Love in Victory Lane (A Chase Elliott FanFic)

Chapter Thirty One

I stared out the window of the black car that Chase had gotten to take us to the airport. I felt Chase's hand tighten around mine, taking me out of my thoughts. I leaned over onto Chase's shoulder and kissed him sweetly on the neck, then closed my eyes and snuggled into him. He placed his hand on my head and softly stroked my hair before turning and kissing my head. I sighed and cuddled up closer to him, then I shut my eyes and fell asleep to the sound of the tires of the car on the pavement and Chase's steady breathing.

"Babe," Chase's low, southern voice aroused me from my sleep. "Babe, you need to wake up. We are only a few minutes from the airport," he stated when he saw I was waking up.

I smiled when I remembered all that had happened so far that day. I wiped my eyes and said, "I am so sorry I fell asleep, Darlin' ."

He smiled back down at me and put his hand on my cheek before bringing my face to his and kissing my lips. I had missed those plump lips so much while we were apart, so much that I could have sworn my lips ached for his. I fixed my attention to the window and looked to see where we were. I recognized the streets of Montgomery, Alabama I had driven on so many times on my way to and from college to home.

Chase, Emily, and I started talking about Ryan and how much Emily missed him and how he was gonna be ecstatic when he found out she was at the race. I was not the only person who was unaware of the surprise. Within a few minutes, we passed a sign telling us we were at the airport. The driver stopped in front of the airport terminal, and we got our bags from the trunk.

We walked into the airport and checked in our bags, then Chase got the tickets he reserved. After we had waited in the lobby for a few minutes, we decided to make our way to the gate we had to be at to board our flight. On our way there, we were stopped by a man, his wife, and their two little sons .

"Um, are you Chase Elliott," the man asked.

"Yes sir," Chase replied, smiling politely.

"We are really big fans of you," the man said, stretching his hand out so Chase could shake it. "I'm Michael; this is my wife Ashley, and my sons Calum and Luke."

Chase shook their hands and said, "It's always nice to meet fans."

"Good luck with the race this weekend. We'll be there cheering you on," Ashley said.

"Aw, that's great! I'll try to make it a good race and do my best just for y'all!" Chase stated while he kneeled down to the kids. "High five," Chase grinned to the boys and held up his hand, and they gave him a high five and started smiling huge smiles.

He signed a few things for them and talked racing with the dad Michael and I talked with the mom Ashley about her kids and their love of racing. I felt a tug on my shirt. I looked down and saw the older of the two boys, Luke, pulling on me. I kneeled down to his level. "What's up, bud?" I asked.

He was so adorable, and his clear blue eyes melted my heart. "Are you Chase's girlfriend?" he asked shyly. I looked down at the ground thinking about the question. I was not sure if Chase wanted us to go public yet so I did not want to tell the boy yes if Chase did not want me to. I looked up, however, up when I saw Chase's shoes appear in front of me.

Apparently he heard what the boy asked, because he picked the six year old boy up and put him on his hip and said, "Can you keep a secret?" he grinned at him. The boy quickly shook his head yes. "Well then, between you and me," Chase began. He put his mouth to the boys ear and cupped his hand around it so no one could see or hear what he said. Suddenly, the boys face lit up with a huge grin, and Chase put him down. The family took a picture with Chase then the boy wanted a picture with Chase and me, so we obliged him. Then they all said goodbye and walked away. We continued to our gate, and ,by then, our flight was about to leave.

None of us said anything until we got on the plane and were in our seats. The flight attendant discussed the information we needed in case of emergency while we all buckled up. Then we took off. I had flown before, but it still scared me a little at first, so I gripped onto Chase's hand until we had reached the altitude where we were no longer going upward.

After i settled down, I looked at Chase who was about to put headphones on. "What did you say to Luke when he asked you that?" I inquired.

I really wished Chase had told him yes, because then I would know that Chase really was mine and it was not just a dream. But then again, I understood if Chase did not tell him yes. I realized that once we went public, a lot would change.

"What do you think I told him?" he replied.

"I'm not sure."

"Baby girl, I simply told him the truth," Chase stated with a smirk.

"Wait. So you...?" I trailed off.

"I told him that the beautiful girl I was with was indeed my girlfriend," he admitted.

I started smiling uncontrollably, and my instincts too over. I leaned over and kissed him, then he smiled and put his headphones on. "We'll talk more about it later, babe," he said. "Right now we need to rest. Got a big night tonight and a big weekend ahead."

I pulled out my headphones and put them on, then put my iTunes on my 5 Seconds of Summer album and listened to "Beside You" before I fell asleep. I was woken up by a flight attendant who told us it was time to get off the plane. I kissed Chase good morning and we left the plane. We grabbed our bags from the luggage claim and made our way outside the airport.

We found Chase's truck in the parking garage and I called shotgun so Emily sat in the back. Chase drove us to the track and gave us our passes, then took us to the RV lot. Ryan was waiting in Chase's RV because Chase had told him to be there, but Emily was unaware, so the whole way to Chase's RV she was complaining about wanting to hurry up and go see Ryan.

We walked into Chase's RV, and Ryan was sitting on the couch playing video games. Emily walked in behind me and Chase, and Ryan did not notice her at first. "Hey, Chase. Hey, Hunter," he glanced before turning back to Call of Duty: Black Ops. His head snapped back around quickly, and he jumped to his feet, dropping the Xbox controller on the floor when he saw Emily. "Emily, baby!" he shouted.

"Ryan!" Emily screamed and put her hands over her face. He ran over to her and picked her up. He spun her around and then just held her in his arms while he kissed her.