Lies || Ryan Blaney

2.0 - Forgiveness

Ryan

It had gotten spread around the racing community that I was married. The very first question I was asked when we arrived on the track for qualifying the next day was about our marriage. Courtney had told me the news was leaked on Twitter on the drive up here and at first, I wasn't too pleased with it being leaked like it was because I had wanted to keep it a secret for just a little while. But after thinking about it for some time and a little bit of an insightful talk with my new wife there was no way that anybody wouldn't put the new black band on my finger and connect the dots.

Walking through the garage to our pit stall, I had my fingers intertwined with Court's as we were taking in the sounds of the pit road. The fans had been piling in for the last couple hours for practice so we were stopped a couple of times by someone wanting an autograph or picture. A few of them had mentioned the marital news, asking if it was true. Giving a few glances between Courtney and I and seemingly knowing the answer before I could nod my head. I wasn't one to just be vocal about my personal life and fans knew that but since it was already out on the internet might as well confirm it.

When we made it close enough to my crew I could see them all hard at work putting the final touches to what we brought. "I never thought I'd see the day that Blaney was a married man." Todd had announced before he climbed down from the pit box after noticing us walking over. His words caught the attention of some of my crew members, seemingly catching them off guard with it. All of them swiftly reacted with their congratulations for us. "You better believe it. Someone snagged me years ago and now made it official." Courtney squeezed my hand at my words, a red hue covering her cheeks. I couldn't help but grin at her, loving that I will always be able to bring that blush to her cheeks. Todd came over to the pit wall giving a hug to Courtney first and some kind words before turning to me and doing the same. 

While all of us talked, I could see a familiar face coming through the little crowd that was starting to form as more people were showing up. As much as making up and being back to normal terms with Roger as I was, I was worried about how Courtney would feel about him.  I know I had mentioned that Roger was very much sorry about what happened and wanted to apologize to her himself but she had not brought it up since then. I was not going to push her into anything like that because she was hurt by it -we both were and even if she wasn't comfortable with him then that's okay. If we had to leave because she wasn't there, then we would.

"Ryan, Courtney. I hear there's even more congratulations for you two." 

Courtney

I had turned my head when hearing Roger's voice. My heart beat a little faster when he looked at me. I wasn't expecting to see him just yet. I hadn't thought about him since he told Ryan that he was sorry. My mind was milling it over since then, wondering if I would be able to forgive him.

My eyes caught Ryan's, his expression mirroring mine - a look of uncertainty. "Yeah, he's now an honest man," I told him, knowing that it could get awkward fast, and I didn't want that. Everyone around knew what had transpired with Roger and me, so the look of shock they all held didn't go unnoticed by me.

 If I was being honest with myself, ever since Ryan had said that Roger wanted to mend things, I had been very firm with a hard no. I wanted nothing to do with him, didn't want to be around him but with Ryan being his driver and finally having the season he's always dreamed of, I was at a loss on how to feel. He was trying to mend things with Ryan and helped him get so far in the playoffs that I couldn't overlook it.

"I'm glad, he deserves to have an amazing, smart, career-oriented woman like you. You'll keep him on the right path." Roger smiled as he praised my character, getting close enough so he can hug us.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ryan give me a look, wordlessly asking if I didn't want around him. I shook my head a bit, trying to tell him that everything was okay. When my arms opened and I let the man who gave me enough heartache to last a lifetime, hug me, I could almost feel the animosity I had resurfaced. Pregnancy hormones be damned, if I wanted to get through this and see Ryan succeed more at a place he loved, I had to at least try. Especially if Roger was willing to own up to his mistake in the first place.

"I am so very sorry, Courtney." The whispered apology had me swallowing around the lump in my throat that appeared. Tears had threatened to escape the side of my eyes and I was desperately hoping that no one around could see the way my shoulders had jumped to contain the cry I had to suppress. I heard a bit of shuffling around me, but not paying attention as another hand found the lower part of my back. Pulling away, I looked at Roger and could see he meant it. Ryan had looked between us, noticing the difference between us.

"I know, and I forgive you."