𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 // ᵐᵃˣ ᵛᵉʳˢᵗᵃᵖᵖᵉⁿ

𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠⁰⁹

It was early in the morning when Valentina left her room and headed to the living room connecting to Max's room.

Walking to the kitchen counter, she found a pleasant surprise on the counter- a coffee and a donut with a note from Max: Going to pick up Vic, thought I'd stop to get you a coffee first.

Smiling at the note, Celia appreciated Max's thoughtfulness. She loved starting her mornings with black coffee, and Max always made sure to get it for her before their races in their F1 days, even though he never understood how she could like such a bitter drink so much. It was nice to see he remembered that tradition.

Sitting on the couch with her coffee, Celia scrolled on her phone when a FaceTime call from Phoebe popped up. Answering, she smiled as Phoebe began talking.

"Hey girl, how're you feeling?" Phoebe asked as Celia sipped her coffee.

"I'm good, a bit nervous, but I think it'll go away once I'm in the car ready to drive," Celia replied as Phoebe nodded.

"Yeah, I have no doubts," Phoebe agreed. "Where's Harpie?"

"Asleep, it's still pretty early, so we're letting her sleep in," Celia replied.

"And where's the mister?" Phoebe asked with a smirk, emphasising on the word 'mister' as Celia rolled her eyes.

"Max went to get Victoria," Celia replied, emphasizing his name. "She offered to babysit, so that was a big help."

Phoebe hummed, her expression turning serious. "But how's it been being around him so much more? You okay?" she asked, noticing a flicker of emotion on Celia's face.

"Yeah, it's been fine," Celia mumbled. "I have to get used to it again. We're going to be spending a lot of time together now."

"Does it... feel the same?" Phoebe asked cautiously.

"It's... it's weird," Celia sighed, unsure how to explain. "It feels familiar in many ways, like we've been here before. Even when we were on different teams, we stayed together, went to each other's practices and whatnot. But of course, it's different now. We're teammates, sharing rooms for Harper, but it's not the same. We're not together anymore. We're not in love."

Before Phoebe could reply, the hotel room door opened, and Celia saw Victoria Verstappen walk in.

"Uh, Phoebe, I gotta go. I'll call you later, okay?" she said quickly.

"Oh yeah, sure," Phoebe replied. "Good luck, Cece. Love you." Celia nodded quickly, hanging up as she got up to hug Victoria.

Victoria greeted Celia warmly, hugging her, "Cece! I've missed you so much!" as she held Celia's hand after breaking off from the hug. Behind her, Max stood, holding Luka in his arms, smiling at their interaction. Celia and Victoria had been friends since karting days, and Victoria looked up to Celia like a big sister. Max loved their bond.

"I've missed you too, Vic," Celia smiled before asking Luka, "hey Luka, how've you been?"

"Good," Luka mumbled, almost falling asleep in Max's arm, which made Celia laugh.

"I'm gonna go lay him down next to Harper," Max told the girls as he walked into the room. Celia and Victoria settled down on the couch.

"I still don't understand why you two chose to get a hotel instead of staying with us," Victoria fussed as Celia sighed.

"We don't want to intrude, Vic," Celia tried to reason, but Victoria brushed off her excuse.

"Intrude? You're family, Cece," Victoria said sternly, "you two are honestly too much sometimes."

"What did we do now?" Max asked as he rejoined the two, sitting down on the couch opposite to them.

"She's asking why we didn't just stay at hers instead of here," Celia repeated as Max laughed, saying, "you know why, Vic. Your house is a mess and it drives me crazy."

Victoria glared at her brother, picking up a pillow from the couch and throwing it at him as Max laughed, catching it before it hit him.

"You forget I'm a F1 racer, you can't beat my reaction time," he said as Victoria's glare intensified.

"Ugh you really get on my nerves," she said before turning to Celia, "how do you even deal with him?"

"I don't really have to," Celia shrugged, "he's always away at races."

"Well, now you're stuck with him again," Victoria joked, "you'll remember how annoying he is again."

Celia smiled softly as Victoria went on, saying, "so, how're you feeling about today?"

"A bit nervous, but it should go fine," Celia mumbled as Max chimed in.

"I'll go great, Lia, I'm sure," he reassured as Celia smiled at Max appreciatively, "by the way, you should get ready. We need to be there in half an hour."

"Oh right," Celia said as she checked the time on her phone before getting up from the couch, "give me 10 minutes, I'll be out shortly."

Max nodded silently as Celia walked into her room.

When Victoria was sure Celia was out of earshot, and they heard the shower turn on, she turned to her brother with a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Max asked, looking confused, as Victoria rolled her eyes at him.

"You know why, Max," Victoria pushed further.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Vic," Max said, starting to walk away, but Victoria stopped him with her next words.

"You still have feelings for her, Max. It's clear in your eyes," she said, causing Max to stop in his tracks, still facing away.

"You're gonna let it screw with your head again," Victoria continued, "your love for her is gonna get in the way of the Championship again, just like it did the last time you two raced together."

"I don't love her, Vic," Max mumbled, still facing away, "I don't... I don't have the right to love her anymore. Not after everything."

"But that doesn't take away your feelings," Victoria countered. "It's been 6 years, and you still love her. But Max, you know your promise to Dad. You know you can't let this hamper your performance, not again. If you break your promise to Dad—"

"I know!" Max exclaimed, causing Victoria to flinch slightly. "I know about my promise. I know I have to win. And I will. Lia rejoining F1 isn't going to change anything about how I race. You should know that by now. I don't go soft on the track, I don't apologize for what happens on the track."

"I hope you remember that once the races start," Victoria sighed. "I love Cece a lot, Max. But she has always made you soft, whether it was karting, F3, or F1. But you can't afford that this time. You know why."

Hesitantly, Max nodded before walking back into his room, sitting down on the bed as he buried his head in his hands, breathing heavily as he pondered over the conversation he had with his sister.

He knew she was right, and maybe that's why he was so triggered. He knew he'd always be soft on Celia, but this time he couldn't afford that. Whether in the same team or not, he had promised Maximo he would protect Celia, but at the same time, he had a promise to his own father that he couldn't afford to break. And in between these promises, Max Verstappen would be torn for the rest of the 2023 season.