The Fight • Max Verstappen•

•onehundred-ninetyseven•

SCARLET

"Blindfold still on?" Max asked as he firmly took my hand. I nodded, "Are you going to tell me what you have planned? You know I hate surprises."

A chuckle left his lips, and he told me to be patient. I would have thought by now that he would have realised patience was not one of my skills. I heard a door open, and going from the scent that hit me, Max had brought me to my apartment.

I could smell the pine-scented Christmas candles that Milo had insisted on burning whilst staying with me. "Careful," Max warned as his arm snaked around my back.

One foot in front of the other, and I gathered that he was directing me to my living room. Instrumental Christmas carols played in the background, but I could hear Milo and Lewis chattering. So at least this surprise would be family-friendly, although I could never be 100% sure with Max.

All of a sudden, his arm released me. "Can I take it off yet?" I begged with a laugh. Max knew I was not too fond of surprises, yet he continued to plan them for me. The treasure hunt was the most amazing one, and him ghosting on my birthday was the worst.

"Let me just put some clothes on first," Milo whipped before telling me he was joking. "I should bloody hope so; this isn't your house." I reminded him.

Whilst Milo had been in the process of purchasing an apartment in Monaco, he had temporarily moved in with me. Since Max had moved to Ferrari permanent, he asked if Milo would continue as his manager. My brother eagerly accepted. On the other hand, I had decided not to move back to Monaco. If I were there, I would stay with Max, but I had realised that I liked living in London too much.

A shuffle of footsteps, rustling of paper and what felt like an eternity later, Max placed his hands on my shoulders. "You can take off your blindfold now." He told me. I reached up to remove the silly black blindfold and drew it from my face. "Surprise." Max smiled with a kiss against my cheek.

Oh. My. God.

I looked at Max with darting eyes, then to Milo, back to Max, who seemed incredibly proud and then to Lewis, who had recorded my reaction on his phone.

I jumped up at my boyfriend like a puppy, and his arms reacted quickly to lift me off the floor. "Are you serious?" I chimed, "Is that?"

Max interjected, "Your first championship-winning Kart? Yes, it is." He told me.

I lept from his embrace and to the kart that sat in the middle of my living room, with a glass tabletop resting above. The purple panels were still as bright as I remembered, and the first number I raced with, 12, was sitting on the front.

"But, how?" I gasped as I knelt to feel along the grooves. "We sold this to fund my single-seater career?" I said as I looked at Max.

I felt a tear drop down my cheek. He shrugged his shoulders. "I may or may not have tracked it down a few years ago," Max informed me as he stroked his cheek.

I got up from the floor and walked back over to my boyfriend. His eyes filled with happiness and no doubt pride that he had been able to pull this off. "But, why?" I asked as I stood looking up at him.

"I think this is where we leave you two to talk," Lewis announced to a reluctant Milo, but he pulled him by his jacket, muttering something about a prank on Charles, which seemed to do the trick.

Max pressed his lips down against mine, a chuckle leaving as he tasted the familiar peach lip balm he had always associated with me. I felt his arms reach around the small of my back and lift me just slightly.

"Why, Max?" I whispered as his arms put me down. "This can't have been easy to find?" I said, trailing off as I leaned back to see the reaction on his face.

Max curled his lips into a smile, the genuine Max Verstappen smile. The smile was usually reserved for private times. It was a grin of vulnerability. It also happened to my favourite smile.

He took my hand and took me to the plush sofa, and we sat down. My head rested on his shoulder, and he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. "From the moment you overtook me on that final corner of the track at camp, I knew that you would be my most feared opponent. I never expected you also to be the love of my life." He gazed as our eyes remained locked on each other.

I bit down on my lip. "That was a great move," I chuckled.

Max nodded, "This was the kart you became the World Junior Champion in; I remember that race because I had raced the day before; I won the World Senior Championship." He told me. I gasped; I didn't know our paths had crossed that day. "And you gave an interview, and the journalist asked what you would do with your kart, and with a sad smile, you said you would sell so you could continue racing."

Once my brother had lost interest in racing, the sponsorship money dried up. Nobody wanted to invest in a female driver, and back then, there were not many junior programmes for me to join and if there were, well, they wanted the Max Verstappen's and the George Russells', not Scarlet Crusoe.

His hand rested on my knee. "And then, back at our first press conference together, you were asked if there was one thing you could have from your career, what would it be, and you answered...."

I smiled, "My first winning kart?" I thought back to the press conference in Australia where both Max and I had caught the attention of both the press and our communication managers. I had spent the conference doodling, and there was a moment where Max placed his hand over mine, and we shared a look. That was when I felt the spark I felt in the Ardennes Forrest 11 years ago.

I had told the press that I hadn't been able to purchase it, but I knew that a private buyer had purchased it. I joked that perhaps if I won the World Drivers Championship, we could make a trade, but that didn't happen.

"I'm not sure what prompted me to buy it, but I was drawn to it." He gushed, "And now I know why."

I looked up at him, and he pulled me onto his lap. I straddled my legs on either side of his body. "And what's that?" I asked as I batted my eyes at him.

Max cupped my cheek. "I don't care how complicated this gets. I want you, I want this." His lips fell onto mine.

"I love you!" Max smiled, the impact of his words somewhat lost on me. I had heard those words leave his mouth on several occasions. This time felt different. "I have you since the day I met you, and since then, what I've felt has only grown. My thoughts don't fucking move without constantly being drawn back to you, and losing you, only for that brief time, made me realise that I don't want to race if I can't be competing against you." his voice cracked.

I nodded, and a smile reached across my face. One or two tears dropped down my cheek, but they were quickly wiped away.

"You're it, Scarlet. I thought racing was my world, but that's not true. It's you."