Author's note: There are a couple of German lines in this chapter. If you'd like to know what they're saying, use Google Translate as it should show the phrases quite accurately to how I intended them when you type it in exactly as shown in the chapter. Or, you can be like Casey and not know what they said, it will be revealed later anyway (though maybe not quite so harshly lol) Releasing this one a little early to make up for the day I skipped (sorry about that!). :)
"Case." Seb repeated, taking a step towards her.
Evan shadowed him, warily looking between Seb and Heikki.
Casey couldn't move, and she sure as hell didn't know what to say. Start with his name.
"Hey, Seb." she finally replied. She could feel herself starting to tremble. Whether that was from being doused in ice water and standing in the rain or because she was looking into the most familiar blue eyes in the world for the first time in what felt like forever, she couldn't tell.
Seb's expression seemed to soften as she spoke his name, "Case... I need to talk to you..."
He stepped out into the rain, moving a few more paces towards her before she felt Heikki's hand slip around hers.
Seb stopped and looked at Heikki's hand before meeting his eyes. Anger swept over his features before he returned his attention to Casey.
"Please?" he said quietly.
Heikki leaned his head in towards her. "You don't have to put yourself through this again, Case." he whispered urgently, squeezing her hand.
Seb watched Heikki whispering in her ear, feeling his anger rising again.
"Can you just fuck off, for once?" Sebastian hissed, glaring at Heikki. Evan took another few steps forward to stand silently next to Seb.
Casey turned in towards Heikki slightly. "It's okay." she whispered, looking up to see him watching Seb carefully.
"Will you ever stop haunting her?" Heikki exclaimed, ignoring Casey and suddenly matching Seb's anger.
"You need to back off, now." Seb continued dangerously.
"Why?" Heikki exclaimed, "So you can charge in and manipulate everything? She's not your fucking toy anymore."
Casey tore her eyes off Heikki and looked at Evan. He'd placed a hand firmly on Seb's shoulder. Seb looked furious, more furious even than that awful night in Germany when she'd last seen him. She'd never seen him lash out at anyone, or show any sign that it was something he would ever do, but she had no intention of letting Evan take the hit if he were to snap now.
"She was never a toy." Seb replied coldly, "Is that how you see her?"
"You abandoned her for weeks, you gave up your chance." Heikki retorted angrily.
"Du verbrachte Monate versucht, meine Freundin ficke!" Seb shouted back, letting his anger finally spill over and raising his voice.
"Letzte Nacht habe ich gefickt sie. Bis sie meinen Namen schrie." Heikki replied in a strangely calm voice.
Casey couldn't understand the conversation anymore as it turned into German. They obviously didn't want her to know what they were saying.
Seb clenched his fists and shook his head. His expression became pained and he looked away. Casey watched as Evan squeezed his shoulder to keep him from taking any more steps forward.
She couldn't stand it anymore and pulled her hand out of Heikki's before walking over to Seb. She stood in front of him and gingerly laid her hand on his chest, while simultaneously peeling Evan's hand off his shoulder and silently motioning for him to back off. She knew that while there was a possibility Seb might use force to get Evan off him, he wouldn't hurt her.
"Speak in English or don't speak at all." she said in annoyance, first looking up at Seb and then over her shoulder back at Heikki. This was not the time for games.
The heated exchange continued in German as both Seb and Heikki totally ignored her.
"Please stop." Casey whispered, watching Seb's face as he and Heikki continued to raise their voices at each other, growing more and more aggravated.
She watched in surprise as one of Seb's hands reached up and covered her own hand on his chest, squeezing it gently. The gesture felt so familiar and comforting. She didn't want to allow herself to think that way about him, it only made things worse. She wanted him to feel like a stranger, at least that would make it easier.
Tears began to join the droplets of rain already falling down her freezing cold face as she watched his thumb stroke across the back of her hand subtly. She felt like she was being involuntarily ripped back in time to two months ago when everything was right.
She felt herself beginning to sob. This was horrible. She pulled her hand out from Seb's and stepped back. That finally seemed to get his attention as his blue eyes flickered down to her.
She looked away and wiped the tears from her eyes again before stepping around Seb and walking away from both of them towards the pit lane exit.
"Heikki! Just let him say what he needs to say." Evan's voice shouted in the distance as she walked away quickly. She didn't know where she was going, as long as it was away from that.
As she reached the end of the pit lane she could hear footsteps jogging up behind her. She quickly tried to wipe her eyes again but it was useless.
"Case, stop." Seb's voice said softly as she felt his hand take hold of her upper arm.
"Shit, you're freezing." he continued quietly, giving her a concerned look.
Before she knew it, he'd taken her hand and was pulling her back towards the pit lane building. She allowed him to lead her away. She was too numb, both physically and mentally, to protest.
They walked through a side-entrance and around the hallways to the main exit before proceeding through the rain again towards the parking lot. Neither of them spoke again the entire way.
