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For What It's Worth - Chapter 6

Max Verstappen x Reader

Chapter 6: What line is he willing to cross? 

Chapter summary: Carlos flirts and Max is willing to risk it all to make sure he figures this out properly. 

Warnings: Swearing. 

Word Count: 2791

Authors note: Hello, I’m back, life is slightly less hectic so hello :D This chapter is slightly shorter, it has taken me forever to write and it is a little more hectic, but I am really excited with where this story is heading :D I can’t wait to hear what you all think :)

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______

Lando could hear people shouting for him as he sprinted through the paddock, panting as his feet hit the ground below him, pushing him forward. He would never admit it, but you and Max had made him believe in true love, that there was someone for everyone in this world that so often made you feel alone, that maybe all of those rom-coms might actually be on to something, and since you had made him believe in that, he was going to make sure he played a role in getting you and Max together. 

So he ignored the burn in his lungs and how hard Carlos’driver room door was as he ran into it, forced to spend an extra precious couple of seconds, which Max really depended on, trying to get the door open in his panic. 

Both Lando and Carlos flinched as the door hit the wall from the force that Lando swung it open and from the moment that Lando recovered from the shock, Carlos was subject to an onslaught of information that there was no way he could possibly follow. 

“Slow down!” Carlos attempted to calm his friend down all while rapidly trying to process the information coming from Lando, “Did you just call Y/n hot?”

This finally shut Lando up. 

“Like Max’s Y/n?” The nod surprised Carlos, no one ever called you hot, well, not unless it was in whispered tones far, far, far away from Max. 

“Yes, Jesus, just, were you not paying attention to anything I just said?” Lando swiftly closed the door behind him, strategically standing in front of the slight chip in the wall that now existed.

 “How can anyone pay attention-” he was getting sidetracked, he needed to understand exactly what was happening with you and Lando, “Are you seeing her?”

“Who?” A confused look instantly adorned Landos face as he tried to catch up to Carlo’s question. 

“Y/N, You know, Max’s girl? I gotta know, is it like a shared agreement between the three of you or are you actually seeing Max’s girl behind his back?” Carlos couldn't help the unamused look on his friends face and he couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him as he continued, “Or is this you asking me how to make a move on Max’s girl?”

“Actually, I’m here to warn you that she’s coming to make a move on you.” A smug grin spread across Lando’s face as he watched the panic spread on his friend, “She’s wearing a cute little sundress on top of it, determined to get her man.”

“And she thinks that man is me?” Lando shrugged before relenting and sharing a small amount of information with Carlos. 

“She isn’t sure who it is.” The frustration seeped off of Carlos, “You going to listen to me this time round?” 

“Hurry up or get out.” And so Lado began to explain the entire story, start to finish, rushing through the parts that specifically made Max look really bad, with Carlos asking him to repeat those parts too many times and finally, between the two of them, they came up with a plan. 

One that would be kind to you and let you down easily and maybe get Max to actually make a move on you, and now all they had to do was wait until they ran into you. 

_____

Max could feel his face heat up as he watched you leave the motorhome and he was ushered into yet another meeting. He was torn between desperately trying to get your attention and not wanting to look at you for a second longer because every part of him was losing the battle of not just telling you exactly how he felt. 

How had he gotten himself into this mess, how had he finally been brave enough to say how he felt and then subsequently ended up helping you look for the love of your life? A man that you clearly were more interested in than him. 

“You’re staring” Daniel nudged him as you finally slipped out the motorhome doors, dragging his attention back to the meeting. 

“How can I not? This might be the last time I ever see her without the love of her life on her arm.” Dejection filtered through his voice as he allowed his thoughts to escape him, finally allowing himself to begin the grieving process. 

“Oh, you mean you’re finally going to tell her the truth?” Ever the optimist, Daniel couldn’t help but try and be positive about the situation, knowing deep in his soul that if any two people belonged together, it was you and Max. 

“I need you to stop.” Max couldn’t handle it. 

“Stop what?” Daniel could have guessed what he meant, but he was also willing to take advantage of any opportunity he could to convince Max that all he needed was to be a little brave. 

There was a long silence as Max picked at his nail beds, seeking out any distraction from the truth. 

“Giving me hope.” The loudest Max could get out was a whisper, not risking the crack in his voice. Not risking breaking the waterline of the first tears, of many he assumed, when he truly thought about the ramifications of the situation he could only blame himself for. “Please don’t give me hope when I'm about to watch the only woman I will ever love end up with another driver.”

“All you have to be is honest Max.” The glassy eyes didn’t surprise Daniel like he thought it would, but for the first time Daniel realized just how broken Max was in this situation. What had seemed so obvious, so simple, to Daniel, was completely lost on Max. He truly did not realize that you and him were it. You were always going to be together in the end. To Max, this was the end, and he wasn’t in it with you. 

Before Max could protest an alert sounded on both their phones, the exact same message brightening their screens. 

NoRizz: Okay, don’t be mad. 

NoRizz added Chili.

Maxie: Why would I be mad? 

Chili: Because I’m standing here looking at your girl in that sundress, kind of glad you fucked up. 

Maxie: I’m going to kill you. 

NoRizz: He isn’t going to do anything. 

Chili: You didn’t tell me she looked this good. 

NoRizz: HE ISN’T GOING TO DO ANYTHING. 

BigRicc: Carlos, stay away from her until we get there. 

NoRizz: Too late. 

Maxie: What do you mean too late?

NoRizz: She saw him and now they’re talking. 

BigRicc: So stop them? Get involved in the conversation!

NoRizz: Please don’t make me do that right now. There’s a lot of touching. 

Maxie: So you’re just going to let him take my girl?

NoRizz: I mean, technically she isn’t your girl. 

BigRicc: Jesus Lando.

Maxie: I’m going to kill you. 

Maxie: Both of you. 

Daniel could literally see the water in his glass splashing over as the table shook. Max’s leg bouncing rapidly underneath the table from a combination of anxiety and rage. 

Not a single second of this meeting has been absorbed by Max and it took less then a second before Max was moving out the door of the motorhome with Daniel hot on his heels when Horner dismissed them. He rushed through the paddock frantically searching for you amongst too many people. Normally it was like you were a beacon in any space, he was always drawn to you, like you were inexplicably connected somehow, but now Max felt as if that had been severed. He couldn’t see you. He couldn’t feel you. 

He was suddenly lost. 

Suddenly your laugh rang out through the crowd and Max couldn’t help but stop for a second and admire you.

The sun on your skin as you tilted your head back, laughing at whatever Carlos has said. It didn't even matter that it wasn’t him making you laugh, you just looked so beautiful. 

Maybe he could live with you ending up with Carlos if it meant that he got to see you this happy? 

That goddamn sundress really did look good on you. 

“Carlos! There you are.” Daniel made his way past Max and over to you, glaring at a skittish Lando in the distance. 

“You were looking for me?”  Carlos didn’t even bother taking his eyes off you as he addressed the two other drivers making their way over. 

“ Yeah, I wanted to wish you luck for qualifiers, Max over here is looking pretty angry so I think I’m a little nervous for all of us out there today.”  It was both a threat and a warning to the other driver, one Carlos couldn’t help but laugh at. 

“You’re angry? Why? What's wrong? Did something happen with Horner?” Max softened entirely the moment you turned towards him, concern detached in your brows, his heart fluttered as you placed your palm to his chest, a subconscious habit you had now developed whenever Max was feeling angry or anxious, finding that the physical touch calmed him completely. 

He loved how well you knew him, even if you weren’t completely conscious of just how much you did. 

Suddenly you had turned away from him, leaning closer towards Carlos as he moved to comment. 

“I can only assume he is upset over this whole flower situation.” Confusion replaced concern on your face as Carlos couldn’t help but laugh at the cute expression. 

“Why would Max be angry over the flower situation?” Despite Max’s anxiety, he couldn’t help but smile at the exact same thing Carlos was. The tilt of your head and furrowed brows as you tried to piece together everything that was being said. 

“Because whoever sent those flowers shouldn’t be a coward and just say how he feels instead of making you run all over the grid trying to figure out who it is.”  Daniel offered up as an explanation. 

“So it wasn’t Carlos?” Max was looking directly at the driver just mentioned, the question a lot more layered than what you understood? 

“I did not get her the flowers,” a breath of relief left Max, his hand coming up to wrap around yours, anchoring himself even more in your presence, in your reality. 

He still had a chance. 

“But I did tell her that I had a pretty good idea of who it was.”  Daniel couldn’t help but feel proud of Carlos, this is what Max needed, a little bit of pressure, and they were going to make sure he was getting it from all sides. 

“And he has decided to be cruel and make me wait till he tells me just exactly who it is.” Not even your pout could distract Max from the stare he and Carlos were locked in. Carlos was going to make you wait, which meant Max had some time. 

“He has two weeks.” Two weeks. Max could do two weeks. That was enough time for him to figure this all out, “Unless he pisses me off on the track.” Another threat and warning disguised as a joke. 

Max just gave a slight nod as your head was turned away from him, a promise that he would confess in the next two weeks, a promise that he’d let Carlos win whatever he wanted if he just gave him this time to figure it out.

Max couldn’t help but think about how easy it was to get into match fixing because this entire situation has him willing to throw the entire championship out the window if that's what it took. 

“You're technically Max’s PA right?” Suddenly Lando had popped back up into the conversation. 

“I am, why?” No one liked where this was headed. 

“Could you get us all coffee?” A slap to the back of his head was followed quickly by admonishment from the entire group. 

“My PA, not yours, and she’s not the type of PA to get coffee you dick.” Max had subconsciously moved between you and Lando, challenging him. 

“Redbull, whatever, can she just please?” There was a slight desperation in Lando’s voice prompting Max to give you a pleading look, knowing that he was apologize a million times over after this.

