Travelling back home from Hungary had felt weird for Joey, especially as she knew that Seb was sitting not far away from her in first class.
He had offered her an upgrade, but she had told him that he was already raising enough suspicions as it was and he didn't need more with her sitting by his side in first class.
Joey had asked her brother to pick them up and had been mentally preparing throughout the flight for the upcoming interrogation from Matt's part.
Seb had tried to disguise himself as best he could by wearing casual attire and a black cap covering most of his face, aided by a pair of sunglasses. When the two had met again at the baggage claim, Joey could barely contain a laugh.
'What?' Seb asked, his usual smile beaming on his pearly white teeth.
'You look so...'
'Great? Handsome? Majestic?' He suggested.
'Stupid' she concluded.
'Thanks?' He asked, ironically. 'Let me get your stuff' he offered.
'No it's ok, thank you' she replied. 'Wouldn't want to hurt yourself carrying all the crap I bring to race weekends' she chuckled.
'Alright, then' he grabbed her hand. 'Where are we going?'
'Ehm' Joey had been taken aback by Seb's gesture, not expecting him to be as public and open as he was being. 'We're going... this way' she started walking towards the exit, following the signs for the car park.
The noises, the crowds and the Heathrow maze-like exits were all too familiar for Joey, having been used to flying in and out of the UK since a young age, Heathrow was almost a second home. She spotted her brother's battered Volkswagen Polo and pointed it out to Seb. Matt's expression changed from a welcoming smile to utter shock when he recognised who her sister's travelling companion was and how they seemed to have been holding hands.
'Matt! Thanks for picking us up. This is Seb. Seb, Matt.' She introduced them.
'Yeah, of course, I know who he is. I mean who doesn't?' Matt said, still shocked, mumbling most of the conversation to himself. 'What the...' he looked over to his sister. 'Lemme take your stuff' he offered.
'It's probably best if you sit inside' Joey told Seb, noticing a few people curiously looking over to them. The German nodded, making himself comfortable in the back of the car.
'What the...' Matt asked again. Joey shushed him with a glance. 'Alright. I'll stop, but we need to talk.'
'Later' she begged. 'Just get us home, please'
Seb had curiously watched the two siblings interact, he could see how close the two were and he knew Matt was probably bursting with questions. Going by what Joey had told him, her family wasn't really used to her having a boyfriend around.
When Matt parked up, Joey opened the door for Seb, showing him round to the living room, the kitchen and the bathroom before excusing herself to speak to her brother in private.
'What the fuck, Joey? You said there was someone with you, I wasn't expecting him!' Matt burst.
'Would you have believed me if I said "hey I am bringing Sebastian Vettel home?"' she asked, with a shrug.
'Possibly. You're inseparable, apparently.At least according to the media' he smirked. 'But wow! Alright, how long are you here, then?'
'A week, then I'm gonna spend some time in Switzerland, before we have to go to Belgium'
'Wow. Intense. Are you sure you can do it?' He asked her. 'You haven't been...'
'Yeah, I know. My relationships usually don't last long. But I love spending time with him and I am going to enjoy the opportunity to do so' she confessed.
'Cool, bring him over for dinner this week. Carmen will cook and I'll get to know him better' he offered.
'Sure' Joey agreed. 'Thanks for the lift, Matty. Text me a time and a day' she hugged her older brother tight, before returning into the house.
'I'm so sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting to be away as much as I was.' She apologised to Seb, having found him in her living room, looking at the numerous pictures she had lying around.
'It's ok, it's not messy'he replied. 'I mean, it's really... you' he added.
'It's cause you haven't seen my room yet' she huffed, picking up a blanket from the floor and neatly folding it over on the sofa.
'To be fair, that sounds like a room I might be interested in' he smirked, walking over to her. He wrapped his arms around her, keeping his eyes fixed on hers. Joey slowly stroked his face, smiling. He looked so handsome with his light stubble and messy hair. She reached over on her tiptoes to kiss him, savouring every single instant of that contact. Every time they kissed, it felt as if time had stopped and the outside world didn't exist. Joey pushed her hands under Seb's t-shirt, pulling it over his head and throwing it on the floor.
'Where's this room, then?' Seb groaned.
'Upstairs' she replied, almost out of breath.
'Let's go, then' the German swooped her up in one quick motion and carried her on the stairs. Joey pointed towards an open door and Seb hastily brought her in. He sat her down on the bed, watching her remove her shirt and bra, whilst he took her shorts off. Even after hours on a plane, she still managed to look beautiful.
Joey unbuckled his jeans, before he pinned her to the bed.
'Let's make this room messy, for real' he said with a cheeky grin on his face.
~•~•
Joey was laying in bed, her naked body nestled against Seb's. They had been home for a few hours and they hadn't left her bed since arriving.