Seb pulled a set of keys from his pocket and pressed a button, causing the lights of a silver Infiniti to flash once.
"Please, get in." he said gently, letting go of her hand.
Casey felt like she was on auto-pilot. She couldn't think about anything other than how cold she was. She walked around to the passenger door and got in wordlessly.
Seb hopped into the driver's side and turned on the ignition, leaning forward to switch on the heating before pulling the car out of the parking lot and down the driveway through the grounds.
Casey leaned against the window, watching the trees flying past as Seb navigated through the traffic to an unknown destination. The warmth from the heater was soothing, although inadequate to make much of a difference to her saturated state.
Seb kept looking over at her slumped form nervously. At least he had her alone with him, finally. He couldn't stop replaying Heikki's words over in his mind though, that part was torture. The mental visions that came with it were even worse.
Finally, Seb pulled into a driveway, pulling the car up at a large, grand gate. He pressed a button on his keys which initiated the gate to slowly swing open. Casey couldn't help but lift her head off the window and peer ahead curiously as they cruised up a very long tree-lined driveway. The rain was still lashing against the car, making it a little harder to appreciate the beautiful house that was becoming visible at the other end of the driveway.
Seb eventually pulled the car to a stop in the turning circle out the front.
"Come on." he said encouragingly, removing his seatbelt and jumping out of the car. Casey sighed and followed suit. By the time she shut her door he was at her side, grabbing her hand and leading her up the stairs to the large front door. He unlocked the door and they stepped inside.
Casey looked around in awe at the beautiful, modern furnishings and especially the lit fire in one corner of the cozy-looking lounge area. There were two large cream L-shaped leather couches around a solid wooden coffee table and an enormous television mounted on the wall in front of it all. The high-ceilings and heavy wooden rafters gave the room a bright, spacious feel.
"Casey?" Seb interjected her thoughts as he appeared in front of her again.
She looked at him, trying to minimise her shivering. She hated to feel weak in front of him.
"We need to talk." he said quietly, "But first, you need to change out of those clothes, okay?"
She nodded and followed him as he lead her to a staircase off to the side of the main room. At the top, he veered off into a huge bedroom, with warm wooden furnishings, another fireplace, and floor-to-ceiling glass windows looking out over the idyllic tree-lined driveway they'd just driven up. Everything about this house was magnificent.
As she gazed around the stunning room, she could hear a shower turning on in the attached bathroom. Seb emerged a moment later, handing her a plush white towel.
"I'll bring you some clothes, please get in." he urged her. His voice seemed strained and tired.
Casey nodded, walking into the bathroom and shutting the door before gingerly peeling her icy, saturated clothes off piece by piece. She let them pool at her feet before stepping into the steaming shower and breathing a huge sigh of relief as it warmed her skin instantly.
As she thawed out, her mind began to work properly again and she wondered where she was. Whose house was this? What was about to happen to her? She half wished she was back in her own little apartment, shut away from the world and away from Seb's ability to crush her heart at any given moment with whatever it was he wanted to say to her.
She eventually stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around herself. With lack of a better alternative, she opened the bathroom door slightly and peaked out. The bedroom was empty, though a neat pile of clothes on the end of the bed caught her attention.
She stepped out of the bathroom and walked over to them. She recognised Seb's clothes immediately, sighing in exasperation as tears welled over her eyes again. She pulled on the grey track pants and black Red Bull tee he'd left for her before towel-drying her hair and hanging the towel back in the bathroom.
Casey sighed nervously before leaving the bedroom and following the hallway back to the staircase. She could hear what sounded like a pan sizzling on a stove top as she descended the stairs and walked back through into the lounge room. She looked around until her eyes landed on Seb, leaning on the island counter of the attached kitchen area. He'd changed into a new set of clothes too.
"Better?" he said, watching her closely. She nodded and walked towards him, taking a seat on a stool on the other side of the counter.
Sebastian couldn't take his eyes off her. He'd never imagined he'd manage to get her back here, not right away at least. He was incredibly relieved, it would be a lot easier to talk to her here than at the track, with any number of distractions or people trying to stop them.
She looked so incredibly sad to see him. It hurt.
A quiet chime on the oven timer alerted him back to the food he'd put on. He sighed and pushed himself off the bench to serve the meal on to two plates. He walked over to the lounge room, setting them down on the coffee table before walking back over to Casey. "Come on." he said quietly, placing a hand on her arm and waiting as she stood up. In that moment he couldn't help it anymore and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her against him tightly and burying his head in her neck. He could feel her begin to cry again as her hands wrapped around his waist timidly.
They stood there like that for what felt like a long time, but still not long enough for his liking. He could feel her tears dropping down on to his shoulder as Casey continued to sob against him. His own eyes were beginning to feel raw and strained as he finally pulled away.
"Eat, then we can talk." he whispered, desperately holding himself back from doing anything stupid as he held her chin in his fingers. Be patient, he scolded himself.