Dodging the Heat (Year 1)

Consequences of Blind Hate

The fact that the next race was the following weekend was a bad thing. Her knee hadn't recovered, though it wasn't as painful, it was swollen and a mix of yellow and blue colours. It meant that she couldn't train and dodging the team trainer was only going to work for so long. But racing this weekend was more important than any stupid knee.

It's Monaco and as always the place gave her a thrill as she walked through the paddock next to Lillian and Miles who were talking excitedly. She was only half listening; this weekend would be tough, for all the wrong reasons. Walking into the motorhome the first person she sees is Sebastian. He just purses his lips and turns away which she was surprised hurt.

She had no idea what to think of what happened. She was going with the idea to bury it deeply and focus on herself and nothing else. Her and Sebastian, what happened was a moment of insanity in the heat of a moment, one that had left its mark.

She puts her full weight on the leg pressing her lips together tightly and fighting back a dart of pain. She quickly transfers her weight back to her other leg and desperately tries to ignore the worry and fear that she really might not be able to drive.

Miles is waving his hand in front of my face, "You and Seb score front row seats in today's press conference," he grins.

"Not a surprise," she mutters snatching the piece of paper from him. "I'll be back," she promises walking out of the motorhome when she sees Phil her trainer.

She goes to McLaren to find Jenson or Lewis. They're together chatting animatedly together, both smiling at her. "And here we thought you were hiding in shame," Jenson teases.

She doesn't smile and he quickly turns serious. "You okay after the shunt?"

"No big issues," she shrugs.

"Sort things out with Seb and the team?" Lewis asks, his eyes sparkling at her.

"There was a heated argument in private following our public spat and a sombre briefing," she responds and for a moment her chest swells painfully at the memory of being blamed. "Do you think it was my fault?" Lewis and Jenson share a look both reluctant to respond.

No one saw it like her. Was she doing the same thing that Seb had done in Turkey in her first season? She swallows and looks past both of them. "It's okay to fuck up you know Aston," Jenson tells her after a long moment.

"It was just an error in judgement," Lewis adds. "We've all done it. Don't beat yourself up." Lewis is called away then leaving her with just Jenson.

And Jenson reaches for her then, "Come here," he says gently and he hugs her to him. His arms folding around her tightly as she rests her chin on his shoulder. "This race will be better." She stares at him blankly and he smiles at her, "Promise."

He lets her go and she forces a smile. "I have to head to the PC."

"How I wish I have a seat there today," he sighs.

"Yeah, I bet you'd have loved that," she answers a grin creeping to her face. "I will be on my best behaviour, don't worry about that."

In the press conference she picks at the edge of the desk as she sits next to Seb, both refusing to look at each other.

"Sebastian and Laura, any agreement reached on who's to blame for last Sunday's incident between you?" James Allen finally gets around to asking the question most people were waiting to hear the answer too.

Sebastian cuts her off to answer. "I think we'll have differing opinions."

She presses her lips together, forcing out the words that you were wrong never easy. "It was my fault, and we'll move on." She could feel Seb stiffen next to her and see the look of surprise out of the corner of her eye but she drops her head.