All of Me (Sebastian Vettel)

3. Joel's Story

A/N: Trigger warning for this chapter ⚠️. Contains subjects that might upset some people. Domestic violence. Drug use.

"Joel, why are you looking at me like that?  Where are they?   Do they not want to see me?  How are you here? Seb, did you find him?"

"Sienna I think you need to sit down," Seb said

"I don't want to sit down.  I want to know where my Dad and my sister are. I've not seen them for nearly seventeen years and I don't want to wait any longer!"

"Sisi, please.  Sit," Joel said.  Sienna looked like she was about to argue, but she sat.  "Ok, so I guess there's no easy way of saying this. Dad passed away in August 2010."

"What?" Sienna cried, burying her face in her hands.  "No!   That can't be true! You were supposed to be living a better life with him! As a family!"

"I'm sorry Sienna, it's true."   The tears spilled out of Sienna's eyes.  Seb placed his hand reassuringly on her shoulder.  

"How?"

"Glioblastoma. Brain cancer.  It was quick.  He died three months after diagnosis.  I was nineteen, Alyssa was sixteen."

Sienna sobbed quietly. Joel didn't know what to do. He felt the tears pooling in his own eyes. It had been over eleven years but it still hurt.

"Why didn't you come to me? We've spent years looking for you but you were nowhere to be found. You should have come to me. I'd have looked after you. I'd have looked after Alyssa. Where is she Joel?"

"He told us he contacted you. He told us you didn't want to know. That's why we stayed away."

"Who?"

"Grandad," he sobbed.

"Why would he do that?"

"I don't know but I'm going to be asking him."

"He's still alive? And he's never tried to see me?"

"He went on the run with us when we arrived here from Germany. We changed our surname to Ashton, Nan's maiden name. Dad had a few contacts and we disappeared. He wasn't risking Monica and Karl getting us back."

"I get that. I just don't get why neither of you have been in touch since reaching adulthood. You're nearly 31 Joel. Alyssa is 28! Ten fucking years you've both been adults. And now you just turn up!"

"We thought you didn't want us Sisi. Grandad told us you'd said you wanted nothing to do with us."

"Yet here you are. What do you want Joel? Money?"

"It's not like that Sienna," Seb said quietly.

"Then what's it like Sebastian?"

"I bumped into him in Barcelona. He works for Aston Martin. I recognised him. We spoke and he agreed to come and talk to you."

"So you wouldn't have tried to speak to me if you hadn't seen Sebastian?"

"Probably not," Joel answered truthfully. "But I'm so glad I did Sisi. I'm so sorry I believed Grandad. I should have contacted you myself but I was grieving and Alyssa was a mess. I had my hands full looking after her. I missed you Sienna. And I'm so happy to see you. You have to believe me."

"Joel, I do. I'm just struggling to process everything. Where have you been? What have you been doing? And where the fuck is Alyssa? Why isn't she here? Does she not want to see me?"

"Ok, I think it's best if I just start from the beginning....

When we arrived in the UK we travelled up North, stayed in a Premier Inn in Northwich, not far from Manchester. Dad knew someone up there. Someone with connections. We got new birth certificates and new passports. From that day on we were Ashtons. Not Harpers. Grandad came to join us and we found a house in Chesterfield.