Only the Lonely {Chase Elliott} ✔️

viii.

"hey," kathryn claire sang into the phone as wc answered it. "i didn't get all of saturday off but i got most of it!" talking on the phone had replaced their nightly messages. kathryn claire preferred it, she loved being able to hear his voice and he answered every time she had called without so much as a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"that's awesome!" her heart soared at the genuine excitement in his voice. "i got us two tickets to the xfinity race, if that's okay."

she winced, trying to figure out how she was going to be able to afford the ticket, "okay..." her voice trailed off.

"what's wrong?" he asked, immediately sensing a trace of panic in her voice.

"i'm just trying to figure out how i'm going to be able to afford the ticket, but that's nothing for you to worry about. i can always pick up an extra shift to pay for it." she explained, trying to keep her voice strong. money always put her on edge, she never seemed to have enough of it.

"don't worry about paying me back, i've got it." he answered quickly, without thought.

"are you sure?" she questioned, feeling uneasy, "i can pay you back, it's not big deal."

"i'm sure. don't worry about it." he reassured her.

"i have to cover the morning rush so i should be able to get to the track by one. is that okay?" she bit her lip nervously, "it's the best i can do."

"that sounds perfect. don't stress out about it." kathryn claire could almost hear the smile in his voice, "i can't wait."

"what if you don't like me?" she wondered out loud. "i have a hard time getting people to stay in my life and i've come to the conclusion that i'm obviously the reason why."

"there is no way i will not like you," he paused, "the better question is what if you don't like me?"

kathryn claire thought for a minute, "i suppose that's a possibility but if you've been completely genuine with me, i don't know why i wouldn't like you."

he let out a long breath, "i'm not going to lie, i'm so nervous that you're going to take one look at me and walk away."

"i promise that no matter what, i won't walk away." her voice was sincere.

"okay," he murmured.

"so have you talked to your friend? you know, the one..." she trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.

"i haven't. i don't know how. he asked if i could come to breakfast with him at the next track so we could talk but i don't know if i should." anxiety seeped into his voice, making kathryn claire feel bad that she had brought it up.

"i think that you should go, hear what he has to say. maybe there's a little more to the story? if nothing else, then you can say what you need to and have a little closure." she winced, hoping that he had actually wanted advice.

"you're right. he's been my best friend for a really long time, the least i can give him is this breakfast. he swears this place has the best hashbrowns and i am a sucker for those," he chuckled to himself.

"mmm," kathryn claire hummed, "the diner i work at has the best hashbrowns too. i could live off of them," she sighed, "i should probably get to bed. i'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"okay. goodnight."

"goodnight." she sat her phone down, walking towards her bedroom. she stopped in front of her mom's picture.

"i think he's a really good guy," she whispered. "i just hope he likes me as much as i like him." she wished her mom was here, to reassure her, to help her pick out what she was going to wear, to be there to celebrate if everything went right or offer ice cream and advice if it doesn't.

she could almost hear her mother's voice, warm and comforting reassuring her that if he didn't like her, that was his loss, not hers.

"i love you guys." she ran her fingertips over the picture before heading off to bed.