'I should probably get us some food' Joey stated, as she distractedly played with one of Seb's curls.
'But that would mean you leaving me' he frowned. 'I don't like that'
'But that would also mean Antti killing me for not feeding you your meal plan. Yeah 'she caught Seb's questioning look at the mention of his PT and of his meal plan 'he spoke to me before we left. He doesn't trust I'd make you follow your diet, for some reason. Reminds me of Liam.' She explained with an annoyed huff. 'Best thing about this year? No media shit and no diet shit'
'You're literally doing media stuff in a couple of days' he reminded her. 'And, hey! What about me? Didn't I make your 2018 a bit better?'
'Just a tad' she joked, kissing his nose. 'I'm gonna take a shower and go, now.'
'I can come with' Seb offered.
'It's better if you stay here, Mo Cuishle' she reminded him. 'I'll be back in a flash, I promise. I've got a PlayStation downstairs... and a lot of books' she added chuckling at his disgusted face at the mention of the console. 'There's a couple German ones your brother bought me, still pretty much untouched' she told him. 'Use anything you need, make yourself at home. Don't eat anything from the fridge, though, it might kill you and I'm not gonna be the one telling Maurizio I killed his star driver'
~•~•
The first few days in the UK had gone extremely well. Sebastian had insisted on accompanying her to her old school for her "careers day". Becky, from the FIA PR team, had looked at the pair of them walking in with a shocked face, but had tried to maintain her professionalism whilst explaining to her what they were there to do.
Joey had attended an all girl school for most of her life and she had always felt like the outsider. She wasn't like most other girls: she liked to play in the mud, she knew how to use construction tools and liked to get stuck into things quite often and, mostly, she loved cars and engines. If she managed to convince any of those young girls that motorsports were a possible career, she would have felt extremely proud.
Seb was standing at the very back of the room with Becky and a camera crew from the FIA. He clapped along with the rest of the room, as he watched Joey nervously walk on stage.
'Hello everyone' she said, in her perfected "talking to children" tone. 'My name is Josephine, but you can all call me Joey and I'm here to talk to you about motorsports. Does anyone know what motorsports are?' She asked.
'Cars?'
'Bikes?' Were the suggestions from the group.
'Yes, those are very good examples. Now, I'm working with what it's called the FIA and, together with the FIA, I make sure that the tracks are safe for the Formula cars to compete. How many of you follow any Formula or motorsports championships?'
Some girls raised their hands. Joey was happy to see that the numbers had improved since she had been a pupil. She asked the girls what they enjoyed most about the sport and why and where they watched it. She then showed them a few reels from her racing before F1 and then a couple of clips of her and Bernd in the car.
'Joey?' A young girl asked, at one point. 'How come all the other drivers are men? I want to learn to kart but my brother said it's not for girls'
Joey shuffled uncomfortably for a second.
'Whilst that is the case in formula1 at the moment, there are a lot more women in other categories and we need people like you, who want to be part of the sport, so we can make changes. So many boys told me exactly the same thing, but I worked hard and shut them up on the circuit. I'm sure you can do the same' she concluded with a smile.
By the end of the presentation, Joey had felt exhausted but when a lot of girls raised their hands to the question "who is now interested in a career in motorsports?" She couldn't feel anything else but pride.
She walked back to Seb and Becky, with a smile beaming from side to side as more former alumni took the stage for the career day.
'You were amazing' Seb told her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
'Thank you, I'm buzzing right now. I hate talking in public'
Seb grabbed her shaking hand, lightly kissing it. Joey could feel her heart rate slow down and thanked him with a smile.
A few hours later, Joey was scrolling through her phone, re watching herself on the stage on the official FIA account.
She heard Seb's voice in the background, chatting to Becky regarding the whole program and she froze. She knew people would recognise his voice and start questioning what he was doing at a school in North London.
She quickly looked at the comments and she soon learnt she was right.
Is that Seb's voice in the background? I knew there was something going on with him and @irishbabykangaroo.
-that is definitely Seb, you're right! What is he doing in London with her?
Joey felt a nasty sensation in her stomach and her sudden change in mood had been noticed by the man sitting next to her on her sofa.
'What's up, Süße?' He asked. She didn't reply, showing him the comments from her screen.
'Wow, people really missed the point of your speech if they just care about me' he rolled his eyes. 'Why do you look worried?'
'We've been going out for what? Two weeks? And it's already out'
'It would have been eventually. I don't really care, honestly. Nothing will change my mind about us'
'Are you sure?'
'Why wouldn't I be?' He kissed her. 'We're good. I'll just need to speak to Britta, but don't worry about it, ok?'
She nodded, watching him walk off to call his assistant.