“4 Redbulls coming up.” You rolled your eyes as you moved away from the four men, not missing the very short words Max was having with Lando regarding your treatment.

“Listen, this isn’t about, just, wait, Carlos, why did you flirt like that?” Suddenly all the attention was off of Lando and back on Carlos. 

“You flirted with her?” Daniel let out a sigh so deep it could have only come from the very depths of his soul. 

“After the way Max treated her, she deserved to have her ego boosted a little bit,” it was so obvious and so nonchalant that none of the other drivers could even say anything against it, “Plus, Jesus, that dress.” A groan left Carlos tat every single one of them couldn’t help but agree with, none of them scared of admitting it in front of Max at this point, knowing he had absolutely no leg to stand on until he made a move. 

“At least you can flirt with her.” Max couldn’t help but feel sorry for himself. 

“I mean, you could if you weren’t such a pussy.” The deadpan look he received was physically painful in its truth. 

“And she is really fun to flirt with, she gets this very rosy cheek when you do, at least it starts at her cheeks, eventually her entire chest is pink the more you -” 

“I advise you shut your mouth right now.”  Max couldn’t be damned if Carlos told, he wasn’t prepared to let him sit there and talk about you like that. 

“But apparently Carlos is so good with his mouth?” You blew a kiss towards Carlos and before he could even pretend that he had caught it, Lando had stepped in between you two, wildly moving his arms in the air, an attempt to usher off your blown kiss in another direction. 

“Don’t be gross.” All except Max and Lando laughed at his response. 

“Weren’t you just checking out my boobs all morning at breakfast?” Lando whipped his head towards Max, hyper aware of how red Max’s neck was getting. That was pure rage and Lando did not want to stick around for that. 

“You’ve done me dirty, and now since you have, I am leaving for my meeting early.” He made a big show of huffing as he turned around, urging Carlos to follow him off, all but ready to run if that's what saved his life from Max’s wrath. 

And then there were three of you, silently all deciding that it was time you made your way back to the motorhome. 

“Quali starts soon, I assume you boys need to get ready?” It was more of a statement than a question, you knew they needed to go and you were thankful for a moment to lick your wounds. That was your third rejection of the weekend and you’re not sure how many more of them you could go through. 

Before either of them could nod, you’d made your way to your work studio, ready to get this day over with, leaving Max and Daniel to get ready in their respective drivers rooms. 

As soon as Max had closed the door to his, he fully rested against the table in the middle of the room, attempting to figure out his next move as Carlos’s threat played over in his mind again and again. 

______

“Explain to me exactly how Carlos got that close to you in q3?” Daniel didn’t want to believe Max was willing to actually throw these next two weeks to keep Carlos quiet. 

“The Ferrari is quick.”  Max didn’t feel like talking, instead continuing to shove his clothes into his bag so he could just find you and get back to the hotel. 

“Not that quick. Max, you can’t let him win over some girl.” That stopped Max. 

“Not some girl.” Daniel knew what you were to him so why would this surprise him? 

“This is illegal.” Daniel couldn't believe his ears. There was no way Max was actually going to go easy on Carlos for the next two weeks. 

“I got P1, nothing illegal happened.”  He shoved his wallet into his pants and pulled out his phone ready to call you. 

“And what happens when you get closer to the deadline?” Daniel stopped him just before he could leave, stranded between the safety of the drivers room and the world outside. Stranded between a line that if crossed, he would never deserve to be a driver again. 

“She’s not some girl.” 

_____

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[lovingperfectionsblog]

So, super having to re-read your story just so you can write the next chapter of your story. Think it's been a bit too long.

[lovingperfectionsblog]

So quick update:

The next chapter is going to take some time, I have recently moved to a brand new city, and I start a new job on Wed so it will get done asap but yeah, entirely new life so I'm just giving myself the space ❤️🐞🌟🌻

[lovingperfectionsblog]

A new tool lets artists add invisible changes to the pixels in their art before they upload it online so that if it’s scraped into an AI training set, it can cause the resulting model to break in chaotic and unpredictable ways. 

The tool, called Nightshade, is intended as a way to fight back against AI companies that use artists’ work to train their models without the creator’s permission. Using it to “poison” this training data could damage future iterations of image-generating AI models, such as DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion, by rendering some of their outputs useless—dogs become cats, cars become cows, and so forth. MIT Technology Review got an exclusive preview of the research, which has been submitted for peer review at computer security conference Usenix.   

AI companies such as OpenAI, Meta, Google, and Stability AI are facing a slew of lawsuits from artists who claim that their copyrighted material and personal information was scraped without consent or compensation. Ben Zhao, a professor at the University of Chicago, who led the team that created Nightshade, says the hope is that it will help tip the power balance back from AI companies towards artists, by creating a powerful deterrent against disrespecting artists’ copyright and intellectual property. Meta, Google, Stability AI, and OpenAI did not respond to MIT Technology Review’s request for comment on how they might respond. 

Zhao’s team also developed Glaze, a tool that allows artists to “mask” their own personal style to prevent it from being scraped by AI companies. It works in a similar way to Nightshade: by changing the pixels of images in subtle ways that are invisible to the human eye but manipulate machine-learning models to interpret the image as something different from what it actually shows. 

Continue reading article here

[lovingperfectionsblog]

[lovingperfectionsblog]

"your birthday doesnt even matter after you turn 25 nothing even happens-" WRONG. when you are 25 you will try and enjoy so many new foods. you will learn the importance of probiotics and a good ice pack. you will start understanding the meaning of 'im still watching i promise im just resting my eyes'. and. you will learn the importance of a reasonably priced piece of grocery store produce

[lovingperfectionsblog]

Facts about your body after you turn 25, AKA things I wish someone had told me:

you will get hair in fun new places. this is normal and fine.

these places include (but are not limited to) if you don't already have them: your asscrack, your back, your ears, and moles. it's fine.

some of you, dick or not, will also lose hair. this is normal, but also if you have ovaries maybe get this checked out for PCOS.

your acne will probably change. some people get better. some people get worse. it's fine.

your nails will probably get an infection or a fungus at least once in your life. this is fine. (but also let your doc know).

how you gain and lose fat and where you do so will change. this is fine.

how you smell will change. this is fine. (fishy or rotten smells mean doctor time though)

if you have a prostate: it gets harder to pee. prostates enlarge as you age (get this checked regularly). this is fine.

if you do not have a prostate: it gets easier to pee but not in a good way. as in as you get older, your pelvic floor muscles tend to lose some of their strength. this makes it harder to keep pee in. this is fine.

all breasts and pectorals eventually sag, with the rest of your body. this is fine.

a decent percent of the population will experience a cyst at least once. some of you will make up for the rest with multiple. this is fine, but keep them checked out by a doctor. (sometimes this is a condition! get checked for that too!)

almost half of everyone gets hemorrhoids. it's a good idea to just expect them since your chances of getting them get higher the older you are. your toilet will look like a murder scene. definitely get your booty checked out BUT this is almost always perfectly normal. just eat more fiber. "but I already-" eat more fiber. and maybe suck it up and buy some hemorrhoid cream, you'll thank me later.

yes, this means you will probably need to make an appointment for a doctor to see your butthole. it's okay. not only do they really not care but 1. they've seen weirder that day and 2. they'd far rather you see them now than later when it's been going on for forty years and now it might be colon cancer. it's okay. consider it a rite of passage.

adults need more sleep than children. don't believe the myth that you need less than they do. that is capitalist propaganda to make you give up more of your life to the work grind, comrade.

vitamins and medicine, something you are more likely to take as you get older, sometimes make the toilet turn weird colors. it's okay.

if you still have your tonsils and get those little stones and get sore throats more than once a year you should plan on getting those suckers out before the tonsils cause an infection and go septic. if you're getting stones at all you should get those reevaluated every year, especially if the stones are bigger than a needlehead (or get bigger over time). it's gross and yucky. I don't care. get them looked at before you end up in the hospital.

you'll probably need to add foot support to your shoes if you don't already do. this is fine.

your body changes. sometimes it can feel sorta weird and upsetting that it isn't what it used to be. that is okay, and it is okay to be upset. just know that this is normal, it's normal to be upset or not upset, but don't let it hinder your quality of life. trans or cis, there is a certain level of acceptance you just gotta give your body and forgive your body for as you get older. it's okay.

it's okay. I promise.

[lovingperfectionsblog]

For What It's Worth - Chapter 5

Max Verstappen x Reader

Chapter 5: Why would you ever get flowers?

Chapter summary: Lando confirms your fears of no one being interested in you and Max learns a hard lesson from Daniel.

Warnings: Swearing. 

Word Count: 3613

Authors note: So, this chapter was weirdly difficult to write, so hopefully the next one is easier and I get it out faster than this one but yeah, inspiration was lacking here. But next chapter is with Carlos and I’m excited to see how Max handles seeing his girl flirt with a Ferrari driver. 

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Lando was scared. Between the message he had received from Max last night and you now walking up to his table at breakfast, looking like that in a sundress, he knew he was royally fucked and something was going on. 

“This seat taken?” Lando took an embarrassingly long time to answer you, the entire time screaming at himself to keep his eye-line above your neck. 

A second later Lando was stumbling up and out of his chair to grab your own and pull it out for you. His nerves flared up as he stumbled out of his chair in order to pull out your own and they only got worse as you placed your hand on his chest and whispered a thank you with a smile attached that might just be criminal. 

Max was going to kill him. 

Lando, rather ungracefully, made his way back to his own chair and as he sat down, he realised that he had yet to say a single word to you. Which he assumes you had picked up considering the look you were giving him. 

“You look beautiful.” He wished that it hadn’t come out as flirty as it had, but you did and Max wasn’t around, so maybe he could let you know. 

“Oh, thank you, I just threw this on.” Your giggle had Lando blushing. 

