjoy your days off, luca."

x

ISABELKNOCKED ON MAX'S door that night. both busy, she hadn't seen him since the monday morning after the mexican grand prix, and it was now late on a thursday.

"hi," max said when he opened the door. she was just able to see a small suitcase off to the side before she welcomed his embrace. "i've missed you."

"missed you too," isabel mumbled into his shoulder before pulling away. "but i missed your kids more. where are they?"

max shook his head with a quiet laugh, "sassy's asleep and jimmy's on my bed," he caught her arm before she could go find them. "thank you so much for doing this for me."

isabel rolled her eyes, "you do not need to thank me, max. when is your flight?"

"in a bit over an hour," max let go of her and shut his door behind them. he was flying out to the headquarters in milton keynes to talk with the team about next season, and so he asked isabel to stay over and look after his cats until he got back. isabel had agreed before he even finished the sentence over the phone about it because she loved jimmy and sassy more than anything.

isabel caught sight of the wilted flowers in the vase on her way over to where sassy was asleep on the couch. she was surprised that he hadn't replaced them yet because he said that was the first thing he was going to do when he got home to monaco, but she kept quiet about it and moved onto the sleeping cat.

"so . . . we should definitely watch drive to survive together now that, you know," she said, sitting down on the couch cushion beside sassy. she didn't stir.

max sat down on the other side of his cat. "it would be funnier," he admitted. "which episode? there's the episode we fought in monaco . . . or when you took out my tyres in—"

"shut up," isabel rolled her eyes, "no, we watch the abu dhabi one because it is funny."

max didn't necessarily find it funny now, but he could see the humour in it. their championship title fight had been ruined by him and he was well-aware of that, but it had also changed the course of this season for them. if it wasn't for that race, they wouldn't have been given an ultimatum by their team principals and put in the same hotel room for a good portion of the year. last year was the catalyst for all the changes this season, both the good and the bad.

"we should recreate it," max joked, gently bringing his hand down to rest on sassy so that he didn't startle her. "it is soon, so . . ."

isabel giggled, "you want me to shove you in the red bull garage again?"

max shrugged, "it's kinda hot."

her mouth dropped open before she covered it with her hand, eyes wide. "max!" she exclaimed, voice muffled. "oh my god, did you always think that?"

"i'll be honest," max glanced at her as he picked up the tv remote to get up netflix. "i probably would have thought that if i wasn't so pissed off every time you did it."

"oddio," isabel muttered under her breath as she dropped her hand. her face tinged a light pink at his answer. "unhinged," she said as he found the abu dhabi episode.

ISABEL AND MAX laughed a lot more than they should have throughout the episode. she had only watched clips of it before this and max hadn't watched it at all, but now that they were at this place with each other, it all just looked a lot funnier than it was at the time. even more so because netflix made it a lot more dramatic than it needed to be, but that was unsurprising.

"christian and alicia's reactions to that are my favourite thing ever," isabel decided when the episode came to an end. "christian looked so done with me."

"alicia looked ready to murder you," max laughed.

"you know," she said, "christian actually told me that he thought you deserved it."

"bullshit," max scoffed.

"it is not," isabel stood up from the couch. "you can ask him at the hq."

"i will," max promised surely, standing up and lifting sassy with him. his voice changed to the softer one he used with his cats as he pet her, "bye-bye, sassy. i'll see you in a few days, hm?" all sassy did was purr. jimmy stalked over and brushed against max, so he picked up the bengal as he set down sassy and repeated similar to him.

"and you," max finally said as he locked his arms around isabel's waist. "i don't think i'll miss you more than the cats, but . . ." he teased.

"it is two days," she cupped the sides of his face. "i am happy to take advantage of spending time without you and instead with the cats."

"you're always so charming," max rolled his eyes before giving in to her connecting their lips briefly. "thank you, though."

"question, though," isabel broke away from him, "do i get to drive your cars?"

"no."

"that sounded like a yes to me," she pat his chest once. "consider it payment for housesitting."

max gave her a look, "isn't my presence enough for payment?"

"definitely not."

"you're the worst," he kissed the top of her head before going over to pick up his suitcase. "i'll be back saturday night if you want to fly out to são paulo on sunday?"

"what about monday?" isabel suggested as she moved to lean against the doorframe. "i am not in a rush to get to brazil."

"monday works," he extended the handle of the suitcase and dragged it behind him until he was just outside the door. "see you soon," he shot her a smile.

