Waiting
Synopsis: It’s never the right time for Y/n and Max. It takes the right place to get them together
female reader x max verstappen
(this fic is set from 2018 to 2022, ik it’s not ideal that it’s set in the past but it’s the timeline that made the most sense for the story)
It’s 2018 and life is good for Max Verstappen. He’s three months away from entering the new race season and he’s just coming off a fairly successful one. He’s got a pretty good car, a team that believes in him, and a country that supports him. Things in his career were changing, getting more serious, and Max decides he might be due a new place to live.
Maybe not to live full time, just a place to go home to after a long weekend. He loves his mom and sister, Victoria, but flying back to Belgium almost every week was a hassle, and he needs someplace that made his lifestyle easier. A few drivers live in Monaco, that might be a contender. It's in the middle of Europe, so close to most of the races, it has a lot of privacy, traveling to and from there is easy, and of course the tax benefits, so why not?
Max spends a few days thinking and researching Monte Carlo. He talks to his friend and Monaco resident, Daniel Ricciardo, who, predictably, loves the idea, and then talks to his mom and Victoria about it. The three of them come up with the idea that Max buys an apartment in Monte Carlo, lives there during the race season, and comes home during gaps in the schedule, summer break, and after the season ends.
The Verstappen family finds a suitable apartment and once it’s bought, they spend a few days scrambling around to the house trying to decide what Max should bring and what he should leave. It’s December, so Max will spend the rest of 2018 at home with his mom and Victoria before leaving for Monaco in January.
Max liked Monaco from the first time he traveled there to race and fell in love with it when it became the place he’d call home for a while. He gazed at the tall trees and the turquoise water and even though it was winter, it looked like a summer paradise.
All of his stuff from home wasn’t supposed to get here until tomorrow, possibly later if the shipping company was dodgy, so all he had to live off was the carry-on and two suitcases he brought on the plane with him. His mother helped him plan what furniture he should buy for his place, and he figured he should get a move on that if he wanted a place to sit for dinner tonight.
The apartment complex he chose was nice, almost luxurious, and even though money was not a problem, not crazily expensive. Two bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a nice kitchen even though Max couldn’t cook very well, it was good. It was semi-furnished, the kitchen and bathroom were basically done, but the bedrooms, living room, and dining room were empty so he would spend the next few days at furniture stores.
It’s Day 7 of living in the new apartment and Max is fumbling with the parts of a coffee table. When he suddenly hears a beeping noise coming from below him. The apartment downstairs. He figures.
Probably just an alarm. Is what Max thinks until the beeping noise doesn’t stop, and the Dutch realizes it’s a fire alarm. It’s fine. It’ll turn off in a second. But then Max hears a muffled voice and a clanking noise, then repeated thwacking noises, against his floor?
Curiosity killed the cat, but Max decides curiosity could also be fun and before he can stop himself, he’s walking out of his apartment and towards the elevator.
He does the math on which room would be the one below his on the way down and is knocking at the door he thinks is the correct one. “Hold on!” A voice calls through the muffled alarm. He hears another faint curse before the door swings open and reveals a woman, probably around his age, looking frazzled and a bit panicked.
“Hi. Are you okay?” The words tumble out of his mouth and Max realizes he’s had no idea what he’s doing until now. “No. Can you help me turn that stupid thing off?” You reply as if he is not a stranger, and this is totally normal.
Why not? He thinks before saying it out loud, and you open the door wider to reveal a smokey kitchen. “The smoke alarm is up there, I just forgot how to turn it off” You point to the detector on the ceiling near your fridge. The 21-year-old steps onto the chair that is strategically placed underneath it and uses the little knowledge of fire safety he learned in a health class in high school to disable the alarm.
“Oh. Thanks” you say as he steps down. “I’ve just realized I haven’t seen you before, did you just move in?”
“Yes, I moved to Monaco and started living here about a week ago. I’m Max, by the way, I live in the apartment above yours” He sticks out his arm in a handshake.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Y/n. I’ve been living here for three years, so if you need something, just let me know” You smile and he’s glad he now knows someone in the building.
“Thanks, I’ll see you around” you say the same as Max turns and lets himself out of your room. The man realizes as he gets into the elevator that he has no clue if something was on fire or not, or if you were okay or not. Well, I’ll see her around, I’ll ask then.
You don’t see Max again until the middle of the night, about two months later. You don’t know it, but Max has just returned from the first race in Australia and is trudging back to his apartment from the airport, desperate to get some sleep. You’re walking to the elevator, just coming back from a midnight snack excursion to the vending machine on his floor. “Oh hey. Max right? You okay?” You ask with what he deems too much energy.
You're wearing what looks like pajamas, a Monte Carlo crewneck and a pair of shorts. “Fine, just tired” He’s really not in the mood to talk, but he doesn’t think this will last long. “You want a cookie?” You’re holding a bag of his favorite biscuits, ones that he thought he could only get in Belgium, and surprises himself when he nods his head. “Why not” And takes it from your hands. “Thanks Y/n” The driver is already walking away. “Goodnight Max”
Strangely enough, the same thing happens when Max gets back from Bahrain. It’s like a replay from the last interaction; You’re in pajamas, carrying a bag of cookies, and he’s trekking down the hallway to his flat. “Hi Max, you want a cookie?” Without hesitation, he grabs the one in your hand, and with a yawn-covered thank you, he’s turned around and heading back to his original destination.
Instead of a two-month gap between your encounters, Max sees you the next day. It’s 10am, and the driver decides to utilize the balcony attached to the apartment. Every apartment has one, and because of the side of the building his room is on, it faces a view of the Monegasque streets and the ocean in the background. It’s a beautiful sight, so Max should probably be more surprised when he hears someone else outside.
Soft music, the clattering of utensils, and occasionally the sliding of doors, all audible and coming from the apartment below him. Max looks over the railing from his seat at the edge of the platform and sees you. “Hi Y/n” His mouth is calling out before his brain can stop it. You look up and smile. “Good morning, Max” You pause for a moment, wondering what to talk about with the kind-of-stranger that lives above you.