“Yeah, well, uhm, no it looks good. Max must love it on you.” You cocked your head and gave him a confused look, no doubt wondering why he had mentioned Max, but Lando wasn’t taking any chances when it came to the girl Max loved. 

“Max isn’t the one I’m hoping to impress.” Lando was fucked. The silence that engulfed the table was palpable. All that could be heard was the clinks from the cutlery and chatter from the neighbouring tables surrounding them. 

“Oh, you're not? Who then? Do I know them?” Another giggle, but his confusion was genuine. Since when weren’t you Max’s girl?

“The driver who got me the beautiful flowers.” Your voice was soft, almost seductive and Lando was missing it all. 

“What fucking driver is stupid enough to get you flowers?” He hadn’t meant it as an insult, but he heard it as soon as it came out his mouth, immediately attempting to explain this without telling you why he had said what he said, “Like, no, not like that, but, it's just, it’s complicated.”

“Oh, so I guess you agree with Max and think the drivers only like pretty girls then.” You were now leaning back in your chair, arms crossed over your chest, looking away from Lando in an attempt to hide your hurt. 

“No. Don’t put words in my mouth, I didn’t say you weren’t,”suddenly what you had actually said caught up with him, “Wait, Max said you weren’t pretty?” This conversation was about to take a turn if Max had said that to you. Maybe they were all wrong, maybe he could make a move on you. 

But then what did Max want to talk to him about? 

“It’s not important.” The look in your eyes was murderous. 

“It’s a lot more important than you think.” Silence took a seat at your table once again, a simple stare down happening between you and Lando, both of you trying to understand exactly what was happening in this conversation. 

You were the first to break the silence, “Look, did you send the flowers or not.” Lando had resigned himself to not understanding a goddamn thing in this entire conversation. 

“No, I’m not a fucking idiot.” Once again, it was the wrong thing to say. 

“Why? Is it that awful to think about being with me?” Lando felt himself immediately shaking his head, because no, you were definitely someone more than one driver had thought about being with, himself included, but he couldn’t very well just say that. 

Lando chose to stop and think about his next words carefully, not something he did often. 

“Look, it’s not like that, I just can’t explain it to you.” There was no way you were just going to accept that explanation, it didn’t stop Lando praying that you would. 

“And why not?” Of course you weren’t just going to accept it. 

“Because none of us want to die.” Lando dropped his head, elbows on the table and hands collapsed above his head, he questioned whatever god happened to exist why he had been born with the inability to say the right thing. 

“Why would any of the drivers die because they sent me flowers?” Nothing Lando had said had made any sense throughout this conversation. 

“You keep mentioning these flowers, what are the flowers?” Lando needed to change the direction of this conversation quickly, before he ended up spilling that Max was in love with you. 

“Oh,” finally there was a smile back on your face, “yesterday morning, my favourite flowers with a note was delivered to my room, but it didn’t have a name.” 

“So you’re trying to figure out who sent them?” Max, it was so obviously Max who sent it, how didn’t you know that?

“Yeah, me and Max came up with a list of all the drivers who it might be and so, yeah, I guess I’m just trying to figure it out,” you suddenly looked down again, face red with embarrassment, “but so far it isn’t going so great.” 

“I have a list of questions.” Lando had officially all but forgotten his breakfast, “First, did you just say Max is helping you figure out who sent you flowers?” You simply nodded in return. 

Lando often joked that he thought he was dumb, but he didn’t think he was that dumb, although, trying to piece together whatever was happening here was giving me a headache. 

“Okay, secondly, why isn't it going well?” Your blush deepened. 

“Well, between you and Daniel,” Lando spat out his drink. 

“Daniel?” You nodded as you wiped a few splatters of juice from yourself, slightly disgusted, “You flirted with Daniel? And Max knew about it?” 

“Yeah, of course, Max was super supportive, up until he told me Daniel only went for pretty girls.” All the neighbouring tables turned to look at you and Lando as he burst out laughing. Suddenly this was all starting to make a lot more sense. 

“Okay, okay, and this apparent list?” Lando had swung between terrified of what was happening to desperately needing to be involved in any way he could. 

“Well, the note was definitely from a driver,”  Of course it was, it was from Max, “but it didn’t have a name on it so me and Max came up with a list of drivers it could be.” Lando waved his hand in an attempt to urge you on as he continued to eat his breakfast, “so far, I’ve spoken to you and Daniel.”

“And nothing happened with Daniel right?” Lando needed to know where he stood. 

“Nope, rejected me, was nice about it though, but he did mention it might not be someone I expected, so I think he knows who sent them.” Yeah, so this confirmed it for Lando, Max was the one who had sent them, but why then hadn’t he said anything to you about it. 

“Okay, and the rest of the list?” You shoved a spoonful of muesli in your mouth before you continued, aware that Max would probably be heading down anytime now, so your free time was short. 

“Yeah, so i've checked you and Daniel, next is Carlos,” Lando’s eyebrows shot up, aware of how dangerous this was becoming for Max, “Then Yuki, George, Lewis, Charles and Pierre.”  

“No Max?” You laughed at the question. 

“Max? He’d never be interested in me” Oh, so it suddenly made sense to Lando, you were dumb and blind, no wonder this was so difficult, considering Max was just as dumb, “Although, Daniel did say the exact same thing.” 

“Interesting, and are you even interested in any of us?” The blush on your face indicated yes, so this then threw a spanner in the works, “I’ll take that as a yes, why not go straight to him?” 

“It’s complicated.” It was the only explanation you offered, so Lando had no choice but to accept it. 

“Need help?” He desperately wanted to see the shit show this was going to become. 

You nodded vigorously, “Please! Daniel knows all about it too, so if you maybe hear anything in the paddock, you’ll let me know?” 

“I’ll let you know everything I can.”And there was no way he was allowed to tell you about how Max felt. 

Seriously, how did you not know? 

With that you got up, stating you had to grab some stuff from your room before you headed out to the track,”Oh, when are you going to chat to Carlos?” 

You turned back to Lando, “Well, today? Why waste a perfectly good sundress?” 

Lando beamed at you, thinking he was excited for you and encouraging you to go for it, but in truth, Lando was just excited to see exactly how Max was going to handle all of this, especially when you looked that good. 

Maybe Lando could even out qualify him today?   

Just as Lando turned back to his breakfast, he was faced with both Max and Daniel pulling out chairs of their own, rather aggressively getting comfortable where you had just been. 

“What did she say to you?” Max was the first to speak. 

”Did you send the flowers?” Lando was starting to realise the power he held. 

“Obviously he sent the flowers, now what did she say to you?” Daniel this time. 

“Why didn’t you sign your name?” Lando could physically feel the pain Max was feeling from the sigh that left him. 

“Because he’s an idiot.” Daniel again, although this time with a massive grin, like he was enjoying this just as much as Lando was. 

“But it’s good because she said it’s creepy when your boss hits on you.” Max quickly corrected Daniel. 

“It’s a little different when you’re in love with each other.” Daniel nodded along to Landos comment, both looking at Max, an unspoken ‘I told you so’ floating on the air. 

“Has she said that she likes me?” It was meant to be a re=hetorical question from Max, because no, you hadn’t told anyone if you had feelings for anyone. 

“Well, she blushed when I asked if she was interested in any of the drivers, so there’s that.” Both Max and Daniel sat wide eyed at the information Lando had just casually dropped, seemingly unaware of both the devastation and the hope that simple sentence had held. 

“One of the drivers or one of the drivers on the list?” Daniel was dominating this conversation, Max seemingly too shocked to speak. 

“One of the drivers I presume.” Max was trying to process this information, this could either be really good or really bad for him. He was running through all of the information he had been presented with, vaguely aware that Daniel and Lando were speaking amongst themselves, no doubt thinking Max was a part of the conversation before Daniel startled him back into it, snapping his fingers in order to get his attention back to the conversation at hand. 

“Look, maybe that whatsapp group isn’t the worst idea, just me, you and Lando, that way we can keep tabs on things.” Daniel was already making the group as he spoke, a ping coming from the others phone with the notification. 

“Is Lando going to help?” Max felt like his brain wasn’t catching up with what was happening in front of him. 

“Of course I’m going to help.” Lando couldn’t stop smiling at how his weekend was suddenly turning out. 

“You want to see the shit show?”

“I want to see the shit show.” Lando affirmed exactly what Daniel had thought, “but considering I’m close with Carlos and that's who she’s going for next, well, I am a good person to have on your side.” 

“She’s going for Carlos next?” Max had returned to his natural panicked state this weekend, there was no way he could compete against Carlos. 

Oh god, if this is the driver you liked, Max was going to cry. 

“Yep, good old Carlos, with those spanish looks and charm and flirting skill and she’s wearing that sundress,” Lando prattled on as Max became more and more nervous. 

“You want to comment on her in that sundress again?” Max looked deadly and Lando’s smile only got wider. 

“Well, you did call her ugly and she did wear that dress for me.” Both Max and Lando were out of their chairs in seconds, the former chasing the latter as Lando ran away from him through the dining room laughing, Daniel quickly trailing after them. 

Next moment Lando had stopped dead in his tracks, Max shortly behind him as they both came crashing into you as you had re-entered the lobby in an attempt to find Max. 

“Whoa boys, what’s going on?” Lando quickly let go of your arms once you had both straightened, fully aware of Max standing behind him. 

“Nothing, just realised how late we all are, we should probably get going.” Again, Daniel being the voice of reason amongst them all.

 Lando quickly said his goodbyes and made his way back to grab his stuff, but Max barely acknowledged him, keeping his gaze on your arms where Lando had previously held you. 

“Max will meet you at the car now, just give me a second with him won’t you?” Daniel stood behind Max, his own eyes grazing down your body, knowing how much Carlos was going to enjoy this. Him and Max needed to come up with a plan that somehow now involved Lando too. 

