the rush of loving you

feels like coming back home

*Liv*

Max jumped towards me screaming. I just managed to catch my little brother, who towered over me by two heads.

He had just been told, kind of uncool, that he had won his second world title. In a way, it had only been a matter of time, but I was incredibly proud of him.

And just like after his first title, he immediately came running to me. The first time, we had been crying in each other's arms. It had been a nerve-wracking final in Abu Dhabi. We had all cried.

Today it was different. Max was just happy.

"I'm so proud of you.", I pressed a kiss to his cheek "But I always am.", I assured him.

"I know." he said laughing and wrapped his arms around me a little tighter before lifting me off the ground and hugging me even tighter. I felt like he was trying to smother me, but that was Max.

When he was happy, he had a hard time controlling his emotions. He usually showed it with a particularly tight hug. I was in no way inferior to Max, even though I could definitely verbalize my feelings better than he could. But when I was stuck, a hug was definitely my love language.

He put me back down on the floor, pressed a kiss to my forehead and then was immediately pulled into the next hug. Victoria joined me with a big grin and pulled me into her arms as well.

This was so our sibling thing. The three of us had always stuck together. The three of us against the storm. I had always tried to take care of the two smaller ones, had tried to be a good big sister to them. I had always tried to intercept everything for them, to keep everything away from them. I would have given everything for them. And now they were already so big.

Max was a two-time world champion, Vic had already become a mom twice, and yet I would still do anything to protect the two of them. I was still there immediately when they needed me and I was still the first number they called when there were problems. I was always there for them, but I didn't manage to talk to them about my own problems. I hadn't told the two of them about how much the phone call with the Marquez brothers had thrown me off track. I had just put on my "it's all good" face and not let on how upset I was.

I hadn't wanted Max to focus on anything other than his race, and Vic as a mom of two small kids definitely had other things to worry about than my emotional chaos. I had to sort that out with myself anyway.

But I had decided to fly to Australia with Pierre. He was happy to have me as his travel companion. And I just had to see what happened when I met Marc, because I assumed that we would see each other. Whether I would stop by his box, I didn't know yet. Even though I would be really happy to see some of the guys again. I had always had a good relationship with Marc's pit crew. I liked the guys. But I didn't know if I wanted to be that close to Marc. Could be that close.

"I'm so proud of him," Vic said, and I nodded as I watched the pit crew lift Max onto their shoulders.

"He so deserves this," I nodded.

God Max had always worked the hardest out of all of us. Dad had let him go karting in all kinds of weather. No matter how cold it had been or how much it had rained. Sometimes Max had almost frozen to the steering wheel, but he had always kept going.

He had put so much into all of this. He had always given everything. And even though last year's world title had a strange aftertaste, he'd still deserved it. Not that Lewis didn't work hard, I was sure, even if I couldn't judge it because I hardly knew him. But I had always seen Max work his ass off all these years and he deserved this.

He had talent and a hell of a lot of stamina.

"We'll celebrate that at the Hanger. Then everyone will be there and we'll party really big.", Vic laughed and wrapped her arms around my body.