full throttle || h.s. ||

forty-two || golden boy

the song for this chapter is "Golden," by Harry Styles :)

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Finley

   I could say with full confidence that I used every single second of my time slot on the track to the fullest extent. 

   Three pit-stops and one tire change later, I found myself taking my last lap on the track. It was the most leisurely one I had made all afternoon. I was no longer focused on the speed anymore, but more so on just enjoying the car as a whole. 

   Happy sighs repetitively left my lips throughout the lap, and after my three-hour time slot, I felt a huge amount of the stress that had been pressing down against my shoulders with the intensity of an avalanche. 

    I felt light, just like this car was designed to be, and it was as though the car had decided to remove me of my own emotional weight upon entering it in order for us to be compatible.

    I took the last turn and pulled back into the pits, where Alex and Tommy were waiting for me patiently. 

    Not once had they tried to get me to stop driving. They had enjoyed every second of my time on the track just as much as I had. 

   I put the car in park and finally got out of it, stretching my legs out and cracking my neck once removing my helmet.

   "Finley, I don't think I need to tell you this, but you drove like a fucking pro today," Tommy smiled, the clipboard that he had been using to take notes on my lap times without me even asking him to clutched in his hand as I walked up to them.

   "Agreed. It will be an honor to have my ass beaten by you in the next race," Alex chuckled, swinging the string attached to the stopwatch around in his hand as he spoke, a lazy grin on his lips.

   "Thanks, guys. And thanks for being so patient, I know I really used my time slot up until the last second," I chuckled, placing the helmet down on one of the stacks of spare tires, swooping a few of the staticky hairs that were rising up on my head from wearing the helmet away from my face.

   "I don't blame you, I did the same thing the day I got my car," Alex laughed.

 I was suddenly distracted by the sound of a door opening, and all three of our heads turned towards the garage door, my lips parting slightly in shock as I saw Harry walking out of it and up to us.

   Why was he still here?

   He rubbed at the back of his neck as he approached us, looking awkward for reasons I did not know.

   "Hey, um...I know this is kind of a big request, but, I kind of need a ride back to my place, and I was wondering if maybe you could drop me off?" He asked sheepishly, his cheeks tinted a faint red color as he spoke his request into existence.

   At first, I thought that he was asking the group as a whole, but then, I noticed that his eyes were focused on me, and me alone.

   I knew that it took a lot for him to ask for anyone's help, especially mine. I knew that it also took a lot for him to hand over the keys to my car to me, as it was a car that he too had dreamed of for such a long time. I knew it took a lot for him to talk to Alex and Tommy yesterday. I knew that it took a lot for him to do all of the things that he had recently been doing for me.