“You guys sure everything is okay, you’re acting a little weird?” You eyed the two of them, Daniel smiling away, Max with a scowl on his face, not letting the nerves go. 

“Yeah, just pre-season jitters, we’ll see you at the car.” It wasn’t a question, Daniel was telling you to leave and this all felt like drama you did not want to get involved in, so you turned on your heel to make your way towards the entrance, stopping only momentarily when Max grabbed your bag out your hand, like he always did, always making sure to carry your belongings. You nodded a thank you and then you left, leaving the two drivers to hash out whatever they needed to before the first quali of the season. 

“Did you seriously call her ugly?” Daniel was standing in front of Max now, livid with his friend was an understatement. 

“It’s not what you think it is.” Internally Max was cringing, not wanting to have to explain the full story to Daniel. 

“Then what was it because man, that is not how you get the girl to like you.” Daniel wasn’t budging on this. Max was frustrating him more and more and he wasn’t sure he wanted to be helping him any more beyond this if Max wasn’t even going to try. 

“I might have said that I didn’t think you were interested in her because you only go for pretty girls.” The expression on Daniels face was unreadable. 

“You decided to use me as a way to knock her self esteem down a peg?” Dniels face might have been unreadable, but the tone of his voice indicated something very different. 

“I panicked! It just slipped out. I didn’t mean to, like, fuck, I didn’t mean to.” Daniel wasn’t buying a word Max was saying and he knew it, “I can’t lose her mate.”

“You’re going to if you don’t get your head out of your arse and start treating her fucking better. You understand? And I swear to god, if you use me as a way of insulting her again, Liam is going to be you racing in your place for the rest of the season. I am not the villain here mate, and I refuse to be made into one, you’ve already fulfilled that role.” The words stung, but he was right and everyone knew it, most of all Max. 

_____

“You ready for the first quali of the season?” Max had barely taken his seat in the car before you had started a conversation, your usually chipper self. A mood Max couldn’t reciprocate, not after what had just transpired between him and Daniel. 

“Yeah, it should be good.” His answers were short and clipped, not that you noticed though. 

“So it was a bust with Lando this morning, weirdly said that no driver would ever get me flowers so guess that's another hit to the ego.” You laughed along, hoping it would hide any real hurt you were feeling, but Max could pick it up from a mile away. 

“I didn’t mean you weren’t pretty, you know that right?” It was the first time he had really looked at you this morning and it was a mistake, because you sitting there, he felt his breathing hitch and it was as if he couldn’t peel his eyes away from you even if he tried. 

“I do, you’re too good to me Maxie, plus, you’re definitely a driver who gets me flowers so I guess there's that.” How did you not realise, how were you literally saying it yourself, but it still hadn’t clicked for you. What more was Max meant to do. Other than the obvious of just coming clean. 

“Yeah, I am.” Again, short, clipped, angry, but still you didn’t get it. 

“So, just a heads up, Horner wants a meeting with you first thing when we get to the track, so the second we get there, you need to go to him.” He nodded along, uncharacteristically quiet this morning. 

“Just me?” You snuck a glance at you, and there was that damn blush again. He watched you tuck your hair behind your ears, giving yourself  a moment to think before you replied. 

\

“Yeah, well, I thought that maybe I could go and chat to Carlos if he’s free.” The blush deepend and despite Max thinking earlier that he might potentially be the driver you were interested in, his hopes were suddenly being dashed looking at your response. Was Carlos the one? 

On top of it, if you went and spoke to Carlos first while he was in a meeting, then that gave him no chance to find him first and he wasn’t going to make the same mistake he had with Lando. 

“First thing this morning? Why not give it a little while until I’m done with my meeting? We can find him together?” That was the dumbest idea he had ever come up with  but he couldn’t concentrate between what Daniel had said to him, you sitting next to him in that goddamn red dress, the fact that he was about to lose you to one of his rivals in his sport and now his fucking phone was blowing up with messages and if things didn’t just calm down for a second and stop, he was going to lose his fucking mind. 

“You’re getting messages from some group, Max fucked up? Why do you have a group called Max fucked up?” He hadn’t been paying attention to what you were doing and completely missed it when you grabbed his phone, so used to organising his life for him. This action further proved to him just how much he trusted you, how easily you fit into his life. 

When his brain had finally caught up with what you were saying, he realised that this was the group Daniel had just set up, this entire group was about you and him. You could never see what was being said in that group. 

Max lunged towards you, grabbing his phone to prevent you from seeing anymore than you already had, “It’s a joke, a silly joke between me and Daniel, it's nothing to worry about it.” He watched you lift your hands up in defence, showing you were backing off, instead turning to the window, offering Max a moment of privacy as you sensed the urgency in his tone. 

MAX FUCKED UP

BigRicc: Lando, how quickly can you get to Carlos?

NoRizz: I can be at Ferrari the second I get there?

BigRicc: Good, do that, grab Carlos, get him away from the garage and make sure Y/n can’t interrupt you. 

NoRizz: Okay, on it, then what?

BigRicc: Explain it all to him. Tell him what’s going on and tell him he needs to like, reject her, but nicely. 

BigRicc: Can’t have another driver damaging her self esteem. 

NoRizz: Why aren’t you or Max doing this? 

BigRicc: We have meetings. 

BigRicc: I thought you wanted to help? 

NoRizz: No! I do! 

NoRizz: Do I tell him everything?

BigRicc: All of it. 

BigRicc: Like, all of it. 

BigRicc: Full Explanation. 

BigRicc: Especially the parts where Max fucked up. 

NoRizz: Should we add him to the group? 

BigRicc: As soon as you explain it, add him. That way he can keep us updated as the day goes. 

NoRizz: Yes Sir. 

BigRicc: Remember, you have to beat her there, so just, run. 

BigRicc: The fate of this season rests with you Lando. 

NoRizz: Me?? Why me?

BigRicc: You want to race against an angry Verstappen for the rest of the season?

NoRizz: Fuck. 

NoRizz: I’m Running. 

Maxie: Don’t tell him I called her ugly. 

NoRizz: Daniel said all the times you fucked up so... 

BigRicc: Fuck you Max. 

NoRizz: Yeah, fuck you Max. 

Maxie: Yeah, fuck me, 

___________

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[lovingperfectionsblog]

ahh i love for what its worth🫶🫶 how many more parts are you thinking of doing

Babes 🌟🌻

I love that you love it 🌟🌻🐞 I really am super grateful that there are people who are actually enjoying it 🌟❤️

So I've actually prepped for like 20 chapters in total, but i may choose to take one or 2 out so like, plus minus around 20 chapters.

I really hope you keep enjoying the story 🌟🌻

Have the greatest day xx

[lovingperfectionsblog]

Aaahh I love the Max series!! So excited for what’s coming next. I love all of Max’s frustrations lol 😂

Sugar 🍭

I am so so so glad you're enjoying the series 🤣 honestly makes writing it all the more fun knowing people are enjoying it 😁 I really really hope you like the rest of it and all the nonsense I'm about to put poor max through 😁

Have the beat day hun xx

[lovingperfectionsblog]

For What It's Worth - Chatper 4

Max Verstappen x Reader.

Chapter 4: How much whisper shouting can happen in a day?

Chapter Summary: You and Daniel have an impromptu date and Max puts his foot in it.

Warning: Swearing, little angsty, Max being a bit of a dick.

Word Count: 3786

Author's note: Well, here’s chapter 4 everyone. I really hope you like how I’m laying it all out. As one can tell, the story is generally from Max’s perspective, hence we don’t really see what goes on during the dates and we only get to see the debriefs, but the story is about how Max handles trying to get the girl :D I hope you all enjoy and I can’t wait to hear what you think :D

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____________

“You’re looking for me?” Daniel glanced towards Max who had seemingly frozen on the spot, his eyes never leaving where your hand wrapped around Daniel's bicep.

“Yeah, I hope that’s okay?” You gave Daniel the sweetest smile you could and Max could hear his heart shatter the second he noticed Daniel’s eyes quickly dip down towards your lips. He lost you. There was no way Daniel was going to be able to resist you and there’s no way you’re choosing Max over him.

“Yeah, that’s no problem, what can I do you for?” By now Daniel was leaning against the door frame, not excluding Max from the conversation, but it was pretty clear that both of you had forgotten that he was even there now.

“I was just wondering if you’d be interested in grabbing something to drink with me super quick, you know, before FP2?” Your smile only grew bigger as Daniel nodded in response.

“Yeah, we’ll go now, could you give me and Max just one more second, and I’ll meet you out front alright?” You took a step back as he slowly closed the door, taking one last look at Max with the most excited look on your face, before fully leaving and making your way back down the hall, the noise inside the garage covering up your receding footsteps.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Max had to hold himself back from shoving Daniel against the wall.

“What do you mean what is wrong with me? I’m the one helping you!” Daniel whisper shouted back at Max in an attempt to make sure you couldn’t hear the argument.

“So staring at her lips while she asks you on a date is your definition of helping me?” Soon this conversation was going to be a full blown shouting match.

“Look,” the beat of silence that followed did nothing to calm Max’s nerves, “listen, she’s beautiful and I am only a man but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do anything! I promise I have a plan, just trust me.” and before Max could protest any more, Daniel had slipped out of his driers room and jogged after you.

Max stood there, staring a hole into the door, willing himself not to go after you, he could trust Daniel. He wasn’t going to interrupt your date. There was no way Daniel was going to do anything. He was going to help Max.

He also thought you were pretty.

You and Daniel had only made halfway to one of the food outlets that resided in the paddock before you heard Max calling after the two of you. Both of you swung around at the call of your names to see a charging Max heading straight to the two of you.

Max, between the slight pants that he was sure was more from panic instead of the fact that he hadn’t been following his training program as well as he should be, he couldn’t help but notice the both of you sporting the exact same look on your faces. Both questioning exactly what he was doing and why exactly he was so willing to interfere with their vastly different plans.

