Hello all! What the hell was that race yesterday? I am speechless. I just don't have any words for the tractor they managed to build at Maranello and for the amount of bad press I have seen on Seb. I don't have much hope for this week, either!

Anyway, thank you so much for keeping up with this! x

Valeria had been back to Italy for a few days. It felt weird being in Seb's home by herself, every noise made her jump, every room seemed a bit too empty without the smiley German being around.

It was Jules death's anniversary and Valeria had just returned home. She had decided she would spend the night playing the new F1 game she had downloaded and had bought a frozen pizza to be as lazy as possible. She walked up to the spare room she had colonised with her gaming stuff and turned her PC on. She took a quick shower and changed into a pair of colourful shorts and tank top combination. She sat in the dark room, the only light coming from the computer screen.

'new career... Proietti, Valeria. Do I want to do the F2 feeder series? Yeah why not' she clicked along. As the game had started loading the first race, she heard the doorbell. She got up, confused, as she wasn't expecting anyone. They weren't used to get random visits out there. She wondered if anyone had followed her to find out where Seb lived. She slowly walked to the door, leaving all the lights off. She looked through the peephole and her jaw dropped once she saw the outline of a well known curly haired man.

'Dan, what the fuck?' she asked, surprised.

'hey, Taz.' He smiled 'I'd give you a hug, but my hands are kinda busy' he said, nodding to the two pizzas he was balancing on his hand.

'Oh god, yes. Please come in. Can I help you with those?' she grabbed the two boxes, so he could grab his bag.

'How, what? Uh?' Valeria tried, as the Australian let out a laugh.

'I asked Seb's permission, don't worry. He knows I'm here. Well, he was the one who gave me the address' he explained. 'I knew today would be a hard day for you, so I came to see you.'

'oh my god, Dani, you shouldn't have!' Valeria felt tears were imminent. She jumped up to him to hug him.

'Anytime, Taz. But now, stop crying. The pizza will get cold' he joked.

'would you like a drink?' Valeria asked, as she grabbed a beer from the ones Fabian had sent for Seb's birthday.

'I'm good, thanks. Mike will kill me if I have pizza and a beer.' Dan replied, as he chewed a massive mouthful of pizza.

'man, I need to move here again' he added. 'pizza is life'

'Get a job at Ferrari, mine might be going up soon' she joked. 'Either they fire me or I quit'

'nah, they're not that silly to fire the person that's actually bringing them some publicity' Dan told her. 'I'm not blind, people love you and Rosberg'

'maybe I should go and work for Sky...' she started, feeling her phone buzz. 'hope the surprise has worked. Say hello to Dan from me and please call me if you need anything. I'm sorry I'm not there with you tonight. Love you, Kleine. Don't forget that' Seb had messaged. The Italian smiled and typed a reply, thanking her lucky star that she had people like Dan and Seb in her life. And Charles too, he was back in Monaco, but he had called her in the morning to have a quick chat and check up on her.

Valeria was about to put her phone away when she noticed a notification from Instagram. 'danielricciardo tagged you in a post''

'damn, you like the rumours don't you?' she joked, tapping on the screen.

'in days like today, all I need is pizza, @proiettivale and a trip down memory lane. We miss you, @julesbianchi17'

'Thanks for having picked the worse picture of me you could take' she laughed. The first picture was her sitting cross-legged on her kitchen chair in her home outfit consisting of a pineapple print shirt and Seb's football shorts. The second picture was the one of Daniel, Jules and her they had taken in Viareggio years before.

'Anytime, dude. What were your plans for tonight?' he asked.

'frozen pizza and the f1 game' she told him. 'actually it's still on upstairs. You distracted me before I could start'

Jesus, what a saddo! Formula 1 even when you're off duty?'

'what can I say? I'm second guessing my choice of not continuing my racing career' she shrugged.

'Are you really?' Dan asked surprised.

'nope. I heard you guys can't have pizza whenever you want' she joked.

Once they finished eating, Valeria gave Dan a tour of the house.

