"Look after yourself, do as you're told. Remember to drink. Oh and take your painkillers" Darcey ordered down the phone while she walked through the busy airport. Now if you didn't know Nate you'd think this was overbearing and excessive. But considering the time Darcey left him for a week and then returned to find mouldy plates and a flooded bathroom. It's necessary.
"Since when did you become my mother?" Nate exclaimed, teasing her because he knew it rubbed her the wrong way and he just loved how easy she was to wind up.
"Just behave alright?" Darcey sighed
"..Well now that you've said that, I'm going to try as hard as I can not to." Nate laughed on the other side, she could almost feel his smirk.
Half of her was thankful he was still able to joke and laugh right now, as she could remember that being one of the first things her father lost. He was so tired and grumpy all the time, the only time he actually seemed to smile was when he saw Jenson on that top step.
"How old are you again? Six?"
"No, seven and a half actually"
"God you're annoying"
"Am I? It's not like you say it like 20 times every day"
"Well maybe there's a reason for that" Darcey pointed out, "Just promise me you'll be good and stop flirting with that nurse."
"Why, jealous?" Nate chuckled "Can't say I blame her though"
"And on that note I've got to board my flight" Darcey spoke as she made her way over to the gate, now catching up with the rest of the team. "I'll call when I can"
"Don't worry about me, go and have fun. Oh and tell Seb he owes me £20"
"He what?" Darcey uttered before the call ended, she shook her head while she chuckled to herself. Sebastian had also become a recurring visitor in the hospital and strangely enough, it felt as if Darcey was third-wheeling at times.
"Hurry up, you don't want to miss your flight as well now do we?" Brad pushed past Darcey, his comment seemed like a joke but Darcey knew better. She had missed the groups get together for Brad's birthday while she was staying with Nate in the hospital. Of course, Brad didn't know that, but she was surprised to hear the harshness in his tone.
"I'm coming" She muttered, feeling the guilt all over again.
A normal Friday practice session was exactly what Darcey needed, the chance to switch off and focus on the task at hand. The last part wasn't going quite to plan, however, as her eyes always seemed to gravitate towards their driver at the back of the garage. But she wasn't the only one struggling to focus.
"Why are you staring at me?" Darcey whispered as she stepped closer to him, taking in his musky scent as he cooled down after a hot lap. She looked at him with the corner of her eyes trying not to make it too obvious.
"What, no...I was not." Sebastian blurted out, a bit too loud for Darcey's liking, as she wasn't ready for the rest of the team to know. She didn't even fully know herself what this meant for the two of them.
"I saw you!" Darcey teased him, he knew what she was trying to do. But Seb wasn't having any of it.
"So you're the one who was staring at me!" His voice caused Darcey to feel weak at the knees, she almost forgot where they were for a second until she heard his giggling to himself as he got up from his chair. Sebastian had already casually strolled over to the strategy wall before Darcey was able to put two words together.
"Wha-- That doesn't make sense!" Darcey fumbled over her words yet again at the hands of the German driver.
Sebastian went on to lead the pack going into the weekend, closely followed by his teammate Mark Webber. But with a small chance of rain for Sunday and plenty of questions over tyres, there is plenty to play for looking forward.
Later the team skipped the Italian cruise and were heading straight for the fancy cocktail bars in the city centre. Darcey made a mental note to keep away from any type of shot, not wanting to throw up in front of Seb again. The flashbacks still haunted her to this day.
Darcey had just finished getting ready in her hotel room for one, as Kendall had practically moved in with Scotty now, when there was a knock at the door.
"I thought we could take the motorbike for a spin?" Sebastian smirked as he bit his lip, he wore his dark blue jeans and long-sleeved henley top which showed just the right amount of chest hair. "You know for old times sake"
"What sights are you taking me to this time?" Darcey asked as she locked her room, then turning to face Sebastian who stood only inches away from her.