“Were you just coming home from vacation last night?” You remember the suitcase by his side and the tired expression on his face that only someone that has been away from home can have.
“I mean, I was away, I wouldn’t call it vacation though” You two have to shout to be able to hear the other clearly and even though it’s piercing the calm morning air, neither of you seem to mind. “So a work trip, then?”
“Yeah”
“What do you do for work?”
“It’s a secret” Now, Max is not sure why he says that. Maybe because he doesn’t want his neighbor and possibly friend to know he’s a high-profile Formula 1 Driver. Maybe he just doesn’t feel like telling a neighbor and possible stranger his work. Or maybe he just feels like being difficult.
“A secret?” You shout back. “Yes! A secret!”
“Well can I know the secret?”
“No! Then it wouldn’t be a secret!”
“Fine! When do I get to know the secret?” Max pauses for a second, contemplating his options.
“I’ll surprise you. One day I will just tell you. Out of nowhere”
“What if I don’t see you for another month?”
“Then you’ll have to find a way to see me!”
“Fine!” It’s a word that is usually shouted in frustration, but the Dutch man hears the smile in your voice and is surprised to feel his own face twisted into a grin.
You take Max’s words as a challenge and you’re not going to lose. The next few days, you go up to your neighbor’s floor multiple times, hoping to catch him leaving or going. You step out onto your balcony in the morning and again at night, shouting, looking for his accented voice. You even wandered up at midnight a few times, anticipating him to come walking tiredly down the hall again. You can’t exactly figure out why you’re so anxious to know this secret your neighbor has, you just know that you do.
So two weeks later, when you’ve very nearly forgotten about this whole ‘secret career’ business, you see him trudging down the hall again, you ignore his tired face and speak maybe too loudly for 1am. “Did you just get back from your secret work trip?” A smirk comes onto your neighbor’s face.
“Maybe” He continues walking, even ignoring the bag of cookies in your hand. “If I see you tomorrow, will you tell me?”
“Maybe” And then he’s turned the key into his door lock and is gone.
The next morning, you’re out on your balcony as usual, eating breakfast while listening to music, when you faintly hear the slide of a door coming from above you. You pause the song playing on your phone and wait. Max knows you’ve heard him and he interrupts the silence. “Good morning, Y/n”
“Hi, Max. Long night?”
“Long few days, yes”
“Wait, I’ll be right back” You quickly hurry inside to retrieve the bag of cookies you didn’t finish last night and bring them out onto the platform.
“Will you tell me now?” Then with the best angle you can manage, throw them directly up and hopefully over to his balcony. He catches them and thinks back to a few hours ago. “Weren’t you eating these last night?” “Don’t worry, I only eat like three” You hear the bag crinkle, and then his voice.
“I am a Formula 1 driver” You’re eyes widen. You’ve had a lot of time to think about all the possible secret careers Max could have, and while celebrity was one of them, you did not expect that. Just as you hear the sliding door open again, you move to shout. “Wait! Tell me about it”
Of course you knew what Formula 1 was, everyone who lived in Monaco did, but you didn’t know much about it since you only pay attention to it when it comes to your country. “Okay. But I don’t want to yell anymore, come up and I will tell you” And surprisingly, he does.
Without a touch of discomfort, Max answers any questions you have and asks a few of his own. You tell him that you got the opportunity to go to the International School of Monaco and moved into this apartment so you could attend. You tell him about the life waiting for you back home, the place you would go return to in a few months.
“So, you are moving back there soon?” He asked. “Yeah. Not immediately though. I’m gonna stay until summer ends and if I haven’t found a good job by then, I’m leaving”
“I will be the best neighbor possible then” By August, you can safely say he was.
Max told you about his schedule for racing and you told him about yours for school, though much simpler than the one he lived by. You make a tradition of welcoming him home with a bag of cookies, whether it be minutes before 12 Sunday night, or just as the sun begins to set Monday evening.
Max makes a habit of going down to your balcony every time he returns from a race, either for Monday breakfast or dinner. You both sit and watch the Monegasque view with awe before you either have to go to class or start your homework. Due to the crazy prices, you’ve never attended the Monte Carlo race, you usually just watch from the balcony of the other neighbor you’re friends with that lives across from you but Max surprises you with a ticket after he asks you whether you’d be interested in going or not.
You cheer with your friends from your spot on a balcony above the track when he goes P4 and the two of you enjoy the biscuits together that night.
In June, Max celebrates your graduation with you and your friends from university, who have accepted Max into the friend group by now. The eight of you spend a week basically living at the beach and enjoying life just as young adults before Max goes back to racing and the seven of you have to find jobs.
The summer break is in August and Max goes back to Belgium to spend it with his mom and Victoria, while you are in Monaco, looking for the job that will keep you there. You loved your home country, you loved your family and high school friends there and everything it had to offer you, but you’d be lying if you said you weren’t over-the-moon excited once your acceptance letter for the International School of Monaco came in. Nothing was chasing you away, but so much from Monte Carlo was keeping you there.
When Max returns at the end of August, he has no idea whether you’re still there or not. He has your phone number and you two have been texting back and forth through the weeks, but you play his own card when you tell him, “It’s a secret”
Like he has done so many times before, Max is standing tiredly in the elevator of the apartment building he’s just returned to from the airport and is terrified when the lift stops, and you step in matching him all the way down from the drowsy eyes to the two suitcases at his side.
“No” he says, face stretched into disbelief. “No way” He tries to look into your eyes, but your head is tilted down. “Tell me you got a job”
It’s silent for a moment, and Max thinks you haven’t when suddenly you’re grinning, and the suitcases fall open, revealing themselves to be empty. “Okay. I got a job” A laugh falls out of your mouth and the Dutch pulls you into a hug, trying to wave the sadness off.
“Oh my god, that was not funny! Don’t do that again!” He scolds you but he’s laughing as well.
