Fifth Light (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 64: How It Ended

Japan. Russia. The United States. Brazil. All four of them flew past Casey.

Each Grand Prix brought them one step closer to Seb's last day in a Red Bull car. She could tell he was gearing up for the goodbye, and that this would be one of the hardest moments of his life.

On the other hand, she utterly couldn't wait for it to pass, for when it did, she would have him completely to herself all winter in Italy. And once that passed, they would hit the road again together, both in red uniforms. United again in the same garage, this time, opposite Kimi Raikkonen.

Antti, one of Casey's newest favourite people, would follow them and don a red uniform too, as would Britta. Thank god. Casey didn't know what would happen if they ever lost Britta, it was unthinkable.

The official announcement had come just a few days earlier, after Alonso had finally made his exit plans clear, allowing Ferrari to announce Seb officially as one of their 2015 drivers.

The morning of the Abu Dhabi race might have seemed like it began as any other race did, but it was so much more than that. You could feel it in every garage and see the potent mixture of sadness and excitement in the faces of the fans attending. Everyone involved in the world of Formula 1 would finally be finding out who would take home the World Champion title, Nico Rosberg or Lewis Hamilton, but they would also be saying a lot of goodbyes. Many of the drivers would cross the checkered flag in Abu Dhabi either for the last time in their current colours, or for the last time in their careers.

At Kimi's request, Casey had been relieved from her duties in the Ferrari garage for the entire duration of race day, which allowed her to spend it instead in the Red Bull garage. She wouldn't wear red or blue, she would just be there, for him.

And so it was that she found herself in the driver's room at the back of the garage, watching Seb step into his navy blue Red Bull race suit for the last time. He pulled it up to his hips, letting it hang there while he stared into the mirror. There was a noticeable edge to him today, like he wanted time to stop and to race in this blue, red and yellow car forever, but also for time to speed up and deliver him into the cockpit of the Ferrari he'd dreamed about his entire life.

He looked over at Casey suddenly and grinned sheepishly, "I'm not going to cry."

"Yes you will." she retorted instantly, returning his grin.

"Yeah, I probably will." he laughed, turning back to the mirror.

Casey pushed off the table she was sitting against and walked up behind him in the mirror. She threaded her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder, staring at their reflection.

"I can't wait for next year." she whispered, turning to kiss his neck softly. She watched as Seb closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"You, me, Kimi, Minttu, Britta and Antti all under one roof." she continued. She needed him to focus on the happy things before the race.

"Thank fuck you're here." he murmured, "If you'd chosen him, and I was standing here alone..."

Casey snorted, "You know that I'd never choose anyone over you."

Seb smiled and opened his eyes again before turning and pulling Casey into his chest. She slipped her arms around his neck and grazed her teeth across his jaw gently.

"Come on, let's go and enjoy being in the Red Bull garage one last time." she said, brushing her lips across his as she spoke.

Seb buried his head into her shoulder and squeezed the breath out of her before letting go.