Unchartered Waters ✅

Chapter 129: The Text Message

September 28, 2022

Despite the early concerns of spring, summer had gone smoothly for the boys.

Alex and Chase continued their relationship and allowed it to grow with more exploration happening at times in different positions and opportunities. They even both grew closer with Ryan, finding more ways to introduce the trio into a big circle of entertaining fun together.

The racing - that was how it was going. Some weeks went great, others not so much. It was all part of being a professional racecar driver. At least they had each other to lean on through each stage of success and failure. It was comforting most weeks.

But everything that was going on, from his own race team missing the stride he expected, to the ever-growing varieties within the relationship, it all froze when a text message was read

"I think something may be wrong," Chase read as he sat in the middle of a meeting with Alan Gustafson and the rest of the crew. 

His stomach immediately turned upside down. His heart leapt to his throat. It felt like there was something there in throat, stopping him from breathing, as his body slowly went numb all the way through. 

What kind of text message was that?

He knew where Alex was today - Charlotte Motor Speedway doing the Ally Sprint Car test with Jimmie Johnson. It was a great promotional material for the sponsor in seeing the pair come together. It was also nice to see Jimmie's dream of driving one of those cars come together. Chase knew what it felt like himself, and knew it'd be a blast for that to be shared. 

He wondered if the text had something to do with that. He wondered if something had happened. What if they wrecked the car? What if Alex was hurt? What if something was missed in preparation for the big day, and he just meant something broken with the car? 

He also couldn't ignore everything else around him, either. What if Alex was referencing their relationship? What if something was wrong with Ryan's involvement, again? What if he was referring to another factor, like say William's ever-growing friendship? 

Chase knew Alex could be very awkward, and things never seemed to go smoothly - but this had to be the worst way for things to go right now. There were many other things he could have sent instead.

"I just don't feel right at all, man," another text message came through. "Nothing about driving that Sprint Car today felt natural. It just all felt - I don't even know how to describe it." 

There was relief for Chase in seeing the second message as it canceled the second batch of worries he had about everything. Actually, it erased many of the options as something hadn't happened and the relationship was still as strong as ever - not that he should ever worry about that, as they have the love together. 

However, there was a new batch of worries to which Chase began to have. He also remembered watching the video of Alex's wreck on Sunday back after the weekend was over - seeing how mangled the back of the car was, the same way Kurt had wrecked just weeks prior. There was the headache, just wanting to relax in quiet and darkness, pushing it off as just being sore and achy from a hard hit. 

"Maybe you need to talk to Dale," Chase sent back as discretely as he could, knowing phones were not allowed during these meetings. Let's face it, crew chiefs were always worried about their secret notes getting out of these four walls somehow and phones were a way of communication. 

He just hoped he wasn't off in his message in return as he didn't want to have to explain the reason he sent it - that would be awkward if he was wrong in what he did. Perhaps he should have waited until he saw him later to send that. Perhaps he should have approached the idea in a different way. However, this was the world these racecar drivers lived in and the reality creeping in with these new cars - these new supposedly safer than the old but causing concussions cars.

"Or maybe you need to get checked out," Chase quickly sent after, feeling the heart in throat feeling return once again as his own worry crept in. 

Concussions were an unfortunate part of racing, and most people just dealt with them as they had to and moved forward. So why was he feeling all this worry and panic in a simple thought? Why did it bother him so much right now? This wasn't the first driver to say similar words. He didn't feel any of this at Kurt's announcement. Why was he almost set to bolt out there not carrying what Alan said? 

"Maybe I'm just overthinking it," he read back in return and could only shake his head. For a moment, he could believe that to be Alex as that had happened with many situations. Let's face it - the shy, panic, awkward part of him did it to him every time. 

However, with everything he had seen in the past 48 hours, he wasn't about to let that simple thought go. In fact, he knew there was only one solution they needed to follow through with - even if it meant both him and Ryan dragging him there to do it. Call it worry, call it his own panic, but he wasn't about to just forget about everything and chalk it up to overthinking as Alex tried.

"When are you going to be done?" Chase reads, and knew he was made as the blank stare back at him from the crew chief as he looked up displayed everything. He had totally lost track where they were in the meeting, missed cues that he should have, and caught red-handed sneaking notes to his boyfriend in class. "I need to see you. I want to talk to you."

"I'll be at your place in 10," Chase texts back without hesitation, knowing he'd accept whatever war path that put him on with Alan moving forward, as he knew the crew chief would understand the whole story later on. Or at least he hoped because he didn't care either way, if he was being honest.