IMESSAGE —

TORI + ISABEL

ISABEL

can you get me access
to the forms that will
stop dts from interviewing
me?

TORI

yeah absolutely!

you good?

yeah yeah

i just think that after
how everything is going
that i should get it to stop

can you get them to remove
any interviews theyve done
with me this year?

i'll get into contact with them
asap !!! enjoy your break ❤️

x

EVER SINCE THE START of the summer break, the silly season was getting more insane.

on the second of august, alpine had confirmed that oscar piastri was to be racing for them next year. hardly two hours later, oscar took it to twitter to announce that he hadn't actually signed anything with the team.

so, naturally, the group chat that consisted of emilia, charles, pierre and isabel had been full of trying to work out what was going on. even more so, rumours had arisen that mclaren had told daniel that he was going to be replaced by oscar for the 2023 season, but when isabel asked him, daniel had denied it. daniel hadn't been informed of any of it and so that rumour was debunked.

ISABEL had spent the rest of the first week of the break helping emilia move in and showing her all her favourite places in monaco. that of course included lizzie's boulangerie, and as strange as it had felt to share this place with others, it felt good to bring emilia here. it felt like she was inviting more people into her life, in a way. and lizzie absolutely adored emilia immediately, which was a good sign.

things were starting to feel a little more normal again with all the time off. well, kind of. mentally, she was feeling a lot less tired and anxious about everything going on. physically, she was feeling good about all her training again, especially the strengthening on her neck since it had been bothering her a little more than usual for the past couple of sessions in the car.

but there was also the fact that she had been getting into sim racing with others a lot more now. it was mostly late at night when she raced max around the simulated track and it was a lot more fun to race with someone that matched her level of competitiveness because when she raced lando, they ended up spending the whole time laughing and crashing into each other instead.

there was one point where he had managed to convince her to join one race on the team redline twitch account because it would be fun with more people, and he was right because it had been. it had been a little awkward at first to meet all the others that were already comfortable with each other, but eventually she fit into the groove and it all felt normal.

isabel wasn't sure how she felt about sitting in a discord call with max every second night to race him around on the sim, but it didn't feel forced. the insults and the bullying was natural between them still to match their fiery spirit, so it didn't feel off. and so isabel was happy to tell herself that she was doing this for her own racing benefit.

"WHO KNEW THAT A possible rookie would cause this much drama?" isabel commented as her, lando, charles, emilia and noah raced together online.

"uh, you did, remember?" lando replied. they were all in the same call as they waited for the loading screen to fade to the track. "god, alex, george and i were basically invisible," he joked.

"okay, that was for obvious reasons," isabel waved off. "but the whole piastri-alpine thing . . .? what's going on with that?"

"yeah," noah cut in. "lando, shouldn't you know about that? and the mclaren rumours?"

lando shook his head. "mate, i know nothing. they're all just rumours. i feel like we'd know if mclaren was doing anything about daniel by now."

"hm," charles nodded, "that's true."

"i suppose," emilia finally spoke up. "but f1 is so dramatic that i wouldn't be surprised. man, if it's true, my heart's gonna break for daniel."

"same," isabel frowned. "full offence, lando, but fuck mclaren."

lando just giggled in response.

just before the screen was about to fade into the start of the race, charles spoke again. "can we restart really quick? max asked if he could join."

isabel had completely forgotten that charles had messaged max and asked him to race with the group of them an hour ago.

"yeah," noah aborted the race and went back to the main screen so that they could get max in the call. "you do know that means we're all gonna lose, right?"

"he terrifies me," emilia laughed. "oh god, i'm gonna get lapped so hard."

"same," noah said.

"okay, here's the plan," lando's tone mocked an 'evil' voice. "we all take him out at once. and then we finish the race and he comes last."

"works for me," charles chuckled. "shove him straight into the barrier and call it revenge."

AFTER TWO MORE RACES where the first was targeting max and the second was ultimately smashing into each other, the call ended.

isabel hadn't minded it much but it was awkward to be in the same call as max when her brother and friends were also there too. it felt too much like 'hey, charles, guess who slept with your best friend not once, but twice!' and that definitely was weird. it was worse when emilia was aware of everything and lando only knew about what happened in silverstone. the only unaware ones were noah and charles, but even then, isabel was sure that noah was beginning to figure things out. he wasn't as stupid as her brother.

it was even worse when charles had tried to overtake her on a wider turn of the track they were on but wasn't able to because he had misread her reaction. "you usually take those turns wider, belle," he said as he had corrected himself to take the next turn. "this is new."

isabel had bit her lip to stop herself from commenting when she heard max obviously clear his throat, a silent reference to his comment the other day. "yeah," she'd responded. "been practicing a lot more." because despite the fact that she usually always had her turns perfect, she succeeded more on the tighter turns and shorter chicanes. so maybe she had listened to max and what he had said to her, so what?

but in the end she had survived it and as soon as she left the call, the tension left her body.

well, until her phone chimed.

now, she had two options.

option one: answer it and hope to god that it isn't max.

or option two: don't answer it and go to bed.

so isabel went with option two and left her phone on the desk before walking out of the room to head to her bedroom.

