adoration | CL fanfic

two

"Melody Verstappen. Stalker much?" Carlos laughed as me and Isa walked towards him as he practiced his pre race workout.

"Carlos Sainz, girlfriend stealer much?"  I retaliated as he pulled Isa closer to steal her for a hug.

"Hm nope pretty sure that's you." He countered as she laughed at us.

"Stop bullying my girlfriend." Isa laughed as we argued with him on the side of the track as he passed us our passes.

Me and Isa often pretend we're girlfriends to bully Carlos as it really gets on his nerves despite the fact she is just my platonic soulmate.

"My next song should be named 'girlfriend stealer' thanks Carlos." I chuckled as I looked at my pass.

"You seen Max yet?" I asked Carlos.

"Nope."

"I'm going to go find him." I claimed as Isa and Carlos kept embracing eachother, the two are joined at the hip and I think they deserve some alone time together before the race.

"You want us to come with?" Carlos asked letting go of Isa.

I shook my head and headed for the red bull paddock that hadn't really changed in two years, the navy blue colour was everywhere to be seen as the engineers were double checking the car for the race.

That's when I was tapped on the shoulder "Miss I'm sorry you can't be in here, unless you have the family pass."

"Oh um yeah I'm here to see my brother-

"Melody?!" I heard Max before I saw him, instantly he was running towards me and practically jumped on me.

"Surprise loser" I laughed and he chuckled at me chucking his red bull cap on my head.

"I can't believe you're here! How did this happen? When did this happen?" He began questioning.

"Louise sent me, and I've missed you obviously. And I mean I have to be here to see you win the Bahrain Grand Prix." I shrugged.

He nodded "I was planning on it."

"I sure hope so, I mean I'm waiting for a second world championship." I joked as I poked him in the ribs.

"Jesus you sound like dad." He claimed and instantly my blood went cold, I never want to be compared to that man.

"Is he uh is he here today?" I questioned and Max noticed the change in my mood immediately.

"No. He, he isn't allowed in the paddocks anymore. He punched one of the engineers in Las Vegas last year, you don't watch the news?"

"No. I avoid anything to do with him, I pretend he doesn't exist. He's dead to me." I claimed as I realised all the engineers had left the room at the mention of Steven.

Max nodded "I thought he'd changed Mel, after he came out of prison I could've sworn he had changed."

"He will never change Max. He's a bad person you know that." I explained to Max as he put his helmet on the shelf next to him.

"He will be here today. Somewhere. Not anywhere near me and hopefully not anywhere near you alright?"

"I've practically  got a SWAT team here with me today. Don't you worry." I smiled at him and he laughed, I don't think he realised I was being serious.

Louise seriously set me up, I have a team of 15 security guards watching me today, I don't even know where they are but apparently they're here.

"Well you are the big thing now aren't you? When's this new album coming out?" He asked me.

"I will not confirm anything to you unfortunately, no family privileges." I shrugged.

Me and Max had been quite distant for the past 2 years once I realised he had been the one who bailed our dad out of prison after everything he'd done.

As I began to talk I was cut off by one of the engineers pulling Max away to do a practice lap on the hard tires before the race in half an hour.

Once Max was gone I walked out into the crowds of interviewers and fans as I tried to figure out where to watch the race from until I found Isa and she forced me into the Ferrari paddock to watch.

Did it feel wrong to support red bull wearing the red bull cap in the Ferrari paddock? Yes. It did.

It was an eventful race to say the least, Max started in P4 and managed to push to P1 in the last lap with Charles in P2 and Carlos in P3 by the end.

Isa and I must've given the Ferrari team such a headache, I don't fully know the rules but I used to watch Max after school some days when we were younger and I assume the same rules apply.

Thankfully there was no crashes and everyone was safe by the end of the race but the last lap did get a bit rowdy between Max and Charles, Max was really pushing.

As soon as the race was over I was instantly bombarded with questions from interviewers for sky sports.

"Melody Verstappen, it's been a while since we've seen you on the track how are you?"

"Im doing good thank you, even better with Max in first place, although I did make him promise that he would win."

"You weren't watching the race from red bulls paddock today, is there a romance on the cards with you and Charles Leclerc?"

"To be honest, I don't think I've spoken to him in like 10 years. He used to race max when I was young and that's all I know of him really. But he did very well on the track today."

"Any news on the album release date?"

"When I find out you'll be the first to know."

"And your dad has been seen here today, are you planning on speaking with him?"

"I'm so sorry I need to hurry off. Thank you so much!"

Fuck that.