“Max, what are you doing here?” You might have sounded sweet when you had said, but Max knew better than that and he was going to take the chance anyway.

“I was also thirsty?” He fell in line with you and Daniel, forcing you into the middle of the drivers, hands deep in his pockets as he shrugged his shoulders forward, a quiet nudge to get the two of you moving along with him.

Reluctantly, both you and Daniel followed. A silence walked along with the three of you as well, a stark contrast to the previous chatter that flowed between yourself and Daniel.

Max tried to come up with something to talk about, these were his two best friends for gods sake, but suddenly the only topic he could think about was how badly he could not let this date go on.

“So, what can I get you?” It was Daniel who spoke up first after the excruciatingly silent walk finally ended in front of one of the many food stands that had littered this particular paddock.

“Oh, would you mind just grabbing me a water mate, thanks.” For the millionth time today, both you and Daniel had looked at Max like he could only be described as insane.

“Actually, that sounds like a brilliant plan, a water for me too please Danny.” He suddenly understood why Max fell for you, even simply asking him to grab you a bottle of water. There was a charm about you. You just had to flash that smile of yours and he’d do anything you needed. Daniel had been a part of your attention for less than 5 minutes, and Max had been under it for nearly a year and a half? No, Max was absolutely screwed.

Before he even knew it, Daniel was standing in line to grab your drinks and you had dragged Max slightly further away, glaring daggers at him.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” It was strange, Max always thought that during the important moments in life, he would be solely focused on what was happening, it’s what made him feel so guilty about racing, he was never fully invested during the races, but considering that all the could think about right now was the fact that it was super weird how his entire day was filled with whisper shouting, maybe that’s what differentiated the normal moments from the big ones, the fact that you were suddenly aware just how different the small things in the moment was to everyday life.

“Listen, I just don’t think it’s Daniel.” He didn’t know how he could prove it to you without outing what he did, but he was going to try.

“And how do you know?” There was a hint of sincerity in your voice, because despite it all, you trusted Max the most out of anyone else, and if he said he didn’t think it was Daniel, well then, he may just be right.

“I don’t know how to explain it, I just have a gut feeling it isn't him.” Lie. It was a lie. He was lying to you and he hated it, but you didn’t look like you were buying it and the panic was setting in again, “”Plus, you’re not his type, he likes pretty girls.”

That was not the right thing to say.

“Daniel wouldn’t like me because he likes girls who are pretty.” You slowly repeated everything Max had just said to you, watching the blood drain from his face as you did, “You’re a dick Max Verstappen.”

Max grabbed your arm as you began to walk away, “I’m sorry, that isn’t what I meant.” What he meant was that you were too pretty and Daniel couldn’t be left alone with you while you were going to be flirting with him because, shit, you don't even flirt with Max at all, but he had ended up so in love with you it was actually sickening.

“Then please Max, tell me what you meant?” You yanked your arm away from his grip, creating a healthy distance between the two of you.

“What did Max mean?” Daniel stood next to you, watching Max flounder as he tried to right his wrong.

“Please, just, later, at the hotel, please can we just talk.” He ignored both questions. He needed to buy himself some time to figure this out.

“Yeah,” you chucked the bottle of water Daniel had handed to you towards Max, “we can talk at the hotel, in the meantime, I think Horner wants to talk to you.”

With that, Max gave Daniel a curt nod, hoping it came out as a warning as he turned away from the two of you and made his way back to the motorhome, trying to convince himself that he was okay with losing you.

______

You could only assume Max was standing outside your hotel door with how timid the knock came across, and sure enough, as you swung the door open, there he stood, a bunch of flowers in hand waiting for you.

Neither of you said a word as he slicked in past you, making his way into the middle of your room, hand outstretched with the bouquet.

It was only after you had taken the flowers that he got the nerve to say anything, “I really am sorry, it wasn’t what I meant.”

The sincerity in his voice killed you and you knew he would never do anything to hurt you. Max was good like that. As much as people liked to believe he was the big bad Max Verstappen, you knew better. He was soft and he hated that he was seen as otherwise. So him saying this isn’t what he meant, well you knew it was true. This isn’t what Max meant.

“You were right anyway.” You moved to take the flowers to the bathroom and place them in the sink. It was a poor attempt at hiding your disappointment from Max. He somehow could always tell.

“It’s not because you aren’t pretty though.” The bathroom felt too claustrophobic to have this conversation in, Max felt like the smaller the room, the more vulnerable he had to be and if he was vulnerable around you right now, well then he was definitely going to tell you the truth. It seemed like you felt the same. He followed you as you moved through the room, content to be your shadow if that was the closest he could get to you. “How did it go anyway?”

The sigh you let out wasn’t a promising one.

“Honestly, what I expected.” You looked small, curled in on yourself in your embarrassment. “He was sweet, he let me down really gently.”

Max chose not to say anything, instead just sitting down next to you, gently taking your hand in his, a show of comfort. “Was he at least nice?”

“That’s probably the worst part, he was so nice.” The both of you giggled, knowing Daniel couldn’t be mean even if he tried. “It’s not even like I’m upset it wasn’t him. Like, he’s great and all, but I don’t think he’d be the one for me. I just guess I’m tired of not feeling like I’m enough for anyone.”

“You’re enough for me.” It just slipped out of Max’s mouth before he could even stop it and only when you shoved his shoulder playfully did he let the breath he was holding out.

“I’m the best employee you’ve ever had, of closure I’m enough for you.” He couldn’t even laugh along. Is this all he made you see yourself as? His employee? You were so much more and in his head he had always shown it, but maybe he wasn’t doing as good a job of it as he thought.

“You do know that you’re my best friend right?” You kept laughing like this wasn’t something important and Max needed you to see he wasn’t kidding. On impulse he grabbed your face, all laughter dying in your throat as he looked at you before slowly stating, “I need you to know that you mean everything to me. You know you’re my best friend right?”

The silence wasn't uncomfortable and in it, the sharp breath you took in could easily be heard before you nodded, signaling you understood, “You’re my best friend too Maxie.” He nodded in return. Feeling as though some balance had been restored between the two of you again.

“He did say something weird though,” The comment floated through the air as you lay your head against his shoulder, Max only humming as a response, scared the nerves in his voice would betray him if he spoke out loud, “He said that maybe the flowers came from someone I would have never expected. Said I should give them a try.” Max prayed that you couldn’t feel his heart begin to race, “Do you think he knows who the flowers are from?”

“I’m not sure, he might.” He does. He does and Max was a dick thinking the worst of his friend and he still did what he could to help Max without ruining it for him. He owed Daniel an apology.

“Do you think you’d be willing to ask him about it?” At some point Max was going to have to have a talk with you about flashing that smile because there was no way you didn’t know that he was willing to do anything and everything for you when you did.

“Of course, anything for you.” He already had spoken to Daniel about it, and he was going to again straight after he left here. If he could find out any information on this situation that he had royally messed up, he was going to.

You gave his bicep a squeeze as a thank you before the silence settled around you both again. Max couldn’t help but think that this may be a perfect moment with you. That he was willing to have your quiet breaths as the soundtrack to the rest of his life. The skin beneath his shirt where your friends previously gripped burned with the promise of something more.

Maybe, just maybe this was his moment to come clean. Maybe you wouldn’t think he was a creep. Maybe you’d look up at him like maybe you could love him just as much as he loves you. Maybe, for the first time in his life, he could actually be brave.

“I think I should try Lando next.” The shocked look on Max’s face didn’t escape you as you got up from your previous position next to him.

“Lando? Why Lando?” The previous moment was so calm and perfect and was so vastly different to the sudden panic Max was feeling, again, for what could only be the millionth time this weekend.

“Well, Daniel said it would be from someone I would have never expected, and yeah, Lando was already on the list, but I was definitely taking a long shot with him, so I guess, why not him next?” You shrugged as you stood again from fetching your next day's work clothes from your bag.

“I’m not sure it’s going to be Lando?” He hadn’t seen Lando all weekend and was nervous he wasn’t going to get an opportunity to speak to him first.

“Well, when I suggested it to Daniel, he seemed to think it was a good idea.” Why was Daniel determined to make Max’s life difficult?

A second later it dawned on Max, “Wait, you spoke to Daniel about this?”

“Well, yeah, he’s a good friend, he thought it was really sweet what the guy had done, and like I said before, I think he may know who sent it so I explained it all to him, told him the list, he joked about you t being on it and yeah, so Lando.” How had you so casually just dropped all of this information on Max without a second thought.

“Okay, Lando next then, what, next weekend?” He could sort this out in a week. He could speak to the entire grid in a week, get everyone in on a plan he still hadn’t worked out. Maybe Daniel could help him with it after the weekend.

“Oh, I was planning on talking to him tomorrow actually.” Only then had Max noticed the sundress you had laid out on the bed. Tonight. Max and Daniel were coming up with a plan tonight.

“We’ve got a really busy day tomorrow though.” Did they? Max didn’t know? Fuck, you would know if they did or not.

“We don’t actually, other than FP3 and quali, beyond that, it’s actually pretty relaxed.” Would it be wrong of Max to make a group? He could make a group with all the drivers?

“So Lando tomorrow then.” Max needed to see Daniel now, “Listen, it’s getting late, I have to go, are we good?” Max had already made his way to your hotel door, ready to bolt as soon as he knew things between the two of you were fine.

“We’re good, get a good nights,” The door slammed shut and Max was sprinting down the corridor before you could even finish your sentence, “rest.”

Approximately two minutes after Max had left your hotel door, he was standing outside Daniels, furiously knocking to get his attention.

Daniel had barely opened the door a crack before Max was storming into his room.

“She’s going to try with Lando next,” He was panting, his trainer would be ecstatic if he knew how much running around Max was doing this weekend, “tomorrow, she's talking to Lando tomorrow.”

