Crash

Bahrain

Leaving for Bahrain wasn't easy. Penelope spent a whole hour arguing with her grandmother about whether she she even go in the first place. But Penelope was stocked up on pain meds, desperate to see her boyfriend and even more desperate to get out of LA. 

"Necesitas descansar, Penelope!" Mirabel insisted as she followed her through the house, trying to keep up as Penelope stormed up the stairs. 

"Enough, Abuela! I'm twenty two years old, I can make my own decisions."

"You push yourself again and again, now look what happened! I know you don't want to listen, but I am telling you to take a step back."

"I am! I'm taking a week off work, I can't dance for double that."

"You're not listening, mi amor."

Penelope threw the last shirt into her suitcase and slammed it shut, making her grandmother startle. "Stop treating me like Frankie, Abuela. You are so used to running after him that you forget I have been doing this for years. I am a grown woman, I know how far I can push myself and going on a weekend holiday to Bahrain to watch my boyfriend do his job isn't going to send me over the edge!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Penelope knew she'd crossed a line. Mirabel's face fell and her eyes hardened. She stepped back, smoothing her hands over her skirt and holding her head up high.

"I won't stand here and be disrespected, Penelope. Do what you want. We'll talk when you return."

Penelope felt herself panic, her fingers seizing her grandmother's arm in one last desperate attempt to take back her words. "Wait, Abuela, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

Mirabel met her eyes, but there was no understanding there. She pulled her wrist free and turned her back, disappearing down the hall as Penelope cursed herself again and again. In life, there are subjects that shouldn't be used as weapons against the people you care about. For her grandmother, Frankie was one of them. 

When Penelope was a kid, she'd spent a lot of time with her big brother. Kevin, Joe and Nick had spent a lot of time on the road to pursue their music, which had left Penelope and Frankie to keep each other company throughout their childhoods. As he was only a few years older, they'd had a lot in common. She and Frankie weren't just siblings, they were friends. He looked out for her and she'd defended him, especially against their grandparents. They'd expected a lot from all of the grandchildren, and Frankie was no exception. 

When Penelope's career in both dance and acting had taken off, it had meant that Frankie spent a lot more time at home alone with their grandparents than the other kids. The relationship he'd developed with their grandfather Matteo was precious. There had been a long running joke within the family that Frankie was a mini Matteo, like peas in a pod. When their abuelo had gotten sick, Frankie stepped up. He helped with his doctors appointments and pills, took him out for a walk or to lunch, spent hours upon hours of time with him, making sure he wasn't alone. Ultimately, it was the death of their grandfather that had ruined Frankie's life. He'd lost the one person who'd really believed in him, who'd made him feel like his life was destined for something bigger. Frankie gave up trying to be better. He drank his sorrows away, used any drug he could get his hands on. It was Mirabel's biggest regret, that she couldn't save him from going down the same path that her own son, their biological father, had ended up on. For Penelope to exploit that...it was a hard mistake to come back from. 

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The emotions that Penelope felt when she saw Charles were hard to put into words. It was like coming home to a warm fire after a long days work, knowing that whatever was going on in the outside world, she was back with him. She couldn't shake that fuzzy feeling, the butterflies she felt in her stomach when he smiled at her, or the way she felt empty when he wasn't around. She knew it was soon, they'd only been dating a few months, but there was a part of her that wondered if she was starting to feel the beginnings of pure, uncompromised love. 

"I missed you!" Charles said into her hair as he hugged her tightly, her feet almost lifting off the ground. He took her face in his hands, looking her up and down like he was examining her for injuries. "Amore mio, I was so worried."

Penelope kissed him, pressing her forehead to his. "As if I was going to miss this. It's the first race of the season! I could've broken all of my ribs and I would've still found a way to be here."

"I don't care about you being at the race. I care about you."

"You're very dramatic, Romeo," she mused, but secretly she was touched by the message. 

Fingers laced together, they began the walk towards the car that was waiting for them. Penelope was surprised that Charles wasn't driving himself, but he quickly explained that Mattia had insisted on sending the car. "He wanted to impress you, I think."

Penelope raised an eyebrow. "Impress me? Why, I have nothing to do with all this stuff."

"Ferrari is hosting you," he explained. "And you are very, very famous, which I think you sometimes forget, no? He wants to make a good impression."

Penelope tried to swallow the bad taste in her mouth. "That's kind of him. But that's not what this is about, right? It's not just a PR stunt."

Charles kissed her again as he held the car door open. He tasted like an inviting mix of mint and cherries. "Course not. But if you don't stop by the paddock at least once, I think he might cry."

She considered her options carefully as Charles stared up at her like a hopeful puppy, giving her his most convincing look. "You promise to give me a personal tour?" she asked. 

"Like you even need to ask."

"Fine. I'll visit the paddock. Just another day at work, right?"

"You're the best, you know that?"

She smiled suggestively as he winked at her. "I think you should tell me one more time."

His fingers brushed against the soft skin of her thigh as she took a sharp inhale, her heart rate increasing. It was hard not to whimper as his teeth nibbled on her ear lobe, breath hot against her neck. "You, Penelope Jonas, are my favourite person in the whole world."

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