The Blackout ⤖ George Russell

T H I R T Y E I G H T

"Thanks so much," Nora said and put her bag down. "For everything this weekend." A smile curved on her lips.

"I should be thanking you," George said. "I couldn't imagine a better start of the season. But promise me you will never do this again," he said and stood in front of her.

"Maybe..." An amusedly smile covered her lips.

Soft barked from Oscar filled the hallway, but someone shushed him. Nora smirked. They were back in England again after a good weekend in Australia. George got P16, which was a good position to start the season.

"Pizza night on Friday. Shall we meet up on Thursday?" George asked. Nora nodded happily. "I have to be at the factory in the morning."

"I have an appointment at Red Bull at eleven, so I will text you when I'm done. I don't know how long it is gonna take," she replied.

"That's fine," he said. George leaned in and gave her a long kiss. "Movie night? I still owe you one," he whispered against her lips.

"Absolutely."

They both giggled and kissed again. Was it too early to say Nora was already addicted to his lips? George pulled back and hugged her tightly. Nora's eyes closed, embracing his presence.

"Take care of yourself," he said and pulled back. He gave Nora one last kiss for now and stroked a piece of hair behind her ear.

She nodded. "Drive home safely and text me when you have arrived."

"I will," he promised her.

After Nora said bye to George, he left the house. Nora closed the door behind her and couldn't help it, but she smiled widely. She put off her coat and shoes before walking to the living room. And apparently, my family was home... and Maisie? Nora gave them all a smile, but it didn't last for long because she had to yawn.

"Good afternoon, Nora," her dad said coldly.

"Dad," Nora said back on the same tone. She looked at her friend Maisie. "Hey," she happily greeted her. Aubrey sat firmly next to Maisie, which gave her a confused look. It was not friend-close, but more like relationship-close. "How are you? How was the intern in..?"

"Rotterdam," Maisie answered. "I'm good, thanks. And it was amazing, thanks for asking. How are you?"

Hugo raised his eyebrows, Nora noticed it. "I'm fine," she answered, slightly scared she had said the wrong answer - at least, not the answer Hugo wanted to hear.

"Can we have a talk, Nora?" Hugo asked and closed his laptop. He got up and walked to his office.

"Yeah, sure." Nora pressed her lips into a thin line. "Are you two...?" She pointed at Aubrey and Maisie.

Aubrey proudly smiled. "Together? Yes, we are."

Nora's eyes widened. "I was gonna say friends, but this is wonderful as well," she said surprised. Her little sister was a lesbian? And a good friend of her as well? "Congratulations! I will catch up with you two later, I want to hear the story. Dad is probably gonna kill me," she hastily said and walked away from the living room. Out of everything, she didn't see this coming, but it was beautiful.

She entered the office of her dad and sat down on the couch. This was going to be a lecture, probably one she wouldn't survive.

"You understand you are in trouble now," her dad emotionless said and leaned against his desk. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked uninterested at Nora. "Big trouble."

Nora bit on the inside of her cheek and looked down. Her shoulders were hanging low.

"Going to Australia was not done, but doing this behind my back and involving Aubrey... What were you thinking?" The words flew angry from his lips. "And being silent isn't gonna help you, Nora."

She looked up and looked outside. "I...I want to say that I am sorry, but I am not," she stubbornly said. "I had to go."

"You were not allowed to go, Nora," Hugo shot back. "You were not allowed to fly alone, things could go wrong. This time, it did not, but what if it went wrong? And Australia isn't particularly in the neighbourhood." 

"I had to go!" Nora protected herself. "This was supposed to be my first race in F1, and I am not a driver anymore. My three friends were able to start, and being there for them, support them, was the light of the past few weeks." 

"You can't always be there for them! Your health is more important!"

"I can't do a thing, I'm not allowed to do a thing. And for once I do something, and I'm a bad person! I have been home for weeks, I had to listen to stories, I wasn't allowed to look at the footage. So being there, watching them all live, meant much to me. And I'm not regretting it." Her voice raised. "I have been dying to see everyone doing what they love, I have been dying to watch a race-"

Hugo shook his head. "You still got no rights to go to Australia!" He interrupted Nora, who even looked angrier. "Why did you go to Melbourne? What was the real reason? Because we all know you would have ignored the screen time if you were home, if nothing was wrong. Saying you wanted to be there to see them live...I'm not convinced that's the real reason. And Christian Horner surely didn't invite you all the way to Melbourne to make an appointment for Thursday." Surprised, she was surprised. "Don't act surprised, Nora. I can see when something is going on."

Many thoughts were going through her mind. The actual reason she went to Australia was George. But was that something she would tell her dad. Nora's eyes found her dad's, but she quickly looked away. She swallowed hard.

"George," she muttered.

Hugo raised his eyebrows. "Sorry?"

"It was because of George," she softly said, and the heat rose to her cheeks. "He...I had to tell him how much I'm in love with him," she said, and a smile grew on her face. "I needed to say it back."

The look on his face softened. "You were in a fight, weren't you?" She nodded. "Were you angry at him because he told you he loved you? Because you were in a fight..."

"No, not because of that," she breathed and looked at her father. "I was a bitch towards him, I was cranky, and I just broke. George was here at the wrong time." She was still terribly sorry, George did nothing wrong. "But in Abu Dhabi, he told me he was in love with me, and I didn't say it back. I was so stupid for not saying it back. Before the race, he asked me on a date." Did he ask me on a date, do I remember this right? "And then it all happened. George must have felt terrible when I was brought in a coma, he blames himself for the crash. To make it worse, I didn't remember anything from Abu Dhabi when I woke up. I never had the chance to say it back, he never got to hear me saying it and I have put him through my mess. Poor boy."

"He was broken, yeah," Hugo softly replied.

A weak smile curved on her lips. "And I was stupid enough to think he and Aubrey had a relationship. It doesn't make sense anymore since Aub is together with Maisie, but I was immensely ignorant. When I remembered everything, I didn't say anything about it. But George didn't say anything about it as well. So when we had that fight, I told him everything was his fault and that I hated him." She showed regret. "Then I started a fight with Aubrey about how close she was with George and how they were in a relationship." A frown captured her face. "Although Aub told me George was in love me, I didn't believe her. I wanted it to be true, but in the real world, that doesn't happen. So basically I went to Melbourne to tell George I love him."

Hugo couldn't be mad anymore, it was adorable. "You know, there are not many people who do this," he told her. "I can't be mad at you anymore." Nora smirked. "I know George for a while now, and you were always his person. Even in the beginning, when you two couldn't stand each other. He was broken after the crash, like really broken. George was always on your side, he was more often at the hospital than us. And he was the person next to you when you woke up." He smiled. "He is special, Nora."

"I know..."

"However...you know what, forget all of this. You did this out of love. I will overlook this for now, but know I'm still not happy about it," he came to a conclusion. "And I will judge after your examines tomorrow."

Nora's eyes grew. "What examines?" Did she miss something? She nervously looked around.

By the look on her face, Hugo could tell she forgot it. "If you are recovering well, scans, exams..."