Italics: Finnish
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ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : Endless Summer
"I got that feeling again
like it's an endless summer."
There were times when Anneli Räikkönen confused Max Verstappen. There was a time when she made him laugh or smile at her. She had yet to make him cry, which was always good. However, up until now, Max had never been scared of Anneli.
He trusted her and her driving...but she showed no remorse for the harsh terrain of the Switerzland mountains.
It was the first time he'd seen how she lived in the place she grew up and where she planned to live for the foreseeable future. She thrived in the snow, seemingly unbothered by the cold at all or the wind that would blow her ponytail behind her. When she was driving, she didn't flinch when her wheel slid slightly or if a piece of ice fell on her window from a tree. It was just Anneli.
Max knew what the movie Frozen was from his previous girlfriend's daughter and understood why Anneli's sister referred to her as such.
On the other hand, Max was sure that if he wasn't as laid back as he was, Anneli's family would have scared him by now. Every time Kimi talked to Anneli in Finnish, Max swore it was about him amplified by the fact Kimi would glance at him.
Kimi liked Max but he wasn't going to let him know that.
After a few days, Anneli made a joke out of the fact she and her dad talked about Max without him being able to understand before offering to teach her Finnish so he could. Max naturally accepted even though part of him did find it funny.
"What was it this time?" Max questioned as they left the house.
"Dad has been trying to stop me closing my bedroom door while you're here," Anneli joked, kissing Max's cheek,"I remind him that we are adults and we are not—"
"Oh my god," Max snorted. "I get the point. I bet he did not like that?"
"No," Anneli smirked. "But now he will stop treating me like a thirteen-year-old with a teenage boy in her room even if you are as immature—"
"I'm offended."
"You should be."
Max and Anneli laughed at each other as they drove through the snowy areas. Surprisingly, Max wasn't a bad passenger and didn't try to take over which Anneli liked. Sometimes he'd make small comments when Anneli got frustrated at other drivers but because they were reasonably far out from town, there weren't that many people around.
"Why haven't you learnt German if you've lived here all your life?" Max questioned curiously. "Isn't it spoken most?"
"Yes but the majority of people know English and I much prefer Finnish over German," Anneli shrugged. "Talking of...I need to go and visit Mama. Do you want to go before we head to Monaco?"
"That's going to make our schedule very busy," Max reminded. "If you want to, sure."
"I prefer being busy," Anneli admitted.
"Where are we going anyway?" Max questioned, looking out of the window.
"We...are..." Anneli stalled, wondering whether she was going to tell him or not. "Guess."
"I don't know, are you going to throw me off a mountain?" Max joked with a grin.
"Do you want me to? I know one right across town," Anneli retorted, rolling her eyes with a smirk.
"What's the alternative?"
"We drive ten more minutes to annoy Seb, Robyn, Charles, Arthur, and Mick."
"I prefer the second plan."
"Lovely!" Anneli beamed. "Since they're snowboarding with us tomorrow, they are staying at my house. Dad isn't thrilled with all the guests, he's not a people person but Mick doesn't count so really, it's just three guests...he will get over it."
"Why are we going to Seb's if they are staying with us?" Max wondered, tilting his head.
"Anneli and Mick wanted to visit Seb anyway and their flight got in early in the morning," Anneli admitted. "So Seb picked them up."
Max nodded in understanding as Anneli focused on the road. Like she said, it only took ten minutes before she was pulling up the driveway of Sebastian's house. Through the large window on the front, he could see Robyn twirling around a little girl while Charles laughed, clearly one of Sebastian's kids.
It was times like these when Max understood what it was like for Charles to be with Robyn. People that Max had raced against and never really knew on a personal level out of racing, like Kimi, Sebastian, and Felipe...were people that Anneli considered family and he'd just have to get used to seeing them more regularly. It was the same for Charles who suddenly had Seb as Robyn's 'unofficial dad' and her brother Oliver who was a known MotoGP racer.
The ways that connected people together could be crazy.
