MAX POV
standing on the podium by myself felt humiliating. I wanted to walk away but I forced myself through it with a fake smile. when everything was done I saw George standing talking to Christian and I assumed it was about Belle so I left before they saw me.
"Hey Verstappen" I heard someone call behind me so I turned to see George standing a few meters away.
"what do you want Russell"
"I swear if something serious had happened to belle because of your damn comments"
"what the hell are you talking about"
"thanks to you she could crash because of your damn comments. what the hell is wrong with you"
he stormed on to God knows where and I remained there motionless. it felt like I was paralyzed. it wasn't my fault that she was sensitive if she took something I said to heart. but at the same time I couldn't sound good from feeling some kind of guilt but I hardly knew why because I didn't care for the girl.
I waved those thoughts away and went to the media and did some interviews. of course everyone would ask questions about Belle. as if I knew how she felt. finally i lost my temper and walked away and i couldn't care less what everyone said.
BELLE POV
I had been allowed back to my hotel room and George didn't leave my side for a second. He was always trying to get me to eat something, whether it was a bite of an apple or a whole meal. I was very thankful that he hadn't said anything to my parents so they just thought it was due to dehydration.
I had been ordered by George to go with him to Australia and take it easy before the Grand Prix. Danny had come up with something that some would do. I packed my things and got ready to go. George took my bag and we went down to the lobby to leave.
"George you know I can take my own bag right"
"yeah, but I'm your brother and you have your problems right now so I'll help"
I sighed but refused to protest. I sat in the passenger seat and looked out the window as we headed towards the plane. when I woke up we were there and we got on the plane and George immediately suggested a game of chess.
____________
Danny had decided that me and a few others would go out camping. I didn't understand why because there were lots of scary animals that could probably kill me. The only ones I knew would be there were Danny, George and Lando but I knew more would be there.
I was in the car with Danny, my brother and Lando and we were blasting music very loud. I stuck my head out the window and felt free. I hadn't felt that feeling in a long time and I knew nothing could ruin it this weekend. Or at least that's what I thought.
we had arrived at the spot Danny had chosen to camp at and I must say it looked very nice. The others who were supposed to arrive hadn't arrived yet, so we who were now there started to set up the tents. I was going to share a tent with Lando after George complained that I was snoring too loudly, everyone knew it was actually him who snores.
we heard the sound of a car coming closer and I was curious who else would come. the car parked next to ours and out came: Charles, Carlos Mick and the one I hoped wouldn't show up... Max.
when I saw him step out, they felt like everything stopped. why hadn't Danny said he was coming? most likely it was that Danny knew I wouldn't be coming along then. they arrived and everyone greeted me with a hug, Max of course didn't look at me. They started setting up their tent and I put on music on the speaker we had brought.
Charles had brought an inflatable boat with him and was trying to blow it up. I went into the tent and changed and luckily Lando didn't come in and see me half naked. When Charles had managed to inflate it we jumped in the water and it was a little cold but not so you couldn't swim.
I twisted the boat away from Charles and climbed in. Mick also tried to climb up but instead he did so they both fell back into the water. When I came up to the surface of the water I was met by Mick. I splashed water on him and when he started attacking me I tried to swim away from him. I turned to see if he was still after me but he was nowhere to be seen.
I felt some hands on my waist and was lifted up from the water. I screamed at the sudden touch and I looked behind and saw that it was Mick who had lifted me out of the water. Mick smiled his cute smile and I felt everyone around us disappear for a moment. When I was dropped back down and about to swim back to shore I was greeted by some blue eyes staring at me. I ignored Max and went up to dry myself while the others continued to bathe.
after a while the others came up and dried themselves. Danny tried to start a fire but failed so I went over to him to help him. I started over and put everything back together and wrestled the lighter from Danny's hand.
"how can you be so good at starting fires, you're not a serial killer huh" Danny asked with a look of fear on his face but his voice revealed he was joking.
"damn you got me" I laughed and Danny burst out laughing too and put his arm around my shoulder.
The others came forward and sat around the fire. I sat next to Danny and Mick while Max sat across from me next to the Ferrari guys. when the sun started to set, Daniel got up to get sausages for us to eat. I looked at George awkwardly but George glared at me as a way of saying just one bite was enough.
I struggled to eat but took two bites just so the others wouldn't get suspicious. I saw that George was proud of me because I ate something which made me proud of myself.
The fire was starting to die down so I offered to go look for more sticks and branches that we could use. it had now gotten dark outside so I didn't dare to go alone. what if a giant spider decided to eat me.
"can someone come with me"
everyone looked at each other as if to decide who would come along.
"Mick, me and Danny guard the things and you Belle, Max, Lando, Carlos and Charles can go look" George said.
