After talking to Daniel's parents for a little longer, we say goodbye to them and put the laptop away. It was nice to meet Daniel's parents, even though it's over Skype.
"Thank you for that," Daniel says as he sits down on the couch next to me. He wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer to him.
"For what?"
"For acting the way you did. You really made my parents feel better about the whole thing."
"I didn't do anything special."
"I know, but still. Thank you."
"Well I guess you're welcome then," I say, making Daniel chuckle. He wraps his other arm around me as well and pulls me ever closer to me. He buries his head in the crook of my neck and sighs contently.
"Now I'm even more excited to go home," he says as he looks into my eyes.
"I can imagine," I chuckle as I look at the excited look on Daniel's face.
"Just imagine all the possibilities during the off season! We can have so much fun together!"
"I know, I'm so excited!"
"And after that, the 2017 season, which is gonna be awesome! And what makes it even better is that I'll have my two girls with me all the time."
"You better win some races though," I joke, making Daniel laugh.
"Of course! Anything for you."
'Just don't get hurt."
"I'll do my best," Daniel promises me, making me smile.
"Good."
"In a few years, we'll be the happiest couple around. We'll be relationships goals," Daniel says, making me laugh.
"Relationship goals?"
"Yes! We'll have the cutest kids, a beautiful house and an amazing life. And I'll be the luckiest guy on earth because I'll have you."
"You're such a charmer."
"You love it."
"Yeah, I do," I say before Daniel presses a soft kiss against my lips.
"Before I met you, I hadn't really thought about the future. But now I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you," he says, which makes me smile. I've never thought about spending the rest of my life with someone either, until I met Daniel. Well, met him for the second time.
"Me neither."
"Just imagine. We'll have a family together, cute kids just like Macy. We'll travel the world together, showing our kids all the amazing sights. We'll discover new places, try new foods. It's all gonna be amazing."
"Yeah, it's gonna be. I can't wait," I sigh happily, making Daniel smile.
"Well, you don't have to wait long for traveling the world."
"What do you mean?"
"The races are in all over the world, so we'll be traveling to all kinds of different counties!"
"Oh, yeah. Of course."
"You didn't think about that?"
"No, not really," I say, suddenly feeling way less excited and Daniel notices as he sits up and looks at me.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just..., I didn't realize that we'll be traveling and flying all over the world."
"Yeah, of course, we'll be going all over the place. It's not a problem, is it? You don't get homesick or something, right?"
"No, no, I don't. Just, need to figure out how to pay for all of it," I say, making Daniel frown at me.
"Pay for it?"
"Yeah, I can't travel the world for free, can I?"
"No, but you don't have to pay for it."
"Then how would I travel with you?"
"I'd pay for it," Daniel says, as if it's the simplest thing in the world.
"What?" I ask surprised.
"What did you think? That I'd let you pay for everything yourself?"
"I don't know, I didn't really think about it to be honest."
"Of course I'll pay for you! You're my girlfriend and I want to provide for you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I asked you to come with me, so it's only right I pay for your traveling costs. Otherwise it wouldn't be fair. I can't ask you to do something like that and expect you to pay for everything yourself."
"That's crazy expensive!"
"Exactly, which is why I'm gonna pay for it. I have the money, I can afford it," Daniel says, probably trying to make me feel better about the whole thing. Which doesn't work.
"No."
"What do you mean, no?"
"No, I don't want you to pay for me."
"What, why not?" Daniel asks confused. He clearly didn't see this coming.
"Because I don't want you to. We only got together today and we've known each other for like a week."
"We've known each other for 4 years."
"One drunken hook up doesn't count! I don't want you to pay for all of this when we've only known each other for such a short period of time!"
"Why not?" Daniel asks and I can tell he's getting annoyed.
"Because I don't want to have to depend on you! I've been fine by myself for all these years and I don't want to give that up now."
"You don't want me to give you money because you're too proud?"
"I'm not proud!" I exclaim, my voice raising.
"Yes, you are! You're too proud to let me take care of you."
"I'm not, I'm just an independent woman. I've been fine all these years without you, that doesn't change now."
"Don't even go there, that's not fair!" Daniel exclaims, his voice raising as well.
"Go where?"
"Don't accuse me of not being there when I had no idea about what happened. If I had known, I would've been by your side every step of the way."
"I know that."
"Then don't say that because I wasn't there before, I can't be there for you now."
"Don't try to make it all up to me by throwing money around."
"I'm not!"
"Then don't do this! Let me figure it out myself. It'll be hard, I know that. But I'll work hard and I'll earn the money I need."
"Lydia, I love you. I want you with me, always. I know how expensive it is to travel all over the world and the way we as F1 drivers travel doesn't make it any cheaper. I understand what you're saying, but I know that you'll have to work so hard that you won't have time for anything else. And even then you probably won't have enough money. Please, let me do this. For you, for me, for us," Daniel pleads and I sigh.
"Can I think about it?"
"Of course, take as much time as you need."
"Thank you," I say as I get up from the couch. I grab my phone and make my way down to the lobby. I just need some time away from the situation. I need time to think about everything. I don't want to make any rushed decisions, it's too important. Not only to me, but to Daniel as well.
Oh oh.... Do you understand where Lydia is coming from? Do you understand where Daniel is coming from? What's your opinion on it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! And don't forget to vote for this chapter!
Love you all
Evy
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