"Neli," Sebastian's voice came from the doorway.
The Finnish woman, who'd stepped out of the driver's seat, grinned widely and made a run for Sebastian to engulf him in a hug. Max trailed lightly after her as Sebastian smiled at him.
"Hi, Seb!" Anneli said happily.
"You're very happy," Sebastian hummed in amusement. "This new lifestyle had changed you...in a good way."
"I don't know what you're referring to," Anneli replied calmly.
"Sure," Sebastian replied sarcastically.
He moved out the way so Anneli and Max could enter the house. Immediately, Anneli was being hugged by a sweet nine-year-old girl, who had been previously being spun around by Robyn, who had also entered the room with Mick and Charles.
"Hei, Emilie," Anneli smiled.
"Hei!" Emilie replied sweetly, her German accent mixing with the Finnish word. "You haven't visited in ages!"
"I'm sorry," Anneli replied softly. "I haven't been home much. If I buy you ice cream, will you stop being mad at me?
Emilie Vettel gave an excited nod and Anneli winked at her. Then Anneli locked eyes with a tall Monegasque with curly brown hair and a kind style. While she didn't see her former teammate as much, he had a place in her heart now.
"Leclerc."
"Räikkönen."
"Get here right now and hug me or I will push you off a mountain," Anneli demanded. "You get one hug a year, that's it."
"A hug, just for me?" Arthur grinned as he embraced Anneli. "I feel so special."
"Don't get used to it," Anneli reminded as she stepped away. "However, you were a much better teammate than my former Dams partner and you're the only one I considered my friend so I will allow you to feel special."
Arthur laughed as a very gorgeous Mercedes driver jumped out from behind him. Arthur jumped slightly, though still laughing, as Robyn Saunders winked at him.
"Hey, Nel!" Robyn greeted.
"I have arrived to be your taxi driver," Anneli bowed.
"Say your prayers, she's dangerous in the snow," Max joked.
It would take someone who was obvious to realise that Max and Anneli had a very interesting dynamic going on. They'd always playfully offend each other to a reasonable amount they knew was acceptable, attempting to come up with the best comebacks, before both ending up laughing anyway. Anneli liked to think it kept things alive and it was a style of romance she was quite enjoying rather than the sweet 'lovey' thing people had going on.
"Anneli scares me all the time!" Robyn commented lightly.
"I do?" Anneli raised her eyebrow.
"You can be scary," Robyn pointed out. "Not horror scary, more like...you're so chill with things that it scares me."
The blonde simply shrugged as she waved at Hanna, Sebastian's wife.
The group sat down and chatted for a short while since Anneli hadn't visited in a while and wanted to catch up with the Vettels. Charles and Max occupied themself with their own conversation as the trio that were commonly known as 'Seb's godchildren' by the fans chatted with Sebastian.
"Have you been snowboarding since...well, it happened," Mick questioned Anneli, referring to Elijah.
"Of course I have, I didn't let that dickhead ruin my life, Mick," Anneli replied coolly. "Dad got me a new board and I was back up there with Levi and Joel."
"Danny Ric is bringing his friend Scotty to battle you," Robyn informed her. "Did Max tell you?"
"Yes," Anneli laughed. "I find it quite funny. He is a professional snowboarder but I think he does tricks, not the style of snowboarding I do."
"But he's a professional snowboarder so you two should give us a good battle?" Robyn insisted.
"Anneli does not give up so it should be entertaining," Sebastian pointed out.
Truth be told, Anneli did not know all that much about Scotty James. All she knew was that he was Daniel Ricciardo's best friend, he was an Australian snowboarder, and...he was married to Lance Stroll's sister (she'd never get over that). She wondered how funny it must have been for Daniel to just be hanging around Lance outside of track but Anneli was pretty sure they weren't really friends, though everyone got along with Daniel.
"Also Nel, you need to spend more time with Mick because he's going insane without you," Sebastian joked, patting Mick's shoulder. "You're both on the grid now, you should be okay."