x

MAX SAT OUT ON his balcony as the sky turned dark. the noise from all the cars and those out enjoying themselves had disappeared as night settled in, blanketing monte carlo under a sea of stars.

the air was warm on his skin, the inviting feeling of being back home coursing through him at the feeling of it. the warmth never failed to wrap him up in a sense of belonging, clinging to his skin like a thin veil that kept him tied to the one place that he considered home.

home to max was somewhere far away from the scrutiny he had faced since he was a child. it was as warm as the monacan air and as freeing as breaking the chains that kept him grounded in his childhood home. it was a place that was his, only his, and a place that he could share with his two cats, the two bengal cats that he had named after places in monaco. that was what kept him cemented to the principality.

but the more he thought about it, the more his mind travelled back to isabel and the week he had spent with her in her home. he had always been attentive because that was how he could work out tracks and other driver so quickly, and so therefore he couldn't help but notice things when he was staying with her.

there seemed to be a disconnect between her and the house she took up residency in. it was quite bland in terms of colour and the only signs of warmth was the framed photos she had and the kitchen. but it made sense. he'd heard about her last place and how poorly that had ended, and he was well aware that she was paranoid, but why own such a large house for only one person? there wasn't even an animal to share it with.

max was sure that if he had lived like that, he would have gone insane.

it was getting later the longer he sat out there, the sky now a dark navy that juxtaposed the shimmering stars splattered across it like specks of paint. he was about to stand up when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

NOTIFICATION CENTRE —

(now) IMESSAGE — JOEL FROM MARKETING

are you busy?

sorry if you are asleep

(2h ago) WHATSAPP — F1 2022

CARLOS SAINZ: what is going on with alpine?

NOAH NICHOLS: idk but its hurting my brain

IMESSAGE —

MAX + JOEL FROM MARKETING

JOEL FROM MARKETING

are you busy

MAX

why

miss me already?

fuck off

you messaged me first

then fuck you idk

can you come over

cant sleep either?
read.

coming.

x

ISABEL HATED THAT SHE messaged him. it was late and she had expected him to be asleep and not answer, meaning that she could play it off accidentally texting the wrong person when he replied in the morning. but he had replied and was now on the way over to her house.

so she stopped thinking about it. because the less she thought about it, the less real it was. communication was something that would probably be beneficial, but isabel didn't want to talk. and she could tell that he didn't either. they'd only had this . . . arrangement — was that a good word for it? — once before when it was a few days before the race weekend, but that should've been a one-off. maybe it was a one-off. but then what was tonight? and how could it be a one-off if he was coming over to where she was again?

she didn't have much longer to race through her thoughts because max knocked at her door. as soon as she opened it, she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside so that she could quickly shut the door. "d—"

"i circled the block twice and am driving a different car," he said to her before she could say anything. "no one knows you're here."

isabel could breathe a bit better knowing that. it had been the root of her anxiety since she had sent him the message, fully believing that he would have forgotten about it since the week he spent with her in monaco was so long ago now. apparently not.

isabel went to let go of his hand but max tightened his grip on her hand slightly. "show me," he reached for her other hand and she didn't stop him this time like she had back in hungary.

his touch turned careful when he lifted her hands up a little so that he could check how bad the skin around her thumbs currently was. they'd healed a considerable amount since the grand prix but it was still evident that the wounds had been deep.

"max . . ." she trailed off, voice unsure.

"we're not talking," he replied. "just like i promised." and she knew he was right so she couldn't say anything else. "but it hasn't bled since, right?"

isabel shook her head. "no," she said but there was something in his eye that said that he didn't believe her. and it was right. it hadn't bled as bad as hungary, but everytime she reread the email that she was going to send alicia, it filled her with so much anxiety that it pushed her to the point of the bad habit.

he didn't push. "okay," he nodded slowly. "why am i here, isabel?"

excellent question, she thought because she didn't have a clue. after she had tried to fall asleep, she had been unsuccessful, so she had trudged out and grabbed her phone after ignoring the messages from the f1 groupchat about silly season drama and went straight to his contact. maybe that was becoming a bad habit, too.

so her brilliant idea was to shrug.

slowly, they migrated to her room as if it were a regular thing, and max didn't even have time to register what her room looked like because he was suddenly so caught up with her.

"you okay?" he asked quietly, his lips a centimetre from her own as they stood by the foot of the bed. it was like a magnet. a terrible, irritating, conniving, magnet.

"yeah," isabel traced her fingers along the bottom of his shirt, the ridges of the seam trailing across her fingertips. "are you?"

"very," he nodded. "i don't think you'll be sleeping though, if that was your plan."

isabel couldn't help it. she laughed at the suddenness of his comment, ducking her head in the process. "stop," she tried to bite back her smile just as he lifted her chin with his index finger.

