EIGHTEEN

"What do you mean, you love him?"

Sebastian Vettel coughed out as he choked on his glass of water, his eyes wide and alert since he had to process so much happening in a matter of seconds.

Firstly, Josie had walked straight up to him in his garage at Ferrari. Then, she had dragged him by the arm in to his driver trailer without saying a single word to him. Finally, when she did speak, she had told him that she was in love with Daniel Ricciardo.

"I'm in love with him, and I don't know what to do, so you're gonna help me figure out how to tell him and prepare myself for his reaction."

Josephine Rankin spoke sternly, a determined look upon her youthful face, her skin radiant and glowing as she finally seemed to be healing in every single way.

"I know his reaction. You've got nothing to worry about." Sebastian spoke reassuringly yet still confused as shit because he had no time to process it.

"Not helpful."

"What if I refuse to help you?" Sebastian raised one of his eyebrows slightly, a hesitant look upon his face.

"I'll tell Charles that you are a big softy who actually likes the same music as him and is just bullying him for fun." The Rankin woman raised the both of her eyebrows in return, her arms folding in front of her chest, challenging him.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me, evolutionsbremse."

"Walk up to him and kiss him, that should do it, and I'm sure that he'd enjoy it." The Vettel man huffed as he relented, knowing not to try her, since he would have his ass kicked.

"No, because what if he doesn't feel the same, and I kiss him, which forever makes it weird? He might not want to kiss me, so I don't want to take away his choice." Josephine breathed out, her hands shaking slightly as she debated on what to do.

"God, you're too perfect." The German man laughed, wrinkles forming around his eyes as he did so. "Only you would not want to kiss somebody you're in love with because it takes away their choice."

"If I was perfect, I never would've abandoned Charles and Arthur when Jules died. I should've helped them, they were just kids." The Australian model spoke with a shaky voice, her words coming out in a whisper.

"It's one of my biggest regrets, you know? Not reaching out to see how you were and how you were coping, and grieving." Sebastian admitted, taking the woman before him by surprise.  "See, I have regrets. We all do, but it doesn't mean that you're not perfect because everybody knows that you are, Josie."

"Danke, Seb."

"Now, I know the perfect way for you to tell Daniel how you feel, so grab a notebook and pen, and take notes." The blonde man grinned, his smile bright and cheerful.

"The best I've got is a brain full with depression, anxiety, and PTSD."

"That'll do."

_________________________________________________

"Did Charles teach you how to drive his yacht or am I gonna die a watery death?"

"I watched a YouTube video, we'll be fine."

"HELP! HELP!"

Daniel Ricciardo screamed at the top of his lungs, jumping up and down on his feet with his hands waving around aimlessly in the air, trying to find somebody to rescue them from certain doom.

Josephine Rankin couldn't help but laugh at his behavior, her eyes sparkling from the pure joy that she was feeling, wrinkles forming around them as she grinned, her stomach full to the brim with butterflies where it felt as if real butterflies could erupt from her mouth at any moment to break free.

The Rankin woman sidled her way up to the racing driver as she relished in his company, stepping against his chest knowing that he would instantly stop moving around to hug her, which he did.

"I took lessons. You're safe, my love."

Josephine spoke, the name slipping off her tongue without her even noticing, wrapping her arms around his waist for a moment before she moved towards the deck where she had laid out a blanket with a picnic blanket on top of it.

Daniel's cheeks instantly flushed pink at the name, his smile growing which almost seemed impossible, becoming stronger and brighter, his heart beating frantically against his chest, as if it was trying to erupt out of his body, trying to reach his Josie.

"So, we're having a picnic before we drown? I like the sound of that." Daniel responded before he took a seat on the blanket, making sure that he was directly next to her, his body leaning in to her slightly.

"You're a strong swimmer, you'd be fine."

"Yeah, but you're not, and we both know that I'd never leave you. So, obviously, we're drowning together." The Ricciardo man spoke with a serious tone, his face still plastered with a smile.

"Will you just open the basket already? I can literally hear your stomach rumbling." Josie giggled, her cheeks flushing a light shade of pink which made her grateful that she had used a tinted moisturiser, which would just about cover it.

The pair quickly began to tuck in to the wood basket, a lot of which was full of fruit and other sweet deserts, but also that of sandwiches, salads and the occasional schnitzel, happiness flooding the pair that they were together but also had great food.

The golden rays of the sun shone down on to their bodies, their skin relishing in the warmth that it was gifting them, not a single cloud in the sky, only the blue color that they both loved.

"Josie... y-you make my heart flutter, and my smile to never fade." Daniel spoke up after a period of silence, his eyes full with a look that Josie had never seen from him before, not in that intensity anyway.

"That doesn't make sense."

"Yes it does!"

Daniel argued lightly, laughing as he did so, noticing how her face scrunched up slightly in disagreement which to him, was quite possibly the cutest thing that he had ever seen.

"Fine! I'll be clearer, just for you, Josè." The Australian racing driver rolled the dark of his eyes as he knew that she would only continue to say that his words didn't make any sense, though he knew that they did.

"What I was trying to say before you evidently interrupted with the wrong information, is that... I love you, Josie."

"I love you too, Daniel." Josephine couldn't help but smile, her hands lightly shaking as they rested within her lap.

"No, not like that, I mean that I-"

"I'm in love with you, Daniel."

Josephine blurted out, her eyes widening as her brain caught up with her lips, having surprised herself that she had just said it without hesitating.

She was glad that she had listened to Sebastian and set it up that they were alone, but she was pretty sure that if there were anybody else around, that she would have panicked and frozen.

Daniel Joseph Ricciardo stared dumbfounded at the woman before him for a couple of moments, his brain trying to process what she had said, and how she had said it, and in the way that she had said it.

She was in love with him? For real?

The Renault driver moved his body forward before his brain could say anything, the both of his hands gently cupping at her soft cheeks before he moved his face closer to hers.

"God, I love you so much, Josie."

His lips lightly brushed hers as he waited in order to see her reaction, his breath fanning over her face, her eyelashes ever so slightly touching his face every single time that she blinked.

"I love you, Danny."

Josie whispered, her voice failing her from their proximity, resorting to the only thing that she knew that she could do.

The Rankin woman pushed her body upwards in order to close the distance between them, their lips crashing together before they moved against one another, their bodies shifting slightly until Josie was sitting in Daniel's lap.

The kiss was magical for the both of them, their stomachs doing somersaults and backflips, their hearts hammering against their chests, trying to get to the other person who was pressed against them.

It seemed to last forever, the pair of them not wanting to pull away, wanting to give each other the love that they had held for them for such a long time, though their lungs gave out, forcing the pair apart in order to catch their breaths.

They sat staring at one another for a mere moment before the silence was broken, not only with words, but by the feeling of crystal clear water droplets falling on to their bodies from the sky above.

Nothing major, just a little bit of rain whilst the sun shone down, the light of the large star hitting the droplets and creating a bright and very beautiful rainbow above them.

"I've wanted to do that for so long." Daniel laughed, his entire face red, his smile the widest that it had ever been.

"Me too."

The pair lifted their heads up to stare at the sky which held a multitude of things that they both found beautiful, their minds both crossing over to somebody who was up there and even more beautiful.

They both knew that he was with them.

"Now, all we gotta do is drown."

A/N

IT FINALLY HAPPENED

What do you think?

Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you all soon for the next one,

I'm so proud of all of you, my loves

Love you all,

-RUBY 🇵🇸🇨🇩🇵🇫🇸🇩🇸🇸🇺🇦🇾🇪