"Nathalie! Over here!"
"Nathalie look!"
"Kelley! Over here!"
"Are the stories true?"
"Max! Are the pictures real?"
"Max!"
"Nathalie!"
"Kelley!"

My ears hurt from the shouting and the blitz going off every second. Max tried to shield Kelley and I and got us into the hotel building.

Even though Max and Kelley lives here in Monaco, we couldn't risk getting people to show up at their address. So, we had to stay in the hotel for the night.

Someone grabbed my arm and pulled me into the crowd. "Max!" I scream and try to wiggle out of their grips.

Cameras were shoved in my face and I got pulled in every direction.

"Let go of me!" I shout and try to find the security guard trying to get to me.

"Max!" I scream once again. I feel myself panicking and my heart is racing.

"Nathalie! Did your father abuse you!"
"Did he give you the bruise three months ago?"
"Nathalie look over here!"

Another man grabs me and as I try to shove him away his camera hit my face.

"Fuck off!" Max shouted and shoved the paparazzi back and held my tightly against his chest as he saw my scared state.

He walked with me into his side. "Leave us alone!" Max shouted and the guards finally got us through.

"Nat, you're bleeding!" Max said and held my face. My nose was bleeding.

I full on cry, but soundless. The tears run and mix with the blood running down my white shirt.

"Help us!" Max shouts and Kai finally gets through the crowd and holds me as I sob.

Kai lifts me up in bridal style and Max comforts Kelley who is full on panicking.

"Let's go, we need to go now" Kai says and Max nods before moving to the elevator with Kelley.

As we get in Kai puts me down and Max pulls Kelley and I into a hug. Both Kelley and I hide in his side and cry.

I feel Max kissing the top of my head and then he does the same to Kelley.

"We made it" Max whispers to try and comfort us.

Max holds us until the elevator reaches our floor. Kai opens the door for us and Max let Kelley and I walk in first.

Baby Penelope runs to her mother and I smile a bit. But when Penelope sees me she screams in fright.

I take a step back and Kelley sees what she got scared of and I sit down on my knees to face Penelope.

"Hey, P. It's me Nathalie. Don't be scared" I say and out my arms out.

Max smiles at Penelope as she looks at Max for confirmation. Penelope runs to me and proceed to push me back on my ass as she hugs me.

"Hey little one" I whisper and Penelope sobs. I hold her tightly and caress her hair and back.

Max and Kelley hug each other once again and I feel tears appear in my eyes once again.

"This is a disaster. What happened out there?" Max snaps at Kai and his assistant.

"The paparazzi got a tip. They were here before the jet even landed" Kai says.

Max put his head in his hands and shake his head.

"Come one, P. You wanna help me get this red paint off my face?" I ask cheerily and she nods yes.

"Why did you put paint on your face?" Penelope asks and I smile as I carry her to the bathroom and sit her down on the sink.

"I was feeling silly" I say and make a face and she laughs.

I start cleaning my face and wipe all the blood off and I put one of Max' hoodies over the white bloodied one as it laid in the bathroom.

"All done!" I say and Penelope points to my nose. I raise an eyebrow and look in the mirror. I had a small cut on the side from the camera.

"It's alright, come here" I say and pick her up once again. I carry her to the couch and sit her down before putting on cartoons.

"Why is mama crying?" Penelope asked confused.

"There's some things happening right now, so your mama is sensitive" I say, but doubt that Penelope understand the meaning of sensitive.

"Does she need a hug?" She asks and I smile. "I think she might just" I say and nod at her to go find her mom.

"The guys called. They saw the pictures of you covered in blood" Max says as he approaches the couch.

"They're worried" Max said and I nod. "I'm fine" I say and Max sit down next to me.

"We're gonna have to stay in this room for the next 24 hours" Max says with a sigh.

"It's a mess out there"

I nod and look at him. He's tired, no, he's exhausted.

"Get some sleep, I'll crash with Penelope. You rest with Kelley" I say and Max smiles slightly.

"Thank you" he says and pull me into a hug.

"Of course, I'll see you tomorrow. Tell Penelope to say good night and come out to me" I tell Max and he nods gratefully before getting up.

"Call Lando" Max says as he walks away.

"What?" I ask confused. "I said call Lando. He's spamming me like crazy. Talk to him" Max says and I raise an eyebrow.

"He's spamming you? About me? Does he have a death wish?" I blurt out and Max laughs.