“You found one though? You will stay?” He suddenly pulls back, hands on your shoulders looking for the only answer he’ll accept. “Yeah, I found one. It’s good too, I got a salary and proper days off to see my family and everything. I’m staying” Your eyes are sparkling with joy and Max wants them to stay that way.
“Thank god, I don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have you here, keeping me sane” “Me either” You hug one more time before Max says, “C’mon, you are buying me the biscuits now, that was mean” “Oh, I’m mean? What about when...” And you two continue to banter all the way up to the floor that is not yours but feels like it could be.
The Formula 1 season starts again in September and the traditions between you two remain but are more appreciated. You have no more homework to do after dinner, so Max comes down almost nightly to sit on your balcony or at your dining table and listen to the music you’ve chosen. You still eat breakfast with him every Monday morning if he’s home before you go to work, and when you return, sometimes Max joins you in grocery shopping after one too many complaints about the food you make for dinner.
“If you don’t like it, go make it yourself Verstappen! I am not your maid and you do not have to be here” The neighbors next to his apartment could probably hear you, so Max just offers to buy the groceries himself somedays.
You two don’t fight often but when you do, it usually takes a few days the silent treatment until one of you swallows your stubbornness and pride and apologizes with a peace offering. The driver doesn’t like it when you fight, but he finds it a bit funny when you do because it’s always when you get annoyed by his complaints or when he’s tired of you forgetting stuff at his apartment. It reminds him of a married couple fighting. A couple. You remind him of a couple. Max decides he likes the sound of that.
Max also decides he loves the hugs you give him after he returns from a race, good or bad. He decides he loves coming to your apartment before you make dinner so he can help you cook. He decides he loves the gesture of you two making a key for each other because Max didn’t think it was a good idea for you to have your door unlocked for him most of the time. He decides he doesn’t mind you forgetting your belongings in his apartment because sometimes once you notice they’re gone, you leave them at his apartment for him to use. By the middle of October, the final thing Max Verstappen decides is that he likes you.
When Max walks into the Red Bull Garage Friday afternoon for the Japanese Grand Prix thinking bout these decisions, he sees a woman sitting in one of the chairs and a toddler in the one next to her. The woman must feel his gaze because she looks up. “Hi Max, I’m Kelly. Nice to meet you”
And then suddenly the woman is not a stranger. She’s smiling a mind-numbing smile and Max isn’t thinking when he says yes to having lunch with her Monday afternoon. He isn’t thinking when he says yes to extending his hotel in Japan so they can spend more time together. He isn’t thinking when he flies back to Monaco with her next to him and he goes back to her apartment, not his. His brain only starts to work when he sees it’s almost midnight on Thursday and he realizes he hasn’t gone home yet.
He hasn’t gone home to you, and he doesn’t know how you’ll react. Shit, he doesn’t even know how he’s reacting. Max has just figured out that he likes you, but he’s been in another woman’s house for two days.
Both you and Max have brought people home to your apartments. One of you will go to the other’s place and when they realize the door is locked, they don’t knock and wait for the other to answer, they give the other privacy and say good morning the next day as if nothing happened. There have been one-night stands but never two-night stands; You’ve been in relationships since moving to the building but not since Max moved in, and vice versa for him. You’ve never introduced someone to each other, and now he’s gone and ghosted you.
The driver doesn’t hesitate to gather his things and head back to the complex. It’s not Monday so you have no reason to be up late when you have work in the morning, and somehow, he knows he won’t see you until dinner the next day.
You don’t ask Max where he’s been. You don’t send him a million text messages and you don’t call a thousand times. You want to, because you’re worried about him, but you don’t because somehow, you know. You think it’s when of those unspoken girl things. Even though you don’t know the woman, you know she exists, and you know it’s time for you to step back so she can step in. With this realization, you wave your sadness away as if it was an annoying fly, push your feelings back into your heart where they belong and should never get out, and continue with your day.
When Max opens the door to your apartment Friday evening to have dinner with you, you don’t ask him where he’s been, you just congratulate him about Sunday’s race and tell him that you’ve made plans with your friend group to go out for dinner.
“There’re no reservations, so you can come last minute if you want. I just didn’t feel like making anything and missed everyone, y’know?” “Yeah” The Dutch swallows the lump in his throat. “Yeah, I’ll come. Are we leaving now?” “Yeah, it’s at that one place on...”
Max follows you down the hall and in the silence between you two, he realizes that you know that he met Kelly, and that you both know this is someone he will introduce to you.
The Red Bull driver thinks he thought the action into existence because when Max comes home from Abu Dhabi, Kelly Piquet is by his side. You don’t need Max to tell you, you hear his voice and a woman’s come from his apartment when you’re eating breakfast on your balcony Monday morning. It’s getting cold. You use it as an excuse to eat at your dining table inside until you feel warm again.
You haven’t talked much to Max since the end of October because you rarely see each other. The races are all back-to-back until Abu Dhabi and when Max isn’t traveling, he’s at her apartment. You’re spending more time at work getting ready for Christmas and are glad for the distraction. Your coworkers tell you that everything at the building is ‘double-time’ to get ready for the break and it’s bittersweet because it takes a lot of effort to get it all done in time but knowing you don’t have to think about work during the break and the money you get paid makes it worth it.
You can’t avoid the couple forever though, and that fact proves itself when you run into them in December. Today was the last day at work before Christmas break, and you’re checked out. Even though it was nearly 8’o clock at night when you left the building and was exhausted, you rushed into your apartment to get the suitcases you’d gratefully already packed and leave for the flight you had to catch.
You’re not paying attention when you step into the elevator, looking down at your phone to get music playing through your headphones, when Max calls your name.
“Oh, hey Max” You look at the woman next to you and just as you’re about to introduce yourself, Max does it for you. “Kelly, this is Y/n, she lives in the apartment below me” “Hi, Y/n, so nice to meet you” She shoots a charming smile at you, and you do your best to give her a real one.
“Hi Kelly, nice to meet you” You’re glad neither of them tries any small talk with you and ride the elevator down to the lobby fixing your headphones in silence. “Have a good Christmas, Y/n” Max says on the way down and you realize that he has become just like any other neighbor, one that you ride the elevator in silence with and just wish each other happy holidays when you converse.