"it was just a warning," and this time, he couldn't stop a chuckle from slipping either before he connected their lips.

x

ISABEL'S ROOM WAS AS apathetic as the rest of the house.

the same grey and white, the same level of no characteristics . . . yeah, it was the complete opposite of max's apartment in the middle of monte carlo.

the door to the balcony had been left ajar from the night before. the warm air drifted through the gap and made the room feel even warmer than it was, but it was a comforting amount; not enough to be too hot.

that meant that the curtains hadn't been drawn shut. the pastel orange glow added colour to the greyscale room, and more specifically, isabel's face when he had finally looked down at her.

once again, there was that level of innocence that he had only seen from her a few times before. it was rare and he had first seen it when she was drunk in an elevator, but she looked entirely different. more like an angel without the terrible attitude that followed her around like dark rainclouds.

even if max wanted to move, he couldn't. one of his arms with pinned under her back. on his side, his other arm was over her waist once again, much like austria. so he closed his eyes again and remained still.

ISABEL woke up with an incoherent mumble, a warmth spread across her body and the sense of deja vu filling her once again. it felt like a broken record at this point. how many times was she going to wake up beside max? so far, twice — he had left her room after that time in france — but that was two times too many.

"hi," she whispered, testing the waters to check if he was awake since she couldn't see his face. she could feel the heat radiating from his bare chest because he was so close.

"mhm," he hummed, the soft sound almost getting lost in the awakening nature outside. "hi."

she felt lost. what could she say? she had been the one to make him promise not to talk about anything related to this in france, but now she wanted to mention something . . . even though she couldn't work out what.

it fell silent again. this silence felt normal.

"hey, max?" she continued when she heard him hum in acknowledgement. "what's your middle name?"

max refrained from making a comment about how she was willingly talking about things that were a little more on the emotional side. instead, he said, "is it written on a card from tori?"

isabel rolled her eyes as she thought back to that one 'bonding' activity they were forced to do in their miami hotel room. "haha . . . funny," she commented dryly but didn't ask again.

he answered her after a pause. "emilian."

"hm," she thought over it. "max emilian . . ."

the way it rolled off her tongue in her thick accent made max let out a breathy chuckle. "what's yours?"

"jules victoria," isabel stared ahead at the wall, her eyes tracing the doorframe beside it. she could feel max tapping his fingers on the warm skin of her stomach, just under where the elastic of her sports bra ended, his arm unmoving from her waist.

"hm," he copied her, a slight hint of mocking that mostly faded out because of his tired voice. "isabel jules victoria . . ." he trailed off. "sounds very royal, no?"

"does it?"

"very princess-like," he nodded, a teasing smile pulling at his lips, one that she couldn't see.

"if you call me a princess again, max . . . i will hit you," she warned, but he couldn't take her threat seriously when she yawned in the middle of it.

"i don't doubt it." and it lapsed back into silence.

after a few minutes, isabel surprised him by rolling over so that she was now facing him. his arm still hadn't moved from over her, but he had managed to slide the other one out from beneath her. "i have a question."

"okay," max's eyes met hers. the sun made her dark eyes look lighter than he had ever seen them.

"what really happened in emilia-romagna?"

for a second, max's brain shut off as confusion laced his features. emilia-romagna was the fourth round and it had been so long since then . . . and then he remembered. "huh?" his eyebrows furrowed, trying to dance around the subject.

"danny said he did not carry me back to the room," she didn't tear her eyes away from his. "what really happened?"

the tapping started back up again, this time against her back as he tried to form an answer. "uh," he cleared his throat, "well . . ." and then he sighed. "you hadn't been back in hours and it was really late and . . . so i went to check if you'd passed out at the door or something. but you hadn't." he noticed how her expression morphed into one of pure curiosity now. "and so i went to check the hotel lobby just in case, and, uh, the elevator door opened and you were sitting there on the floor."

"on the . . . elevator floor?" isabel repeated slowly, and max nodded.

"yeah. you were playing that stupid game at full volume," he huffed a little but amusement sparkled in his crystal eyes. "and then you wouldn't get up so you quoted teen wolf at me . . . so i picked you up and took you back to the room." now that he thought about it, the whole scenario played through his mind like he was watching an old video. every moment, scene by scene. "you're a stubborn bitch, isabel."

"grazie," isabel muttered as she processed everything max had just told her. "you looked for me?"

"it was late," he said, "i didn't want to find out that you were dead in a ditch or something."

"fun," she nodded slowly. "well, thank you for that, then," she said. "why didn't you tell me the truth when it happened?"

max snorted. "you would have thrown something at me."

she couldn't argue with that. "fair. but subway surfers isn't stupid."

there was a momentary pause in their conversation. the faint sound of a bird chirping outside could be heard. "this is weird," they both said at the same time, and so isabel immediately covered her face with her hands as she tried not to laugh. "mon dieu . . ."

max reached up to remove one of her hands from her face, not missing the soft pink hue that had built up on her cheeks. "c'mon, isabel," he laughed, a real laugh, one that she only really heard when he was around her brother or daniel.

"i hate you," she groaned, rolling over to dig her face into the mattress.

"aw," max cooed tauntingly, "i hate you, too."

x

this chapter and the next are very max and isabel centred because we're starting to build a dynamicccccc :)

but yeah,, next chapter is the last of summer break and im really excited bc i have it all planned and sdkjfhkdsf

im actually in love with them its unhealthy