Royal Love (F1 x LH44)

Seventeen

It was 9 a.m. and I was sitting in a plane. It was a small one, almost exactly like the one from the royal family, but this one was cosier. The interior was black and the walls painted with a beige colour. It was neat but sweet. We weren't in the sky yet, but almost ready for take off. Lewis, Pete and I arrived just on time, since we woke up at 8 and had to be in the plane at 9. We weren't the early morning people. I slept in Lewis's bed last night. It was strange, sharing a bed. But Lewis didn't mind and hugged me all night. His arms were around my waist as I laid with my back against him. I sweared I could still feel his arms around me. His warmth on my body. But the leather from the seats on this plane made me realise I wasn't there anymore and that I soon would have to go back to the real world. A world where I have to hide. But this time it's different. This time it feels like I'm more free than before. No duties. No parents breathing in my neck. It felt good, but still not what I wanted.
A hand brushed over mine, I looked up and a big smile greeted me. "We're taking off, you okay?" Lewis asked and I nodded. I wasn't really scared of flying, but I just completely zoned-out so I
understand why Lewis asked me how I was.
"Just thinking..." I mumbled and watched out of the window. We were now on the runway and the plane was ready for takeoff. Pete sat opposite me, while Lewis sat next to me.
The plane took off and the view became a slight blur because of the speed we were reaching. I took Lewis's hand as the plane rose and I helt my breath. Lewis's thumb brushed over my hand, comforting me. I somehow felt scared to fly. I never felt scared before, but maybe this time was different because of who I was with. I made the thought slip as the plane steadied and we were fully in the sky. It was a four hour flight and I was going to spent it sleeping.
After only a few minutes I already fell asleep. My head laid on Lewis's shoulder and after I woke up for a little minute I noticed he rested his head on mine. Only he wasn't asleep, but on his phone.
"What are you doing?" I asked in a sleepy voice. He was scrolling through instagram, I saw that, but I needed to start the conversation somehow.
"Nothing." He said as he closed instagram. "But look at this." He opened the photo's app and I immediately cringed.
"No. You. Didn't." I said as I saw the photo he clicked on. It was of me sleeping on his shoulder and him resting his head on mine while making a silly face. "You're awful." I hit him against his arm.
He smiled and put his arm around my shoulders, tucking me to his side. "How about you get some more rest, you're not recovered yet." He said and kissed my head.
I didn't resist and put my head back on his shoulder, falling asleep fast.

I woke up of someone shaking me. I opened my eyes, seeing a bit blurred. "Why're you shaking me?" I asked and I heard Pete chuckle.
"We're landing in a few minutes." Lewis said and I groaned.
"You could've just let me sleep until we landed." I said annoyed.
"I could've, but than you would've taken ages to get out of the plane and we need to move fast." Lewis explained and I looked up, confused.
"I can't go 'fast' as you say. I'm still disabled." I pointed at my leg that was wrapped in a bandage.  "And why move fast?"
"Because there will be paparazzi..." Pete said and I looked at him. He was kidding, right?
"They're always there... they just want to know why I came late so they'll be following me everywhere. But we got a solution." Lewis picked up a bag from beside him. "You'll go with Pete to the car. You'll both have a cap on with sunglasses. No one would focus on you as I go out of the plane first. I will distract them and lead them towards a cab. You two will take my car." Lewis explained it to me as he handed us the caps and sunglasses.
"You know this is ridiculous." I said with a smile. I didn't mind doing this, because everything was better than being in that horrendous palace. I placed the cap on my head, the same one I wore when we went to the store to get some ingredients for the pizza's. I smiled at the memory. Lewis looked at me and had the sunglasses in his hands. He slowly placed the glasses on my nose, making the world seem darker.
"Okay, perfect. We're landing now..." Lewis said, and you could feel the plane moving, ready to land.
In only a few seconds the tires hit the ground and the plane slowed down rapidly. Within a minute or two we were at a halt. Lewis stood up and extended his hand. I grabbed it and let him help me get up. I smiled at him and turned to Pete. "Ready to fight some paparazzi?" I asked him and Pete laughed. He nodded and turned to grab our suitcases, which were more at the front of the plane in a coffin.
Lewis grabbed my hands, making me turn back towards him. His smile made the world feel a bit lighter and I immediately started smiling as well. "I'll see you at the hotel, okay?" I nodded and squeezed his hands. "I hope you don't mind... but I do have to go to the track right now for some media stuff and meetings with the team. I'll be gone for most of the afternoon." He explained and I completely understood. He had his work and I couldn't come with him.
I nodded. "I understand, Lew. I'll just watch some Netflix at the hotel I guess. You're here for work, not for me." I said while chuckling a bit. It felt weird being here for someone, but you not being their most important thing. I wanted to believe this was a vacation, but realisation was hitting slowly.
"Isa is here this weekend as well. Maybe she already flew in?" Lew assumed and I shook my head. Isa was flying in on Friday evening. Which meant I was all alone for two whole days.
"I'll survive. I have Pete, remember?" I chuckled again and Lewis finally caved in.
"Okay... if you say so. But I'll have you for myself for tonight?" He asked and I felt my cheeks get warmer. I looked down to hide the fact that I was blushing. But that didn't last long since Lewis tilted my head with his fingers. He made me look right into his eyes and I was immediately hypnotised by his chocolate brown eyes. "I like it when you get flustered by me." He said and he bent down, kissing me softly on the lips.
I pulled away a bit as I heard the door of the plane open. I fully separated when light filled the plane and the pilot came into view.
"Guess we're not so good at keeping things private." I said as I saw the pilot looking away from us. He totally saw us.
"I trust him. And than again... we don't have to be completely private, right?" Lewis smirked and I shook my head while smiling.
"Someday you can introduce me to your friends, but now is too big of a risk." I patted his shoulder and turned to walk towards Pete.
Lewis pulled me back by holding onto my hand. "I'm already looking forward to that day." He said, and he left one last kiss on my lips before going over to Pete to grab his suitcase and get out of the plane. He didn't turn around before going outside and I could hear a few people outside talking to Lewis. He wasn't lying about the paparazzi.
"Are you okay? You look a bit troubled." Pete said as he came over with both our suitcases.
I sighed as I grabbed my suitcase from him. "I'll be fine." I wanted to believe that, but how can you be truly fine when you're always in the spotlight?
After a few minutes the crowd calmed down and the muttering formed into a silent morning. "They're gone." The pilot mentioned and Pete and I thanked him. We got out of the plane and Lewis' personal car came riding in. Lewis left earlier with a taxi, so I wouldn't get recognised by the driver. We jumped in and the driver put our bags in his trunk. Lewis already gave the address so we were fast away and had to drive only 30 minutes to get to the hotel. The hotel wasn't that far from the track. Only about 5 minutes with the car to get there. For me it wouldn't matter that much since I'm not going to be able to attend the track since they would recognise me. But it meant Lewis would be back faster and only that made my day ten times better.
Lewis was on his way to the track, it was Thursday and that meant he had to do some media work done and a lot of meetings with the team. He was on short time because we just left, while the rest flew in at the beginning of the week. I felt sorry for the delay he had, but he said it was okay and that the team understood he had to be at home to take care of me. I wanted to thank the team for that, but I couldn't go to the track so thanking them was quite hard. The reality hit and I stared out of the window. This was going to be a boring weekend, but I had to be there for Lewis, that's the least I could do.