It’s sad, what you two have become, but you know better than to try to go back to the way things were before. “You too Max, and you too Kelly” You smile at the two of them before exiting the lift, dragging your suitcase behind you.
A holiday with your family and high school friends turns out to be exactly what you needed. You love Monaco and are glad to be living there, but there’s something comforting about your hometown that no other place can bring. With everyone’s work out of the way, you spend Christmas decorating the house with your family and shopping for presents with your friends.
You let yourself forget about Monte Carlo for a few days and submerge yourself in the safety of your home. It’s refreshing, it’s loving, and it’s welcomed. New Years is fun; You spend some time with family before going out at night to celebrate with your friends and your New Year’s Resolution is to come home more often.
You return to your apartment in January and let the Monegasque winter cool you. You don’t know where Max is, you haven’t texted him since New Years, and that was just a “Happy 2020” message and just assumed he was either in Belgium or with Kelly. You try to make yourself not care and it’s almost easy because at this point, Max barely lives above you anymore.
You focus in on work again and spend time with your friends whenever you can. It’s enjoyable and even though it’s not exactly what you imagined, it’s nice nonetheless.
This lifestyle takes you to March, when something you could’ve never imagined happens. The Corona Virus is announced as a world-wide pandemic and Monaco is shut down. Your work is forced online and suddenly you’re in your apartment building all the time.
You’re friends with the woman that lives across the hall from you, Andy; she’s two years older than you but she was the first person to welcome you to the building and you have a good friendship. You two are suddenly traveling between the two apartments all day, looking for anything to do while you’re trapped inside. Her family lives in France, so like you, she’s living alone and you guys' bond over that.
She reminds you of Max, who just then remembers he lives there and comes back a few days after the pandemic was announced. You’re on your balcony, gazing out at the empty streets of Monte Carlo that you are not used to, when his voice calls out from above. “Hey Y/n”
“Oh, hey. Max right? Did you just move in?” You joke, but the sentence has serious and slightly angry undertones, and you don’t try to hide it.
“I’ve just been away. Not exactly on vacation, something between that and work” He lets your joke run on for a second before breaking it. “But seriously, how are you? We haven’t talked in a while”
“I’m good. I’ve just been working and hanging out with my friends. Well, not anymore, obviously. It’s usually just me and Andy”
“Who is Andy?”
Over a year living there and he still barely knows anyone besides you. “The woman that lives across the hall from me”
“Oh, yeah. Andy”
Max still has no idea who she is, but he doesn’t want to stop talking to you. He realizes he will have to break the ice first. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around much. I’ve been at Kelly’s place a lot and whenever I am here, I can never find you”
“It’s okay. We’ve both been busy with different things”
Just as the driver is about to interrupt, saying that it’s not okay, when you start to talk.
“Why aren’t you with Kelly, by the way?”
“She decided to go back to France to be with her family. She has a young daughter, Penelope, and Kelly wants her to be surrounded by family, not stuck in the house with her mother all the time. She said she’d be back when this is all over, but who knows when that will be”
“Sorry, Max” You don’t know if this means they’ve broken up, but apologizing seems like the right thing to do. You two are silent for a moment.
“Y/n. What are we going to do?”
“Well, me and Andy have a few ideas”
And in the way male/female friendships work, you two are acting like no time passed since the last time Max ate dinner at your house. Immediately, you, Max, and Andy are spending every non-working moment with each other, desparate to interact with someone that is not on a screen.
You three take advantage of the empty streets of Monte Carlo; going on walks whenever you want, lying on the beach even in the cool April air, and seeing every sight that is usually too crowded to enjoy. Your trio enjoys the rooftop all residents have access to and litter it with whatever outside activities fit. You binge watch a lot of shows, switching between Max’s apartment, yours, and Andy’s to view them in. In May, Andy convinces you and Max to try art as a way of passing time, and it brings many trips to the nearest craft store.
By June, Max has wall art and your fingertips are burnt from all the times your hot glue gun scorched you. He’s also reconnected with the friends you once shared, and after Andy joins the group, the nine of you spend the hot days lying in the sun at the beach and wading in the pool outside your building. The other members of your friend group are spread throughout Monaco due to their work, but because the world has literally stopped, they aren’t worried about having trouble getting to you three.
The Formula 1 season starts again, and you and your friends fill the weekends by trying to learn more about F1, half for Max’s sake and half because you’re all bored.
Everyone is stir crazy, so you’re glad that by July, plane tickets are available and after spending nearly five months together, every single one of you spends at least a week with your families and away from each other. It’s not summer break for drivers yet, so Max hangs around the people he’s friends within the paddock.
The Red Bull driver does spend his break with Kelly though. He travels to France and spends a week getting to know Kelly again and playing with her daughter. He doesn’t know where their relationship stands. They were officially dating before the pandemic started, and they decided to go on a break while it was going on. Kelly invited him in hopes of figuring out their relationship and what they want to do when the world goes back to normal.
After talking about how they feel, what’d it be like if they were together again, and everything that would have to change for them to work. After spending five months apart, Max isn’t sure he wants the same things he did in February, so the couple breaks up for now, and he goes back to Belgium to spend much-needed time with his mom and sister.
You return from your vacation much like last year’s holiday break, refreshed and prepared for whatever the world could throw at you, as long as it’s not another pandemic. Everything is definitely not back to normal but it’s more normal than it was in March, so you appreciate it.
By September, half your work week is in person and Monaco gets a bit of life back. Your neighbor gets a bit of his life back as well; Max told you about him and Kelly, and things aren’t 100% normal with you two yet, but it’s definitely getting there.
Due to your enthusiasm, Halloween brings you two back together and on the 31st, Max is on your balcony, eating a bag of cookies from the vending machine, and watching little kids trick or treat beneath you. Not many kids live in your building, but you buy a bag of candy just in case someone shows up and share it with the man next to you while you wait.
