VIPER || Oscar Piastri

Chapter 50

[POV: Oscar Piastri]

A few hours had passed.

I think...

I mean, it's definitely darker out.

Wait... no... I was blinking.

The world feels like it's swaying. Maybe that's just me. And because I'm on a boat. Or both.

... yeah... both.

I blinked hard, trying to focus, but my brain was... heavy. Everything around me was a blur of lights and noise and voices that all mushed together to make it impossible to know who was saying what, but it didn't really matter because I was so comfortable. So warm. So, like— floaty? Like I was sinking.

Wait, but...

I can't feel floaty and sinky? That doesn't...make...sense.

Everything is fine.

I heard Lando laughing at something—no, wait, maybe it was Carlos. Or both of them. Someone had their arm around me. Or maybe I had my arm around them. Or maybe neither. Or—

Wait, where's my drink?

I looked down at my hand. Empty. Had I finished it? Had someone taken it? No...

I must've...

...drank it...

Do I even want another one?

I could get one. The bar was right there. But also, moving sounded hard. And I'm so comfortable. And standing is hard. And—

Oh, Andi's over there.

At the far end of the boat, standing by the railing.

I tilted my head, blinking sluggishly. Her hair was a little messy from the wind, and she kept shifting her weight like she couldn't get comfortable. 

I think she wants to leave.

My foggy brain dragged up a memory—the first memory. The first time I met her. She had that same look then too, like she was already halfway out the door. I squinted, trying to focus past the fuzziness in my head. The music was too loud, the lights too bright, but she was still just standing there—

Wait. 

My gaze dragged until it landed on someone else. Leaning against the bar, drink in hand, looking at her.  I blinked, slow. The lights kept shifting—pink, then purple, then blue—casting weird shadows across the room. Yep— I sat up for the first time in what was probably a while, squinting so I could focus better. Leclerc.

Be a little more obvious, why don't you?

Andi hadn't even noticed. She was still facing the water, arms tucked close to her like she was trying to make herself smaller. I don't know how long she'd been there for. I don't know how long I've been—

Suddenly, my stomach felt off— My head felt too full, my skin too warm. I groaned, shutting my eyes tight as the feeling passed.

...I'm never drinking again.

Wait, wait, wait—

I caught movement as I blinked.

Is he moving or am I moving?

I looked down at my legs. Still. I was not moving, he was moving. Towards her. What is he doing? What—

What am I doing?!

I got to my feet and swayed a little, catching myself on the railing. I thought about going over there. But I hesitated. She was telling me, before, about how she wasn't gonna chase him. How she was just going to let him come to her. And now— literally right now— he was doing just that.