Daniel stood silent at the wide open room door, trying to make sense of what Max was saying.

“She’s wearing a sundress tomorrow.” Suddenly it was like it had all clicked for Daniel and he swung the door shut, offering the two drivers some privacy.

“We need to talk to Lando before she does.” The urgency and surety of Daniels' voice alarmed Max.

“Why?” He couldn’t help how his voice jumped up an octave as he blurted out the question too loudly, desperately needing to know why Danile was so concerned.

Daniel stared at Max for longer than what could be considered comfortable before he finally gave in, “If I tell you mate, you cannot get upset okay?”

Max lied as he nodded. Of course he was going to be upset.

“Firstly, no one else on that grid other than you is in love with her, we all know she’s off limits and yours, but that isn’t to say one or two of them don’t have a crush on her.” Max was going to be sick.

“Who?” he demanded. He needed to make that group.

Daniel only shook his head in response before he continued, “and secondly, if she flirts with them, in a sundress, like she was with me today, they might not be as strong willed as I was mate.”

“What the fuck does that even mean? What happened today?” Max had fully intended on apologizing to Daniel after what he did for him today, but after hearing this, that may only come after a few harsh words have been said.

“Calm down, I can literally see the steam coming off your head. Nothing happened. She just, fuck, you should of warned me she’s as charming as she is. I can see why you fell for her mate.” Daniel felt like he was betraying Max by being this honest, but the truth was the truth, “Honestly, either Lando is going to completely fuck it up with his nerves or yeah, we might have a problem.”

“Lando wouldn’t do that to me though.” Max violently shook his, in protest and in an attempt to get that visual out his head.

“I nearly did that to you, so yeah, Lando definitely might.” None of this was helping Max.

“But you didn’t, right?” It was always so strange to see Max so timid, Daniel never got used to it, even after the years of friendship.

“I told her the flowers weren’t from me and although I think she’s wonderful, I think she needs to be honest with herself about who she wants to be with.” How Max had ever doubted Daniel was beyond him., Öh also I might have hinted that I knew who the flowers were from.”

“Yeah, yeah, she told me that.” Max pulled out a chair and took a seat at the small dining room table, “She also told me that you encouraged her to go for Lando, thinking he might be the one you were hinting at.”

“Jesus I hate this entire game of broken telephone. I didn’t tell her to go for Lando. After she explained the plan that you’re helping her with, which is insane by the way, an entire list?” Max nodded in agreement to the statement, “ And she explained Lando might be next to try, I simply nodded out a yes for the entire plan, made a joke about you not being on the list and commented that the flowers might not have come from someone she expected, meaning you.”

“Yeah, well, she thought Lando.” Max hated how frustrating this entire situation was, but he could only blame himself, “What do we do?”

“We?” The look Daniel received did indeed indicate that this was now his problem as well. “Well, firstly, we gotta talk to Lando, which should be easy, we can bully him, but if you intend to talk to that entire list before she gets to any of them, well, tomorrows a busy day for you mate.”

“I contemplated making a group.”

“A group?”

“Yeah, like, add everyone on the list to the group, explain what an idiot I am, ask them to just do me a solid if she flirts with them in fucking gorgeous sundress while I figure out how to tell her?” How Max had gravitated to the floor was beyond him, but somehow, this is where he felt safest.

“Don’t do that, that might be embarrassing for her. We’ll talk to them individually.” Max was thankful for Daniel being the voice of reason because in his panic he just wanted to get everything done as quickly as possible. “Tomorrow, before she comes down for breakfast, talk to Lando, the rest we’ll figure out from there.”

“Do I tell him everything?” Max was unsure how much he should be divulging here.

“We’ll tell him everything. Even coach him if we need to.” Max began getting up, ready to head to his hotel room for another sleepless night. “You’re going to get the girl mate, I promise.”

With a nod and a quick good night, Max headed back to his room, climbed into bed and readied himself for another stressful night when a message chimed through from you. He quickly opened it up and found a picture of you, in that beautiful sundress with a smile to match, asking if he thought Lando would like it.

With a quick thumbs up to you, because how could anyone not love you in that dress and after saving the image to a folder reserved only for you, that not even Daniel knew about, he opened up his messages again and typed.

Lando was just about to fall asleep before he heard his phone vibrate against the bedside table. Surprised by the late night message and even more so the menacing words it contained.

“We need to talk.”

__________________________

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[lovingperfectionsblog]

Friendly reminder <3

Please remember that at the core of it, you are a good person. Sometimes all we can think of is the shitty things we did when we were younger, or we didn't know better or we were just trying to survive and do our best and that's okay, you're allowed to figure yourself and move on. You are a good person at the core of it all. <3

[lovingperfectionsblog]

for what its worth is way way cute. thank you and cant wait for the follow up chapters

Sugar <3

There are actually no words to express how happy this makes me <3 I am so so so glad that you're enjoying it and hopefully you enjoy where I take the story <3

Have the most spectacular day <3

Xx

[lovingperfectionsblog]

For What It's Worth -Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Desperate Need For A Second, Secret Plan.

Max Verstappen x Reader

Chapter Summary: How you and Max met is discussed and Max goes off ag Daniel for hitting on the girl he loves. 

Warnings: Swearing. 

Word count: 2727

Authors note: Posting twice in 1 day? Look at me go!!!! So, I am not currently doing a taglist, because things are a little hectic at the moment but as soon as things even out, I promise I will be adding everyone who has asked to the taglist, but again, no taglist just yet for this series. Can't wait to hear what you all think of chapter 3 😀

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“Max, I know you aren’t one to focus on rumours,” Max couldn’t help the clench of his jaw in anticipation for what was to come, “but we see that your new assistant is the same girl that there has been quite a lot of talk about you dating.” Max could feel the anger rising in his blood, eyes boring into the interviewer. He had been explicit in his requests that you were to not be involved in interview questions. 

Ever since the two of you had started your friendship the media had been near bloodthirsty in their attempt to find out information about you and your relationship to Max and from the moment he started seeing the posts and articles that could only be described as disgusting about you, he made sure that he would do everything he possibly could to keep your name out o the media. It was one of Max’s non-negotiables. 

But here was this man, bringing you up anyway. Max immediately began turning to look for you. Partly to apologise for this and partly to calm down. He had hired you so he wouldn’t have to be away from you for too long, but one of the added benefits of having you as his assistant was the fact that no one seemed to calm him down the way you did. 

The second his eyes found yours, you were signalling that it was okay. This was your way of telling him that he could talk about you here. Suddenly he felt a new stress. What exactly does he say? How does he explain you? He couldn’t give them too much. The vultures would just end up ruining everything for him, but he couldn't give them too little or else they’d never stop badgering him. He had to be strategic. For his sake and yours. 

“Yeah, she’s actually my best friend.” Good, easy, neutral ground to start with. 

“RedBull let you hire your best friend?” the interviewer began to press for more. Max once again was looking to you, completely ignoring his PR manager next to you. Only worried about what you thought about this line of questioning. 

“She isn’t hired by RedBull. She’s my assistant. She’s hired by me.” Max didn’t miss you warning him to keep calm, his PR manager not even bothering while you were there. It was well known already that the only person Max listened to these days was you. 

“So how exactly did your best friend end up working for you?” A long time ago Max realised that the reason he hated talking about you in interviews, well, at least one of the reasons, was because he liked to keep you secret. Your friendship was something he didn’t want to taint with the outside world and this interview was slowly encroaching on Max getting angry territory. 

“Just tell the truth.” You mouthed to him before he took a deep breath and turned back to the interviewer. 

“So, we met in Monaco. She had recently moved over there and one evening when I had gone out for a jog, I ended up running into her, smashing an ice cream she was holding all down her top. Then after many choice words from her, she agreed to let me buy her a new one and I guess we just ended up becoming best friends from there.” You laughed as Max told the story, while although technically true, he gave a significantly more watered down version of your first meeting. 

It had been your first proper night in Monaco. You had finished unpacking your boxes and were somewhat settled, sitting in your home all alone and suddenly the full weight of having moved to a place like Monaco, all alone, had hit you and you just had to get out. So that’s exactly what you did. You had founded the nearest store you could get an ice cream and then decided to explore. You ambled along the boardwalk along the beach, it was quiet and secluded and  you were about to turn the corner when a body came crashing directly into you, smashing your ice cream between your chest and his, smearing it over the both of you. 

Despite how the stranger had grabbed you to stop you falling over and immediately began apologising, the look you had given him stopped any and all words in their tracks. Without another word between you, you scraped the smashed ice cream off your chest and proceeded to wipe it on the man in front of you, feeling that it was only fair. When he eventually asked you if you were okay, that’s when the previously mentioned choice words left your mouth. 

Max hadn’t really acknowledged it before, but this was the first time he started to fall for you. 

At the end of your monologue of insults, he introduced himself and offered to buy you a new ice cream and he didn’t miss the way you only said yes after he removed his ice cream and sweat stained shirt. So you and him got ice cream and he offered to get you a new shirt, which you declined, but took his hoodie instead and you had both spent the next couple of hours walking around, talking and building the foundations of a friendship Max didn’t realise he would eventually need to survive. He didn't realise a lot of things that evening. Especially the fact that he’d end up falling madly in love with the woman covered in ice cream., or that he’d eventually be sitting here, you in his eyeline, at the Grand Prix, laughing along to the same memory he was trying to downplay to the press. 

“After a while, I kind of realised that I didn’t want to be on the road without my best friend and she kind of hated her job, so I offered her a job as my assistant and now I get to spend all day, every day with my best friend.” PR was already well aware of the potential damage control they were going to have to do after this interview. Especially with how Max was looking at you now. They could already see the articles now and they could already hear Max shouting at, well, everyone, to get that off the media, but they couldn’t help but think that if Max maybe was just honest about your actual relationship to each other, then things might just be that much easier for, well, everyone. 