In the cool November air, Max comes over for dinner nightly and when Andy isn’t with her boyfriend, she’s there too. There are only three races left in the 2020 racing season, but Max uses them to visit your balcony and eat breakfast with you on Mondays. You only have about a week left until the holiday rush starts in your building again, so you frequent your friend’s apartment and bother him with all the things you two should do with your friends for the holiday season.
You convince Max to buy a fake Christmas tree, but he draws the line at decorating gingerbread houses. You make him watch Christmas movies with you and he pretends to hate every one of them, but when you each have a blanket wrapped around your shoulders and a cup of hot chocolate warming your hands, you know he’s enjoying it.
Your neighbor goes back to Belgium for the holidays so it’s just you until your work stops for the break. The rush is a little less stressful than it was last year because you’re not a rookie anymore, but you still don’t appreciate going home way after your original hours end.
Clocking out and the overtime check you receive after is sweeter this year, partly because you don’t run into any girlfriends on your way out of the building and to the airport to catch your flight home. You're glad to see your hometown keeping its holiday charm and holding on to traditions that track all the way back to your childhood.
You party on New Years with your friends and a few days into 2021, you’re on another plane back to Monaco and everything waiting there for you.
You don’t spend much time with Max though; when you see him after you’ve finished unpacking, he tells you that’s he’s flying to England to Red Bull Headquarters for a while to start preparing for the upcoming race season. He tells you that Red Bull is supposed to be a serious contender for the Driver’s Championship this year and he can’t disappoint. Understandably, you nod, telling him ‘Good luck’ and see him off when he leaves a few days later.
You wish you had more time with him. When you look back, you realize you spend a lot of time with Max, but it never seems like enough. You wished time would move slower in the mornings, so you two could sit in the Monegasque quiet and watch the tide come in and out while you eat breakfast. You wish he came to your apartment earlier for dinner so he can “help” or really just watch and hand you ingredients and read off instructions for the recipes to you.
You tell yourself you shouldn’t wish these things, that he and Kelly could get back together any day, and that you shouldn’t get attached because you know his career will take him all over the globe. But then your heart speaks up, telling you to enjoy the time you have with him, and you listen.
Your neighbor returns on the cusp of February and is prepared to surprise you from his balcony, when he sees a man out on yours. Looking down, instead spotting you reading or eating, there’s a man, sitting on what Max deems his chair, sipping out of a glass. You’re nowhere to be found, probably serving yourself inside, and the Dutch hurries to close his doors when he hears yours open.
Max assumes he’s just one of your lovers, but when he comes outside a day later, the same man is again sitting in his chair, eating off one of your plates.
Fine, a two night-stand, he thinks, but is wrong when he checks again a day later, and still sees the same man sitting in his chair, drinking out of one of your mugs.
This time you are out there as well, and Max doesn’t hesitate to shout to you. “Y/n! Hey Y/n!” You look up. “Oh, hey Max! You want to come over for dinner later?”
It’s about 2 in the afternoon, and Max hopes that man is gone by then. “Yes, sure. Who is your friend?” The words tumble out of his mouth before he can stop them.
“That’s Adrien” You are interrupted by your friend speaking. “Hi. I’m not eating here mate, don’t worry” Adrien has a French accent and even though Max has never minded them before, he doesn’t like them now. And I am not your mate. He thinks, before shouting down to you again, “I don’t care, mate. See you later, Y/n” And without waiting for your response, the driver goes back inside and closes his back door.
Instead of coming around 6 when Max knows the food will be done already, he walks to your apartment at 5 to help you cook and see if your friend has left. Unlike almost every time Max has stood in front of your door, he knocks and waits for you to open the door. “Hey” You’re about to say that he doesn’t have to knock and wait, then he can come in anytime, then remember Adrien and stop your mouth from saying those words.
“Your friend has left?” he asks, taking off his shoes. You hum yes and move to the kitchen to continue cooking. You tell Max about him over the music playing in the background.
You met him during your third year of college and bonded over the class you had together. You stayed friends during your final year and Max is about to ask why he isn’t a part of the friend group he met when you all graduated, when you tell him Adrien left school after final exams were done to leave for England. “He’s training to be a doctor, and he wanted to get a head start on preparing for the course set to start in August”
Apparently, he’d been living in the UK all this time, and came back to study under a doctor here in Monaco as in intern. “He told me he wanted to surprise me and asked one of our friends where I lived. Kind of creepy, but I haven’t seen him in a while, so I guess it's okay? He was friends with everyone, but then he left, and nobody knew when he was coming back”
You also tell him that Adrien grew up in France, and that he doesn’t like motorsport. You say the last one with a teasing smile, and while Max rolls his eyes, he mentally adds it to the list of things not to like about Adrien.
Max fills you in on everything he did at Red Bull headquarters and for a while, it feels like nothing ever changed. A Netflix show plays while you semi pay attention and Max cleans up, something he first insisted on doing ages ago. You say goodnight a couple hours later and then your routine starts again.
You and Max see more of Adrien as time passes. He’s staying in Monaco for a full year, and he seemingly wants to catch up with his college friends. Every Friday night, you all go out to eat and as often as they can, Max and Andy go with you.
You see him more often though, as he usually comes to your apartment on Sundays. It’s an old tradition you two had in college; you would go over to his dorm and watch either a football match or a movie. Sunday is your day off from work though, and you usually spend it with Max, so you tell him he can come over once the Formula 1 season starts.
When the race in Bahrain begins, you convince him to skip that day’s match and watch the race with you. Predictably, he loses interest quickly and while you cheer on Max’s podium finish, he sits on his phone, waiting for you to change the channel.
This is how it goes for months. You go to work and hang out with Max during the week. You go out to dinner on Friday nights, and when Max leaves for a race, Adrien comes over and keeps you company while you cheer on your neighbor.
