The Limit (Sebastian Vettel)

100. Protected

Seb gave a wry laugh as he folded his new team shirts up and placed them inside his open suitcase. He never'd thought he'd be wearing one of those again, least of all as a trainer.

Lily's initial reaction to his bombshell that it would be he, not Antti, that would be taking over Luca's duties hadn't been what he'd hoped for. She'd gone off on a rant about how ridiculous the idea was, about how the press and fans would ridicule him for becoming a trainer after being one of the most successful racing drivers of all time, about how she would get the blame for him taking a job that was beneath him.

He'd simply told her that it wasn't a job. He didn't want to be paid a penny. He was doing it for love, it was that simple. It also gave him peace of mind knowing she wasn't exposing herself to a stranger.

They'd had an awkward few days following where she'd barely spoken to him but she seemed to be coming around to the idea now, although she was still as grumpy as hell about the amount of cycling he'd put into her schedule.

Antti would be staying with them, passing on all his knowledge throughout testing and for the first two races, before heading back to Finland to take up his new position.

Seb knew that a few months with Antti wouldn't make him fully qualified, but he didn't have to be, he knew the ropes. He'd been doing this for nearly half of his adult life.

"Have you packed your stupid hairbands?" Lily asked him. He grinned at her.

"Of course." He'd taken to wearing an elastic hairband around his head to keep his hair out of his eyes. Lily constantly teased him about it saying he should just have a man bun. "Come here."

Lily walked over to him and he slid his arms around her waist, pulling her up against him. He lowered his head and brushed his lips over hers.

"How are you feeling?"

"Nervous, but kind of excited too. I can't wait to be back behind the wheel, but I'm dreading all the attention I'm bound to get."

"Britta has sent an email to all the media agencies stating you will not be answering any questions about Damon, Liam or what happened. I believe she has requested that the team make the same request."

"There will always be some douchebag trying their luck."

"Leave them to Britta. She's fierce. She'll sort them out."

Lily smiled. She knew Britta was fierce. She'd seen evidence of it over the years.

She pulled out of Seb's arms. She didn't want to but she had her packing to finish. They'd be flying to Bahrain the following morning. Testing started in two days.

She placed a selection of team shirts in, as well as some of her own regular clothes. She had to admit, she loved the green of Aston Martin.

She watched Seb out the corner of her eye, wondering again what people's reaction would be when they found out he was going to be her trainer. So far, besides them and Antti, only the team, Britta and Joel knew. She hadn't even told Poppy yet.

Her little sister was now six months into her pregnancy and she was having a tough time of it. Pierre had managed to talk her into stopping work and she would attending races as his girlfriend, well until she became too far gone to travel. She'd never officially started at Alpine with him, and now she'd confided in Lily that she didn't know if she ever would. She intended on being a full time mother to their unborn child.

If Lily was honest with herself she still didn't feel entirely comfortable with Seb training her. She knew he knew what he was doing. He was learning from the best, but he was a very strict, bossy trainer and she was finding it very difficult to take orders from him. She was stubborn, and the only place she gave into him was in the bedroom. She knew it was highly likely that they'd come to blows on multiple occasions, especially where the cycling was concerned. She hated it. He knew that, yet still he was making her do it. Still, at least he'd put some boxing training into the schedule. She'd get to release her anger and frustrations punching the hell out of the bag or the mitts.