I sighed but was glad not to have to go alone with Max. we entered the forest and started looking for sticks on the ground. however, we had taken the one that was close before so we needed to go further in and I swore to myself that I didn't stay with the others.
after a few minutes and very far into the forest I finally started to find sticks. the only thing that dissolved the forest was the moon that had risen in the sky. I thought it was far too quiet and I couldn't hear the others talking anymore. think, they would have left me alone to die. overdramatic I know..
I crouched down to pick up a stick with my free hand when I heard someone coming up behind me. I assumed it was Lando or one of the Ferrari guys so I turned to face them.
"where are the others" Max asked when he saw that it was me he had met.
"I have no idea"
he let out a sigh and turned and called out to them but no answer came. I got up and started walking in the direction I thought our camp was. I heard Max follow me and I swore to myself. I couldn't bear to be with him right now.
after we had been walking for a while I stopped and realized we were lost. I stopped so suddenly that Max entered me which resulted in me dropping all the sticks I had in my arms.
"watch where the hell you're going" I snorted at the Dutchman
"don't stop all of a sudden then"
I picked up my cell phone to call Lando but I saw that I had no coverage. I felt defeated and didn't know what to do so I sat down on a rock. Max walked around in circles a few meters from me and tried to call them but even he realized it was useless as neither of us had any coverage."what the hell are we going to do" Max said leaning against a tree.
"I do not know"
there was a cold wind that made me shiver. I hadn't put on anything warm because I just thought I'd be gone for a few minutes. I couldn't see Max unless it was because of the moon and I saw him studying me.
"Do you want to borrow my shirt"
"why are you trying to be nice now"
"I don't think Christian or George will be happy if I tell them you died because you weren't wearing warm clothes"
"thanks but no thanks, I'm fine by myself"
"obviously not" Max said taking off his thick sweater and throwing it at me
"I said I don't need it" I said as I tossed his shirt back
I got up again and started walking again to find the others. i refused to be lost in a forest with the person i hate most of all. Max was muttering a lot of nonsense behind me but couldn't understand what he was saying, and to be honest I didn't really care either.
we had now been gone for over an hour and my legs were aching. I stopped and this time Max had seen that I stopped and managed to stop in time. I checked my mobile to see if I had any coverage but as I had thought I didn't.
I laid down on the ground and closed my eyes.
"what the hell are you doing Russell"
"what does it look like"
"I see an idiot laying down on the ground"
"I can't bear to walk anymore and I'm tired. I've accepted that I'm going to die"
Max started to move on but I refused to move any more and I felt myself start to freeze even more. I knew Max thought I was going to follow him but I couldn't care less. I remained on the ground and looked up at the sky. I closed my eyes and didn't hear footsteps coming.
I let out a small scream as two hands lifted me up. I tried to wriggle free but to no avail. I thought it was some kidnapper but when I got used to the dark I saw that it was Max who had torn me apart.
"let me down Verstappen"
"I'm tired of you being stubborn, and I'm not going to get scolded by Christian for letting you stay in a forest and become food for dangerous animals or a cannibal"
I tried to fight against Max's grip but he was stronger than me. We started walking, or yes Max started walking and I couldn't resist anymore so I hung over Max's shoulder as if I had no bones in my body.
"I'm freezing" I said and was finally dropped to the ground. His sudden movement caused me to fall to the ground again.
"take my shirt then"
"I'd rather be cold than wear your clothes"
"Damn you stubborn AND clumsy" he said trying to put his shirt on me. I tried to fight back because I refused to wear his clothes. He had managed to get my shirt on somehow and I hadn't thought how close he had been but when I looked up he was only inches away from me.
he let out a breath that sent shivers down my spine. He stood up and held out his hand for me to take and I reluctantly took it. We started walking again and I couldn't stop thinking about Max being so close to me. I got a strange feeling in my body that he had offered his shirt and refused to leave me alone.
I felt a strange feeling in my body that I couldn't put my finger on. why did it feel good when his hands touched my body? why didn't he leave me if he didn't like me now? why didn't wearing his shirt feel bad? I realized that I must be confused because how could I think such thoughts.I had been so deep in my thoughts that I had not heard voices. I entered Max because I had so much on my mind.
"there you are, where have you been" Lando said and ran up to me and hugged me.
"eh.. you... you disappeared"
"we didn't find you so we thought you had gone back so we left"
I heard in Lando's voice that he felt guilty that they had left me alone, especially with Max. Everyone knew that Max and I didn't get along, it was no secret and everyone thought we were going to kill each other.
we went back to camp and sat down. I hoped no one would notice I was wearing Max's shirt but of course Lando would.
"isn't that Max's shirt" Lando whispered in my ear.
"I'll tell you everything that happened when we going inside the tent" I whispered back
we sat for a while talking around the fire until it went out. Feeling tired, I laid my head on Lando's shoulder. I felt him put his head on mine before we got up and went to the tent and I could tell you all that had happened.