When the cars come to Monaco, you are standing above the track with the Dutch fans, breathing in the warm May air and listening to the roar of each engine. Max goes P1 and you nearly lose your voice shouting. You also met his mom and Victoria; they were in the same section you were in and without even realizing they were related to your best friend; you become friends with them, and they help you find your way down to where Max was allowed to see you. You went home while he stayed out with the other drivers and left a bag of cookies in his kitchen before going to bed.
As the racing season goes on, so does yours and Adrien’s friendship. You still make him watch the race every Sunday but let him pick what you watch afterwards and what you two eat for lunch.
Adrien was a good friend to you back in college. He did his best to help you understand the class you shared together, no matter how many late nights it took. He vouched for you when you came in late and didn’t hesitate to give you whatever snack he had in his bag. You two spent a lot of time together on campus and would be lying if you said you didn’t miss him.
One Sunday night in August, after you and him spent the afternoon out in Monte Carlo, you’ve migrated back to your apartment and onto the balcony, now recalling memories of your college days. Max is in Belgium for the summer break, and your friends are all doing their own things.
“Remember the water balloon fight between my dorm and yours?” You say, both of you collapsing into laughter. “Of course, I remember! You soaked my brand new shirt!” Adrien exclaims.
“You threw one at my shoes! I needed to get revenge” You defended. “And then I got revenge by chasing you all over your room”
“Didn’t we break a lamp?” You remember.
“You did, I did not”
“Yes you did! When you grabbed me, I fell and then you fell on top of me” You trailed off, thinking back to that day.
“Then I fell, and...” You both fall into silence, recalling the look in his eyes and the hesitancy between both of you.
“And then, I wanted to kiss you” Adrien says, turning to you. The mood shifts, neither of you laughing anymore. “I wanted to kiss you then, and I want to kiss you now. I’ve missed you, Y/n. When I first heard of the internship of Monaco, I was the first name signed up. I came for the experience, yes, but I also came for you”
When you hear this, you don’t know what to think. You remember having feelings for Adrien two years ago and missing him terribly after he left, but a lot has changed since you graduated. You loved the days you spent with him, but you remember the days you spent with Max, too.
A part of you wants to get up and tell him no, tell him that you like someone else and that he is too late, but then another part of you thinks of Max, and how you are not even certain of your feelings for him, and that you don’t know if he feels the same way.
Max is thousands of miles away right now, and Adrien is right in front of you. So you stop reaching into your heart for feelings for Max and extend your hand onto Adrien’s face to pull him closer to you. His lips press against yours and you wallow in the feeling to ignore the fact that you are not thinking, and how sometimes it is easier not to.
Because the race after the summer break is in Belgium, Max stays with his mom and doesn’t come back to his apartment until Monday afternoon, 24 hours after he went P1 at Spa-Francorchamps. He comes to your apartment for dinner as usual and because he does not see Adrien there, he assumes he was never there at all.
Max continues to think nothing has changed since he left Monaco and you can’t really blame him. Adrien has taken you out on a few dates since you kissed on your balcony, but nothing is official yet, so you don’t bother to tell your neighbor anything.
The most PDA you two express in front of other people is a kiss on the cheek, and to Max, could be very platonic, so he doesn’t think anything of it. The Dutch carries on with his regular routine of excelling on track, celebrating at your apartment with a bag of cookies, then coming by throughout the week to hang out until he has to leave again.
You spend Halloween with the rest of your friend group this year by watching horror movies on one of their couches and picking out of a candy bowl. By then, Adrien has asked you to be his girlfriend, and now spends entire weekends at your apartment. You don’t tell your friend group until the beginning of November and for the most part, they’re all happy for you.
The Red Bull driver though, does not know how to feel. He doesn’t exactly know what will change between you two, but he does know that he doesn’t want it to. Max thought it would just be you two for a while, traveling between your apartments, supporting the other’s career, and always being there for one another when his car underperforms, and your work is too stressful. He knew there’d be someone else one of these days, he just didn’t think there’d be someone else now.
Max tries to think back to what you did when he dated Kelly and even though he didn’t particularly like it, he tried to stay away. On weekends where there was no race scheduled, he’d stay out of your apartment after he saw Adrien entering one Friday night and not leave until Sunday night.
He walked down to yours for dinner one evening, then stopped after seeing Adrien’s hoodie on the back of your couch. He goes out on his balcony less because more often than not, you and your boyfriend were out there, eating and laughing for too long to Max’s liking.
The Dutch knows he has no claim over you, that he should not be upset he’s distancing himself from a girl he insists is only his best friend, but he can’t help feeling jealous and disliking Adrien.
You are happy, but you could be happier. Adrien is wonderful; he’s handsome, he’s gentlemanly, he takes you out on nice dates, and he always makes time for you, but it just doesn’t feel as great as it sounds. You think you two work better as friends, you don’t see a future in the Frenchmen and there’s no spark between you two. You’re happy to be in a relationship, but what good is a boring relationship?
You miss Max. You appreciate him distancing himself out of respect, but you’d rather be hanging out in his apartment than Adrien coming over to yours every possible moment.
While you’re walking into your apartment building late in November, you think that this isn’t at all fair to your boyfriend and are thinking of how and when to break up with him when you see Max. “Hey Max” You smile at him. “Hey Y/n” He pauses for a moment.
“Listen, there is a race mid-December, and I know you like to spend your entire break with your family, but you remember when I told you that I’m competing with Hamilton for the championship this year?” He asks, recalling your text conversation a few weeks ago.
“Yeah?”
“Well, if we continue to tie in the points, and I win the race in December, I would win the Driver’s championship and...I want you to be there” His voice lowers as he finishes his sentence.
“I could reserve a ticket for you, and you would fly to Abu Dhabi with me there and back and you’d get home in time to spend Christmas with your family-” You cut him off.
“Max. I’d love to watch the race. I want to be there when you become World Champion” You grin at him, and he smiles back relieved. “Okay, I will come by later and we’ll talk about it, yeah?” You nod and exit the elevator once it stops at your floor.
You call Adrien when you get inside who was planning on coming by for dinner to let him know that you have to cancel. He sounds a bit dissapointed, but you’d see him in a few days, you weren’t worried.
