Lifeline (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 9: Into The Night

The next night after Tully had flown back to Belgium, Seb got home late and made himself a quick, half-hearted dinner. Afterwards, he dragged himself into the spare room and flopped down on the bed. A strange assortment of muscles across his shoulders and through his arms were beginning to ache from the climbing the day before. To top it off, Heikki had worked him especially hard earlier that morning.

He sighed, looking forward to a massage in the morning that would ease the soreness away. Shame it would be Heikki administering it though. Tully's technique, from the first moment her fingertips had touched down on his skin, had easily taken his preference. He'd have to wait a while to feel that again though.

As Seb rolled over and faced the window, his eyes fluttered closed and he exhaled slowly. Sleep didn't feel far away tonight. A few minutes later, he became vaguely aware of the door behind him creaking softly, or was he dreaming already?

The mattress dipped and an arm slipped over his hip, coming to a rest on his stomach before a small body pressed up against his back. He tried to make his brain wake back up enough to figure out what was going on.

"I can't lose you." a quiet voice whispered through the dark.

She was crying. He could feel her body shuddering with silent sobs into the back of his shirt.

"Then stop pushing me away." he mumbled sadly. Her cold rejection over the past few days had hurt.

"I'm sorry, Seb." she whispered. He could feel her lips tickling the skin on the back of his neck.

He sighed and gave in, straining his tired muscles one last time to roll over on to his back. Hayley immediately scooted in closer and buried her head against his neck, pressing her lips against his collarbone. He could feel her wet tears trickling down and landing on his skin.

"You threatened to leave me." he stated, feeling his voice croak a little, "Over nothing."

"I was scared." Hayley whimpered, reaching her arm over him possessively.

"Of what? Tully? What did you think I would do?" he asked, frowning in the dark.

"I already felt like I'd been losing you this year." Hayley admitted, letting out another sob.

"You're imagining these things, then punishing me for them." Seb replied tiredly. A little portion of him suddenly felt guilty. Maybe things had been different this year, but maybe he'd pushed it away to focus on his fourth world title.

"So you don't think anything has been different?" Hayley asked shakily.

Maybe... Yes. "No." he replied. He couldn't do this now, not again, too many recent sleepless nights had taken their toll.

Hayley sighed, allowing the conversation to fade into silence. She listened to his steady heart beat, the only noise to reach her ears in the darkness of the night. Before long, she could tell he'd fallen asleep.

"I love you." she whispered against his neck, kissing the skin beneath his jaw gently. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the excess of tears run down her cheeks before resting her head back on his shoulder and falling asleep herself.

Seb awoke with a start a couple of hours later. A warm, contented feeling swept over his body as he felt the warm figure laying beside him. His arm felt feather-light as he lifted it behind her head and felt her move in closer. She leaned up and kissed him just behind his ear, sending sparks running up through his chest.

"I love when you do that." he whispered, tilting his head away to give her better access. She took the hint and kissed him there again before pulling the lobe of his ear between her teeth.