"To me, you're the winner."

~•~

The races in Miami came faster than Freya had hoped. The week Max spent with them at home was absolutely great. Freya's father constantly asked Max about something, and he always answered with a smile on his face. Maxplaining was in full swing during the week, but the brunette didn't seem bothered by it - in fact, he seemed to enjoy it, being constantly asked about Formula. He enjoyed talking about Formula with someone who also understood it.

Nils and Hugo bragged about Max so much at school that one day he decided to accompany them to school - it ended up being a kind of mini fan meeting, and if Freya hadn't been there filming it on her phone, Red Bull would probably have been angry. So, Max promised them at least some videos, which they could release either on Instagram or YouTube. Fortunately, Ystad was a small school, and most people only knew Max's name, but they didn't follow Formula, so more than three-quarters of the school didn't even know why so many people disliked Max.

They also went to Stockholm together to see the bigger city. Both were disguised so that no one would recognize them, so it wasn't as fun as if they could walk around freely, but even so, they had a lot of fun.

During that week, Freya became even more convinced of what she had thought already in the first hour she met him two weeks ago on the street. Her mother was exaggerating, and she definitely wasn't right. No one who insulted Max was right. He was one of the funniest and kindest people Freya had ever met.

And he was also cute. He was constantly trying to help Freya because in the time they knew each other, he realized that the girl was quite clumsy. The blonde found him very cute, especially when he kept offering to help with washing the dishes. He always looked so focused on it - except at the airport, when they said goodbye, Freya learned that he was timing himself and trying to be as fast as possible. He was just like an overgrown child.

Fortunately, no one recognized them at the airport either, but they recognized the fans. They stood by the large windows and watched Max's private plane, which was parked so that everyone could see it. A black plane with an orange lion on the tail and an orange stripe across both sides - exactly Max's style. Everyone who followed the Formula 1 news knew that Max was in Sweden.

The brunette didn't try to disguise in which country he was. He only disguised in which city - and as Freya learned, he was always in some small town, where he had a better chance that no one knew him.

That's why those fans were there. They were waiting to catch a glimpse of Max. They wanted to see him, record him, and post the video on social media so that they would be the ones with the viral video of Max appearing outside official events or races. But they won't succeed, because Max already has his ways to get into the plane unnoticed. He always dresses up as a pilot, so the fans always ignore him. Freya found it funny, but she wouldn't be surprised. She herself doesn't know how she will do it when she has to fly somewhere by plane - she doesn't have a private plane. She will have to fly normal, where people will recognize her.

But that's how their joint week ended, which they both truly enjoyed. Freya waited until the plane took off, before heading back to the car and back to her father's house, where she feels more at home than at home in Monaco, where she has been living for who knows how many years.

Until Friday, Freya just rode horses, went running, or worked out in her home gym. She decided to start training to stay fit when the badminton federation contacts her to continue her career in her sport. She didn't train as intensively as she used to with her mom, but she tried to spend at least five hours a day doing some more intense physical activity.

She also helped a lot on the farm. Her father showed her how to milk cows - she enjoyed it immensely and offered to do it every morning. She collected eggs with Alma, which the chickens laid. She took care of the little bunnies that were born, and she also went among the sheep to check if they didn't have too much wool because if they did, it could hurt them.

But most of the time, she spent with Nils and Hugo. She regretted living in Monaco and not being able to get to know her stepbrothers better, so she tried to make up for it. She accompanied them to school and also picked them up. The boys were also excited when Freya occasionally went horseback riding with them because they enjoyed how average she was - they decided to help her a bit and occasionally corrected her and tried to teach her various tactics on how to deal with horses so that they would listen to her better.

Freya understood that her stepbrothers were absolutely amazing, even though they were ten years younger than her. She got along with them and always had something to talk about. There was never a moment of silence between them, because either they talked or she did.

But now there was silence between them because the boys were playing outside with the dogs, with which they would probably go for a walk, while the adults sat on the couch and watched TV. The Miami Grand Prix was about to start, and Freya and her father were impatiently waiting. Freya was wearing Max's Red Bull hoodie, which he left her before he left, saying it would definitely bring him luck if she rooted for him in his clothes - another cute moment of Max Verstappen. Her father wore a T-shirt that Max had given him, and Alma had one of the caps the twins had received on her head. They were all ready for Max's win.

And the race began. Everyone nervously watched the TV and believed that the brunette, who spent the whole week with them before the race, would win another race and move up in the ranking of the best drivers by so many points that it would be difficult to catch up with him.

However, things weren't going that way. He was winning, and suddenly Oscar Piastri was in first place. A safety car followed, and the first was Lando Norris - someone you would never have expected. The brunette, who started racing in Formula One five years ago, had several podium finishes to his name, but the first place always somehow eluded him.

