Joey groaned, as she was awoken by excruciating pain once more. A couple of days had passed since her accident at Hockenheim. She had stayed at the paddock, cheering on her team and Seb on the Sunday, and then the couple had decided to spend some time in Heppenheim with Seb's family before Joey would start joining Seb travelling to his next races.
Joey lifted herself up from the bed, trying to not wake the sleeping German next to her, before going to the kitchen downstairs to get some more painkillers in the hope she would be able to return to sleep.
She swallowed a couple of pills, aided by a bit of water. The grim taste of the medicine wasn't getting any easier to deal with and Joey couldn't stop herself from wincing as she swallowed. It was going to be a long few weeks of wearing a cast on her dominant arm and basically having to learn how to do everything again. Sure, she was glad Seb was going to be around to help her if she needed, but she was also worried about her racing future. 8 weeks was a long time to be off and it would also mean she would miss out on the remainder of the championship.
She thought back to the accident and groaned once more. What a stupid move from Leon and all because he couldn't stand her being in first, in the team where she had replaced him.
She took a seat at the kitchen table and held her face in her hand, it had been a long time coming but finally tears started to stream down her face.
'babe, are you ok? Why are you crying?' came the sleepy voice of Seb. 'Jo?' he rested her hand on her shoulder.
'I'm fucking done with this cast already. I'm fucking done with the pain already' she cried. 'i just want to go back to normal'
'I know, baby, it's hard' Seb wrapped his arm around her. 'but I'm here with you every step of the way'
'racing is all I know how to do, Seb. What am I going to do now?'
'you're going to take some time off to heal and then get back to it and kick some butts, that's what you're going to do' he said, simply. 'come back to bed, we can go for a walk tomorrow to get you some distraction. We don't have to be at my parents' until lunch time'
'ok' Joey eventually agreed, getting up. Seb pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead.
'I love you' he said, in a reassuring tone.
~•~•~•
A few hours later, Joey and Seb were walking through the streets of Heppenheim, hand in hand. Joey had gotten used to the amount of attention her partner got when they were out and about, but nothing compared to the attention he got in his hometown. That day felt different, however. Sebastian seemed a little on edge, anything seemed to make him jump, and he had been compulsively patting the pocket of his shorts with his free hand.
'can we grab a coffee?' Joey asked, pointing at a small café in the main square.
'of course, and if you're up to it, I want to show you a little place not far from here'
'i walk with my legs, not my broken arm' Joey chuckled. 'i just need caffeine, I haven't really slept'
Seb nodded. Joey approached the smiling lady behind the counter and started making her order.
'I will have a very large coffee, please. Seb, anything?' she asked, in German. The driver shook his head, giving her a smile. He never told her how much sexier she looked when she spoke his native tongue.
'maybe a pastry to take away too? Actually I'll have a Spritzkuchen' Joey continued. 'amazing, thank you' she gave the woman some cash, placing the change into the tip jar.
'bloody lovely' Joey stated, after a long sip from her takeaway cup. 'shall we?'
'we shall' Seb smiled. 'let's go, it's this way' he turned into a narrow road by the side of the castle.
Joey followed Seb up a couple of windy paths that led them to the top of the hill, overlooking the historic centre. A few young couples were sitting on the scattered benches, enjoying the sunshine and doing what young couples did best.
'are you really telling me we came all the way up here just for a smooch session? Sebastian we are not teenagers anymore' Joey teased him.
'no, we are not. Because you're a child' he joked, barely hiding his nerves. 'you have sugar all over your face' he softly brushed the sugar off of her top lip. 'wanna go see the view?'
'sure why not?'
Joey was leaning on the railing, taking in the beauty of Sebastian's hometown. Sure, to her, nothing beat the green countryside of her native land, but Germany was a close second. She has learned to love it as a second home during her time racing in the country... and the people couldn't have made her feel more welcome. She took a deep breath in, thinking about all the good memories she had made during her time racing. And the good memories she had made with Seb. She couldn't believe they would be celebrating their first year anniversary imminently.
'Jo?' Seb's voice brought her back to reality. She turned around to him and found him bending over on one knee. She gasped.
'Since the day I met you... I knew you were something special. I knew I wanted to spend any time I had with you. The time we had apart... it broke me... but it made me realise that I don't want to spend even a second without you.'
'seb' she sobbed. Her left hand covering her mouth.
'I already consider myself to be the luckiest man alive, but Josephine Aisling O'Shea, would you give me the honour of being my wife?' he opened the ring box in his hand and looked at her with hopeful eyes.
Joey was shocked and frozen. She knew exactly what she wanted to say but the words just couldn't leave her mouth. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sebastian was on one knee, proposing to her with her mother's engagement ring.
'I...' she tried. 'Seb'
Seb's heart was pounding ever faster. Was she going to reject him?
'of course I'll marry you' she sobbed.
Seb jumped up, the feeling of dread and the pit in his stomach finally lifted. He took her shaking hand and placed the ring on her finger, before kissing her deeply.
A couple of bypassing people started clapping. Joey looked at her fiancée in disbelief.
'you realise this is not going to stay private for long, right?' she joked.
'i want everyone to know you're mine' he replied. 'you're the love of my life, Jo'
'i can't believe this fits, last I tried it on it was a couple of sizes too big' she stated, looking at her left hand.
'well your dad told me you were 8 when he promised you you could have it.'
'Dad!! Does he know?' she suddenly realised.
'no, of course not. I have gone through his private property and stole your mother's engagement ring' Seb joked.
'no time for sass, Mr. Vettel' Joey pouted.
'your dad gave me it when you moved from London, along with his blessing' he reassured her.
'damn. He must really like you to trust you with this'
'yeah, Kat said the same' Seb smiled, pulling her into a hug.
'did everyone know apart from me?' Joey asked.
'Basically. I need to let my parents know they can start cooking, I told them we might not go if you said no' he joked.
'how could I ever say no to you? Let's get going, I'm staaarving'
'your priorities are always straight' Seb smiled.
When Joey and Seb walked into the Vettel's back garden, the chatter from the other guests suddenly stopped. Everyone turned around to look at them, silently expecting the couple to say something.
Verner jumped up at the couple, moving from Joey to Seb, barking loudly.
'hello bubba' Joey greeted him. 'Hello, Vettels' she added.
'so??' Fabian asked, eagerly.
'so what?' she asked, smirking.
'oh come on, you know what!' he groaned.
'oh, you mean this?' she wiggled her left hand towards him. 'nothing too serious, right, Seb?'
'oh yeah' he agreed with a smirk. 'we just got engaged' he shrugged. 'what are you cooking, dad?'
'sebastian!!!' Heike shrieked. 'oh my god, Joey! You said yes! Oh god, Norb! We have a wedding to plan' she clapped her hand excitedly. 'oh honey' she pulled her son and soon to be daughter in law in a tight hug, catching Fabian in the middle of it. 'welcome to the family, darling'
Joey smiled, even in the tight bear hug Heike had placed her in.
'congratulations, you two' Norbert added, giving them a hug too.
'you're stuck with him now' Fabian grinned.
'and with you, I suppose' she retorted. She looked at Seb who had the biggest grin she had seen on him since the beginning of the season. 'guess I could do loads worse' she joked.