i love you • formula one

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this chapter was written by the incredibly talented and generous FOREVERLANDO who is also one of my closest friends. as soon as you've finished reading this chapter, please please please drop a follow to her if you haven't already and check out all of her books. they're as beautifully written as this chapter - she's one of, if not the, best author on this site no cap. more detail and thanks will be in the a/n x

also, she managed to write over 5,500 words which is insane... someone tell her to write that much for her own books, yeah? ;)

as always, don't forget to comment throughout and vote! it would really mean a lot to me and FOREVERLANDO

first person

~***~

friday-sunday, 04-06/09/2020

I couldn't do this. The fear which coursed through my veins was immeasurable. I still couldn't wipe his face from my head and each time I closed my eyes, he was there. His narrow, pale blue eyes bore into my brain, reminding me of the icicles which once hung from my windowpane when I was a young girl. The image of his chapped lips was stuck on repeat and it made me shiver, causing tears to prick at the back of my tired eyes and for goosebumps to rise on my exhausted limbs. I sighed. I barely slept a wink last night in the uncomfortable hospital bed. I was surrounded by a lovely team of doctors and nurses who kept an eye on me, after choosing to keep me in for observation purposes, but I was too haunted by the events to close my eyes.

"Lyra?" The sound of Oliver's voice reminded me of Lando. I still hadn't heard from him. I didn't know whether I was ready to talk to him after convincing myself that this was his fault. He didn't believe me, after all, when I told him about my concerns and worries. I knew I was being followed. I trusted my gut feeling and it was right. "Lyra, are you with us?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and turned my head to face Oliver, who was sitting beside me in the back seat of his car after he drove to Surrey to pick me up with Rosie. She refused to let me go when she got to my side about an hour ago. Mum was driving us back home. I needed Oliver's comfort in the back of the car, not because it reminded me of his brother, but because he believed me when I told him how worried I was about that goddamn Polo. I was thankful to have them here with me because I really needed that support right now. As we sat in the car with the radio providing soft background music, Oli held onto my good hand carefully, caressing the skin on my knuckles with his thumb. My other hand was still stinging a little after I accidentally pierced the skin with a knife last night, but it was all stitched up and would hopefully heal soon. It was the least of my worries right now. Michael Parker was the only thing I could think about. I didn't even give him the pleasure of actually being human. He didn't deserve that. He was immoral. Everything about that thing was immoral.

"Thank you for coming to get me." My voice was a little muffled simply because I didn't have the strength to properly open my mouth. Everywhere ached out of tiredness. My head was sore, my eyes so heavy and my muscles too weak. I was offered food at the hospital, but the only thing I could stomach was some strawberry jelly and vanilla ice cream. Even the thought of blueberry waffles made me feel sick.

"Stop thanking us," Oli brushed a strand of my hair away from my eyes. I didn't have a hairbrush with me so it was all tatted, however, I managed to tie it up into some sort of ponytail. "As soon as your mum called, I offered to drive the three of us up here. I needed to see you."

"More than your brother," I scoffed, however kept the volume of my voice to a minimum because I didn't want mum to hear. Oliver raised his eyebrow sadly, shaking his head in disapproval, before tightening his grip on my hand. He knew, vaguely, of everything that happened between Lando and I. By that, I meant he knew that we'd fallen out. "Can you stay tonight?"