"Flipping heck." Marylinde stared at her phone. Pierre had been right. The rumours were already running around like crazy.
I cannot believe that she would date someone she is fighting for a seat with.
They would make the cutest couple. Marylinde looks so at ease around him. I ship it! #Gaslinde
Them together in one team would be such a mess
@They are not going to kick out Yuki
@If there are going to kick out Pierre I'm going to cry
@He's also doing too well
@Oh my goodness, it's going to be Alex!
@Pierre to RB again. We've seen that already. Did not end well.
Marylinde sighed deeply. Speculations. They were all speculations. Marylinde knew more than they did, however, and she knew that if she were in fact to have a seat offered to her in Alpha Tauri, it would be at the expense of Alex at that point. He was the only one out of the four Red Bull drivers that wasn't living up to the insanely high expectations set for him.
Marylinde got out of bed with a heavy heart and walked down the stairs to make some breakfast, but before she had even reached the bottom of the stairs, she ran into a distraught looking Mick.
"What's wrong?"
"Why is Pierre in our kitchen making breakfast in a pair of sweats – which I believe are mine – and a shirt which is presumably Arthur's?" Marylinde's cheeks flushed red and she started to stutter. "He obviously stayed the night but did you-?"
"No!" Marylinde quickly hissed. "And he slept on the sofa, so don't even worry. And about the clothes: over time I stole those from you and Arthur, you two didn't even notice." Mick nodded, a grin tugging on his lips.
"But you did have an amazing time last night didn't you? You were away until at least one because that is when I fell asleep."
"One thirty." Marylinde bit her lip as the corners of her mouth curled up in a smile that she was unable to suppress. "It was amazing." Mick smiled and continued up the stairs. "Mick?" He turned around. "Thank you for looking out for me."
"No problem, I feel the need to make sure you are okay. I love you."
"I love you too." Marylinde walked into the kitchen. "Morning Pierre." She smiled as he looked up. "How did you sleep?"
"Like a baby, I was knackered." Marylinde chuckled and wrapped her arms around Pierre's torso. "What's up?" Marylinde snuggled her face further into Pierre's shoulder. "Hey?"
"I just want to hug you."
"Mary." Pierre sounded stern. He could feel something was up and he didn't want Marylinde to bottle it all up. "What is up?" He specifically didn't want to say what was wrong he didn't want to give whatever it was the negative stamp before even knowing what was going on.
"Here." Instead of telling Pierre what was going on inside her head, she handed him her unlocked phone. It was still on the Instagram post with all the rumours posted underneath. Pierre read it as Marylinde still clutching onto him for comfort.
"Ow." Pierre placed the phone on the kitchen counter. "It is going to be okay Mary, the rumours will die down and it is all going to be old news." Marylinde shook her head.
"No, it won't because all of it is kind of true. We are sort of dating and Alex isn't doing very well in the Red Bull. On top of that, I'm fighting for everything I am worth to get that seat next year." Marylinde took a shaky breath. "I just can't handle anything of it mentally at the moment."
"Do you want us to take a step back? I don't mind if that will help you and maybe it will take one of the things you need to worry about of your mind." Marylinde shook her head. Pierre was willing to do everything for her, but she didn't want to back away from what they had now and what they could be in the future. She liked the slow but steady pace they were moving at so she could wrap her head around everything that was going on between them, but she did not want to take that step back again.
"Not a chance. I like this." She mentioned towards the hug she was still clinging onto, feeling his warm skin wrapping around her bare shoulders thanks to the top she was wearing. "I like us." Pierre's heart skipped a beat. With everything that was going on between them and especially Marylinde's mental state, he overthought everything between them three times at least. With everything he planned or wanted to do, he considered whether Marylinde would be up to it even more. Hearing that she didn't want to back away from what they had so far and that she liked it meant a lot to him.
"I like us too." He kissed the top of Marylinde's head and wrapped his arms tighter around her. He sighed contently but then let go of Marylinde who had different plans. She held onto Pierre tighter, making him chuckle. "I do have to get home in a bit to be on time for my training session." He said, trying to pry Marylinde's arms off of him. She was stronger than she seemed with her height. "I put the sheets you places on the sofa last night in the washing machine. I didn't want to ruin them, so Mick turned the machine on for me, so I don't know when they will be ready." Marylinde melted and finally let go of Pierre. "I had a lot of fun M&M."
"So did I." For a split second, Marylinde debated what she was going to do next. She stood on her toes, reached with her hand for the back of Pierre's neck and gently pulled him down to her height to place her lips on his.
"Ah come on! Get a room!" Arthur whined as he continued walking further into the kitchen, his hands in front of his eyes to not have to see Pierre and Marylinde kissing.
