Dance Me To The Moon [Sebastian Vettel]

17. Burbujas de Amor

A/N: Not particularly happy with this chapter but it was necessary somehow. May it help distract you from this frankly painful season, still a few races to go. We never stop believing...

Hope you enjoy it!

"What if I fly in? I could go to Switzerland for a couple of days."

"No, you are not flying anywhere," Sebastian replied sternly, disapproval stamped all over his face on the screen of Stella's iPhone, complete with a pointed finger in her direction. "You are staying in Brighton and finishing your exams."

She huffed. Normally, Stella would be seething at being scolded as if she were a child but after listening to a long rant, as Sebastian waited at the airport for his flight home, she decided not to argue.

As predicted, the purpose of the team meeting following the collision between the two Ferraris in Interlagos hadn't exactly been only to go over the data. Both drivers apologised - and none of them meant it. Behind the dimples and innocent looks, on track Charles certainly seemed as obstinate and ruthless as Sebastian.

To make matters worse, the German had been upset ever since Mattia Binotto postponed the debrief post-race until mid-week. Staying in Maranello upon arriving from Brazil would be the logical thing to do instead of flying back and forth, but unfortunately that clashed with the plans to pick up his daughters on Monday morning, who also happened to be both a little under the weather.

Stella didn't understand why he wouldn't raise the issue with his team principal, there was no way they wouldn't know the impact certain decisions could have on the life of someone with young children after all. But Sebastian claimed to be in no position to negotiate a different arrangement after what happened over the weekend. His absolute refusal in addressing it with the management stunned her, until a sneaky suspicion started nagging at her - that maybe he simply didn't fully trust them to keep his private affairs private.

Apparently Sebastian's ex had work commitments herself in Berlin and he was adamant about not asking her favours, no matter how hard it made his own life. In the end, his parents came to his rescue, driving from Heppenheim early in the morning to take care of their granddaughters while he remained in Italy.

Bit by bit, as she became more familiar with aspects of his life that she had not been privy to before, Stella had to admit it was pretty impressive how mature Sebastian and Hanna were. They remained on good terms and, although it required effort on both sides to make it all work, organisation and planning seemed to come almost effortlessly. Maybe it was just German DNA, she decided, attempting to shrug off a little jealousy.

"Are you okay, love?"

He sighed. "Yeah. It's all good."

The season was not going well and he was clearly pretty worn out but not once did he show any sign of wanting to back down. Sometimes she wished she lived closer but on campus for the final exams, she would concede that not losing focus was critical. Stella was confident, though, and at some point she realised he was actually more nervous than her.

"I'm sorry I haven't confirmed about your friend's wedding yet." Another sigh. It required switching a couple of things in his schedule and there had been no chance to go over it with Britta yet. Stella had a trip lined up to Switzerland after the last race in Abu Dhabi but they could postpone it for a week if he managed to squeeze in Ryan and Noah's wedding in his schedule.

"No worries, take your time." She couldn't help herself, though, and she gave him her best puppy dog eyes. "Come on, Seb. Thailand... beach wedding... no suits! You know you want to."

"I can't say no," he shook his head in defeat, his face breaking into a smile. "You smile at me like that and there's nothing I can do, I just can't say no, you see?"