“No wonder the dating rumours are so rife for you two.” The laugh the interviewer barked out was short-lived as Max abruptly got up and left the shot, not willing to entertain a line of questioning that he was so adamantly against. Both you and his PR manager let out a sign before you were running after him as PR spoke to the interviewer. 

“Don’t start.” Max spat out as you fell in step with him. 

“Damn, I wish I knew what I did to make dating me such a bad rumour.” It was meant to be humour, it was meant to make Max laugh, and normally it would have, but with everything happening in the background, that was literally the last thing that Max wanted to hear, because dating you was his only life goal. It was you that didn’t want him. 

“I have to go talk to Daniel.” It was the last thing he said to you before he veered off towards the Alpha Tauri motorhome in search of the one person who actually knew what was going on, leaving you standing there alone, confused, hurt and suddenly very concerned he was going to tell Daniel all about your plan. And in feeling all of that, you panicked and ran after him, for the second time in less than 5 minutes. 

He stopped as he felt your grip on his arm, “you aren’t going to tell him right?” and suddenly his bad day just got a whole lot worse. He ripped his arm out of your grasp, neither of you willing to divert your gaze. He didn’t want to lie to you, he was already lying about how he felt and who had sent the flowers and if he lied anymore, he wasn;t sure he could keep it all inside, so instead he just decided to not answer you because of course he was going to tell Daniel. 

“I’ll see you before FP2.” and with that he had dipped into the crowds to quickly go and find Daniel, to simultaneously want him about what was going to happen and to potentially lay down the law, even more than he thought he already had, when it came to you. 

The entire walk to the AT garage Max was trying to figure what he was going to say but nothing prepared himself for what he ended up nearly shouting at Daniel the second the driver opened his drivers room door. 

“You were meant to be my friend!” Max shouted as he shoved Daniel back into the room, slamming the door behind him as he moved into the room. 

Daniel stood there wide eyed, hands up and shocked at the attack from Max, “Mate, what’s going on?”

“What’s going on? Try last night when you were feeling up the woman I am in love with  and eye fucking her across the table!” Max was panting, but the stress of everything over the last 24 hours had finally gotten to him and unfortunately Daniel was unjustly bearing the brunt of that. 

“None of that happened? What are you talking about?” He was trying to calm Max down but it was proving difficult when he wasn’t even sure what was going on. 

“She told me! Last night, after we were outside, when we walked back in, you had your hand on her lower back and then the rest of the night you couldn’t take your eyes off her.” The words felt bitter in Max’s mouth, accusing his friend of something like this, but he couldn’t help it, it was a runaway stone that he no longer had control over, “and now she thinks you sent the flowers and she’s going to try and seduce you!” 

“Seduce me? Why would she try to seduce me?” Now Daniel understood Max’s anger. 

“Because she thinks you sent the flowers!” 

“So why didn’t you tell her you sent the flowers!” 

“Don’t be dumb.” 

“I’m not the dumb one here mate. You’re the one who isn’t making the move on the girl you sent flowers to, asked out and are so in love with, you’d rather hire her to work for you than go a day without her by your side!” Daniel was right and Max knew it. 

“So why did you hit on her?” Suddenly it was Max the young boy standing in front of Daniel, unsure of himself, self esteem on the floor, just trying to fix a near unfixable situation in his eyes. 

“I didn’t. Look, the hand on her back was meant to be platonic, I didn’t think it would mean anything to her, especially considering how she feels about you.” Max seemed to be accepting the explanation, the tension in the room dropping significantly, “and the staring at her, I was trying to gauge how she was reacting to you last night, to see if I could tell how she felt about you, considering you’re the one who said that she hadn’t mentioned to anyone how she does feel. You were right and so I thought this would be a good way to do it.” 

“And?”  Max made his way to the couch in the room, head dropping into his head. 

“Mate, she’s as in love with you as you are with her.” Daniel sat down next to him, forcing him to look at his fellow driver. 

“So why is she trying to seduce you?” It was if the frustration in Max’s body couldn’t let him sit still, as he suddenly got up and began pacing 

“Firstly, why are we using the word seduce? It’s not a good word.” The groan that left Max’s mouth at the question forced a laugh out of Daniels. 

“She used it.” For the second time in too short a time Daniel was staring at a panicked and frustrated Max with his face smooshed up against a wall. 

“She used the word seduce?” The groaned yes was the only response Max offered. 

“Fucking awful word. Both of you need to stop it right now. Secondly, why is she trying to seduce me and why does she think I sent the flowers?” Max peeked an eye at Daniel and he was oddly jealous at the calm demeanour he was exuding at this conversation. 

“So, I might have forgotten to sign my name on the note.” Max mumbled through the sentence, embarrassed at the truth of it. 

“You forgot to sign your name on the card that told the woman you love that you love her?” Another groaned yes left Max as he sank to the floor, face now smooshed against the prickly carpet.

“She came to me this morning telling me she had gotten flowers and a note with no name on it and now she’s trying to figure out which driver sent it. She literally has an entire list of all the drivers she's going to try and seduce to see if it was them.” Daniel couldn’t help but laugh at the sheer stupidity of this situation that Max had somehow gotten himself into. 

“I assume I’m the first on the list?’’ Daniel already knew how he was going to play this. 

“I’m not even on the list.” That sad, childlike version of Max was back. 

“Mate, she’s obviously not going to tell you that you’re on the list, especially since you’re her boss.” \

“I’m going to fire her. If I just fire her then all of my issues resolve themselves.” 

“You can’t fire her.” Daniel nudged Max with his foot, an attempt to encourage him to get up off the floor. 

“Why not?” Max had eventually worked himself into a sitting position, now leaning against the door opposite Daniel. 

“Because at the moment you’re how she feeds herself.” 

“Do you honestly have to point out the uneven power dynamic here when I am already feeling like the world's biggest creep of a boss?” Max banged his head against the wall, a form of punishment, “What are you going to do when she comes to seduce you?” 

The vulnerability of Max in this moment was admirable. Daniel hadn’t seen this version of him for a very long time but he isn’t surprised that it was a girl that brought it out of him. 

“I’m going to tell her the truth. That I didn’t send the flowers and I only see her as a  friend.” The look Max gave him was near heartbreaking at how thankful it was. 

“Promise you’ll be kind right?” He was always thinking of you and only you, even in Max’s greatest moment of stress. 

“I promise, but you said there was a list? What exactly are you going to be doing about the rest of the drivers?” Suddenly it dawned on Max how big this issue was about to become, breathe quickening, “hey, hey, don’t stress, listen after FP2 we can meet at my hotel room and we can come up with a plan, but just give me a couple of hours to think of something okay? Mate, I promise, we will get this sorted.” All Max could think about was trying to breath and nodding that he understood and him and Daniel would come up with a plan that absolutely and completely derails yours. 

Suddenly both Max and Daniel's eyes were drawn to the knocking on his drivers room door and as Daniel swung the door open, there you stood, with that same smile that made Max weak at the knees every single time he saw it. 

“You looking for Max?” Daniel tipped his head in the direction of Max, now scrambling to get up off the floor, as Daniel began to take a step back, moving out of the way for Max, Before your hand wrapping around his bicep stopped him

“No, no, actually, I was looking for you.” 

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For What It's Worth - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Plan is formulated.

Max Verstappen x Reader. 

Chapter Summary: Max finally sees the flowers that lead to his downfall and reluctantly helps his best friend come up with a plan to find out who sent them. 

Warnings: Swearing. 

Word Count: 2736.

Author's Note: Please forgive me for this taking so long. Life happens I guess. I have als decided I am probably going to be making the chapters slightly shorter, because yeah, just something fun and silly. Can’t wait to hear your guys thoughts On all of this <3 

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“I mean, they’re flowers?” Both you and Max stood above the bunch resting on the table, the note lying just below them, conveniently placed upside down so it couldn’t be read. Max couldn’t help but feel that the florist's logo was taunting him. His hand gripping the back of the chair that he was leaning on, itching to turn the card over to silence its taunts. The only thing worse would be what was on the other side of the card. He couldn’t look at that. His own words, his confession staring back at him. 

“They’re my favourite flowers.” Your stance mimicked Max’s, only now you were looking at him. You watched as he slowly nodded his head, not in recognition of being told new information, but instead a nod of confirmation. “So I assume you told him which flowers to get then?” 

It was accusatory, you were egging him to confess that he knew who had sent the flowers. “I didn’t tell anyone these were your favourite flowers.” He still hadn’t looked at you, eyes willing the note to catch fire. 

“But you knew these were my favourite flowers?” He could feel the sweat starting to drip down the side of his face where you were burning a hole with your eyes. 

“In my defence, everyone knows these are your favourite flowers, I didn’t need to tell anyone because you cannot keep any personal information to yourself.” This was the first time he looked at you and  he couldn't help but feel a smile tug at his lips as he caught sight of the scandalised look on your face. 

“Don’t lie, I am very good at keeping secrets, thank you very much.” You shoved Max’s shoulders, you couldn’t help but notice how his arms tensed under the force, which helped him barely even move from his position. 

“You’re good at keeping other people's secrets, your own though? You’re an open book.” It was a matter of fact and he knew you knew he wasn’t wrong, your silence and scowl confirming exactly what he had just said. 

“So you didn't tell him?” As he shook his head in response, he was simultaneously confused and slightly insulted that you hadn’t assumed it was him. Had you completely written him off as a viable option considering the fact that you both worked together? 

“Have you read the note?” There was absolutely no chance that he was going to read what was on that note, and anyway, he already knew exactly what was written and what was meant to be written, his name. 

“I don’t need to read the note.” It sounded childish coming out, even he knew that, but he really really did not need to read that note, especially not in front of you. 

“Read the note Max.”  You reached forward to turn it over, and there were the words, His words, mocking him even more violently than that logo had. 

