Only You - Artem Markelov

Chapter 8

Two weeks later Amaya finds herself in Barcelona, ready for the Feature Race of F2 to start. With Artem qualifying in the back, there wasn't much hope for a high result, let alone a podium. But Amaya knew Artem was a fighter and he would do anything for a good result.

Amaya also knew she couldn't show she was cheering Artem on. It was part of her job to be objective in every situation and dating one of the drivers on the grid doesn't exactly classify as objective. Neither does having a baby with one of the drivers, but there's nothing she can change about that. 

Not that she'd want to change anything about dating the driver.

She watched the cars go around the track, trying to focus on her job whilst also keeping a close eye on a certain Russian Time car. Which, unfortunately, wasn't doing particularly well yet. By the time the finish flag was shown, he sat in P8, giving him reversed pole.

Amaya knew he'd be happy with the reversed pole, but also annoyed he didn't end up any higher in the standings. Amaya quickly takes out her phone, sending Artem a quick message.

Sorry things didn't go better. Dinner tonight? x Am

Amaya knew Artem wouldn't reply as there was a lot of post-race stuff he had to attend and take care of, so she put away her phone in order to focus better on her work.

By the time Amaya finishes her work, Artem has replied to her text, telling her he'd pick her up at 7 to go for dinner at the restaurant of the hotel she was staying at.

"Ready to go?" Rose asks, pulling Amaya out of her thoughts, noticing Rose is waiting for her.

"Yeah, let's go. I have a dinner date to get ready for."

"A date?" Rose asks curiously as they make their way to the exit of the paddock.

"Yes, Artem and I are going out for dinner," Amaya says, making Rose smile widely. When Amaya told Rose that Artem and herself had officially started dating, she was over the moon for her. She kept telling Amaya how happy she was she found happiness and how great it would be for her baby to grow up with both parents around.

Amaya kept telling herself not to get her hopes up tho. The baby wasn't even born yet and there were still a lot of challenges coming their way. Having the baby grow up with both parents around is something that's not on her mind yet. First,  she and Artem have to make it work without a baby around.

"That's so nice! Make sure no one from the FIA sees you tho," Rose points out and Amaya nods, knowing if anyone sees them together, her job is in danger.

"Yeah, we'll be careful."

Around 7 pm, there's a knock on Amaya's door, making her smile. She goes to open it to find a smiling Artem in front of her.

"Hey baby girl," he greets her, making her blush.

"Hey, how are you?" Amaya asks as Artem presses a kiss against her cheek.

"Could be better, but tomorrow should be good."

"Don't tell anyone, but I'm totally rooting for you," Amaya says as they walk out of her hotel room towards the elevator.

"Oh really?"

"Of course."

"I mean, it would be kind of weird if you weren't rooting for your baby daddy," Artem says, making Amaya chuckle. Just as he says it, the elevator doors open, revealing a confused looking Noah. Amaya's eyes widen when she sees them as she can tell by the look on his face that he overheard what Artem said.

"You're rooting for your baby daddy? How can you do that if you don't know who he is?" Noah asks, looking directly at Amaya.

"Noah, please," she starts, but Noah cuts her off.

"Tell me the truth Amaya!" he yells at her, making Artem move in front of her in a protective manner. In any other situation, this would've made her smile and feel all fuzzy inside, seeing him protect her and their baby. Right now, however, she's got other things on her mind.

"Dude, calm down," Artem says, keeping himself between Amaya and her brother. Although Amaya knows Noah would never hurt her, especially not now that she's pregnant. She's not sure what he'll do when he realizes it's Artem who's the baby daddy.

"I am calm. I just want my sister to tell me the truth. Who is the father of your baby? And don't tell me you don't know who he is because that's a lie and we both know it," Noah says, looking past Artem at Amaya, his voice still raised.

"Noah, don't do this, please," Amaya pleads, not wanting to cause trouble between the two guys but also not wanting to lie to her brother. Artem looks at her, seeing the torn look on her face.

"It's me, okay dude, it's me," he says, making Amaya's eyes widen.

"Artem!" she tries, but he doesn't listen to her.

"She's pregnant with my baby. We hooked up in Bahrain and she ended up pregnant. We're keeping the baby because of a promise to my sister and we're going to take care of him or her together."

"You piece of shit," Noah yells before lunging at Artem. Before Amaya can even process what's happening, both boys are on the floor, fighting each other. Well, Noah is trying to fight Artem whilst Artem is just trying to get Noah off of him and end the fight.

"Noah, stop, please!!" Amaya calls out, but Noah doesn't hear her. Luckily, some other guest here the commotion in the hallway and come out of their rooms. When they see the guys on the floor, they rush towards Amaya to help break them apart.

"You are dead to me," Noah spits at Artem.

"Noah, please," Amaya pleads, but Noah doesn't want to hear it.

"Out of every girl you could've gotten pregnant, it had to be my sister?" Noah asks, looking directly at Artem.

"I didn't know it was here when it happened! Neither of us recognized each other, even before we got drunk! Otherwise, it never would've happened, I can promise you that! You know I've always respected you and your family. Yes, I like Amaya, a lot. But I would never go behind your back and I would never just sleep with her. If I had the chance, I would've asked her out properly and take her out on dates, take things slow and see where they go. But it didn't go that way and there's nothing we can do about it. We can just accept it and make the best out of it," Artem says, but Amaya can see by the look on Noah's face that the words mean nothing to him.

"Noah, please, we both really want to make this work. We want our baby to have both parents around, we want our baby to grow up in a loving family. You're part of that family!" Amaya tries, but Noah just shakes his head.

"Do whatever you need to, but don't count on me. And don't come running to me when he breaks your heart," Noah says to Amaya before storming off, leaving Amaya in tears. Artem takes her hand and pulls her back to her room since there are still some curious guests who didn't go into their rooms yet. Once Artem closes the door of Amaya's room behind them, Amaya breaks down. Immediately, Artem wraps his arms around her, pulling her close to him.

"I'm so sorry," he whispers but Amaya shakes her head as she leans back slightly.

"This is not your fault, at all. It's his."

"But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt," Artem says and Amaya nods as Artem wipes a tear from her cheek.

"We'll figure it out together, I promise. It's you and me."

Sooo... what do you guys think? Let me know in the comments! And don't forget to vote for this chapter as well! This story won't be much longer as I've been struggling to write this and I don't want to keep you guys waiting every time. So I hope I can give you all a nice ending that will close off the story in the right way :D

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