"yeah," she nodded, "and make sure you fact-check with christian!"

x

INSTAGRAM — ISABEL.LECLERC

isabel.leclerc: took a look at the hate comments about how i should be in the kitchen and took it seriously! in my rich girl domestic housewife era just to please you!

comments . . .

user1: awwww omg sassy and jimmy <3

user2: that is a mess of a caption belle

maxverstappen1: "housewife era" is crazy
↳ isabel.leclerc: your fantasy of me fr
↳ user6: sorry what
↳ user5: i cannot with this again pls tell me youre not talking the maid costume bullshit bc- unhinged
↳ user7: ARTHUR LOOK AWAY
↳ user8: they are my favourite couple for a reason
↳ arthur_leclerc: nonononononononono not this again I CANT WITH THIS AGAIN
↳ maxverstappen1: SHES LYING arthur_leclerc YOUR EYES ARE SAFE
↳ isabel.leclerc: i hate that you two are friends now this isnt fun anymore
↳ arthur_leclerc: we are not friends
↳ charles_leclerc: youre definitely friends

user3: isabel, once again, is showing us how unbothered she is. people are fr just jealous shes a fucking millionaire
↳ user4: she should be in hospitality not on the track
↳ isabel.leclerc: dude youre so right bc my cooking is so fucking good
↳ landonorris: not to agree with the misogynist but like isabel's cooking is top tier shit and if she was in mclaren hospitality i would be in heaven (but shes better on track so stfu 🥰)

user9: what flowers did you get?
↳ isabel.leclerc: daisies and sunflowers :)

noahnichols99: cook me some
↳ emiliagold79: and me too!
↳ isabel.leclerc: when we're in brazil <3

user10: practicing for her wag life early

user11: the cats are so cute i wanna scream
↳ user11: oh my god
↳ user11: WAIT
↳ isabel.leclerc: waiting
↳ user11: THAT ONE PHOTO YOU POSTED WITH THE CATS AGES AGO- THAT WAS MAX'S CAT YOU SLY BITCH
↳ isabel.leclerc: i have no idea what you are on about
↳ user12: oh. my. god.

x

"TOO EASY," ISABEL MUMBLED as she typed in max's password to his pc. apparently he had had the same password his whole life because all she had to do was send a quick text to his sister victoria and then she had the password ready to type in.

"jimmy, your father is an interesting man," she told the bengal cat that was laying in her lap. "same password since he was, like, thirteen. anyway." typing up twitch in the search engine, she stared at the list of options once it loaded up. "how the fuck does this work?"

she considered calling lando but then thought against it, deciding she was going to work out all his settings by herself because he would no doubt bully her the whole time. she promptly logged out of max's twitch account and logged in with her own.

it took her over half an hour, but eventually, she worked out how to set everything up so she could begin streaming on his pc.

"i did it!" she grinned to herself, patting jimmy softly. "but you're going to have to get off me now," isabel lifted jimmy off her and set him on the floor.

from there, she sent out a quick tweet on his account ( because she couldn't remember the details to her own ) and then worked out his simulator settings.

TWITTER —

MAX VERSTAPPEN | MAX33VERSTAPPEN

hi its isabel idk my twitter details but come over to twitch.tv/isaleclerc ! i have cats :)

with the team redline twitch channel's moderators in her chat, she watched people begin to roll in through her view count. she scanned the first few chat messages that appeared. "hi," she greeted. "we are sim racing with max's setup!" she read another message, "'where is max?' he's in the uk and i am looking after his cats, so . . . but i think he is back in a few hours."

"also," isabel added as she started up a race in monza, "i know i targeted max's twitter audience, but any bullshit chat messages are going to get immediately banned with no warnings. i am not as tolerable as he is."

the good news was that, when isabel and max made it clear that they were dating, their fanbases merged in as one instead of remaining on opposing sides. well, most of them. the toxic twitter stans were still batshit insane and refused to change their opinions, so isabel had no tolerance for that.

once she finished that race, she glanced back at the chat. "'i've never seen someone concentrate so hard in my life'," she read, "no! that is what bothers me about racing without a helmet. i get told that a lot by harry, my engineer. i just do not know how someone can race on the sim without concentrating."

"'when you race, all you do is chat shit on the radio', okay," isabel read out with a laugh, leaning over the side of the chair to pick up sassy, who had wandered into the room, and set her on her lap. "that is a bit different. when you can feel yourself going that fast, it is a different feeling. oh," she added, "it still hurts a bit for me to race, so it distracts me, you know?"

