Drive to Survive

Chapter Fifty-Two

Chapter Fifty-Two

Dylan was sat in the McLaren plane, having once again hitched a ride with Lando. Max Fewtrell was with them after deciding to follow Lando around for this series of European races and Danny was also on the plane but had understandably kept himself down the other end with his team; he was still struggling with accepting everything that had happened and it had definitely strained his friendship with Lando.

The other Max, Dylan's Max, was sat by the window, headphones on and staring out at the clouds.

Dylan left Max F and Lando to their bickering over some sort of editing thing and headed over to her boyfriend, taking the seat next to him. They were on their way to the Zandvoort track in the Netherlands. It was Max's home race and the pressure on him to deliver would be absolutely monumental, unlike any other race in the season.

She'd seen it in photos before: the sea of orange, the hazy smoke, the screaming crowds. It was an unmissable experience but potentially not what Max needed when he was already under a lot of strain.

Gently, she tapped him on the wrist and he turned, slipping off his headphones.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Hey, I just wanted to see how you were feeling. I know your home race brings a lot of added pressure and I want to reassure yo-"

"It's fine." He cut her off, shaking his head dismissively, "I don't want to talk about the race."

She frowned, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. We'll talk later, okay?"

With that, his headphones were back over his ears and he was lost to her again, stuck in that far-away place where she couldn't reach him. Her attempts to pull him back to their world had so far been unsuccessful.

Dylan looked around, hoping nobody had seen Max brush her off again. Luckily, everyone was in their own world and she went unnoticed. With a sigh, she headed back over to Lando and Max F, who had barely noticed that she'd left through the heat of their argument.

"I am not wearing a princess costume, get that out your head!"

"I just think tha-"

"And why do you get to be Mario when I'm Princess Peach? I am not being saved by you, I'd be better off just getting on with Bowser! And another thing-"

Dylan interrupted them as she took her seat, "Genuinely, what the hell are you two talking about?"

Lando closed his laptop lid, "Just ideas for Quadrant videos in the future but someone is being difficult!"

"I want to be the Shy Guy!"

"They can't find the Shy Guy costume, mate, I've told you this. It's Princess Peach or nothing and you better wear the crown as well."

"I'm gonna shove that red Mario hat right up your-"

"Okay!" Dylan swiftly intercepted the growing argument, "This sounds like something you can fight out in the future."

They both shrugged and nodded, pushing their laptops away. Lando glanced over at Max by the window before looking back at Dylan, "He all good?"

She tried to exude confidence in her answer, "Yeah, you know what he's like. Just super focused with the home race and all. I don't think he was happy with the Belgium result."

Lando rolled his eyes, "Typical. I'd die for P4 right about now with this bloody tractor I'm driving. I can't wait for the next upgrades."

"When are they coming?"