The Blackout ⤖ George Russell

F O U R T Y T H R E E

Nora looked around, and when her eyes met an old lady, she politely smiled. She was waiting, waiting for George. The past week was tough; Nora was tired, her body ached, George wasn't around. But knowing George would show up any moment for the date, made her feel better. The weather was surprisingly good, the sun was shining, but it wasn't that warm. The outfit she was wearing was perfect for the day: blue jeans, a black and white blouse and a thin, but also a warm chestnut brown coat with a scarf. Her makeup was natural, how she used to do it before the crash. Standing at the middle of the square, waiting on your own, it was a bit uncomfortable.

Her eyes lit up when she saw George walking over the square. Nora didn't want to wait any longer, so she walked towards him as well with a smile on her face. George was smiling too.

"Hey," he smiled and gave Nora a kiss.

"Hey," she softly said and wrapped her arms around him. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." He pulled back and looked at her. "For how long have you been waiting?"

She looked at her watch. "Five minutes," she answered. "Not that long."

"Good," he mumbled and placed his arm around her shoulder. "How are you? How have you been this past week?" They started to walk.

"I'm good," Nora said, satisfied and placed her arm around her waist. "The week was fine." She decided to keep it small, George shouldn't be walking around with her problems. "You?"

"I'm good, better now I see my gorgeous girlfriend," George whispered and pressed a kiss on her cheek. He noticed Nora did her makeup, dressed up, curled her hair. "You look absolutely beautiful, love." A shy smile curved on her lips. "The week was good, we didn't end at the bottom, we are still developing so much."

"You did a good job," Nora said. "I couldn't do the same. P15 is good, very good," she proudly said. He looked at her and raised his eyebrow. "Don't say it."

"I'm not saying anything."

"But you were thinking about it," she replied; thinking about the fact she could do the same and get the same result. "Remember Abu Dhabi? That morning?" George nodded, not entirely understanding what Nora was talking about. "I am still feeling guilty for not saying back that I'm in love with you."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I mean, you got the balls to say it, and I was just like: I can't say it, I'm too softie for that. I decided to crash, be in a coma and wait longer," Nora joked and bit on the inside of her lip, not sure if she could say it. A soft smile played on his lips, meaning he accepted her commend. "No, but what I mean is: I just feel so stupid for not saying it back at that time, because I was, still am, so in love with you and those words hearing from you was all I ever wished for."

He licked his lips. "For how long did you wish for that?" George was curious to know when she started to like him since they had a bad start.

"When we got into F2... No, actually, the end of GP3 I think."

"What?" A surprised laugh rolled over his lips. "That's more than a year." Nora gave him a wide but painful smile. "Why didn't you said it earlier?"

"Because I was..." A stupid idiot who was afraid? Or just a massive weakling? Awkward to tell you how I felt about you? "...scared to tell you how I felt. We disliked each other, and I was just scared you would laugh and...I don't know. I'm a girl, George, we don't go to the person we are in love with and tell them. No, we hope they will figure it out one day and ask us on a date."

George kept looking at Nora and was impressed to hear her talk. "But you still told me. So you did go to me and tell me."

"You were first."

"And you were first to say it after a long, tough time." He looked in front of him. "Better late than never, Nora." She was sighing, she was unsatisfied. "And you know, I can call you mine now, it was worth the wait."

Nora pointed to the right, a sign in what direction they had to walk. "You?"

"I started to like you when we were in Spielberg last year," he slowly replied, still thinking about what he had to say. "You won the sprint race, and we had some kind of movie night afterwards with the boys. And I don't know, it suddenly hit me." Their eyes met. "It took me a while to figure out what my feelings really meant, but I'm in love with you."

She snorted. "Look, this is romantic and all, but that evening after Fairy Woods..." A laugh rolled over her lips. "We were just awkward morons who were like: 'do you regret we slept together?' 'No.' 'Okay, let's move on.'" George started to laugh as well. "How immensely stupid was that? For real, that is just not how it works."

"Don't even start about it. I don't want to think about it anymore, it's horrendous," he laughed. "I don't even understand how we reached that level of awkwardness. If I could turn back the time, I would go back to that moment and change everything about it."

They laughed about it, it was only a thing they could do. It just described their friendship: awkwardness. But it changed, in a positive way now they are in a relationship.

"Why didn't you tell me about it after I woke up?" Her voice was soft.

"I wasn't allowed to tell you anything about the days you had lost, it had to be you who needed to figure it out. And my goodness, it was hard to not day anything. I wanted to kiss you, hug you, make you feel okay, but I couldn't. I could do that as a friend, but not as something more." A small smile curved his lips. "But that is the past."

"I'm amazed at how positive you are." Nora pressed a kiss on his jaw. "It's the past, looking forward is the only thing what counts now."

His small smile changed into a wide, satisfied smile. "Exactly, that's the spirit." He leaned in but stopped. "I'm scared to ruin your makeup if I kiss you," he whispered.

"Don't be, it's just makeup, and it won't be ruined." She kissed him again. "See, still intact." Or at least, she hoped it was.

They entered a small restaurant, one of George his favourite restaurant to be exact. It was a classic move, but yet surprising. Once they sat down, they ordered a drink.

"I know this is not surprising or original, but I can't do much, but I liked the idea," Nora said carefully, she never really took anyone on a date, it was new to her.

George widely smiled. "It's amazing, Nora. Don't worry about that." His eyes were gliding over the restaurant, it was filled with people. "It doesn't have to be huge, small dates are secretly the best. Besides, I consider the day we went to Fairy Woods as a date too. Not huge, but still one of the bests."

She nodded. "Yeah, it was kinda a date."

△

The evening was lovely, the food was amazing, and George and Nora enjoyed the night. It felt like it was an escape to the real world; it was just her and him, talking about random things, forgetting they were part of the racing world. They left the restaurant as last and walked around the centre for a bit, just like the good, old days.

When they arrived home, Nora couldn't hold it back anymore. She wanted George's lips on hers. When she kissed George, his brain lit on fire, and the warmth spread throughout his entire body. They slowly moved to the bedroom while kissing. The first clothing items were tossed around the room.

After that George was addicted, he couldn't bear not to be with her, and he could barely breathe when she was around. The kiss deepened, the open-mouthed kiss was showing love. Nora's hands were everywhere on George's skin, it was like fire. They moved to the bed and laid down. George dedicated his life to being with Nora from the moment of that first kiss, for he knew that is he lost her, he would lose himself - what he almost did. He started to appreciate everything more he had in his life because on one day it could be over.

She was the half that made him whole.