"Welche Sehenswürdigkeiten gibt es hier noch, außer dir?" Seb winked, relishing in the look Darcey was giving him as he spoke his native tongue.
"And what does that mean Mr Vettel?" She spoke softly.
"It means what other sights are there to see, except for you?" He whispered, looking rather impressed with himself. His voice trickled down her spine, tickling her neck as he moved in closer. They were millimetres away from unlocking the door and calling it a night when her phone vibrated in her pocket.
"It's Kendall, she's wondering where we are" Darcey sighed, strolling through the messages on her phone. One of them being from Brad but she left that part out.
"Geez, we must be late if she's there before us" Seb laughed, remember the time they used to waste waiting for Kendall before a night out. They eventually worked out they could grab one at the hotels in the time it would take waiting on her.
Luckily the cocktail bar wasn't too far from her hotel, but it looks as if they'd have to skip the tour this time around.
"Sorry we're late, we lost track of time"
Better late than never, Darcey and Sebastian made their appearance and were met with chanting and wolf whistles. Darcey felt herself growing redder and redder, which only encouraged Scott more.
"Leave them alone Scott, at least some of us are still in the honeymoon phase" Kendall muttered across at her boyfriend, who had already swapped the date nights for games night with the lads.
They laughed, they ate and they drank and Darcey found herself forgetting her problems. This was what Darcey needed, normality, to be surrounded by the people who she had grown so close to. That seemed like family by now. For the first time in weeks she wasn't worried about what the future would hold, all the mattered was the here and now.
The night grew dark and with no signs of calling it quits the guys decided to order another round of drinks for the table. Non-alcoholic drinks of course.
"So what took you so long then?" Kendall asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend as Darcey knew exactly what she was getting at.
"Well if you hadn't have texted me we might've never come" Darcey uttered, then quickly reached for her drink while Kendall freaked out.
"I knew it!" The pair giggled between themselves, the guys looked back wondering what all the noise was about. Sebastian smiled to himself as he admired how beautiful she looked when she laughed and how happy she was right now. It was good to see her smile again.
"Isn't it strange how much has changed in just a year" Darcey explained as she pulled a face, "I mean who would've thought you and Scott would end up together?"
"I definitely didn't" Kendall laughed "But that's the funny thing about love it sneaks up on you when you least expect it, and then suddenly you can't imagine them not being in your life"
Kendall noticed that Darcey was no longer paying attention but was instead staring across the bar as Sebastian spoke with some other mechanics before returning to the table.
"But you already know that" Kendall teased, "You love him, don't you?"
"I don't love anyone." Darcey snarked, downplaying the whole thing even though his touch made her feel weak and his voice gave her goosebumps. She knew exactly what that meant.
"But he's not just anyone, is he?" Her friend was right, he had more than proved himself in these last couple of weeks and Darcey couldn't deny her feelings for him any longer.
"Talking about me?" Sebastian surprised both the girls as he reappeared drinks in hand.
"You wish" Darcey smirked as she accepts her drink from Sebastian before he made himself comfortable next to her. They just sat staring at each other for a moment while the rest of the table disappeared.
You see when Darcey looked at Seb, everything in her world made sense. he put the sun, moon, and stars in her sky, he made her feel whole again. Nate was right when he said Seb had brought back the old Darcey, the one who danced when nobody was watching and wasn't afraid to speak her mind. He wasn't just anyone, he was her saviour.
But then for the second time that evening, her mobile phone had interrupted the two."Sorry, I've gotta get this. It's Nate" Darcey got up from the table, leaving Sebastian watch her leave.
It took her a good minute to find a place quiet enough to speak to him, away from all the chaos and noise. Growing more concerned by the second, what if something was wrong?
"Hey, is everything okay?" Darcey asked, actually quite concerned given the fact he had called in the first place.
"Yeah, just bored" Nate replied, which honestly made Darcey want to strangle him through the phone for worrying her for nothing.
