Unchartered Waters ✅

Chapter 139: Yellawood 500

Alex takes a deep breath as he relaxes on the couch, seeing the concerned faces that surrounded him right now. It was one of the longest time he had been out of his hideout - only escaping other times for bathroom duties, food, and therapy steps - but he felt comfortable in doing this.

"Are you sure you want to watch?" Bill questions again, to which Alex nods his head as he gets comfortable on the couch. "I know it can be hard to think about someone else being in your car, so watching it seems like tort-"

"That's not why I want to watch at all," Alex cuts him off, knowing he wasn't going to focus on the No. 48 car at all during the broadcast. Then again, he knew that'd be a lie to himself as he wouldn't want to watch Greg and the guys struggle with him - that wouldn't be fair. "I want to support Chase and Ryan." 

"It's admirable sweetie, but we don't want you to push things too early," Cindy comments, to which Alex couldn't help but smile. It was like Chase was still there in a way, getting the worried comments of concern every once and awhile still delivered for him to hear. With having spent this weekend with Chase's parents, he could see where every ounce of him came from. "The boys would appreciate you supporting them, but not at your own expense. If it becomes too much, please tell us...."

Alex had driven in these races plenty of times himself. He knew what they produced - the chaos, the bumps, and edge of insanity at times. He was ready to watch everything before him.

Well, he thought he was ready as he couldn't help but notice the nerves climbing bit by bit with each passing lap. With a couple moves being ever so close as they blocked runs or changed lanes, he felt himself catch a bit of anxiety in knowing just how close that was to being disaster.

He took a deep breathes, reminding himself that both Ryan and Chase were smart. They'd done this plenty of times. They knew how these places worked, and they knew what it took to get the job done. They were going to be just fine at the end of these laps.

Though as both made their way to the front in the closing stages, it just brought the anticipation back for him. Anxiety grew as he felt himself sweating, heartbeat quickening, headache coming on based on all these heightened moments.

"This is just sped up therapy," he told himself, trying to remind of all the various techniques that you were told to keep yourself calm, trying to erase each of the signs but yet unable to as he watched the chaos on the screen before him. 

The therapy and techniques were way out the window as the two laps came on the screen, seeing Ryan leading with a push from Logano - Team Penske doing as they thought. It almost seemed locked in, until he saw the run that Chase got, bringing Erik Jones with him.

"Oh fuck!" He let out as he watched the No. 9 jump out to the outside groove, deep breathes increasing as he tried to calm down the heightened anxiety in now watching his boys battle side-by-side for the win. 

The anxiety only grew as the pair remained side-by-side through turns one and two, down the backstretch, and through turns three and four. He watched as Chase surged ahead, Erik making a move but unable to, with Chase crossing the finish line mere inches ahead of Ryan.

"Hell yes!" He lets out, fist pump in the air, followed by high-fives traded with both Cindy and Bill. The smiles in the room were huge as they all were certainly proud of the race they had just witnessed. "That was beautiful!"

"He timed that run perfectly," Bill comments, to which Alex couldn't help but nod his head in agreement. He then lets out a sigh, his body slowly relaxing from everything, headache certainly present. He remembered Bill and Cindy's words pre-race and wondered if they were right. 

"Are you okay?" Cindy asks, seeing the concern written over Alex's face, to which he simply just nods his head in response. "Alex, you can tell us if it was too much."

"I didn't realize how nervous I was going to get those final laps," he admits as he takes a series of deep breathes, reaching for the Tylenol bottle as he walks by the shelf. "I'm going to go lay down for a bit. I don't mean to escape the celebra-"

"Take care of yourself. That's what they'd want more than the party, Alex."