'this is our room, that will be yours.. as I'm guessing you're staying the night.. that room is now racing and gaming room. You can guess most of the trophies are Seb's. Even if there's a couple of mine from the old times. Mum wanted to empty a room back home so she could make it her hobby room. Bathroom... and then downstairs, living room, toilet, kitchen. Make yourself at home' she concluded, opening another beer.

'you're working tomorrow, are you sure you can take two beers?' Dan teased her, as she threw herself on the sofa.

'funny, as usual' she stuck her tongue out at him.

'do you remember the first night we went out?'

'I only remember you being a pussy about being underage' Valeria mocked him.

2007

'so what do you guys do for fun here?' Valeria had asked Dan and Jules, as they walked down the seaside in Viareggio.

'We don't have that much free time, but there's a cinema, an arcade.. that kinda stuff' Dan shrugged.

'you're telling me two young people like you, who are probably going to spend the rest of their lives travelling around the world chasing time, are not going out partying to celebrate this? Guys, you both suck. I'll take you out tonight. It's Saturday and we are getting drunk' Valeria told them.

'But we're not 18 yet' Dan interjected. Valeria let out a loud laugh. 'this is Italy,mate, the rules don't count' she joked. 'Jules and I will come pick you up at about 10. See you later, Dan' she hugged him.

Valeria looked at Jules. He seemed annoyed at something

'what's up, J?'she asked him, wrapping her arm around his back as they walked back to the flat where he had a room.

'Nothing, what do you mean?' he said, sounding defensive. 'I'm just glad you and Dan are getting along' he added.

'Yeah, he's a cool guy' she told him with a smile.

Valeria, Dan and Jules walked into the crowded pub later on that evening.

'Are you gonna do something about your pretty obvious crush?' Dan asked Jules, as Valeria was getting them drinks.

'what do you mean?' he asked, trying not to blush. 'I think she fancies you anyways'

'I don't think she does, it's so obvious she likes you back'

Valeria sat at the table, passing each of them a pint of beer.

'and this is just the beginning' she said.

'you got us so wasted that night' Dan said, with a smile. 'I kept telling Jules to just kiss you but instead he let you almost get it on with that random dude'

'Yeah, I know! What a fool uh? Who would let someone like me go?' Valeria joked.

'I told him that! How did you guys end up hooking up, in the end? I never asked' Dan questioned her.

'I got pissed myself and just told him I loved him.' Valeria laughed. 'teenage Valeria had a lot more courage than old Valeria'

Her mind wandered back to that night.

2007

Valeria and Jules were sitting on the beach in Viareggio. It was 1 am, the pub they went to had just closed and Valeria was extremely tipsy and felt like the only way to feel better would have been a night dip. Jules, on the other hand, was worried she'd drown so he convinced her to sit next to him and just look at the water.

'Buzzkill' Valeria joked. 'come on! The water looks beautiful!'

'you can dip your feet in, that's the closest I'm allowing you to the sea' he huffed, getting up. He offered her his hand, as she struggled to maintain her balance. 'proving my point, Taz' he laughed. Valeria gave him the finger, laughing. Jules wrapped his arm behind her back slowly helping her to get the water. She kicked the sandals off her feet and walked into the water. 'see? I'm capable of not drowning' she joked, walking in a bit more and losing her balance. 'oh yeah?' he laughed, catching her before she fell completely. His dark eyes were now fixed on her face, as she gave him a small smile. 'Jules' she whispered.

'Yes, darling?' he asked her.

'I love you.' She blurted out. 'I have loved you since the day I met you and I can't ignore it anymore.'

She buried her face in her hands 'sorry, I don't know why I said that. Jesus, I've just ruined everything. Didn't I? Stupid Val...' her panic was interrupted by his lips pressing on hers.

'I love you too, Taz' he told her, smiling.

'it's weird thinking about what it could have been.' Valeria sighed. 'but our paths needed to go different ways and we both knew it.'

'For what it's worth, he was really proud of you. And he would be proud now.' Dan hugged her.

'Thanks for being here today, Dan'