Lifeline (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 64: Long Nights

The night crept forward and many drinks were downed. The crew's table had become significantly louder and yet much more comfortable. Well, mostly comfortable. Tully couldn't look past Harry on her right anymore. Casey and Heikki were down there taking PDA to a whole new level. Meanwhile in front of her, Evan and Britta looked like they'd been having an extremely deep therapy session for a solid half an hour now. Britta loved having someone to mother. Tully smirked, thinking that was probably why she was such a good fit with Seb.

A hint of cool night air fluttered across the back of Tully's neck, making her look up. Somehow, she sensed that Jake had just arrived. On her right, Harry, who'd started off on the shy side, was babbling away happily about his recent holiday to Finland.

She watched as Evan's attention was diverted to the furthest end of the table before his eyes darted back to her. They held each other's gaze for a moment before he turned and murmured something to Britta. Tully's stomach flipped uncomfortably. Staring at Casey and her brother groping each other down the opposite end of the table suddenly seemed like a totally appealing option after all.

She could hear a rise in voices down the end of the table as Jacob approached the crew and said his hellos. Seb didn't seem to have noticed anything yet, apparently very distracted in a conversation with Brand and Kyle about some of the technical struggles the team had been experiencing in recent races.

She returned her attention to Harry, helping him to correct his pronunciation of some of the places he'd visited, making him laugh at his own attempts.

"Were you fucking lost or something?" Evan called out, drawing the attention of everyone at their end of the table. Tully looked over to see him grinning up at Jacob, who was standing a few seats further down from them, leaning on the back of someone's chair.

She immediately felt Seb tense beside her as his attention landed on Jacob too, who was now chuckling quietly at Evan and carefully averting his gaze from going anywhere near them. Seb sighed and shifted in his chair. She wanted to distract him.

"Hey..." she murmured, slipping her hand across his thigh. She was careful to not put much pressure on it, but just enough for him to feel her there. He picked up his drink and took a sip.

"Hey." she repeated, squeezing his thigh ever so gently. He put his drink back down before finally turning to her, his expression softening noticeably as their eyes met. She analysed his face, not entirely sure if he was stuck in his head or purposefully not responding to her.

He gave her a distracted smile that didn't quite meet his eyes, before looking back down at his drink. Under the table, she felt his hand cover hers. Relief.

Leaning across, she rested her chin on his shoulder, feeling him automatically lean in too and rest his cheek against her nose. His scent engulfed her, reminding her of Switzerland.

"I love you." she whispered, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

He immediately went completely rigid. Even his breathing stopped.

She kept talking to him in a low voice that only he could hear, "You know how sometimes I have these episodes of clarity, and I remember things." she continued, as if nothing had just happened.

"Yeah..." He finally breathed out, staring down at the table with a confused expression.

"I have them way more often than I talk about. It happens too often to mention them all." She explained, as though he wasn't sitting there beside her in shock, wondering if he'd heard her wrong.

He was listening intently now, his attention laser-focussed on her.

"It's not always specific memories. Sometimes it's scents, or tastes, or a feeling."