"You just had to come in here, didn't you?" Marylinde groaned but she laughed as soon as Arthur bumped against the corner of the table, a swearword slipping over his lips. "That's what you get." Arthur carefully peaked between his fingers to see if the two were still displaying any sort of PDA but when he saw he had nothing to worry about anymore, he lowered his hand and rolled his eyes playfully at Marylinde.
"I'm going to get dressed," Pierre said, turning towards Marylinde again. She nodded and watched Pierre leave the kitchen to go to the bathroom with his clothes so he could get ready to go home.
"Well, that was something new? Who had the guts to even think of kissing." Arthur leant against the counter, grinning widely.
"Not that it is of any interest to you," Marylinde said, her eyebrows arched. "But it was actually me."
"No freaking way, you kissed him?" Arthur stood up straight, his mouth slightly agape. "Shit, I didn't see that coming. Don't tell Gianluc though."
"Why not."
"We had a bet going on it. He thought you would be the one to kiss him first, I said it would be Pierre."
"At least Gianluca has some faith in me." Marylinde deadpanned before walking to the fridge to get an apple, a pear and some strawberries. "Do you want to split it? I hate pre-cut fruits, so I don't want to put half of it back into the fridge." Arthur nodded and got two bowls out of one of the cupboards and helped Marylinde dice the fruit. They then put some yoghurt on top and started eating their breakfast.
"I really need to go home now." Pierre walked back into the kitchen and Marylinde placed down her spoon.
"I will walk you out." Together, Marylinde and Pierre walked to the front door. "I'm going to miss you." Pierre smiled, cupping her cheek with his hand, caressing the soft skin.
"I'm going to miss you too." He bent down to press a featherlight kiss on her lips and then turned around to open the door. "I'll text you somewhere today and we'll call." Marylinde nodded and leaned against the doorframe as she watched Pierre walk towards his car and then drive away. With a spring in her step, she walked back to the kitchen to finish her breakfast before heading towards the Prema facilities for her first training session of the day.
"Gosh, you are in love," Arthur said, looking at his housemate and friend. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were pregnant or got laid."
"I love the order." Arthur and Marylinde laughed and continued eating their breakfast in silence. Arthur was scrolling through his phone and Marylinde was overthinking the night before and that morning with a smile on her face. Arthur was right, she was falling in love with Pierre.
"Did Pierre just leave?" Mick was already dressed for his training when he walked into the kitchen again to get his breakfast.
"He did, he had to get back to be in time for his training with Pyry." Mick nodded. "Do you two have a busy day ahead?" Both nodded. "Great, so neither of you wants to cook?" They grinned. "Great, thanks boys, I have a busy day as well but I'll cook."
"You do need to get some groceries to do so." Marylinde huffed.
"I noticed, but thanks for the head's up Arthur." He smiled and casually continued to finish the final bites of his breakfast. "I'm going to take a shower." He announced after putting his dirty dishes in the dishwasher.
"I'm going to get ready as well, what time do you need to be at the factory?" Marylinde asked Mick.
"In an hour."
"Can I carpool with you? I don't feel like driving myself. I'll see how I'll get home." Mick chuckled.
"Sure, I'm fine with that. Just make sure you are ready to leave in forty." It wasn't a twenty-minute drive to the factory but Mick preferred being early over being late and always anticipated for traffic.
"I will, thanks, darling." Marylinde ran up the stairs to put on her Nike training kit and put her Prema kit into her bag. She would have to film a video with Mick later on for the Prema youtube channel. She didn't mind. Most of the time, those challenges were a lot of fun and she liked that they were always competitive. She would almost say they were better than the Red Bull videos. Almost, because Red Bull had Pierre and Prema didn't anymore, they just had some pictures of the year Pierre spend with them on the wall.
It was funny, looking at those old pictures of Pierre and Antonio. Pierre had been there when she-" Marylinde gasped. She had been in Prema when Pierre was. She chuckled as she walked down the stairs, her phone in hand.
Marylinde: Did you ever realise that we were in the same team once in the past?
Pierre: When?
Marylinde: 2016, how did we not know that?
Pierre: So you are the adorable little girl that I was in a team with. Hell, you look nothing like that girl anymore!
Marylinde: Haha, adorable? How was I adorable? I was so messed up by then already. After that year, leaving a place I knew was the drop for the bucket to overflow.
Pierre: You were adorable, you thought you were the most badass girl but I could see right through it. You were scared. You were scared to do bad, scared to lose it all, scared to show you were scared.
Marylinde: Even then you knew me. And I guess I am still a lot like that little girl I was back then.
Pierre: You were what, fifteen or something?
Marylinde: yeah, fifteen/sixteen
Pierre: You were nothing like you are now. Now you are stronger than you were back then. You keep your head up high even though you are struggling. Now you are brave enough to speak up, for yourself and for others because I heard what you did in your Netflix interview. I am proud of how far you have come because you are not that little scared girl anymore.