Love Always Wins

60

Monday July 6th. Switzerland.

Chloe stirred and then woke up, regretfully leaving her dream of Seb bringing dinner to their bed, naked. She kept her eyes closed thinking that if she did that then she'd drift off back to sleep and back to Seb. She couldn't believe she'd actually slept last night, she actually felt quite refreshed, the first time in a while. Then she felt the bed move as someone shuffled beside her. She froze. She was definitely alone when she'd got into bed last night, maybe she'd imagined it, maybe she was still asleep and still dreaming. Then she felt a chill run down spine, her stomach began to churn and her heart began to beat faster. Surely she was imagining things and was getting wound up over nothing, she had to be. She laid perfectly still, she could hear someone breathing; soft, shallow breaths that told her that this person was asleep next to her, in the bed she shared with her husband. Ok, keep calm, don't open your eyes, don't freak out. You're still half asleep, you're still dreaming, this isn't real. She took in a breath through her nose and a familiar, intoxicating scent filled her nostrils that reminded her of her gorgeous Seb. Seb?! She allowed herself to open one eye and very quickly her other eye popped open too. There he was, laying beside her but on top of the duvet, sleeping peacefully on his front with his hands under his pillow, fully clothed as though he'd walked through the door and collapsed onto the bed to fall straight into a deep, exhausted sleep. He's back! He's here! Hang on, what on earth is he doing here? What's happened? What's gone so wrong that meant he's flown back home? Despite the questions that were now flying around in her head, she couldn't help but feel overjoyed to see him. He was back by her side, back where he belonged. No wonder she'd slept so well last night! Then she felt anxious and sad; why was he here? She knew he'd had a tough weekend but he still wasn't really meant to be here, he was supposed to stay within his team 'bubble' until after the Hungarian Grand Prix in two weeks time. He wasn't allowed to come home unless it was an emergency. She kept looking at him as though he was a mirage and not really there, he was still wearing his Ferrari t-shirt and dark grey shorts, the exact same clothes she'd seen him wearing in an image just before she'd dozed off last night. He fidgeted in his sleep and turned his head so that he was now facing her and she felt her insides flutter and her heart swell with love, he looked so peaceful and content when he slept, so utterly beautiful and adorable. She could lay here watching him sleep for hours. Except that this time she couldn't, she needed to know why he was here when he should still be in Austria. "Seb." She whispered his name, wanting to wake him as gently as possible. No response, so she tried again, just a touch louder. "Seb." She waited for a moment, he sighed in his sleep and seemed to stir but that was all. "Seb." She tried once more, a little louder. This time he quietly groaned and lifted his head only to bury his face into his pillow. "Seb, wake up." She put her hand on his back and gave him a nudge, he groaned again, sounding muffled into his pillow before turning his head to face her.

Her beautiful but curious eyes were his perfect medicine, all of the torment and anguish of yesterday just melted away as he gazed into them. Just being here felt so perfectly right, there was no where else he'd rather be. "My beautiful girl." He croaked, his voice heavy with sleep.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as his lips curled up into a lazy, sleepy smile.

He didn't want to answer her, he just wanted to lay here with her and never leave her side again. Instead of speaking, he just took hold of her hand and brought it up to his face so that he could nuzzle against it.

"Oh Seb." She sighed as he closed his eyes, he was so damn cute when he sleepy. Feeling his lips kissing the back of her hand only made her want to kiss him and keep him here forever. Part of her was so delighted to have him back and so touched that he'd come back to her so early but the other part was worried as to why he was here. His hold on her hand loosened, he'd drifted off back to sleep so she gave him another nudge to wake him and he took hold of her hand again, holding on to it as though it was comforting him. "Want some breakfast?" She asked, deciding to approach the question of why he was here from a different angle.