A few hours later, you have a ticket alongside Max to Abu Dhabi from Thursday morning to Sunday night. The rest of November and the middle of December go by quickly. as predicted.
Your work keeps you busy, and any free time you have in spent preparing for the race and your trip home Monday afternoon. Before you realize, it’s 6am and Max is knocking at your door to collect you for the drive to the airport.
Though tired and a bit stressed, you and Max talk and laugh the entire way through the airport and take turns annoying the other on the plane. When you arrive hours later, Max leaves to the paddock to do media duties and puts you in charge of planning what you do that night.
The Dutch is friends with multiple other drivers on the grid but wants to spend all the time he can with you. When you told Adrien you were taking this trip with Max, he was unsure about his girlfriend spending 4 days with the man she tells him not to worry about, but he can see how much you want to go and sends you off with a kiss and a message to have fun.
You watch FP1 and 2 from the best seat Max could get you without bringing too much attention to you and he meets you in the parking lot when he’s given the okay to leave. You two spend the rest of the day wandering around the city and competing to see who can find the better dinner spot.
FP3 and Qualifying go well, and the hours you spend together afterwards are a little less carefree. It’s obvious your neighbor is anxious about Sunday and you try whatever you can to help him. You both have rooms right next to each other but much like your apartments in Monaco, he spends most of his time in your room.
The atmosphere at the track the next day is so exciting you wonder why you haven’t attended more races. Max was quieter than usually that morning and when you’re seated and waiting for the five red lights to go off, you understand why.
The entire race is spent on the edge of your seat as you watch Max and Hamilton overtake one another. The entire arena is almost silent when your best friend crosses the line first and you shamelessly jump around cheering, copying everyone around you. You’re almost laughing with relief while you walk down to parc ferme to reunite with your friend.
By the time you get there, he’s just finished the post-race interview and is about to walk to the podium celebration when he sees you. An immediate grin paints both of your faces and you don’t hesitate to push through the crowd in front of the barriers. He meets you halfway and pulls you into a hug through the barricade, not caring about everyone who surrounds you.
He’s sweaty and the arms around you make you feel warmer than you already are but you’re both grinning because he’s the world champion and you’ve watched this all happen right from his side. It’s a hug that makes you question everything and you don’t think you’re going to hesitate to answer any of them.
Max’s flight is leaving tomorrow afternoon while yours in leaving tonight, so you watch him spray champagne on the podium and hug all his friends with a bittersweet smile. Your Uber arrives just as he’s leaving to celebrate with his team, so you send him off with a tight hug, a congratulations, and promises to see him in January. He’s still beaming at you through the window of the car and it’s an image that plays in your head through the rest of December.
You spend your holiday thinking things over, and you’ve decided to break up with Adrien the next time you see him. It’s not fair to be in a relationship when one of you isn’t totally happy with the other, and it’s not fair to be in a relationship where one person is constantly thinking of another.
You tell Adrien that you think you’re better off as friends, and understandably, he gives you a cold shoulder that matches the chilly January winds. Adrien leaves Monaco in February to go back to England to resume his medical studies and you can’t wholeheartedly say that you’ll miss him this time.
Max knows from Andy that you broke up with the Frenchman and he stays away for a few weeks in case you’re still getting over him but comes to your apartment around Valentines Day out of impatience. The Dutch man is a welcomed sight, and he happily reclaims his chair on your balcony and helps you make dinner, just as he’s done a million times before.
To make up for the time lost, Max comes over almost every day until he has to leave to train for the upcoming 2022 racing season at Red Bull Headquarters. In the true nature of your friendship, you welcome him home with a bag of cookies and without knowing it, you both decide you hope you don’t find another boyfriend anytime soon.
Life goes on a bit like this; Monday through Wednesdays, Max comes over for breakfast and dinner, the two of you somehow never running out of conversation. Thursday through Sundays, Max is in a different city, racing and dominating the track. Sunday nights and Monday mornings, a bag of cookies and a rant about the weekend is expected.
And every hour of every day, you two are unknowingly thinking about how much you wish the other would never leave. When you two hang out with your friends, they know for a fact that you two are the last people are Earth to know that Max likes you, and you like Max.
It’s every longing glance and hug that lasts a bit too long that reveals your feelings for one another. They think it’s adorable but also a bit pathetic because it goes on for months, so you can imagine the relief when the invitation arrives in Max’s mailbox.
The Grand Prix Trust is a charity used to support anybody that was actively involved in Formula 1. The Trust gave aid to anybody that was going through financial problems and enabled clients to continue in the motorsport industry. The charity allowed promising young drivers to continue competing and keep employees working with their teams.
Donations are the main source of income for the trust and to keep the flow of donations going, the team behind the cause chose to host a charity gala. It would be a huge event held in April and even though just about everyone in the F1 community was invited, plus one’s were heavily encouraged.
Max knew he was attending, it would be almost wrong not to, he just needed a plus one. The first and only person that came to mind was you, but if he wanted to bring you, he needed to ask you and that was far too nerve wracking.
He received the invitation a month in advance and both he and his date needed to RSVP within the week, which meant Max had less than 7 days to ask you.
He thought it over for a bit, and instead of asking you on your balcony over the dinner you made together, he accidentally blurted it out while you were cooking in your apartment. “Will you go to the charity gala with me?” He didn’t even realize that the words escape his mouth until you’ve turned around.
“What?” The Dutch wants to smack his own face in idiocy. “Oh, um, do you want to go to the charity gala? With me?”
He adds the last part quietly. Instead of laughing in his face like he thought you would, you smile at him. “Yeah, Max, I’d love to go with you” He has to move his head away, so you don’t see his reddened face and lovesick smile.
“Be careful, do you want to set off the smoke alarm again?” He jokes. “Do you not like how it turned out the last time that happened?”
You spend the days leading up to April 16th putting your outfit together and preparing yourself for the event. You weren’t usually nervous about these types of things, but Max told you to expect hundreds of people and you’ve never met any of them before, so you’re sure your anxiety is understandable.