"Just bored? So you thought you'd give me a mini heart attack by phoning me out of the blue?" Darcey said sarcastically, before sighing. "How are you feeling after the chemo?"
Nate was quite for a second "Yeah, fine. Tired but that's probably all the medication they have me on" Darcey nodded slowly "You know I can't actually see you nodding right?"
"Then how do you know I'm nodding?"
"Because I know you" Nate expressed, chuckling to himself "And you haven't changed a bit since we met, you still don't know your left from your right and you still avoid the cracks in the pavement"
"Did you really phone just to mock me" Darcey laughed as she stood outside the bar, watching the world go by.
"Pretty much" Nate sniggered, then cleared his throat "And I just wanted to hear your voice, make sure that you're having a good time"
"I am, having a good time and maybe one day you can come with us too. I'm sure your new best mate Seb could sort some tickets out for you" Darcey giggled as she smiled at the thought of the two main men in her life being right beside her.
"Already on it" Nate stated, "Anyway I guess I'll leave you to it. Bye Darc"
"Speak to you soon" Darcey sang through the phone, she held her phone to her chest for a moment before making her way back into the bar to join the others.
But when Darcey returned, something had changed and the atmosphere seemed tense and not at all how she left it. They soon called it a night without much of an explanation. Sebastian had barely spoken two words as they made their way back to the hotel, all you could hear was the sound of the city surrounding them.
"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight Liebling" Sebastian went to leave when Darcey grabbed his hands and held them in her own.
"Thank you for tonight. No thank you for everything. For always being there when I needed you and for being you" Darcey could feel her heart racing, like it was threatening to break through at any given moment. "Seb, I...don't know what I'd do without you" But she chickened out at the last minute. Why were those words so hard to say?
"Let's hope you never have to find out" Seb smiled, but you could see he wanted more from her.
"Goodnight Seb" She nodded, letting go of his hands and walking into her hotel for the night.
Red Bull's pace saw them to the front of the grid, with Hulkenberg and Massa behind them. At the start, Sebastian led the race from pole position with Massa jumping up into second position, ahead of Webber and Alonso. But luckily enough, Webber managed to leapfrog Massa during the pit stops but found himself stuck behind the Alonso's Ferrari. Sebastian went on to win the 2013 Italian Grand Prix, his sixth win of the season, ahead of Alonso and teammate Webber.
Once the celebrations ended and the pack down had been completed, Darcey waited for Sebastian in his drivers room. He had been busy with interviews and she had yet to see him since he stood on top of the podium.
"Hi" She heard his voice from behind her "Have you got any plans tonight?" Sebastian asked as he wrapped his arms around Darcey's waist. He had just finished his last interview and was happy to see her there waiting for him.
"No, why? What have you got in mind?" Darcey hummed, as she could still feel his stubble against her neck. And the stickiness left behind from the champagne showers.
"Remember when I asked if you wanted to come to this Italian restaurant with me?" Seb explained "And then you turned up with the whole damn team"
Darcey couldn't help but laugh at the comment, "Well maybe if you had actually made it clear you wanted it to be only me" She teased the driver now turning round to face him.
"Fine, can I take you on a date? I know this really good Italian restaurant in town." Seb asked before planting a small kiss on her lips "And I mean you and only you. No plus one's, okay?"
"Okay, see you at 6" Darcey winked before leaving to collect her stuff from upstairs.
It was 5:45 pm and Darcey had just spent the best part of twenty minutes practising how to say I love you in german. She figured it was her new way of saying it, at least for now and then maybe it won't be so hard to say.
While Sebastian was already on his way to meet her at the hotel, but he had to stop when he heard his phone go off in his jacket pocket. He paused for a second after reading the same on his screen, confusion edged across his face.
"Hello?"
Darcey was ready, listening out for Sebastian's famous knock at any moment when her phone buzzed from across the room. She smiled as she saw the name pop up.
"Hey!"