The plane touched down in London under torrential rain and with the worst turbulence Valeria had ever experienced. She was squeezing Seb's hand so much that he thought his circulation would be cut out. He helped her out of her seat and passed her backpack. She had been extremely quiet since they had left Mexico City, he could see she was worried. Her granddad was still in hospital, his condition had slightly improved but they were keeping him under observation. Once they had got out of the arrivals, Valeria went to collect the car she had booked. Seb carried their stuff to it and sat in the passenger seat.

'don't judge, but I'm going to take it super slow. This rain is ridiculous!' she told him.

'take your time, Schatzi. ' he squeezed her knee, with a smile.

Valeria turned the satnav on and started driving to her Nan's place. She was going to host them for a couple of days as she had been doing with her daughter.

'can we stop somewhere? I wanna get something to your Nan and your mum' Seb asked, once they had just entered the town.

'Sure, there's a supermarket just here' she told him, pointing ahead of her.

She parked the car and they got out, shielding themselves from the rain under Valeria's little Ferrari umbrella. They walked into the supermarket, causing a few people to double take them once they realised who Seb was.

Seb picked up a couple of flower bunches, a bottle of wine and a little cake. He knew it wasn't much, but he felt awkward bringing nothing to the family. The cashier who helped them was looking at them curiously as Seb input his pin on the device.

'Yes, it's him, if that's what you're wondering' Valeria told her, in a low tone of voice. The cashier chuckled, blushing that she had been caught staring.

'I'm sorry, it's not a sight I thought I'd ever see. Didn't mean to stare' she apologised.

'Darling, I stare at him all the time. He's used to it' Valeria joked. 'thank you' she added, grabbing the receipt she was holding, mid air.

'thank you, guys. Have a good evening.'

Valeria grabbed Sebastian's hand as they walked to the car again.

'Is it weird I keep forgetting who you are?' she asked, getting in the car.

'what do you mean?' Seb asked, confused.

'I mean, when people stare or look at you it takes me a while to connect why. I forget you're super famous, basically'

'Well, that's a good thing, at least I know you're not just dating me for that' Seb teased her.

'Dating? Is that what we're doing?' she asked, waving her left hand in his face. 'this ring must be from someone else then!'

'who gave you a ring??' Seb pretended to be shocked.

'this weird German dude.' She joked 'he's a nice guy, I swear, just hard PR work.'

Seb let out a little laugh, as she parked in a driveway. They got out and Valeria knocked on the door.

'Baby, I'm so glad you're here' Kate told her, giving her a hug. 'Sebastian, nice to see you again' she hugged him too. 'come in, we've just come back from the hospital' she led them through the corridor to the kitchen. Valeria's Nan was sitting at the table.

'Valeria my darling girl, thank you so much for coming' she got up and hugged her grand daughter.

'Nan, I wouldn't be anywhere else right now. Thanks for hosting us. This is Seb, by the way' she added, introducing her fiancée who was silently behind her.

'Of course, hi, hello, nice to meet you, finally. I'm Margaret' she gave him a hug. 'He's even more handsome in real life than on TV.' She added.

'Nan!!' Valeria blushed. 'excuse my Nan, please'

'thank you very much, Mrs. Margaret' Seb had told her with a smile. 'I have got you ladies a little something to thank you for the hospitality.'

'You shouldn't have' Kate told him 'thanks a lot'

'I'm gonna put the kettle on. Anyone fancy a cuppa?' Valeria asked.

Seb and Valeria sat with the two ladies until late at night when the exhaustion from the travelling and the jet-lag hit them both. They were sitting in the living room, Seb had his arm wrapped around her as she rested her back on him. Valeria yawned, enjoying the feeling of Seb playing with her hair.

'we should probably go to bed' Valeria said. 'what time can we go see granddad tomorrow?'

'first visits are in at 12''

'perfect. See you in a few hours, then' she replied. 'night mumsie, night narnie' she kissed both ladies on the cheek.

'good night and thanks again' Seb told them.

'I like him.' Margaret said, as soon as they were out of earshot.

'I do too.' Kate smiled 'I don't think I've ever seen her this happy'

'A good change from that Dave bloke. Never really liked him. Leaving her to deal with losing her best friend like that...' Margaret started.

The weather the following morning couldn't have been more different. The clouds and the rain had moved on, leaving space to a warm-ish October sun and Seb, Valeria and her family had just walked into the hospital.

'they only let two people in at one time. You guys go first.' Kate told them. 'Nan and I will speak to the doctors.' She pointed at the room where Thomas was, Seb squeezed Valeria's hand a bit tighter as they walked into the room.

Thomas seemed to be asleep, the only noise in the room was coming from the heart monitor rhythmically beeping.

