MAX'S THINGS WERE ALREADY packed by the next morning. he'd accidentally dropped things and cringed when they clattered against the floor but isabel hadn't stirred once.

she woke up a few hours later with a raging headache and the sunlight in her eyes. charming. sitting up, she immediately reached for the bedside table and grabbed her water bottle and the packet of nurofen she had left there earlier on yesterday.

"i am a mess," she muttered once she realised her shoes were still on under the blankets. makeup wipes scattered the quilt and made isabel want to curl up under the blankets and suffocate even more. glancing across the clean room, she noticed that max was already looking at her. "what?" she asked.

"nothing," he shook his head. amusement was sparkling in his eyes, far from a cyclone and instead a crystalline stream in the morning light. "do you remember anything?" he asked curiously.

isabel blinked, eyebrows creasing. "should i?"

"no," he shook his head, "just that it was entertaining to watch daniel carry you and drop you on the bed." a lie.

her cheeks tinged pink before rolling over so that she wasn't facing him. "fuck off."

"gladly," max countered as he picked up his bag, slung it over his back and then grabbed his suitcase. he went to turn to the door but stopped. "wait."

'is your rivalry this important that you're willing to lose your seat because of it?'

isabel frowned when she heard max speak again. slowly, she rolled back over, her face just visible from the blanket cocoon she was currently wrapped in. "waiting."

he refrained from rolling his eyes. just do it so you can leave, he told himself as he fidgeted with the suitcase's handle. "i'm sorry," his words were rushed as they tumbled out of his mouth. there was no resistance to say it this time but it still didn't feel right. "i'm sorry for australia. i fucked up and none of it was your fault."

she froze. isabel stopped breathing completely as the words sunk in. this was the last thing she had ever expected when she woke up with a raging hangover. maybe this was just her imagination? but it wasn't because she could still feel her shoes on the bed and that was enough to remind her that it was, in fact, real. "okay," she said so quietly that he could barely hear her. she was stunned, eyes a bit wider than usual. max noticed that they didn't look as innocent as they did last night.

"okay . . ." he responded, unsurely, not believing that she had nothing to say back. no quick remark, no insult . . . just silence. "i'm gonna go . . ." he cleared his throat.

"good," a small smile broke out onto her face as she watched max turn around. "i hope your plane crashes."

max stifled a snort, but his own smile graced his lips as he rolled his eyes. yeah, was waiting for the insult, he shrugged it off, having gotten used to it by now. it was more like a 'goodbye, see you at the next race week when we're forced to share a room again' in a twisted way.

"charming as always," he stated as he left the hotel room.

x

"YOU SAID 'OKAY'?" NOAH looked ready to slam his head into the wall. "jesus christ, belle."

"what else was i supposed to say?" isabel spluttered. "i was hungover and tired and wasn't expecting that!"

noah sighed. "you know what? fine, this is your first step of development. yippee. let's throw a party," he chuckled before rolling his eyes. "i swear i'm older than both of you; you guys act like children."

"that is besides the point," isabel said. it was tuesday now and the teammates were standing within the airport so that they could get ready to go their separate ways. noah was going to see his family before flying to miami and isabel was heading back to monaco like majority of the drivers were. "i don't tell you this stuff for you to bully me."

"i wouldn't be your favourite if i didn't," noah winked at her. "i'll see you in miami," he closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around her.

isabel reciprocated the hug warmly, squeezing him once before pulling away. "see you then. say hi to the family for me."

x

MONACO WAS THE ONE constant in isabel's life.

her life was constantly changing just like her surroundings were with every race weekend. garages changed, motorhomes changed, winners changed, the weather changed, opinions changed, her and max's issues changed. hell, even the tracks and fia laws changed with every passing year, destroying any familiarity until it was a pile of dust.

monaco never changed. her family was still there, her friends were still there, that one twenty year old bakery was surprisingly still there, memories were still there, cemented into the concrete like age-old foundations that were impossible to remove and refused to decay with time.

her house was homely, sure, but could a house be called a home if there was no one around to make it one?

with a shocking revelation that left her stunned, isabel sank down onto her plush couch and stared up at the white ceiling. maybe i . . . enjoy? . . . staying with someone, maybe sharing a hotel room with him isn't entirely awful because i'm not alone.

isabel shook her head. no, staying with max was awful, it was a stupid thought, but the rest of it was the truth: she hated being alone.

when she was asked what her greatest fear was, she'd always make it up and choose a different one every time. but the real answer was right in front of her eyes constantly. isabel leclerc was terrified of being alone.

she'd lost so many people at such a young age that this fear had been implemented into her and manifested into a depressive spiral if the fear wasn't at ease.

when she was younger and at school, she hadn't gotten along with the other kids. lorenzo and charles were older and had their own friends, and arthur was younger and had his. boys were stupider while they were young and therefore her brothers didn't notice that isabel had no friends until it was too late.

during karting? isabel had people like lando but that was only once they'd actually started to like her. once again, young boys were stupid, and, especially on the karting track, they were sexist, too. well, until you beat them and they snap out of it, that is.

teenage years? isabel had her parents, her brothers — the ones she was related to and the ones she had chosen — and jules. but then jules was gone, and then her father, too.