THERE WAS A POINT where lando and max fewtrell joined to try distract her mid-race and it lead to a disaster of laps. they were out filming with quadrant and in the midst of a break, so lando took that as his opportunity to grab max and annoy isabel while she tried to get in good laps on the simulator. it ended with isabel hanging up on them and turning off her phone so lando couldn't call back . . . until he called her on max verstappen's discord app. so isabel blocked him on that, too.

"i am really tired," isabel mentioned as she sat back in the chair, sassy curled up in her lap still. it was pretty much dark outside the window from what she could see, having lost track of time while racing. currently, her virtual car was smashed into a wall at an awkward angle at the silverstone circuit, which meant having to retire that race. "and fuck silverstone."

she was about to say something else when suddenly the door behind her opened. glancing at the monitor that displayed the view from the camera, she caught sight of her boyfriend and quickly muted the mic. "you're back," she smiled at him as she spun around in the chair.

"mhm," max hummed, sounding as tired as he visibly looked. when he stopped in front of her, he covered the camera lens with his hand and leaned down to kiss her. "how did you work out my password?" he asked, brushing her cheek with his thumb.

"i have my ways," isabel smiled up at him. "are we going to bed?"

"i am," max nodded, "you can do whatever . . . sorry, i'm really tired," he apologised for how untalkative he was being

"it's okay," she assured him, pressing a soft kiss to his hand that was still cupping her face. "give me a few minutes, okay?"

"okay," he agreed and dropped his hand from the camera lens. he briefly waved at it before picking up sassy from isabel's lap and walking out of the room.

isabel unmuted once he left the room. "motherfucker took my cat," she huffed playfully. "absolute dickhead." she sat and read the chat for another minute before giving a quick wave, much like max did. "okay," she said quickly, "i'm going, bye," and then ended the stream immediately at shut down his pc.

she entered his bedroom just as he was exiting the bathroom. quickly heading into the bathroom to brush her teeth, she soon joined max in his bed. he immediately turned into her side before grimacing, pushing his face further into the pillow, "why the fuck are your feet cold," he murmured. "get that . . . get that shit away from me."

"sorry," she chuckled softly, brushing her fingers through his hair, "but you rolled over to me."

he looked up at her for a moment, too tired to form any facial expressions before turning so that the back of his head was nestled against her chest. "they kept me on the sim until two this morning," he mumbled. he didn't dare tell her that the reason he had been at it so long was to try work out still how isabel's lamborghini had managed to challenge red bull's cars so easily. red bull had the faster car and lamborghini's model was no were near coming close to their speed. the mercedes model was faster than hers and yet there was little competition there. max had already tried to mention that it was pure skill from her end, but it didn't stop the engineering team from still trying to work out how it was happening.

"aw, poor baby," she teased lightheartedly, "go to sleep and stop complaining, then."

"yes, boss," he muttered sarcastically before closing his eyes. "but i still want to know how you got into my pc." isabel said nothing to that, and she didn't have to bother answering anyway because he fell asleep almost directly after.

x

TREATING SUNDAY AS A lazy day, the only time isabel left max's apartment was to pack a suitcase for the next two weeks because of the last two races of the season. it was bittersweet in the sense that it felt like the last time she was going to be packing like this for a while, but she felt good, nonetheless. her and mick were going to spend time making sebastian's last two race weeks perfect, and with most drivers a little more relaxed since the championship had already been won, it was a fitting environment to do so.

"MHM," ISABEL HUMMED AGAINST his lips before pulling back from him. the sun was starting to set, the orange light seeping through the wide windows and washing the grey and white room in warm tones of the evening sky. outside sat on the couch on the balcony, the colours decorated their skin and soaked them in soft pinks and oranges. "i have something for you," her voice was barely a whisper, revelling in the soft atmosphere of the evening.

"christmas isn't for another month," max met her gaze, his fingertips trailing patterns along her thigh. "i have nothing for you."

"i don't want anything," isabel said, "just shush." max nodded and fell silent. reaching forward, she slipped her finger under the silver chain around his neck and twisted it gently, "i got you something so you would stop wearing my chain."

max reached behind his neck to unclasp the chain and drop it into her hand. isabel said nothing as she pulled a velvet box out from behind her and offered it to him. he took the box from her and slowly untied the ribbon as if it were made of glass. once he removed the lid of the box, he bit the inside of his cheek as he looked down at what was inside.

inside was a silver charm of the number '1' attached to thin, silver necklace chain. carefully, he untangled it from the foam it was attached to so that he could pull it out of the box.

