"I think it's best if we break up..." Y/N's voice seemed to echo though the café though it was only loud enough for Max to hear, there was no need for all of Hasselt to know their business. Max stared unwaveringly at her from across the table, when Y/N asked to meet up this afternoon he had no idea that it'd be to break up with him.
"What do you mean? You want us to break up?" His voiced choked slightly as he began to fidget with his fingers.
"I think you know what I mean Max." She reached her hand across the table to gently run her thumb along the back of his hand, but Max pulled his hand away before she could grasp his. "I'll always love you."
"Then why are you breaking up with me?"
"It's for the best." Y/N forced a small smile to appear on her, though it struggled to remain there, "I think I best go." With a final look at Max, Y/N stood from the table and left.
***
It was the first time in nearly 3 years that Max was seeing Y/N, even if it was from afar. The season was finally over and Victoria and himself decided to go out for brunch to catch up with each other as they hadn't seen each other since the Russian Grand Prix. At first, he thought she was the wrong person because she was wheeling a pram, but Y/N's face wasn't one that Max could ever exist – even if it had been 3 years.
"Y/N," Max mumbled interrupting Victoria mid-sentence who looked at him with wide eyes, "It's Y/N!" Victoria spun around in her seat to see where he was pointing. "She's got a baby?" His voice sounded so heartbroken and quiet, and Victoria almost told him then and there the truth, but she knew she couldn't do that to Y/N even if it was Max.
"N-no, she ... uh ... she babysits" Victoria said, although it sounded more like a question and she knew herself that it would be remarkable if Max believed it, however, luck seemed to be on her side as he seemed to accept that as the truth. Victoria almost found it a bit suspicious how accepting he was of that. She could remember the day that Y/N broke up with Max; he was heartbroken and cried for hours while switching between hugging Victoria and hugging his mum, Sophie. It took him a long time to finally move on and, inevitably, it was down to the racing season continuing after the summer break. "Maybe we should head on, we'll have plenty more chances to catch up and I still need to finalise some things for my party next week." Victoria spoke quickly and stood up to pay for their food (Though Max said he'd paid for it, Victoria insisted, 'I need to treat my brother sometimes').
With Victoria's birthday fast approaching, Max knew he had to find a photo or two that he could post on Instagram to annoy her. His first stop were the drawers in the living room; photos and keepsakes seemed to just accumulate there. And it seemed he struck gold. As soon as Max opened the drawer, photos seemed to spill out of it. Though there were many, Max was a bit affronted to find that there were hardly (if any) of him, they all seemed to be of Victoria as a baby – with her fair hair and blue eyes, it was hard to mistake her for anyone but Victoria. Photos in hand, Max decides to question his mother on the lack of photos of himself.
"Mum?" Catching his mother's and Victoria's attention as he strolled into the kitchen, he continued, "Why don't you have any pictures of me? There are only ones of Victoria."
As if they were synced together both Sophie and Victoria turned to each other with wide eyes, "What do you mean, honey?" Sophie smiled nervously. This was definitely not how she had anticipated this talk.
"These photos." Max turned the photos round to show his mum who fidgeted with the mug in front of her.
"Yeah... Max, sit down a moment," Confusedly, Max did as he was told and sat opposite his mum, beside Victoria, "That ... that's not Victoria." Sophie said slowly as if she was trying to say the right words. With a raised eyebrow, Max studied the photos in front of him, 'Could it be Blue?' he thought, though he was positive that she had much lighter hair as a baby. He voiced his question anyway, but just as he thought it wasn't Blue Jaye.
Seeing his face get more and more confused, Victoria couldn't take it anymore and blurted "It's your daughter!" Immediately, she slapped a hand to her mouth as she hadn't meant for it to just blurt out. Sophie turned to Victoria with a pointed look, "What? He needs to know." She defended her actions.
Max blinked slowly as he tried to absorb the new information that had just been thrown at him, "I have a child," He mumbled before repeating it louder, "that baby we saw earlier with Y/N, was that her?" After a few seconds, Victoria nodded hesitantly. That was all Max needed to make him jump to his feet and run out the door while Victoria and Sophie could only listen helplessly as they heard the car roar to life and hope that Max wouldn't do anything he'd regret.
It had been 3 years since Max had last step foot in Y/N's house, but that didn't mean he forgot where it was. He'd never forget where she lived. He'd spent more time at Y/N's house than he did his own when he was younger, she was the first one he told when he got the Toro Rosso seat and then when he got the Red Bull seat, she'd been there when he won his first race in Spain. It all made sense to him now. She'd been there at the Hungarian Grand Prix, just weeks before she broke up with him, and she seemed to be happier than ever, in his mind Max could understand to an extent why she didn't tell him, but now he'd missed out on so much and the questions near drove him insane as he travelled to Y/N's home. 'Would she even know me? How am I meant to look after a child? I can barely cook myself.'
Max didn't even give himself a second to breathe as he parked his car on Y/N's drive before he was running up to her door and knocking. It felt like an eternity before she answered, her eyes going wide as she realised who was at her door. Y/N tried to close the door and Max quickly put his foot down to stop it. "What are you doing here?" Y/N sighed.
"I think you know why." Y/N opened her mouth to reply, but a ruckus from beside her feet stopped her short, glancing down Max saw that it was his daughter. The words felt strange in his mind. The thought that he even had a daughter hadn't even crossed his mind until this morning. "Is she mine?"
"Yeah, you better come in." The house hadn't changed much in 3 years; same wallpaper, same furnishings, the only thing that had changed was the addition of children's toys cluttering the floor. Max's heart nearly broke at the sight in front of him; his daughter was sat on the floor playing with some jigsaws. He stopped at the door, not wanting to disturb her. "Y/D/N, someone's here to see you." Y/D/N. It hadn't even occurred to Max that he didn't know her name, but Y/D/N was perfect.
"Dada" Y/D/N said pointing to Max. Max turned to Y/N bewildered, "She knows me?"
"Of course she does. I couldn't bear not telling her. We watch all your races and she gets so excited when your car comes on screen." Max couldn't contain his smile any longer, with a brief look in Y/N's direction, he walked forward and lifted Y/D/N into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest.
"Thank you." He mumbled, his eyes watered slightly. He'd never felt this much love for a human being before, it almost felt too surreal to have this much emotion.
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