young adult — her current stage? she still had her family, — once again, the ones she chose and the one she was born into — the childhood friendships she had with drivers like pierre, and then carlos, her best friend. but she'd lost anthoine during her rookie year with f1 and she was enduring this painstaking rivalry with max verstappen that made her want to shove her head into an oven and on top of that she was being threatened with being fired.

the mere thought of being forced out of formula one and into the seemingly endless and seemingly eternal dark void of loneliness was enough to try jumpstart another panic attack.

instead, she sighed loudly and let her eyes close, concealing her in the dark and melting away the problems that the light offered. her phone buzzed at some point, but that was all unimportant background noise now. sleep first, she was still tired despite sleeping all day monday. then deal with shit.

x

WHAT WASN'T CONSTANT WAS seeing the one person you didn't want to see in the most mundane of places: the grocery store.

it was already bad when isabel pulled up in her matte black lamborghini because it was already a tell-tale sign of who was in the car to the general public, but it was even worse when she managed to finally get through the people crowded around and spotted the one person she was happy to avoid inside the store already.

"ah," max's smile was brightly sarcastic when he caught sight of her. "do we need a grocery store schedule, too?"

"funny," isabel drawled as she plucked a basket up from the end of an aisle and began to walk towards the fruit and vegetable section. to her annoyance, max was going in the same direction.

the schedules weren't actually written down or anything, it was just something they had grown accustomed to during race weeks. it had never even been spoken about, just something that occurred since avoiding each other was something they could do better than drive a car, apparently.

part of her was anxious about the fact that there was so many people outside. what if they break into my car? what if they follow me home because i'm near max? what if—

her mouth moved before her mind could register it. "can you leave first?" she asked suddenly as she placed apples in her basket. "like, when you are done and all. consider that your australia apology?"

max couldn't say no to that. his apology to her in italy had been short-lived and probably not the best, but he'd still said it. if this was the final part of his apology, he could live with that. for will's sake, at least.

"sure," he shrugged, "but why?"

"don't worry about it," isabel said quickly as she walked past him to look through the salads. the meals she was assigned were good and all, but sometimes she really just preferred to get her own food.

max's eyebrows furrowed but he wasn't going to pry. he would have if he hadn't seen her facial expressions morph into something that he couldn't place a label on, but since he had seen it, he decided to leave it be. he left without another word, not that she wanted him to speak, and went to go pay, leaving her to do the rest of her shopping.

x

FORMULA 1 NEWS !

LECLERC AND VERSTAPPEN: AN IMPROVEMENT OR JUST THE LEAD UP TO ANOTHER FIERY PROBLEM?

isabel leclerc and max verstappen were spotted at the same grocery store in monte carlo this morning. witnesses stated that they saw no ill-intent towards the other from outside the store but it has left many fans with one question: is there an improvement between these fiery rivals?

the rivalry between leclerc and verstappen has been ongoing since 2019. however, at the australian grand prix a few weeks ago, many fans felt as if history was repeating itself. a video of leclerc and verstappen fighting in the red bull garage — a fight that started with leclerc roughly shoving the 2021 world champion. both this and the 2019 abu dhabi grand prix fight were started by leclerc.

many of us have been noticing that leclerc and verstappen haven't been as vocal about their hatred for each other since australia. during the emilia-romagna grand prix last week, both drivers remained professional at shared press conferences and interviews in the paddock, but the real question is, how long will this last?

both drivers were spotted acting possibly civilly in the grocery store from what we can see, which surely counts as improvement in the eyes of many, but yet again we do not know the full story. with the rumour that leclerc and verstappen's careers are on the line, no one is too sure about what is going on. we reached out to christian horner and alicia taylors but recieved no answer on the situation.

many believe this may just be the calm before the storm and that something bigger is brewing, ready to reveal itself in a few races time. we can't be sure, however, but we will keep you updated on the situation!

x

ISABEL SCOFFED AS SHE read through the article by formula 1 news that tori sent her. "oh, fuck off," she rolled her eyes and closed the tab that the article was open on. her phone chimed again, and this time she decided to check it.

NOTIFICATION CENTRE —

(now) IMESSAGE — LORD PERCEVAL

[attachment: 1 link]

no way! you and max at the
same store in the same small
country?!?!!? incredible! (that
was sarcasm btw)

(5m ago) IMESSAGE — PIERRE 🦑

im flying to monte carlo and you have
to hang out with me and charles

it's non negotiable

IMESSAGE —

LORD PERCEVAL + TINKERBELLE

LORD PERCEVAL

[attachment: 1 link]

no way! you and max at the
same store in the same small
country?!?!!? incredible! (that
was sarcasm btw)

TINKERBELLE

i already saw it

why can't i just grocery shop
in peace without articles being
made.

uh bc last time you were that
close talking to him in public you
pushed him

my bad it was just an inchident
on the race

shut up

im leading he wants to pass
he push me i push him back
and after he push me off the
track

it's not fair alright

you are quoting max right
now

one screenshot and twitter
will have a field day

don't test me isabel

why are you so mean to
me im your favourite
sister

you're my only sister.

and you're not my favourite
brother

........

im posting the screenshot

NO

CHARLES MARC HERVE
PERCEVAL LECLERC.

ISABEL JULES VICTORIA LECLERC.

it's in the twitter drafts

do not test me