"i have one, too," she opened her own box that she had hidden in her jacket pocket. "well, i got mine a long time ago and never wore it but . . . yeah."

"it's really pretty," he admitted, watching as she took her own necklace with the pendant '52' on it out of the box. "thank you. you know, i never took you for the 'matching' type."

"i'm not," isabel shrugged off, "but you keep wearing my jewellery so surely you must like my taste or something."

"uh huh," max nodded slowly, a smiling pulling at his lips, "turn around for me."

isabel set her necklace back in the box before shifting her position on the couch so now her back was facing him. it took a few seconds, but the coolness of the silver chain and the warmth of his hands melted into her skin and made her dizzy. his touch was so soft that it was barely there, and when it was gone, she could still feel the distant lingering as if it were permanently etched into her skin.

she turned back around and went to speak as she looked down at the pendant, only to frown and change what she was going to say. "max . . . this is the wrong one."

he bit back a smirk, eyes sparkling, "is it? i must not have noticed."

"mhm, sure," isabel hummed. the charm with the 1 was around her neck instead of the one with the 52. "that wasn't— it was—" she couldn't form a sentence. you did that on purpose, she thought with a sigh. "this is incredibly cliché of you, you know? very cringe."

"maybe," max agreed, "but you aren't going to take it off, are you?"

the oxygen left her lungs as her mouth parted slightly. "bastard," she breathed out, shaking her head.

"come on," he teased, ducking his head a little to hold her eye contact. "answer me, isabel." he tilted her chin back up towards him.

she felt her face heat up, ". . . no . . ." she mumbled, quickly lowering her gaze and instead finding interest in the necklace that she was supposed to be wearing. max chuckled quietly when she had proven him right.

picking up the necklace, isabel raised onto her knees and shuffled closer to him until she was almost on top of him. his hands found her hips as she leaned over him to clasp the necklace around his neck. when she was about to move backwards, max swiftly pulled her closer so that she was on his lap.

"you look good with my number, you know," his voice was so low that it made her feel warm. his eyes flickered down to where it sat just below the four-leaf clover charm.

"you don't . . . you don't look that great in mine," she tried to respond with her usual confidence but it almost made him laugh with how much that had melted. she was already too lost in everything that was him. over time, it was clear that he had found his way through every single one of her defences, especially to the point now where he could melt through her self-control until she was grasping to onto the loose strands of what was left.

"aw," max cooed mockingly, "is someone flustered?"

"fuck you," she glared, but she was falling apart on top of him and cursing herself for it. "i— i try do something nice for you and this . . ." she cleared her throat when she felt his fingers trace her sides underneath his shirt that she had on, "this is what you do?"

max laughed, "just admit that you've gone soft, belle."

"you are tempting me and not for the reasons you think," she countered, "i am tempted to throw you off this fucking balcony."

"that's cute," the way he was finding it humourous was infuriating her. "and as much as no one can see us up here . . . i am not taking that risk," he lifted her up as he stood and took her back inside his apartment until he dropped her on his bed and hovered over her. isabel's eye caught the shimmer of her racing number around his neck and she felt dizzy. a good dizzy.

"that's why my place is nicer," she hummed and helped him remove her shirt, "secluded." for the first time ever, she felt like an absolute puddle in his presence. usually she was the opposite and would always bite back with a strong remark, but something felt different this time. she would look into his eyes and become trapped in the smooth oceanic that they were, forever lost in their calamity until it drew her under like it currently was. 

she couldn't remember a time she was this willingly vulnerable and, dare she say, that she liked the feeling? the feeling of being open and comfortable to the point where all guards were down and she could just be like this with max. the humanity was coursing through her and intertwining with the adoration she felt, creating a large enough sledgehammer to knock down those barbaric brick walls that had tried time and time again to keep her heart safe from anymore heartbreak. 

and once again, she felt like something had shifted a little further, but she couldn't work out what exactly it was.

x

me realising this fic is so close to being over: (next chapter is brazillian gp,, and then an inbetween chapter,, and then abu dhabi and idk if there will be a chapter after the abu dhabi gp but there is a sequel so like its fine)

sure that one scene between belle and max with the necklaces is so cliche but theyre so cute idc i dont accept any other opinions. theyre adorable. any slander is not tolerated (if i see it its on sight)

and yes i might be writing a lot of max and isabel only scenes but like this is therapeutic in reference to how this fic started. there is no such thing as too much max and isabel !