Drive to Survive

Chapter Forty-Seven

"I'm being abandoned!" She cried dramatically, "You're going to have fun at the hotel without me!" 

Most of the drivers were also going to be staying at the hotel, which wasn't helping her. She'd tried to petition Carlos to stay at the house with her but he had too many plans lined up with Charles and didn't want to be too far from his team.  

Max looked over helplessly at Brad, who was leant against a wall with his arms crossed, the entertainment visible on his face. He shook his head as if to say, 'I'm not helping you.'

With a sigh, Max detangled his girlfriend and gently cupped her cheeks, suddenly seeing the nerves in her bright eyes. It clicked; it wasn't that she wanted to be at the hotel, it was that she didn't want to be at home. She hadn't been very vocal about her father since their initial conversation in Hasselt but enough had come out over the last few months to tell Max that Dylan desperately craved her dad's approval and mourned the distance that existed between them when she couldn't earn it. 

He put himself in her shoes and realised he would not be exactly overjoyed to be heading home to his father either. Luckily, he'd become somewhat of an expert at avoiding the famed Jos Verstappen.

"Dylan, liefde, I promise it will be okay." He whispered, his words brushing against her lips, "You know you can come and stay with me if you need, just say the word."

Dylan relaxed, allowing herself to be reassured by Max's words. She was so caught up in her growing anxiety that she brushed right over the little nickname that had slipped so easily out of his mouth. For Max, however, his heart was suddenly pounding as he waited for her to ask what it meant, and he thanked the God his mum was always praying to when she started chattering about taxis instead.

"...outside by the pick-up area I think?"

He was pulled out of his thoughts, "Hmm? Yeah, yeah probably."

"Okay, so I'll see you tomorrow!"

She reached up on her toes to give him a kiss and he smiled, meeting her halfway.

"See you tomorrow, gorgeous."

Then she was off, swamped under a massive rucksack with a huge suitcase trailing behind. Brad waved her goodbye then wandered over to Max, "You alright, mate? Look like you've seen a ghost. She will be back tomorrow, I promise." His tone was teasing but the words were sincere; the driver was looking unusually pale.

Max was still reeling at what he had accidentally said and the potential implications around that. He shook his head, snapping himself out of it and compartmentalising that stress for another time, "Yeah, mate, I'm good. Ready to go?"

It was a slip of the tongue, nothing more.

---

Traffic out of London had been hell. 

By the time Dylan was dropped outside her childhood home, it was dark outside and the only light she could see was coming from the kitchen. She thanked the driver and hauled her bags up to the door, fumbling in her back-pocket for the key she hadn't needed in five months. 

The door opened before she could find it and she was met with her dad, who reached for the suitcase in her hand and carried it in without a word. Dylan followed meekly behind, looking around the familiar hall and inhaling the smell of home. 

This had been her safe place for most of her life. Some of her happiest memories were in this home and she'd expected to be overwhelmed with the same sense of comfort she had grown up feeling.

So why was it that something immediately felt like it was missing?

"Do you want a drink?" Her dad asked politely.