You and Max speculate about the gala all the way until Saturday night when you’re in your respective apartments getting ready. Max has been ready for about half an hour and is waiting on his balcony, nervously. “Y/n! Are you ready yet?” He shouted, knowing that your balcony door was open enough to hear him.
“Almost! Two more minutes!” You yelled, putting your earrings in and checking yourself out in the mirror. You had a gorgeous dress on, shoes and jewelry to match, and a beautiful hairstyle to complete it. You stepped out onto the platform. “Okay! I’m ready!” You looked up to see Max standing over his railing.
“You look amazing, liefde” (love) The pet name slips out in his awed state. He’s known you for almost three years and he’s seen you dressed up before but not to this extent, he had to remind himself to close his mouth and stop staring. “Hold on, I’ll be right there!” He called out before closing the door and making his way down to your apartment.
He knocked on the door, even though he knew he didn’t have to. “Are you ready?” He said as he held out his hand once you opened the door. “Yeah, let’s go” You placed your hand into his outstretched one and locked your door.
He held the car door open for you and let music fill the nervous silence on the way there. The venue is just outside Monte Carlo, so it’s not a long drive but you feel like the scenery passes by slower than usual.
It’s an extremely high-profile event, so as soon as Max’s car pulls up in front of the red carpet leading up to the doors, the flashes of cameras fill your vision. The driver gets out before you to open the car door and offer his hand. As soon as your face is visible, the clicks of the photographers seem to multiply and the only thing you can do is to keep smiling while Max keeps a hand around the small of your back and guides you along with carpet.
Just as your neighbor told you, you only have to stop along the carpet to pose for photos, interviews are optional, and Max would gladly skip media at any event. The venue is beautiful, filled with people mingling around courting a date and champagne glass. He leads you to your table where a few people are already seated.
“Y/n, this is Daniel, and his girlfriend, Heidi” Max has told you all about the Australian Mclaren driver and you can’t help but mirror the smile on his face.
“Hi, Daniel, Max has told me all about you, it’s nice to meet the man behind the stories. And it’s nice to meet you, Heidi, I love your dress” You compliment the woman sitting beside Daniel.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Y/n. And Max has told me all about you too” The older man grins and winks at Max. “It’s nice to meet you as well, Y/n, you look beautiful” Heidi says. You thank her and Max points to the couple next to them.
“That’s Lando, and his girlfriend Luisa, that’s Charles, and his girlfriend Charlotte, and that’s Carlos, and his girlfriend, Isa” He finishes, pulling out your chair and sitting in his own.
“Everyone, this is Y/n” You smile at everyone around the table after Max introduces you. “Not your girlfriend, Max?” Lando jokes as Lusia hits his arm.
“No, I live in the apartment below him actually, and we’ve been friends since he first moved in” You deny, but no one missed the smile and blush on each of your faces.
“Y/n, do you want to go grab drinks with us?” Charlotte asks you. “Yeah sure, I’d love one” All five of you get up and they lead you to where a waiter is walking around with a tray. Max watches you talk and laugh with the other girls with an infatuated smile.
“Just friends for a while, Max?” Daniel teases.
“Yes, we are just friends” The Dutch shrugs.
“Well, you shouldn’t be” Lando emphasizes. “Mate, it’s so obvious you like each other. Tonight’s the perfect night, just tell her how you feel and kiss her”
“When did I ever tell you I liked her?” Max questions.
“You didn’t, it’s just extremely obvious” Carlos interrupts.
“Do not worry, Max. We saw the way she looks at you, trust me, she likes you” Charles assures. Just as Max is about to respond, the five girls walk back to the table, giggling.
“You picked a good one, Max” Luisa teases as you just blush and smile. “Okay, okay, that’s enough. Y/n, I’m going to go donate, do you want to come with me?” Your neighbor says, offering his hand once again. “Yeah sure, I’ll grab my purse” You reach behind you and get up from your seat, leaving your friends smirking at the table.
“I’m sorry about them, they just-” You interrupt. “Max, it’s fine. I like them” You squeeze his hand as you both place your donations.
You two go back to your table and continue to talk, mostly about you and Max. You share stories about each other over the years, all with grins and flushed cheeks. When the music starts playing, almost everyone seated floods to the main floor to dance to the live band on the stage. It’s mostly upbeat music until a slow song starts to play and people pair up on the floor.
“Will you dance with me?” Your date offers his arm. “Of course” You smile as you wrap your arms around his neck, and he moves his arms to around your waist. It should’ve been awkward, two ‘friends’ just staring into each other’s eyes, swaying to the music but it wasn’t. Max’s eyes were enchanting, and the music playing softly in the background created a beautiful atmosphere.
“Do you want to come outside with me?” He leans toward you, his lips brushing the shell of your ear. “Yes” You whisper back as your date takes your hand and leads you outside.
The venue has a patio overlooking the city and the view of all the shining lights below you combined with the glow of the stars above you sculpted a captivating scene.
He brings you to where the railing stands and grabs your hands. “Y/n” He takes a breath before staring into your eyes.
“Y/n, I really like you. I’ve liked you for a while now and I know you broke up with Adrien a few months ago and we live really close, and this could go terribly wrong, but I had to tell you”
“Every time I come to your apartment it’s like a completely different world, one where I don’t have to put on a face and answer a bunch of nosy questions, I can just breathe and talk and laugh with you for as long as I want and It’s the only world I want to live in. I know-” At that, you’re looking at him with so much love and the only thing you can think to do is cup his face and press your lips against his.
Max responds immediately, moving his hands around your waist and kisses you back. He moves his lips against yours before pulling away. “I really like you too, Max” you say, not moving your hands from his face. Even after his speech, his face didn’t redden until then.
You two walk back into the gala, smiling like idiots, and the eight others sitting at your table grinned knowingly.
“I’ve only known about those two for a few hours, but I feel like I’ve waiting ages for them to get together” Heidi says to her boyfriend.
“Yeah love, knowing him, they have”
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