The WDC means nothing if I don’t have a woman like you by my side. 

They could cheer my name in those stands until the end of time, but the only name I’d ever recognize myself having is “yours”. 

Even on that podium, in front of a sea of people, only when I see you, do I truly feel like I have something worth celebrating. 

You are my calm, my favourite feeling, my safe space, I can only hope that I can be yours as well? 

“Do you think he was asking me out?” Your voice pierced through the ringing in his ears, his brain inundated with criticism of why this was the worst love note he could have possibly written. It had seemed cute at the time, the F1 theme and all made sense, he was a WDC, you worked for him in F1, you had met because of F1, kind of, sort of, he didn’t like to dwell on that moment too much, but now, the note seemed awful. It seemed like a cliche. 

And worst of all, you didn’t even understand that he was asking you to be his girlfriend. Could he have fucked this up any more than he already had? 

Thank God he had forgotten his name. 

“I think he was probably asking you out,” he took a quick glance your way before continuing, testing the waters, “I think he might have been asking you to be his girlfriend?” 

Why the fuck were you scrunching your face like that? 

“He is not asking me to be his girlfriend.” The scoff you added at the end had Max feeling a lot more offended than he was allowed to show in this situation. 

“Of course he’s asking you to be his girlfriend. Look at the last line.” Max shoved the note in your direction, making sure to only briefly touch the card. 

“Who asks someone to be their girlfriend without signing their name?” You shoved the card back. 

“A fucking idiot.”  Him. 

“Which could be any driver on this grid.” He hated how smug you looked right now, especially because it was him. He was the idiot. No one else on that grid would have done something this stupid. Just him. 

“And you want me to help you?” You frantically nodded along, “You want me to find you an idiot to date?” Max felt the entire air of the room shift, and yes, he can admit that maybe he had said that a little harshly, but he wasn't expecting you to look so deflated at the comment. 

“Well, yeah, I mean, he clearly either pays attention to me or he went out of his way to make the effort and like, yeah, I know that maybe it’s the bare minimum, but I don’t know if you can tell, but it’s not exactly like I date a lot.” You had stopped looking directly at him and Max, for the first time, had noticed that you were a little embarrassed by the confession. 

“You should date more.” Me. You should date me. More. Well, you should start. Is what Max wanted to say. 

“Of course, if only it was that easy, you know, all things considered.” You laughed along to your own joke as you began moving around your hotel room, grabbing your jacket which had been previously strewn on the bed, slowly ushering Max out of the room with you so you could leave. 

“Considering what?” Max shut the door behind him and quickly fell in step with you, making your way down the hall. 

“You know? All the travel? Being the assistant to the big bad Max Verstappen?” You stopped in front of the elevator, waiting for it to reach your floor. 

“Big Bad Max Verstappen?” What did your dating life have to do with you being his assistant?

“You do know men will not get near me because of the fact that we are together constantly. There have been a  lot of rumours of us dating Max. How do you not know this?” 

He hated how proud he felt. He truly hated how good this all made him feel, but yeah, he wanted everyone to know that you were his. Well, not yet, but you were going to be his girlfriend.  

Eventually. 

Hopefully. 

“Hurry up, you’re going to be late!” He had noticed that you were already at the hotel doors, waiting for him to catch up and so he had broken out into a jog to catch up with you. 

“Yeah, well, maybe they should stay away.” Wrong this for him to say, but he was proud of it. 

“Why? So you can just keep me as your assistant forever?” You laughed as you slid into the car, losing Max;s eyesight. 

“You do realise you’re also my best friend right? Like, my best friend in the whole wide world?” He started the car and pulled into traffic. 

“You’re the one who hired me Max, and plus, it’s a race weekend. I’m your friend after hours.”  He hated that you put your feet on the dash. 

“Probably should have never done that.” You let out a laugh that filled the car, but you would never know how serious he actually he was. 

Every part of him regretted hiring you. If he hadn’t then maybe he could have you in the paddock with him as his girlfriend instead. A girlfriend he could hug and kiss publically and not be the creepy fucking boss. 

“Getting sick of me already?”Max countered, willing himself not to look at you while he was driving. He always found himself having to do exactly this. 

“I could never get sick of you Maxie” He knew you were teasing him, but he’d be lying if he said that one sentence didn't mean the world to him too. 

“If you’re going to be cheeky, you can always just quit.” 

“Fine.”

“No.”

You barked out your laugh and he couldn’t help but mimic it, mostly from relief though. He was embarrassingly reliant on you, and not even as his assistant, although, yeah, as his assistant too, but it was mainly as his friend. 

“You saying you need me there Maxie.” More teasing. 

“Yes.” He chose to be completely honest with you. 

He could feel your eyes on him, his hands gripping the steering wheel just ever so slightly tighter, making the final turn towards the track. 

“Yeah, I need you too.” It was a whisper, he was almost certain he wasn’t meant to hear it, but he did. Maybe there was still a chance. 

The rest of the ride was silent, comfortable, both of you letting the confessions sit in the air, allowing you both to breathe them in. 

The next time either of you speak, you’re making your way into the paddock, the nerves of the season finally seeping in as the first real day of the race weekend begins. 

“So, I’ve come with a plan.” You shuffled through the gates, Max following close behind.

“A plan for what?” Max tried to wrack his brain for what could possibly need a plan of action for the weekend, “There's? Wait, that's for PR and my strategist?”

“Max, no, a plan to figure out who sent the flowers.” You shot Mx a confused look, wondering how he had already forgotten about the conversation from this morning. 

“Oh.” Fuck, this again. 

“So,” You either didn’t notice or just chose to ignore his disinterested reaction as you carried on updating him on what you had come up with, “I’m making a list of each driver on the grid you it could possibly be,” you looked to Max, waiting for his nod before you would continue, “And then kind of, seducing him to maybe,”

“No.”

You looked at Max after the sharp instruction left his mouth. His face was hard set, jaw clenched, eyes forward as he tried to keep his cool. 

“Well, how else am I meant to figure out who it was if I don't,”

“If you say the word seduce again, you’re fired.” He’d fire you purely so he could date you, he’d fire you to get you out of this paddock and away from the other drivers immediately, he would do anything to not have to watch you seduce anyone other than him. 

“Well what should I do then?” The slap of your arms against your thighs after you dropped them in frustration was enough to finally draw Max’s full attention back to you and what he found was you waiting for an actual idea from him. 

He was going to have to help the woman he loves figure out how to seduce other men. His friends. 

If anything happens between any of them, he was a little nervous that he was going to take them out on the track. 

He was losing his mind. 

“Maybe just go up and ask them?” They’d say no, Max would be happy and then he could figure out how to actually get you. Maybe he should seduce you. 

No, that’s what the flowers were, and then he’d still be the creepy boss. 

“And embarrass myself? No way.” 

“And you won’t do that while trying to seduce them?” he faked a laugh as you shoved him away from you. 

“Firstly, you’ve never seen me seduce anyone, I'm excellent at it, and secondly, I bet I could have you on your knees with my seduction skills so don’t laugh.” Max felt his entire face heat up at the thought of being on his knees for you. He most certainly wasn’t laughing now. 

“Who exactly would you be seducing?” He could get around this. There was always going to be a way for him to get around this. The guys all knew how he felt about you. Surely none of them would fall for any of this, so why not entertain it for a little bit while he figures out what his next move is. 

“I knew you’d come around to it! Okay, so I was thinking we should start with Daniel.” Max was going to throw up. 

“Daniel?” No, all of this was a bad idea. No. 

“Yeah, I don’t know, he was kind of like, looking at me last night, and when we were walking back inside he had his hand on my lower back and like, you know?” If he wasn’t so angry he would have noted how cute the blush looked on your cheeks, but no, he was furious. Daniel knew how he felt and now he was doing all of this? He needed to talk to Daniel, put him in his place when it came to you.

But, he also does all of this to you? Why was he excluded from the potential pool of drivers interested in you? 

“So Daniel, then Lando, Carlos,” you continued in lieu of Max responding to your suspicions about Daniel, “then there’s Yuki, George and Lewis.”

“This list is getting pretty long.” God, even Max knew he sounded pathetic with that comment. 

“Shut up, there’s a lot of options on that grid.” You grabbed a cup of coffee as you continued rambling on to Max, “and finally, Charles and Pierre.” 

“What, not considering me then?” You giggled at his comment, despite how serious he was being, unbeknown to you. 

“Probably a little unprofessional to flirt with my boss.” Please, please flirt with me, it’s all Max could think about as you placed the cup of coffee in front of him. “So, what do you think?” You sipped on your cup, waiting for Max to give some decent input. 

“It's a list.” The coffee tasted awful. 

“Max, please, I just want a shot at love too.” Your voice was too soft, too honest. If Max wasn’t such a coward, this would have been his moment to tell you that you’ve always been loved by him, for too long for him to still be keeping it a secret, but he loved every part of you, in every scenario, in every way. And he was going to love you through this too. 

“Okay, so, when do you start seducing Daniel.” Your smile was beaming at him, but he couldn’t help how heartbroken he felt at knowing it was because you were going to try and get another man, one that wasn;t him, one that he considered one of his best friends. 

“Well, he’s here this weekend, so why not this Grand Prix?” Your smile had turned from bright to sly and Lord knows Max really really wanted to see that smile in a very different context, where he was the one you were thinking about. Maybe even if you two were alone, in his hotel room, which is exactly what could have happened if the whole thing with the flowers had actually gone how he had planned it. Instead, here you were, thinking about his friend, who he was going to kill and help you flirt with. 

In his entire life, out of everything he had ever endured, this was the most defeated he had ever felt, but if it made you happy, well then, 

“Yeah, this Grand Prix it is.” 

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Just remember if you suffer from melancholy and must run away to the sea for your health that you should also wear sunscreen