"The black and gold really suits you, Mick," Robyn added, referring to the Lamborghini brand."If only it would help you pass me—"
"Oi!" Mick glared at Robyn. "I overtook you last week—"
"That's only because you undercut me!"
"Don't fight," Anneli said, rolling her eyes. "I will overtake both of you next weakened."
"In an Alpha Tauri?" Mick and Robyn asked in unison.
Sebastian had a dumbfounded expression as he looked between the three of them.
"If I do not get some sort of high scoring or podium this season, I'm going to be in Alpha Tauri yet year but if I do...there may be a seat for me elsewhere."
"Are you trying to steal Checo's seat?" Robyn questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh...yes?"
"Serial Seat stealer, ha!" Robyn laughed. "I love it. I love Checo but you and Max together in a team would be chaos."
"I'm not sure Max and I would survive in a team together," Anneli muttered. "He wouldn't expect me to hand over race wins to him and I'd be damn sure I'd keep up with him a lot more than Checo has."
"Do you want to know a secret?"
Her words were very soft, an unlike-Anneli feature, and her eyes shined with secrets that swam within. Whatever she knew was important, the group knew that much, but it also appeared as if there was some fear behind them too.
"A secret?" Seb questioned. "You don't keep secrets."
"This is very new and I haven't had the chance to tell anyone and I'm not sure if I even should."
"We won't tell anyone, not even Max if you don't want us to," Max promised.
"I had a call from Christian Horner the day after the race," Anneli began. "Asking if I wanted a seat at Red Bull. At first, I thought it was just a general question to be curious but then he told me Perez was in two minds about retiring this year."
"He wants you to replace him," Sebastian concluded.
"They can't get Lando or Robyn like they wanted. It's between Yuki, Checo and I in reality. If I don't perform well enough then Perez will finish his contract until next year but if Red Bull thinks I'll do well in the seat, they'll let him leave early," Anneli explained quietly. "I will always do what is best for me but I'm not sure I can be a second driver to Max."
"Neli, you are one of the only people I know who would never be a second driver to Max," Sebastian laughed, placing a hand on her shoulder as he turned to glance at Max. "He wouldn't expect that of you and by the end of the season, Christian won't either."
"He's their golden boy, Seb," Anneli reminded.
"Maybe but I thought Lando was McLaren's golden boy and look at Oscar," Robyn pointed out. "They're doing well now. As for working well together, George and I have done just fine together, he's still his British self and I'm his fun-loving best friend! Lewis gave me so many tips on how to avoid another Rosburg situation."
"Why don't you talk to Max about it?" Mick suggested. "His reaction will tell you what he thinks."
Anneli gave a short nod.
Truth be told, she wasn't sure if Red Bull was going to be the best team for her but they had been the ones to give her a chance when no other team would. Sure, Lamborghini would have taken her but now they had Mick and Daniel with no intention of giving them up. What other choice did she have?
Besides, as her dad always said "she didn't have to do it if she didn't want to".
"Enough race talk," Anneli demanded, standing up. "Are you ready to head out?"
"I'll go grab our cases," Mick nodded and followed Robyn upstairs.
Sebastian smiled at Anneli and pat on the back before excusing himself to help Hanna make dinner. Anneli made her way towards Max and Charles, who were both in a deep maxplaining and Leclarifying conversation. Arthur was just sat on his phone as he watched the pair in amusement.
"We're leaving in a minute," Anneli announced. "Sorry for causing you trouble Seb."
"You never cause us trouble," Hanna replied before Seb did. "We like having company and Robyn and Charles are really good at babysitting for us too."
"They have experience," Anneli smiled, thinking of Mira's kids. "Bye!"
"Drive safely!" Seb reminded.
"I always do!"
I wrote this chapter to my 'crippling anxiety vibes' playlist and It's literally the only playlist I write to now and I'm not sure that's a good thing...Considering the chapter normally goes with the vibe of the song I'm on. It could be anything from the Cha Cha Cha to look what you made me do sooo