Valeria contained a tear, seeing him so harmless was a destroying sight. Thomas had always been a really active man, she always loved going on long bike rides and walks with him when she used to visit them in London, as a child. 

'Gramps?' she whispered, gently touching his hand. 'I'm here now'

'Rose?' He asked waking up. Her grandad had always called her by her middle name and he was the only one to do so. He had suggested the name to Valeria's mum as roses were his favourite flower and he had always kept some in his garden.

'Yes, gramps, I'm here' she replied, still crying.

'why are you crying?' He asked, worried, moving up on his bed. 'here' he passed her a tissue. Valeria managed to smile. Her granddad was the one in hospital but she was the one needing his help to keep it together.

'you made me worry, you know?' she asked him, sitting next to him on his bed, her hand slowly grabbing his, trying not to pull any of the many tubes connected to him 'how could you?' she joked.

'I'm sorry, Rosie.i just wanted an excuse to see you again, so soon after Silverstone' he tried to joke. 'I knew you were busy, so I had to go big.' he chuckled, watching his granddaughter shake her head. 'and who have you brought with you?' he asked. Seb had stayed behind, unsure on what to do, his usual public place disguise still on.

'Oh, I think you might know him.' She told him, as the German took his glasses and cap off.

'Sorry to be meeting you this way' he told Tom. 'I'm Sebastian'

'Oh yeah, I know' he told him, smiling. He and his granddaughter had a similar humour, Seb had noticed. He wasn't sure he would ever be ready for double the level of sarcasm Valeria used to give him. 'so nice to finally meet you. Rosie told us so much about you.'

'oh, has she?' the German smirked.

'yeah, I can see she wasn't lying when she said you make her really happy. Thank you for taking care of her.' He paused. 'will we ever have the pleasure to see you at McLaren?' 

Seb chuckled nervously.

'granddad!' Valeria told him off 'Jesus! You're literally on a hospital bed and that's what you worry about??'

'Just asking.' He shrugged.

The couple stayed in the room a bit longer, as Seb and Tom had started talking about classic F1 races. Valeria knew they would get along, both of them being Formula1 nerds. She felt her phone buzz, it was an unknown British number.

'Hello? Valeria speaking' she picked up, confused.

'Vale, it's Lando. Charles tells me your granddad is sick'

'yes? I'm at the hospital now' she replied, confused.

'Cool, turn the camera on. What's his name again?'

'Tom ans Why?'

'Just do it'

Valeria did as she was asked, with Lando doing the same. He was in the McLaren garage in Austin. It was early morning there, she could see they had just started building the stuff up. Valeria turned the screen towards her granddad.

'Mr. Tom, we were worried for our number one fan here at Mclaren so we thought we'd check in. How are you doing, sir?'

Tom's face lit up, even more. 'oh my god. I am not ready for this. I am not even dressed! Rosie! Turn the camera off' He said, trying to fix his bed hair.

'granddad I don't think Lando minds, have you seen his hair?' Valeria joked.

'oi' Lando warned her, trying to contain a smile. 'Mr. Tom, you are fine, don't worry about it.'

 'Thank you, Lando. I'm feeling rough, but the lovely NHS are taking care of me. And Rosie is here now, so I can't complain.'

'Well, we hope you're going to get much better and maybe you could join us at the McLaren technology centre once you're out?' Carlos joined the frame. Valeria watched as her granddad covered his mouth in shock.

'I would love that'

'well, we're going to get your lovely granddaughter all the info, we look forward to seeing you'

Valeria turned the phone back towards herself, she was barely containing her tears, seeing her granddad so happy. McLaren had really stepped it up that year and the pairing of Lando and Carlos had definitely helped.

'Guys thank you so much.' She said, wiping her tears off. 'don't tell Mattia, though' she joked. 'Lando, Carlos... and everyone at McLaren, this is... just... unbelievable'

'well, our PR is definitely better than yours'

'OI!' she exclaimed, as she heard her granddad giggle. 'I'm hanging up now'

'you see? Told you. You needed to get a job at McLaren.' Tom told her. He had tried to convince her, years before, to apply for an internship at the Woking factory but she had politely declined, feeling somehow a certain loyalty to Ferrari.

'If I did, Seb wouldn't be here now' she shrugged.

'alright, alright. He's nice.' Tom agreed.

Valeria and Seb could only spend a couple of days in the UK, having to fly to Austin for the GP. Tom seemed to get stronger and stronger and was told he could leave the hospital that weekend.

'I'll catch you on the telly' he had told them, when they went to visit him last.

'everyone seem to like me, it's positive' Seb told her, as they sat in Heathrow waiting for their flight.

'how could they not? You're perfect' she kissed him, watching him blush.