"Apparently when it comes to you it's worth the risk" Max says and disappears.

I scoff and cross my arms stubbornly. After a few minutes I found myself turning my phone on.

Penelope came out and I laid on the couch with her laying on my chest and stomach.

"Your phone is noisy" Penelope said sleepily.

"Sorry. I'll turn it down" I whisper and reach for it and then turn the sound off.

I saw every F1 member text me as well as my own teammates.

But Lando.

Lando had called 20 times. Texted 33 times and messaged me on every social media platform I had.

I opened our messages and typed.

Nathalie-Cute-Verstappen:
Stop spamming my brother. We're fine.

Lando Norris:
Jesus Nat. Is that I'm getting from you?
What happened to you? Why were you all bloodied?

Nathalie-Cute-Verstappen:
Paparazzi.

Lando Norris:
Fucking assholes.
They'll kill someone one day.

Nathalie-Cute-Verstappen:
You got confirmation that I'm fine.
So bye.

Lando Norris:
Wait, can we talk?

Nathalie-Cute-Verstappen:
I don't think that's a good idea.

Lando Norris:
Please?

I rested my fingers over the keyboard on the screen. I didn't know what to answer. Of course I wanted to talk.

I was dying to talk to him. But he had another woman. And I had a promise to keep.

I sighed and texted 'fine' to him and looked down at Penelope.

"So innocent" I whispered and moved a hair strand out of her face.

She was asleep and looked peaceful.

A knock on the door interrupted me. I raised an eyebrow. Who came to the room at this hour?

I wiggled out from under Penelope and put her softly in the couch and cuddled her into the blanket as she slept on.

An impatient knock on the door reminded me to hurry, as I didn't want anyone to wake up.

I looked through the peephole, a very smart thing to do, I learned.

I saw Lando and raised an eyebrow. He looked tired, pale and pure exhausted.

I opened the door slowly and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Lando?" I said confused. "You said fine" Lando shrugged and I rolled my eyes.

"I didn't mean come to our room in the middle of the night?" I whisper shout and glare at him.

Lando's playful look suddenly turned serious and he took a step towards me and I froze.

His hand travelled to my chin and lifted it to the light. He saw my nose and the slight bruise forming.

"I'll kill them" Lando said rather loudly and I shushed him, before shoving him back outside and close the door behind me.

"I got a frightened kid sleeping in there, be quiet" I hiss and Lando looks at me confused.

"You have a kid?" Lando asks dumbfounded.

"Lando, use your brain, please" I say and quickly he understands and oh's as his eyes widen.

"Oh, I'm sorry" Lando says with a wince and I shake my head.

"How are you feeling?" Lando asked and moved his hands to place on my arms supportively.

It made me move back. "Don't do that" I say in a warning tone.

"What?" Lando asked confused.

"Don't touch me with care, don't come to my room in the middle of the night. You have a girlfriend. Know the limitations to friendships, Lando" I say and shake my head.

I couldn't hide the hurt in my eyes as I said it and Lando's face fell, but softened as he looked at me.

"Nathalie, we have been on one date, I don't consider her my girlfriend. It was a blind date—""—I don't care, Lando. Why would I? From what I see we never had anything. So, I shouldn't care about your love life" I interrupt and cross my arms.

Lando scoffs and flip his cap backwards. He cross his arms too.

"We didn't have anything? At all? There was nothing in it for you?" Lando questioned.

"Correct" I say and swallow the lump in my throat, that hurt unbelievably much.

"We'll never just be friends, Nathalie. You know it too. As much as I want to slam you against that door and kiss you, I know you want it too" Lando said and leaned in to whisper the last part in my ear.

Shivers ran down my spine and I looked away. In shame to be caught.

"You're dreaming, Norris" I say and clear my throat.

"Then why are you here in front of me, getting affected by me being close and by my words?" Lando whisper in my ear. His breath touches my cheek and ear and I almost melted right there.

"I made a promise—""—To Max, I know. But does he have to know?" Lando said and moved my face to his.

"I can't deal with us right now, Lando. Please" I beg him conflicted by his idea.

"Find me when you can, I'm here for you either way. You shouldn't go through this alone, I'm here for you and if not physically available, I'm always a phone call away" Lando said and kissed my forehead.

I leaned into his touch and lips and I sighed in relief.

"Thank you" I say and smile a bit.

"Always, anytime" Lando says with a wink.