Not this time. Freya, with her father and Alma, watched as Lando Norris crossed the finish line with a lead of seven seconds. Lando Norris was the winner of the Miami Grand Prix. Max Verstappen was in second place, and Charles LeClerc came in third.

Freya exchanged glances with her father, but instead of being sad that Max didn't win, they both started to rejoice. Lando Norris had his first victory, and that couldn't be ignored. You could be a fan of anyone, but this victory couldn't make you angry. Everyone wished it for Lando. Everyone wanted him to finally win. And finally, it happened.

What surprised the blonde was when they grabbed Max, and he smiled at Lando and congratulated him. Max wasn't as angry as usual when he didn't win. He also wished it very much for Lando - Freya was proud of him. She had heard that he supposedly had quite a hard time controlling his anger when it came to racing. Max even confirmed it to her. That's why she was glad to see him genuinely smiling and being happy about his friend's victory.

But the podium was the same as in China. When the second place was announced, people booed. They didn't want Max. They didn't want Max on the podium. They would prefer Max to stop racing altogether - but that won't happen because Formula One was currently his life.

Freya wrote him a few nice messages again because that's just what she does, and she continued to watch TV. But during the English anthem, her phone started vibrating in her hand.

"Mother," the screen announced.

"You should probably answer that," her father said. "We both know how she can be when she's angry."

"I'll be right back," she smiled and hurriedly went to her room upstairs so that no one in the house could hear their conversation. She didn't know what her mother wanted to tell her, but she didn't need her father or Alma to hear it.

"Yes?" she asked as soon as she answered the call. She didn't intend to be nice. Those few days with Max had really opened her eyes, and she began to realize that her mother was more than toxic. She was an incredibly bad mother who cared only about herself and no one else. She wanted her daughter to succeed in sports and have a lot of money so that she could live off of it too. Freya was the professional athlete, but it was true that her mother's name appeared more often in the news all over the internet than hers - Freya didn't mind because she never liked too much attention.

"Where the hell are you?" she screamed. She couldn't even say it calmly - she only knew how to scream. Freya sighed.

"I won't tell you because you would come for me and force me to return to Monaco," Freya told her calmly. One of them had to be the calm one, and it seemed today was her turn.

"Because here is your place," she screamed so much that Freya had to pull the phone away from her ear so as not to go deaf, "your home is in Monaco. Training is waiting for you here, so kindly look to return before I hire private services to find you."

"I would file a criminal complaint against you," Freya told her, "I won't return to Monaco until everything regarding my career is resolved. You won't see me there until I know from the federation whether I can continue."

"And let some damn federation go to hell. I don't give a damn about their opinion. You're my daughter, and you should train. What if they announce soon that you can continue, but you'd rather hang out somewhere instead of training," Freya wanted to cry. She started to realize that her mother's screaming bothered her quite a bit.

"I'm training, you don't have to worry about that," she sighed.

"Do you train at least eight hours a day?" she asked.

"Five," she replied, and ended the call because she knew she would just have to listen to more screaming, and she really didn't need that. Not now, when she was downstairs in the living room with her father and Alma celebrating the fact that Lando Norris won his first place, and Max Verstappen was only in second place.

But before she could open the door, her phone rang again. She thought it was her mother again and didn't want to answer it, but the screen was lit up, and the white letters announced a different caller. "Bulldozer"

Freya smiled and immediately answered the call.

"How's the second place?" she asked with a smile.

"Don't provoke," Max said with a laugh. Freya laughed too - she knew that on the outside, it looked like he didn't mind the second place, but inside, he already had a plan for the next race. A plan to beat everyone again and hear his country's anthem at the end of the day.

"Do you happen to have any journalist obligations?" Freya asked him curiously.

"I do, but that can wait," his tone sounded amused. Max really hated journalists, and he would rather skip all interviews because they always ask stupid questions, and he hated stupid questions.

"I wanted to thank you for the messages," he began, "and then I wanted to ask. Or rather, Lando is asking, and I'm just the messenger because I'm the one who has your number."

"First of all, you don't owe me thanks for the messages. It's a given that I'll write you something nice when people boo you like that. And secondly, ask for Lando, it's definitely going to be an interesting question," Freya laughed. She knew Lando from his stories and understood that he was absolutely cool and funny. She had only heard stories, and she already knew she would love that guy.

"He would like to celebrate his victory with you, just as they agreed in the comments on Instagram. So, can it be done? Is it possible?" he asked in the end.

"It will definitely be possible because I'll be alone here for the next two weeks. The family is leaving for Spain tomorrow on vacation," she told him, "so tell Lando that I'll be waiting."

"He'll be thrilled," Max told her.

"And you?" she asked him.

"I'd rather we were alone," he replied, "but now I have to go because I can't avoid those journalist obligations. I'll text you when we'll be landing, and we'll figure out how to get to you."

"I'll be looking forward to it," she smiled, "in the meantime, enjoy the podium."

"It's second place."

"To me, you're the winner."

~•~